Two Argentine physicists have recently modeled the work of an ancient Antikythera Mechanism on a computer. It is believed to have been an ancient device for predicting astronomical phenomena. However, a new study has cast doubt on its validity.
Antikythera Mechanism
Recently, two physicists from the National University of Mar del Plata in Argentina have created a computer program that emulates the operation of the famous Antikythera Mechanism. A paper posted on the arXiv preprints website said the authors had doubts about its performance during the study.
The Antikythera Mechanism is a strange structure made of gears that was found in the sea near the Greek island of Antikythera in 1900. Detailed study of it showed that it had marks in degrees, which allowed us to conclude that once this strange thing was a mechanism that predicted the movement of planets, solar and lunar eclipses.
The mechanism looks all the more amazing as it was created in the II century BC and could be considered a fake, if not for the information from ancient authors about similar mechanisms. It is true that no second one of this kind has been found to this day.
Simulation results
As to whether the Antikythera Mechanism could actually work, doubts existed long before the published work. In particular it was suspected that the triangular shaped gear teeth could not effectively provide a clutch. However, modeling showed that there was no problem with that.
Numerous works by other researchers have been taken into account in the study. In particular, great importance was attached to the position from which the machine started. And it did so by turning the handle.
Eventually, a new problem was discovered. If the mechanism was originally in the condition in which it was found, the spacing between the gears was far from perfect. Therefore, it should have just stuck when starting to rotate from certain angles.
On the other hand, the assumption that the mechanism was actually just a toy that didn’t really work was strongly rejected by the authors. The mechanism is too complex and expensive for that. Rather, scientists are ready to assume that somewhere they made a mistake in modeling.
According to phys.org
