stackyFACTSThe Roman Empire accidentally mastered nanotechnology while trying to make a fancy party cup.
The Roman Empire accidentally mastered nanotechnology while trying to make a fancy party cup. The Lycurgus Cup is a 4th-century glass chalice that looks opaque green when light hits it from the front, but glows a terrifying, translucent ruby red when lit from behind. Modern scientists finally realized the Romans achieved this by grinding gold and silver into particles as small as 50 nanometers and fusing them into the glass. They were quantum physicists by pure trial and error.
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