An Ancient Roman Shipwreck May Explain the Universe

Funny thing, in roman lead pipelines lead poisoning was actually decreased in drinking water as time went on. Not because they stopped using lead pipes, but because the water was so mineral rich that it calcified the interior of the pipes and created and insulating layer between the lead and the water.

Most people don't know that "who framed Roger rabbit" has an underlying plot line that is based off the true story of the rubber and oil companies buying up all the light rail lines in Hollywood and tearing them up to promote highways. You can still find remnants of this time period when walking around towns like Oakland, California where the original rail lines were just left in the ground because it was easier. This is part of why the taxi is a lead character in the last half of the movie and there are many references to trains.

Since so many people ask the same question: The reason there is Lead-210 (Pb-210) in the ore in the first place, is because it is a decay product in the Uranium-238 (U-238) decay chain. In the lead ore there is always some amount of U-238 present, so Pb-210 is constantly produced (and it is in equilibrium: just as much Pb-210 is produced in the decay of U-238 as goes away by the decay of Pb-210). If you extract the lead from the ore, the Pb-210 goes with the rest of the lead, but the source of it (the U-238 and decay products) is removed: so once extracted the Pb-210 that decay isn't replenished and the amount of Pb-210 starts to decrease.

At first I thought they had to use ancient lead because of the background radiation from atmospheric nuclear tests. Steel made before the 1940s is very valuable because smelting streel introduces radioactivity from the atmosphere, so ww2 shipwrecks are sometimes mined for their low background steel to be used in sensitive scientific equipment

Tragic as the loss of an artifact might be, I kind of take a philosophical stance on these particular artifacts. They're ingots; they're a transitional state in human craftsmanship. They're just a convenient way to store metal until it's turned into something else. By using their metal to build something, they're finally fulfilling the purpose for which they were intended. The hard work of those ancient smelters is finally paying off, and their handiwork was immensely helpful to people two millennia in the future! There's something I find very... human, about that.

As a maritime history nerd, I feel compelled to point out that the sail on the animation of the ship is facing the wrong way.

I really appreciate the writing and editing of this episode. The random inclusions of cars, the second camera for sassy quips, Hank getting words wrong. Felt like I was watching more Hank does stand-up but with less crowdwork and more science

Yeah, now I'm craving an episode on leptogenesis! I need new subjects to let my uncles conclude I'm getting crazier every year at the family meetings.

It isn't every day you find a modern thing with a supply chain that includes the ROMAN EMPIRE.

For our European friends who aren't familiar with American units of measure, a Kia Sorrento weighs about the same as 82 emus.

Is it click bait? Sure. Is fascinating? Absolutely. Thank for the content

15:50 absolutely yes to leptogenesis, we're all nerds here.

Fun fact, the Romans were so attached to using lead in plumbing, the word plumbing is from the Romans word for lead! And it's why the chemical symbol for lead is Pb

It's cool that both are teams of historians just in a completely different time scale.

I love the fact that way back then there was a place where there were SO MANY sardines they actually NAMED it Sardinia!

I love the way Hank kept milking the "The meteor is about 12 camels wide" meme.

YES, COVER IT! More particle physics and cosmology!!!! (This premiered on my birthday, so thank you SciShow for the gift <3_

Cosmologist: i never thought id solve the mysteries of the universe with an archiologist Archiologist: how about with a friend? Cosmologist: aye i could do that Edit:i love everyone debating the mispelled "grave robbers" and noone batting an eye at me calling astro physcists cosmologists

How could one NOT like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”?!?!😂😂. PBBBBBBBLEASE!!!🤣🤣🤣

THIS is one of the best episode yet. History, science, theory, law… all tied together.