the clock of the long now

because what it addresses a very interesting question: how do you make something go very, very slowly, but at a rate that has to be completely accurate down to, say, a tenth of a second?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_of_the_Long_Now

  Quote

The Clock of the Long Now, also called the 10,000-year clock, is a proposed mechanical clock designed to keep time for 10,000 years. The project to build it is part of the Long Now Foundation.

 

The project was conceived by Danny Hillis in 1986 and the first prototype of the clock began working on December 31, 1999, just in time to display the transition to the year 2000. At midnight on New Year's Eve, the date indicator changed from 01999 to 02000, and the chime struck twice, to ring in the "third millennium". That prototype, approximately two metres tall, is currently on display at the Science Museum in London.

the new prototype is sweet

http://news.cnet.com/2300-11386_3-10000718.html

  Quote

A multimillennial mechanical monument, the Long Now Foundation's 10,000 Year Clock is a work existing at the intersection of art, science, and engineering, and is a thinker's window into the past, present, and future of humanity itself.

 

Computer scientist Danny Hillis conceived of the 10,000 Year Clock project as a monument to long-term thinking. The design and development on the clock began in 1997 and has itself been a long-term and time-consuming process, already having generated an array of ideas and prototypes as well as mechanical and design patents. The designers hope that with a longer sense of time will come a more broad and long-term way of thinking, and a greater sense of what is possible in the future.

 

A 22-pound sphere of Tungsten, an incredibly dense and tough material, will be used for the pendulums of the clock. Because of its dense nature, a large mass can be formed into a small space, minimizing air drag and reducing energy loss. The high density of the Tugnsten is also important because it will prevent minute timing variation that may be caused by changes in the temperature, water vapor, and barometric pressure in other materials.

 

Using binary notation, 26 movable bit levers inside each bit serial adder convert the swing from the pendulum into a visible notation on the clock. Although there is no projected date of completion for the project, the first prototype is currently on display in the Making the Modern World exhibit at the Science Museum in London.

intense

trippin' ballz man

time is an illusion.

Time only exists because we invented it.

In fact, it doesn't exist.

  Super lurker ultra V12 said:

time is an illusion.

your mom doesn't exist.

well lush

All there is is a flow of materia and a constant "change" of the present that we're living. this is now and that's all we got - that is true. Does suck that the concept of time is a part of it to such a great extent.

isn't this thread about a cool clock?

Thats a shame you think that Gordo, because your mum DEFINETLY exists, shes lush.

  plisb said:

All there is is a flow of materia and a constant "change" of the present that we're living. this is now and that's all we got - that is true. Does suck that the concept of time is a part of it to such a great extent.

A constant 'change' implies a 'before', therefore the concept of time, in order to call it so.

wait, its a spring-driven clock or powered by batteries? somebody has to replace that shit all the time i would have thought. i stupid?

  abusivegeorge said:

Thats a shame you think that Gordo, because your mum DEFINETLY exists, shes lush.

GORDO i can also attest to the existence of your mum

she's a loud 'un

so what's more idm, guys - this or that?

i'm leaning towards this, but it could really go both ways.

i'm thinking that relativity is gonna fuck this clock up somehow

  abusivegeorge said:

Time only exists because we invented it.

 

In fact, it doesn't exist.

 

  Super lurker ultra V12 said:

time is an illusion.

actually time does exist

time is the line between two points in the fourth dimension

i'd recommend taking a trip to long now's place in fort mason if you are ever in san francisco

  plisb said:

All there is is a flow of materia

i thought my thread about cwocks bwinking twelve was interesting... :embrassed:

Seen this in person, yeauh yeauh.

I'm surprised no one has linked to this yet in this thread:

It also has a conspiracy site: http://www.corpusclock.org/