Is it just me, or is the Antikythera calling out for a Dr. Who episode tying it to aliens or some other fantastic explanation?
I think there was an attempt in FlashForward, but the series got cancelled.
The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
61–70 of 206 posts
Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
#62No wireless. Only five planets. Lame.
Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
#63Every time I think about the Antikythera mechanism the quote by Arthur C. Clarke comes to mind "If the insight of the Greeks had matched their ingenuity…we would not merely be puttering around on the Moon, we would have reached the nearer stars." It's a little sensational but also makes me think of what could've been, if certain paths had been realized in past times, and also makes me put the technical knowledge of p…
Really dumb question, but one I must ask after reading this article and then your post. Could it be possible that humans had some pretty awesome technology even farther in the past than we know (beyond earliest recorded history), but due to some extinction event all records of society from that time were wiped out? For example if we had some crazy extinction event, the dark ages that would follow are pretty scary to…
Look into Graham Hancock, he writes a lot about possible lost civilizations. He gets lots of hate and I have no idea if any of it is true, but super fun to read.
Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
This realization hit me after spending a few weeks in Italy seeing the remains of the Roman Empire. I had a building sense that they were awfully close to the industrial revolution, that there was no particular reason it couldn’t have happened thousands of years ago in the face of a highly organized, long lived, innovative empire with enormous resources. I think it’s an accident of history that it happened in England…
What were the main factors that prevented the roman empire from having an industrial revolution? Is there a single technology, that if sent back in time, would have sustained their empire? (Steam engine? Hydropower improvements? Standardized measurements for tighter tolerances?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution#Requirem...
I found this a fascinating read. Below that section is a list of technological developments.
Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well some ancient alien conspiracy theories suggest nuclear bombs have been dropped on different parts of the planet. Mahabharata a short distance from Jodpur in India, which Oppenheimer commented on. Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan Nuclear destruction of Sumer linked with the Anunnaki. Pyramids in other places around the planet besides Egypt, its possible mainstream history isnt telling us everything or we have a sanitised…
As fun as these speculations are, there is nothing cohesive about it. "which Oppenheimer commented on" - or he just wanted to say something that sounded badass and educated in his "I am become...the destroyer of worlds." /* Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan Nuclear destruction of Sumer linked with the Anunnaki. */ 0 evidence "Pyramids in other places around the planet besides Egypt, its possible mainstream history isnt tellin…
Unfortunately watching an increasing number of TV programs is like watching/listening to someone talking whilst on drugs, they jump around all over the place, I'm sure its creating ADHD in me as a result.
Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
#66The Antikythera mechanism gives me nightmares. Just as the suggestion that a lack of transmissions from intelligent life means the existence of a great filter. The Antikythera mechanism is a strong indicator of technological regression in human beings. Perhaps more terrifying is the fact that it is not the first time we've regressed or collapsed. The mysterious Late Bronze Age Collapse is another example, https://en.…
It's the normal progression of civilizations. When one gets too rusty, it dies to lets its small and better offspring live: those people start from scratch, but they retain knowledge and rebuild all bells and whistles very quickly. We are the fifth. America will be home for the sixth and then, in a thousand years, it will become a history too. This is what Revelation 17:10 talks about, but in a more poetical form.
Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
#67Every time I think about the Antikythera mechanism the quote by Arthur C. Clarke comes to mind "If the insight of the Greeks had matched their ingenuity…we would not merely be puttering around on the Moon, we would have reached the nearer stars." It's a little sensational but also makes me think of what could've been, if certain paths had been realized in past times, and also makes me put the technical knowledge of p…
Really dumb question, but one I must ask after reading this article and then your post. Could it be possible that humans had some pretty awesome technology even farther in the past than we know (beyond earliest recorded history), but due to some extinction event all records of society from that time were wiped out? For example if we had some crazy extinction event, the dark ages that would follow are pretty scary to…
What'll really bake your noodle is the fact that we most likely couldn't tell if there was a pre-human civilization on earth, even around industrial levels. What we have now will easily last a thousand years - but not a thousand thousands years.
And my favorite hypothesis: Antarctica. If there ever was a species which flourished there, it's a lot harder for them to colonize the rest of the world than it is for us to visit Antarctica. Clothes you can just wear, and heating is pretty straightforward - but having to venture in a place where portable aircon failure means death will pretty much guarantee you don't build a lot far from home. Which puts a pretty high limit on how far a civilization could have gotten there and still have all traces hidden in the ice.
Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
#68Every time I think about the Antikythera mechanism the quote by Arthur C. Clarke comes to mind "If the insight of the Greeks had matched their ingenuity…we would not merely be puttering around on the Moon, we would have reached the nearer stars." It's a little sensational but also makes me think of what could've been, if certain paths had been realized in past times, and also makes me put the technical knowledge of p…
This realization hit me after spending a few weeks in Italy seeing the remains of the Roman Empire. I had a building sense that they were awfully close to the industrial revolution, that there was no particular reason it couldn’t have happened thousands of years ago in the face of a highly organized, long lived, innovative empire with enormous resources. I think it’s an accident of history that it happened in England…
They did not have the printing press or free markets. The combination of the wider dissemination of ways of knowing and acting in a free market of ideas combined with a free market of individuals and firms that applied the knowledge is what set it all off.
The ancient Greeks had a steam engine. There were no mass printed books so barely anyone knew about it. Even if you knew you couldn’t exactly start a company.
Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
#69Writings on the mechanism are surprisingly crude for the artisanship of the mechanism itself.
Probably just different material (not bronze)
Re: The Antikythera mechanism reveals new secrets
#70The 19 year Metonic cycle is interesting. I think it is also the orbital period of the moons nodes (aka dragon head/tail or north node/south node or rahu/Ketu in Indian astronomy). I wonder if there is a connection.