Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has invested $42 million (approximately ₹350 crore) in the creation of an extraordinary clock known as the 10,000-Year Clock, situated within a mountain in West Texas. The clock, designed to tick once annually and chime every millennium, was unveiled by Bezos through a time-lapse video shared on his X-handle, providing a glimpse into the project’s construction. The visionary behind this ambitious clock is entrepreneur and computer scientist Danny Hillis, who conceived the idea in 1986.
Soaring to an impressive height of 500 feet, the 10,000-Year Clock harnesses the Earth’s thermal cycles to power its intricate mechanical components. It incorporates a solar synchronizer, pendulum, and chime generator. Synchronized daily with the sun at noon, the clock meticulously tracks the year, century, and millennium. The chime generator boasts over 3.5 million distinct bell chime sequences, ensuring that each day resonates with a unique sound.
The clock is reported to have five room-sized chambers, each dedicated to marking specific milestones: 1-year, 10-year, 100-year, 1,000-year, and 10,000-year. These chambers serve as enclosed spaces for time-centric artifacts and messages envisioning the future of humanity. While the first chamber features a scaled model of the solar system, the subsequent chambers are intended for contributions from future generations.
Jeff Bezos’ motivation behind this project aligns with a perspective advocating prolonged contemplation and responsibility, consistent with Danny Hillis’ vision. However, crafting a clock designed to endure for 10,000 years presents significant engineering challenges, requiring precision, resilience, and adaptability to environmental conditions.
As of now, the completion date of the 10,000-Year Clock remains unknown, and the project is not open to the public. Located within the Sierra Diablo range of West Texas, concerns have been raised about the potential environmental impact on the surrounding landscape. Despite these apprehensions, Bezos remains steadfast in his belief that this grand timepiece will serve as a beacon, inspiring future generations to transcend temporal boundaries and contemplate the vastness of time.
