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Nanocosmetics Used Since Ancient Egypt
Roland Piquepaille writes "French researchers have found that Egyptians, Greek and Romans were using nanotechnology to dye their hair several thousands years ago. Nanowerk Spotlight reports they were using lead compounds which generated lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystals with a diameter of only 5 nanometers. At a moment where many people wonder if the use of nanoparticles is safe, it's good to know that nanotechnology has been widely used for a very long time."
...is hardly the same as using nanotechnology to repair your brain or otherwise ingest.
And aside from that, I'd hardly call this "nanotechnology" just because a hair dye process deemed effective by ancient Egyptians coincidentally happened to generate particle small enough to meet the definition of "nanoparticle".
Additionally, this is yet another questionable Roland Piquepaille submission.
Well...humans have done other things for a long time that were none too healthy. A few examples:
So just because people used to do something for a long time doesn't necessarily make it harmless.
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
This is another Roland Piquepaille article.
Huh? I'm pretty sure the Egyptians didn't do a lot of work to decide if it was safe. The lead used would be unsafe regardless of the nanoparticulate nature of the compound. Lead was used in lots of other ways through history, too. That doesn't make it safe.
These same people were drinking wine from lead goblets, I don't know if they are the ones we should be looking at for safety advice.
At a moment where many people wonder if the use of nanoparticles is safe, it's good to know that nanotechnology has been widely used for a very long time.
Rubbing your head with lead sulfide definitely sounds safe enough, I guess that proves that nothing can go wrong with using technology.
a 100% mortality rate does not bode well for the method...
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Without a doubt, this is the worst post ever.
The Egyptians used nano-particles? There's a world of difference between a very small mineral grain and a synthesized nano-bot.
Get a clue.
-B
In general, any "nanotechnology" that isn't encapsulated will have this problem; a very large specific surface area can make things hazardous even if the substance is otherwise chemically inert.
And I'll second parent's assertion that it's not actually nanotechnology; it's friggin' chemistry. When you can program it, or it can reproduce, *then* you can call it genuine nanotech; not before.
Q: "When, exactly, did Slashdot become so retarded?"
A: During the Bush admistrations war on science, reason, morals and ethics.
Need Mercedes parts ?
calling what the ancient egyptians were doing with PbS "nanotechnology" is like saying me popping my zits is "ecosystem terraforming"
"At a moment where many people wonder if the use of nanoparticles is safe, it's good to know that nanotechnology has been widely used for a very long time"
oh yeah! i just farted! therefore, global warming isn't a threat to mankind!
that's about the same level of logical deduction there dear author!
who wrote this crap and who greenlighted it?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
... their life spans were totally almost half of ours.
The people who wore these hair dyes were typically of the upper classes. The upper classes might well live to something even we would recognize as an advanced age.
Pepi II is thought to have ruled for 94 years. Ramses II lived to see his 90th birthday and his heir was in his 60s when he took the throne, ruling for about another 20 years.
Do not confuse life expectency with ages that might well be fairly commonly attainable. A huge chunk of the the lower life expectency is due to high infant mortality and death during childbirth, scewing the statistics. If one made it to the 21st year; and didn't work on pyramids and such, one's life outlook was held to be something around the classic age of man; four score and ten. That's why it's the classic age.
KFG
I read with some skepticism the negative comments[1] regarding Roland Piquepaille, some postulating that some staff member of Slashdot has a secret agreement to accept his submissions.
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Well, now, this takes the cake. Egyptians using nanoparticles? This is news?
Ahem, In Other News
When Gandhi incited civil disobedience against British rule by picking up a pinch of salt from the sea, those sodium chloride particles were less than one nanometre across![2] OMG! The Indians used nanotechnology to overthrow the British!!! WTF! Is this a harbinger of the war-like uses of nanotechnology??? BBQ!!!1!!11!one!1!
Can we have a topic devoted to Roland Piquepaille so that we can adjust our viewing preferences in accordance with the amount of adoration we feel for this Submitter of Many Slashdot Articles?
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Footnotes:
[1]
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?cid=14501811&sid=
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?cid=14436063&sid=
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?cid=14049437&sid=
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?cid=13236725&sid=
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?cid=13188470&sid=
[2] (Yeah, I know the actual particles of salt he held were more than 1nm across, but then it dissolved into the sweat from his fingertips, and the salt regrouped into nanoparticles that spread out in a thin layer across his fingertips.)
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]
Romans and Greeks used lead paints to make their faces white. After the fall of Rome, people selectively poisoned themselves with arsenic to make themselves look paler. And, given the health impacts of stuff like silicosis and asbestos damage, both of which are related to particle size and shape, I'd say that any small particle had better be eyed pretty warily by anyone with brains, no matter what idiots in the past have done with it.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.