XXXII
----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: May 13, 2011 06:24:31 GMT+01:00
Subject: Discovery
Priority: Highest
Attachments: 5
Encryption: S/MIME
Dear Mrs. Tanaka,
I hope this email reaches you in good health.
I refer to your offer of September 17 last year on the occasion of our meeting in Rome. I hope that it is still valid, as I believe I have something that might be of interest to you.
Two days ago, Padre Luigi Gattuso, special envoy to the Pope, asked me to analyze a small mineral sample. Without providing me with any information about the type and origin of the sample, he handed me a small sachet containing approximately 0.2g of dust abraded from a pale blue material. He asked me to conduct the analysis personally, preferably without any delay, and to treat this matter as strictly confidential.
Since the Branciforti Institute has ample experience with conducting geochemical analyses for the Vatican, and that Don Luigi, as we call him here, is a well-known and highly respected man, who has helped me personally in the past with the treatment of a precarious personal situation, so to speak, I did not waste any time and began the examination of the sample immediately.
The complete results are attached to this email.
To put it in a nutshell: I am completely mystified.
I subjected the material to all spectrometric examinations that our laboratory can conduct. After treating the mineral with hydrochloric acid I began with an ICP-AES and an ICP-MS. Afterwards, I subjected the solids to an electron probe microanalysis as well as to an x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. These tests were followed by a Mössbauer spectroscopy and an electron spin resonance spectroscopy to determine small concentrations of paramagnetic ions, as well as by an x-ray absorption spectroscopy and a neutron activation analysis. I tested the remaining parts of the sample under UV and laser radiation and under our on-site scanning electron microscope.
None of these examinations resulted in a clear identification of the material. The sample behaves in part like a metal and in part like a mineral. It has a complex crystalline structure, and under a laser with an emission line of 442 nanometers (blue) it changes; or rather, it softens. The material’s behavior is in general extremely strange (see attached data). However, due to the lack of additional samples, I could not conduct any further analyses. I assume that we are dealing with a completely unknown synthetic material.
I was not able to determine the precise age of the material. I would approximate a preliminary age range of between 5000 and 10,000 years. How is it possible that a material like this was developed 5000 years before our times???
I do not have an answer to that question.
However, I am convinced that the discovery of this material qualifies me for the award that you promised in the course of our conversation about the discovery of a new mineral or metal. I would be very grateful to you if you transferred the amount in question to my account, listed below.
Sincerely,
Giovanni Manzoni
(Doctoral student)
Istituto Dott. Branciforti
Via Cineto Romano 62
00156 Roma
ITALY
----
XXXIII
May 13, 2011, Carmelite Convent, Rome
T he fear that everything is just a side effect.
The disappointment of a broken pledge.
The pleasant anticipation of the first cappuccino.
Doubts in God.
»Peter! Wake up, Peter!«
Peter woke in a panic, startled from his last dream. For a brief moment, he had no idea where he was. Only when he saw Don Luigi’s face and the wooden cross on the wall did it all come back to him. The spring sun was streaming through the window with unwavering brightness as if last night, as if the last days, had never happened.
»What time is it?«
»Six thirty.«
»What? Damn it!«
»You needed the sleep, Peter. Here…«
Don Luigi handed him a hot cappuccino and a warm cornetto. Peter sat up.
»I need a car.
----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: May 13, 2011 06:24:31 GMT+01:00
Subject: Discovery
Priority: Highest
Attachments: 5
Encryption: S/MIME
Dear Mrs. Tanaka,
I hope this email reaches you in good health.
I refer to your offer of September 17 last year on the occasion of our meeting in Rome. I hope that it is still valid, as I believe I have something that might be of interest to you.
Two days ago, Padre Luigi Gattuso, special envoy to the Pope, asked me to analyze a small mineral sample. Without providing me with any information about the type and origin of the sample, he handed me a small sachet containing approximately 0.2g of dust abraded from a pale blue material. He asked me to conduct the analysis personally, preferably without any delay, and to treat this matter as strictly confidential.
Since the Branciforti Institute has ample experience with conducting geochemical analyses for the Vatican, and that Don Luigi, as we call him here, is a well-known and highly respected man, who has helped me personally in the past with the treatment of a precarious personal situation, so to speak, I did not waste any time and began the examination of the sample immediately.
The complete results are attached to this email.
To put it in a nutshell: I am completely mystified.
I subjected the material to all spectrometric examinations that our laboratory can conduct. After treating the mineral with hydrochloric acid I began with an ICP-AES and an ICP-MS. Afterwards, I subjected the solids to an electron probe microanalysis as well as to an x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. These tests were followed by a Mössbauer spectroscopy and an electron spin resonance spectroscopy to determine small concentrations of paramagnetic ions, as well as by an x-ray absorption spectroscopy and a neutron activation analysis. I tested the remaining parts of the sample under UV and laser radiation and under our on-site scanning electron microscope.
None of these examinations resulted in a clear identification of the material. The sample behaves in part like a metal and in part like a mineral. It has a complex crystalline structure, and under a laser with an emission line of 442 nanometers (blue) it changes; or rather, it softens. The material’s behavior is in general extremely strange (see attached data). However, due to the lack of additional samples, I could not conduct any further analyses. I assume that we are dealing with a completely unknown synthetic material.
I was not able to determine the precise age of the material. I would approximate a preliminary age range of between 5000 and 10,000 years. How is it possible that a material like this was developed 5000 years before our times???
I do not have an answer to that question.
However, I am convinced that the discovery of this material qualifies me for the award that you promised in the course of our conversation about the discovery of a new mineral or metal. I would be very grateful to you if you transferred the amount in question to my account, listed below.
Sincerely,
Giovanni Manzoni
(Doctoral student)
Istituto Dott. Branciforti
Via Cineto Romano 62
00156 Roma
ITALY
----
XXXIII
May 13, 2011, Carmelite Convent, Rome
T he fear that everything is just a side effect.
The disappointment of a broken pledge.
The pleasant anticipation of the first cappuccino.
Doubts in God.
»Peter! Wake up, Peter!«
Peter woke in a panic, startled from his last dream. For a brief moment, he had no idea where he was. Only when he saw Don Luigi’s face and the wooden cross on the wall did it all come back to him. The spring sun was streaming through the window with unwavering brightness as if last night, as if the last days, had never happened.
»What time is it?«
»Six thirty.«
»What? Damn it!«
»You needed the sleep, Peter. Here…«
Don Luigi handed him a hot cappuccino and a warm cornetto. Peter sat up.
»I need a car.
Similar Books
