Pure science: When did the world’s oldest analog computer “turn on” ?

The Antikythera Mechanism has been long thought to be the world’s oldest known analog computer because of the presence of gears and wheels, and it’s calculator capabilities for predicting motions of planets and eclipses. However, when it was built and what the start date is for calibrating the instrument has been unknown. While experts have suggested 204 BCE as the start date, a new study proposes the date of December 23, 178 BCE. ThePrint’s Sandhya Ramesh explains. Subscribe to the Pure Science Telegram Channel https://t.me/PureScienceWithSandhyaRamesh Supplementary reading: Preprint | Voulgaris et al., 2022. The Initial Calibration Date of the Antikythera Mechanism after the Saros spiral mechanical Apokatastasis https://arxiv.org/pdf/2203.15045.pdf Marchant, J. In search of lost time. Nature 444, 534–538 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/444534a