Watch this mind-bending video of a lego recreation of the oldest known scientific computer, an amazingly precise set of gears built in 100 BCE.
The Nature Network has announced the winner of their "Best Nature Video" for the most impressive display of "science on the screen." The winner is a truly mind-bending short of the Lego recreation of the Antikythera Mechanism, known in science circles as the oldest scientific computer ever built. This incredibly advanced and unbelievably precise device could predict eclipses and other celestial events with unprecedented accuracy.
If you are at all curious how gears could be used to perform math—literally used as a calculator—you've simply got to check this out.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLPVCJjTNgk
Insane. Here's how Nature Network describes the video:
The Antikythera Mechanism is the oldest known scientific computer. Built in Greece around 100 BCE but lost for 2000 years, it was recovered from a shipwreck in 1901. However, it wasn't until a century later that its purpose was understood: it's an astronomical clock that determines the positions of celestial bodies with extraordinary precision. ??
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Head over to the Nature Network to check out the other "science on the screen" finalists. (The bat one is equally amazing.) I'm always excited by more creative communication of science, so this video was a real treat.
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