Do you know what is nanomesh? Before answering this question, let’s take a trip to a very ancient time when copper played an important role in advancing civilizations as we know it today; and, of course a plug for CHOIR OF CLOISTERED CANARIES about copper.

All of us have come to know about the Bronze Age? Right? Briefly, this article will deal with the Indus Valley Civilization associated with the names Harappa and Mohengo-daro and their smelting copper/bronze. The spread of the use of copper and its technologies were worldwide during the Bronze Age. Though this period of time is referred to as the Bronze Age, it was mainly copper that made it possible, not to slight the importance of the role of tin.

Why copper? Copper is essential to make bronze, which is an alloy that consists primarily of copper. To make the alloy, bronze consists, generally, of 88 percent copper and 12-12.5 percent tin. Other metals and non-metals can be used such as arsenic or silicon. These metal/non-metals have useful properties such as strength, ductility, and machinability. However, since 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finally recognized other useful properties of copper that have come to the fore because of the pandemic pathogen COVID-19. EPA named it the first solid anti-microbial material in 2021!

The author digresses here a bit to talk about how copper played a role in the writing of CHOIR OF CLOISTERED CANARIES in 2018-2019. One of the principal characters, Dr. Drew Hopkins Carr, who was a member of a multi-governmental Rapid Response Team went to the Vatican to study and to eradicate a serious pathogen, knew about Israeli nanomesh. In actuality, the Israelis knew about the hygienic properties of copper for centuries. Being a patented medical design engineer, Dr. Hopkins Carr kept his attention on copper for newer and improved applications since he was living in Panama toward the end of the novel. Enough said. (There is a personal story behind the copper mines of Panama that will remain under the hood.)

Back to some ancient history regarding copper. There was a transitional period from the Neolithic and the Bronze Ages known as the Chalcolithic period when copper predominated in metalworking technology and, in effect, ruled the world. It advanced both beauty and functionality, but also warfare. Stone was the earlier technology before copper. The time period for Chalcolithic age was c. 5000-2000 BCE when metal is known to have been used. It is also called the Copper-Stone Age since there was a prevalence of stone carvings. In fact, copper artifacts start to appear in East Asia since c. 5000 BCE., The settlements belonging to the Chalcolithic Phase extended from the Chhota Nagpur plateau (eastern India, south of Nepal) to the Gangetic basin. The Ganges Basin (Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna) covers the area of Tibet, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. 

No one will ever know how and when tin was “accidentally” used in copper to harden an artifact. Nonetheless, in Asia, ancient tin mines have been discovered in East Kazakhstan (c. 2000 BCE) and in West Central Iran near Deh Hosein. The latter is a huge copper/tin/gold deposit whose workings have also been dated to c. 2500 BCE.

Ancient history is being rewritten as a result of better funding for archeological expeditions, deeper archeological diggings, and the drying up of sea and river beds to reveal ancient settlements. For example, scientists from IIT-Kharagpur and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have uncovered evidence that the Indus Valley Civilization is at least 8,000 years old (not 5,500 BCE). In other words, the civilization took root well before the Egyptian (c.7000-3000 BCE) and Mesopotamian (c. 6500-3100 BCE) civilizations. There is also evidence that copper and later bronze were exported from this civilization by sea!

Though copper objects, dated at c. 5000 BCE, of the Yangshao Culture were found in Jiangzhai, China, and the oldest copper mining site in Israel’s Negev, the Timna Valley, dating around c. 6,000-5,000 BCE, which was part of the Kingdom of Elam, there is something to consider about the latter site. If the Indus Valley merchants did set sail with their copper/bronze, they likely sailed the Arabian Sea up into the Gulf of Oman into the Persian Gulf to coastal Elam to trade their wares for other resources.

In recent times, over 1,400 Indus Valley Civilization sites have been discovered, of which 925 sites are in India and 475 sites in Pakistan, while some sites in Afghanistan are believed to be trading colonies. It is very likely, then, that the dawning of civilization began in the Indus Valley.

In recent times, over 1,400 Indus Valley Civilization sites have been discovered, of which 925 sites are in India and 475 sites in Pakistan, while some sites in Afghanistan are believed to be trading colonies. It is very likely, then, that the dawning of civilization began in the Indus Valley.

Welcome, copper nanomesh. It is now at the R&D stage before innovation. Copper nanomesh can be worn as protection against all pathogens (including bacteria and viruses)! Here comes the future of wearable copper garments. Currently, there are masks and protective clothing for scientists (HAZ-MAT suits) who fight epidemics/pandemics of pathogens. The ancient knowledge has come to the fore of the antimicrobial properties of copper—the oldest known medical text, the Edwin Smith Papyrus, details how copper was used to purify water, dress wounds, and treat venereal disease!

At least there is one sure thing that we know about how copper works is that its ions can puncture the outer shell of a virus, damaging its DNA/RNA strands. Nanomesh is copper fibers spun into random orientations and then flattened to a size 20 times thinner than an average strand of human hair to become wearable.

There was a time when hospitals used copper as anti-pathogenic agent, and a lot of homes had copper (i.e., bronze) doorknobs until aluminum became the preferred material because it was more abundant and cheaper to manufacture. It is never a bad idea to know what the ancient ones knew, because we keep learning from them still.

For the published document of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), visit “Antimicrobial second skin using copper nanomesh“.

One thing we do know for certain: We do not know how all of this will shake out in our future.