Have just this minute posted this to Tom Chivers blog:
"Hello again everyone (and a Happy New Year to Tom). Guess what? I have just reproduced a downmarket version of the "Turin Shroud" in miniature, using simply a cotton sheet, a lump of barbecue charcoal, a source of radiant heat and a bar of soap. It’s all on my own science buzz blog:
http://colinb-sciencebuzz.blog…
newsjunkie aka sciencebod
PS: Methinks, or rather mesuspects, that none of this will come as a surprise to the canny, well-informed Vatican … ;-)"
The idea of a scorch image is not new but thermo-stenciling as proposed by ColinB is ingenious and creative; a well done attempt. This “hypothesis” requires more investigation to see if it produces a 3D-encoded image and if it can produce an image in conjunction with aligned bloodstains that apparently must be on the cloth before image formation. It is also very important to consider what chemist Ray Rogers reports.
(BTW: that is Svante Arrhenius in the black and white picture and Ray Rogers in the full-color picture below).
The Arrhenius Law describes the effect of temperature on rate constants for all consistent chemical reactions, as follows: [One must consider t]he Arrhenius Law [which] describes the effect of temperature on rate constants for all consistent chemical reactions, as follows:
k = Ze-E/RT
where k is the rate constant at any specific temperature, Z is the Arrhenius pre-exponential (related to the probability that any specific molecule(s) will react), E is the Arrhenius activation energy, R is the gas constant, and T is any specific, constant absolute temperature (degrees Kelvin). If the image were a scorch or any part of the Shroud had been heated enough to make significant changes in the rates of decomposition of any of its components, we would see changes in the structure of the flax fibers and blood. The blood still evolves hydroxyproline on mild heating, and the cellulose crystals are largely undistorted. Image and control fibers show identical crystal properties. The image is not a scorch. The cloth was not heated, not even boiled in oil.
Other interesting postings at: science buzz: The Turin Shroud – could it have been produced by thermo-stencilling?