The weirdest, wackiest and coolest sci/tech stories of 2012

Computer history was made this year when the National Museum of Computing in England competed a three-year restoration project on what it claims is now the world’s oldest original working digital computer, a 2-ton, Harwell Dekatron (aka WITCH). According to the museum, the Harwell Dekatron computer first ran at Harwell Atomic Energy Research Establishment in 1951 where it automated the tedious calculations mechanical hand calculators. Designed for reliability rather than speed, it could carry on relentlessly for days at a time delivering its error-free results. It wasn't even binary, but worked in decimal, the museum says.