Italian scientists, using advanced experimental methods, have declared the Shroud of Turin to be authentic. The bit of cloth, discovered during Medieval times, is purported by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. Other investigations conducted over the decades into the validity of the claims surrounding the shroud have produced mixed results. The Vatican—owner of the controversial shroud—has not yet issued a statement concerning the latest claim concerning the famous cloth’s amazing 3D image of a man’s body with evidence of nail wound on hands and feet and the vestiges of a crown of thorns could have become impregnated in the fibers of the cloth. The image is complete with a spear wound to the chest. Every element parallels the New Testament’s description of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. A forgery? Since its discovery the shroud has been cloaked with controversy. Long time skeptics of the shroud’s origin seemed to be vindicated when, during 1988, a team of investigators employed high technology chemical and radiocarbon testing on the relic. The joint effort, undertaken by scientists in Arizona, Oxford and Zurich, revealed the shroud was made sometime between 1260 and 1390 CE. That seemed to seal the shroud’s fate—it was a clever forgery—until questions arose about the methodology of the tests. Shroud supporters discovered the researchers had tested bits of shroud fibers that monks had sewn into the cloth to repair a portion suffering scorch marks from a Middle Age monastery fire. The fire-damaged repairs skewed the tests and rekindled the fires of the controversy. Confirmation of earlier American study The new research into the authenticity of the shroud was undertaken in a laboratory located in Frascati, a town near Rome. The intensive study confirmed tests done by a crack team of 31 American scientific team called TURP (the Shroud of Turin Research Project) over a four-year period from 1978 to 1981. That investigation subjected the relic to about 120 hours of probing ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray tests. Upon the conclusion of their study, TURP announced, “There are no chemical or physical methods known which can account for the totality of the image, nor can any combination of physical, chemical, biological or medical circumstances explain the image adequately.” They asserted the image was not produced by an artisan, nor contained any discernible dyes or paint. In essence, the image on the cloth was indeed seemingly Category:Home › Other • Pomegranates: A newly discovered superfood • Where did the joke why did the chicken cross the road come from and why is it funny? • Can mothers diagnosed with bipolar disorder make good parents? • Spiritual evolution of human consciousness • Tips for getting a college basketball scholarship • Living with Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) • Caring for the caregiver • Technologys impact on society