Mayas mastered rubber long before Goodyear
Sunday, May 30, 2010 - 22:40
in Physics & Chemistry
They used various formulas to make bouncy balls, glue and even resilient rubber sandals, a study finds. Hundreds and perhaps even thousands of years before Charles Goodyear discovered the vulcanization process that made commercial rubber viable, Mesoamerican peoples were carrying out a similar process to produce rubber artifacts for a broad variety of uses, two MIT researchers have found.