Italian researchers have used a new X-ray technique to demonstrate that the Shroud of Turin dates from the time of Jesus Christ. Scientists at the Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council studied eight tiny samples of fabric from the Shroud, a burial garment that bears the imprint of a man killed by crucifixion, using a method called wide-angle X-ray scattering. They were able to date the flax cellulose – long chains of sugar molecules that slowly deteriorate over time – to show that the shroud is 2,000 years old.