This is a formidable undertaking: the process involves laser-scanning the caves, creating millimetre-perfect fibreglass replicas, and then painstakingly repainting each fresco.

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Dr Steven Willis, senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Kent, said laser-scanning technology had been used to analyse the helmet and establish details of its manufacture, decoration and use.

BBC: Iron Age bronze helmet found on Canterbury farmland

This little miracle involves using tiny chip-mounted diffraction gratings and laser light passed over them via a scanning mirror.

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Using an instrument similar to the scanning bar-code guns at supermarket checkouts, this machine analyses black plastics with a laser.

ECONOMIST: Recycling