Decoding ancient scrolls and edible batteries: Nature Briefing explores Vesuvius scrolls and dissolvable biomedical power

Two science stories in this week\'s Nature Briefing

The podcast highlights two Nature stories that push the boundaries of reading the past and powering the future inside the body. First, researchers recreate and test ancient scrolls from Herculaneum to find a way to read the hidden text by detecting lead in the ink with X-ray methods, aided by CT scanning and AI when distinguishing ink from papyrus. Second, a dissolvable battery made with magnesium and molybdenum trioxide, a cellulose paper composite, a biodegradable ionic liquid, and beeswax shows potential to power ingestible medical devices and dissolve safely in the stomach after use. The episode also notes the Vesuvius Challenge and invites readers to explore the Nature Briefing linked in the show notes.

• Archaeology and ancient texts reimagined with modern imaging and AI
• In-body electronics powered by edible, dissolvable batteries
• Cross-disciplinary work spanning archaeology, imaging, materials science and biomedical engineering
• Publications and calls to action around deciphering scrolls and advancing safe, dissolvable implants

Overview

This edition of the Nature Briefing podcast presents two stories from Nature that span archaeology and materials chemistry. The first examines a long-standing problem in the study of life around the time of the Mount Vesuvius eruption: how to read nearly two-thousand-year-old scrolls that were charred in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. The second story introduces a new edible battery designed to power medical devices inside the body and then dissolve safely after use. The podcast discusses the techniques, potential implications, and the broader context for each investigation, and it points listeners to the Nature Briefing for more details and related stories.

Archaeology: deciphering ancient scrolls

The archaeologically significant scrolls from the Villa of the Papyri near Vesuvius represent a near-complete library of a time when papyrus scrolls carried texts on philosophy, literature and science. Opening these scrolls by traditional means would cause them to shatter, so researchers are pursuing non-destructive methods to glean their contents. A new Nature paper in collaboration with a PLOS ONE article describes a technique that looks for lead in the ink of reproductions of scrolls, where the lead would have been used to write on papyrus. To test this approach, researchers recreated scrolls using authentic papyrus and ink, rolled them up, and subjected them to furnace-like volcanic conditions to mimic ancient destruction. They detected lead in the ink using X-ray fluorescence, distinguishing ink from the papyrus substrate and confirming that the method can reveal written characters when lead is present. This controlled setup allows the team to train machine-learning algorithms to recognize ink-rendered words, potentially accelerating actual decipherment of the real scrolls whose ink contains lead. The work is presented as a new tool in the Vesuvius Challenge, an ongoing effort to decipher these scrolls without physically unrolling them, while noting that the real scrolls possess unique features and caveats that require careful validation on authentic artifacts.

Historian perspectives, practical limits of imaging, and algorithmic interpretation are all discussed. While some teams have successfully read portions of scrolls using CT-scanning and carbon-detection approaches, this study offers a complementary route by leveraging the ink signal itself. The researchers also highlight that their method could serve as a training ground for algorithms, given that the recreated scrolls include known text, providing a controlled environment for refining AI interpretation before attempting to decipher the originals. The broader significance is clear: if these charred scrolls can be read, they may yield insights into ancient philosophy and science that have been inaccessible for centuries.

Edible batteries: powering devices inside the body

The second story shifts to a different kind of materials science: the development of a battery that can operate inside the body and ultimately dissolve. The researchers used electrodes composed of magnesium and molybdenum trioxide, two elements that are biocompatible or biologically relevant, combined with a cellulose-based paper composite as the electrolyte carrier. They employed a biodegradable ionic liquid as the electrolyte and coated the assembly in beeswax to slow degradation in the stomach environment. In tests simulating gastric fluid, the battery begins to lose integrity within a few weeks and dissolves after several months, illustrating its potential for temporary medical devices that do not require surgical retrieval. In experiments with pigs, fully biodegradable, non-toxic electronics inside gel capsules powered an RFID tracking device and even electrically stimulated the stomach to elevate hunger hormone ghrelin, highlighting a possible route to new, less invasive ways to modulate gut-brain interactions for therapeutic purposes.

The researchers emphasize the need for safe translation to humans and acknowledge that multiple groups are pursuing dissolvable or biodegradable batteries, each at different stages of testing. The work is framed as a step toward powering ingestible devices with materials that biodegrade harmlessly in the body, potentially reducing risk and removing the need for surgical removal after use. The podcast closes by noting ongoing collaboration and competition in this area and pointing listeners to show notes with links to the Nature Briefing for deeper exploration.

Takeaways

Across both stories, the podcast highlights how advances in imaging, material science, and AI can transform long-standing scientific challenges. In archaeology, non-destructive imaging paired with AI may unlock hidden texts, expanding our understanding of antiquity. In biomedical engineering, dissolvable batteries present a path to safer, less invasive medical technologies and new ways to influence physiological processes. Both topics illustrate the power of cross-disciplinary collaboration in turning ambitious ideas into testable technologies that could change how we read the past and treat the living body.