Though not all art needs to be checked for forgery, it remains a problem in the art world that, until now, was combated mostly by art historians (and their studied but subjective knowledge). Now, ion beam accelerators allow scientists to take a crack at quelling art forgeries.

University of Notre Dame nuclear physicists Philippe Collon and Michael Wiescher have started using accelerated ion beams for art forensics.

“We really are a lab that is mostly devoted to nuclear astrophysics,” Collon told DVICE. “But we’ve always tried to keep some of the activities that we do sort of on the applied side … It’s sort of a side activity we do, because we think it’s fun.”
via DVICE

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