Time-Slip Artifacts: Modern Objects in the Ancient World - Volume 1

The Antikythera mechanism deserves a dedicated episode all to itself.

In modern times, an attempt to replicate this ancient device hit a major snag when an unusual number appeared on one of the gears—a "half" number, to be precise.

After much deliberation and numerous mathematical computations, it was discovered that this half number was crucial for accurately timing the moon's rotations and predicting eclipses.

The secret lay in a tiny switch within the mechanism that instructed another gear to rotate at a different rate, slowing it down to achieve the exact half-tooth needed.

How do you make half a tooth on a gear? The ancients knew long before we did.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

  New Illinois bill would allow noncitizens to receive standard driver's licenses In an effort to help  immigrants , Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is calling for "driver's licenses for all." Giannoulias worked with the state legislature to pass a bill allowing noncitizens to receive standard driver's licenses instead of the current temporary visitor driver’s licenses. He says the purple "TVDL" marker is like a scarlet letter. 
Read more
  Pentagon Trying to Assure Shipping Industry of Red Sea Safety Amid Ongoing Houthi Attacks Yemen's Ansar Allah rebel movement, also known as the Houthis, has already caused significant disruptions to global trade due to their ongoing attacks in the Red Sea. This has prompted many companies to reroute their ships to avoid the affected areas. The US Department of Defense (DoD) is actively seeking to convince shipping companies to continue sailing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, despite the persistent Houthi attacks occurring in the region, an American news agency reports. The Pentagon is "engaged with industry on a near-daily basis to gauge needs and provide reassurance that the international community is there to help with safe passage," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Bryon McGarry, a DoD spokesperson for the Middle East and Africa, told the news outlet.
Read more