Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, lead researcher Tony Freeth and his team set forth a solution to the “complex 3-D puzzle” of the mechanism’s design, drawing on “combining cycles from Babylonian astronomy, mathematics from Plato’s Academy and ancient Greek astronomical theories” to propose a plausible scheme for the front of the mechanism. Last week, a team of researchers from the University College London (UCL) proposed a major step forward: a theoretical model for how the front part of the mechanism, which displayed the ancient Greek order of the universe, might have worked. Yet how exactly the mechanism might have worked is still up for debate-especially because the ancient device has only survived in 82 discombobulated, partially disintegrated fragments. Its stunningly sophisticated design has led many researchers to dub the invention the world’s “first analog computer.” The hand-held device dates back 2,000 years and predicted astronomical events, such as the movement of the planets and lunar and solar eclipses, for its ancient Greek users. First discovered by divers in a Roman-era shipwreck in 1901, researchers have puzzled over the extraordinary Antikythera mechanism for decades.
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