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The primordial model of quantum computation was introduced over thirty years ago and the first quantum algorithms have appeared for over twenty years. Yet the exact architectures for quantum computer seem foreign to an undergraduate student…
Maintaining and restoring buildings has nowadays gained special importance due to its high cost. Various different methods have been presented regarding this matter due to the above-mentioned reason and also the ever-growing demand for the…
Architectural conservation and repair are becoming increasingly important issues in many countries due to numerous prior improper interventions, including the use of inappropriate repair materials over time. As a result, the composition of…
The earliest origins of mathematics in the Indian subcontinent is generally dated around 800-500 BCE when the {\em Sulbasutras} are thought to have been written. In this article we suggest that mathematical thinking in South Asia, in…
The term architecture has evolved considerably from its original Greek roots and its application to buildings and computers to its more recent manifestation for minds. This article considers lessons from this history, in terms of a set of…
The archimedean solids Cubus simus (snub cube) and Dodecaedron simum (snub dodecahedron) cannot be constructed by ruler and compass. We explain that for general reasons their vertices can be constructed via paper folding on the faces of a…
Background: Concrete is one of the most-used material today in nuclear, medical, and industrial applications for radiation shielding due to its economic advantages and availability together with its structural performance. However,…
The term complexity derives etymologically from the Latin plexus, which means interwoven. Intuitively, this implies that something complex is composed by elements that are difficult to separate. This difficulty arises from the relevant…
Pythagoras' theorem, the area of a triangle as one half the base times the height, and Heron's formula are amongst the most important and useful results of ancient Greek geometry. Here we look at all three in a new and improved light, using…
Cement hydration products were studied as influenced by the hydration conditions (hydration time in liquid phase; relative humidity, RH, in gaseous phase). The formation of calcium hydroxide (portlandite, P) and its transformation to…
Glasses constitute a widespread form of solid matter, and glass production has been an important human technology for more than 3000 years. Despite that long history, new ways to understand the fundamental physics of glasses continue to…
We present here an elementary construction of an aperiodic tile set. Although there already exist dozens of examples of aperiodic tile sets we believe this construction introduces an approach that is different enough to be interesting and…
Water is crucial for the emergence and evolution of life on Earth. Recent studies of the water content in early forming planetary systems similar to our own show that water is an abundant and ubiquitous molecule, initially synthesized on…
As is well known, several Roman sources report on the existence of a town foundation ritual, inherited from the Etruscans, which allegedly included astronomical references. However, the possible existence of astronomical orientations in the…
Supportive attitudes can bring to a blossoming science, while neglect can quickly make science absent from everyday life and provide a very primitive view of the world. We compare one important Greek achievement, the computation of the…
What do you get when you cross a crystal with a quasicrystal? The surprising answer stretches from Fibonacci to Kepler, who nearly 400 years ago showed how the ancient tiles of Archimedes form periodic patterns.
Pyramids are the greatest architectural achievement of ancient civilization, so people all over the world are curious as to the purpose of such huge constructions. No other structure has been studied as thoroughly, nor have so many books…
In point of fact the Indian tradition in mathematics is long and glorious. It dates back to earliest times, and indeed many of the Indian discoveries from 5000 years ago correspond rather naturally to modern mathematical results.
The discovery of magnetism by the ancient Greeks was enabled by the natural occurrence of lodestone -- a magnetized version of the mineral magnetite. Nowadays, natural minerals continue to inspire the search for novel magnetic materials…
Every body knows that identical regular triangles or squares can tile the whole plane. Many people know that identical regular hexagons can tile the plane properly as well. In fact, even the bees know and use this fact! Is there any other…