- Since the earliest modern humans over 200,000 years ago,
we've evolved and with that evolution came the advancement
of the tools that we use and the technology we've created
to automate tasks, save time, and lives.
But along the way, we've lost
some of the most marvelous things
that humankind has ever created.
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Here are 10 mysterious inventions that disappeared.
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Number 10 is Greek fire.
First developed around 672 C.E.,
Greek fire was used by the Byzantium Empire who,
at the time, were being overwhelmed by Arab fleets.
When they started using this new,
almost magical chemical compound,
their ships began spitting out fire
that consumed everything in its path
and would even burn on water.
Some scholars believe this discovery
was so significant that it could've been only accredited
to divine intervention while others maintain
it was created by a team of chemists
in Constantinople who inherited scientific information
from the Alexandrian School.
Whatever the mixture included,
it was so complex that, despite samples,
other civilizations were never able to copy it.
To this day, historians still debate
the composition and manufacturing process
of this epic weapon.
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Number nine is Starlite.
In 2016, a team of scientists discover two materials
capable of resisting temperatures
of nearly 4000 degrees Celsius.
They recorded these as some
of the most heat resistant materials in existence today.
However, nearly 30 years earlier,
a hair dresser with no chemistry training
named Maurice Ward invented a special plastic
that could actually withstand a nuclear flash
and temperatures reaching nearly 10,000 degrees Celsius.
That's hotter than the surface of the sun.
He set out to see if he could create a substance
that would withstand intense heat
without emitting toxic smoke or gases.
Ward eventually discovered the formula for Starlite
but he died in 2011 having never patented his formula.
It still remains a mystery to this day.
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Number eight is Damascus steel.
Created between the 3rd and 17th centuries,
Damascus steel swords were amazing weapons
that were forged in such a specific way
that they could split a feather in midair
yet retain their sharp edge
through countless use in battles.
Damascus was and continues to be revered by blade wielders
and smiths from all around the world
but its production was brought to an end
rather abruptly around the year 1750.
Not only did the raw material deposits necessary
for its production run out
but there was also a loss of knowledge
on the crafting techniques due to secrecy,
lack of transmission,
and the suppression of the industry
by India by the British Raj.
Two metallurgists from Stanford
may have recently stumbled upon the secret
of Damascus steel
but there's no way to confirm their claim.
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Number seven is the Lycurgus cup.
A colorful chalice stored in the British Museum
may seem rather inconsequential at first glance.
But a closer look reveals that it is in fact
an ancient example of nanotechnology.
This 4th century Roman class cage cup changes color
depending on how light hits it.
When it's lit from inside, it looks red.
But when it's lit from the outside, it appears green.
The explanation for this phenomenon
was obtained only in 1990 after scientists analyzed the cup
using an atomic force microscope and found
that the two colors observed are due
to the colloidal or mixed dispersion
of gold and silver nanoparticles.
Alchemists around 1661 had knowledge
of potential applications for the use of nanoparticles.
However, they didn't have science based explanations
for the observed phenomenon.
We're only starting to glean them now.
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Number six is Stradavari's instrument.
Andrea Amati is credited with inventing
the modern violin in the 1500s.
His instruments were so successful
that the designs were copied for generations.
Antionio Stradavari who was born 139 years later
inherited Amati's methods and designs
but then improved on them until he was manufacturing
instruments now widely considered to be unrivaled.
A well preserved Stradavarius violin
was sold in an online auction in 2011
for a record 9.8 million pounds.
The secret behind their perfect sound
has mystified experts for centuries.
Even though scientists in Taiwan recently used software
normally reserved for speech analysis
to find that the violins from these two genius craftsmen
mimic aspects of the human voice.
We still aren't sure how to go about recreating
their manufacturing process.
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Number five is silphium.
Though it wasn't so much of a human invention itself,
the multitude of applications devised
for this incredible plant were absolutely human.
Used in classical antiquity both as a seasoning
and as a medicine, silphium's importance
was highlighted by the Egyptians
who developed a specific glyph to represent it.
The Romans often said that it was worth its weight in gold.
In fact, this darling herb gets referenced
in many Roman poems and songs.
This versatile plant was said to treat coughs, sore throats,
fevers, indigestion, aches, pains, warts,
and all kinds of ailments.
But its most cherished medicinal properties
was used a contraceptive.
Julius Caesar went so far as to store
a 680 kilogram cache of it in the official treasury.
But today silphium has vanished from our planet altogether.
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Number four is flexible glass.
We can thank the Phoenicians for coming up
with a man-made glass.
In fact, without it you wouldn't be able
to watch this video
and I wouldn't be able to shoot it.
But imagine glass you could bend
and then watch return to its original form.
Glass that you could drop on the ground yet doesn't break.
Stories say that an ancient Roman glass maker
had the technology to create flexible glass
but the emperor Tiberius Caesar decided
to have his workshop shut down.
This was a move presumably made to prevent the value
from precious metals like gold, silver, and copper
from being depreciated by this new material.
The emperor asked the glass maker
if anyone else knew how to make this flexible kind of glass
and the craftsman said no
and thus was quickly executed,
taking his secret to his grave.
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Number three is the death ray.
Imagine an invisible wall of energy protecting a country
from invasion, one that could vaporize enemy soldiers
the second they crossed the border.
Militaries around the world longed for this kind
of death ray but famed inventor Nikola Tesla
claimed to have actually created one.
His high minded dreams were only limited
by a serious budget restriction.
He approached the governments of the United States
and the Soviet Union, among others,
but none offered him any money for it.
One night in 1937 during a meeting
at the Yugoslavian Embassy, Tesla told the room
that not only was his invention possible
but that he already built one.
In fact, he would be unveiling it to the world
in a matter of months.
But later that year, he was struck by a car
and never recovered.
In 1943, he passed, taking his death ray secret with him.
Number two is cloud buster.
Austrian physicist Wilhelm Reich invented a device
that reportedly manipulated orgone energy,
a cosmic life force which happens to be the energy
that holds clouds together.
Reich's cloud buster is a set of hollow tubes pointing
to the sky, grounded by a connection to water.
It could supposedly form or disperse clouds
and cause or prevent rain.
In 1953, blueberry farmers in Maine offered
to pay Reich if he could successful end a drought
that threatened the crops.
Reich set up his cloud buster and operated it
for just over an hour
and the next morning it started raining
and the crop was saved.
A modern version of instructions exist
to construct the cloud buster.
They're more sophisticated than Reich's
but haven't yielded the same results as the original,
now vanished, design.
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And number one is the chronovisor.
Time travel has long been debated
by conspiracy theorists and scientists alike
but in 1972, an Italian newspaper published
an article titled "A Machine That Photographs the Past
"Has Been Invented".
The article alleged that this machine,
named the chronovisor, was capable
of allowing users to look into future and past events.
Supposedly invented by people inside the Vatican.
The man said to have led the project
was Father Ernetti, a physicist from Italy
who went on to become a priest.
Apparently he received important technical information
from Enrico Fermi, a Nobel Laureate,
and rocket scientist Wernher von Braun.
The Vatican has always denied any claims
of owning such a machine and has said
that if anyone is using such machine,
that they would be excommunicated
but we'll likely never know for sure.
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