The Secret of the Mona Lisa Smile: Mystery Solved?

Recommendable, however only two segments are really interesting. First segment around 5-6 minutes and the last part starting around 8:30.

How much has been said and written about the Mona Lisa just over the last 1-2 hundred years! Amazing!

(242) The Secret of the Mona Lisa Smile: Mystery Solved? | NOVA | PBS - YouTube

Have scientists found Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA? It's complicated!

Amazing stuff! What about the Albert Einstein DNA project? Will we soon all be smart like da Vinci or Einstein?

"In a remarkable milestone in a decadelong odyssey, he and other members of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project (LDVP), a global scientific collective, report in a paper posted today on bioRxiv that they have recovered DNA from Holy Child and other objects—and some may be from Leonardo himself. ...

The preprint concludes that Y chromosome sequences from the artwork and from a letter penned by a cousin of Leonardo both belong to a genetic grouping of people who share a common ancestor in Tuscany, where Leonardo was born. The data suggest the DNA on the artwork could be Leonardo’s, but it’s far from proof ..."

From the abstract:

"Cultural heritage objects can accumulate DNA from materials, environments, and repeated human contact, but biomolecular profiling of such items is constrained by nondestructive sampling requirements, ultra-low biomass, and high contamination risk.

Here we present a minimally invasive workflow that integrates gentle swab collection, low-input whole-metagenome sequencing, taxonomic profiling, and Y-chromosome analyses to recover “biological signatures of history” from Renaissance-era artwork and archival correspondence associated with ancestors of Leonardo da Vinci.

Across artifacts, we recovered heterogeneous mixtures of microbial and eukaryotic DNA (including bacteria, fungi, plants, and viruses) consistent with composite “biomes” that reflect differences in substrate, storage, conservation treatments, and handling. Multivariate comparisons show reproducible sample-to-sample separations.

In parallel, we assessed human Y-chromosome signal using a panel of ∼90,000 phylogenetically informative markers and partial Y-STR profiling where feasible. Across multiple independent swabs from Leonardo da Vinci-associated items, the obtained Y chromosome marker data suggested assignments within the broader E1b1/E1b1b clade. However, the control samples also indicate mixed contributions consistent with modern handling and other sources.

Together, these data demonstrate the feasibility as well as limitations of combining metagenomics and human DNA marker analysis for cultural heritage science, providing a baseline workflow for future conservation science studies and hypothesis-driven investigations of provenance, authentication and handling history."

Exclusive: Have scientists found Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA? | Science | AAAS

Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project "The goal of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project is to conclusively determine if the remains purported to be those of Leonardo da Vinci at Amboise Castle are his, by comparing DNA profiles to those of known relatives. Further, we intend to use whole genome sequencing data from Leonardo’s remains to better understand his extraordinary talents and visual acuity through genetic associations. ..."

Biological signatures of history: Examination of composite biomes and Y chromosome analysis from da Vinci-associated cultural artifacts (open access)

Fig. 1 Isolation and amplification of ancient DNA from art obtained by the double-swab technique.

Fig. 2 Distinct biome profiles are present in ancient cultural artifacts.

Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist

Very recommendable!

Leonardo da Vinci studies of anatomy don't get recognition they should

Recommendable!

"... Yet one great achievement that frequently goes unrecognised is his studies of human anatomy. More than 500 years after his death, it’s time this changed. ...

The human anatomy became one of his great interests. This was seeded during his time as an apprentice in Andrea del Verrocchio’s bottega (studio) in Florence, where studying the human form was crucial for achieving realistic depictions.

Creating detailed anatomical drawings required precise sketching skills and the ability to accurately depict the structures being studied. ...

His anatomical sketches were unlike anything seen before. For example, his sketches of the muscles of the arms and human skull are comparable to illustrations in today’s medical anatomy texts. ..."

da Vinci studies of anatomy dont get recognition they should

Sketches of human muscles, 1515.

What Makes “The Mona Lisa” a Remarkable Work of Art | Leonardo da Vinci by Ken Burns

Very recommendable!

The Infinity of Visual Space: “The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne” | Leonardo da Vinci by Ken Burns

Very recommendable!

Leonardo's Scientific Experiments and Discoveries | Leonardo da Vinci by Ken Burns

Very recommendable!

Dissecting a 100-Year-Old Man and the Drawings That Changed Anatomy | Leonardo da Vinci by Ken Burns

Very recommendable! His anatomical studies are absolutely amazing!

The Battle of Anghiari and the Michelangelo Renaissance Rivalry | Leonardo da Vinci

Very recommendable!

The Vitruvian Man and Anatomical Studies | Leonardo da Vinci

Recommendable!

Thousands of Pages of Inventions, Ideas and Flying Machines | Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks

Very recommendable!

How “The Last Supper” was Painted | Leonardo da Vinci

Very recommendable!

Narratives in Paintings: The Virgin on the Rocks and Lady with an Ermine | Leonardo da Vinci

Very recommendable!

The Art of Perspective: The Annunciation and Ginerva de'Benci | early works of Leonardo da Vinci

Very recommendable! What a genius!

Ken Burns on the genius of Leonardo da Vinci

This should be a very interesting documentary again!

Microsoft releases AI video of Mona Lisa rapping

What is Leonardo da Vinci thinking about it? 😊

P.S. It appears they are trying to censor this video and Microsoft may have already removed this video.

Microsoft releases AI video of Mona Lisa rapping

A 500-year-old device invented by Leonardo da Vinci may hold the key to quieter drones

This research appears to be unfinished business or early stage!

A 500-year-old device invented by Leonardo da Vinci may hold the key to quieter drones | Hub

Leonardo da Vinci's Forgotten Experiments Explored Gravity as a Form of Acceleration

Why are human geniuses so rare? How many female geniuses were overlooked, not taken seriously, or ignored?

It can take up to hundreds of years to understand them better! The contemporaries of such geniuses were and still are probably overwhelmed to keep up!

Even Leonardo da Vinci still surprises us!

From the abstract:

"Despite limited tools, Leonardo da Vinci displayed ingenious problem-solving. The authors examine a combination of Leonardo’s thought and physical experiments regarding the acceleration of falling objects. Leonardo recorded that if a water-pouring vase moves transversally (sideways), mimicking the trajectory of a vertically falling object, it generates a right (as in orthogonal) triangle with equal leg length, composed of falling material lining up diagonally (forming the hypotenuse) and the vase trajectory forming one of the legs. On the hypotenuse, Leonardo wrote “Equatione di Moti,” or equalization of motions, noting the equivalence of the two orthogonal motions, one effected by gravity and the other prescribed by the experimenter. The authors present an analytical solution using Newtonian mechanics to confirm Leonardo’s “Equivalence principle.”"

Leonardo da Vinci's Forgotten Experiments Explored Gravity as a Form of Acceleration | www.caltech.edu Engineers from Caltech have discovered that Leonardo da Vinci's understanding of gravity—though not wholly accurate—was centuries ahead of his time.

Da Vinci’s understanding of gravity was centuries ahead of his time Engineers re-created his experiment with computer modeling and found yet another surprise from the brilliant man.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Visualization of Gravity as a Form of Acceleration (no public access)

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci: Great Art Explained

Very recommendable! Amazing stuff! The painting Leonardo retained to the very end of his life!

The Secret Of The Mona Lisa: Da Vinci's Most Famous Smile

Very recommendable! 

Is the Mona Lisa a portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci's mother? He was an illegitimate child. He immortalized his mother like no other famous painter that I know of. Would it not explain why this painting is so captivating and became so famous? I had no idea or 

I forgot that Leonardo da Vinci died in France and that the Mona Lisa portrait was one of three paintings in his belongings when he died. This may explain why the Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre museum, Paris.