I haven't seen anything else about this, sooooooo....

Ancient astronomical device thrills scholars

POSTED: 8:40 p.m. EST, November 30, 2006

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- An ancient astronomical calculator made at the end of the 2nd century BC was amazingly accurate and more complex than any instrument for the next 1,000 years, scientists said on Wednesday.


The Antikythera Mechanism was able to align the number of lunar months with years and display where the sun and the moon were in the zodiac.

The Antikythera Mechanism is the earliest known device to contain an intricate set of gear wheels. It was retrieved from a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901 but until now what it was used for has been a mystery.

Although the remains are fragmented in 82 brass pieces, scientists from Britain, Greece and the United States have reconstructed a model of it using high-resolution X-ray tomography.

They believe their findings could force a rethink of the technological potential of the ancient Greeks.

"It could be described as the first known calculator," said Professor Mike Edmunds, a professor of astrophysics at Cardiff University in Wales.

"Our recent work has applied very modern techniques that we believe have now revealed what its actual functions were."

The calculator could add, multiply, divide and subtract. It was also able to align the number of lunar months with years and display where the sun and the moon were in the zodiac.

Edmunds and his colleagues discovered it had a dial that predicted when there was likely to be a lunar or solar eclipse. It also took into account the elliptical orbit of the moon.

"The actual astronomy is perfect for the period," Edmunds told Reuters.

"What is extraordinary about the thing is that they were able to make such a sophisticated technological device and to be able to put that into metal," he added.

The model of the calculator shows 37 gear wheels housed in a wooden case with inscriptions on the cover that related to the planetary movements.

Francois Charette, of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, said the findings, reported in the journal Nature, provide a wealth of data for future research.

"Newly deciphered inscriptions that relate to the planetary movements make it plausible that the mechanism originally also had gearings to predict the motion of the planets," he said in a commentary.

Edmunds described the instrument as unique, saying there is nothing like it in the history of astronomy. Similar complicated mechanisms were not seen until the appearance of medieval cathedral clocks much later.

"What was not quite so apparent before was quite how beautifully designed this was," he said. "That beauty of design in this mechanical thing forces you to say 'Well gosh, if they can do that what else could they do?' "

Copyright 2006 Reuters. All rights reserved.

I know it's science and scientists have a "Guilty until proven inoccent" mindset, which is great, but this finding it's at least not amazing at all, these guys "invented" all the math to make such machine possible, it was just a matter of time until the actual thing was found

Questions, Comments?

We're on myspace, now.

You Debbie Downer, you!

I’m not surprised by the math so much as I’m surprised by the level of metallurgy that permitted them to not only figure out how to build it, but to actually build it, too. A mechanical device like that had to have required extremely sophisticated engineering to actually build. I doubt this was a one-off, too.

Why is this suddenly all over the news? Discovery/Learning Channel have been running a show about this for at least a year.

As a navigational instrument, being found in a shipwreck takes some of the shine off wonder.

So you're not impressed that the first computer was built in the 2nd centruy BC? The math wasn't necessarily invented, more discovered (maybe that's why you put it in quotes though).

True. However, the findings of the group that’s been studying it was only just released last week.

Marvio is never impressed with anything, ever.

there are countless artifacts that dispute the official timeline of human acheivement. the mythology among scientists is that we are the pinnacle of an essentially steady angle of human improvement which has never been seriously impacted. however the evidence is that humankind reached a high level of technical sophistication at least once before and something global negatively impacted that/those societies. the populations that survived were in possesion of legacy technologies that were then lost to the ages once those with direct knowledge died off.

Fake.

I know - the Peloponnesians had Gameboys.

yeah, this isn't exactly a new discovery...it's been known of for at least a few years, if not longer.

I can't decipher this statement. Who invented the math?

Being able to calculate has little to do with whether a society has the technological ability to bring the potential implimentations of those calculations into reality. That's some serious metal-work going on in that thing.

In 2000, I put together this non-profit project that helped schools teach kids computer technology. As part of the program, the kids then went on to become the IT people (networking, computer repair, web, etc.) for their schools and/or communities. We selected the Antikythera Machine to be our logo, and my boss used to complain all the time, "There's no way that stupid thing worked. It's NOT the first computer, and you're going to look stupid when scientists prove it doesn't work."

I'd like to look my old boss up and punch him in the mouth.

Here's a mummy opened up.


They had pets, too!

I'm reading as hard as I can and I still can't figure out if this is pro or con.


-V-

Yes, that's why I used quotation

Maybe I should've been more descriptive in my original statement, given that it was known they had the theretical knowledge to build these machine and given what we knew they had built (Ie.: Aquaducts, domed rooms, etc..) I think this discovery is underwhelming.

I was amazed when I first learned about what they did with math, languge, engeneering, this is more of icing on the cake

In underground Agartha people lived in harmony between spiritual world and advanced Atlantean technology that served for their highest good. Each of them knew his higher purpose and followed it so they lived with each other in harmonious relationships. Until the final deluge of Atlantis they were protected against attacks of the dark forces which have also built their strongholds in certain areas of the underworld since then. After the deluge everything changed. Dark forces began to attack Agartha and as the Tibetan holy book Dzyan said there were fightings between builders and destroyers and fightings for space". Forces of light were forced to leave many territories which they inhabited before. The system of underground tunnels was encircling the whole planet. The western tunnel network had its beginning under Atacama desert in Chile and went in direction of Tiahuanaco - Cuzco - Mount Shasta - Grand Tetons, under American mainland and under Atlantic ocean towards Atlas mountain range in western Africa and then under Ahaggar/Tibesti mountain ranges towards their final station - the Giza pyramids. One important center was under Mato Grosso region in Brazil, where Agartha had strong connection with Atlantean cities on the surface. The Himalayan network was of extraordinary importance. Here underground civillization developed as a mirror of Atlantean colony which existed on the surface in the area of contemporary Gobi desert. Of course it was no desert then, it was a subtropical paradise. Himalayan network had its souce under the Gobi desert and it expanded under Takla Makan desert and then onwards under Pamirs, Altai, Karakorum, Baltistan, under Kunluns and under Chang Tang plateau towards Himalayas