Obsidian

Obsidian is a volcanic glass which is hard and brittle,therefore fractures with very sharp edges. Obsidian was valued in Stone Age, like flint to... more

by Andonis Katanos

Title

Obsidian

Artist

Andonis Katanos

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Obsidian is a volcanic glass which is hard and brittle,therefore fractures with very sharp edges. Obsidian was valued in Stone Age, like flint to produce sharp blades and arrowheads. Current use of obsidian (from wikipedia), well-crafted obsidian blades have a cutting edge many times sharper than high-quality steel surgical scalpels, the cutting edge of the blade being only about 3 nanometers thick. Even the sharpest metal knife has a jagged, irregular blade when viewed under a strong enough microscope; when examined even under an electron microscope an obsidian blade is still smooth and even. One study found that obsidian incisions produced narrower scars, fewer inflammatory cells, and less granulation tissue in a group of rats. Don Crabtree produced obsidian blades for surgery and other purposes, and has written articles on the subject.

Uploaded

June 30th, 2012