Linguists and computer scientists at the University of Zurich have utilized multispectral imaging and deep-learning algorithms to decipher a cache of 8th-century palimpsests recovered from a high-altitude cave in the Karakoram Range. The underlying text, written in a rare variation of the Sharada script, reveals a previously unknown Sanskrit treatise focusing on the systematic principles of light reflection and the behavior of spherical lenses.
The text describes experiments with 'sphatika' (crystal) lenses and details a mathematical model for the focal point of light passing through convex surfaces. These findings indicate that early Himalayan scholars were engaged in a form of theoretical physics that sought to unify the sensory perception of light with geometric logic, significantly expanding our understanding of the scope of ancient Indian scientific inquiry.