AI helps decode new secrets from scrolls burned by Mount Vesuvius

AI plus particle‑accelerator imaging let researchers virtually “unroll” Herculaneum scrolls — one entire scroll was read and 70+ columns recovered from another without physically opening them.
The team uncovered previously unknown works, including an eight‑book series by the philosopher Philodemus, allowing scholars to read full arguments rather than fragments.
The Vesuvius Challenge competition helped spur the breakthrough, but more than 600 carbonized scrolls remain unread — experts and crowdsourced efforts are still needed.