It would be helpful to work out what on earth people say to me on facebook.

I want to know if the translation differed... While this is cool in a 'it can be done' way it would be real news if it confirmed the original human translation.

Linear A? The Voynich manuscript? Rohonc Codex? Rongorongo?

I'd love to see them translated.

Just the fact that it will read is astonishing. They should feed in the Arizona Immigration Law and translate that for Eric Holder.

This is not news. Read the third paragraph.
"Ugaritic text was nothing more than a series of dots and wedge-shaped marks to linguists and scholars when it was first discovered on clay tablets in 1928, excavated from the rubble of the ancient city of Ugarit by French archaeologists. Even though the language is closely related to Hebrew, experts did not decipher it until 1932"

MIT has written a computer program to to what has already been done.

On the Etruscan Language, read the grammar by Josef Pfiffig (in German).
The Voynich Manuscript has at least one level of encryption, this is a different technique from translation
Sumerian is an isolate, not a semitic language, but Akkadian is a semitic language.

I strongly suspect that this article overstates the accomplishment. In all likelyhood, the "simple program" through the process of pattern matching was able to build on the similarities between Ugaritic and ancient Hebrew or perhaps other ancient semetic languages such as Sumarian. This would enable them to take an string of characters and relate them to the semantic and syntatic patterns of a previously known language.

This is not taking an arbitrary language and translating it into.... More

I read a book several years ago where it made a very strong case for ancient Etruscan being related to modern Albanian. I think this was supported by further research. Maybe the article's writers should look further into this.,

Whether out of interest or Religious compulsion, understanding Ugaritic aids in understanding the Jewish Bible. Fundamental human insights are fundamental human insights - enjoyed by ancients and moderns alike (well, some...) Technology, not so much. Moderns have ancients beat hands down. We have stood on too many of those giants' shoulders.

I've done hand translations from English to German and from German to English as well as Spanish to English and so on. What you tend to find is that patterns are evident. It wouldn't matter if the target language was European or non-European the point is that in every language there is syntax, there are patterns - and I know someone will point to an example where there appear to be none. But if you think about language and how much you can do with 500 - 700 words of knowledge - that tells you.... More

Ancient men may have been more intelligent than many people give them credit for. However a major difference that can be measured is the access of information that modern people enjoy, that hardly anybody throughout history had, up until the past century.

Elvis and god reflect the mindset of a lot of researchers. Beginning from the perspective that everyone besides the researcher is less intelligent or somehow less sophisticated.

Ancient man designed and built structures that we are still incapable of building today. Ancient man knew enough to chart the stars and understand the workings of nature...but yet he had "far less knowledge and intelligence." What short sighted drivel.