Warden Caine Has Anemones Whole Heart

Warden Caine has Anemone’s whole heart 💙

Go play the Night Market IF. It’s my friends wip and it’s AMAZIN 💖🌹💖

Mystery of why Roman buildings have survived so long has been unraveled, scientists say (Katie Hunt, CNN, Jan 06 2023)

“Roman concrete, in many cases, has proven to be longer-lasting than its modern equivalent, which can deteriorate within decades.

Now, scientists behind a new study say they have uncovered the mystery ingredient that allowed the Romans to make their construction material so durable and build elaborate structures in challenging places such as docks, sewers and earthquake zones.

The study team, including researchers from the United States, Italy and Switzerland, analyzed 2,000-year-old concrete samples that were taken from a city wall at the archaeological site of Privernum, in central Italy, and are similar in composition to other concrete found throughout the Roman Empire.

They found that white chunks in the concrete, referred to as lime clasts, gave the concrete the ability to heal cracks that formed over time.

The white chunks previously had been overlooked as evidence of sloppy mixing or poor-quality raw material.

“For me, it was really difficult to believe that ancient Roman (engineers) would not do a good job because they really made careful effort when choosing and processing materials,” said study author Admir Masic, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (…)

Additional analysis of the concrete showed that the lime clasts formed at extreme temperatures expected from the use of quicklime, and “hot mixing” was key to the concrete’s durable nature.

“The benefits of hot mixing are twofold,” Masic said in a news release.

“First, when the overall concrete is heated to high temperatures, it allows chemistries that are not possible if you only used slaked lime, producing high-temperature-associated compounds that would not otherwise form.

Second, this increased temperature significantly reduces curing and setting times since all the reactions are accelerated, allowing for much faster construction.”

To investigate whether the lime clasts were responsible for Roman concrete’s apparent ability to repair itself, the team conducted an experiment.

They made two samples of concrete, one following Roman formulations and the other made to modern standards, and deliberately cracked them.

After two weeks, water could not flow through the concrete made with a Roman recipe, whereas it passed right through the chunk of concrete made without quicklime.

Their findings suggest that the lime clasts can dissolve into cracks and recrystallize after exposure to water, healing cracks created by weathering before they spread.

The researchers said this self-healing potential could pave the way to producing more long-lasting, and thus more sustainable, modern concrete.

Such a move would reduce concrete’s carbon footprint, which accounts for up to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the study.

For many years, researchers had thought that volcanic ash from the area of Pozzuoli, on the Bay of Naples, was what made Roman concrete so strong.

This kind of ash was transported across the vast Roman empire to be used in construction, and was described as a key ingredient for concrete in accounts by architects and historians at the time.

Masic said that both components are important, but lime was overlooked in the past.”

Another day in the Office

Hello hello! I’m late to getting to this post this year but better late than never.

As has become tradition for me these last few years, I’m gonna gift away some art for Pride. So three of y’all will get to commission (a fully paid by yours truly) OTP from @neonravensart.

Rules and other important stuff below.

You don’t have to follow me, it can be a pairing from any fandom (we don’t need to share a fandom). Simply reblog or like this post and comment on it or in my asks or DMs with the pairing of your choice AND why you love them. It can be your own favorites (fandom or OCs) and/or someone else’s favorites, the more the merrier. You can request as many or as few relationships as ya want. Each relationship counts as one entry.

I’ll draw three winners on June 18th at 9:00 am CST. The three winners will receive a fullbody couple simple commission from the artist.

Please note that the artists’ commission policies and rules apply when the time comes and all I ask is that you be respectful to everyone participating and that your pairing is in keeping with the giftaway since I’m offering this to highlight all of the beautiful forms of love that are worth celebrating.

🏳️‍🌈Happy Pride🏳️‍🌈

The existence of cheese is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy