7 Ancient Technologies That Used Amazingly Advanced Science

2. Damascus Steel - Carbon Nanotubes

If somebody said the words "carbon nanotubes", "superplastic" and "microalloy" to you, you'd likely picture a high tech lab somewhere, probably Germany. However, these are all words associated with the ancient supersteel that was being used to slice the heads off Persians by the likes of Alexander the Great as far back as 300 BC.

Damascus steel was prized for its incredible strength and sharpness, supposedly capable of slicing a feather in half in the air, or scything through the barrel of a gun, the legendary steel was the perfect weapon. The thing is that we still can't figure out how they did it. Analysis of Damascus steel has revealed nanowires and carbon nanotubes, something that we use today in the fields of electronics and nanotechnology. Amazingly, some think that these are the result of adding woody material into the steel and deriving the nanotubes from the plant fibres.

The technology was unfortunately lost by the 18th century and, so far, we have not been able to reproduce it.