1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:08,800 Speaker 1: there's Chuck Jerry sitting here free Dave, and so this 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:11,959 Speaker 1: is short stuff. How do you say this again? 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 2: Edition, Yeah, I'm gonna say it's pronounces spelled y ak 5 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,760 Speaker 2: h you know, as most words are h A L. 6 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:24,119 Speaker 2: I'm gonna say yakuls. 7 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: I'm going with the straight ahead yakh chaws. All right, Okay, 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 1: so you say your way throughout. I'll say it my way, 9 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: and I'm sure all inevitably unconsciously start saying it your way. 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 2: We'll see. But what we're talking about is the promise 11 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 2: from our refrigeration episode. A little bit more on these 12 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 2: ancient basically ancient refrigerators or cooling systems. They were found 13 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 2: across ancient Persia at least as old as four hundred BC. 14 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,240 Speaker 2: This is modern day Iran, and this is these are 15 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 2: places where, I believe it or not, the climate enables 16 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 2: freezing of ice when you would not think you should 17 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 2: be able to freeze ice. 18 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's pretty amazing and apparently still today in Iran, 19 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: Afghanistan and to Jikistan, to jeek Stan. Yeah, I said 20 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,040 Speaker 1: it right. The first time they called the refrigerators yak Chile's, 21 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:22,200 Speaker 1: which is how I would say it if I were 22 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: in Iran. But that's the name for the fridge, which 23 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: means that at some point someone in Iran has gone 24 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: into a store and said, you got a smeg yak chaw? 25 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. And these have been the fascination of like 26 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 2: everyone from engineers to historians to physicists over the years 27 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 2: because they're just so kind of confusing and how they 28 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,559 Speaker 2: actually work. And I'm still not entirely sure how it works. 29 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 2: It seems to be a little magic involved. One thing 30 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 2: I know goes a long way toward keeping this ice. 31 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 2: And we got to say some of this ice is 32 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 2: mined from the mountains, brought down and preserved. Some is 33 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 2: made on site. We'll get to that, but one big 34 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 2: factor is the insulation of the structure itself, which is 35 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:13,239 Speaker 2: made from a mortar called serrouge. 36 00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: Was that how you're saying it? 37 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 2: Sand, clay, egg whites, lime, goat, hair and ash quite 38 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 2: a mixture. 39 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: Some of these were several meters thick. Some of these 40 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: yak chaws were. There was a study. We got some 41 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: of this information from the engineering for Max Fordham and 42 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: they did an analysis from twenty eighteen of yak Child's 43 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: and just how effective they might have been. And they 44 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: found that the walls of a yak chaw had the 45 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: same insulative properties as a wall of concrete three inches 46 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: thick surrounded by a one foot thick wrapping of styrofoam insulation. 47 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: That's how effective these things were. 48 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 2: Sand, clay, egg whites, lime, and goat hair and ash. 49 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: I was gonna say, like the secret egg whites, but 50 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,360 Speaker 1: who knows you throw goat hair in there, and yeah, 51 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: who knows what the secret? I think the secret is 52 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: the whole thing together, the whole say rouge mysture? 53 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, probably so so I mentioned that sometimes the ice 54 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 2: was brought in from the mountains and kept there throughout 55 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 2: the year. But usually what would happen is is they 56 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 2: would make ice, They would bring in water. They would 57 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 2: divert water from an aqueduct through these underground water channels 58 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 2: called cannots, and they would channel them to the north 59 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 2: side of this wall. It's another thing we haven't mentioned 60 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 2: yet is they have these very very high walls that 61 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 2: act as shade for these channels to keep you know, 62 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 2: the wind off of it, because stuff isn't going to 63 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 2: freeze as fast if it's moving, so to keep the 64 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 2: water still and to keep it cooler away from that sun. 65 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, And so the channel has a little diversion into 66 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: a trench or a pit or like a very shallow 67 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: like rectangular pond usually, and it they'll divert water in 68 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: there to fill it up, and then they let it 69 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: freeze overnight. Over the course of a few nights, it'll 70 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: continue to freeze and freeze and freeze in layers. And 71 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: the what they're taking advantage of, you know, like when 72 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: it snows and then the temperatures heat up and all 73 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: the snow melts, but there's a little pile of snow 74 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: like in a shaded corner of your yard that never 75 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 1: gets direct sunlight. Yeah, and it just takes forever to melt. 76 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: There can be advantage of the same thing. They're building 77 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: that big old that big old wall to keep it 78 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: shaded and to just let this ice grow and grow 79 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: and grow. And then once it reaches I think fifty centimeters, 80 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,840 Speaker 1: which is like about a half a meter thick, then 81 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: they'll cut it into blocks and they put it in 82 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: the yac shell and they store it through summer. Like 83 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: this stuff will stay frozen for an entire summer. So 84 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: in in that sense, these yak chails are built to 85 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: store cold throughout the course of a year, even when 86 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: the summer comes around still cold. 87 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. Another way that helps us out is that dome shape. 88 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 2: It's not domed because they like domes, even though domes 89 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:18,479 Speaker 2: are nice. It's conical because that optimizes what's called the 90 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 2: solar chimney effect. Is that's when you create a convection current, 91 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 2: letting that heat go up, up, up and out through 92 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 2: these openings at the top and bringing in that cool 93 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 2: air from the bottom. 94 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: They also have wind catchers that they call bad geers, 95 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,799 Speaker 1: and they actually take win and direct it downward into 96 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:41,279 Speaker 1: the yakchaw dome. And so the air that hits it 97 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: is cooled by that ice, and the air that's not 98 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: cool by it, or cooled enough, like you said, that 99 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: chimney effect takes it up along the curve sides toward 100 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: the hole in the top, and it says, see you later, 101 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: don't come back. 102 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 2: That's right, And that feels like a good time for 103 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 2: a break, and we'll come back and talk about what 104 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 2: the heck they're doing with all this ice. This all right, 105 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 2: So they're making ice, they're preserving ice. What are they 106 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 2: doing with all this ice? One of the things they're 107 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,719 Speaker 2: doing is using it as a refrigerator. You know, they'll 108 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 2: store food in there that they don't want to go bad, 109 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 2: and just using it as a as a cold house. 110 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 2: They will also just use the ice to eat in 111 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 2: a treat. They have something called Feluda over there, to 112 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 2: Persian traditional dessert has thin vermicelli noodles made from cornstarch, 113 00:06:57,720 --> 00:06:59,359 Speaker 2: and then you mix that up with a little semi 114 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 2: frozen sirr of sugar and rose water, and then serve 115 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 2: it up with a little lime juice and maybe some 116 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 2: ground pistachios. And it's like a little Persian icy. 117 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: That has to be better than it sounds, don't you think? 118 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 2: Oh I think it sounds great. 119 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,679 Speaker 1: I think the pistachos are where of throwing me off. 120 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you don't like pistashios. 121 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: Or I do like pisachos. It just they don't seem 122 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: to go with the rest of the ingreen eent. But 123 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: like I said, I'm sure it's delicious. I mean, it's 124 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: a traditional Persian dessert. It's got staying power. So yeah, 125 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: who am I to question for luda exactly? 126 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 2: I bet it's delicious. 127 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: One of the cool things about this is that yak 128 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: charles I mean, and there's some still around. I think 129 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: there's one in Kerman, Iran that's about the size of 130 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: a five story building. So you would think, of course, 131 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 1: obviously this was reserve for royalty. You would be dead wrong, 132 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: because not only were yakchels open and available to the public, 133 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: there are some that people just built for their houses 134 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: that were a private use of as well. 135 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure, they would make those delicious falluda. They 136 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 2: would make surbets and preserve them and then nuts, fruit 137 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 2: and ice and they would put them on a donkey 138 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 2: and go sell them at market and stuff like that. 139 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 2: They would sell ice directly from those places sometimes. And 140 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 2: you know, one of the things they're also taking advantage 141 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 2: of is the greenhouse effect. You know, the earth is 142 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 2: going to stay fairly warm at night because of the 143 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 2: greenhouse effect trapping those gases in the atmosphere. But if 144 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 2: it's low humidity and if it's a really clear night, 145 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 2: that effect is going to be weaker and that heat 146 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,360 Speaker 2: can dissipate and disappear more readily. And so that's when 147 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 2: they discovered, like, hey, we can make these little thin 148 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 2: layers of ice and kind of build, you know, day 149 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 2: by day, night by night on these clear, low humidity nights, 150 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:52,679 Speaker 2: eventually to get you know, some pretty significant ice. 151 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 1: And once they figure that out, someone said, go get 152 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: the donkey. Exactly, it's time to sell some Subert and 153 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,719 Speaker 1: harvesome goat hair. One other thing I saw in that 154 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: Max Fordham analysis, they figured out that they could make 155 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: about what would be equivalent to three million ice cubes 156 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: a season. 157 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 2: Wow. 158 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:15,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, which is a lot. But they were like, you'd 159 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: think it'd be more, and I was like, it seems 160 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: pretty good to me, especially in four hundred BC. 161 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 2: You know, it depends on how big those cubes were. 162 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 2: Were they big fancy cocktail cubes. That's a lot more 163 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,000 Speaker 2: ice than a ice nugget. 164 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: That's right, You're absolutely right. I expect that they're probably 165 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: all donkey head size. So three million donkey head size 166 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: ice cubes, that's big. Think about the poor donkey that 167 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 1: had to cart those around. I know, no fun, you 168 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: got anything else? 169 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean these went away obviously because of modern 170 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 2: refrigeration came on the scene. And also one thing that 171 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 2: was happening was they were making this ice kind of 172 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 2: out in the open, and a lot of it would 173 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 2: get contaminated with dust and it wasn't like the healthiest 174 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 2: ice in the world. And so that combined with modern 175 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 2: refrigeration coming along, they're like, maybe we should just not 176 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 2: have these much anymore. But like you mentioned, there is 177 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 2: one still around, at least in Kerman, and there are 178 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 2: groups there that are trying to preserve this way of 179 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 2: life and at least keep it, you know, not like 180 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,959 Speaker 2: a chief refrigerating method, but like, hey, we can't lose 181 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 2: our culture, and so let's work to take some of 182 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,719 Speaker 2: these old ones and restore them at least, even if 183 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 2: only for like museum and touring purposes. 184 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 1: For sure, but also there's a lot to learn from them, 185 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: especially when we're trying to advance like passive cooling and 186 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:37,319 Speaker 1: other things that require less energy to cool things down. 187 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:40,679 Speaker 1: Yak Chaal's are something to turn to and say how 188 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: do we do this? And someone says, go get the 189 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: goat here. 190 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:46,719 Speaker 2: That's right, we'll get some egg whites too. No one 191 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 2: likes this. 192 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,679 Speaker 1: What do we do with all these yokes? Yeah, well, 193 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: I think that's it for short stuff, right, Chuck? 194 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:54,560 Speaker 2: I think so? 195 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:56,439 Speaker 1: Well? I mean short stuff is that. 196 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 2: Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 197 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 2: more podcasts my iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 198 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.