Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

July 24, 2008 8:09:50 AM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

First Computer May Be 2100 Years Old

Posted May 20, 07 9:02 PM CDT in Technology,  Arts & Living,  Science & Health 

(Newser) – An unknown scientist in the first century B.C. may have invented the world’s first computer. Discovered by Greek divers in 1900 on the bottom of the Aegean Sea near the island of Antikythera, the so called Antikythera Mechanism lay in the National Museum in Athens mistaken for an astrolabe until the late 1950s.

It was then that a scholar, Derek de Solla Price, posited that it might be a computer. Subsequent research, aided by x-ray pictures of the device, seem to suggest Price was right. Another scholar, Michael Wright, has built a working model of the machine, which calcultes the movements of stars and planets and predicts astronomical events like eclipses.

Source New Yorker

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon

Related Newser Stories

  • 10 Computers That Changed Everything

    Jul 16, 08 8:21 PM CDT
    10 Computers That Changed Everything Convenience is a given when it comes to today's PCs, but the machine you're reading this on has come a long way. Major transformations date as far back as the early 19th century. Live Science gives the back-story on 10 revolutionary computers.

    1. The Difference Engine, 1822: Designed by Charles Babbage but not built until decades later, today's replicas show this math-table-generating machine to work flawlessly.
    2. ENIAC, 1946: This US Army computer weighed 30 tons, used 17,478 vacuum tubes, and consumed 150 kilowatts.
    More »

  • Tech Holds Ground Amid Slump

    Jul 9, 08 7:10 PM CDT
    Tech Holds Ground Amid Slump Despite malaise in most sectors of the economy, the technology industry is weathering the downturn well, USA Today reports. Sales are up only 3% this year over 2007—a mediocre result, considering the industry usually grows by more than 10%—but with tech unemployment at 3.9% compared to 5.7% overall, insiders aren't seeing the trouble signs they saw during the dot-com collapse of 2001. More »

  • Mixed Day Yields Mixed Results

    May 30, 08 3:30 PM CDT
    Mixed Day Yields Mixed Results Stocks ended mixed after a seesaw session today, with strong performance by tech and energy shares contrasting with bad news on consumer spending and incomes, MarketWatch reports. The Dow closed down 7.90 at 12,638.32. The Nasdaq gained 14.34 to 2,522.66, while the S&P 500 ticked up 2.12, ending at 1,400.38. More »

  • Silicon Valley Unplugs for Meetings

    Mar 31, 08 1:09 PM CDT
    Silicon Valley Unplugs for Meetings Tired of competing for attention with iPhones, BlackBerrys and laptops, some Silicon Valley companies are banning them from meetings. One exec calls it going "topless," short for laptopless, and the Los Angeles Times reports that it's boosting some companies' efficiency. "Aside from just being rude," an exec wrote, "partial attention generally leads to partial results." More »

  • Laptops Finally Outsell Desktops

    Jan 1, 08 5:15 PM CST
    Laptops Finally Outsell Desktops Tech buffs have forecast a laptop takeover for years—and now US buying data is finally confirming a coup de desktop. Consumer laptop sales beat out desktop buys for the first time last year, and corporations will likely follow in 2008, the Los Angeles Times reports. New technology, lower prices, and the growth in WiFi are driving the portable boom. More »

This handout picture released 29 November 2006 by the Antikythera...   (Getty Images)
The Antikythera Mechanism   (NASA)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Threads (1 of 2)

Tags

technology  • computer  • Greece  • shipwreck  • archeology


Loading...

Loading...

Today's Most Popular


Other Science & Health Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »