Fireproof concrete for bunker construction

Not the most sizzling headline, but may just save you from being sizzled. Ready for public consumption just prior to 2012...

The geopolymer, developed by William Rickard and a team from Curtin University of Technology, can withstand temperatures of over 1600oC for at least an hour - heat that would rip through regular walls.

The super concrete can also defend us from less natural types of fire – its resilience makes it ideal bomb shelter material. In addition to scorching flames, the geopolymer can withstand almost three times more pressure than run-of-the-mill concrete. To put it into perspective, you could stack 8,000 tonnes (that’s about 5,000 Ford Falcons [a large Aussie car]) on a square metre of this stuff and it still wouldn’t crack. There has also been a lot of research to suggest that geopolymers can provide protection from radiation, which will be handy if we ever face nuclear war.

...it will actually be cheaper than regular cement because it’s made from fly ash, a waste product of coal-fired power plants.

If you are leaving bunker construction to the last minute, consider this product. More here:
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features/20090109-19666.html

Pyramids Made From Concrete

I'm a partial fan of this idea, because it is such a simple solution that anyone can understand. A new set of researchers are backing the idea the Giza pyramids are made from concrete:

A handful of determined materials scientists are carrying out experiments with crushed limestone and natural binding chemicals - stuff that would have been readily available to ancient Egyptians - designed to show that blocks on the upper reaches of the pyramids may have been cast in place from a slurry poured into wooden moulds.

Unanswered are questions like the quarries where the blocks were cut from... why they made such big blocks... how all the other pyramids on Earth were made... The story is also told at the Boston Globe.


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