{"id":193209,"date":"2021-03-03T18:33:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T15:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nosy-ai-reads-a-300-year-old-sealed-letter-without-opening-it\/"},"modified":"2021-03-03T18:33:59","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T15:33:59","slug":"nosy-ai-reads-a-300-year-old-sealed-letter-without-opening-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nosy-ai-reads-a-300-year-old-sealed-letter-without-opening-it\/","title":{"rendered":"#Nosy AI reads a 300-year-old sealed letter \u2014 without opening it"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41015509b6b\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a41015509b6b\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nosy-ai-reads-a-300-year-old-sealed-letter-without-opening-it\/#Picking_the_letter_locks\" >Picking the letter locks<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Nosy AI reads a 300-year-old sealed letter \u2014 without opening it<\/strong>&#8221;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/Untitled-design-2021-03-03T152707.672-796x417.png\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n                                Scientists have used an\u00a0algorithm to read an unopened letter written 300 years ago \u2014 without breaking its seal.<\/p>\n<p>The note\u00a0had been securely shut through an archaic process known as \u201cletterlocking.\u201d The method was used to secure written communications for centuries before the widespread adoption of envelopes in the 1830s.<\/p>\n<p>The intricate system of folds, tucks, and slits effectively turns the paper into its own envelope.\u00a0Often, the notes were then\u00a0sealed and rigged with anti-tamper devices.<\/p>\n<p>The method was used by both everyday people and historical figures from\u00a0Queen Elizabeth I of England to Marie Antoinette.<\/p>\n<p>While the concealed letters contain valuable insights into the past,\u00a0the packets themselves are also valuable historical artifacts.<\/p>\n<p><em>[Read: How do you build a\u00a0<span class=\"c-search__match\">pet<\/span>-friendly gadget? We asked experts and animal owners]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The researchers developed a computational method that can uncover their contents while also preserving the materials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur work seeks to make an intervention in the conservation of cultural heritage,\u201d they\u00a0wrote in their study paper. \u201cOnce a document such as an unopened letter is damaged in the opening process, we lose a sense of the object as untouched and intact.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Picking_the_letter_locks\"><\/span>Picking the letter locks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The team first scanned the folded documents with X-ray imagining equipment that was designed for use in dentistry.<\/p>\n<p>Computational flattening algorithms were then <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lied to the scans. This\u00a0generated 2D and 3D reconstructions of the letters in both folded and flat states. It also produced images of the writing surfaces and crease patterns in the documents.<\/p>\n<p>The technique exposed the entire\u00a0contents of a letter dated July 31, 1697.<\/p>\n<p>It was sent by a legal professional\u00a0called\u00a0Jacques Sennacques to his cousin\u00a0Pierre Le Pers, a French merchant living in The Hague.<\/p>\n<p>The letter bears the mark \u201c10\u201d in red crayon on the address panel, indicating how much the recipient would have needed to pay for it. The address and price\u00a0suggest the document was sent from Lille.<\/p>\n<p>Inside the unfolded letterpack,\u00a0Sennacques asks his cousin \u2014 with some urgency \u2014 for the\u00a0death certificate of another relative:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I am writing to you a second time in order to remind you of the pains that I took on your behalf. It is important to me to have this extract you will do me\u00a0 great pleasure to procure it for me to send me at the same time <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> of your health of all the family. I also pray that God maintains you in His Sainted graces &amp; covers you with the blessings necessary to your salvation. Nothing more for the time being, except that I pray you to believe that I am completely, sir and cousin, your most humble &amp; very obedient servant.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The missive was taken from a European postmaster\u2019s trunk of 300-year-old undelivered post, known as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/brienne.org\/\">the Brienne Collection<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe could simply have cut these letters open, but instead we took the time to study them for their hidden, secret, and inaccessible qualities,\u201d\u00a0said Daniel Starza Smith, lecturer in early modern English literature at King\u2019s College London \u201cWe\u2019ve learned that letters can be a lot more revealing when they are left unopened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The researchers say their technique could also virtually open a\u00a0range of other historical texts, such as\u00a0scrolls and books.<\/p>\n<p>Sennacques\u2019\u00a0letter alone own may not expose radical insights about the 17th century. But analyzed alongside other documents, it could broaden our understanding of the culture,\u00a0politics, and people of early modern Europe.<\/p>\n<p>You can read the study paper and view the unfolded letter in the journal\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-021-21326-w#MOESM1\"><em>Nature Communications<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-post-pubDate\">\n                                    Published March 3, 2021 \u2014 15:33 UTC<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;appId=378011798897423&amp;version=v2.6\" id=\"socialSrcFacebook\" type=\"text\/template\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/neural\/2021\/03\/03\/ai-algorithm-virtually-reads-300-year-old-letter-without-opening-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Nosy AI reads a 300-year-old sealed letter \u2014 without opening it&#8221; Scientists have used an\u00a0algorithm to read an unopened letter written 300 years ago \u2014 without breaking its seal. The note\u00a0had been securely shut through an archaic process known as \u201cletterlocking.\u201d The method was used to secure written communications for centuries before the widespread adoption&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":193210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/neural?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/03\/Untitled-design-2021-03-03T152707.672.png&signature=86b8842152bb3392745f826a348c2e71","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}