So you hear that someone is building a clock that will run for 10,000 years and you think ‘oh, that’s neat’. Then you start looking into it and realize that it’s being built on a mountain-sized scale in a remote part of the US and things start to get a bit strange. As much as it might sound like a Sci-Fi novel (or some creative trolling), the Long Now Foundation is in the process of building and installing a clock that will chime once per year for the next ten millennia.
The clock, currently under construction will be over 200 feet tall, residing in a shaft drilled in a limestone mountain in West Texas. The allusion to [Indian Jones] sprung to mind when we read that the shaft will be drilled from the top down, then have a shaft with a robot arm installed to mill a spiral staircase into the stone walls. And this isn’t the only clock planned; a second site in Nevada has already been purchased.
There are a lot of interesting features, not the least of them is a ‘chime engine’ that plays a unique tune each year that will never be repeated again. [Alex] sent us the original tip to a Wired article that covers the project in incredible detail. But we also found a SETI talks video that runs for an hour. You’ll find that embedded after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nphxoUxSvgY&w=470]
From what I read in the Wired article, they have taken just about everything they can think of into consideration. Oil less bearings, the same type used in satellites, any disimilar metals not coming into contact with each other to avoid issues. Checking the sun at high noon is for calibration only.
It can also run with out human intervention for over a century.
And Tim:
“Great!
People are starving, living in the street, dont have water, ect. ect. And this guys paying ridiculous amounts of cash for a 10000 year clock!
really?
good one”
How much cash and time do you spend on “pointless” activities? How much to help others?
At least these people are thinking of the long term future of out race.
@MikeK=definatly a user, definatly not a maker
@Kuhltwo your attempt at caring is duely noted. I expect, now, that your entire future will revolve around making the world a better place and stop famine in Africa.
-Thanks!