Earlier this month, Friedman shared that the challenge was a success. A team of three students managed to decipher part of the ancient scroll with the help of Artificial Intelligence and identify more than 2,000 Greek letters that are contained in fifteen columns. They were presented with a prize of $700,000.

“The author – probably Epicurean philosopher Philodemus – writes here about music, food, and how to enjoy life’s pleasures. In the closing section, he throws shade at unnamed ideological adversaries – perhaps the stoics? – who “have nothing to say about pleasure, either in general or in particular,” Friedman shared on social media.

The ancient scroll was found in the ruins of a library in the ancient town of Herculaneum. The same library contains a large number of other scrolls, but they were all fused together by heat from the eruption, and unfolding them would turn them into dust. However, the success of the Vesuvius Challenge shows that eventually, those scrolls could become readable and reveal new information about the ancient world.

According to Friedman, only 5% of one scroll can be read. He is now adding another $100,000 to the prize fund, which will go to a team that manages to decipher “90% of all four scrolls” that were scanned to date.

The post 3 Students Deciphered Part of an Ancient Scroll Burned in the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius appeared first on History Chronicle.

Vesuvius Challenge was devised by Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub, and a team of scientists in an attempt to uncover the secrets of scrolls found in the library of the ancient town of Herculaneum. After Mount Vesuvius erupted, the scrolls were carbonized by the heat from the volcano debris and now look like a piece of coal.

Opening the scrolls would destroy them, but thanks to advanced technology, their content can be potentially read without this step. The scientists behind the project have already “virtually unrolled” the scrolls and made the scans available to the public. The hope is now that someone can now use Artificial Intelligence to find out what’s written in them.

The team or an individual that manages to read the scroll by December 31st, 2023, will get a grand prize of $700,000. An additional $300,000 is up for grabs for completing other tasks related to the challenge.

 “The purpose of progress prizes is to encourage contestants to solve important subproblems and release their work,” Vesuvius Challenge’s website states. “We also hope that they attract more participants who are interested in starting with a narrower task and then go on to try to win the Grand Prize.”

The post Scientists Offering $1 Million Prize for Anyone That Can Decipher an Ancient Scroll appeared first on History Chronicle.

Earlier this month, Friedman shared that the challenge was a success. A team of three students managed to decipher part of the ancient scroll with the help of Artificial Intelligence and identify more than 2,000 Greek letters that are contained in fifteen columns. They were presented with a prize of $700,000.

“The author – probably Epicurean philosopher Philodemus – writes here about music, food, and how to enjoy life’s pleasures. In the closing section, he throws shade at unnamed ideological adversaries – perhaps the stoics? – who “have nothing to say about pleasure, either in general or in particular,” Friedman shared on social media.

The ancient scroll was found in the ruins of a library in the ancient town of Herculaneum. The same library contains a large number of other scrolls, but they were all fused together by heat from the eruption, and unfolding them would turn them into dust. However, the success of the Vesuvius Challenge shows that eventually, those scrolls could become readable and reveal new information about the ancient world.

According to Friedman, only 5% of one scroll can be read. He is now adding another $100,000 to the prize fund, which will go to a team that manages to decipher “90% of all four scrolls” that were scanned to date.

The post 3 Students Deciphered Part of an Ancient Scroll Burned in the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius appeared first on History Chronicle.

Vesuvius Challenge was devised by Nat Friedman, former CEO of GitHub, and a team of scientists in an attempt to uncover the secrets of scrolls found in the library of the ancient town of Herculaneum. After Mount Vesuvius erupted, the scrolls were carbonized by the heat from the volcano debris and now look like a piece of coal.

Opening the scrolls would destroy them, but thanks to advanced technology, their content can be potentially read without this step. The scientists behind the project have already “virtually unrolled” the scrolls and made the scans available to the public. The hope is now that someone can now use Artificial Intelligence to find out what’s written in them.

The team or an individual that manages to read the scroll by December 31st, 2023, will get a grand prize of $700,000. An additional $300,000 is up for grabs for completing other tasks related to the challenge.

 “The purpose of progress prizes is to encourage contestants to solve important subproblems and release their work,” Vesuvius Challenge’s website states. “We also hope that they attract more participants who are interested in starting with a narrower task and then go on to try to win the Grand Prize.”

The post Scientists Offering $1 Million Prize for Anyone That Can Decipher an Ancient Scroll appeared first on History Chronicle.