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3D replica of a 500-year-old iron prosthetic hand reveals the hidden story of a Renaissance amputee.
Historians and engineers have brought a 16th-century mechanical hand back to life using 3D printing—unlocking secrets about technology, disability, and human resilience in the early modern world.
#AncientTechnology #RenaissanceHistory #Prosthetics #3DPrinting #HistoryReconstructed #AncientOrigins
ancient-origins.net/news-histo

How to Keep Beverages Cool Outside the Refrigerator

April 25, 2012

"In the industrialized world, we know only of one way to cool beverages: place containers in refrigerators. This practice, which occurs on a massive scale, is utterly dependent on fossil fuels.

"However, people obtained the same result much more #sustainably before the advent of the Industrial Revolution. In hot, dry climates, we used porous earthenware jugs that were not only re-usable, but also kept water cool by taking advantage of natural energy sources.

"The best known example is the Spanish ‘#botijo’, an unglazed ceramic container that cools beverages by evaporation. Similar drinking containers can be found in other Mediterranean countries, as well as in Mexico (where it is known as a ‘#búcaro’) and on the Indian subcontinent (where it is called a ‘#ghara’, ‘#matka’ or ‘#suhari’).

"The ceramic water cooler probably originated in the Indus Valley Civilization, which would make it 5000 years old."

Read more:
notechmagazine.com/2012/04/bot

www.notechmagazine.comHow to Keep Beverages Cool Outside the Refrigerator

One of Europe’s Hottest Cities Rediscovers an Old Cooling Technique

By Laura Millan
August 8, 2023

"The streets of #Seville in southern #Spain were so hot that July afternoon that it felt almost impossible to walk outdoors. As temperatures approached 42C (108F), people scrambled to find shelter in air-conditioned homes, offices and public buildings. Yet, less than two miles from the city center, a cool breeze blew under a giant white roof.

"The structure is a part of CartujaQanat, an architectural experiment in cooling solutions that doesn’t rely on burning more planet-warming #FossilFuels. The site, about the size of two soccer fields, includes two auditoriums, green spaces, a promenade and a shaded area with benches. But its star performer remains hidden — the qanat, a network of underground pipes and tubes inspired by Persian-era canals.

"The grid of #aqueducts can lower surrounding temperatures by as much as 10C using just air, water and #solar power, according to Emasesa, the Seville public water company that helped to build it. The system is modeled on ancient tunnels dug to bring water to agricultural fields that were first documented in what is today #Iran. The Persians realized 1,000 years ago that the running water also cooled the air in the canals, so they fashioned vertical shafts to bring that air to the surface.

" 'This is not an air-conditioning system like the one you may have in your home,' says Juan Luis López, the project’s supervisor and an engineer at Emasesa. 'We use natural techniques and materials to reduce temperatures.' "

Read more:
bloomberg.com/features/2023-se

Archived version:
archive.ph/36fz1

Bloomberg · Seville Weather: Heat Wave 2023 Measures Include a Very Old Cooling TechniqueVon Laura Millan

I love the aesthetic of "beehive clay pipes"! More of this, please!

#AncientTechnology gets an update in #sustainable #cooling solution

By Drew Zeiba • February 20, 2019

" 'The way we cool our buildings right now is totally wrong,' said Indian architect Monish Siripurapu in a video produced the United Nations‘ Environment program. The words are bleak, but arguably true; the electricity and hydrofluorocarbons most modern cooling systems demand ironically warm the planet overall while they cool our conditioned spaces. On top of that, with global temperatures rising and worldwide populations growing, demands for cooling are only increasing. More #EcoFriendly options are urgently needed, and Siripurapu’s New Delhi–based firm Ant Studio has proposed an affordable, scalable, sustainable, and aesthetically appealing solution to the problem of #AirConditioning.

"Ant Studio’s mission is to combine 'art, nature, and technology,' and its temperature-regulating solution is designed to be as much an art installation as a cooling system. The Beehive, as the system’s first iteration is called, was built to ameliorate high-temperature conditions for laborers at the Noida, Uttar Pradesh–based manufacturer Deki Electronics, where generators and other equipment output their own heat, adding to high outdoor temperatures. The Beehive is part of a larger exploration by the firm that leverages #terracotta tubes and water as part of a low-energy cooling system.

"The Beehive, so-named for its honeycomb-like structure, follows an Indian tradition of using earthenware to cool water. 'Traditional architecture has so much wisdom,' said Siripurapu.

"The ancient process has been wholly modernized, with tools such as computational fluid dynamics modeling, as well as the addition of low-energy water pumps and, if needed, electric fans.

"But instead of using fans with the Beehive installation, Ant Studio’s cooling device was placed right in front of the exhaust vents of the diesel generator near where workers at the factory were active. This was able to drop the 'scorching' air being expelled from the generator from 122 degrees Fahrenheit to 97 degrees Fahrenheit, while lowering the overall temperature in the area and reportedly consuming 40 percent less energy than other cooling systems, not to mention using no refrigerants."

Read more:
archpaper.com/2019/02/ant-stud

So, after my discussion with @BrambleBearGrrrauwling about keeping cool earlier this week, I was motivated to get around to editing the segments in #TudorMonasteryFarm that involved how Tudor-era household dairies kept cool in the heat (and how they made cheese without refrigeration). CW - video contains sheep's milk and dairy cheese.

youtube.com/watch?v=VnafFliVkk

AO THROWBACK - China's enigmatic Baigong Pipes were a mystery. Nestled in a cave near Mount Baigong 150 000-year-old iron pipes lead to a salt-water lake. What could explain this seemingly out of place phenomenon?
ancient-origins.net/ancient-te
#ancientorigins #ancient #history #ancienthistory #historylovers #historyfacts #historymatters #archaeology #BaigongMystery #AncientTechnology #UnexplainedHistory

6 traditional architectural solutions that can help us adapt to #ExtremeWeather

Aug 10, 2023

"Extreme weather is one of the top two threats facing the world in the next two years, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023.

"The race is on to make our homes able to withstand the effects of the #ClimateCrisis.

"Could these innovations from the past be part of the solution?"

Read more:
weforum.org/stories/2023/08/tr

#EarthenBricks can be used to build wildfire-resistant homes

It’s a modern version of an ancient building technique.

October 17, 2024

"When fire rages across a landscape, wood can go up in flames. But dirt does not burn, so some people are drawing inspiration from age-old earthen building methods to help create more fire-resilient homes.

"Morey: 'The blocks that I make are considered unfired earthen masonry, and we have been using this material for over 10,000 years.'

"That’s Lisa Morey, owner and founder of a company called Nova Terra. She says much of the world continues to build with earth, but it’s rare for new buildings in the United States. So she’s trying to change that.

"Her company manufactures compressed #EarthenBricks called EcoBlox. They’re made from #sand and #clay, mixed with lime for additional strength and water protection.

"The blocks themselves cannot burn.

"Morey: 'So … for wildfires that we’re seeing of course more often now, the walls provide a lot better resistance.'

"She says homes built with #EcoBlox can also be more energy efficient. And creating the blocks themselves uses minimal energy and fuel.

"So this modern take on an ancient building method can create homes that are better for the climate and less vulnerable to some of the impacts of a warming world."

Source:
yaleclimateconnections.org/202

Yale Climate Connections · Earthen bricks can be used to build wildfire-resistant homesVon YCC Team

Ancient Egyptian ‘Air Conditioning’ Could Help Cool Modern Buildings

One research team hopes to harness 5,000-year-old ideas to battle rising temperatures.

By Andrew Paul, August 22, 2023

"While the planet continues to endure scorching, unprecedented temperatures, a 60-square-foot shipping container is serving as a testing ground for passive, sustainable cooling solutions. As detailed in a 2023 study published in the research journal Energies, an engineering team at Washington State University utilized the space to find and improve upon ancient cooling methods that don’t generate any forms of greenhouse gas—including water evaporation atop repurposed wind towers.

"Buildings require roughly 60 percent of the entire world’s electricity, almost 20 percent of which is annually earmarked to keep those structures cool and comfortable. As society contends with climate change’s most ravaging effects, air conditioning systems’ requirements are only expected to rise in the coming years—potentially generating a feedback loop that could exacerbate carbon emission levels. Finding green ways to lower businesses’ and homes’ internal temperatures will therefore need solutions other than simply boosting wasteful AC units.

"This is especially vital as rising global populations require new construction, particularly within the developing world. According to Omar Al-Hassawi, lead author and assistant professor in WSU’s School of Design and Construction, this push will be a major issue if designers continue to rely on mechanical systems—such as traditional, electric AC units. 'There’s going to be a lot more air conditioning that’s needed, especially with the population rise in the hotter regions of the world,' Al-Hassawi said in a statement.

" 'There might be [some] inclusion of mechanical systems, but how can we cool buildings to begin with—before relying on the mechanical systems?' he adds.

"By retrofitting their shipping container test chamber with off-the-grid, #solar powered battery storage, AL-Hassawi’s team can heat their chamber to upwards of 130 degrees Fahrenheit to test out their solutions while measuring factors such as air velocity, temperature, and humidity. The team is particularly focused on optimizing a passive cooling method involving large towers and evaporative cooling that dates as far back as 2,500 BCE in ancient Egypt. In these designs, moisture evaporates at the tower’s top, which turns into cool, heavier air that then sinks down to the habitable space below. In the team’s version, moisture could be generated via misting nozzles, shower heads, or simply water-soaked pads.

" 'It’s an older technology, but there’s been an attempt to innovate and use a mix of new and existing technologies to improve performance and the cooling capacity of these systems,' explained Al-Hassawi, who also envisions retrofitting smokestacks in older buildings to work as new #CoolingTowers.

" 'That’s why research like this would really help,' he adds. 'How can we address building design, revive some of these more ancient strategies, and include them in contemporary building construction? The test chamber becomes a platform to do this.' "

Source:
getpocket.com/explore/item/anc

#AncientTechnologies #SolarPunkSunday #CoolingSolutions
#ExtremeHeat #AncientTechnology #ClimateChange

PocketAncient Egyptian ‘Air Conditioning’ Could Help Cool Modern BuildingsOne research team hopes to harness 5,000-year-old ideas to battle rising temperatures.

Olla update: I’ve had my #garden ollas in place for 2 weeks now and they are still half to 2/3 full of water. The seedlings around them have grown steadily. We’ve had light rain once in the last two weeks. The true test will be when temperatures start to soar, but so far this #irrigation method has been impressively easy & efficient. It’s wild to know that an #ancienttechnology can still be so useful and relevant. I love clay! #pottery #ceramics #keramik #permaculture #gardening #ollasbyosa

The Mystery Finally Solved: Why Has #RomanConcrete Been So Durable?

January 20th, 2023

"Rome may not have been built in a day, but it was built to last — or at least its concrete was, given that the pieces of the Roman Empire that have stood to our time, in one form or another, tend to have been built with it. That material has proven not just durable but enduringly fascinating, holding a great deal of not just historical interest but technical interest as well. For ancient Roman concrete appears to outlast its much more technically advanced modern descendants, and the complex question of why is one we’ve featured more than once here on Open Culture. Just this year, researchers at MIT, Harvard, and laboratories in Italy and Switzerland have found what seems to be the final piece of the puzzle.

"'For many years, researchers have assumed that the key to the ancient concrete’s durability was based on one ingredient: pozzolanic material such as volcanic ash from the area of Pozzuoli, on the Bay of Naples,' writes MIT News’ David L. Chandler. 'Under closer examination, these ancient samples also contain small, distinctive, millimeter-scale bright white mineral features.'

"Previously assumed to be nothing but imperfections in the process or the materials, these 'lime clasts,' in light of this most recent research, constitute evidence of 'hot mixing,' which involves heating to a high temperature ingredients including quicklime (or calcium oxide), a purer and more reactive form of lime.

"Undergoing hot mixing, 'the lime clasts develop a characteristically brittle nanoparticulate architecture, creating an easily fractured and reactive calcium source' that 'could provide a critical self-healing functionality.' In practice, this means that 'as soon as tiny cracks start to form within the concrete, they can preferentially travel through the high-surface-area lime clasts. This material can then react with water, creating a calcium-saturated solution, which can recrystallize as calcium carbonate and quickly fill the crack, or react with pozzolanic materials to further strengthen the composite material.' Here we have a convincing explanation of the reactions that, in ancient Roman concrete, 'automatically heal the cracks before they spread.'

"No such self-healing happens in modern concrete, the production of which has not involved quicklime for a very long time indeed — but perhaps it could once more. During their research process, writes Dezeen’s Rima Sabina Aouf, the team 'produced samples of hot-mixed concrete using both ancient and modern formulations, cracked them, and ran water through the cracks. Within two weeks, the cracks had healed and water could no longer flow through, while identical concrete blocks made without quicklime never healed.' Such findings 'could help increase the lifespan of modern concrete and therefore mitigate the notorious environmental impact of the material,' and the researchers 'are now working to commercialize their more durable concrete formula.' Even in the twenty-first century, the building industry could well benefit by doing as the Romans did."

openculture.com/2023/01/the-my

Open CultureThe Mystery Finally Solved: Why Has Roman Concrete Been So Durable?Image by Benjaminec, via Wikimedia Commons Rome may not have been built in a day, but it was built to last — or at least its concrete was, given that the pieces of the Roman Empire that have stood to our time, in one form or another, tend to have been built with it.

🌟 Die Himmelsscheibe von Nebra enthüllt weitere Geheimnisse! Forscher entdecken sensationelle Details zur Herstellungstechnik dieser 3600 Jahre alten Bronzescheibe. Ein Meisterwerk der Frühbronzezeit, das Astronomie und Handwerkskunst vereint! 🔭🏺 #ArchäologieFund #NebrasHimmelsscheibe #AncientTechnology

n-tv.de/wissen/fundsache/Weite

n-tv NACHRICHTEN · Nachbau und Metallanalysen: Weiteres Geheimnis der Himmelsscheibe von Nebra gelüftetVon n-tv NACHRICHTEN

"American #archeologist dies after #Viking ship replica capsizes off #Norway"

Those who wielded #AncientTechnology were masters but many died pushing the edge of discovery. So a sad modern coda

"Thrilled to be a part of this crew, fearlessly embarking on this Nordic voyage on a Viking ship replica across the North Sea, pushing through physical and mental limits to sail into history"

- Karla Dana, 29

I hope she is in #Valhalla on the greatest of discovery

#archeology

nbcnews.com/news/world/america

NBC News · American archeologist dies after Viking ship replica capsizes off NorwayVon Susan Baek

One of the world’s biggest cities may be just months away from running out of water

by Laura Paddison, Jack Guy and Fidel Gutiérrez, CNN

February 25, 2024

"Alejandro Gomez has been without proper running water for more than three months. Sometimes it comes on for an hour or two, but only a small trickle, barely enough to fill a couple of buckets. Then nothing for many days.

"Gomez, who lives in #MexicoCity’s #Tlalpan district, doesn’t have a big storage tank so can’t get water truck deliveries — there’s simply nowhere to store it. Instead, he and his family eke out what they can buy and store.

"When they wash themselves, they capture the runoff to flush the toilet. It’s hard, he told CNN. 'We need water, it’s essential for everything.'

"#WaterShortages are not uncommon in this neighborhood, but this time feels different, Gomez said. 'Right now, we are getting this hot weather. It’s even worse, things are more complicated.'

"Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis of nearly 22 million people and one of the world’s biggest cities, is facing a severe #WaterCrisis as a tangle of problems — including geography, chaotic urban #development and leaky #infrastructure — are compounded by the impacts of #ClimateChange.

"Years of abnormally low rainfall, longer dry periods and high temperatures have added stress to a water system already straining to cope with increased demand. Authorities have been forced to introduce significant restrictions on the water pumped from reservoirs.

"'Several neighborhoods have suffered from a lack of water for weeks, and there are still four months left for the rains to start,' said Christian Domínguez Sarmiento, an atmospheric scientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

"Politicians are downplaying any sense of crisis, but some experts say the situation has now reached such critical levels that Mexico City could be barreling towards 'day zero' in a matter of months — where the taps run dry for huge swaths of the city.

Historic lows

"Densely populated Mexico City stretches out across a high-altitude lake bed, around 7,300 feet above sea level. It was built on clay-rich soil — into which it is now sinking — and is prone to #earthquakes and highly vulnerable to climate change. It’s perhaps one of the last places anyone would choose to build a #megacity today.

"The #Aztecs chose this spot to build their city of #Tenochtitlan in 1325, when it was a series of lakes. They built on an island, expanding the city outwards, constructing networks of canals and bridges to work with the water.

"But when the Spanish arrived in the early 16th century, they tore down much of the city, drained the lakebed, filled in #canals and ripped out #forests. They saw 'water as an enemy to overcome for the city to thrive,' said Jose Alfredo Ramirez, an architect and co-director of Groundlab, a design and policy research organization."

Read more:
yahoo.com/news/one-world-bigge

Yahoo News · One of the world’s biggest cities may be just months away from running out of waterVon Laura Paddison, Jack Guy and Fidel Gutiérrez, CNN