1.
Long recovery from mass extinction seen
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, Ill., March 7 (UPI) -- A University of Illinois scientist says Mona Lisa probably wasn't a man, and it's even more unlikely it was a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci.
UI researchers last year used facial-recognition software to analyze the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile. They concluded the model was happy, with touches of disgust, fear and anger, at least as Leonardo da Vinci painted her, the Champaign (Ill.) News-Gazette reported Tuesday.
Now Professor Thomas Huang has analyzed the painting to determine its subject's likely gender and compared it with a self-portrait of da Vinci.
Huang says facial-recognition software he and his students developed indicate a 60-40 probability the painting is of a female. And Huang says even if it is a man, it doesn't match well with Leonardo's sketch of himself.
"Of course, nothing proves anything," said Huang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering. "At least it indicates these conjectures may not be right."
The portrait, which da Vinci is believed to have completed in 1507, is formally entitled "Mona Lisa del Gioconda."
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Additional Science News Stories | |
GREENSBORO, N.C., May 30 (UPI) --
Jurors at the John Edwards campaign finance trial in North Carolina haven't ruled out another week of deliberations, the presiding judge revealed.
|
NEW YORK, May 30 (UPI) --
The first installment of the American miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys" was seen by 13.9 million total viewers when it debuted, the History channel said.
|
ITHACA, N.Y., May 30 (UPI) --
The genome of the tomato has been decoded, a step toward improving yield, nutrition, disease resistance, taste and color of the tomato, U.S. researchers say.
|
NEW ORLEANS, May 30 (UPI) --
A panel of astrologers at a conference in New Orleans unanimously predicted U.S. President Barack Obama will win his re-election bid in November.
|
| Stories | Photos | People | Comments |
View Caption
