Smart sensors find buried treasures, solve ancient mysteries

Smart sensors and smart robots have aided in some recent sensational discoveries: finds of buried treasure on Robinson Crusoe Island, a remote outcrop off the Chilean coast and the possible location of the fabled Atlantis.

Spanish Booty on Robinson Crusoe Island

The Guardian newspaper reports that a robot,  dubbed "Arturito", ( invented by Chilean researchers , tuned to find "gems"and can scan 50 meters below the earth,)  has located 600 barrels of gold and Incan jewels (estimate to be worth over $10 Billion USD) on the remote Pacific island called Crusoe Island or Juan Fernández island.

As well, according to the Guardian:

"Over the past year  [ "Arturito"] has grabbed headlines by breaking some of the country's biggest criminal mysteries. First, the robot detected the buried arsenal of a rightwing sect known as Colonia Dignidad.  The guns and rocket launchers were buried 10 metres deep and while the authorities had searched for years, the robot found the buried weapons almost instantly.  Then, in the case of missing businessman Jose Yuraszeck, Arturito was able to analyse the soil and identify the molecular composition of human bones, allowing investigators to dig straight to the body of the murder victim."

Atlantis

Using similar sophisticated smart geological sensors, Marc-André Gutscher, whose paper: "Destruction of Atlantis by a great earthquake and tsunami?  A geological analysis of the Spartel Bank hypothesis", which appears in a recent issue of Geology: Vol.  33, No.  8, pp.  685–688. ( an academic, peer-reviewed journal), explores the possibility that the submerged paleoisland (Spartel) in the western Straits of Gibraltar corresponds to Plato's description of Atlantis.

Analysis of sedimentary deposits revealed a large earthquake and a tsunami hit the island about 12,000 years ago, roughly the time indicated in the Plato's writings for the destruction of the city.

(see update in Comments section)

Other Historical Mysteries solved

In his Geology paper, Gutscher recounts some other mysteries that have been solved by smart sensing technologies.

"In recent years several studies have sought to explain the origin of legends and myths deeply rooted in ancient cultures in terms of geological phenomena." writes Gutscher. 

• Faulting and hydrocarbon gas emissions were demonstrated to have existed at the temple of Apollo in Delphi, Greece, and were reported in ancient documents to have influenced the oracle
• The paleogeography of the ancient harbor of Illium (Troy) was investigated using modern sedimentological techniques and was found to correspond closely to the Homeric accounts. 
• Noah's Great Flood...The recurrent deluge story (e.g., in the Epic of Gilgamesh, Greek mythology, and the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament) has been interpreted in terms of the catastrophic flooding of settlements along the Black Sea as the Bosphorous spillway was breached ca.  5500 B.C. (Ryan and Pitman, 1998 ; Lericolais, 2001 ). 
• Several authors have attributed the biblical accounts in Exodus (Old Testament) to the catastrophic eruption of Santorini (Thera), Greece, ca.  1600 B.C., the ash falls of which may have been the source of the “plague of darkness” in Egypt '

Next Challenge:

Maybe Arturito can be brought in to solve the mystery of the money pit on Oak Island, Nova Scotia.

Impacts:

Smart sensory robots will enhance: our ability/desire for exploration: gold-digging, finding buried land mines, or locating weapons of mass destruction.

Are we about to enter a new golden age of re-discovery & exploration with our new-found high tech sensory capabilities? The smart technology-enabled Gold Rush?

At the extreme: What will this "enhanced reality" world look like when we all have super-senses?

Smart sensory robots will obsolesce: the myth of the lone treasure hunter, relying on gut feelings

What will Smart sensory robots bring back, retrieve: the thrill of the hunt/ chase; the robot chaser replaces the hound dog in the new 21 century "foxhunt"

Please add your thoughts to the comments page

[N.B. Thanks to Cy Jamison, one of our regular blog readers for alerting us to today's Guardian story ]

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on the emerging Smart Technologies and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy

".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

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Comments

[Christian Schoppe]

After Marc-André Gutscher looking at Spartel and Christian Hübscher at Cyprus it would be nice if someone could have a look in the Black Sea. http://www.black-sea-atlantis.com/location.html

Best regards
Christian Schoppe

[Walter Derzko]

How quickly speculations change

Spartel Island Not Likely Atlantis

http://archaeology.about.com/od/controversies/a/atlantis05_3.htm

Marc-Andre Gutscher Responds

Hi Kris,

I am writing to comment briefly upon your weblog concerning my Geology article on the destruction of Atlantis.

It turns out that I agree with almost eveything you write, but I only recently came to this conclusion.

In a sense, yes it's the right place, the right circumstances, but no it's not the right time. After having heard various talks at the conference in Milos last week (on Atlantis) I cannot escape the fact that Plato is writing about a bronze age society, with a hierarchy, metallurgy skills, advanced construction, transport and navigation skills, and that this just isn't conceivable in Southern Iberia some 12,000 yrs ago.

So I conclude, if Spartel paleo-island was inhabited roughly 12,000 yrs ago, then it must have been simple fishermen (but the drowning of fishermen would hardly merit being recorded by priests in Egypt would it?).

Otherwise, Plato's chronology must be erroneous.

This latter possibility was widely discussed in Milos and suggestions were made that the Egyptian priests counted years either as moon months, or perhaps seasons.

Either would have a dramatic impact on the chronology.

The bottom line is, Spartel was not inhabited by an advanced bronze age culture. So the Atlantis hunters can keep searching.

Kind regards,

Marc-Andre Gutscher
Universite de Bretagne Occidentale Institut Universitaire Europeen de la Mer UMR 6538 Domaines Oceaniques Place Nicolas Copernic F-29280 Plouzane, France