What is written on the Antikythera mechanism?
The mechanism has a wooden casing with a front and a back door, both containing inscriptions. The back door appears to be the “instruction manual”. On one of its fragments is written “76 years, 19 years” representing the Callippic and Metonic cycles. Also written is “223” for the Saros cycle.
What is something the Antikythera mechanism can predict?
The device, discovered off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera, was once composed of more than 30 interlocking bronze gears that predicted the phases of the moon, eclipses, the dates of the Olympics and the movement of planets and stars.
Has anyone recreated the Antikythera mechanism?
The Antikythera Mechanism has been recreated in a computer simulation—yet enigmas still remain. A fragment of the Antikythera Mechanism at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece. Photo courtesy of the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece.
What is the oldest computer still in use?
According to the column, MOCAS is currently believed to be the world’s oldest computer program that’s remains in active use. It seems that MOCAS (Mechanization of Contract Administration Services) is still used by the United States Department of Defense running on an IBM 2098 model E-10 mainframe.
How accurate was the Antikythera Mechanism?
How accurate? It is believed that the planetary motion in the mechanism was accurate to one degree in 500 years. As mentioned above, the device included an astrological face that includes pointers for the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, as well as the Moon.
How could ancient Greeks see the planets?
To the unaided eye, these planets appear starlike. However, the planets moved relative to the stars. For this reason they were called wandering stars. Our word “planet” comes from the Greek word planetes, meaning “wanderer.”
What is the oldest known computer?
Antikythera mechanism
Antikythera mechanism is believed to be the world’s oldest computer. The mechanism has been described as an astronomical calculator as well as the world’s first analogue computer. It is made of bronze and includes dozens of gears.
Can we replicate Greek fire?
Unlike things like Damascus Steel which we have more or less reversed engineered, we have never been able to recreate Greek Fire. We have a rough idea of what it was probably made out of. Potential ingredients include crude oil, pine resin, sulfur, quicklime, or saltpeter.
How was Greek Fire lost?
What is the recipe for Greek fire? After being created, supposedly by a Jewish refugee called Callinicus of Heliopolis, its ingredients became a state secret. The recipe was eventually lost. While petroleum, naphtha, quicklime and sulphur are educated guesses, the exact composition of Greek fire remains unknown.
Does anyone still use punch cards?
While punched cards are now obsolete as a storage medium, as of 2012, some voting machines still used punched cards to record votes.
How did the ancient Greek know that the Earth is spherical?
In the 5th century B.C., Empedocles and Anaxagoras offered arguments for the spherical nature of the Earth. During a lunar eclipse, when the Earth is between the sun and the moon, they identified the shadow of the Earth on the moon. As the shadow moves across the moon it is clearly round.
Is Greek Fire just oil?
Most modern scholars agree that Greek fire was based on either crude or refined petroleum, comparable to modern napalm.