Woodwork hacker Matthias Wandel has built this amazing binary marble adding machine. The device can store the binary states of six bits, and use them to add numbers from one to 63. It works with simple rockers, tipped by the marbles to represent zero or one. It's a lot easier to understand if you watch the video below.
"It had occurred to me that perhaps with an insane amount of perseverance, it might be possible to build a whole computer that runs on marbles" writes Wandel on his woodworking site, "Once I had that idea, I knew I had to try it at some point, and recently, I finally got around to building my marble binary adding machine."
For all their complexity, any computer comes down to this in the end; ones and zeroes. This is a great machine to look at, but it would make an even better teaching tool for kids (and adults). Especially with a Von Slatt-style steampunk makeover
Product page [Woodgear via Make]
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