Egyptian authorities should take urgent steps to prevent further salt damage
to ancient paintings in the tombs of the Pharaohs, say geologists. Raphael
Wüst of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and Christian
Schlüchter of the University of Bern in Switzerland studied the salt
content of the rock that was excavated to form most of the royal tombs in the
Valley of the Kings. They found that these rock formations have high levels of
salts, and are also highly porous. Changes in humidity due to tourists and flash
floods encourage the salts to crystallise on the tomb…
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
2
A type of fibre that stimulates GLP-1 release approved for use in food
3
Where, when and how to watch the 2026 solar eclipse
4
The weirdness of neutrinos could completely rewrite particle physics
5
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
6
Have scientists really made a living cell from scratch? Not quite
7
Slowdown of AMOC ocean current may be gradual and reversible
8
This physicist is hunting for the biggest black hole in the universe
9
Remote-controlled cockroach swarm can now breathe underwater
10
The best new science-fiction novels published in July 2026



