Alloy was used by the Inuit people. Native copper, however, was found worldwide, along with silver, gold, and platinum, which were also used to make tools, jewelry, and other objects since Neolithic times. Copper was the hardest of these metals, and the most widely distributed. It became one of the most important metals to the ancients. Eventually, humans learned to smelt metals such as copper and tin from ore, and, around 2500 BC, began alloying the two metals to form bronze, which was much harder than its ingredients. Tin was rare, however, being found mostly in Great Britain. In the Middle
Antimicrobial copper-alloy touch surfaces hospital-borne pathogens such as "S. aureus," "P. aeruginosa" and "A.baumanii". In a 30-week clinical trial at the Hospital del Cobre ("Copper Hospital"), extensive microbial analyses were implemented at the facility's intensive care unit (ICU). Nine hundred ninety copper surfaces from 90 rooms containing 6 different copper objects were studied against an equivalent number of rooms and surfaces containing non-copper objects. Over-the-bed tables were made from copper alloy C70600. Bedrails were clad with copper alloy C11000 foils. Visitor chairs were fitted with copper alloy C70600 armrests. Copper alloy C71000 intravenous poles were provided. Writing pens used to input data on a