Scientists say Turin Shroud is supernatural

[skepticscott]

37. And where has the vanillin loss technique

been shown to be as reliable as radiocarbon dating? Where are the independent results from other labs that agree with his, and that also determined the correct ages of blind control samples (as was done, properly, with the radiocarbon dating)? And where is the independent proof that the area sampled for RCD was not original to the Shroud? if that were suspected, it would have been very easy to go back and look at the fabric physically, but there is not indication that that was ever done. Don't forget, the original testing and sampling was done by people who had been over every inch of the Shroud, and knew that it had been repaired. Does it seem likely that they would have made such a basic error? Nor was ever a radiocarbon dating of cloth from the area that the vanillin loss testing was performed on, to corroborate it. And what are the dye lakes that are present? And how does this alleged age conform with the fact that the image is produced by pigments?

Try reading Walter McCrone's book, Judgement Day for the Turin Shroud. The truth is that, as an artifact, the Shroud is not a particularly difficult problem, no more so than things that are analyzed in museum and university labs all the time. But there is a certain fringe out there that started with the unshakable notion that this IS the burial shroud of Jesus, and will go to ridiculous lengths to discount any evidence to the contrary, or just to get their 15 minutes of fame.