• pressanykeynow@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    Talking about steam, steam-powered things are 2 thousand years old at least and we still use the technology when we crack atoms to make energy.

    • superkret@feddit.org
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      7 hours ago

      What the Romans had wasn’t comparable with an industrial steam engine. The working principle of steam pushing against a cylinder was similar, but they lacked the tools and metallurgy to build a steam cauldron that could be pressurized, so their steam engine could only do parlor tricks like opening a temple door once, and not perform real continuous work.