2,000-year-old machine found in western China could be binary computer: CAST
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Sophisticated silk-weaving loom dating back to the Western Han dynasty used physical pattern cards which acted like ancient software.

The computer, at its core, is an input-output device: it receives instructions, executes programmes, performs calculations automatically and produces results. By this fundamental definition, China’s ancient ti hua ji, or figured loom – dating back more than two millennia to the Western Han dynasty – may well be recognised as the world’s earliest computer, according to the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). Unearthed in 2012 from a tomb dated around 150BC in Chengdu, this…

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