[HN Gopher] Primitive Technology: Iron Bacteria Cement [video]
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       Primitive Technology: Iron Bacteria Cement [video]
        
       Author : GavCo
       Score  : 208 points
       Date   : 2023-03-02 22:07 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.youtube.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.youtube.com)
        
       | iammjm wrote:
       | I very much appreciate this dude. The amount of time and energy
       | he puts into making these is amazing.
        
       | neom wrote:
       | Totally unrelated to this video, just related to the subject
       | matter on YouTube. Interesting how some of these style videos are
       | totally bs.
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/Hvk63LADbFc
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/_0-uLF9PtNo
       | 
       | Again just to be clear, I believe this channel is legit. Just the
       | genre on YouTube has some disingenuous stuff.
        
         | pawelduda wrote:
         | Primitive Technology is the first channel of this kind. These
         | bullshit channels are just leeching off its success.
        
           | rjbwork wrote:
           | Yep. He's the OG. I started watching him in something like
           | 2016 or so.
        
             | MrFoof wrote:
             | For a while he didn't produce videos because he was
             | contracted for some television shows in Australia due to
             | his meteoric rise in popularity, but he thankfully was able
             | to return to YouTube last year. I assume his contractual
             | obligations had been met and no longer was bound by any
             | exclusivity terms with the broadcast network anymore.
             | 
             | His book is extremely detailed and pragmatic as well.
        
               | masklinn wrote:
               | Apparently the TV deal fell through: https://www.reddit.c
               | om/r/PrimitiveTechnology/comments/lfsq04...
               | 
               | > Another post on February 8, 2021, explained that Plant
               | shot a pilot episode for the project but the network
               | wanted to change the format, and that Plant could not
               | share any more information.
               | 
               | The /r/primitivetechnology mod had previously reached out
               | to Plant after worry related to the hiatus: https://www.r
               | eddit.com/r/PrimitiveTechnology/comments/gscvv8...
        
               | jjk166 wrote:
               | I was under the impression the hiatus was because he
               | couldn't go to his filming location for an extended
               | period of time for covid-related reasons. He's certainly
               | had to start over/rebuild many of his projects.
        
       | Quequau wrote:
       | For those who are hearing, there are subtitles that you should
       | turn on.
        
       | mike_hearn wrote:
       | If you're new to Primitive Technology then it's worth starting
       | from the oldest videos and working forward. These aren't just
       | random tasks he sets himself. He starts by going into the
       | Australian jungle with absolutely nothing except cargo shorts
       | (not even shoes) and then proceeds to build himself a series of
       | shacks and houses, starting with nothing more than a sharp stone
       | and various plants. Then he starts building kilns and firing clay
       | he digs out of the river bank (with a stick) making pots, bricks
       | and roof tiles. Then he starts making charcoal and building a
       | forge, so he can turn the iron bacteria in the creek into actual
       | forged iron objects. He's been at it for years initially as a
       | hobby and now he earns enough to make it his "job". He doesn't
       | attempt to recreate the paths taken by ancient people - he's
       | willing to use modern scientific knowledge - but he does appear
       | to live by his rule of not taking anything with him and just
       | using only the natural resources around him.
        
         | beardog wrote:
         | It is also very helpful to enable captions. He does not speak
         | in his videos but he adds detailed captioning to describe what
         | he is doing.
        
         | inglor_cz wrote:
         | I am a huge fan of Primitive Technology. This guy would not
         | surprise me if he built a PC XT out of mud, slime and wood one
         | day.
        
         | philo23 wrote:
         | Also if you turn on subtitles you'll get a bit more information
         | on what he's actually doing and why.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | jiggawatts wrote:
         | His videos are also blessedly free of unnecessary music and
         | shouted all-caps voice overs like many similar productions,
         | whether on TV or YouTube.
         | 
         | They're very relaxing to watch after a long frustrating day at
         | work.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | ramboldio wrote:
       | could this be used for 3D-printing?
        
       | martythemaniak wrote:
       | I present to you the best Hacker News comment I've ever read (it
       | was in response to another Primitive Technology video):
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32697419
        
         | nielsbot wrote:
         | If I get stranded in ancient times, I hope to God kragen is
         | there with me.
        
         | thunderbong wrote:
         | Man, that entire comment thread is like mind blowing! So many
         | things were possible but didn't happen. Made me wonder about
         | the number of things that are possible now but isn't!
        
         | tunesmith wrote:
         | That's extraordinary. If kragen is around, I've always been
         | curious what, if any, of our technological discovery history
         | has really been time-gated rather than just dependency-gated.
         | Like, are there certain technological advancements that simply
         | would have been impossible before the year X, when Y happened?
        
       | calibas wrote:
       | I believe this is Leptothrix bacteria, it creates an iridescent
       | sheen on top of stagnant water, often mistaken for oil. It's
       | quite common once you know what you're looking for.
        
         | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
         | There were videos circulating from Ohio of people disturbing
         | water and then seeing this iridescent sheen appear alongside
         | conspiracy bs. Fascinating!
        
           | markdown wrote:
           | I don't think you see this bacteria in the Ohio climate.
        
             | gruez wrote:
             | Maybe not this specific kind of bacteria, but AFAIK it was
             | something similar (ie. biofilm created by bacteria).
        
       | antibasilisk wrote:
       | i've always found iron bacteria fascinating, is it possible to
       | cultivate and farm it?
        
         | jjk166 wrote:
         | It is, but the bacteria live off iron already in the water,
         | increasing the amount of bacteria won't extract more iron.
         | 
         | More generally though, there is an entire field of
         | bioleaching[0] which does use bacteria to either mine material
         | or more often recover extra minerals from mine waste products.
         | 
         | [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioleaching
        
       | tomrod wrote:
       | This one was cool.
       | 
       | Could you also extract iron from the bacteria?
       | 
       | EDIT: be sure to watch with the captions on, as the videographer
       | explains what he is doing.
        
         | rjbwork wrote:
         | You can. He has some other videos where he actually does
         | extract the iron and ~~makes a knife out of it.~~ makes a
         | forgeable chunk.
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZGAYzItazw
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPIUMpiV0IY
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOj4L9yp7Mc
        
           | lapama wrote:
           | In the first link, I understood better many things about
           | human history... Still the guy does not sweat in front of a
           | furnace. Obviously irrelevant, but strange!
        
             | stevehawk wrote:
             | hot, dry air has a tendency to evaporate water.
        
             | sn0wf1re wrote:
             | As someone who has fought wildfire before, I personally
             | found that sweat does not accumulate in front of a source
             | of heat. You start to feel damp or wet after you walk away
             | from the heat. Perhaps it is the same with a hot furnace.
        
             | slackdog wrote:
             | I think he's probably sweating, but the sweat evaporates
             | faster than it can bead up. Or maybe he's dehydrated.. I
             | have wondered what the "behind the scenes" of his videos
             | looks like; when he goes out into the woods does he bring
             | modern water bottles and pack a lunch?
        
               | pcthrowaway wrote:
               | He does have a video about using "cane" to make a water
               | filter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG-rNHgFxhs
        
               | kllrnohj wrote:
               | > when he goes out into the woods does he bring modern
               | water bottles and pack a lunch?
               | 
               | The wilderness he films these in is a 15 minute walk from
               | his house: https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/dq0zec/
               | im_john_plant_...
               | 
               | so he doesn't really bring anything with him https://www.
               | reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/dq0zec/im_john_plant_...
        
       | LeifCarrotson wrote:
       | Not sure why this is here - I enjoy primitive tech's videos
       | (often imitated, never duplicated - too many imitation channels
       | have poorly-covered excavator tracks and chainsaw chips when the
       | work crew and camera crew come in between cuts).
       | 
       | But before watching, be sure to enable subtitles for a
       | description of what he's doing!
        
         | isbjorn16 wrote:
         | or, conversely, turn them off before it starts and try to
         | figure out what he's doing and why. then when it's done, turn
         | the captions on and watch it again!
         | 
         | our living room turns into bedlam when we do this. everyone
         | shouting what is about to happen or why it's happening and
         | we're almost always wrong. it's great!
        
           | pangolinja wrote:
           | I like going into t mobile stores and changing the loud TV
           | channels to primitive technology. it's beautiful to see the
           | whole place calm down.
        
             | [deleted]
        
             | tomcam wrote:
             | I wish I had as much energy as you
        
           | pangolinja wrote:
           | I like going into t mobile stores and changing the loud TV
           | channels to primitive technology. it's beautiful to see the
           | whole place calm the fuck down.
        
           | SV_BubbleTime wrote:
           | So... Maybe in the way back of my brain I knew there were
           | subtitles, but there is a good chance I'm _just now_ learning
           | about this.
           | 
           | I think I've been watching these randomly since the beginning
           | just trying to figure out what he's doing. I thought that was
           | the game here!
        
             | skeaker wrote:
             | It's been a long time since I've seen anything from his
             | channel, but I recall that he would put out blog posts
             | explaining the processes shown in the videos too.
        
               | tomashubelbauer wrote:
               | I think the blog is dead:
               | https://primitivetechnology.wordpress.com
               | 
               | The video descriptions and the pinned comment are also
               | really information dense though.
               | 
               | And John Plant, the guy running Primitive Technology, has
               | published a book, which I've not read but could be of
               | interest to people who like this kind of content and
               | would like more of it in the text form.
        
             | ArcticCelt wrote:
             | So many people learn that there is subtitles through the
             | comments section after many years of watching all his
             | videos, probably because the videos are so enjoyable even
             | without the explanations.
        
       | golemiprague wrote:
       | [dead]
        
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       (page generated 2023-03-03 23:00 UTC)