NationStates Jolt Archive

Some guy called Michael Wright, a museum curator has, in that tinkering British way, recreated the...

...Antikythera mechanism, a mysterious clockwork object made up of numerous meshed cogs that was discovered more than a century ago among the cargo of a Greek shipwreck.

You can see a video of how it works here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eUibFQKJqI):

For more of a story on the background, read this article...

New Scientist Article (http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20026861.600-decoding-a-2000yearold-computer.html)

I've occasionally seen references to ancient world devices that are simply way ahead of their time, anyone care to educate me and point some of these out?

Plus a general discussion on cool, old stuff.

Here's a few from the New Scientist article:

The engineer Hero, working in the first century AD, continued their work. He built many automated figures, as well as inventing a steam engine, a vending machine that dispensed holy water, a wind-operated organ and a geared device for lifting heavy weights.

How did we lose 1, 800 years?

I like watching ancient discoveries, on the show they demonstrate a lot of interesting things created by ancient peoples. Some of the more interesting ones I remember are:

A siege weapon resembling a ballista that was powered by air pressure.
A chemical that when combined with water catches on fire.
Automatic weapons, that could fire dozens of rocks at the sides of buildings.
Land mines.

I'm a bit tired and achey so can't quite recall some more right now.

How did we lose 1, 800 years?

Religions, Aristocracies, and War had a lot to do with it.

How did we lose 1, 800 years?
Not enough comfort built upon slavery to have time to waste.