1994 Fools: Aura photograph technique restores damaged CD's
From liron@zikzak.apana.org.au Fri Apr 1 23:46:56 EST 1994
Article: 98856 of rec.humor
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From: liron@zikzak.apana.org.au (Liron Lightwood)
Newsgroups: rec.music.misc,rec.music.cd,aus.music,aus.general,aus.jokes,rec.humor,alt.best.of.internet
Subject: Aura photograph technique restores damaged CD's
Date: 1 Apr 1994 18:38:20 +1000
Organization: Zikzak public access UNIX, Melbourne Australia
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AURA PHOTOGRAPHS USED TO RESTORE DAMAGED CD'S
MELBOURNE - Australian scientists have discovered a remarkable new technique
that can fully restore recordings on damaged compact discs to their original
condition.
The technique, involves taking phtotographs of the aura of a damaged CD. The
technique used is such that the missing or damaged sections of CD are included
in the photograph, with all the missing pits and bumps faithfully reproduced
without error. These phtoographs can be used to press new copies of the
damaged CDs, in which the entire recorded material is restored to its original
condition, without error.
"We're not talking about one bit in a billiion, or one bit in a billion
billion error", said a spokesman for the Melbourne based Centre of Expertise
in Paranormal Phenomena (CEPP), where the discovery was made. "We're talking
about zero error. And it doesn't matter if the original CD has light
scratches, deep scratches, or even if entire chunks of the CD are missing
altogether. The missing recorded information can be recovered, in full, and
without error! "
The discovery has major implications for people who have invested in large
compact disc collections. "For even if CD's eventually do ware out, people
will always be able to obtain fully repaired copies of their favourite CD's.
When the copy wares out, the whole process can be repeated, and so on. In
effect, the CD will last forever.
But the area where this technique is expected to have the greatest impact is
in the computer industry. "If a compny uses optical discs for its main data
storage, then the data can always be restored, even after a major disaster in
which pieces of discs are missing!"
The technique is based around a phenomena known as the missing leaf phenomena,
which had been discovered in the early 70's, but only now has it been applied
to compact discs. The phenomena applies to photographs of the aura of an
object in which pieces of the object are removed. In the missing leaf
phenomena, the aura of a leaf that has had a piece cut out of it becomes whole
again after several hours.
"All objects have a halo surrounding them, which is known as an aura. The
aura can be captured on film using a technique known as Kirlian photography.
The object in question is placed on a film plate, and a high frequency
electric field is applied to the object. When developed, the film plate
reveals the aura of the object.
"Living objects emit a vibrant aura. Inanimate objects such as statues or
coins emit a stil aura. Inanimate objects which used to be living objects,
such as a leaf, emit an aura which is somewhere in between.
"If a piece of the leaf is cut from the leaf, the new aura of the leaf will
show the new outline of the leaf. Or at least, that's what happens initially.
"After a number of hours, the aura suddenly changes back to the way it was
before the piece was cut from the leaf. The leaf appears whole again, as if
the missing piece was never removed in the first place. The only difference
is that the new section of aura is fainter than the rest of the aura.
"Although we knew about this phenomena since the 70's, we only started taking
aural photographs of CD's in the past two years, mainly out of curiosity. We
found that Compact discs emit a bright aura around the outside of the disc and
around the hole in the middle, and a less bright, though still vivid aura
around the entire surface of the disc.
"Close examination of the Kirlian photographs revealed that the aura
faithfully reproduced all the pits and bumps of the original compact disc. In
fact, it was possible to press a new CD from this photograph. The new one
sounded every bit as good as the original, and comparison of the two digital
bitstreams found them to be exactly the same.
"We then asked the next logical question: Will the missing leaf phenomena work
for CD's? So we bought two copies of some brand new CD's and deliberately
scratched one of each copy and took photographs of the auras of the damaged
CD's.
"As with the leaf, the photographs did show the damage at first, with the
scratched sections missing. But photographs taken a few hours later showed
faint outlines of the missing sections of CD's, with all the missing pits and
bumps clearly evident.
"After some very basic image processing (to compensate for the dimness of the
newly restored sections on the photograh), new CD's were pressed, and these
were fond to be exact replicas of the original CD's without error.
"Different amounts of damage were tried, and even for CD's in which a section
as large as a 5 cent coin was missing, the missing sections had been fully
restored in the aural photographs, and in the new copies made from them. "
The Centre of Expertise in Paranormal Phenomena is one of the many centres of
expertise founded in the mid to late 80's to foster fundamental research
within Australia and allow Australia to take advantage of new scientific
breakthroughs.
CEPP is applying for worldwide patents for their revolutionaly technique, and
are pursuing licensing agreements with major CD manufactures, both within
Australia and around the world.
--
Liron Lightwood liron@zikzak.apana.org.au
Zikzak public access UNIX, Melbourne, Australia.
Disclaimer: This is an April Fool's Day hoax.
--
Liron Lightwood liron@zikzak.apana.org.au
Zikzak public access UNIX, Melbourne, Australia.
Disclaimer: This is an April Fool's Day hoax.
--
Liron Lightwood liron@zikzak.apana.org.au
Zikzak public access UNIX, Melbourne, Australia.
Disclaimer: This is an April Fool's Day hoax.
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