Greek mystery may have been solved

Monsters and Critics.com, UK
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Athens (Greece):
Scientists say they may have solved the puzzle produced by the 1900 discovery off Greece of a bronze mechanism created in 80 B.C.
The 'Antikythera Mechanism' was discovered on the wreck of a cargo ship off the tiny Greek island of Antikythera, The Scotsman reported.
But now a team of British and Greek researchers report finding a hidden inscription on the machine that might determine the purpose of the shoe box-sized mechanism, which some scientists believe might be the world`s oldest astronomy computer.
The team believes the machine might have been used to predict the motion of the planets, although the mechanism involving more than 30 wheels and dials represents a technical prowess not to be replicated for thousands of years, The Scotsman said.
Xenophon Moussas, a researcher at Athens University, told The Scotsman the inscription indicates the machine was used to track planetary bodies.
June 08, 2006