February
22
/ 2023
Medical tests performed on a mummified mermaid corpse on display at a temple in Japan have been exposed as a hoax, although it isn’t made of quite what was suspected. The so-called “mermaid mummy” is actually a tiny mannequin, constructed out of a mixture of man-made organic and manufactured materials. Despite painstaking efforts to create a mermaid that resembled Japanese folklore, advanced technology ultimately proved too difficult to deceive. Scientists from Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts used radioactive dating techniques, X-rays and CT scanning technology to study the mermaid mummy. The results from these tests enabled them to finally uncover the truth about the supposed mermaid which has been on display at the Enjuin temple in the city
