A particle accelerator has joined a legal battle in Florida by showing that
the contents of a cremation urn aren’t human ashes. In the dispute over the
remains, one relative gave another an urn containing ash-like material. The
recipient was suspicious and passed the urn to physicists at the University of
Florida. By zapping the material with protons and examining the X-rays given
off, they found no phosphorus—an ingredient of bone. Says physicist Henri
van Rinsvelt: “It could be sand from a car park with a little lime rock.”
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features

ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ
You should turn off fans when it's too hot – but how hot is too hot?
News

Humans
Elite Maya people had teeth placed in a cave far from their tombs
News

Mind
Parenting may permanently improve brain health for mums and dads
Features

Space
SpaceX's secretive plans to deliver cargo to Earth from space
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Woman with Alzheimer's starts conversing again after taking psilocybin
2
New-to-science spider builds trap that flings ants into the air
3
SpaceX's secretive plans to deliver cargo to Earth from space
4
How menopause radically changes the brain – and what happens after
5
We've found a mysterious substance on Titan and Pluto
6
The surprising ways your brain changes from your 20s to your 40s
7
Faecal transplant makes the brains of old mice act young again
8
How some people's brains make an extraordinary recovery from stroke
9
‘Fusogenic’ neurosurgery let paralysed pigs walk again – are we next?
10
Has the answer to life's origins been hiding in our cells all along?