Where Was the Wheel Invented?
The Golden Wheel Spider (Carparachne aureoflava) is truly a unique and amazing creature of the beautiful Namib Desert. It builds burrows that extend 40-50cm deep into the sand dunes. The burrow generally gives it sufficient shelter from its predators and especially its archenemy: Pompilid wasps. However, sometimes their burrow collapses and they have to build a new one, which can take a few days. The new burrows are initially not very deep and this is the time for the wasp to attack. They go into the burrow to inspect the size of the spider. The spider can fight them off in the burrow but then the wasp begins to dig a hole towards the end of the burrow. The wasp is able to shift 10 litres of sand or up to 80,000 times its own body weight during this process. The spider, now exposed to the wasp, has two alternatives. If it is on a steep sand dune, it makes itself into a ball and rolls down the slope with a speed of 1 m/s and about 20 rotations per second. The wasp is unable to follow th
The wheel is one of man’s most important inventions, but no one knows for sure how, when, or where it was first developed. It is probable that early in man’s development, the idea came to someone of using a tree trunk as a huge roller for moving heavy objects. We do have proof that by 3500 B.C., the wheel was in use in Mesopotam
