Secrets of the ancient masters

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

It is human nature to invent something new, and over the past few decades, scientists have made tremendous strides in the development of the latest technologies. But, as you know, the new is the well-forgotten old, and often ancient masters who did not have academic degrees possessed secrets that still remain a mystery to us.

Damascus steel

Often, authors of stories and ballads about medieval knights supply their heroes with swords of Damascus steel. The choice for such a weapon falls for a reason. After all, swords of Damascus steel are very durable, flexible and sharp weapons, superior in their characteristics to modern blades. The secret of the valuable Damascus alloy was owned by the craftsmen of the Middle East, and it was there from 540 AD. and until the beginning of the 19th century. made Damascus swords.

This weapon also had an external difference - thanks to the cunning method of forging, the blades were decorated with a "marble" pattern. Over time, the production of Damascus blades died out, and the secret of the technology was irretrievably lost. However, there is speculation that ancient weaponsmiths produced blades using something like modern nanotechnology.

Currently, carbon nanotubes are used in metallurgy to increase the strength of the alloy. Structural analysis of Damascus steel showed that it contains iron carbide impurities in the form of nanowires, which, according to experts, when heated to high temperatures, contribute to the growth of carbon nanotubes.

The mystery of the Inca stonecutters

The buildings erected by the ancient Incas still amaze scientists. For example, the plane of some processed stones is several square meters, but the stone blocks are so tightly fitted to each other that a sheet of paper cannot be inserted between them. How people who did not have special tools managed to achieve this is not clear.

The pioneering conquerors of America believed that the Indians knew how to "soften" stones. This hypothesis was born of rumors that one of the conquistadors allegedly noticed that the spurs on his shoes melted after he touched a plant. It is difficult to say in what way the Incas polished stones and moved boulders weighing up to 20 tons. Some experts are inclined to believe that the Indians knew a lot more about gravity than we think, and also possessed laser technology for processing stones.

Flexible glass and chameleon goblet

In some ancient literary sources, which talk about the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius, there is a story about an amazing gift that a glazier presented to the emperor.

The master presented Tiberius with a glass bowl, which deformed upon impact, but did not break. However, the emperor was not delighted with the curiosity, but was afraid that the massive introduction of flexible glass would devalue gold and silver. To avoid these troubles, the craftsman's head was cut off. The plot of the story is approximately the same both in the records of Pliny the Elder and in the "Satyricon" by Petronius the Arbiter.

However, Isidore of Seville presents a slightly different version, where not glass is mentioned, but a shiny, very ductile and flexible metal extracted from clay. Therefore, some researchers believe that we are talking about the discovery of aluminum, which was officially discovered only in the 19th century.

The Lycurgus Cup, created again by the craftsmen of Ancient Rome, did not reveal its secret to scientists for a long time. The mysterious glass bowl depicting King Lycurgus changed its color depending on the location of the light source. If the backlight was from the back, the goblet turned red, and if the stream of light fell from the front, its color changed to green.

The mystery was solved in 1990, after analyzing a fragment of the product using a microscope. It turned out that Roman artisans were well versed in nanotechnology. The result of the analysis showed that the ancient craftsmen added gold and silver pollen to the glass, and the diameter of the particles of these metals did not exceed 50 nanometers.

The chameleon cup was the result of extraordinarily precise work; it is almost impossible to get such an effect by chance. Light falling on the goblet causes the electrons of gold and silver to vibrate, as a result of which a color change occurs, which is visible to the observer when the position changes.

Concrete from Ancient Rome

It turns out that concrete made by the ancient Romans is a much more durable and environmentally friendly material than modern cement mixes. Concrete structures built today are designed for a service life of 100-120 years. But the Roman buildings after 2000 years are in good "working" condition. And this is taking into account the fact that ancient concrete blocks were constantly exposed to sea water.

The fact is that the Romans used a mixture of volcanic ash with lime to prepare a concrete mixture. This mixture was diluted with sea water, while an instant reaction of lime slaking with heating to a high temperature took place. The concrete obtained in this way "set" tightly. It is possible to use the recipe of ancient builders even now, and this is a more profitable and effective way of preparing concrete.

Miracle machine

The Greek Heron of Alexandria, who lived in the 1st century, left behind many interesting inventions, and one of them is an automatic vessel for the sale of sacred water. The parishioners who came to the ancient temple threw a coin of 5 drachmas into the vessel, and (oh, miracle!) Holy water began to pour out of the vessel.

The construction device was simple: a coin thrown into the slot fell on the tray and began to press on the valve. This operated a precisely balanced lever. The valve moved, water flowed out, and when the coin slid off the tray, the lever fell into place, closing the valve. This invention brought the priests a good profit, but then the first vending machine in history for some reason was forgotten for centuries. So it had to be reinvented already in the 19th century.

Everything ingenious is simple. This is once again convinced by a simple earthquake detector made 2000 years ago by the ancient Chinese inventor Zhang Heng. The device that Zhang created is a kind of bronze samovar. On this vessel, in compass directions, with their heads down, there are 8 dragons with bronze balls in their mouths.

Under each of the dragons sits a toad with its mouth wide open. When the ball fell into the mouth of the toad, it meant the approach of an earthquake, and guided by the dragons, one could find out where to expect it from. In 2005, Chinese scientists recreated Zhang's device and tested it for seismic sensitivity. The results showed that the ancient seismoscope captures simulated seismic shocks as well as expensive seismic equipment.

Heavy-duty plastic

Passing from ancient inventors to our contemporaries, one cannot fail to mention Nikola Tesla, who never discovered the secret of the wireless transmission of electricity. But there are still no less interesting finds, and one of them is Starlite.

In 1993, a certain Maurice Ward, a hairdresser by profession, presented a new type of polymer material called Starlite at the World Tomorrow show. In the experiment, a raw egg coated with a thin layer of Starlite was heated with a blowtorch for several minutes.

After the polymer was peeled off the shell, the egg remained moist. Super - plastic withstands temperatures of 10,000 ° C. It would seem that the invention would make a breakthrough in science, but … nothing of the kind happened. Talk about Starlite gradually died down, and Ward himself died in 2011, taking to his grave the secret of the unique polymer composition.

So, apparently, humanity expects many more interesting discoveries and inventions. Although it is possible, all this has already been invented at some point.