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What we discard may be our salvation

For a long time, scientists sought to find the “secret” that allows the cement used by the Romans 2,000 years ago to be more effective and durable than modern cement. And only now, it seems, have researchers from the United States, Italy and Switzerland found the answer, but they found it in the least expected place: among what was discarded as “impurity” in the cement mix.

A recent report in the journal Science Advances reveals that the ultra-durability of Roman cement in bridges, aqueducts, pipes, walls, and buildings is due to the presence of millimeter-sized lime clasts, that is, rock fragments formed by “recent” (relatively speaking) sediments.

Two elements of the mentioned report caught my attention. In the first place, the presence of lime fragments in Roman cement was already known by researchers for many, many decades, but the lime clasts had not been studied because scientists considered them to be " merely evidence of sloppy mixing practices, or poor-quality materials." (Modern scientists wrongly assumed Romans didn’t know what they were doing.)

Secondly, precisely because of the presence of these very small components (absent in modern cement), the Roman cement had “self-healing properties”, that is, by forming even a small crack in the ancient cement, the lime clasts automatically functioned as a super glue and immediately sealed it, before it could expand.

The researchers found that in this way the crack was well sealed in a matter of days and that within two weeks the repair was permanent, making the entire previously affected area waterproof.

This situation made me think that we, in the course of life (and due to life itself), develop small cracks in our minds and in our hearts (and in our spirit), cracks and cracks that have the ability to heal themselves. , but they don't, because what heals us is considered "waste" in today's society.

In other words, although, like Roman cement, we have the healing power within us, we do not use it because we have been taught to ignore it as something "useless" or "without any functionality".

So, like researchers seeking to solve the “mystery” of Roman cement, we, in real life, start looking for answers in the wrong place, even though the answer has always been in plain sight. Meanwhile, we let our cracks continue to grow until our lives start to fall apart.

The saddest thing about this situation is that, while our lives fall apart (in any of the many areas of our lives), what could keep us standing despite the passage of time and despite the ravages of life always it is present within us, but we do not see it or activate it, either because we do not know it or reject it.

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