  I present some insights into Hanny's Voorwerp and the Antikythera mechanism -
contrasting their similarities and differences. They are both excellent
examples of serendipitous discoveries in which human curiosity and perseverance
have played an important role. Both objects have captured the imagination of
the general public, and their discovery was only made possible via the
introduction of new technologies. One major difference is that there is only
one Antikythera device but there are now many Voorwerpen or "voorwerpjes", as
they are more commonly known. The study of a collection of objects, as is
common in astronomy, greatly aids our understanding of cosmic phenomena. In the
case of the voorwepjes, we now know that such systems are to be identified with
obscured galaxies or Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) that appear to have recently
and indeed rapidly turned off. Clearly, the discovery of more examples of
devices similar to the Antikythera mechanism would have a significant affect in
advancing our understanding of this object and the people that constructed it.
Thus far, surveys of the site of the Antikythera wreck are incomplete and
non-systematic. Like radio astronomy and other progressive fields,
technological advances proceed exponentially in terms of capacity and
capability. Recent advances in diving technology are no exception to this rule.
It is almost 40 years ago that Jacques Cousteau led the last adhoc survey of
the Antikythera wreck - the time has surely come to revisit the site and
conduct a proper scientific and systematic survey. The deepest areas of the
site are so far completely unexplored while it is known that some artefacts did
fall into this area during the original excavation. During this workshop, I
called for a return to the site using the most modern diving technologies.
