3 ms·

Shoot we just cracked how to make Roman Concrete that can last 2000 years being beaten by seawater. https://www.nature.com/news/seawater-is-the-secret-to-long-l

• vslira 9y ago
  A thought just crossed my mind: can you patent rediscovered ancient technology? I mean, prior art and all... (not joking)
  • pbhjpbhj 9y ago
    If there's no extant disclosure of the means to work the invention then I don't see why not. For example we could find that you got the method wrong, and thus that no prior art existed. If there's a document, stele, or something you can examine to learn how to work the invention then that would be prior art. Recall, USA have harmonised with the other systems now on using "first to file". However you'd have to be the inventor, so you'd need to be able to argue you'd reinvented it. In practice you could just not reveal your source and probably get away with saying you invented it.
    • kpil 9y ago
      You can certainly patent the process.
• philh 9y ago
  I recall an article saying that a) We use rebar in concrete for tensile and shear strength, which massively decreases the amount of concrete you need but shortens lifespan. b) Our concrete sets a lot faster. c) The specific mineral that the nature article is about, was already known. (I'm not sure if it was widely known.) (These are the main things I remember, anyway.)