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Existing archaeological discoveries indicate that the earliest ceramic tiles in the world appeared in Greece circa late 3,000 BC, but only in simple forms. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating results show that the absolute age of tiles unearthed from the relic site of Qiaocun date back to 2400–2200 BC, proving these as the earliest composite tiles.In the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046–771 BC), terracotta tile manufacturing was significantly developed in central Shaanxi Province, forming the Longshan Western Zhou culture, which further spread to the rest of Asia including South Korea, Japan, the Russian Far East and Southeast Asia.To avoid the...

It's for an uninsulated hunting cabin with a hot water heater, indoor plumbing, etc. I was thinking one for the kitchen and one for the hot water heater. But I'm getting the impression they all shut off after a few hours. I need them to stay on all the time during extreme cold. To backup the propane heaters. thanx

@marco_org Apple has a patent that can reduce the gold content of their 18k gold by half. veg.gy/ZhMF2— Sumocat (@SumocatS) Mar 6 2015 1:58 PM It’s inartfully put (140 characters is a bitch), but as a practical matter he’s correct. Apple’s patent application is for a method that allows them to make 18k gold that has, on a volume basis, less gold than regular 18k gold. How can this be? It’s because Apple’s gold is a metal matrix composite, not a standard alloy. Instead of mixing the gold with silver, copper, or other metals to make it harder, Apple is...

The American Museum of Ceramic Art visits Icheon, South Korea, to observe artists as they create beautiful Korean ceramics using traditional methods. Icheon has a history of ceramic culture that spans thousands of years, and it continues to this day.

Mystery over ceramic head finds The head found near Dumfries resembles The Scream painting Archaeologists are trying to solve the riddle of three mysterious ceramic heads that have been uncovered in Edinburgh and Dumfriesshire. A bodiless male head was found after St Margaret's Loch in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, was partially drained. A smaller female head was later discovered on grassland in the nearby Spring gardens. A third disembodied head said to resemble The Scream painting by Edvard Munch was then found near Dumfries. The ceramic head with bulging eyes and a scar was found on the river bank close to...

A headless skeleton found in a Peruvian tomb is adding new wrinkles to the debate over human sacrifice in the ancient Andes. The decapitated body was found in the Nasca region, named for the ancient civilization that thrived in southern Peru from A.D. 1 to 750. Known for producing "Nasca lines" in the earth that depict giant figures, the culture is also noted among archaeologists for practicing human sacrifice and displaying modified human heads called trophy heads. But experts have been divided over whether the heads were taken from enemies in war or from locals offered up for ritual sacrifice....

A Chiang Mai University team has developed a motor so small it will power a microscopic robot on an expedition through human blood vessels.Boffins at the university's science faculty describe their invention as a "nanomotor". It will drive a medical robot about the size of a blood cell on a tour of the maze of human veins and capillaries.A "nanobot" - or nanotechnology robot - developed at Kent State University in Ohio, United States will be powered by a motor made of an extremely fine and pure ceramic created at Chiang Mai University. In addition to powering the nanobot, the...

/begin my translation A Flute Made out of Clay [Yonhap News 2005-07-23 10:00] Yu Yeon-shil, who pioneered a ceramic flute in S. Korea, is giving a demonstration. It was made with a technique used to make blue china.  She is a music teacher specialized in violin instruction at West Hae-nam Elementary School in S. Cholla Province. Source: Hae-man Newspaper [Hae-nam, Yonhap news] /end my translation

An Iraq success story: SAPI plates By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes European edition, Saturday, January 31, 2004 ARLINGTON, Va. — The military’s new Interceptor body armor has proved to be one of the major success stories of the campaign in Iraq, with everyone from combat medics to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld singing its praises. Most soldiers know that the key to the armor’s bulletproof qualities are the so-called “SAPI” plates, for Small Arms Protective Inserts. The two four-pound plates, which fit into pockets sewn into the front and back of the outer vest, can each stop shrapnel from mortar...

ARLINGTON, Va. — Working full-tilt, nine contractors have finished crafting 160,000 Interceptor body armor vests, and the equipment is now en route to units preparing to deploy to Iraq and a central distribution point in Kuwait, according to Army officials. This month’s production run of the Interceptor tactical vests fulfills a promise to Congress by Army officials, who said that by January the service would have enough of the vests to outfit every soldier deployed to Iraq, according to Army spokesman Maj. Gary Tallman. “Congress has been notified that the requirement has been met,” Tallman said Friday. Interceptor vests are...

<p>A small sample of a space shuttle tile glows during a demonstration by Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Center educationalist Jeff Lucas.</p> <p>The protective ceramic tiles on the space shuttle -- invented, designed, tested and produced in Silicon Valley -- are at the center of the investigation into what caused the Columbia disaster.</p>