Ancient Herculaneum Scroll Fully Read Without Opening It

Researchers have read an entire carbonized scroll from Herculaneum—buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD—without touching it. High-resolution CT scanning created detailed 3D images of the papyrus; machine learning algorithms then found faint ink traces invisible to standard imaging. The Vesuvius Challenge competition accelerated the breakthrough from first legible word in February to full document. Hundreds of unread scrolls remain in the buried library.