The March of Time... And Death

Are you looking for a clock that serves as a visual reminder of your own mortality?  Do you want a timepiece that looks terrifying AND keeps accurate time?  Are you tired of the regular chimes on your work-a-day clock and want something more disturbing and morbid?

Stephen Hawking recently unveiled this $1.83 million dream (or nightmare) come true at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Apparently, the thing took seven years to build and is a tribute to John Harrison, allegedly the world's greatest clockmaker.

According to a post on geekology.com, "The bizarre Corpus Clock visually explains that it relies on grasshopper escapement to function, and to let you know that time can never be regained once lost, that beast on top actually gobbles down time every 60th second. Oh, and every hour, on the hour, the sound of a "chain dropping into a wooden coffin" is played to really pound home the "time is a destroyer" concept."

This photo doesn't do this piece of horror engineering justice, however.  Click HERE for a video of the clock in action, as well as an overview of how it works and the artistic concepts behind it.  Trust me, it's five minutes well spent.  (ADAM)