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A new angle on pyramids: Scientists explore whether Egyptians used concrete
Boston Globe ^ | April 22, 2008 | Colin Nickerson

Posted on 05/01/2008 11:04:55 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

At MIT, Hobbs and two colleagues teach a course called Materials in Human Experience... The MIT pyramid will contain only about 280 blocks, compared with 2.3 million in the grandest of the Great Pyramids... Hobbs describes himself as "agnostic" on the issue, but believes mainstream archeologists have been too contemptuous of work by other scientists suggesting the possibility of concrete. "The degree of hostility aimed at experimentation is disturbing," he said. "Too many big egos and too many published works may be riding on the idea that every pyramid block was carved, not cast." ...In 2006, research by Michel W. Barsoum at Philadelphia's Drexel University found that samples of stone from parts of the Khufu Pyramid were "microstructurally" different from limestone blocks. Barsoum, a professor of materials engineering, said microscope, X-ray, and chemical analysis of scraps of stone from the pyramids "suggest a small but significant percentage of blocks on the higher portions of the pyramids were cast" from concrete... "But 10 or 20 percent [of the blocks] were probably cast in areas where it would have been highly difficult to position [whole stone] blocks," he said. Barsoum, a native of Egypt, said he was unprepared for the onslaught of angry criticism that greeted peer-reviewed research published two years ago by himself and scientists Adrish Ganguly of Drexel and Gilles Hug of France's National Center for Scientific Research."You would have thought I claimed the pyramids were carved by lasers," Barsoum said.

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: davidovits; geopolymer; geopolymerization; geopolymers; godsgravesglyphs; josephdavidovits; michelbarsoum; michelwbarsoum; pyramids
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To: Sindarian
To get concrete, you must burn limestone
Oh, burn. Uh, no. There are many ways to make concrete.
21 posted on 05/02/2008 8:35:40 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: SunkenCiv

Occam’s razor prevails...

They are poured cement.

Case closed.


22 posted on 05/02/2008 8:37:22 AM PDT by RachelFaith (Doing NOTHING... about the illegals already here IS Amnesty !!)
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To: the gillman@blacklagoon.com

Around the time I read Davidovits’ book (20 or so years ago) I saw a documentary on gold mining in Brazil. The miners lugged 40 pound bags of soil, rock, and whatnot out of their claims, climbing ladders, and processed these where that could reasonably be done. The claims were something like 8 feet on a side, adjacent to one another, with nothing but common paths in and out of the giant pit. These miners, over 20 years, took what had a been a hill and — 40 pounds at a time — turned it into a hole deeper than a concave reflection of the vanished hill.


23 posted on 05/02/2008 8:40:27 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: mkjessup

;’) You forgot the “airplane” and “helicopter” hieroglyphs.


24 posted on 05/02/2008 8:41:49 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: Fred Nerks

Thanks.


25 posted on 05/02/2008 8:43:01 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: RachelFaith

Who knew Bill even *had* a cell phone? ;’)


26 posted on 05/02/2008 8:48:55 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_______________________Profile updated Monday, April 28, 2008)
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To: Sindarian

Like most of the world, You don’t know the difference between cement and concrete. No person from New York or points east knows he has been wrong his whole life for confusing the two. Every American reporter except those for Engineering News Record, ignorantly calls concrete cement.

Concrete is made from cement and various sized aggregates from very small..... sand to larger gravel.

There are two common types of concrete, portland cement and asphalt.

Portland Cement is the gray sintered powder made from limestone and used with water and aggregates to make concrete. The concrete takes 28 days to reach near full strength and when reinforced with steel is a primary structural building material. It has zero flexibility unless reinforced with steel but has exceptional compressive strength.

Asphaltum or bitumen heated and then mixed with aggregates of various sizes is called asphalt concrete and is used for roads and parking lots. It has good flexibility and compressive strength. The flex makes it good for roads.

Lastly, Portland cement mixed with sand is mortar. Mortar is used by masons to build brick or block or stne wall.


27 posted on 05/02/2008 8:51:28 AM PDT by bert (K.E. N.P. +12 . The Bitcons will elect a Democrat by default)
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To: mkjessup
Is that Thor of the Azgard?
28 posted on 05/02/2008 4:27:18 PM PDT by kitchen (Any day without a fair tax thread is a good day.)
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To: mkjessup

In one of the pyramids there is also a very excellent glyph of the Stargate as appeared in the movie and TV shows.


29 posted on 05/02/2008 4:34:58 PM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Sleep with one eye open, Gripping your pillow tight , Exit light , Enter night.......)
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To: Sindarian
Egypt was a rain forest at the time....../s
30 posted on 05/02/2008 4:36:43 PM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Sleep with one eye open, Gripping your pillow tight , Exit light , Enter night.......)
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To: Sindarian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Point_Module


31 posted on 05/02/2008 4:37:59 PM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Sleep with one eye open, Gripping your pillow tight , Exit light , Enter night.......)
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To: SunkenCiv

post #5 suggest (humorously) that aliens are the builders.


32 posted on 05/18/2008 4:54:20 AM PDT by Frankss
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