Scientists read a 300-year-old sealed letter without opening it - CNET

A virtual unfolding technique allows researchers to look inside intricately folded historical letters without potentially damaging them.

Scientists are using technology to read centuries-old letters sealed using "letterlocking.".

The contents of a handwritten European letter sealed for 300 years are no longer a secret, thanks to a technique that let scholars peek inside virtually without damaging the intricately folded historical document. .

That's no history-making revelation, but the technique that revealed the request could hold promise for unlocking sealed correspondence containing historical gems across time and place.

All those years ago, Sennacques' letter was closed using a process called "letterlocking," a complex folding technique used globally to secure post before the invention of envelopes.

The research team unlocked several letters using their new technique and believes it holds promise for many other unopened letters. 

"When we got back the first scans of the letter packets, we were instantly hooked," said Amanda Ghassaei, who helped write the publicly available code for virtually unfolding the letters