Ifreann
24-06-2007, 19:32
Wow, this really have LG written all over it.
I just found this (http://www.kyokyo-u.ac.jp/youkyou/4/english4.htm) on stumbleupon. It's instructions on how to make a shining mud ball. Like this:
http://www.kyokyo-u.ac.jp/youkyou/4/4-1.jpg
The strangest thing about this site, at least I think, is the three mysteries section.
The first mystery isn't all that odd, but the second two are.
2. Mystery number two is the fact that these shiny balls are all completely dry. Soil is adhesive and can be lumped only when it is moist. But once it loses moisture, it loses its adhesion as well. That is the difference from rocks and earthenware. Then why do these mud balls maintain their adhesion and stay as balls? It’s a great mystery, don’t you think?
3. The third mystery is related to the second. It is said that such a shiny surface can be made with powdery soil by putting pressure of ten tons per square centimeter on it, ten times greater than the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is ten thousand meters deep. The next picture shows the surface of a mud ball magnified eight thousand times through an electronic microscope. An X-ray diffraction also shows a surface of metallic sheen, I have been told. How is it possible to make such a surface by simply rubbing with the hands? It’s really mysterious, isn’t it? The key to the mystery is in water, I guess. In the process of being made into a ball, mud is turned into something between liquid and a solid by the working of water, perhaps? I am not a specialist, and this is all I dare say.
http://www.kyokyo-u.ac.jp/youkyou/4/beam80001.jpg
So, does our resident mud expert or anyone else have any ideas as to how these mudballs can remain adhesive and become shiny? Has anyone heard of these things before, or made one?
I just found this (http://www.kyokyo-u.ac.jp/youkyou/4/english4.htm) on stumbleupon. It's instructions on how to make a shining mud ball. Like this:
http://www.kyokyo-u.ac.jp/youkyou/4/4-1.jpg
The strangest thing about this site, at least I think, is the three mysteries section.
The first mystery isn't all that odd, but the second two are.
2. Mystery number two is the fact that these shiny balls are all completely dry. Soil is adhesive and can be lumped only when it is moist. But once it loses moisture, it loses its adhesion as well. That is the difference from rocks and earthenware. Then why do these mud balls maintain their adhesion and stay as balls? It’s a great mystery, don’t you think?
3. The third mystery is related to the second. It is said that such a shiny surface can be made with powdery soil by putting pressure of ten tons per square centimeter on it, ten times greater than the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, which is ten thousand meters deep. The next picture shows the surface of a mud ball magnified eight thousand times through an electronic microscope. An X-ray diffraction also shows a surface of metallic sheen, I have been told. How is it possible to make such a surface by simply rubbing with the hands? It’s really mysterious, isn’t it? The key to the mystery is in water, I guess. In the process of being made into a ball, mud is turned into something between liquid and a solid by the working of water, perhaps? I am not a specialist, and this is all I dare say.
http://www.kyokyo-u.ac.jp/youkyou/4/beam80001.jpg
So, does our resident mud expert or anyone else have any ideas as to how these mudballs can remain adhesive and become shiny? Has anyone heard of these things before, or made one?