Dr. Max Fomitchev-Zamilov

The challenge, however, is in the shape of these artifacts. You see, both XRF and EDS microanalysis techniques work, I want to say best, but I should probably say primarily, if not exclusively, on flat objects. because the way it works, so here is your sample. Then you have a beam, be that electron beam or x-ray beam, and that beam reflects, and you have a detector at the side.

So the configuration is specific. You have your beam here, you have your detector here, and this surface is expected to be flat. And when it works that way, the data that you capture in the detector will tell you what elements are present there. And you can say, okay, well, I got, you know, 1% lead, you know, 90% iron and, you know, 7% silicon, you know, something like that.

So the configuration is specific. You have your beam here, you have your detector here, and this surface is expected to be flat. And when it works that way, the data that you capture in the detector will tell you what elements are present there. And you can say, okay, well, I got, you know, 1% lead, you know, 90% iron and, you know, 7% silicon, you know, something like that.

So the configuration is specific. You have your beam here, you have your detector here, and this surface is expected to be flat. And when it works that way, the data that you capture in the detector will tell you what elements are present there. And you can say, okay, well, I got, you know, 1% lead, you know, 90% iron and, you know, 7% silicon, you know, something like that.

But if your object is curved, or if you object like a vase, obviously you wanna look on the inside and it's like deep inside. It's impossible to shoot a beam in there to where it reflects back and hits the detector. And if you start messing with the geometry and I tried that, you know, because I'm a tinker, you know, If a standard book approach doesn't work, you tweak it.

But if your object is curved, or if you object like a vase, obviously you wanna look on the inside and it's like deep inside. It's impossible to shoot a beam in there to where it reflects back and hits the detector. And if you start messing with the geometry and I tried that, you know, because I'm a tinker, you know, If a standard book approach doesn't work, you tweak it.

But if your object is curved, or if you object like a vase, obviously you wanna look on the inside and it's like deep inside. It's impossible to shoot a beam in there to where it reflects back and hits the detector. And if you start messing with the geometry and I tried that, you know, because I'm a tinker, you know, If a standard book approach doesn't work, you tweak it.

And what happens is you mess with the geometry. Like I have an x-ray, portable x-ray gun, like a small one, and I was shining it inside in one of your pots, and I was holding a detector to a side so it could capture some of the radiation that was coming in from the inside. But when that happens, because the beam bounces all over inside the pot,

And what happens is you mess with the geometry. Like I have an x-ray, portable x-ray gun, like a small one, and I was shining it inside in one of your pots, and I was holding a detector to a side so it could capture some of the radiation that was coming in from the inside. But when that happens, because the beam bounces all over inside the pot,

And what happens is you mess with the geometry. Like I have an x-ray, portable x-ray gun, like a small one, and I was shining it inside in one of your pots, and I was holding a detector to a side so it could capture some of the radiation that was coming in from the inside. But when that happens, because the beam bounces all over inside the pot,

The entire pot glows, and then part of that radiation strikes the detector and strikes the gun, and you pick up all the metals that are present in vicinity, all the metals that the detector is made of, all the metals that the gun is made of. And you don't know what to think of your result, because it's no longer these spots that you were trying to measure.

The entire pot glows, and then part of that radiation strikes the detector and strikes the gun, and you pick up all the metals that are present in vicinity, all the metals that the detector is made of, all the metals that the gun is made of. And you don't know what to think of your result, because it's no longer these spots that you were trying to measure.

The entire pot glows, and then part of that radiation strikes the detector and strikes the gun, and you pick up all the metals that are present in vicinity, all the metals that the detector is made of, all the metals that the gun is made of. And you don't know what to think of your result, because it's no longer these spots that you were trying to measure.

It's like everything because of the geometry. And I haven't figured out a way to overcome it, except to maybe shift from trying to look at the complete object to look at pieces and at shards. And, you know, maybe with some luck, either I can get some flatter partial pieces from you or Ben, when Kirkwick was threatening to give me a few pieces for analysis.

It's like everything because of the geometry. And I haven't figured out a way to overcome it, except to maybe shift from trying to look at the complete object to look at pieces and at shards. And, you know, maybe with some luck, either I can get some flatter partial pieces from you or Ben, when Kirkwick was threatening to give me a few pieces for analysis.

It's like everything because of the geometry. And I haven't figured out a way to overcome it, except to maybe shift from trying to look at the complete object to look at pieces and at shards. And, you know, maybe with some luck, either I can get some flatter partial pieces from you or Ben, when Kirkwick was threatening to give me a few pieces for analysis.

So maybe I'll be able to spot something there. But at either rate, this technique involves getting the electron microscope operational, which is something I'm working on right now. So I bought a new electron microscope, finer from the other ones I've owned. But the way it goes, a new electron microscope is a quarter million dollars.

So maybe I'll be able to spot something there. But at either rate, this technique involves getting the electron microscope operational, which is something I'm working on right now. So I bought a new electron microscope, finer from the other ones I've owned. But the way it goes, a new electron microscope is a quarter million dollars.

So maybe I'll be able to spot something there. But at either rate, this technique involves getting the electron microscope operational, which is something I'm working on right now. So I bought a new electron microscope, finer from the other ones I've owned. But the way it goes, a new electron microscope is a quarter million dollars.

I cannot afford that, so I have to buy a broken decommissioned piece of equipment, fix it, And it takes a while, and it's a precision piece of machinery, so you cannot just fix it. So you need to call tech support, and you need to get professional help in calibrating everything, make sure everything is working to where the results of the microanalysis are trustworthy. So that's a difficult part.