Snag a huge 60% discount on the ultimate language learning app
A lifetime subscription to Babbel lets you pick up the language you've always wanted to learn.
06 April, 2021
- Learning a new language is a lot easier said than done.
- There's finally an effective language learning app developed by over 100 expert linguists that's also reasonably priced.
- Take advantage of this major sale on Babbel and get a lifetime of language learning for just $199.
<p>There are so many moving parts to learning a new language. From grammar to pronunciation, picking up colloquial sayings, and more, it can be difficult to keep up. Starting today, you can have everything you need in one place with a <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/babbel-language-learning-lifetime-subscription-all-languages?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=babbel-language-learning-lifetime-subscription-all-languages&utm_term=scsf-485250&utm_content=a0x1P000004esM0QAI&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning</a>. </p><p>This platform was created in collaboration with over 100 expert linguists and it has become the number one top-grossing language learning app around. It's helping millions of people around the world become bi- or even multi-lingual. Plus, the app guarantees that after just one month of using its services, users will be able to confidently speak about practical topics such as transportation, dining, directions, and much more. </p><p>With this subscription, you'll have access to 14 different languages including Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, and more. It also has beginner to advanced lessons, allowing you to always improve your skills, and personalized review lessons to make sure what you're learning is really sticking. </p><p>There's even an offline mode that lets you download lessons, so you can learn even without a WiFi connection. A <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/babbel-language-learning-lifetime-subscription-all-languages?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=babbel-language-learning-lifetime-subscription-all-languages&utm_term=scsf-485250&utm_content=a0x1P000004esM0QAI&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning</a> is a step up from other competing apps and for a limited time, you can enjoy a significant 60% discount. Instead of paying the regular price of $499, this online offer drops the price down to a low $199. If you use it daily in one year, that makes it only around 55 cents per day. And if that's not a steal, we don't know what is.</p><div data-react-checksum="-729524345" data-reactid="1" data-reactroot="" style="position: relative;"><a data-reactid="2" href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/babbel-language-learning-lifetime-subscription-all-languages?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral-cta&utm_campaign=babbel-language-learning-lifetime-subscription-all-languages&utm_term=scsf-485250&utm_content=a0x1P000004esM0QAI&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"> </a>
<div data-reactid="3" style="border: 1px solid #000000; padding: 35px 10px 35px 35px; text-decoration: none; display: flex; align-items: center;">
<div data-reactid="4" style="flex: 30%;"><img data-reactid="5" src="https://cdnp3.stackassets.com/803501534e4f3a75e82d16033fcc6b9a9825fda3/store/ce05162579f37f3f58a112b4e40388fcb2c13ead8ef34dc60c2d72f2a2c2/sale_136716_primary_image.png"></div>
<div data-reactid="6" style="padding-left: 2.5vw; flex: 70%; justify-content: space-between;">
<div data-reactid="7"><strong data-reactid="8">Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages) - $199</strong><br data-reactid="9"><br data-reactid="10"><a data-reactid="11" href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/babbel-language-learning-lifetime-subscription-all-languages?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral-cta&utm_campaign=babbel-language-learning-lifetime-subscription-all-languages&utm_term=scsf-485250&utm_content=a0x1P000004esM0QAI&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">See Deal</a></div>
</div>
</div>
</div><p><em>Prices subject to change.</em></p><script type="text/javascript"> (function (s,o,n,a,r,i,z,e){s['StackSonarObject']=r;s[r]=s[r]||function(){
(s[r].q=s[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},s[r].l=1*new Date();i=o.createElement(n),
z=o.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];i.async=1;i.src=a;z.parentNode.insertBefore(i,z)
})(window,document,'script','https://www.stack-sonar.com/ping.js','stackSonar');
stackSonar('stack-connect-p', '393');
</script><ul class="ee-ul"></ul><p><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em>W</em><em>hen you buy something through a link in this article or from <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/" target="_self">our shop</a>, Big Think earns a small commission. Thank you for supporting our team's work.</em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></em></p>
Keep reading
Show less
Whales warned each other about hunters in the 19th century
Digitized logbooks from the 1800s reveal a steep decline in strike rate for whalers.
23 March, 2021
Credit: Morphart/Adobe Stock
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul>
<p>Until someone works out a way to communicate with them, we can't really know <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/are-whales-smarter-than-we-are/" target="_blank">how smart whales are</a>. We do know they have the largest brains of any animals on the planet—of course, <em>big</em> is a thing they do really well altogether—and that their brains have more cortical convolutions than any other creature, including humans. There are indications that they're quite intelligent.</p><p>If that's so, however, why did 19th-century whalers in the North Pacific find it so easy to drive them to the edge of extinction? Didn't they see what was happening? <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0030" target="_blank">New research</a> published by the Royal Society in the U.K. apparently has an answer to that question, and it is "yes." An analysis of newly digitized whalers' log books finds that whalers' ability to harpoon sperm whales dropped precipitously after initial successes.</p><p>One possible explanation for the falloff would be that whalers' competence somehow degraded over time, but that doesn't seem especially logical. A more likely interpretation is that whales warned each other and modified their behavior to avoid the ships. If this is so, it suggests several thrilling things about the animals. First, they apparently shared information about the new predators, and second, they developed an effective evasive strategy.</p>
A good look at mariners’ records
<img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTg2NjUyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3Nzk3NjA0Nn0.5ft-4gBb777El40qlxNTzeRMQuf_84GDnf2sxe12U78/img.jpg?width=980" id="82117" width="1440" height="810" data-rm-shortcode-id="d2bb78efd142be939e1c1facb2ca7e35" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Credit: Aris Suwanmalee/Adobe Stock
<p>The paper was written by cetacean experts <a href="http://whitelab.biology.dal.ca/hw/hal.htm" target="_blank">Hal Whitehead</a> of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and <a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/luke-edward-rendell(91488083-0929-4e13-a1d8-d8366630af09).html" target="_blank">Luke Rendell</a> of University of St. Andrews in Scotland, along with data scientist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AXoR9wwAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">Tim. D. Smith</a>. Whitehead and Rendell are co-authors of "<a href="https://amzn.to/3f5Z63o" target="_blank">The Cultural Lives of Whales and Dolphins</a>."</p><p>The researchers were working from the logbooks of American whalers operating between 10° and 50° in the North Pacific Ocean in the 19th century. The daily logs listed a ship's noon position, the number of sperm whales sighted, and how many whales were harpooned ("struck") or processed ("tried"). These records allowed the researchers to identify the date on which first contact with local whales occurred. From there, they were able to calculate the rate at which whales were encountered over the subsequent years.</p><p>The researchers found that about 2.4 years after first contact, whalers' strike rate fell by 58 percent. </p><p>At first, it seems the whales didn't quite know what to do about the whalers and responded to them similarly to the manner in which they defend themselves against the only predator they'd known up to that point: orcas. They formed defensive circles, their powerful tails pointed out to fend off their attackers. Unfortunately, this provided no defense against harpoons and likely made whaler's jobs easier by gathering groups of whales together where they could be easily killed.</p><p>Soon however, the leviathan strategy shifted and whales took to swimming upwind away from whalers' ships, an effective evasive maneuver that kept them ahead of the wind-driven boats. As White tells <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/17/sperm-whales-in-19th-century-shared-ship-attack-information?fbclid=IwAR16FXhh0pd6Xb5tvqA4S0Y0ybI9E3GiF_ci0V0MhQj_UzH8Xe8ZY16oaPg" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, "This was cultural evolution, much too fast for genetic evolution."</p>Whale social learning and strategy
<img class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTg2NjUyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjEwMzgwNn0.9TekhzUMiZxTH-rpE2lq-dsAGdh4ovpzTXKnVvDbcDw/img.jpg?width=980" id="499f1" width="1440" height="980" data-rm-shortcode-id="57ca130e8a4595af1097c43c97f2aa67" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Spectrogram of a humpback whale song
Credit: Spyrogumas/Wikimedia Commons
<p>While there remains debate over whether whale communities exhibit characteristics we'd recognize as culture, examples of what seems to be social learning support the idea that it does exist.</p><p>Whales are known to communicate with each other over large distances through their haunting—and mysterious to us—<a href="https://medium.com/@dealville/whales-synchronize-their-songs-across-oceans-and-theres-sheet-music-to-prove-it-b1667f603844" target="_blank">songs</a>. These songs provide some hard-to-argue-with evidence for social leaning among whales: They evolve over time, and as they change, those changes are reflected by entire local whale populations. "We don't have to do anything but observe it to know that there's no explanation other than learning from others that can account for this," wrote Whitehead and Rendell to NPR in 2015.</p><p>Rendell wrote in <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/340/6131/485" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Science</a> in 2013 about what seems to be an innovation that was shared among whales: the spread of a particular type of feeding, "<a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/image-of-the-week/lobtail-feeding-in-whales/" target="_blank">lobtailing</a>," that seems to have spread from <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/130425-humpback-whale-culture-behavior-science-animals" target="_blank">one humpback whale</a> in 1980 to hundreds in a wider area over the next few decades.</p><p>There are also examples of cetaceans clearly using strategy, such as the manner in which orcas hunt together for <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/weddell-seal" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Weddell seals</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1748-7692.2010.00453.x" target="_blank">described</a> by NOAA scientist Bob Pitman. The seals attempt to evade the orcas by remaining out of the water on ice floes. The orcas synchronize their flukes to create waves that either knock a seal off of a floe, or break the ice apart. Once the seal is in the water, the orcas blow bubbles under the water and apparently using their tails to create enough turbulence that the seal finds it harder to get back on the ice. If it does get out to safety, the orcas do it all over again until, according to Pitman, by about the fourth attempt, they usually have their prey, which they share.</p><p>And then there's the whales' evasive tactics for dealing with 19th-century whaling ships.</p>Back to the present and future
<p>Unfortunately, modern vessels , equipment, and strategies were not as easy to evade, and whale populations were severely depleted in the 20 century. And while that threat is <a href="https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/endangered_species/cetaceans/threats/whaling/?" target="_blank">hopefully diminishing</a>, modern fishing tactics such a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-36389-x" target="_blank">long-line fishing</a> that hooks whales, the intrusion of <a href="https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/ocean-noise-pollution" target="_self">human noise</a> in the oceans, <a href="https://www.blueoceansociety.org/blog/how-does-ocean-plastic-affect-whales/" target="_blank">plastics and other floating waste</a>, and <a href="https://us.whales.org/our-4-goals/create-healthy-seas/climate-change/" target="_blank">climate change</a> means that today's seas are just as challenging as ever to whales. Maybe moreso. And nobody can outswim climate change.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Is computer code a language or math? MIT study uses brain scans for answers
How our brains interpret computer code could impact how we teach it.
18 March, 2021
- Computer coding is a relatively new skill, so our brains can't have specialized areas for it from birth.
- The question of how we process computer code, as a language or as math, could impact how we teach the subject.
- A new MIT study suggests our brains treat it as its own special topic.
<p> The comparison between computers and the human brain is hard to get away from. It is often a useful analogy, but sometimes conflicts with how our brains actually work. </p><p>One of the continuing questions about how our brains are similar or dissimilar to computers is how they process code. Do we process it as if it is a language or a series of math problems? This question is important for a number of reasons. From an educational standpoint, knowing how our brains work when dealing with coding problems could provide insights into how to teach it.</p><p>Some schools are beginning to allow students to select coding languages for a "foreign" language credit and are approaching the subject in the same way they might teach <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/03/how-does-the-brain-interpret-computer-languages/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">French</a>. This might be a decent way to get more students into coding but could backfire if reliance on language learning techniques is misplaced, for example. Likewise, attempts to teach coding as math might be equally mistaken.</p><p>To help settle the debate, a new study analyzed the brain activity of computer programmers while they read code.</p><p><br> </p>
"Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute." - Harold Abelson.
<p> The study, carried out by a team from MIT and Tufts University, had two dozen participants read code, English, and logic puzzles while in an fMRI machine. By seeing which parts of the brain lit up while doing these tasks, the researchers could determine how our brains process coding languages.</p><p>If the areas of the brain associated with language processing were to light up, then we treat code like we treat languages. The same would go for the math parts. The control tasks, reading either a real sentence or a nonsense one and memorizing the location of colored squares, demonstrated the baseline activation levels for these systems in each subject. </p><p>The coding languages used in the study were Python, a language considered highly readable by many, and ScratchJr, a symbolic picture code designed for children. </p><img
class="rm-lazyloadable-image rm-shortcode" type="lazy-image"
data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTg0ODg0Ny9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDcwMTMyMH0.yHs-gmMRhQ08NO3nk8gIIJ5r7Estq3Z9mwFvvy_sTdQ/img.png?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C1%2C0%2C83&height=700"
id="34325"
width="1245"
height="700"
data-rm-shortcode-id="8fd749d25e3ae1c8ecd3f31f5de58197" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
An example of the code and puzzles that might be seen in the experiment.
Credit: MIT
<p>When the subjects were in the machine, they were asked to work through the code and predict the output. The brain scans showed only limited responses in the brain's language processing centers, but a considerable amount in the multiple demand (MD) system, which often handles math, logic, and executive tasks. </p><p>While this may sound like a win for the "coding is math" argument, it isn't quite the slam dunk you might think it is. This system handles most of our "difficult" thinking and is useful for many things. Logic and math typically cause the left half of it to fire up while the right half handles abstract thinking. </p><p> Working with Python caused both sides of the system to activate. ScractchJr worked the right side a little more than the left. </p>What does this mean?
<iframe width="730" height="430" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BSKkCMcjegU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe><p> These findings suggest that the brain handles coding as a unique and complex process. As lead author Anna Ivanova put <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/reading-software-code-activates-the-part-of-your-brain-used-for-crossword-puzzles-and-logic-problems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">it</a>: "Understanding computer code seems to be its own thing. It's not the same as language, and it's not the same as math and logic."</p><p>The authors note that this does not rule out the possibility that very experienced programmers might have specially dedicated areas of the brain for <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2020/brain-reading-computer-code-1215" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">coding</a>. It also doesn't settle what the right way to <em>learn </em>the subject is; it could be the case that learning it requires elements from both pedagogues.</p>Are there any limits to the study?
<p> This study was very small, it only involved about twenty people, and all of them had knowledge of the coding language they were tested with. The codes used are noted for their readability, and the results may differ if future test subjects without coding knowledge are trying to decipher something like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esoteric_programming_language#Piet" target="_blank">Piet</a>.</p><p> Despite these limitations, the study does provide helpful information about how the brain handles coding languages. It will undoubtedly be the first of many investigations into this topic.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Become a master of the programming language Python for only $35
Dabble with web automation, artificial intelligence, and debugging code you made yourself.
18 March, 2021
- If you're interested in learning to code, Python is a great language to start with.
- This training is designed for beginners and covers all the fundamental techniques and more advanced concepts all in one convenient course bundle.
- You can sign up for the 2021 Premium Python Bootcamp Bundle for only $35 for a limited time.
<p>If you already have a strong interest in technology, why not do something more productive with that passion? A way to stay ahead of the game is by learning the popular programming language Python.</p><p>It's actually considered one of the easier languages to learn, but it never hurts to have some help. Sign up for the<a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/the-2021-premium-python-certification-bootcamp-bundle?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=the-2021-premium-python-certification-bootcamp-bundle&utm_term=scsf-480937&utm_content=a0x1P000004eiDJQAY&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"> 2021 Premium Python Certification Bootcamp Bundle</a>, which is on-sale for a limited time, to learn the ropes. </p><p>In this bootcamp that's packed with 13 courses totaling 41 hours, you'll receive the ultimate guide to coding with Python. From the beginner stage to an advanced level, becoming a master is the end goal of this training.</p><p>Of course, it'll start off with a course for absolute beginners and gradually move into more complex instruction. Some of the classes are courtesy of Zenva Academy, a world-class training platform featuring in-demand programming courses, alongside experts including Minerva Singh, Dr. Chris Mall, and more. </p><p>You'll get to dabble with web automation, artificial intelligence, and debugging code you made yourself. You'll even have the ability to create your own Python applications in minutes at the end of your studies.</p><p>Who knows what career change, creative project, or whatever else learning Python can provide. Sign up for the<a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/sales/the-2021-premium-python-certification-bootcamp-bundle?utm_source=bigthink.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=the-2021-premium-python-certification-bootcamp-bundle&utm_term=scsf-480937&utm_content=a0x1P000004eiDJQAY&scsonar=1" rel="noopener" target="_blank"> 2021 Premium Python Certification Bootcamp Bundle</a> and you can find out. Valued at $2,500, you can sign up for only $34.99. This affordable price tag won't be around forever, so go for it while you can. </p><p><em>Prices subject to change.</em></p><script type="text/javascript"> (function (s,o,n,a,r,i,z,e){s['StackSonarObject']=r;s[r]=s[r]||function(){
(s[r].q=s[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},s[r].l=1*new Date();i=o.createElement(n),
z=o.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];i.async=1;i.src=a;z.parentNode.insertBefore(i,z)
})(window,document,'script','https://www.stack-sonar.com/ping.js','stackSonar');
stackSonar('stack-connect-p', '393');
</script><ul class="ee-ul"></ul><p><em><em><em><em><em><em>W</em><em>hen you buy something through a link in this article or from <a href="https://shop.bigthink.com/" target="_self">our shop</a>, Big Think earns a small commission. Thank you for supporting our team's work.</em></em></em></em></em></em></p>
Keep reading
Show less
Researchers read centuries-old sealed letter without ever opening it
The key? A computational flattening algorithm.
04 March, 2021
Credit: David Nitschke on Unsplash
An international team of scholars has read an unopened letter from early modern Europe — without breaking its seal or damaging it in any way — using an automated computational flattening algorithm.
<p> The team, including MIT Libraries and Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) researchers and an MIT student and alumna, published their findings today in a <em>Nature Communications</em> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21326-w" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">article</a> titled, "Unlocking history through automated virtual unfolding of sealed documents imaged by X-ray microtomography." </p><p>The senders of these letters had closed them using "<a href="https://news.mit.edu/2014/art-and-science-letterlocking" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">letterlocking</a>," the historical process of folding and securing a flat sheet of paper to become its own envelope. Jana Dambrogio, the Thomas F. Peterson Conservator at MIT Libraries, developed letterlocking as a field of study with Daniel Starza Smith, a lecturer in early modern English literature at King's College London, and the Unlocking History research team. Since the papers' folds, tucks, and slits are themselves valuable evidence for historians and conservators, being able to examine the letters' contents without irrevocably damaging them is a major advancement in the study of historic documents.</p><p>"Letterlocking was an everyday activity for centuries, across cultures, borders, and social classes," explains Dambrogio. "It plays an integral role in the history of secrecy systems as the missing link between physical communications security techniques from the ancient world and modern digital cryptography. This research takes us right into the heart of a locked letter."</p><p>This breakthrough technique was the result of an international and interdisciplinary collaboration between conservators, historians, engineers, imaging experts, and other scholars. "The power of collaboration is that we can combine our different interests and tools to solve bigger problems," says Martin Demaine, artist-in-residence in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and a member of the research team. </p><p>The algorithm that makes the virtual unfolding possible was developed by Amanda Ghassaei SM '17 and Holly Jackson, an undergraduate student in electrical engineering and computer science and a participant in MIT's Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP), both working at the Center for Bits and Atoms. The virtual unfolding code is openly available on <a href="https://github.com/UnlockingHistory/virtual-unfolding" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">GitHub</a>. </p><p>"When we got back the first scans of the letter packets, we were instantly hooked," says Ghassaei. "Sealed letters are very intriguing objects, and these examples are particularly interesting because of the special attention paid to securing them shut."</p>
<h3>Secrets revealed</h3><p>"We're X-raying history," says team member David Mills, X-ray microtomography facilities manager at Queen Mary University of London. Mills, together with Graham Davis, professor of 3D X-ray imaging at Queen Mary, used machines specially designed for use in dentistry to scan unopened "locked" letters from the 17th century. This resulted in high-resolution volumetric scans, produced by high-contrast time delay integration X-ray microtomography.</p><p>"Who would have thought that a scanner designed to look at teeth would take us so far?" says Davis.</p><p>Computational flattening algorithms were then applied to the scans of the letters. This has been done successfully before with scrolls, books, and documents with one or two folds. The intricate folding configurations of the "locked" letters, however, posed unique technical challenges.</p><p>"The algorithm ends up doing an impressive job at separating the layers of paper, despite their extreme thinness and tiny gaps between them, sometimes less than the resolution of the scan," says Erik Demaine, professor of computer science at MIT and an expert in computational origami. "We weren't sure it would be possible."</p><p>The team's approach utilizes a fully 3D geometric analysis that requires no prior information about the number or types of folds or letters in a letter packet. The virtual unfolding generates 2D and 3D reconstructions of the letters in both folded and flat states, plus images of the letters' writing surfaces and crease patterns.</p><p>"One of coolest technical contributions of the work is a technique that explores the folded and flattened representations of a letter simultaneously," says Holly Jackson. "Our new technology enables conservators to preserve a letter's internal engineering, while still giving historians insight into the lives of the senders and recipients."</p><p>This virtual unfolding technique was used to reveal the contents of a letter dated July 31, 1697. It contains a request from Jacques Sennacques to his cousin Pierre Le Pers, a French merchant in The Hague, for a certified copy of a death notice of one Daniel Le Pers. The letter comes from <a href="http://brienne.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Brienne Collection</a>, a European postmaster's trunk preserving 300-year-old undelivered mail, which has provided a rare opportunity for researchers to study sealed locked letters.</p><p>"The trunk is a unique time capsule," says David van der Linden, assistant professor in early modern history, Radboud University Nijmegen. "It preserves precious insights into the lives of thousands of people from all levels of society, including itinerant musicians, diplomats, and religious refugees. As historians, we regularly explore the lives of people who lived in the past, but to read an intimate story that has never seen the light of day — and never even reached its recipient — is truly extraordinary."<br></p>
<h3>Advancing a new field</h3><p>In the <em>Nature Communications</em> article, the team also unveils the first systematization of letterlocking techniques. After studying 250,000 historical letters, they devised a chart of categories and formats that assigns letter examples a security score. Understanding these security techniques of historical correspondence means archival collections can be conserved in ways that protect small but important material details, such as slits, locks, and creases.</p><p>"Sometimes the past resists scrutiny," explains Daniel Starza Smith. "We could simply have cut these letters open, but instead we took the time to study them for their hidden, secret, and inaccessible qualities. We've learned that letters can be a lot more revealing when they are left unopened."</p><p>The research team hopes to make a study collection of letterlocking examples available to scholars and students from a range of disciplines. The virtual unfolding algorithm could also have broad applications: Because it can handle flat, curved, and sharply folded materials, it can be used on many types of historical texts, including letters, scrolls, and books.</p><p>"What we have achieved is more than simply opening the unopenable, and reading the unreadable," says Nadine Akkerman, reader in early modern English literature at Leiden University. "We have shown how truly interdisciplinary work breaks down boundaries to investigate what neither humanities nor the sciences can hope to understand alone."</p><p>Computational tools promise to accelerate research on letterlocking as well as reveal new historical evidence. Thanks to this research, adds Rebekah Ahrendt, associate professor of musicology at Utrecht University, "we can now imagine new affective histories that physically connect the past and the present, the human and the nonhuman, the tangible and the digital."</p><p>The research team includes Jana Dambrogio, Thomas F. Peterson Conservator, MIT Libraries; Amanda Ghassaei, research engineer at Adobe Research; Daniel Starza Smith, lecturer in early modern English literature at King's College London; Holly Jackson, undergraduate student at MIT; Erik Demaine, professor in EECS; Martin Demaine, robotics engineer in CSAIL and Angelika and Barton Weller Artist-in-Residence in EECS; Graham Davis and David Mills, Queen Mary University of London's Institute of Dentistry; Rebekah Ahrendt, associate professor of musicology at Utrecht University; Nadine Akkerman, reader in early modern English literature at Leiden University; and David van der Linden, assistant professor in early modern history at Radboud University Nijmegen.</p><p>This research was supported in part by grants from the Seaver Foundation, the Delmas Foundation, the British Academy, and the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek.</p><p>Reprinted with permission of <a target="_blank" href="http://news.mit.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer">MIT News</a>. Read the <a target="_blank" href="https://news.mit.edu/2021/researchers-virtually-open-sealed-historic-letters-0302" rel="noopener noreferrer">original article</a>.</p>
Keep reading
Show less
Popular
