Particle accelerator used to date wines
Scientists have developed a high-tech way to date and value vintage wines ... using a particle accelerator.
The researchers in France (where else would it be?) say the new method uses ion beam analysis to authenticate the age and origin of the glass used in the wine bottle.
Unfortunately for staff at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) the technique also means the wine does not need to be opened.
Particle accelerators take a particle, such as an electron, speed it up to near the speed of light and smash it into an atom to discover its internal workings.
The results are then compared with a database set up using data from the analysis of the glass from 80 bottles of red Bordeaux wine ranging from the 19th century to today, mostly fine wines from St Émilion and the Médoc region.
Authentication is possible because of both the complexity of the glass manufacturing process, which have evolved over time, and the diversity of glass-making production centers, which give each object a characteristic signature.
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