Lefthanded and Colorblind

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Obscure or Not?


The other day, my lawyer Howard Hughes, indicated that I was the “King of Obscurity”. He even went so far as to ridicule my interesting blog article about Dvorak Keyboards with a comment “yawn”.

How absurd! As a lawyer, I believe that his conservative genetic makeup just does not allow him to know what topics are truly interesting.

Just to prove him wrong, I written this interesting and informative blog about concrete.

History of Concrete

“For more than 2,000 years, chemists, engineers and interested amateurs have been working to build a better concrete. The Romans started the process with their invention of a concrete made from quicklime, ash and pumice that enabled the construction of their fabulous--and long-lasting--architecture and infrastructure. Nearly two millennia later, John Smeaton--the father of civil engineering--improved this basic building material by improving the cement that held it together. Yet despite numerous improvements over subsequent centuries, concrete structures exposed to the worst conditions are not surviving for as long as expected.

Current techniques for fending off sulfates include cement mixtures low in tricalcium aluminate and with a low water-to-cement ratio, because it makes for a less reactive and less porous concrete. But the 40-year experiment proved that the water-to-cement ratio had little impact on the life span of the concrete. Rather it is the physical components of the concrete that proves the determining factor. Monteiro even worked out specific formulas that can more accurately determine a given concrete's endurance depending on its constituent parts.”

But the most existing find is in…wait for it:

See Through Concrete!

“Architect Aron Losonczi has developed a new type of concrete that transmits light by adding “optical fibers” into the mix. The fibers are used to shift light at each end, producing a “see-through” effect.

Called LiTraCon, the blocks are a combination of “optical fibers” and concrete, mixed so that the fibers create a fine glass aggregate within the concrete.”

I’ll bet it lasts longer too.

posted by MooseTownGuy at 6:58 PM

1 Comments:

  • As your attorney, I take umbrage at your remarks about my genetics, as do my relatives in WV.

    I will continue to be your honest blog conscience despite your barbs.

    Faithfully Yours in Blogging,

    - HH, Jr. Esq.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:40 AM  

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