15 Oldest Technologies That Scientists Can't Explain

We often believe modern society to be the zenith of humanity thus far, incorrectly perceiving ‘technology’ as a modern craft. But some societies of the past were actually significantly more creative than we ever give them credit for. Not only did they craft technology we still use today but sometimes they designed things that we still don’t fully understand! These are the oldest technologies that scientists can’t explain!

[zaferoph]

PLEASE NOTE: Yes, I'm aware that relatively recently from the point in time that you're reading this, some group or some person has claimed to have craced the Voynich Manuscript but just like every other time it died out shortly as it didn't hold up as they got further into it. If this notice is still on this coment when a FULLY CRACKED AND READABLE VERSION IS PUBLICLY AVALIABLE please inform me about it. Until then, please spare me the "Vonyich has been solved" comments if you aren't even gonna look past the first headline that says "some random people claim to have figured it out". Just a question, doesn't it strike you as slightly odd that after all the experts failed it's always a Slavic person talking about ancient Slavic scripts or something like that? It's always someones own ancient culture who has the solution.

Somewhat detailed explanation of every big fault in this video.

15. Wootz steel is explained and can be replicated. Also those blades can not cut through rifle barrels any better than any other curved blade could. Again, the method of how to make wootz steel is well known today and as far as I can tell this was figured out many decades before this video was released.

"Juicy Topic": Simply explained by those fables being just that. Stories. There are no reliable records of it so yes the stories are all nonsense.

14. Greek Fire, it's ability to burn on water is not even a proven fact but even then, just because we don't know the exact composition of Greek Fire that the Byzantines used that doesn't mean we don't know ways of how it could be done. Some materials that it might have been made out of include pine resin, naphtha, quicklime, calcium phosphide, sulfur, or niter. We know how to make something similar but we simply don't know the exact composition.

13. The Voynich Manuscript while unexplained is NOT dated to any time era what so ever. All we know is that the book existed before Wilfred Yoynich purchased it in 1912. Yes the parchment it is written on has been dated to the early 15th century but that does not confirm that the writing or illustrations are from that time period. There is almost 500 years of time between the date it was purchased and the date the parchment was made. That's a lot of time. Now yes this is still an unexplained mystery but the answer could be anything including "It was written and illustrated in the mid to late 1800s and some individual or group had made up their own language for their own reasons." Personally this sounds pretty reasonable as any language is difficult to understand without some basic words to start out with but again I don't know and NOBODY does. Until this manuscript is confirmed to have been from the far distant past (not just 100-150 years ago) and the "language" inside is actually confirmed to hold actual meaning it still isn't gonna convince me of civilization from 500 years ago holding knowledge of the future or holding knowledge of worlds we don't know about or something like that. This could literally just be the insane writings of an insane mind or it could simply be fiction. Remember that things in books don't have to be real.

12. The Antikythera mechanism, again long before this video was made we had this admittedly peculiar object figured out. It has been described as an analogue computer but make no mistake in thinking it is anything like computers of today. It isn't. This is not taking away from the craftsmanship and ingenuity that went into making this mechanism though. It was used to predict and follow the movement of the Sun and Moon through the zodiac and it was used to predict eclipses. Similar things have been found in different regions and time eras as well and though the knowledge about what this thing is was forgotten at some point it was never truly lost.

11. The Seismoscope. Here I could again go into detail but that's not really necessary, it's the same deal as with Greek Fire, it was possible to do we simply don't know the exact method used. This does not mean we don't have ideas for how it could have been done at the time. Most of the information I found about it being something we can't replicate precisely today is regarding the accuracy of the original. The "first" seismoscope. Well we don't have that one to test and all we have are stories about it which could have been greatly exaggerated or simply not accounted for coincidence. I also don't think most surviving seismoscopes are up for deconstruction.

10. Ulfberht Swords. Dude are you kidding me? If every weapon ever described as unbeatable in battle truly was unbeatable in battle wars would simply end up being never ending. Uflberht swords were made by several different methods but all of them methods know at the time and known today. The only part of these swords that can be considered "shrouded in mystery" would be the inscriptions in the blades and who made them. The blade isn't made of "so pure metal that it seems impossible to have been made before the industrial revolution". It was COMMONLY available only a few decades after the oldest finds. Also the actual materials and methods of crafting the swords is different from piece to piece. Some are done in one way, others in another, some with material from one region others from material from elsewhere. It seems like it simply was a blacksmith looking to create the best possible quality he could at the time and presumably his family followed in his footsteps.

Ya know what? I've watched through about half of the video and dismantled a third of the claims simply by reading the first few pages on google. If you want to know every other way this video is just completely inaccurate and misleading: just keep watching the video and every new piece of technology he names pause the video and google it, read up on it and then continue the video and you'll just scream internally.

[djwsmith]

Modern metalurgists and blacksmiths tend to agree that the ability of the Indian region smiths were able to produce Wootz due to the source ore they used containing the element Vanadium and not due to some magical formula they kept secret. Not to take anything away from their skills. To be able to produce such high quality alloy was amazing considering they had no technology to test and verify materials like today. Its believed that the "secret" of Wootz died out because the Vanadium containing ore from their mine played out and they no longer could make the steel without it. Look up work by Dr. John Verhoeven for more info.

[Soulsmithing]

Wootz has been "rediscovered" by Al Pendray in 1981. We now have great samples of people reproducing it, the top notch being Alchemy Steels in Finland (which has the same refinement as the real deal). A metallurgy professor actually explained to me exactly how it forms. So Wootz is understood now.

[peterjigstad]

I hate when youtubers TELLS me aggressively to "subscribe" in a middle of content.
I will decide that myself without someone TELLING me to do that. I will never ever subscribe when there is such message.

[Tex]

It's misinformation like this that has caused the dumbing down on society and create a generation of ignoramuses.

[jamesstewart]

I made it to 3:20 and am baffled as to how this has 2 million views.
Well done, sir! One day I hope to see you in a video about things we can't explain.

[mirozen_]

Disappointing. The incorrect content here has turned me off this channel.

[manishkumarkosambia]

Vajra is also depicted as thunderbolt and is the weapon that Lord Indra wields. This Weapon is believed to be invincible. After being driven out from Swarga, or heaven, by the serpent king Vritra also known as Vritrasur, the Devas needed a powerful weapon to aid their fight so they went to Lord Vishnu for guidance. Lord Vishnu told the Devas that Vritrasur would only be killed by a weapon (Vajra) made from the sage Dadhichi's bones. So the Devas went to the Sage Dadhichi and explained the situation and told him that Lord Vishnu has sent them to him for help. Sage Dadhichi agreed to help the Devas and by his Yog-power ended his life. The Devas then made the Vajra from sage Dadhichi's bones and with that weapon Indra killed Vritrasur and defeated the Asuras and reclaimed heaven. The Pic of the Vajra shown here in the video is just symbolising the divine weapon and not the actual Vajra. This five-pronged ritual object extensively employed in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies. In Sanskrit it has both the meanings of “thunderbolt” and “diamond.” Like the thunderbolt, Buddhist's believe that the vajra cleaves through ignorance.

[arturama]

"Otherwise this would be quite a useless list"
And that's exactly what it is.

[justusb.plorer]

The Genius Lemon: Water can't support fire.

[mnomadvfx]

The Phaistos Disk is most likely an analogue of the Rosetta stone.

It contains 2 separate symbol writing systems, Cretan Heiroglyphs and Linear A - so the prevailing theory is that it is a singular inscription written twice to aid translation as Cretan Heiroglyphs and Linear A represent 2 overlapping periods of ancient Crete history.

[RadiantTwilight]

I wonder how many of these mysteries have been thoroughly researched before the making of this video, I found a dozen that have their facts totally wrong, for example the Ulfberht Swords, the vikings do not have much to do with these, although many of the swords were found in scandinavia that is simply proof of a flourishing trade in the early middle ages, they are of franconian / germanian origin, and although they have been high quality steel products they are nowhere near as unbelievably advanced as suggested here. In fact, there was a trade embargo at one time, that forbade trade of these to enemy countries and specifically the vikings, so many contemporary fakes with misspellings were forged.

[Tobiasxdful]

There's some much inaccurate and untrue information in this video. This is clearly made to just make money

[wilohmsford]

The Antikythera mechanism has been explained years ago. It predicted solar and lunar eclipses, celestial alignments, etc... Many documentaries on the subject.

[chrissmith]

The iron pillar in India was manufactured by the forge welding of pieces of wrought iron. In a report published in the journal Current Science, R. Balasubramaniam of the IIT Kanpur explains how the pillar's resistance to corrosion is due to a passive protective film at the iron-rust interface. The presence of second-phase particles (slag and unreduced iron oxides) in the microstructure of the iron, that of high amounts of phosphorus in the metal, and the alternate wetting and drying existing under atmospheric conditions are the three main factors in the three-stage formation of that protective passive film. (Wikipedia)

[julesgrill]

I have never had to wait through so many damn ads in a 22 minute video in all my 15+ years of watching YouTube videos.

[VonDeliriumTremens]

#15 - There was no such thing as singular 'Damascus blade'. You probably meant weapons made of 'Damascus steel' that were allegedly superior to any other weapons. And the modern metallurgists reproduced the 'wootz steel' that appears to be a regular crucible steel - a great achievement at the time, but nothing outstanding today.

Juicy Topic - Yes, scientists can't explain why the ancient legends don't correspond to reality, sure...

#14 - Are you serious? Any flammable liquid that is less dense than water burns over the water surface just fine. There are substances that get hot in contact with water (e.g. lime) or ignite when wet (e.g. sodium). There are many modern interpretations of Greek and Byzantine Fire (they are two different things - one was used in an flamethrower equivalent, the other was igniting in contact with water) made with the ingredients available in 7th century (the first attested usage of this weapon). We simply don't know what particular recipe has been used back then. And no, Greek fire has not been lost in 1453 - it has not been produced for few centuries back then.

#13 - It is almost certain that this is a falsificate. Voynich was a well-educated man, who got his scientific background in chemistry (worked as a pharmacist in his youth), experiences in forgery (he belonged to an underground independence movement, where he forged official documents) and had a wide knowledge of languages and history thanks to extensive self-study. He was also an successful antiquarian what gave him not only a lot of money but an access to clean or discarded medieval parchment. With his knowledge of chemistry and methods of making ink and paints, access to materials, linguistic skills, a lot of time on his hands and penchant for academic pranks, he had means, motive and opportunity. It is not the only one book of that kind - Luigi Serafini created similar Codex Seraphinianus, but he did not hide its modern origin.

#12 - It has been known for quite some time that Antikythera Mechanism was a very complex astronomic machine used to track the movement of moon and known planets, making it easier to synchronize the solar and lunar calendars or predicting the eclipses.

#11 - Zhang Heng's seismograph is a pretty simple mechanism that has been reconstructed numerous times. The device was meticulously leveled and then metal balls were positioned in the state of unstable equilibrium so when propelled by a heavy pendulum set off by even the light vibration, they started to fall, sounding an alarm (the frogs are hollow and act as a good resonator). Chinese were pretty accustomed to earthquakes, so for them, it was a practical tool.

#10 - The Ulfberht swords are not of Scandinavian origin, as they most likely originated from somewhere in Francia, more or less corresponding to modern Rhineland in Western Germany. Furthermore, there is nothing exceptional to them - they significantly vary in quality. Some are made of crucible steel, some are made of bloomery iron. They are all good weapons, but as I said, nothing exceptional. The only mystery is the meaning of the 'Ulfberht' word.

#9 - Well, it not that no one knows where the Iron Pillar came from. It bears an original inscription that states openly, that this item has been made on orders of king Kumaragupta I to honour Vishnu and commemorate king Candragupta II. Its resistance to rust (not complete, the pillar is visibly oxidized when one looks closely) has been analyzed 10 years ago and attributed to a high phosphorus content that caused the formation of iron phosphate layer, protecting it from penetrating rust, especially in warm, dry climate.

#8 - This one is actually mysterious. The text has not been deciphered yet (there are suggestions that it is some unknown variant of the linear A script) and its authenticity has not been confirmed.

#7 - It's not that scientists are baffled by these items. They simply don't know what was their purpose. Which is curious, because not written source mentions them, suggesting it must have been something really common.

#6 - Given the number and differences in size, it is generally accepted that this was a common decoration in buildings, possibly of ritual importance. But given that there is no written evidence concerning them, we will most likely never know the details.

#5 - There is no mystery whatsoever. Codex Gigas is just a compendium of religious and lay text, quite common to the era where it has been created. It is just bigger than most contemporary specimen, as it was meant to be kind of religious encyclopedia. The illustration of the Devil is also perfectly understood as the previous page contains the analogous image of the Heavenly Kingdom. So, no mystery, just a juxtaposition of Heaven and Hell, a common trope in medieval art.

#4 - This is another genuine mystery. Mostly because it has been discovered not that long ago (1986) and their size and submerged location make the examination a long and complex process. But the lack of any interior generally suggests natural origin, despite elaborate shape, much like in the case of Dimmuborgir in Iceland or Giant's Causeway in Ireland.

#3 - With the level of sophistication of the Indian ancient literature it only stands to reason that the authors were using their imagination to make their deities even more exotic and thus worthy of reverence. It is a form of religious science-fiction if you will.

#2 - The skeletons of Mohenjo-Daro referenced here do not show any unusual radiation levels. This misconception comes from 'Technology of the Gods' by David Childress (2000) who stated that the bones have shown 50 times the 'normal' radiation amount. This dates back to report of William Mayneord from 1960 who stated that radiation levels were not different that those found in Egypt. Two Russian physicians, Alexandr Lebedinsky and Yuri Nefedov challenged this in their 1962 paper, stating that the Indian remains shown 50% higher radiation level (again, nothing unusual, there are places where background radiation is way higher than in the others). This has been garbled by Childress, resulting in the strange allegations. The skeletons also bear the marks of physical trauma consistent with usage of weapons, suggesting a massacre (possibly of caravan workers attacked by bandits, as the place was a ruin for centuries by then).

#1 - This is not that strange - a small chamber made of hard stone with a domed ceiling have good acoustic properties. It is generally believed that this place was used for divination, to create an eerie sound effect, increasing the mystery of the ritual.

[fdelaneau]

Most of the things mentioned here are well known and fully understood, a quick search on Wikipedia will suffice to convince you of it. The only mysteries that remains – for some of them – are how where they made at the time with the tools at their disposal?

[brads]

The composition of Greek fire remains a matter of speculation and debate, with various proposals including combinations of pine resin, naphtha, quicklime, calcium phosphide, sulfur, or niter. In his history of Rome, Titus Livy describes priestesses of Bacchus dipping fire into the water, which did not extinguish, "for it was sulphur mixed with lime."

[scottt]

People make wootz steel all the time in the forging community, it's made using a crucible, you can even buy in billet form. Not a mystery and definitely has been solved by science 😂