undeRliRcs Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Time Machine Will a clock that works flawlessly for 10,000 years become the greatest wonder of the world? By Brad Lemley Photograpy by Dan Winters DISCOVER Vol. 26 No. 11 | November 2005 | Technology Prototype number two of the Clock of the Long Now is, at nine feet tall, a diminutive model of the final version, which is expected to be at least 60 feet tall and will have multiple displays. This prototype records the changes in the relative positions of Earth and the five other planets that humans can eyeball without a telescope. "If you came up to the clock thousands of years from now, you could still read the time, even if you did not have the same time system we use now," says designer Danny Hillis. SOMETIMES, WHEN THINGS GET SUFFICIENTLY WEIRD, SUBTLETY NO longer works, so i'll be blunt: The gleaming device I am staring at in the corner of a machine shop in San Rafael, California, is the most audacious machine ever built. It is a clock, but it is designed to do something no clock has ever been conceived to do?run with perfect accuracy for 10,000 years. Everything about this clock is deeply unusual. For example, while nearly every mechanical clock made in the last millennium consists of a series of propelled gears, this one uses a stack of mechanical binary computers capable of singling out one moment in 3.65 million days. Like other clocks, this one can track seconds, hours, days, and years. Unlike any other clock, this one is being constructed to keep track of leap centuries, the orbits of the six innermost planets in our solar system, even the ultraslow wobbles of Earth's axis. Made of stone and steel, it is more sculpture than machine. And, like all fine timepieces, it is outrageously expensive. No one will reveal even an approximate price tag, but a multibillionaire financed its construction, and it seems likely that shallower pockets would not have sufficed. Still, any description of the clock must begin and end with that ridiculous projected working life, that insane, heroic, incomprehensible span of time during which it is expected to serenely tick. Ten thousand years. The span of time from the invention of agriculture to the present. Twice as long as the Great Pyramid of Giza has stood. Four hundred human generations. How? Or more to the point, why? Full story here: http://www.discover.com/issues/nov-05/cover/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joswin Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Ten Thousand Years.... Guess it dont run on a couple of Duracells then ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smis101 Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 WOW is all I have to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boffa Jones Veteran Posted October 24, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 24, 2005 That is amazing. I would ask what it runs on, but I should probably just read the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HipHopaholic Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 that is insane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Lyle Global Moderator Posted October 24, 2005 Global Moderator Share Posted October 24, 2005 my only thought is.. how would they know it will last 10,000 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boffa Jones Veteran Posted October 24, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 24, 2005 same way they predict anything with physics and whatnot. If you read through the whole thing it outlines more or less everything you would want to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iluvatar Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 lets hope it doesnt break down after 9,999 years that would ruin the party :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Well, it seems people have run out things to do so: "Hey bob, whatcha doing? Nothing much, bout you? Nothing... Hey lets build a clock that lasts 10,000 years? ok..." Egiptians built Pyramids, Mayas built huge temples, the city of atlantis is somewhere out there, yet now a days, we build clocks... Interesting read though, Wish I had their TIME and CASH. Victor Rambo 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazihouse Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Wow.... Did I just get hit by a baseball bat? :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webeagle12 Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 (edited) Ten Thousand Years....Guess it dont run on a couple of Duracells then ;) 586718966[/snapback] Energizer going and going and going :D http://www.tubespot.com/index.php?spot=ene...-champion&bw=hi Edited October 25, 2005 by webeagle12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
golazo Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 im sick of hearing plain bull**** like this that will never work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uniacidz Posted October 25, 2005 Share Posted October 25, 2005 Thats cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boffa Jones Veteran Posted October 25, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 25, 2005 im sick of hearing plain bull**** like this that will never work 586721506[/snapback] lol how will it never work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boffa Jones Veteran Posted October 26, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 26, 2005 If you read the whole article it seems like it is within the realm of his ability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 "The final clock, untended, will wind itself enough to keep its pendulum swinging and track time, but human visitors?perhaps by merely stepping on a platform?could also wind the display." plus "Still, no mechanical clock, however cleverly crafted, can keep perfect time for 10,000 years. So Hillis added solar synchronization: A sunbeam striking a precisely angled lens at noon triggers a reset by heating, expanding, and buckling a captive band of metal." Feasible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laz Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 If you read the whole article it seems like it is within the realm of his ability. 586724907[/snapback] Yeah, it'll be out in the middle of nowhere (Nevada desert), basically undisturbed (even with 5,000 year old bristle cone pine trees!). No gears to wear down, has backup time-reset measures, but the stainless steel is still questionable. Who knows, that may last 10K years, but couldn't Hillis use a material like titanium? (a billionaire ex-Microsoft employee is backing it, so cost should be of no concern ;)) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jingarelho Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 the question is, will we ( human race ) still be here 10000 years from now? By the way that things are going i dont think we'll last that long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomoko Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 the question is, will we ( human race ) still be here 10000 years from now? LOL, yeah right. We'll be lucky to make it another hundred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boffa Jones Veteran Posted October 26, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 26, 2005 Yeah, it'll be out in the middle of nowhere (Nevada desert), basically undisturbed (even with 5,000 year old bristle cone pine trees!). No gears to wear down, has backup time-reset measures, but the stainless steel is still questionable. Who knows, that may last 10K years, but couldn't Hillis use a material like titanium? (a billionaire ex-Microsoft employee is backing it, so cost should be of no concern ;)) 586724944[/snapback] lol yeah it seems messed up... It woudl be cool if they actually did it and civilization died and in like 2000 years the remnants built back up and found the clock. I think that would be amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuarterSwede Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 Did they take into the account the theory that time is slowing down? Well, if it keeps resynching based on different factors then I suppose it can be quite accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy@5$ Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 :woot: Wow, this is brilliant. If the Final, giant clock ever gets built in my lifetime, i will definately try my best to get out to the middle of nowhere and visit it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman2000 Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 I wonder how much it costs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mouldy Punk Posted October 26, 2005 Share Posted October 26, 2005 It won't last that long. They'll accidently blow it up in WW3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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