The Antikythera mechanism (205 B.C.E.), in the collection of National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photo: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images.

The mysterious Antikythera Mechanism is 2,000 years old and has long puzzled scientists. New research into its triangle-shaped teeth may finally reveal its intended purpose.

According to this model, the research team found that the mechanism was actually not very useful. It could only be cranked to about four months in the future before it jammed or its gears disengaged.

Divers found the Antikythera mechanism in a shipwreck in 1900. Zde via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0 More than a century ago, a group of sponge divers discovered a shipwreck near the Greek ...

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2504.00327 Fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient Greek analog computer that is believed to be used to help teach Greeks about our place in the cosmos.

The Antikythera mechanism, a mysterious ancient Greek device that is often called the world’s first computer, may not have functioned at all, according to a simulation of its workings.

Fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient Greek analog computer that is believed to be used to help teach Greeks about our place in the cosmos. Credit: National Archaeological Museum ...