Stephen Hawking unveils the most morbid, amazing $1.8m clock you'll ever see

We'll warn you in advance, this is only for those who dig the weird, all things Stephen Hawking or clock-making in general. This £1 million ($1.83 million) timepiece took seven years to completely construct, and the initiative was led by inventor John Taylor who designed it in tribute to John Harrison (only the world's greatest clockmaker, it's said). 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. Thanks for the reminder, Dr. Grim.

[Via Switched]

[hipauliee @ Sep 21st 2008 1:18AM]

I don't care who you are, that is freakin' legit.

[Blackstar @ Sep 21st 2008 3:31AM]

No matter what time it is, it always says half past the grasshopper.

[A.C.E.R. @ Sep 21st 2008 3:35AM]

Gadget of the year for sure. That thing is fucking brilliant.

[Vanillacide @ Sep 21st 2008 5:08AM]

I want one!

[Mofoo @ Sep 21st 2008 9:36AM]

2legit2quit?

[rickjamess @ Sep 21st 2008 10:02AM]

I just want to know when the apple fanbois are going to come out and say that only apple could've designed this...

[Ellianth @ Sep 21st 2008 12:11PM]

and no one thought it would be a good idea to record a short video and speed it up so we could see the time being eaten?

[Sora @ Sep 21st 2008 3:14PM]

Only Apple could have designed this.

[Decoy @ Sep 21st 2008 3:54PM]

It will reveal the location of the ark of the covenant.

[jesusss @ Sep 21st 2008 4:21PM]

@Sora

Hi i'm a clock... and I'm an iCorpus Clock.

[WhosBadd @ Sep 24th 2008 3:18PM]

The funny thing about the post is it says $1.8 million = 1 million Euros, but in reality, 1 Euro is equal to $1.4459 as of right now. 1 Euro has NEVER equaled $1.80, ever. Please get your conversions right bc $350,000 is a lot of money to be wrong about. Otherwise, nice gadget.

[jason @ Sep 21st 2008 9:02PM]

That's British pounds not euros...

[Flashpoint @ Sep 21st 2008 1:18AM]

I think the nanosuit would do wonders for this guy. In fact, if he's so smart, he should quit talking about Black Holes and design a nano suit.

with a mask...so he can suck the drool from his face and pump it through a hose out of his shoe where noone will see it.

[Alex @ Sep 21st 2008 1:23AM]

I agree. They have prosthetic arms that people can control with their brains' electric impulses. Stephen Hawking should get on that.

THROW SOME PROSTHETICS ON THAT BI'.

[Hunter Hastings @ Sep 21st 2008 1:29AM]

He's a physicist, not an engineer/inventor.

[Alex @ Sep 21st 2008 2:12AM]

Actually

[A.C.E.R. @ Sep 21st 2008 3:37AM]

Automatic lowrank for being Flashpoint. Next?

[Plothole @ Sep 21st 2008 5:31AM]

Unlike their fictional counterparts, real scientists generally excel only in the field they actually specialize in.

[giuliop @ Sep 21st 2008 6:33AM]

Talking about black holes, didn't Engadget notice that the super-safe Large Hadron Collider has broken down? So much for taking all the possibilities into account. Only fools can believe that.

[Alex @ Sep 21st 2008 3:46PM]

I reckon that if he had put all his work into Human Biology instead of Physics, he could have thought out a cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS, common cold... And yeah, probably his own disabilities, too.

This guy deserves knighthood.

[Chris Anderson @ Sep 21st 2008 1:18AM]

that's pretty metal....i think Devin Townsend would be proud.

[EmoChicksAreHot.....Seriously @ Sep 21st 2008 2:41AM]

Heck man.Flava Flav would totally want this.

Don't see how he'd manage this around his neck but he'd find a way.....he'd find a way.

[sip @ Sep 21st 2008 2:58AM]

Yeah, the grasshopper is brutal. it looks like a dragon!

[eggothewaffle @ Sep 21st 2008 1:19AM]

In before "I wonder if that monitor is multi-touch."

[Monte Zuma @ Sep 21st 2008 2:46AM]

But he has no use of his limbs....

[BigD145 @ Sep 21st 2008 2:49PM]

...and yet he can still use a computer.

[Plothole @ Sep 21st 2008 6:35PM]

@BigD145

Hawking's computer uses a special sensor that tracks the blinking of his eyes.

[Montusama @ Sep 21st 2008 1:24AM]

well....at least its different....

[dt770 @ Sep 21st 2008 1:26AM]

i wanna see this thing in action

[lolec @ Sep 21st 2008 1:42AM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHO1JTNPPOU&eurl=http://blog.makezine.com/2.html

there ya go.

[Wii60 @ Sep 21st 2008 2:04AM]

Holy crap, the comment fairy is granting our wishes!

I want 7 billion dollars! Or the apple trolls to leave...

[Joseph @ Sep 21st 2008 2:50AM]

Warning! You can't unsee it.

[MBN @ Sep 21st 2008 10:56AM]

Lolsec, thanks for the link. The poorly written article doesn't begin to do the clock justice, as the video illustrates. Amazing!

[Zephyr @ Sep 21st 2008 1:25AM]

Question. How do you tell the time on that er... thing?

[Hunter Hastings @ Sep 21st 2008 1:30AM]

Magic.

[Chris @ Sep 21st 2008 1:49AM]

I don't even think thats the point of this.

[Brandon @ Sep 21st 2008 2:36AM]

Stephen Hawking designed it specifically so that he would be the only one who could tell time on it.

Duh.

[Wwhat @ Sep 21st 2008 3:06AM]

Holes with blue light behind them in the face turn around and show the time, but only once every 5 minutes are accurate it seems.

[sinjinn @ Sep 21st 2008 9:13AM]

its accurate to the second.

[Troels C @ Sep 22nd 2008 5:28AM]

Stephen Hawkins doesn't care what time is. He knows its just an illusion.

[ryan @ Sep 21st 2008 1:29AM]

umm..what?

[sinjinn @ Sep 21st 2008 9:26AM]

thats what she said

[Pat @ Sep 21st 2008 1:30AM]

all I can think is WTF

[)law( @ Sep 21st 2008 1:33AM]

He should team up with Tokyo flash to make a version that is wearable

[gn02256677 @ Sep 21st 2008 1:37AM]

Great deal! in for 5!

[Rickshaw @ Sep 21st 2008 1:38AM]

My obese great aunt called me with this article, as she was at the unveiling, and it inspired her to cease her crack-cocaine intake. apparently the grasshopper, along with general theme of death, finally drove home to her how precious her limited days are, and she decidedly proclaimed that the only way to break her energized, muscle-deteriorating trance was to see a morbid alarm clock.

[Billy Fiul @ Sep 21st 2008 2:24AM]

You know what I think? I think you made that whole thing up just to garner attention. You whore.

[A.C.E.R. @ Sep 21st 2008 3:42AM]

If she's obese she obviously doesn't have much of a habit.

[Bh2o @ Sep 21st 2008 1:44AM]

What an absolutely disrespectful and rude article!!!

The author, obviously uneducated, uncultured, and an uncouth brat!

Engadget requires some supervision as to its child contributors.

[mvp @ Sep 21st 2008 1:45AM]

vid please...?