North America / Modern
The 10,000-year clock
The Long Now Foundation’s mechanical clock is designed to keep time for 10,000 years. The design makes the distant future a practical engineering problem.
A clock this ambitious must account for the slow changes in Earth’s rotation. Even the meaning of accurate time becomes part of the design.
A CLOSER LOOK
The clock’s design uses the Sun to correct its mechanical timekeeping. It has to reconcile a regular pendulum with an Earth whose rotation is not perfectly regular over long periods.
Its designers distinguish several forms of time internally, including time used for the display and for astronomical calculations. The project asks an unusually tangible question: what would you build differently if maintenance and understanding had to survive across generations?
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
Long Now FoundationThe 10,000-year clockHillis, Seaman, Allen and GiorginiTime in the 10,000-Year ClockOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.