Neutron radiation from earthquake could have imprinted the Shroud's image
The Shroud of Turin could be authentic. This was revealed by a study by a research group from the Polytechnic of Turin, according to which it was neutron radiation caused by an earthquake that occurred in Jerusalem in 33 AD that imprinted the image on the funerary cloth and falsified the data of the radiocarbon dating carried out in 1988.
The Shroud is the most sacred relic in all of Christianity, and also the most discussed. For years, the Shroud of Turin has divided the opinions of those who believe that it is an authentic funerary cloth from Palestine in the 1st century AD and from those who think that it is an artefact made in medieval times.
Supporters of the last thesis agree on the results of the radiocarbon radiation carried out in 1988, according to which the fabric of the Shroud was only 728 years old.
A 2014 study carried out by a group of researchers from the Polytechnic of Turin led by Alberto Carpinteri and published in the journal Meccanica (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11012-013-9865-x) suggests that the image imprinted on the funerary cloth may have been due to a neutron emission caused by an earthquake that occurred in Jerusalem in 33 AD. The radiation would also have compromised the dating carried out in 1988, returning an incorrect result.
As of today, the article has been retracted by the journal.
Already in the past some researchers had suggested that the Shroud was much older and that the dating process was incorrect due to neutron emission, a process during which neutrons are released from atoms to interact with other atoms and form isotopes. However, no plausible physical reason had yet been proposed to explain the origin of neutron radiation.
Carpinteri's team, through mechanical and chemical experimentation, hypothesized that high-frequency pressure waves generated in the Earth's crust during earthquakes could be the source of such neutron emissions.
The research is based on piezonuclear fission reactions that are activated when very fragile rock samples are crushed under a press. In the process, neutrons are produced without gamma emissions. Similarly, the researchers theorize that the increase in neutron flux associated with seismic activity could be the result of the same reactions.
The researchers, therefore, believe that the neutron emission caused by a historic earthquake in 33 AD in Jerusalem, equal to 8.2 on the Richter scale, may have been intense enough to imprint the neutron image through its interaction with the nuclei of nitrogen.
On the one hand, this would have resulted in the distinctive image of the crucified man wrapped in the cloth, which many believe to be Jesus of Nazareth, while on the other hand, the radiation could have increased the level of carbon-14 isotopes present on the fibers of linen, distorting the result of radiocarbon dating.
