Pages: [1]
|
|
|
Author
|
Topic: 6 Insane Discoveries That Science Can't Explain (Read 4897 times)
|
Draegan
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10043
|
|
|
|
|
UnSub
Contributor
Posts: 8064
|
|
|
|
|
Draegan
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10043
|
I'm disappointed it wasn't a time machine.
|
|
|
|
Oz
Terracotta Army
Posts: 353
|
how about a summary for those of us at work that can't access the site due to IT blockage.
|
|
|
|
lac
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1657
|
If you mean a summary of the Antikythera explanation: A British museum curator has built a working replica of a 2,000-year-old Greek machine that has been called the world's first computer.
A dictionary-size assemblage of 37 interlocking dials crafted with the precision and complexity of a 19th-century Swiss clock, the Antikythera mechanism was used for modeling and predicting the movements of the heavenly bodies as well as the dates and locations of upcoming Olympic games.
The original 81 shards of the Antikythera were recovered from under the sea (near the Greek island of Antikythera) in 1902, rusted and clumped together in a nearly indecipherable mass. Scientists dated it to 150 B.C. Such craftsmanship wouldn't be seen for another 1,000 years — but its purpose was a mystery for decades.
Many scientists have worked since the 1950s to piece together the story, with the help of some very sophisticated imaging technology in recent years, including X-ray and gamma-ray imaging and 3-D computer modeling.
Now, though, it has been rebuilt. As is almost always the way with these things, it was an amateur who cracked it. Michael Wright, a former curator at the Science Museum in London, has built a replica of the Antikythera, which works perfectly.
In the video from New Scientist below, Wright shows how the machine works.
In short, Antikythera's user interface is deceptively simple, operated by a simple knob on the side. This conceals the intricacy within, amounting to a complex mathematical model, tracking the movements of planetary bodies and incorporating a series of submechanisms to account for the eccentricities of their rotation.
A dial on the faceplace featured the Greek zodiac and an Egyptian calendar; pointers showed the location of the moon and the five planets known at the time. On the machine's back, an upper dial shows a 19-year calendar (matching the solunar cycle) and the timing of upcoming Olympic games. A lower dial shows a 76-year cycle (when the Olympic and solunar cycles coincide) and indicates the months in which lunar and solar eclipses can be expected.
According to New Scientist, this is the first working model of the Antikythera computer to include all of the device's known features. And, like the original machine, it has been built of recycled metal plates. That's right: The Antikythera mechanism is not only the world's oldest computer, it's also the world's first green computer.
|
|
|
|
Salamok
Terracotta Army
Posts: 2803
|
I'm disappointed it wasn't a time machine.
don't be disappointed then because it actually is a time machine.
|
|
|
|
Broughden
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3232
I put the 'shill' in 'cockmonkey'.
|
The pipes have been explained as well. They have also been found here in the US both in Utah/Arizona and Lousiana.
|
The wave of the Reagan coalition has shattered on the rocky shore of Bush's incompetence. - Abagadro
|
|
|
Ironwood
Terracotta Army
Posts: 28240
|
Explained as what ?
|
"Mr Soft Owl has Seen Some Shit." - Sun Tzu
|
|
|
schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345
|
I, too, thought his post was informative.
|
|
|
|
Cyrrex
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10603
|
He can't tell you that, because then he'd have to kill you.
|
"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
|
|
|
IainC
Developers
Posts: 6538
Wargaming.net
|
They are the result of naturally accreting hematite along strata lines and natural chimneys in the sandstone.
|
|
|
|
Cyrrex
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10603
|
Dude, nice try, but we'd prefer a scientific explanation.
|
"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
|
|
|
IainC
Developers
Posts: 6538
Wargaming.net
|
Dude, nice try, but we'd prefer a scientific explanation. It's a liberal conspiracy to suppress the truth. The pipes are clearly evidence of creationism and were probably part of Noah's dry dock, all that animal dung has to be flushed away somewhere amirite?
|
|
|
|
Cyrrex
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10603
|
That's something I can get onboard with. Haha, get it? Onboard?
|
"...maybe if you cleaned the piss out of the sunny d bottles under your desks and returned em, you could upgrade you vid cards, fucken lusers.." - Grunk
|
|
|
lac
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1657
|
They are the result of naturally accreting hematite along strata lines and natural chimneys in the sandstone.
Hah, since I played Dwarf Fortress I actually know what hematite is. Still waiting for them to put the strata lines in though.
|
|
|
|
Broughden
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3232
I put the 'shill' in 'cockmonkey'.
|
Explained as what ?
WTF am I? The google fairy? Look it up. (Sorry I have always wanted to say that. Love yah. Mean it.)
|
The wave of the Reagan coalition has shattered on the rocky shore of Bush's incompetence. - Abagadro
|
|
|
Oban
Terracotta Army
Posts: 4662
|
Something tells me that a Google fairy would not be safe for work.
|
Palin 2012 : Let's go out with a bang!
|
|
|
Lantyssa
Terracotta Army
Posts: 20848
|
It's surprisingly benign and boring. Sorry.
|
Hahahaha! I'm really good at this!
|
|
|
Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
|
Funny article. They really got me on Gozer the Gozarian (--geekcred if you had to look it up), followed closely by the Voltron reference.
Is this the same Cracked that was spun off from Mad Magazine?
|
|
|
|
FatuousTwat
Terracotta Army
Posts: 2223
|
It was, then it joined with the Pointless Waste of Time community.
|
Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?
|
|
|
Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
|
Ok, guess I needed to be at this site much sooner: "From fur trapper, to wilderness guide, to frontier warrior, Kit Carson was so much man that he actually defecated Chuck Norris. " Mighta been better if "defecated" was "shit", but still good.
|
|
|
|
Draegan
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10043
|
It's surprisingly benign and boring. Sorry.
Man, what did I ever do to you?
|
|
|
|
Lantyssa
Terracotta Army
Posts: 20848
|
Searching for "Google fairy", not your article.
|
Hahahaha! I'm really good at this!
|
|
|
|
Pages: [1]
|
|
|
|