It may not seem as exciting as the record for the longest fingernails or largest collection of dinosaur poo, but a recent verification by Guinness World Records is a big deal for history buffs. As ...

Besides its ability to provide precise measurements of altitude, exact local time, and position of shining starts, al-Khujandi’s astrolabe is of astounding beauty. The University of Sharjah hosted an ...

In the early 17th century, during the golden age of the Mughal Empire, two engineering brothers in present-day Pakistan created a prodigious brass astrolabe for a powerful nobleman. More than 400 ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky. A rare eleventh-century Islamic astrolabe has been ...

There’s something enchanting about ancient tools and instruments. The idea that our forebears were able to fashion precision mechanisms with nothing but the simplest hand tools is fascinating. And ...

Sometimes a little modern technology can help turn up an ancient treasure — even if that technology is nothing more than a computer screen and a simple web search. That's what happened to Federica ...

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Hello, I'm Rachael Kohn and this is The Ark on ABC Radio National. Give up? It's Astrology. Dr David ...

A mariner’s astrolabe recovered from the wreck of one of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s ships is now officially the oldest known such artifact, according to a new paper in the International ...

A rare navigational tool has snagged a Guinness World Record as the oldest mariner's astrolabe. The astrolabe dates to between 1496 and 1501; it sank to the bottom with a shipwreck in 1503 near the ...