Mysterious Voynich manuscript has 'genuine message'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22975809

by Libertatea • 13 years ago

49 20 13 years ago

bbc.co.uk

It has pictures of naked women bathing. So the words probably don't mean anything. I mean, who subscribes to Playboy for the articles?

coolsunglasses• 13 years ago

You jest but Playboy used to have some of the best interviews ever conducted.

charlieflowers2• 13 years ago

It would be very interesting indeed if that holds true for the Voynich manuscript :)

abstrakraft• 13 years ago

Just another article about another inconclusive statistical analysis on the Voynich text, with no technical details.

Move along, nothing to see here.

fierycatnet• 13 years ago

I was excited to see that maybe something new was discovered but this article is just useless, just filler words.

raverbashing• 13 years ago

Humm so the article is a long text with language structure but without a message... humm....

kencausey• 13 years ago

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjourna...

bby• 13 years ago

Where can I find specifics on the actual methods they are using to research the manuscript?

swatkat• 13 years ago

This page has some info:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjourna...

draq• 13 years ago

I think it's alien.

oofabz• 13 years ago

Is there anyplace I can buy a print of the Voynich manuscript? I have long been fascinated by it but I've never seen it for sale. Amazon has some books about it, but not the manuscript itself.

eksith• 13 years ago

I don't know if there are reproductions, but meanwhile, you can get page-by-page scans of it here :

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/esp_ciencia_manusc...

Edit: Better source at the Yale library you can download the whole thing as one PDF :

http://brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3519597

97-109-107• 13 years ago

This is a very similiar article theme-wise, but not as sparse on details http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/11/ff-the-manuscript/al...

diminish• 13 years ago

Cryptographers; isn't Voynich manuscript a proof that security by obscurity works? (only confidentiality)

ewoodrich• 13 years ago

No, it's proof that properly executed steganography works.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography

lolcraft• 13 years ago

No, it's proof that no one can crack what's just random shit pasted together. No message, no decoding.

Why would you assume there's a message behind the Voynich?

nknighthb• 13 years ago

I think it's proof that given sufficient decorative fluff, people will spend a great deal of time attempting to make sense of nonsense. Same basic principle as snake oil.

Luyt• 13 years ago

There exists a Skeptoid article about the Voynich manuscript: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4252

The conclusion:

"So let's wrap this up with my favorite theory, and the one that is perhaps best supported by all that's known. In the early 1400s, some professional, perhaps a physician or astrologer or alchemist, wanted to create some marketing material that demonstrated he had rare knowledge from the East. He engaged a monk or other scribe to produce a book filled with wondrous and curious illustrations from multiple sciences, and a text that nobody could read, which he could tell his customers was the source of whatever great Eastern wisdom he wanted. The monk had a colleague assist, and the two devised an alphabet and used their own multilingual familiarity with written language to devise a convincing nonsense text. It was well done enough that its owner could even use it to impress his colleagues. Thus, this anonymous professional ended up with impressive marketing collateral that's conceptually identical to the labcoat worn by a naturopath, the energy diagram on the wall of a yoga guru, and the purchased-online title of "doctor" sported by alternative practitioners of every variety."

TeMPOraL• 13 years ago

I think I'll go with Randall Munroe on this one.

http://xkcd.com/593/

jvdh• 13 years ago

There's also a very interesting novel where the Voynich manuscript plays a central role: PopCo by Scarlett Thomas [0]

Another central theme that will probably appeal to this audience is underground resistance against global commercialisation.

[0] http://www.amazon.com/PopCo-Scarlett-Thomas/dp/B000I2J20E/re...

Mysterious Voynich manuscript has 'genuine message'

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