There's likely an interesting Ship of Theseus debate to be had about whether these are indeed thousand-year-old windmills, and whether it's accurate to consider the windmills build a thousand years ago to be "still standing".
Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
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Re: Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
#12Earlier quoted context omitted.
That wiki page suggests that the sails are articulated? In the video these are very much fixed sails - looks like battens of woods lashed or nailed together so I don't think the sails themselves can turn. I do wonder which way the prevailing wind is for those windmills though as they are surrounded by walls. The knee jerk reaction is that the wind comes "face on" but then surely there would not be a turning force if…
I would guess the wind blows into the slit, driving just one side of the paddle.
Just watching the video shows how they work just the same as a water wheel does, except "on their side". The wall(s) erected around them are shielding one half of the windmill, thus there is wind flowing onto one side of the windmill only.
Re: Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
#13There's likely an interesting Ship of Theseus debate to be had about whether these are indeed thousand-year-old windmills, and whether it's accurate to consider the windmills build a thousand years ago to be "still standing".
'In one of the most iconic scenes in British television comedy, Trigger, the butt of so many ‘Only Fools and Horses’ jokes, proudly reveals that he has used the same road sweeping brush for his entire career. “This old broom”, he says “ has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles”. We, the audience, are laughing at his apparent stupidity long before Sid points out “how the hell is it the same bloody broom then?”'
Re: Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
#14They also have incredible underground aqueducts that have been maintained for thousands of years. Smart people.
Re: Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
#15They also have incredible underground aqueducts that have been maintained for thousands of years. Smart people.
3000 years old: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/05/iran-qanat-i...
> The technology spread, through Silk Road trade and Muslim conquest, and qanats can be found as far as Morocco and Spain.
Re: Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
#16There's likely an interesting Ship of Theseus debate to be had about whether these are indeed thousand-year-old windmills, and whether it's accurate to consider the windmills build a thousand years ago to be "still standing".
'In one of the most iconic scenes in British television comedy, Trigger, the butt of so many ‘Only Fools and Horses’ jokes, proudly reveals that he has used the same road sweeping brush for his entire career. “This old broom”, he says “ has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles”. We, the audience, are laughing at his apparent stupidity long before Sid points out “how the hell is it the same bloody broom then?”'
Only Fools and Horses, Ship of Theseus edition, wait till you see Plato fall through the bar.
Re: Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
#17They also have incredible underground aqueducts that have been maintained for thousands of years. Smart people.
The distance these cover and the depth they tunnel into mountains is part of what makes them incredible, in case the description of underground aquaducts doesn't sound cool enough.
Re: Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
#18Fascinating how these windmills come across as a symbiosis between man and nature.
They’re an integral part of the landscape, part of the culture (or used to be), and harness the local environment to produce something. Same goes for rice terraces, vineyards, etc.
And yet I see many people complain about us sticking wind turbines on top of hills.
One can only imagine how the Iranian wind wills were received a thousand years ago.
I suspect it will take a generation or two for these turbines to turn them in to an integral part of our life as well. Or utter necessity.
Re: Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
#19Fascinating how these windmills come across as a symbiosis between man and nature. They’re an integral part of the landscape, part of the culture (or used to be), and harness the local environment to produce something. Same goes for rice terraces, vineyards, etc. And yet I see many people complain about us sticking wind turbines on top of hills. One can only imagine how the Iranian wind wills were received a thousand…
People whinge about new things. You don't see anyone complaining that the pyramids are an eyesore or the Arc de Triomphe is a waste of taxpayers' money.
Re: Thousand year-old windmills in Iran (2017)
#20 Not sure how this climbed up here, seems like OP is some form of bot and this has been pushed to the top of the site. Looking at the articles that surround it about infosec and computers and suddenly there's this bot posted article about windmills with 10 comments.
Smells like manipulation.