July 30th News

There is one really big story today, the discoveries concerning the Antikythera Mechanism, and a number of smaller stories.

New stories as of 11:59 PM:

Was Ancient Greek 'Calculator' Used To Teach Astronomy?
New Scientist
INSCRIPTIONS on a mysterious 2000-year-old clockwork device suggest that the artefact was inspired by earlier devices made by the great Greek mathematician Archimedes...
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/mg19926674.300-was-ancient-greek-calculator-used-to-teach-astronomy.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=space2_head_Was%20ancient%20Greek%20%27calculator%27%20used%20to%20teach%20astronomy

Workings Of Ancient 'Computer' Deciphered
The New York Times
After a closer examination of the Antikythera Mechanism, a surviving marvel of ancient Greek technology, scientists have found that the device not only predicted solar eclipses but also organized the calendar in the four-year cycles of the Olympiad, forerunner of the modern Olympic Games...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/science/31computer.html?ref=science

The 2000-Year-Old Greek 'Super-Computer' Used To Predict Eclipses Decades In Advance
Mail Online
The world's oldest calculator - an intricate box of dials, gears and cogs created by the Ancient Greeks more than 2,000 years ago - could predict eclipses decades in advance, a new study has shown...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1039917/The-2-000-year-old-Greek-super-used-predict-eclipses-decades-advance.html

Ancient Olympic Calculator Discovered
LiveScience
An ancient astronomy calculator appears to show the four-year cycle of the early Greek competitions that inspired today's Olympic Games...
http://www.livescience.com/history/080730-ancient-computer.html

Ancient Greek 'Computer' Displayed Olympics Calendar
Guardian.co.uk
An ancient Greek "computer" used to calculate the movements of the sun, moon and planets has been linked to Archimedes after scientists deciphered previously hidden inscriptions on the device...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jul/30/archaeology.astronomy
This article has a particularly interesting photo. Where the other photos seem to only show part of the artifact, this one seems to display the whole thing.

Secrets Of Antikythera Mechanism, World's Oldest Calculating Machine, Revealed
Telegraph.co.uk
The secrets of the worlds oldest calculating machine are revealed today, showing that it had dials to mark the timing of eclipses and the Olympic games...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/07/30/scicalc130.xml
The Telegraph article is, I think, the best so far. There are three video links on the device, including how it was found. Also there are diagrams and reconstructive photos included.

New Light On The Antikythera Mechanism
About.com
In a paper to be published July 31, 2008 in the journal Nature, project members of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project report on the latest discoveries about the writing on the dials and plates of the remarkable astronomical tool, the Antikythera Mechanism...
http://archaeology.about.com/b/2008/07/30/new-light-on-the-antikythera-mechanism.htm

2500-Year-Old Greek Ship Salvaged Off Sicily
Mathaba.net
ROME, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The 21-meter-long vessel is the best-preserved example in the world of a Greek ship constructed from pine planks "sewn" together with plant fiber, a technique described in Homer's Iliad, Italian News Agency ANSA said on Monday...
http://mathaba.net/news/?x=600140

Greeks Followed A Celestial Olympics
ScienceNews
A closer look at the Antikythera with a 3-D X-ray scan reveals inscriptions not visible before...
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/34619/title/Greeks_followed_a_celestial_Olympics

Ancient Artefacts Belong To Finder
Burton Mail
SILVER relics dating from the Dark Ages have been declared the property of the Swadlincote man who found them - because historians cannot say how they came to be in the Willington field where they were found...
http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail-news/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=335381

Treasure Hunters' Delight At The Discovery Of Roman Coins Bounty
This Is Derbyshire
THREE treasure hunters have unearthed 62 Roman coins which date back 1,700 years...
http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Treasure-hunters-delight-discovery-Roman-coins-bounty/article-242626-detail/article.html

Book: Marcus Aurelius In Love
xtra.ca
The informative introduction to this delightful book of love letters draws us into the world of the elite in Imperial Rome. Round about the year 140CE, future Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was an almost twentysomething living with his uncle Titus at Rome's premier address, the emperor Hadrian's palace...
http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=1&STORY_ID=5134&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=2

A Fake Famous Disc?
The New York Times
Now that we’ve disposed of the bogus “pre-Columbian” crystal skulls, we can consider a potential new hoax: the Phaistos Disc, whose purportedly ancient text has long resisted scientists’ efforts to decipher it...
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/a-fake-famous-disc/
This article is from the New York Times "Blog" section.

Hunt For Second Stone Circle
News & Star
THE secrets of a 14th century castle and a second stone circle could soon be unveiled near Keswick...
http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/1.211963

2000-Year -Old Warrior Grave Found On Berkeley Homes And Persimmon Site
Contract Journal
A 2,000-year-old grave of an Iron Age warrior has been unearthed on a Berkeley Homes and Persimmon building site...
http://www.contractjournal.com/Articles/2008/07/29/60584/2000-year-old-warrior-grave-found-on-berkeley-homes-and-persimmon-site.html

North-East Firm Throws Light On Ancient Shipwreck
The Press And Journal
A HI-TECH underwater camera designed by an Aberdeenshire firm is being used to examine an ancient Roman shipwreck off Sicily...
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/761049?UserKey=0

Two Egyptians Rewarded For Turning In Antiquities
The Earth Times
Cairo - Egypt's top archaeologist said Tuesday that two Egyptian citizens were rewarded for turning in two pieces of antiquities they found while each was redecorating his house in the northern Menoufiya governorate...
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/222221,two-egyptians-rewarded-for-turning-in-antiquities.html