Antikythera Mechanism's intricate gears: Simulations of ancient astronomical device reveal potential jamming issues

Ancient computer's gears may not have been able to turn

The 2000-year-old Antikythera mechanism may have been a kind of astronomical calculator, but researchers are unsure whether it would have worked without jamming

Antikythera Mechanism's intricate gears: Simulations of ancient astronomical device reveal potential jamming issues

A pair of physicists at Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, in Argentina, have created a computer simulation of the famed Antikythera Mechanism and in so doing have found that manufacturing inaccuracies may have caused the device to jam so often it would have been very nearly unusable—if it was in the condition it is now. Esteban Szigety and Gustavo Arenas have posted a paper on the arXiv preprint server describing the factors that went into …

Acclaimed for more than a century as the summit of ancient engineering and the world's first analog computer, the Anticythera Mechanism was a machine more prone to failure and culturally anchored to the Greek moon than was thought, defying our vision of this extraordinary technological relic.

A pair of physicists from the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina, created a computer simulation of the famous Antikythera mechanism and, in so doing, revealed that manufacturing inaccuracies may have caused the device to be taken so often, it would have been almost unusable – if it were on this subject. Esteban arenas [...]

2,000 Years Before Modern Technology, the Greeks Had Built the World’s First Computer (So Advanced That It Still Baffles Scientists)

Over 120 years ago, sponge divers off the coast of the Greek island Antikythera unearthed one of the most enigmatic technological artifacts in human history. Hidden among statues, coins, glassware, and jewelry from a Roman-era shipwreck was a corroded cluster of bronze gears. Initially mistaken for debris, this fragmented object would later be identified as the Antikythera mechanism—a shoebox-sized device that has stunned archaeologists, enginee…