TDLR; Reject modernity, Embrace Empire!
So for the non history guys wondering why this is a big deal 'we already have concrete?' Yes and it can be stronger than Roman concrete but does not have the longevity of roman concrete as look at the amount of Roman architecture still standing when left untouched by humans for thousands of years.
The cause is it's structure, roman concrete has a lot of lime deposits in it. When over time cracks form, when it rains the water reacts with these lime deposits, recrystalise and fill the cracks, essentially self healing the structure. The romans had nanomachines before they were a thing. Near seawater, their structures actually got tougher over time due to exposure to the minerals in the seawater.
So us finally understanding this means we can now create longer lasting and even stronger structures given time. Lets just hope this Roman concrete is ONLY used in ancient, renaissance or gothic architecture and not any of the shit we make nowadays!
Thought this was a fun example of how much studying history is extremely important to improving the current world.
Nothing built today is worthy of lasting.
Quite true unfortunately, at least now we know how it works, we can make structures in the style of those times or at least renaissance.
Or just fix old roman structures, how about we start with that wall in the UK between Scotland and England, both sides would probably enjoy that..
Need to build it into the hearts of the people first. Then make sure it's not for some other despot.
You have to think that could be a slogan for nissan or audi. Just have a picture of an engine with 3 cylinders exploded, "Rome wasn't built in a day, and in this case it'll take about $3500 and 2 weeks to fix this nightmare."
Remember to bring the vinegar.
Couldn't they have used a mass spectrometer or whatever the fuck it's called to see wtf they made concrete with back in the day? Like wtf took so long
Sure! Just as soon as they publish all their findings on the adverse effects sugar has on human physiology but before they get paid to pin all the problems on fat.
The main bullet point here is that it is likely special interests paid specialists to look the other way to preserve their outmoded businesses.
That doesn't really make sense, there's never going to be a point where we go "yeah we don't need anyone to pour anymore concrete ever again" by inventing better concrete. Between new construction, expansions, refits and remodels, and minor repairs from accidents.
There's a whole industry around restoration and preservation. They're not going to let that go.
Same reason it costs too much to cure disease so all medical efforts are on daily meds and customers for life.
Lets say hypothetically this process increases structure lifespans by 30%.
That's 30% less profit ((long noses))) could be making.
Do you really think they'd give up a cent, let alone 30%?
It might in the Mediterranean, it won't anywhere with seasons. Freeze and thaw cycles crack concrete more than a little recystalization is going to be able to fix.
Also, companies will just charge more up front for less upkeep later. Have you ever bought material for a project? Like ever?
Without bothering with the video, likely it's a case of "they knew the composition, but not necessarily the 'why' behind it". Like how we know if ants get drunk, they reliably always fall on one side, not the other. But why do they do that?
Not a scientist so who knows? Maybe they had all the resources spent on injecting bats with chemicals and this was a side hobby.
They did and they knew about the lime deposits for a good while. They just weren't sure what they were there for or if they were intentionally there.
Pretty sure they did, but modern 'science' thought impurities were mistakes made by cavemen.
They have such disdain for the past that they can't believe the artisans actually spent huge amounts of effort perfecting everything. It was all dirty, lazy people getting lucky. Like how they can't believe humans were sailing the globe 10,000 years ago because everybody was wearing loincloths and killing bison with rocks.
Nice to have a break from the clownworld shit every once in a while around here.
From what I remember reading Roman concrete took years to cure to full strength. Which was acceptable because it took years for them to build structures.
Would be interesting to experiment with this for ornamental structures: statues, headstones, and the like.
This.
We want buildings quickly which isn't the purpose of roman concrete. Roman concrete was used for building important buildings and monuments. This is why normal houses faded away and only the monuments remained.
The sad part is that we aren't making buildings that are impressive and beautiful as architects are only interested in maximising building function.
Modern concrete can also increasingly gradually gain strength for months or years if kept moist. Rather than wait years though, the more sensible thing to do is to not design your structure so it depends on the last 5% of strength you'll get for waiting a decade.
True but I think modern concrete gains that initial strength much more quickly than Roman concrete did.
Very interesting. Thanks
Now all that's left is Greek fire.
Very cool, thanks for posting this.
It seems appropriate, since Weimerica is partying with the barbarian hordes.
For some reason I thought they had figured out the secret ingredient years ago: volcanic ash mixed into the concrete.
Cool that we get a more in-depth take now.
Yeah i seem to recall that too and they added powdered seashells for the limestone if im not mistaken
Brutalist architects drooling and rubbing their hands together
This was known a hundred years ago.
Concrete today doesn't last a thousand years because it doesn't need to, and if they wanted it to, it would take a year to cure.
Good luck building your skyscraper when every stage takes a year to cure
Historical engineering is a very niche thing even among historians.
neat!
Forgot about this guy, kinda stopped watching him when he fell for every Ukrainian hoax (Ghost of Kiev, Snake Island and so on)
Economics rules Architecture today
Funfact, ash from a volcano only found Italy's coast is used to make the cement salt waterproof.