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Ancient Astronomical Computer Decoded
slimjim8094 writes "A mechanical device from 150BC was found in a shipwreck. Upon examination with X-Rays, the device appeared to be a revolutionary computer used to calculate lunar cycles. This device "is technically more complex than any known for at least a millennium afterward." From the article
"The hand-operated mechanism, presumably used in preparing calendars for planting and harvesting and fixing religious festivals, had at least 30, possibly 37, hand-cut bronze gear-wheels, the researchers said. A pin-and-slot device connecting two gear-wheels induced variations in the representation of lunar motions according to the Hipparchos model of the Moon's elliptical orbit around Earth."
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Overly complex and tediously designed. It sounds like a prototype.
The production version probably had a sleek plastic case and LED display, but probably only supported lunar cycle calculation and none of the other farming predictors or epicycle calculators.
It was the Greek Apple, so to speak. The Grappa.
It's not their fault. Their calendar's gears broke, and they keep thinking it's 2005.
Oh You POS
"My gears outnumbers your gears, loser!" from the ancient scroll recently found called "Gears of War".
Post: A mechanical device from 150BC was found in a shipwreck. Upon examination with X-Rays, the device appeared to be a revolutionary computer used to calculate lunar cycles. This device "is technically more complex than any known for at least a millennium afterward."
Translation: Some crank ex-programmer was gearing up for a raise with the loony idea of cyclic checks, and was ready to ship the classy object in C when it began to wreack havoc and the whole thing sunk. A new developer tried to insert a byte to handle the Y1K bug.
Have you read my journal today?
That was the idea at first, but they were limited by technology and had to settle on pyramids. It is well known that the best shape for a spaceship is a cube. That's why they never got off earth.
Swi
archaeologists also discovered: hyroglyphs depicting a story called 'The Antikythera Mechanism is for Porn'.
AC: Only on slashdot... could the sentence "My hovercraft is full of eels." be moderated "+4, Insightful
How come this device died and disapeared for centuries? Given the Egyptians knowledge of the earths equinox, this was the key to discover America way before Colombus did.
Someone found it could also play music, and they lost all interest in finding america....
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
According to Steven Wright, he was paid gobs of money by the US government for years to research who financed the pyramids.
After a couple of decades, he told them "It was this guy named Eddie."
Now, I ask you: is Wright an Iron Maiden fan, where Eddie would tie into the whole Egypt/mummy thing, or a Van Halen fan?
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
Charles Babbage just got pwned
Being a lunar calendar I think they used them so they would know when to hide from the werewolves. Either that or to predict the full moon so they would know the best nights for outdoor toga parties.
Honestly, does every artifact have to be religious? You'd think the ancients never did anything secular.
Coding Blog
All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Use Ctrl-C instead of ESC in Vim!