10,000 Year Clock

Clock of the Long Now

Useful Information

Location:	Van Horn, Texas
Open:	not completed. [2011]
Fee:	not completed. [2011]
Classification:	Museum
Light:	electric?
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	applied minds, llc, the little Big Idea company, 1209 Grand Central Avenue, Glendale, CA 91201, Tel: +1-818-5451400, Fax: +1-818-2440204. E-mail:
Last update:	$Date: 2011/12/13 09:10:47 $

History


1989		begin of construction by Danny Hillis.

Geology

Description

The 10,000 Year Clock is close to being completed. The mechanical clock is located in a huge artificial cavern in a mountain in western Texas. It is built by Danny Hillis, who plans and works at the clock since 1989. Since about 10 years the project is funded by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.

The clock is called 10,000 Year Clock because it is intended to work and keep time for 10,000 years. It is an effort to make long-term thinking better understandable. For example, the century hand moves forwards once every hundred years. A chime generator will play a different sequence on its bells each day for 10,000 years. Beneath the shaft for the clock there are five so-called anniversary chambers carved into the rock. They will be filled after 1 year, 10 years, 100 years, 1,000 years, and 10,000 years. The first one is a kind of orrery, showing planets, moons and the interplanetary probes launched during the 20th century. The orrery is activated once a year by the clock. The content of the 10 year anniversary chamber is not clear yet, If you have an interesting idea, email it to contact . The planing for the 100, 1,000, and 10,000 year anniversary chambers will be left for future generations.

The clock will be open for everyone, but access is not easy. The location is very remote and there is a long trail to the clock, about 600m higher than the valley floor. If you are interested, to visit the clock, the official website tells to subscribe to a mailing list by emailing a blank message to contact . If you dont want to wait so long, The Long Now Foundation has a shop at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.