Researchers Home in on Possible “Day Zero” for Antikythera Mechanism

upstart writes:

Researchers home in on possible "day zero" for Antikythera mechanism:

The mysterious Antikythera mechanism-an ancient device believed to have been used for tracking the heavens-has fascinated scientists and the public alike since it was first recovered from a shipwreck over a century ago. Much progress has been made in recent years to reconstruct the surviving fragments and learn more about how the mechanism might have been used. And now, members of a team of Greek researchers believe they have pinpointed the start date for the Antikythera mechanism, according to a preprint posted to the physics arXiv repository. Knowing that "day zero" is critical to ensuring the accuracy of the device.

"Any measuring system, from a thermometer to the Antikythera mechanism, needs a calibration in order to [perform] its calculations correctly," co-author Aristeidis Voulgaris of the Thessaloniki Directorate of Culture and Tourism in Greece told New Scientist. "Of course it wouldn't have been perfect-it's not a digital computer, it's gears-but it would have been very good at predicting solar and lunar eclipses."

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