Unlike conventional timepieces, the extraordinary Chronophage unveiled by Stephen Hawking at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, does not use hands or digital numerals to show the time. They call it the time-eater. This unique timepiece measures the passage of time using new and decidedly sinister technology outside one of Britain’s most prestigious colleges.
The Chronophage relies on a mechanical monster – part demonic grasshopper, part locust – that rocks back and forth along a golden disc, edged like a lizard’s spine. By a complex feat of engineering, its movement triggers blue flashing lights that dart across the clock-face, letting students know if they are late for a lecture.
About two meters in diameter, the clock is made from discs of stainless steel and plated with 24-carat gold. With each slackening of the monster’s jaw, and release of its claws, another second is devoured. Each new hour is signaled by the rattle of a chain on an unseen coffin to remind passers-by of their mortality.
The ￡1 million invention is a tribute to John Harrison, the world’s greatest clockmaker, who solved the problem of longitude in the 18th century.
The Chronophage is completely precise only every five minutes. The rest of the time, the pendulum pauses then corrects itself as if by magic. The blue lights play optical illusions on the eye, whirring around the disc one second, then appearing to freeze the next. The effect is hypnotic.
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