Corpus Clock is cool and strangely pessimistic

Nothing like being reminded of the fleeting nature of time every single day. That's precisely what the students entering the Corpus Christi College's library will have to face from now on.

The Corpus Clock cost $1.8 million to make and features an escape wheel that is moved around by a grasshopper called a chronophage. It's totally unconventional and has no hands for seconds, minutes or hours. Instead, it has a wheel with openings that reveal blue LEDs to indicate the time.

The grasshopper perched on top blinks and "eats" the minutes. It's really pretty cool looking and was introduced by Stephen Hawking this past Friday. Funny thing is, the clock will occasionally stop, slow down, speed up and go backwards.

[via Crave at CNET]