The Mystery Of Lost Technologies | Advanced Tech Lost Or Forgotten To History | Unveiled
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00:00 Human history has seen us develop ever more advanced technology, building on what came
00:07 before.
00:08 Major discoveries and inventions have been passed down through generations, which sought
00:14 to improve upon them.
00:16 Or that's what happened some of the time.
00:19 There are at least a handful of technologies that have been lost to time as well.
00:25 This is Unveiled, and today we're taking a closer look at the advanced technologies
00:31 that have been lost or forgotten through history.
00:36 Let's begin with one of the most famous examples of an invention lost to history.
00:53 The incendiary weapon of the Eastern Roman Empire, Greek Fire.
00:59 In 395 CE, the Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern Empires.
01:06 The Western Roman Empire would fall within the following century, but the Eastern, also
01:11 called the Byzantine Empire, endured for another thousand years and was a force to be reckoned
01:18 with during the medieval era.
01:20 One of its most feared weapons was Greek Fire, a powerful incendiary substance projected
01:26 from flamethrowers primarily in naval combat.
01:30 In actuality, the crusaders of later centuries named it Greek Fire.
01:35 It was known in its day as Roman Fire.
01:39 Invented in the year 672, it played a crucial role in Roman defense during the early Muslim
01:46 conquests.
01:47 Greek Fire was mentioned in texts up until the 13th century, after which it seemed to
01:53 have fallen into disuse.
01:56 Fire had been used in warfare for centuries prior, but none had quite done it like the
02:01 Byzantines.
02:02 What they had created was an incredibly flammable liquid, similar to napalm of the modern era,
02:09 that would burn on top of water.
02:12 It was even claimed that contact with water would ignite it.
02:17 Byzantines possessed powerful pressurized cannons that would spew out the liquid onto
02:22 enemy ships.
02:24 These really were flamethrowers in the most literal sense.
02:28 The production of the weapon was an incredibly well-kept secret, with operators and technicians
02:34 only allowed to know about one singular component of it.
02:38 This meant that no enemy could learn their secrets.
02:42 Even when Bulgarians captured some of the substance and dozens of flamethrowers in 814
02:47 for example, they couldn't figure out how to make it all work.
02:51 Eventually, Greek Fire was phased out, and after the 13th century, there exists no accounts
02:58 of its use.
02:59 The recipe was kept so secret that it was lost to time.
03:04 The composition remains a matter of debate between historians, and we've been unable
03:10 to reproduce it.
03:11 Another material that perplexed researchers is Damascus Steel.
03:16 From production from the 3rd to the 17th century CE, Damascus Steel was an incredibly durable
03:23 material that could be sharpened to a fine edge.
03:27 It was used to smith the blades of swords in the Near East.
03:31 Made from a steel known as woots from southern India, it was forged in such a way that left
03:37 unique wavy patterns across the surface.
03:40 The origin of the steel's name is contentious.
03:43 It may have been named after Damascus, the capital of Syria.
03:48 Alternatively, it could derive from Damasci, a swordsmith who made this type of weapon.
03:54 Another theory is that it came from damas, the Arabic word for water, describing the
03:59 rippling pattern on the metal's surface.
04:02 Legends claim that Damascus Steel could cut through the barrel of a rifle.
04:07 However, the means of forging such blades remains mysterious.
04:12 Modern steel outperforms them, but they're still incredibly well-made for the time.
04:18 In 2006, a German research team reported that the blades contained nanowires and carbon
04:24 nanotubes, which may have come from plant fibers being added during the forging process.
04:31 These nanotubes strengthened the blades significantly, putting the production process centuries ahead
04:37 of its time.
04:39 Another major factor was the ore used to create Wootz Steel, which was rich in impurities.
04:45 Eventually, these ore veins depleted, leaving smiths without the raw materials needed.
04:52 It's thought this is the biggest factor for why we can't reproduce the metal today,
04:57 and that without the same raw materials used in the past, we will never be able to replicate
05:02 it exactly.
05:04 Turning to the Romans, another durable but mysterious material was Roman Concrete, or,
05:11 as they called it, Opus Caementicum.
05:15 Modern concrete has a lifetime of roughly 50 to 100 years, but Roman concrete can last
05:22 at least two millennia.
05:24 It became widely used in approximately 150 BCE, leading to an architectural revolution
05:31 that produced buildings still standing today.
05:34 For an example, consider the Pantheon in Rome, which has an enormous concrete dome for a
05:41 roof and has stood for 2,000 years.
05:45 It's almost somewhat self-healing, with the material used leading to the growth of a rare
05:50 mineral and can repair its own cracks naturally with time.
05:56 For hundreds of years after the Empire's fall, many tried to unlock its method of production.
06:03 The mystery recipe was discovered surprisingly recently, with researchers in 2023 finally
06:10 solving the riddle.
06:11 The key ingredients are quicklime, a highly reactive form of limestone, alongside volcanic
06:18 ash, neither of which are used in modern concrete.
06:22 It can also be exposed to harsh underwater conditions for thousands of years with little
06:28 wear.
06:29 Another pro for the material is that it's significantly cheaper than modern concrete,
06:34 costing up to 60% less to make.
06:37 Plus, the lower temperature of the creation process gives it a lower environmental footprint.
06:44 This makes it a contender for the most durable building material of all time, and it may
06:49 yet end up being utilized to help hold back rising sea levels.
06:55 We can't talk about lost technology, though, without discussing the pyramids.
07:01 The earliest Egyptian pyramids were built over 4,500 years ago.
07:07 Archaeologists have struggled to understand how they were constructed.
07:11 It's often been supposed that slaves built the pyramids, but in fact, modern scholars
07:16 believe it was the work of thousands of paid laborers, many of whom were actually farmers.
07:22 These farmers worked on the builds during periods of the year when flooding made farming
07:27 impossible.
07:28 They would have also been highly skilled craftsmen.
07:32 In general, it was considered an honor to build a pyramid for your pharaoh, who was
07:37 seen as a god on Earth.
07:40 We now have an overall picture of their construction.
07:43 The pyramid blocks were carved out at nearby quarries.
07:47 It's believed that they were then transported along the Nile River and a series of canals
07:52 to the pyramid bases.
07:54 Alternatively, they may have been pulled on sleds, with the sands below wetted so that
07:59 they could slide across with ease.
08:02 Once the blocks arrived, how they were lifted and stacked atop each other is still somewhat
08:08 mysterious.
08:09 The most popular theory is that the laborers used ramps.
08:13 They may have also employed lever systems or ropes with pulleys and counterweights.
08:19 Of course, some think it was just all too difficult for humans to achieve, and credit
08:24 the pyramids to alien visitors.
08:27 There's no evidence of extraterrestrial intervention, and it could be argued that the theory underestimates
08:33 human ingenuity.
08:35 Even if we do ever have a complete understanding of how humans built the pyramids, it will
08:41 only add to their wonder.
08:44 But finally, what about in our own time?
08:47 Will the wonders of all the technology we have today make it into the future?
08:53 We're surrounded by advanced products, but in many cases there's actually very little
08:59 effort being put into preserving them.
09:01 One example of this is with video games.
09:04 A recent study conducted by the Video Game History Foundation showed that 87% of all
09:10 games before 2010 are critically endangered.
09:14 With methods of data storage advancing so quickly in our age, there is little attention
09:19 given to preserving old methods.
09:22 These old games and consoles are discontinued, rarely if at all re-released, and they degrade
09:28 with time.
09:29 At this rate, not only will early video games be lost, but enormous quantities of other
09:36 forms of data may disappear as well.
09:39 This is a phenomenon known as digital obsolescence, and some think it may cause a digital dark
09:46 age, where vast quantities of information on archaic storage methods will become lost
09:52 to time.
09:53 Thankfully, more effort is being made to save older media devices, and hopefully our digital
09:59 era will be preserved for the future.
10:02 But still, as the technologies in this video show, nothing is truly invulnerable.
10:10 What do you think?
10:11 Is there anything we missed?
10:12 Let us know in the comments.
10:14 Check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you subscribe and ring the bell
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