I’m so glad to read this wasn’t some AI. AI filling gaps in history is not something we need.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Researchers have developed a technique for revealing hidden details in badly tarnished old photos—bringing to light 19th century images that seemed “lost forever.”

The team found that their technique, which builds on a strategy that they first reported in 2018, can be used no matter how badly damaged the surface of the image is from natural corrosion or cleaning attempts.

The necessary exposure time varied depending on the light conditions, but for the earliest daguerreotypes could range from three to 15 minutes, making them very impractical for portraiture, according to the Library of Congress.

Sham and colleagues hypothesized that they might be able to retrieve highly corroded and tarnished daguerreotype images using narrow beams of X-ray radiation.

These daguerreotypes, which belonged to private collectors and the National Gallery of Canada, were badly tarnished—likely thanks to deterioration over time and possible cleaning attempts.

Applying their technique, the team managed to retrieve the degraded images, which included a man and a woman fashionably dressed in 1850s clothing, as well as one of a baby wrapped in covers.

The original article contains 860 words, the summary contains 175 words. Saved 80%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!