Over recent years we’ve been treated to a series of fascinating advances in the world of x-ray imaging, as researchers have developed their x-ray microtomography techniques and equipment to the point ...

Hundreds of years ago, people developed ingenious methods to secure their letters from prying eyes – and they did it with only paper, adhesive and folds. Late at night on 8 February 1587, an ...

Centuries before encrypted texts and secure video conferencing, people relied on physical engineering to keep their written messages sturdy, sealed, and secure against eavesdroppers. In a new book, ...

An unopened letter that was mailed back in 1697 but never delivered has been read by researchers who have developed a way to virtually "unfold" sealed letter packets without having to actually break ...

In a steady, stately script, an anonymous Dutch writer living around 1700 wrote a letter: “I never thought you’d be such a miserable dog,” it went. “If you’ve got something to say, just say it to my ...

On the eve of her execution, Mary wrote a last message to French king, which scholars believe she used elaborate skill to secure Mary, Queen of Scots used a complicated “letterlocking” process to ...

A MODERN CORRESPONDENT wanting to communicate privately can use computerised encryption. Three hundred years ago, origami would have been a better bet. Before gummed envelopes became common in the ...