Post on 12-Jan-2016
transcript
Dr. Richard Gautheir
B.Sc. M.I.T. in 1967 in physics M.Sc. University of Illinois 1971 in physics Ph.D. Stanford University 1977 in
psychology
Introducing our guest speaker
Peace Corps in Ghana Applied Psychologist
Computer information display design, Bell Labs
Ecological Advisor, Poland Yoga Psychology Teacher, Washington, DC
and throughout Europe,1981-96. Physics Adjunct instructor (since 2006) and
SSU (since 2011). Has ongoing theoretical research in
Quantum theory and Cosmology.
Last week’s business
From that site, go to the “therapy” site: http://www.phagetherapycenter.com/pii/PatientServlet?command=static_home
Question of the week• We know that there are some bacteria
DIRECTLY beneficial to humans.• Are there viruses, similar to bacteria,
that DIRECTLY benefit humans?
They are dead (or unconscious!).......................No
Engineered to attack bacteria or specific cell....No Remember
Phage?............................................YES
Viruses can help when
Since ancient times, reports of river waters having the ability to cure infectious diseases have been documented, such as leprosy
In 1896, Ernest Hanbury Hankin reported that something in the waters of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in India had marked antibacterial action against cholera and could pass through a very fine porcelain filter.
FDA and USDA have approved ListShield as a food additive to target and kill Listeria monocytogenes.
Also used for for treating ready-to-eat (RTE) poultry and meat products.
The winner is….
“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep, I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion” ― Alexander the great
Quote of the week
Last week we covered several Billion years in 2 hours
We will slow down this weekWe will cover only several million years!
Pre-historic and Ancient (Up to 500 AD)
Week 2
It used to be “Oldowan” stone tools around 2.6 million years ago.
Use of tools
NOW…Oldest human tool
More than 3 million years ago
Fossilized bones scarred by hack marks reveal that our human ancestors were using stone tools and eating meat from large mammals nearly a million years earlier than previously thought.
From: http://news.discovery.com/history/early-human-tool-use.html
According to a new study that pushes back both of these human activities to roughly 3.4 million years ago.
From: http://news.discovery.com/history/early-human-tool-use.html
Animal horns Plants thorn Bird’s beak
Sharp object is the simplest tool
Pressure = force/areaHow does it work?
Human ancestors were using stone-tipped spears to hunt 500,000 years ago, 200,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Spears
Creating a stone-tipped spear would have required
attaching stone to wood handling multiple types of material at once
planning goal-oriented behavior.
Spears
The stone tips were found at an archaeological site called Kathu Pan 1 in the 1980s. In 2010, the tips were dated.
By SINDYA N. BHANOO, Published: November 19, 2012, NYTimes.
Spears
The scientists unearthed 64,000 year-old "stone points", which they say were probably arrow heads.
Bows and Arrow
Closer inspection of the ancient weapons revealed remnants of blood and bone that provided clues about how they were used.
Bows and Arrow
The shape of the geometric pieces indicated where it had been impacted and damaged, and how they were hafted.
Bows and Arrow
Hafting
“ This showed that the pieces were very likely to have been the tips of projectiles – rather than sharp points on the end of hand-held spears,”
Bows and Arrow
The arrow heads also contained traces of glue - plant-based resin that the scientists think was used to fasten them onto a wooden or reed shaft.
Dr Marlize Lombard, a researcher and lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
Bows and Arrow
The oldest sword-like weapons are found at Arslantepe, Turkey, and date to around 3300 BC.
Dagger and Sward
However, it is generally considered that these are longer daggers, and not the first ancestors of swords.
Dagger and Sward
Sword blades longer than 60 cm (24 in) were rare and not practical until the late Bronze Age
At longer lengths, the tensile strength of bronze starts to decrease radically, and consequently longer blades would bend easily.
Dagger and Sward
It was not until the development of stronger alloys such as steel, and improved heat treatment processes that long swords became practical for combat.
Dagger and Sward
Early “iron” swards were hardened by cold working, same as bronze age swards.
Later on, with the advancement of blacksmithery, Carburization was employed in sword making.
Damascus Sward created from wootz steel, a steel developed in India around 300 BC.
Traces of nanowire and carbon nanotube were found. (2006 report)
Famous swords.
Famous swords.Sword of Goujian (about 2700 years
old) The body of the blade is mainly made
of copper, making it more pliant and less likely to shatter
The edges have more tin content, making them harder and capable of retaining a sharper edge
Famous swords.
Hallstatt (900 BC) Made from bronze or iron. The power to deliver the slashing blow
(heavy blades, thick necks), with no attempt to preserve the power of thrusting (blunt, triangular points)
Roman sword (or Gladius) 3rd century BC Blade strength was achieved by welding together strips, in which case the sword had a channel down the center.
The owner's name was often engraved or punched on the blade.
Famous swords.
Scimitar Swards (middle east)9th century AD
Samurai (Katana) Swards (Japanese)10th century AD
Famous swords (more recent)
Chinese Swards
Please answer: True or False?The “blood groove” (or fuller) is on a sword to release pressure in the wound and allow the sword to come back out
Question of the week
Prizes, book + 2 theatre tickets
Catapult Invented by Greeks (400 BC)
First trebuchets were used in China around 300 BC.
Their use continued up to the Middle Ages.
Catapult/Trebuchet
Trebuchet designs in the 21st century!
Both Catapult and Trebuchet mechanism is based on Shadoufs (3000 BC by Egyptians).
We use it today in cranes and elevator (counterweight)
Stones Sharp wooden poles and darts Fire Casks of Burning Tar Burning Sand ( this became trapped inside
armor ) Pots of Greek Fire Dung Dead, sometime mutilated, bodies Disease ridden bodies Body parts Dead animals Any rotting matter Quicklime FROM: http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/trebuchet.htm
Item used :
Archimedes death-ray (fact or fiction?)
Modern day version of death ray
Picture I took (1/11/2013)
Primm Solar Thermal Project Ivanpah plant, Company: BrightSource Energy377-megawatt power
Google map
Google map
Archimedes Steam Cannon
Throw stick and boomerang One boomerang that was discovered in the
Carpathian Mountains in Poland was made of mammoth's tusk
Dated to be about 30,000 years old.
Egyptian throw stick Egyptians
used throwing sticks to hunt ducks (1000 BC)
Boomerang in Australia
The oldest Australian Aboriginal boomerangs are ten thousand years old
Boomerang is now evolved into many different shapes.
Chariots Used for warfare during the bronze and the
iron ages. Biga required two horses, a triga three, and
a quadriga required four horses. Invention of the spoked wheel was crucial to
the development of chariots. The earliest spoke-wheeled chariots date to
ca. 2000 BC Their use peaked around 1300 BC
The earliest fully developed true chariots dates back to 2000BC in in modern Russia and Kazakhstan.
Chariot racing was the most popular spectator sport in ancient Rome.
Chariots were used in battles by Egyptians, Persians, Chinese, Greeks and Indians.
Romans used chariots mainly for racing.
Flaming Weapons (or Thermal Weapons) In 332 BC Alexander the Great laid siege to Tyre
, a coastal base of the Phoenicians. In order to bring his siege engines within range,
Alexander ordered the construction of moles. The Tyrians responded by attacking the first
mole with a large fireship, which destroyed it. A large horse transport ship was packed with
cedar torches, pitch, dried brush and other combustibles; above this were suspended cauldrons of sulfur, bitumen and "every sort of material apt to kindle and nourish flame".[
Flaming Arrow Both the Assyrians and the Judeans used
fire arrows at the siege of Lachish in 701 BC.
Flaming Arrow More sophisticated devices were developed
by the Romans which had iron boxes and tubes which were filled with incendiary substances and attached to arrows or spears.
These arrows needed to be fired from loose bows, since swift flight extinguished the flame.
spears could be launched by hand or throwing machine.
Unusual Weapons
Unusual weapons, atl-atl
Discovered in caves in France dating about 21,000 to 17,000 years ago.
Tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.
Trained soldiers could let fly 10 bolts in 15 seconds.
The small and light arrow of the comparatively weak Chinese crossbow had little penetrative power.
For this reason the head of the arrow was sometimes dipped in poison, in order that a slight wound might prove fatal.
The Zhuge Nu Semi-Automatic Crossbow (4th century B.C.)
Unusual weapons, Zhua
main use of the zhua was to pull off the shields of enemies, leaving them exposed to the clawed hand of iron.
Unusual weapons, Nest of Bees
wooden container filled with tubes in the shape of a hexagon, which, when viewed from the front, gave the weapon the appearance of a large honeycomb.
Inside each of the tubes was a rocket propelled arrow.
The rockets launched the arrows with more power and range than that of a traditional bow.
Up to 32 arrows could be launched from a nest at once.
Unusual weapons, Scissor
used in the arenas by the gladiators of the ancient Roman Empire.
Made from hardened steel, the scissor measured up to one and a half feet long and 5-7 pounds
Belly Bow!
Belly Bow Greek name: Gastraphetes Believed to be built around 399 BC by a
team of Greek craftsmen. Some researchers believe it was invented
earlier.
Unusual weapons, Scorpion Bombs The Ancient Iraqis would fill a terracotta jar
with scorpions and then seal it. The jars were then thrown at the attacking
army. The jar would break, releasing the scorpions
either on the enemy soldiers or in the battlefield itself.
And communication
Ancient
Goulash!