44: The History of Rubber in Ancient Mesoamerican Civilizations (ft. Michael Tarkanian)

Ancient civilizations have built incredible monuments and artifacts which are the subject of intense research and study to this day. Their use of cement and rubber tells a lot about their culture and is a source of inspiration to modern scientists that hope to create materials that can last for millennia to come. 

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Today’s guest is Michael Tarkanian, a Research Affiliate in the Center for Materials Research in Archeology and Ethnology as well as a Senior Lecturer in MIT’s Department of MSE. In today’s episode, he discusses how the materials used in ancient civilizations can reveal a lot about their culture.

In this conversation, we discuss the following topics:

• The intersection between materials science and archeology 
• The archeological fieldwork
• Learning materials and history from the rubber ball
• Processing methods used by ancient civilizations
• The nanotechnology in ancient artifacts

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Thank you Joao Morgado for editing this episode!

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