The NSF approved the funding request because in addition to advancing scientific research, it 麻豆精品 S檚 meant to foster interdisciplinary collaboration at the University of Central Florida and beyond. Rather than siloed in one department 麻豆精品 S檚 lab, the state-of-the-art X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS) with ultrafine imaging capability will be used by researchers from physicists to anthropologists.

麻豆精品 S淲e went across the campus, from engineering to archaeology, 麻豆精品 S� said Professor Sudipta Seal, who led the effort to acquire the technology. 麻豆精品 S淎 really interesting facet of this collaboration is how this instrument 麻豆精品 S� beyond medicine and manufacturing and nanotechnology 麻豆精品 S� will help us understand the origin of civilization. That 麻豆精品 S檚 the impact of getting this instrument on campus. 麻豆精品 S�

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyzes the surface chemistry of a material by irradiating a solid surface with a beam of X-rays while measuring the kinetic energy and electrons emitted from the surface. It can be used to examine corrosion on medical implants, help develop high-end microchips, characterize nanomaterials, study the behavior of biological cells over time, and detect trace elements in forensic cases, among other things.

麻豆精品 S淭he breadth and the width of what the instrument can do is phenomenal, from electronics to medical to archaeological to manufacturing to entertainment to forensics 麻豆精品 S� it goes on and on, 麻豆精品 S� said Seal, chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and past director of both UCF 麻豆精品 S檚聽NanoScience Technology Center and its Advanced Materials Processing Analysis Center.

Those in UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Department of Anthropology in the College of Sciences hope the instrument will help answer questions about the materials and technologies of ancient cultures.聽Knowing how a material is composed聽can answer questions about ancient trade, innovation or even human diet.

麻豆精品 S淭he receipt of this grant highlights the already interdisciplinary nature of anthropological research, particularly archaeology, 麻豆精品 S� said Professor Tosha Dupras, chair of the Department of Anthropology. 麻豆精品 S淭echnologies and methodologies such as the XPS that are used more widely in other scientific disciplines can often be utilized by anthropologists to inform on questions of the past. This grant also illustrates a successful inter-college collaboration, and the true nature of interdisciplinary research. 麻豆精品 S�

UCF has an obsolete X-ray spectrometer 麻豆精品 S� 1980s technology that was donated to the university in the late 1990s 麻豆精品 S� but its capabilities are limited.

The $629,650 NSF grant will fund most of the purchase of the new instrument, with mandatory matching funds from the university paying the rest. It will be housed in the new Research I building, formerly called Interdisciplinary Research and Incubator, which is nearing completion.

It will be the most powerful instrument of its type in a 100-mile radius, Seal said, so it 麻豆精品 S檚 expected to draw researchers from area hospitals, corporations and others outside academia who will be able to use it.

Collaborators on the grant application included Assistant Professor Scott Branting from the Department of Anthropology, Assistant Professor Tania Roy from the NanoScience Technology Center, Professor Yongho Sohn from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Assistant Professor Xiaofeng Feng from the Department of Physics, Assistant Professor Yang Yang from the NanoScience Technology Center, and Amit Kumar, associate director of research programs at BRIDG.

Since 2014, Branting has been a principal investigator on a U.S. Department of State project meant to track damage to cultural-heritage sites in war-torn Syria and northern Iraq. It 麻豆精品 S檚 a monumental task documenting wanton destruction of ancient sites 麻豆精品 S� some of them thousands of years old 麻豆精品 S� by fighters from the Islamic State and other forces.

麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 horrific and it 麻豆精品 S檚 widespread. Cultural heritage has been specifically targeted 麻豆精品 S� it 麻豆精品 S檚 not just collateral damage and not just by the Islamic State, 麻豆精品 S� Branting said. 麻豆精品 S淵ou look at imagery of Aleppo [Syria] and there are whole blocks that have been leveled by barrel bombs that were sent out of helicopters by [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad forces. You have Islamic State placing explosives in cultural heritage sites and blowing them up so they can create videos for marketing purposes. 麻豆精品 S�

The ancient Citadel of Aleppo, Syria, shown in 2010 (top) and flanked by bomb craters in 2016.

Branting, an assistant professor in the College of Sciences’ Department of Anthropology, works with a team from the American Schools of Oriental Research. In 2014, the State Department accepted a proposal to collaborate with ASOR to document, protect and preserve cultural-heritage sites in Syria. The project soon expanded to include northern Iraq.

Branting and his team are doing that by melding ancient history with cutting-edge science. They 麻豆精品 S檙e examining high-resolution photos taken by satellites to document sites 麻豆精品 S� current conditions and monitor them for damage.

Branting, who came to UCF from the University of Chicago in 2015, has worked with satellite imagery for years, but obtaining the data from private vendors is expensive for researchers. ASOR is able to scrutinize huge volumes of photos taken from space through its relationship with the State Department. The images are typically very recent, some from the day before. And the State Department also has enough influence to request that satellites be tasked with photographing particular areas.

What they 麻豆精品 S檝e seen is disturbing: The ancient Citadel in Aleppo surrounded by bomb craters. The columns of the Tetrapylon toppled and a portion of the fa莽ade of the ancient Roman theater destroyed by ISIS in the desert city of Palmyra, Syria, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In Palmyra, Syria, the Tetrapylon in December 2016 (top) and with toppled columns a few weeks later in January 2017.

ASOR and Branting have the mission of sounding the alarm about the destruction. But they 麻豆精品 S檙e also documenting the sites 麻豆精品 S� pre-war condition so that 麻豆精品 S渃ultural heritage first-responders 麻豆精品 S� can be better prepared to reconstruct or preserve what 麻豆精品 S檚 left once the conflict subsides.

The work is important to the future economic solvency of these regions, as archaeological tourism is a significant source of money for governments and residents.

At the same time, there 麻豆精品 S檚 a clear national security element to the organization 麻豆精品 S檚 mission. While ISIS claims to destroy pre-Islamic sites because it considers them heretical, many sites have been looted of valuable antiquities. For instance, recent satellite images of the nearly 5,000-year-old city of Mari in eastern Syria show the archaeological site pockmarked by hundreds of pits dug by looters. Antiquities sold on the black market have been used to purchase munitions in Syria and fund insurgents in Iraq.

The city of Mari archaeological site in Syria in 2012 (top) and in 2016 pockmarked by pits dug by looters.

The State Department has asked ASOR to study how the antiquities are being removed and the black market trade routes where they 麻豆精品 S檙e being sold. The information could also be used for future war-crimes prosecution. Information from the group 麻豆精品 S檚 reports has made its way into White House intelligence briefings, Branting said.

麻豆精品 S淭he Department of State wanted to have independent streams of information about this, 麻豆精品 S� Branting said. 麻豆精品 S淭he military and other intelligence agencies collect information, but it 麻豆精品 S檚 definitely not a top priority for them. They wanted a partner who knew what they were doing, who could adequately look at the cultural heritage and understand its importance. 麻豆精品 S�

ASOR has gathered information about well-known sites such as Palmyra, but also built a database of about 6,000 lower-profile sites in Syria and another 6,000 in northern Iraq. A byproduct of their work is that imagery in the database likely includes formerly unknown sites, or some known but unexplored sites, that could offer years of postwar study for archeologists.

Branting isn 麻豆精品 S檛 daunted by the idea of dealing with sites ravaged by war.

麻豆精品 S淎rcheology is constantly dealing with sites that are falling apart, from hundreds or thousands of years ago, 麻豆精品 S� he said. 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 a question of what 麻豆精品 S檚 still left, what can be preserved and what information from the past can be salvaged. 麻豆精品 S�