DOI: Physics of Fluids, 2026. 10.1103/tnxb-ckr5 (About DOIs).
Follow the repair of a Roman shipwreck
Credit: Adriboats © L. Damelet, CNRS/CCJ
Credit: Adriboats © L. Damelet, CNRS/CCJ
Back in 2016, archaeologists discovered the Ilovic-Pargin 1 ship from the Roman Republic. The wreck has been the subject of much research into the actual ship, which has allowed scientists to determine that it was built on the southeastern coast of Italy, in what is now Brindisi. More recently, analysis of pollen trapped in the ship’s waterproofing layers has provided insight into successive repairs elsewhere in the Adriatic. paper Published in Frontiers in Materials.
According to the authors, previous studies have not focused much on the study of non-wood materials such as seawater-resistant coatings, so they used mass spectrometry and similar techniques to investigate the molecular composition of ten coating samples. The results showed that pine resin or pitch (resin) was the main component. But one example was a combination of beeswax and tar, a mixture typical of Greek shipbuilders in zop. The combination makes the coating easier to apply when heated and also makes the trash adhesive more flexible.
Because the sticky nature of pitch easily captures and protects pollen, the researchers were also able to determine which plants were present when the coating was applied, so they could in turn identify the regions where the pitch was produced. They found pollen from a variety of environments, such as oak, pine, and scrub forests typical of the Mediterranean and Adriatic coastal regions. Other examples included alder and ash, more common in rivers, as well as fir and beech, more typical of the mountainous regions of Istria and Dalmatia. This provides concrete evidence of the vessel’s mid-voyage repair.
DOI: Frontiers in Materials, 2026. 10.3389/fmats.2026.1758862 (About DOIs).
Crushing soda cans for science
Who doesn’t love watching YouTube videos of people using hydraulics to crush various objects? This includes physicists from the University of Manchester. They wondered the difference between crushing an empty soda can and a container full of liquid. The empty box immediately collapsed; the filled box gradually collapses in a series of circular rings. The Manchester physicists wanted to know why a hailstone might behave this way. They studied through a combination of mathematical modeling and laboratory shock experiments and described their findings. paper Published in Communications Physics.
