By “inadvertently grasped the principles of Nanotechnology” they mean “learned that adding certain amounts of certain metals causes the color of things to change.”

The latter is much less remarkable than making a claim that the Romans understood the nanoscale shape and size of metal particles affects visible light.

I don’t miss when “nanotechnology” used to be what “AI” is today. Seems like this nutter is still nostalgic for the good ol’ days.