News: Minecraft World's Weekly Workshop: Rebuilding the Antikythera Mechanism

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Every once in a while you've got to challenge yourself and there's certainly no better time to do so than the week of Minecon. For this week's workshop we'll be rebuilding the Antikythera mechanism in SMP. So, what is the Antikythera mechanism?

In 1901, a large clump of metal of unknown purpose was discovered off the coast of Greece. It took researchers until the 1950's to realize that it is in fact the oldest discovered computer in human history. When we say "computer", we don't of course mean a computer like the one you're sitting at reading this, but a device that computes and stores mathematical information. Apparently, this ancient computer built in 100 BC was a kind of astronomical clock that would calculate the occurrence of various astronomical phenomena like solar and lunar eclipses. 

So what does all this have to have to do with Minecraft? Well in 2010, a couple of really smart guys built a functioning model of the device out of LEGOS. I don't know about you, but I think that's just plain cool.

In just 30 days, John Pavlus and Andrew Carol designed and built this LEGO replica by hand. This inspiring feat of armchair engineering inspired me to think, "Why not make that out of redstone?" So for this week's Workshop we'll be rebuilding a working replica of the Antikythera mechanism right here on our server. 

To be fair, some talented community members and myself and have been working on the project for a few days now. Something of this scale requires serious planning and so while we won't be building this in one day, we will be finishing and polishing the machine during this week's workshop. So please come and join us!

Whether you're an expert or a novice, this is a great opportunity to join the server, polish your redstone skills, and maybe learn something new! This week's workshop is something never attempted in Minecraft before and should prove to be very exciting.

Please note: As Minecraft World will be attending Minecon this weekend, this week's Weekly Workshop will be held Thursday, 17th at 4pm CST, instead of the usual Saturday time.

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See you there!

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