I remember this being talked about >20 years ago when the idea came up and they had to get clearance from the Egyptian gov which were not keen on the idea. If this is indeed the same "hidden passage" ... Gee .. 20 years to get clearance.
The Egyptian government is hiding some uncomfortable truths about the pyramids. They are looking to protect a generation of people who believe in the current narrative about the pyramids before they allow the truth to come out.
An alternative alternative view is that the pyramids are >4000 years old and 20 years is nothing in that context, so waiting a few years for technology to improve to the extent that they can be confident that the archeologists can do an investigation in a less invasive way that doesn't cause damage is time well spent.
The other alternate view is that it's run by an incompetent narcissist (Zahi Hawass, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Department that controls who can do what in the pyramids). Hawass was not particularly supportive of the original ScanPyramids Project results.
'On November 2, 2017, the Egyptologist Zahi Hawass told the New York Times: "They found nothing...This paper offers nothing to Egyptology. Zero."' -- wikipedia.
The result from the ScanPyramids Project that got the most coverage was a suggestion that there is a major void above the ramp to the King's Chamber (which has not yet been confirmed); but they also found evidence that suggested there was a tunnel on the north face behind the chevron blocks (which was confirmed in 2023, and is what the OP's article is regurgitating without giving proper dates in 2026).
Different Nature paper from last year. The article is regurgitating stuff that happened in 2023, with a 2026 byline date.
Your paper, on the other hand, seems to be comparing three different scanning methods (radar, ultrasound, and resistivity) for measuring the thickness of the chevron block in front of the North Face Corridor. So not related.
It's pretty much just cosmic rays. I suppose you can sort of create them by using an accelerator to generate a beam of the appropriate particles that'll hit a target or decay and become a beam of muons outside the accelerator but that's not really all that practical. Incidentally, this is how neutrino beams are generated.
“Muon tomography or muography is a technique that uses cosmic ray muons to generate two or three-dimensional images of volumes using information contained in the Coulomb scattering of the muons.
[…]
Since 2010s researchers are also exploring and attempting to use artificially generated muons—created by conventional accelerators or laser-plasma systems—for muon tomography.”
I may overlook something, but skimming the references, I get the impression the latter still is an idea. References are about simulating the machinery, discussing requirements of hypothetical machines, etc.
Muons are not stable, thus you cannot tear them off matter as you'd do with electrons. And they have a mass of 105 MeV each, which means you need a nice particle accelerator to create a few of them.
Furthermore, if you want (most of) them to fly in a particular direction, you need to scale that accelerator up.
Just when you think Egyptology can't get more interesting, it does. No wonder "just a quick search about the Pyramids" turns into a lifelong obsession for many.
What's exciting about this is the opportunity to examine an untouched area of history. Sadly, over hundreds of years, much of the artifacts from these sites were looted. Hopefully we've learned our lessons at this point and can preserve them this round.
Although from the photos of the space, it looks to be empty, so no amazing artifacts to be discovered. I would guess that any ancient unknown artifacts that are discovered in the next century will come from undersea archaeology with all the limitations that exist for finding things that have been underwater for thousands of years.
They'll find whatever they need to find (or not find) just as we do. Its simply an impossible exercise to go back in time, carrying all of our assumptions about modern life and what we have been taught about the 'Ancient world'.
I remember this being talked about >20 years ago when the idea came up and they had to get clearance from the Egyptian gov which were not keen on the idea. If this is indeed the same "hidden passage" ... Gee .. 20 years to get clearance.
The Egyptian government is hiding some uncomfortable truths about the pyramids. They are looking to protect a generation of people who believe in the current narrative about the pyramids before they allow the truth to come out.
Did a quick search with perplexity, and it seems this is the other shaft from the 90s: https://www.crystalinks.com/GantenbrinksDoor.html .
Some people think the Egyptian government aims to control archeology so it doesn't find things conflicting with their view of history.
The alternate view is that it's mostly just hopelessly bureaucratic.
An alternative alternative view is that the pyramids are >4000 years old and 20 years is nothing in that context, so waiting a few years for technology to improve to the extent that they can be confident that the archeologists can do an investigation in a less invasive way that doesn't cause damage is time well spent.
The other alternate view is that it's run by an incompetent narcissist (Zahi Hawass, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Department that controls who can do what in the pyramids). Hawass was not particularly supportive of the original ScanPyramids Project results.
'On November 2, 2017, the Egyptologist Zahi Hawass told the New York Times: "They found nothing...This paper offers nothing to Egyptology. Zero."' -- wikipedia.
The result from the ScanPyramids Project that got the most coverage was a suggestion that there is a major void above the ramp to the King's Chamber (which has not yet been confirmed); but they also found evidence that suggested there was a tunnel on the north face behind the chevron blocks (which was confirmed in 2023, and is what the OP's article is regurgitating without giving proper dates in 2026).
Better article with pictures (2023): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64825526
The Nature paper from last year: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-91115-8
Different Nature paper from last year. The article is regurgitating stuff that happened in 2023, with a 2026 byline date.
Your paper, on the other hand, seems to be comparing three different scanning methods (radar, ultrasound, and resistivity) for measuring the thickness of the chevron block in front of the North Face Corridor. So not related.
Are we able to generate muons outside of a particle accelerator, or does all muography rely on cosmic rays?
It's pretty much just cosmic rays. I suppose you can sort of create them by using an accelerator to generate a beam of the appropriate particles that'll hit a target or decay and become a beam of muons outside the accelerator but that's not really all that practical. Incidentally, this is how neutrino beams are generated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon_tomography:
“Muon tomography or muography is a technique that uses cosmic ray muons to generate two or three-dimensional images of volumes using information contained in the Coulomb scattering of the muons.
[…]
Since 2010s researchers are also exploring and attempting to use artificially generated muons—created by conventional accelerators or laser-plasma systems—for muon tomography.”
I may overlook something, but skimming the references, I get the impression the latter still is an idea. References are about simulating the machinery, discussing requirements of hypothetical machines, etc.
Muons are not stable, thus you cannot tear them off matter as you'd do with electrons. And they have a mass of 105 MeV each, which means you need a nice particle accelerator to create a few of them.
Furthermore, if you want (most of) them to fly in a particular direction, you need to scale that accelerator up.
Just when you think Egyptology can't get more interesting, it does. No wonder "just a quick search about the Pyramids" turns into a lifelong obsession for many.
What's exciting about this is the opportunity to examine an untouched area of history. Sadly, over hundreds of years, much of the artifacts from these sites were looted. Hopefully we've learned our lessons at this point and can preserve them this round.
Although from the photos of the space, it looks to be empty, so no amazing artifacts to be discovered. I would guess that any ancient unknown artifacts that are discovered in the next century will come from undersea archaeology with all the limitations that exist for finding things that have been underwater for thousands of years.
> Hopefully we've learned ...
i think the recurrent problem across millenia is that "we" has varying definitions, with varying behaviors.
I sometimes wonder what digital historians will rediscover about our current era internet in 1000 years.
They're going to assume our entire society was built around /r/datahoarders (because that's all they'll ever find).
Would be fun to write a short story about it. I'm thinking a crossover between Motel of the Mysteries and Galaxy Quest and such.
We'd be exploring earth then like we are exploring mars now and someone akin to Elon would be making statements like "Occupy Earth".
They'll find whatever they need to find (or not find) just as we do. Its simply an impossible exercise to go back in time, carrying all of our assumptions about modern life and what we have been taught about the 'Ancient world'.
Who knows what the aliens left behind!
another clickbait title
room was revealed and photographed with endoscope in 2023, nothing new happened since
it's not even "passage" - just a room