An Extraordinary Clock Is Being Built in Texas

Jeff Bezos ponied up the land for the 10K-year clock
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 22, 2018 9:10 AM CST

The clock has been in the works for three decades—essentially a blink of the eye in the grand scheme of things. That's because the timepiece, dreamed up by Danny Hillis in 1989, per CNBC, is designed to run for 10,000 years without any human intervention. Hillis' vision was for the clock to tick once a year, for its hand to advance every 100 years, and for the cuckoo to emerge every 1,000. And it's on its way to becoming a reality, with Jeff Bezos on Tuesday sharing a video of the construction currently underway inside a remote Texas mountain located in a desert. A post by Bezos, who has been on board with the project for the last five years or so, calls it "a special Clock, designed to be a symbol, an icon for long-term thinking."

As for a completion date, Bezos just vaguely says the clock won't be finished until "many years into the future." Those who want to visit it once it's done can email a blank message to clockinterest@10000yearclock.net, which will put you on the "Clock Interest" list. It may not be a journey for the casual daytripper, though. Bezos writes that it's a multiple-hour drive from the nearest airport, and "the foot trail to the Clock is rugged, rising almost 2,000 feet above the valley floor." The BBC reports the land where the clock is being built is owned by Bezos, and notes that it'll be powered by the Earth's thermal cycles. Another famous name on board: Brian Eno, who has created a mechanical melody generator that will generate a unique chime sequence for each day of the 10,000-year period. (More clock stories.)

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