geekosystem

There are  lot of factors that go into the sound of a famed Stradivarius violin -- the type of wood, the way it was aged, and some good old-fashioned unicorn magic. Despite years of research and best efforts of scientists and musicians though, some of those factors still remain a mystery. Recently, a Swedish wood researcher may have unlocked one of the lasting secrets of the Stradivarius sound. By treating the wood of an inexpensive violin with two types of fungus that decay wood in an unexpected way, Professor Francis W. M. R. Schwarze was able to manipulate the inexpensive violin's sound to be indistinguishable from a Stradivarius.

It started with the sale of a violin by Erica, with money exchanged via PayPal. The story goes awry when the buyer of the instrument complained to both Erica and PayPal that the violin was a fake -- despite apparently being appraised by several experts. In a move echoing the wisdom of King Solomon, PayPal ordered the buyer to destroy the violin. As you can see above, that's exactly what happened.