Long before the days of trucks and bulldozers, ancient Egyptians were building pyramids out of heavy rocks they had to haul by hand. After getting slowed down in the desert terrain, they figured out a way to make transporting heavy stones a little easier using water. According to a new study published by researchers at the University of Amsterdam, workers would place rocks on a sledge (a platform of sorts) and then wet the sand underneath, making it twice as stiff. The firm ground made it a heck of a lot easier to pull the rock along, reducing the amount of workers needed to get each stone to its destination. It's the same difference you might notice walking on the beach near the water, versus dry patches further up.
The study, which was published this week in Physical Review Letters, tells us not only about how our predecessors got along, but how it could help us as well. The transport of granular materials like sand, coal and concrete currently account for 10 percent of the world's energy consumption. If we can come up with a more efficient way to move those things around, we could potentially save a ton of energy (and cash) in the process.
Image credit: Lansbricae (Luis Leclere) via Getty Image
Via: Phys.org
Source: Physical Review Letters
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