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scientists decipher manual for 2,000-year-old Ancient Greek computer

TykeClone

TykeClone

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Oct 18, 2006
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/15/antikythera_mechanism_inscriptions_deciphered/

Scientists have examined hitherto-obscure inscriptions on the Antikythera Mechanism, a first century BC apparatus comprised of interlocking gears, and now believe the device could predict eclipses and the motion of the planets.

The Antikythera Mechanism is a scientific and archaeological marvel, because nothing else like it has ever been found. A few classical sources mention geared devices, but the Mechanism is the only one to survive from antiquity.
“Surviveâ€￾ may be too strong a word: the device was found on the sea bed near the Greek island of Antikythera after spending almost two millennia under water before its re-discovery in the year 1900. The machine has become crushed, its gears mashed together and some parts are missing.
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Now boffins have given the device the most comprehensive going-over ever, imaging its surface and interior inscriptions with computed tomography (aka CT scans) and polynomial textual mapping (a technique HP Inc uses to peer inside objects).

The journal Almagest has now published an issue reporting those analyses. Among their findings is an interpretation of the text found on the Mechanism's cover, which is now felt to be “a systematic description of the dials, pointers, and other external features of the Mechanism, beginning with the front face and continuing with the rear face.â€￾
“The best preserved passages include descriptions of features on lost parts of the Mechanism: a display of pointers bearing small spheres representing the Sun and planets on the front dial, and a dial on the upper back face representing a 76-year 'Kallippic' calendrical cycle.
In other words, a user manual.
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As someone who has had to assemble many Chinese manufactured products using the directions printed in English by somebody in China, color me unimpressed.
 
Thanks for posting! I've always been fascinated by the Antikythera Mechanism. These kind of things always make me think of how much we don't know about history and all the secrets still to be found. Probably a few things we'll never know. A couple that have always fascinated me:

-What was the composition of Greek fire? Seems like the ultimate weapon during its time when used in naval battles.

-Starlite - a plastic that could withstand extremely high heat and simulated nuclear blasts. We'll never know what it was made of and unable to recreate such an amazing substance: http://www.isciencemag.co.uk/features/the-secret-life-of-starlite/
 
TykeClone said:
Now boffins have given the device the most comprehensive going-over ever, imaging its surface and interior inscriptions with computed tomography (aka CT scans) and polynomial textual mapping (a technique HP Inc uses to peer inside objects).
Click to expand...

How many died to bring us this information?

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I wonder if the first response from the Antikythera tech support hotline was to shut down and reboot, or maybe to oil the gears and then run the calculation again...
 
I'm going to weld up a metal box, and write "TIME MACHINE" across the top, and bury it in my back yard. Just to mess with future archaeologists. :laugh:
 
GTO said:
Thanks for posting! I've always been fascinated by the Antikythera Mechanism. These kind of things always make me think of how much we don't know about history and all the secrets still to be found. Probably a few things we'll never know. A couple that have always fascinated me:

-What was the composition of Greek fire? Seems like the ultimate weapon during its time when used in naval battles.

-Starlite - a plastic that could withstand extremely high heat and simulated nuclear blasts. We'll never know what it was made of and unable to recreate such an amazing substance: http://www.isciencemag.co.uk/features/the-secret-life-of-starlite/
Click to expand...

Ward was from the future. If he would have handed over the ingredients the world would have ended.
 
[video=youtube;UpLcnAIpVRA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpLcnAIpVRA[/video]
 
GTO said:
It's a shame the secret died with him.
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He must have been terrified by someone out there having the formula. Cant understand why he would not let it go otherwise.
 
Ive always been curious about greek fire. It had to have been completely devastating that so many warring nations feared it. The making of greek fire was so compartmentalized, very few knew the whole process in its entirety..therefore keeping it a secret when captured by enemies. Crazy stuff.


[video=youtube;9VNP50Cdkqs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VNP50Cdkqs[/video]
 
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