Lost Inventions and Discoveries We seem to be advancing in using sound to levitate objects. There was a theory put forward years ago which supposed the ancients figured out how to do this and this was the way they moved huge rocks into place on ancient structures. They knew something, that is for sure, but it may not have been how to move stones with sound, they could have known how to beat gravity. So many ancient races used stones we are unable to move today or barely move. Some of them didn’t even have the wheel yet, how can this be explained other than having secret knowledge? The ancient Greeks believed and wrote about the fact ancient Egyptian priests had secret knowledge. What they believed then was they perfected magic among other things. What is magic other than doing something people don’t understand. Advanced technology would seem like magic and perhaps the ancient Egyptians were more technologically advanced than we suspect. The problem is however, these huge stones were being moved even before the Egyptians. Scientists have been puzzled about this for centuries. Another strange fact is it was happening all through time and by ancient races all over the world. Is it so far fetched to think maybe some ancient discoveries were made and then lost through time? Take the Antikythera mechanism for example. It was a two thousand year old mechanical computer of ancient Greek construction that contained precision gears and could predict the movement of the planets and moon. Yet, precision metal gears were not made after that for about 1,500 years. If they would have been, it would have advanced our technology in many areas. There is a history of inventions being created and then not being used or their design advanced. The ancient Greeks created things like automatic doors on their temples but that fell by the wayside as did the vending machines they invented. The greatest blow of all was some used steam power and after the Greeks fell from power that was never followed through. Think of where we could have been by now, it would have been thousands of years ahead or more, because when things are invented, other inventions are built on them. One of the reasons China was so far ahead of Europe in many areas was the fact they had printed books which the populace could learn from. They were printing books somewhere around 618 A.D. but it could have been as late at 907 A.D., yet Europe didn’t print the first book until 1,552 A.D. This means the Chinese were learning things as early as 900 years before the Europeans. When the Chinese invention of the crossbow finally made it to Europe, the Chinese had invented one with an auto-feed feature for the arrows long before that. We have no way of knowing what inventions or novel ideas have been lost throughout time, but I am sure many revolutionary ones have been. Damascus steel was invented somewhere around 750 to 945 A.D. It was superior in strength to regular steel but the formula got lost in time and it wasn’t rediscovered until 1998 when we rediscovered it. It was rediscovered by J.D. Verhoeven. It became invaluable in many areas including parts in jet engines. Silphium was a plant used by the ancient Greeks and Romans. We have no idea what it was. It was used for many things in ancient times. You could season your food with it and even make a perfume out of it. That wasn’t all the uses however. It was used as an aphrodisiac and in ancient medicine. It is said it was also an effective contraceptive. We may never know what plant this is. Some inventions and discoveries were lost in modern times and the excuse was made they didn’t work. The problem is if they didn’t work, why were they hidden from us? What about the car engine that ran on water? Supposedly, there was a device invented that efficiently separated water into hydrogen and oxygen and used the hydrogen as fuel for the engine. A man who claimed to have invented this device went to a restaurant and ran out screaming “they poisoned me” and died. His name was Meyer. The coroner denied it was poison. The inventor had complained about being harassed about his invention and he had turned down a lucrative offer to buy him out. No car company or power company has tried to recreate his invention and it is believed the plans are gone. There is another company T. Meyer who builds engines and has some plans online, but this is not the engine I am talking about. One invention which is lost is the ancient invention of Greek Fire. The ancient Greeks were able to concoct a formula for fire that could not be put out with water. Since it was before the invention of gun powder it was the deadliest weapon on the ocean. Their ships might have had a device which sprayed Greek Fire onto an enemy ship and it could not be put out. I guess the closest equivalent today is napalm. It has been said one of the technologies which has been lost to time was from a family named Stradivari. They built violas, cellos guitars and most famously violins. There are still secrets in the construction of the most famous and valuable violins in the world. Some believe it is in the wood used, while others think some other process or processes were used, we don’t know about. The Messiah Stradivarius Violin is said to be worth 20 million dollars. Another medicine from the plant Nepenthe, which is unknown today, was used by the ancient Greeks and later ancient Romans as an anti-depressant. It is surprising that anti-depressants were even known about thousands of years ago. It would be interesting if we could find out what plant this was, because perhaps it would be useful today. There is a story which many believe is true. It concerns Tiberius Caesar. It is said an inventor asked for an audience with the emperor to show him what he invented. He went before the emperor with a glass object. When asked what it was, he immediately threw it at the floor and amazingly it didn’t break. He believed the emperor would be impressed and I guess maybe fund his endeavors. Instead, the emperor ordered him to be killed immediately. The emperor believed this new glass would become so valuable it would devalue his gold and silver holdings. The formula for the unbreakable glass was never found.
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