Recently a breakthrough in the study of the mysterious Greek Computer known as the ‘Antikythera mechanism’ revealed that this device was likely used by philosophers in order to see into the future!

In the year 1900, some sponge divers were in the Aegean Sea when they came upon wreckage from an ancient Greek ship. Among the wreckage were many different artistic statues and one of the most advanced mechanical devices from that era.

This clock-like device was used to accurately predict astrological events such as sun and moon cycles, eclipses and more! Its unique gears made it simple for the user to track many events n our solar system which would be extremely useful in the days before the internet.

The Antikythera mechanism is referred to as an ancient computer because it has such an advanced design for the time period. Though it doesn’t contain the wires of a modern computer it still has an advanced design that must have taken a lot of mathematical calculations in order to figure out.

This device is so rare that over 100 years after its discovery in the year 1900 people from all over the world are still studying it. As we have developed more advanced tools for seeing into objects we have been able to uncover more of its incredible uses after over half a century of curiosity.

Scientists believe that the ancient computer is from around the 2nd B.C. According to a study published in 2006 by the Nature academic journal this ancient greek computer was “technically more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards.”

Today, this device is meticulously preserved in a National Archaeological Museum, Athens and is actually in 82 separate pieces.  Some of the parts are inscribed with an ancient text which is believed to be the instructions for using the device.

The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project

In 2005 the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project was formed in order to uncover the mysteries of this greek device. Using Hewlett Packard and X-Tek System’s 3D technology they have been able to uncover many details about how the device functioned and how we could even use its genius design to build one today.

One of the incredible X-ray technologies used to study the device was known as the ‘Bladerunner’. This technology can find details on artifacts that are impossible to see with the naked eye.

Because of the new X-Ray technique being used the 3,500 ancient Greek lettering on the Antikythera Mechanism can now be read according to CBS News.

“It was not a research tool, something that an astronomer would use to do computations, or even an astrologer to do prognostications, but something that you would use to teach about the cosmos and our place in the cosmos,” said New York University professor and researcher Alexander Jones.

“It’s like a textbook of astronomy as it was understood then, which connected the movements of the sky and the planets with the lives of ancient Greeks and their environment.”

“I would see it as more something that might be a philosopher’s instructional device.”

Check out what was discovered about the Antikythera Mechanism and how it functioned in the video below!