Ancient Computers , Frozen Poles, Duck Bay and Quantum Games

It's that time of year again , with winter making everyone feel cold and frosty.
Just to reassure us that it could be worse, scientists have succeeded in lowering the temperature of an object to a smidgeon above absolute zero  (smidgeon is not a scientific term and is probably not even in the Oxford dictionary)
 Anyways, the point of my ramble is that I was about to elaborate on this feat of freezing which somehow involves quantum motion , when I realised that the piece failed to give an actual temperature attained.
Or any detail of the actual frozen object.

Scientists attempt the discovery of absolute zero...

Was it a metal pole against which scientists had to stand with their tongues attached ?
The closest temperature I could find was from a previous article, this time making the discovery in an italian laboratory - which included a recorded temperature and a picture of the deep-frozen equipment used.
On my journey through the rabbit-hole of the interweb , I discovered that the average temperature of space holds at a steady -270.45 ° kelvin....thanks to the all - pervasive background microwave radiation (which conjures the image of a scientist opening a microwave door to reveal his instant noodles and the sudden cries of joy from next door as his colleagues finally receive a radio signal from deep space.)

Over two thousand years ago, an intricate device was created on the Greek island of Rhodes .
Discovered in a shipwreck in 1900, its mechanism and purpose has intrigued and mystified many for decades.
The Antikythera mechanism has finally been replicated, albeit virtually.

Moving on from what is technically the oldest computer in the world, you too can help with the advancement of quantum computing by playing an online game that involves complex geometries.
I gave it a go, but hey, I am a simple human - for those who are keen to advance our knowledge in this field, here is a link to Mequanics via gizmodo

Image of Victoria crater by Opportunity rover , 2006

Space has been thin on the ground in this post ; to address this, here are some images from Mars. Above is the view from ' Duck Bay' imaged by the Opportunity rover, as it entered the Victoria crater.
Below is my current favourite image, which again shows the Victoria impact crater on Mars, with superimposed Opportunity rover for some kind of scale .
The images below were taken by the Mars Reconaisance Orbiter - I almost forgot that we have a camera orbiting another world...then I remembered that we have cameras dotted throughout the solar system...

NASA / JPL / MRO

Until next time, thanks for stopping by !