TIME WILL TELL
CONSTRUCTION has begun on one of the world's biggest clocks - a 500ft beast in the mountains that will only tick once a year, and will hold time for the next 10,000 years.
Building a clock of this scale has cost American investor and entrepreneur Jeff Bezos $42 million.
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Although the clock is also being built inside a mountain that Bezos owns in West Texas, the idea was proposed by computer scientist and inventor Danny Hillis in 1995.
Danny envisioned a clock that ticked once a year, where the century hand advances once every 100 years, and the cuckoo sounds on the millenium.
His vision was, and still is, to build a clock that will keep time for the next 10,000 years.
After decades of conceptualising, the final design has been completed and the process of creating the clock parts has begun.
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Once completed, the mechanical clock tower, designed to be powered by the Earth's thermal cycles will stand at an impressive 500 feet tall.
It has been engineered to mark time with astronomic and calendric displays, and has a chime generator that will create over 3.5 million unique bell chime sequences.
The clock is supposed to be an icon for the age of modern civilisation, of long-term thinking, and intends to involve future generations in the process.
Engineers have carved five room-sized anniversary chambers, for one year, 10 year, 100 year, 1000 year and 10,000 year anniversaries.
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They are intending on building the animation for the clock's 10 year anniversary, but they have decided to leave the rest for future engineers.
The website states that they have provided a mechanical interface into the chambers of the clock to provide future builders with the power to do so.
In 1995, Danny explained: "I cannot imagine the future, but I care about it.
"I know I am a part of a story that starts long before I can remember and continues long beyond when anyone will remember me.
"I sense that I am alive at a time of important change, and I feel a responsibility to make sure that the change comes out well.
"I plant my acorns knowing that I will never live to harvest the oaks.
"I have hope for the future."
The clock has been designed to measure out a future of civilisation that is exactly equal to what has come before it.
This assumes that our civilisation is in the middle of humankind's journey, what the creator's of the clock have deemed to be "an implicit statement of optimism".
In 2011, Hillis was asked how he had been able to justify his work on the clock instead of focusing on his biotech startup that was supposed to aid cancer research.
He said: "I think this is the most important thing I can work on.
"More than cancer. Over the long run, I think this will make more difference to more people."
Critics have been less certain however.
Twitter user Rao Zameer said: "Maybe he could use that 42 million to install air conditioners in Amazon warehouses instead so his workers don't faint."
Alexis Fahhz retorted: "So this is what rich people do when they get bored".
While others poked fun at the fact that there's no way for Bezos to know whether the clock will outlast civilisation or not.
Reaching the clock is no easy feat - the nearest airport is several hours away by car, and the foot trail that follows is a rugged trek with an incline of around 2,000 feet above the valley floor.
The construction workers are currently entering using a series of tunnels of chambers that they have created within the mountain - and they expect that the first visitors will enter in the same way.
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