Jeff Bezos, the Founder of Amazon has released a video of a giant 10,000-years clock which is being built inside a mountain in West Texas. The clock is 500 feet tall and is powered by the thermal cycles of Earth. Bezos tweeted about the clock recently and revealed the details. In a website for the clock, he said, “It’s a special Clock, designed to be a symbol, an icon for long-term thinking. Visiting the Clock will take a commitment. The nearest airport is several hours away by car, and the foot trail to the Clock is rugged, rising almost 2,000 feet above the valley floor.”
Installation has begun—500 ft tall, all mechanical, powered by day/night thermal cycles, synchronized at solar noon, a symbol for long-term thinking—the #10000YearClock is coming together thx to the genius of Danny Hillis, Zander Rose & the whole Clock team! Enjoy the video. pic.twitter.com/FYIyaUIbdJ
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) February 20, 2018
The century hand of the clock moves forward once in a 100 years and that’s when the cuckoo comes out on the millennium. According to the website, five room-sized anniversary chambers will be carved into the mountain. These will be for 1 year, 10 year, 100 year, 1000 year and 10,000 year anniversaries.
The website states, “The one-year anniversary chamber is a special orrery. In addition to the planets and the Earth’s moon, it includes the interplanetary probes launched during the 20th century. The Clock will activate and run the orrery once a year on a pre-determined date at solar noon. We aren’t planning to build the animations for the 100, 1,000, and 10,000-year anniversary chambers, but will instead leave those to future generations.” This project was initiated by American inventor Danny Hills in 1989. Bezos has worked with Danny on the project for the last six years. Bezos said, “Building a Clock inside a remote mountain is a big task. Construction is underway, and we’re making progress every day.”
CEO of Amazon has invested $42 million in the project and the design of the clock has made it durable enough to run for 10,000 years. Danny Hillis proposed the design of a 10,000-year clock in 1995 as a way of thinking about the future of humanity and the planet. This idea turned into the Clock that is being installed now. The project was lead by the Long Now Foundation. Hillis built an actual and working version of the proposed clock. The group has built many prototypes, however, the clock built by Bezo is the only clock to function on a full scale.
The team spent last few years on building the clock’s part and drilling the mountain to store the components inside. Bezos announced that the installation of the machinery on the 500-foot-tall mechanism has begun. Bezos also intends to use the hollow area of the mountain for a spaceport of his company, Blue Origin.
Can’t wait for the official unveiling of the working clock!