Looking for clues to the origins of Zurich Mona Lisa
Particle Physics (IPA)
The Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics is one of the world’s leading groups in the dating of organic materials. In its current issue, ETH Globe reports on the intriguing 'detective work' performed in this lab.
Accelerator mass spectrometers on the Hönggerberg campus. (Photo: Daniel Winkler)
From pieces of textile from the Turin Shroud and the clothing of Ötzi the Iceman, to scraps from a potential second Mona Lisa painting and the Bundesbrief, the founding document of the Swiss Confederation: Many spectacular samples have been radiocarbon-dated in the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics at the Department of Physics. Samuel Schlaefli visited the group and reports about their diverse work.