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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Greek "Computer" Tracked Ancient Olympics, Other Games


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A computer-generated image shows dials on the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient Greek device that tracked and displayed various astronomical information, such as the date, a 19-year calendar, positions of the sun and moon, and eclipses.

Scans of the device described in July 2008 revealed that the mechanism also has a dial, seen above, used for tracking the four-year cycle of the Panhellenic athletic games.

Image © 2008 Tony Freeth