Enlarge / Fragment of the Antikythera Mechanism, circa 205 BC, kept in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Visual Arts/Heritage Images/Getty Image The inspiration for the title device in last year’s blockbuster, Indiana Jones and the Dial Destinywas a real archaeological artifact: the Antikythera Mechanism, a 2,200-year-old bronze mechanical computer. It has no … Read more
Angle down icon An icon in the shape of a downward pointing corner. A fragment of the 2,200-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be the oldest surviving mechanical calculating device, is on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Associated Press/Thanassis Stavrakis Researchers believe they have solved the 2,200-year-old mystery of the Antikythera Mechanism. The … Read more
Special techniques to study ripples in the universe may have helped researchers solve an age-old mystery. Statistical modeling methods developed to study gravitational waves have been used to predict the structure of a broken piece of a millennia-old artifact, according to a new paper in The Horological Journal. These techniques allowed researchers to determine how … Read more
University of Glasgow Techniques developed to analyze ripples in space-time detected by one of the most sensitive scientific instruments of the 21st century have shed new light on the function of the oldest known analog computer. Astronomers from the University of Glasgow have used statistical modelling techniques developed to analyse gravitational waves to determine the … Read more
The Antikythera Mechanism – an ancient shoebox-sized device used to track the movements of the sun, moon and planets – followed the Greek lunar calendar, not the solar calendar used by the Egyptians as previously thought, new research reveals. The Antikythera Mechanismfound by sponge divers off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901, was made … Read more
Antikythera Mechanism. Credit: National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece Techniques developed to analyze the ripples in spacetime detected by some of the most sensitive scientific equipment of the 21st century have helped shed new light on the function of the oldest known analog computer. Astronomers from the University of Glasgow have used statistical modeling techniques developed … Read more