Ancient 2,000 Year Old Greek Computer Rebuilt... Out of Lego

 A Piece of the Ancient Computer

Arguably the first computer ever, the Greeks designed a computer now referred to as the "Antikythera Mechanism" long before the modern information age.  This computer dates back further than 2,000 years to 100-150 BC and was used to calculate the motion of the planets and stars.

The device was discovered in 1901, pulled from from a sunken ship in the depths of the ocean. It is extremely complex, using different gear boxes to perform certain arithmetic calculations, before linking to other gear boxes that perform more arithmetic calculations on top of this.  The result is turning hands that, when aligned, predict certain celestial events.

Machine with Animal Brain? Or Animal with Machine Brain? (2 Videos)

Two videos from New Scientist show different approaches for the development of cyborgs.  One video shows several different research teams controlling insect flight through electrodes implanted into the insects brain.  What immediately comes to my mind when I hear about this is the potential for military, police, and scientific exploration of hostile environments with these computer controlled bugs.

First Battery 2,200 years old

There was a battery invented much earlier then our modern version of batteries.  The "baghdad" battery has been discovered, unsurprisingly, near Baghdad, Iraq.  The Battery is 2,200 years old, and is the oldest battery known to man. I'm aware that this is old news, but it is still interesting regardless.

The housing of the battery is a clay jar 5.5" high and 3" across.  The jar houses a hollow copper tube that was positioned vertically. An iron was placed inside of the copper tube, it hung from a asphalt plug positioned at the top of the jar.

Man Has Faith In His Invention: Risks Own Finger On A Table Saw

A man has invented a unique saftey device for table saws.  The device will prevent accidental amputations by saw blades.  The saw is outfitted with a device that senses conductivity, since wood has poor conductivity, the blade will run properly when cutting wood, when an item with high conductivity (such as a human finger) gets near the saw blade, the blade is abruptly stopped at a ridiculous speed. The result is a mangled saw blade and safety device, and a perfectly fine finger.