• Captain Janeway
    link
    281 year ago

    The Greeks actually also invented steam engines. But they didn’t know what to do with them. So instead it was just a fancy art piece that spins super fast.

    They also invented a lot of other stuff: door bells that sound like birds chirping, automatic doors, clocks which tracked the year, etc.

    • @Zanshi
      link
      141 year ago

      I heard they did found some uses, but in the end slave labour was a lot cheaper. So the tengine fell into obscurity

      • ArtieShaw
        link
        fedilink
        41 year ago

        That’s pretty much where manufacturers are today when it comes to implementing automation. The technology exists in many manufacturing areas, but if workers can do it more cheaply they’re not investing in it.

    • @marcos
      link
      31 year ago

      So instead it was just a fancy art piece that spins super fast.

      Nah, they made a cool “magic like” automatic door with it.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          11 year ago

          If you haven’t seen it, Clickspring on youtube has a series where he recreates the Antikythera mechanism based on scans of the original. It’s an interesting series I recommend to anyone interested in that kinda thing

  • credit crazy
    link
    141 year ago

    It’s kinda stuff like this that makes me wonder what things are considered useless right now that will be the most important invention in the future

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      81 year ago

      French mathematician Pierre de Fermat wrote a “little theorem” in 1640 that is now the basis of modern computer cryptography.

      The Fast Inverse Square Root is an algorithm that estimates 1/sqrt(x), a very important calculation in computer graphics. Early computers struggled when calculating this value but a programmer solved this mathematical problem…while programming Quake 3. His solution to the problem wasn’t discovered until the source code for the game was released.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        61 year ago

        The fast inverse square root algorithm was known from the 80’s, and was used in at least one game I’m aware of before Quake 3. Also, it wasn’t important in the long run - the same year Quake 3 was released, the rsqrtss instruction was introduced by Intel, which made this algorithm obsolete (as it was faster and more accurate).

        It is really cool though.

      • @lanolinoil
        link
        11 year ago

        A programmer… Sir that is John Carmack

  • Nanachi
    link
    91 year ago

    I guess finding uses for inventions is half of making inventions

  • teft
    link
    2
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Id be Pablo Escobar

    Shot and bleeding out on a roof in Medellin?

  • Nanachi
    link
    01 year ago

    deleted by creator