Let's talk about bronze disease!
Bronze disease is a type of corrosion which can happen to any object made of bronze, or any other kind of copper containing alloy. It's irreversible and very difficult to stop. It's what causes old pennies to get that green fuzzy coating.
It's also not really a disease, but people used to think it was caused by bacteria.
Bronze disease is a big headache for archeologists, historians, and museum curators. Bronze is an alloy made from copper and tin. It's one of the oldest alloys known to humans, and as a result, lots of ancient artefacts are made from bronze.
Because the corrosion is irreversible, it means a lot of ancient artefacts have been destroyed by bronze disease, and many more need to be carefully preserved to prevent damage.
@baerd I'm pretty sure all bronze is some combination of copper and tin. But things from dry places are always better preserved. That's why we still have more ancient artefacts from Ancient Egypt than we do from the Indus Valley. The low humidity helps to slow the corrosion process.
Though I'd guess that anything with more copper would corrode faster too
toxicodendron radicans
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