posted 06-15-2013 01:38 PM                       

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After 2,000 years, a long-lost secret behind the creation of one of the world’s most durable man-made creations ever—Roman concrete—has finally been discovered by an international team of scientists, and it may have a significant impact on how we build cities of the future.

As anyone who’s ever visited Italy knows, the ancient Romans were master engineers. Their roads, aqueducts, and temples are still holding up remarkably well despite coming under siege over the centuries by waves of sacking marauders, mobs of tourists, and the occasional earthquake. One such structure that has fascinated geologists and engineers throughout the ages is the Roman harbor. Over the past decade, researchers from Italy and the U.S. have analyzed 11 harbors in the Mediterranean basin where, in many cases, 2,000-year-old (and sometimes older) headwaters constructed out of Roman concrete stand perfectly intact despite constant pounding by the sea.

The most common blend of modern concrete, known as Portland cement, a formulation in use for nearly 200 years, can’t come close to matching that track record, says Marie Jackson, a research engineer at the University of California at Berkeley who was part of the Roman concrete research team. “The maritime environment, in particular, is not good for Portland concrete. In seawater, it has a service life of less than 50 years. After that, it begins to erode,” Jackson says.

The researchers now know why ancient Roman concrete is so superior. They extracted from the floor of Italy’s Pozzuoili Bay, in the northern tip of the Bay of Naples, a sample of concrete headwater that dates back to 37 B.C. and analyzed its mineral components at research labs in Europe and the U.S., including at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source. The analysis, the scientists believe, reveals the lost recipe of Roman concrete, and it also points to how much more stable and less environmentally damaging it is than today’s blend.

That’s why the findings, which were published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society and American Mineralogist, are considered so important for today’s industrial engineers and the future of the world’s cities and ports. “The building industry has been searching for a way to make more durable concretes,” Jackson points out.

Another remarkable quality of Roman concrete is that its production was exceptionally green, a far cry from modern techniques. “It’s not that modern concrete isn’t good—it’s so good we use 19 billion tons of it a year,” says Paulo Monteiro, a research collaborator and professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. “The problem is that manufacturing Portland cement accounts for 7 percent of the carbon dioxide that industry puts into the air.”

The secret to Roman concrete lies in its unique mineral formulation and production technique. As the researchers explain in a press release outlining their findings, “The Romans made concrete by mixing lime and volcanic rock. For underwater structures, lime and volcanic ash were mixed to form mortar, and this mortar and volcanic tuff were packed into wooden forms. The seawater instantly triggered a hot chemical reaction. The lime was hydrated—incorporating water molecules into its structure—and reacted with the ash to cement the whole mixture together.”

The Portland cement formula crucially lacks the lyme and volcanic ash mixture. As a result, it doesn’t bind quite as well when compared with the Roman concrete, researchers found. It is this inferior binding property that explains why structures made of Portland cement tend to weaken and crack after a few decades of use, Jackson says.

Adopting the materials (more volcanic ash) and production techniques of ancient Roman could revolutionize today’s building industry with a sturdier, less CO2-intensive concrete. “The question remains, can we translate the priciniples from ancient Rome to the production of modern concrete? I think that is what is so exciting about this new area of research,” Jackson says.

Of course, if you are no fan of concrete architecture, you’re out of luck. It could be with us for a few millenia more.

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posted 07-13-2013 11:02 AM                       

quote: The Independent

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US TV station apologises for broadcasting racially offensive names of San Francisco plane crash pilots

Presenters read out fake names of pilots aboard Asiana Airlines flight 214

{snip}

A presenter for KTVU, Tori Campbell, read the names out live on air in a report on Friday, which was accompanied by a graphic also listing hoax details.

Ms Campbell said: “KTVU has just learned the names of the four pilots who were on board the flight. They are Captain Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk and Bang Ding Ow.

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posted 07-16-2013 10:55 PM                       

quote: Randy Stankey

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the frenzy to be the first to report new information

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posted 07-17-2013 11:56 PM                    

quote: Frank Cox

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... After typing a page of notes or whatever, I had no idea what it actually said. I didn't read it, I just typed it. All of the other folks that I knew who could also type "at speed" were the same way. You don't read what you're typing.

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posted 08-01-2013 06:13 PM                       

quote: International Business Times

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Homemade Elevator Crushed Florida Woman, Margaret Harrison Death Remains ‘A Mystery’

A homemade elevator installed with the best intentions crushed a 66 year-old woman on Tuesday.

The elevator was built 17 years ago from a fork lift, wood and wielded metal which was located outside a three story home in in Weeki Wachi, Fla. The “lift” helped Jean Blair, who uses a motorized wheelchair, get around, WTSP reports.

While Blair’s husband and son were away, her best friend, Margaret Harrison, was supposed to stop by and keep her company. Blair sent the elevator to the first floor in anticipation of her friend’s arrival, but she never showed.

It was only when Harrison’s boyfriend came to the home did he find her underneath the elevator. She was unresponsive and pronounced dead at the scene, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

"I knew as soon as I saw her," Francis Jorr said. "She was blue already."

But her death remains a mystery. Investigators don’t suspect foul play, said the lift was working normally and there was no indication Harrison suffered a medical emergency. An autopsy confirmed that the elevator crushed her to death, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office said.

"They couldn't find anything wrong with it," Jean Blair’s husband, Robert, said about the homemade elevator he built. Blair, a retired engineer crafted the lift for his wife in the 1990s when he constructed the house. The old forklift is wielded to a concrete base that sits adjacent to the home. It is speed-controlled and can reach the first floor in 13 seconds, he said.

Florida law doesn’t require lifts in private homes to be inspected or require certifications. Blair didn’t have the required electrical permit and the elevator didn’t have any required safety switches either, authorities said. The elevator has since been shut down.

The elevator was "solidly built. But don't get me wrong. Obviously, I've got to do something to make it more foolproof," Blair told the Tampa Bay Times.

The couple said they received more than 60 sympathy calls two days since the accident. "We're Christians, and look forward to seeing her again," Blair said.

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posted 09-08-2013 01:01 PM                       

quote: Fox News

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107-year-old man killed by SWAT team

Police in Pine Bluff, Arkansas say a 107-year-old man was killed in a shootout with a SWAT team Saturday afternoon.

Investigators say that local police responded to a complaint of aggravated assault against Monroe Isadore, who allegedly pointed a gun at two people at a home on West 16th Street in Pine Bluff. When police approached the bedroom door where Isadore was holed up, he fired one shot through the door. No one was hit.

The SWAT team was called in and negotiations with Isadore began. The SWAT team confirmed that Isadore was armed with a handgun by inserting a camera into the bedroom through a window.

After negotiations were unsuccessful, the SWAT team pumped gas in the room from outside the bedroom window, hoping that Isadore would surrender peacefully. Instead, Isador fired more shots at a SWAT entry team, who threw a "distraction device" into the room after breaching the door. Isadore continued shooting at the entry team, who finally shot and killed him.

Local police said that the investigation is ongoing, but provided no further details.

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