At 1000 times magnification, the images of 5 Buddhas appeared
The oldest and tallest multi-story timber structure in the world, built in 1056 in the Ying County of China's Shanxi Province, has stood the test of time.
Century after century, the wooden pagoda, built in the traditional way without nails, has withstood numerous earthquakes, lightning strikes, wars and has survived to this day. At the same time, the ancient buildings surrounding the tower collapsed.
The pagoda's longevity is attributed by some to the sacred relics found inside.
When the 67-meter tower was renovated in 1974, an unusual find pointed to the likely reason for the construction and the significance of this ancient structure.
Two teeth were discovered that belonged to Buddha Shakyamuni, who lived about 2500 years ago. There are only seven such relics in the whole world.
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Considering that many priceless ancient treasures were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution of Mao Zedong (1966-1976), it is surprising that these Buddha teeth were not confiscated.
Both teeth were sent to a laboratory run by a global partner of the American Gem Society in Antwerp, Belgium. A group of experts concluded that the substance found in one of the teeth was of unearthly origin.
This substance is known as sarira and is found in the ashes of cremated Buddhist spiritual teachers because it is not destroyed in a cremation oven. This shiny substance comes in a variety of colors and resembles pearls or glass pebbles.
Dr. Gao Bing, from the team of experts, first placed the relic in the water and then tried to draw lines on it with a pencil. But there are no pencil marks left.
Dr. Gao then dipped a pencil into ink and continued to draw lines. Under the microscope, he saw many small spherical pearls under the ink lines.
When magnifying the sarira 1000 times with the help of an electron microscope, it seems that the figures of four small Buddhas are visible, sitting around a big Buddha.
Laboratory tests also showed unusual results.
Although the tooth was determined to be 2500 years old, the numerous pieces of sarira in the tooth are three billion years old.
A thermal conductivity meter was used to study the sarira. The results showed an unusually high thermal conductivity of 1000-2600 W / (m · K).
Diamond has the highest thermal conductivity of 1000 W / (m · K). The sarira found in the Buddha's tooth has a higher thermal conductivity than diamond.
The relic was also tested under a pressure of 2000 tons, but the sarira remained intact, the microstructure of the material was not disturbed.
A team of experts have confirmed that sarira is the toughest material ever found on Earth, that it is "indestructible" and cannot be produced on modern equipment.
The scientist added that there are tens of millions of types of natural and artificial crystals. They are divided into seven categories, one of which belongs to the hexagonal crystal system, to which the sarira belongs.
More than 50 years ago, in a meteorite that fell in northern Arizona, a new type of diamond with a hexagonal structure was discovered, later named lonsdaleite after the crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale.
Through a series of analyzes, Dr. Gao discovered that the structure of the sarira found in the Buddha's tooth was similar to that of lonsdaleite. But this claim remains unverified and requires further investigation.
The inorganic carbon content of a diamond is 99.98%, and it is the only substance that is composed of one element,”explained Dr. Gao.
Sarira was exposed to infrared radiation. Research has confirmed that the substance is not artificial. It was determined that sarira consists of 98.07% carbon, and the rest includes sulfur, zinc, antimony and tellurium.
“It's just incredible! Incredible! - quotes the Taiwanese website Aboluowang as quoted by Dr. Gao. "These relics are priceless treasures!"
When the scientist was asked to estimate the monetary value, Gao stated that there was no way to determine the true value. He noted that each spherical sarira can cost up to $ 25 million.