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Dec. 2nd, 2006 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
krazykitkatThis is bloody amazing.
A MYSTERIOUS device salvaged from an ancient Roman shipwreck has astounded scientists who have finally unlocked its secrets.
After a century of study, the 2100-year-old device, known as the Antikythera Mechanism, has been shown to be a complex and uncannily accurate astronomical computer. Recovered in 82 highly corroded fragments, it could predict the positions of the sun and planets, show the location of the moon and even forecast eclipses.
Experts believe it to be the earliest-known device to use gear wheels and by far the most sophisticated object to be found from the ancient and medieval periods. ...
Detailed imaging of the mechanism suggests it dates to between 150 and 100BC and had 37 gear wheels enabling it to follow the movements of the moon and the sun through the zodiac, predict eclipses and even re-create the irregular orbit of the moon.
The motion, known as the first lunar anomaly, was developed by the astronomer Hipparcus of Rhodes in the 2nd century BC, and he may have been consulted in the machine's construction, the scientists speculate.
Remarkably, scans showed the device uses a differential gear, which was previously believed to have been invented in the 16th century. The level of miniaturisation and complexity of its parts is comparable to that of 18th-century clocks.
Hot today, the coast escaped the worst, but up to 40C (104F) across the rest of Sydney. And drawing close to 1am, it's still up to 29C (84F) across parts of Sydney.
A MYSTERIOUS device salvaged from an ancient Roman shipwreck has astounded scientists who have finally unlocked its secrets.
After a century of study, the 2100-year-old device, known as the Antikythera Mechanism, has been shown to be a complex and uncannily accurate astronomical computer. Recovered in 82 highly corroded fragments, it could predict the positions of the sun and planets, show the location of the moon and even forecast eclipses.
Experts believe it to be the earliest-known device to use gear wheels and by far the most sophisticated object to be found from the ancient and medieval periods. ...
Detailed imaging of the mechanism suggests it dates to between 150 and 100BC and had 37 gear wheels enabling it to follow the movements of the moon and the sun through the zodiac, predict eclipses and even re-create the irregular orbit of the moon.
The motion, known as the first lunar anomaly, was developed by the astronomer Hipparcus of Rhodes in the 2nd century BC, and he may have been consulted in the machine's construction, the scientists speculate.
Remarkably, scans showed the device uses a differential gear, which was previously believed to have been invented in the 16th century. The level of miniaturisation and complexity of its parts is comparable to that of 18th-century clocks.
Hot today, the coast escaped the worst, but up to 40C (104F) across the rest of Sydney. And drawing close to 1am, it's still up to 29C (84F) across parts of Sydney.
