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✦ FEATURED INVESTIGATION

The Machine That Mapped the Cosmos

Two thousand years ago, an extraordinary device modeled the heavens. Its surviving gears still reveal new questions about ancient ingenuity.

01 / 04 • ESTABLISHED HISTORY • PHOTO: ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM, FRAGMENT A · LOGG TANDY, CC BY 4.0

CHOOSE YOUR PATH

Explore by realm

Every discovery opens another door

THE INFINITE ARCHIVE

STILL UNFOLDING

Live investigations with dated case logs. Weigh the evidence yourself.

CONNECTIONS ACROSS THE ARCHIVE

Select a point of light, then follow a thread

Swipe sideways to see the whole network →

Era, region or comparable caseSame open questionContrastOpen case

GUIDED JOURNEYS

Answer a question at each checkpoint. Every answer links to a sourced claim.

WHERE IT HAPPENED

Select a marker to open a dossier

THE WORLD IS AN ARCHIVE

Trace discoveries from ancient cities to worlds beyond our own.

Photo: Earth's city lights · NASA GSFC / NOAA NGDC · Public domain

THROUGH THE AGES

Real dates. Choose an age to zoom in.

Each age gets equal width so crowded centuries stay readable. Bars show spans; dots mark start dates. Select any entry to open it.

THE FULL ARCHIVE