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Title: Mesoamericans made rubber from latex nearly 3500 years ago
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://blog.taragana.com/science/20 ... x-nearly-3500-years-ago-14736/
Published: Jun 7, 2010
Author: n
Post Date: 2010-06-07 08:52:01 by gengis gandhi
Keywords: None
Views: 137
Comments: 5

Mesoamericans made rubber from latex nearly 3500 years ago

By ANIMay 27th, 2010

WASHINGTON - Mesoamericans were the first polymer scientists - they made rubber from latex nearly 3,500 years long before modern vulcanisation was invented.

According to a new research, by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), pre-Hispanic peoples not only invented rubber, but also perfected techniques of chemical processing to enhance its properties.

They manufactured strong, wear-resistant rubber.

Flourishing from about 2,000 B.C. to the Spanish invasion in 1521 in what are now parts of Mexico and Central America, the Mesoamerican civilization engineered the properties of latex from the native Castilla elastica tree.

A milky sap-like fluid that dries to a brittle solid, natural latex, which contains an oily chemical called isoprene, was blended with juice from the morning glory species Ipomoea alba.

The Mesoamerican people stirred the liquid till the time it solidified into a white mass that was moulded by hand into rubber balls, hollow rubber figurines, and other rubber artefacts.

The process relies on chemistry, bearing resemblance to modern vulcanisation.

For the new research, archaeology professor Dorothy Hosler and technical instructor Michael Tarkanian of MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, set up their own processing facility at MIT, and experimented using raw materials collected during field trips to Mexico.

They found that by varying the proportions in the mixture made of Castilla tree sap and morning-glory vine juice, a different kind of rubber could be made.

A 50-50 blend of the latex and morning glory produced maximum bounciness, perfect for the rubber balls.

Pure latex worked best for rubber bands and adhesives, while a three-to-one mix of latex to morning glory provided the most durable material, perfect for sandals.

The Mesoamericans had plenty of time to work out these properties through trial and error.

By the time the Spanish arrived, there was “a large rubber industry in the region, producing 16,000 rubber balls each year, and large numbers of rubber statues, sandals, bands and other products,” Discovery News quoted Tarkanian, as saying in a MIT statement.

A few such balls, which ranged in size from a few inches to a foot across, have been found in archaeological digs in the region, with oldest dating back to 1600 B.C.

These balls were used in ceremonial ball games. (ANI)


Poster Comment:

hundred ton quarried monoliths, too.

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#1. To: gengis gandhi (#0)

By the time the Spanish arrived, there was “a large rubber industry in the region, producing 16,000 rubber balls each year, and large numbers of rubber statues, sandals, bands and other products,” Discovery News quoted Tarkanian, as saying in a MIT statement

Makes me wonder why those early elite preferred bowling with human sacrificed heads.

OBAMA'S CHERNOBYL

Spew, Baby, Spew

Jethro Tull  posted on  2010-06-07   9:39:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: gengis gandhi (#0)

They should have ditched the rubber balls for musket balls.

echo5sierra  posted on  2010-06-07   10:57:22 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#3. To: Jethro Tull (#1)

Have you ever tried to bowl with a rubber ball? While it's highly entertaining to watch, it is nevertheless difficult to aim a ball that refuses to stop bouncing all over the lanes.

"The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished.... The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be." - Lao Tzu, 6th century BC

SonOfLiberty  posted on  2010-06-07   10:59:57 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#4. To: echo5sierra (#2)

Tecumseh tried to convince them of that too. Didn't work out well. Plus, his brother was a total door knob and killed the solidarity movement before it could be effective.

"The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished.... The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be." - Lao Tzu, 6th century BC

SonOfLiberty  posted on  2010-06-07   11:01:03 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#5. To: gengis gandhi (#0)

Rubber, huh? Jumbo, Super-Jumbo, and Colossal? That is, small, medium and large.

For it is not the wolf or any of the other beasts that would join the contest in any noble danger, but rather a good man. — Aristotle, Politics, Book IIX

Turtle  posted on  2010-06-07   11:01:24 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


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