Secret's out for Saracen sabres
TMCnet - The World's Largest Communications and Technology Community
TMC Launches New Sites ::  NGC  |  4GWE  |  Green Tech  |  Satellite  |  IT |  ITEXPO  |  Healthcare  |  Smart Grid  |  M2M  |  Smart Products  |  AstriCon News  |  SATCON News
Share
TMCnews
[November 17, 2006]

Secret's out for Saracen sabres

(New Scientist Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) DURING the middle ages, the Muslims who fought crusaders with swords of Damascus steel had an edge a very high-tech one. Their sabres contained carbon nanotubes.

From about AD 900 to AD 1750, Damascus sabres were forged from Indian steel called wootz
. Peter Paufler of the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, and colleagues studied samples of a 17th-century sword under an electron microscope and found clear evidence of carbon nanotubes and even nanowires.

The researchers think that the sophisticated process of forging and annealing the steel formed the nanotubes and the nanowires, and could explain the amazing mechanical properties of the swords (Nature

, vol 444, p 286).

Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information - UK. All Rights Reserved.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]


Discussions:
Be the first to post a comment on this page!
 
By  
TMCnet
Featured White Papers
Top Stories
Related VoIP News

Today @ TMC
Upcoming Events
ITEXPO East 2010
January 20-22, 2010
Miami Beach Convention Center
Miami, FL
4G Wireless Evolution Conference
January 20-22, 2010
Miami Beach Convention Center
Miami, FL
Subscribe FREE to all of TMC's monthly magazines. Click here now.