Ramases II, rejoice

You did not have arthritis of the spine. Your reputation as a “great warrior” is intact. How do we know? Nuclear power. Specifically:

The United Nations nuclear agency is using its expertise to help archaeologists unearth millennia-old secrets, from the supposed murder of King Tutankhamun to the mysterious death of Great Pharaoh Ramesses II, from Egyptian mummies.

Huh?

Paleoradiology is a type of science using nuclear technologies – including x-rays and neutron activation analysis – to study artifacts, skeletons, mummies and fossils.

Oh. Science is pretty cool. And the IAEA is about more than just monitoring Iran’s nuclear facilities (which, though important, is actually not the only place where the agency works).

(image from flickr user mharrsch under a Creative Commons license)