Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Luke Farritor, a University of Nebraska at Lincoln student who recently won the Vesuvius Challenge grand prize by deciphering passages of text from digital scans of a carbonized scroll. This young man is smart. Last year, Farritor, a Lincoln native, decided to take on the challenge of deciphering text on papyrus charred into a lump of carbon by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Because the scrolls were carbonized, they are virtually impossible to unroll without destroying them. Farritor created a machine-learning model that senses tiny differences that can reveal ink. Yes, he is that smart. Along the way, he enlisted help from peers across the globe to pitch in and decipher the burnt scrolls recovered from an ancient library. Luke and his team ultimately submitted 15 passages containing more than 2,000 characters. The work contained in the passages they recovered hadn't been read since at least 79 A.D. Congratulations to Luke. His innovative talent has already taken him far. We look forward to seeing what challenge he takes on next. We hope he stays in Nebraska. We want him to live there. Thanking Meteorologists in Nebraska”