The Chronophage

This next item left me speechless.

Every now and then, I'll come across a headline or story and react in utter amazement because the resonance with biblical prophecy and especially end times themes, ideas, and terminology is so obvious that it devies logic except to give us yet another reminder that He still sits on His throne and is in complete control.

Have you heard about the Chronophage? On second thought, have you seen it? An extraordinary new type of clock was unveiled at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge by Professor Stephen Hawking.

Hawking, celebrated as the author of A Brief History of Time, returned from the launch of the particle accelerator at CERN in Switzerland to unveil John Taylor's sinister vision of his subject.

Actually, this news is about 1 month old, but I only learned about it today by pure chance. "They call it the time eater. With every snap of its fearsome jaws, sting of the tail and release of the claws, it devours another second. This gold-encrusted monster - part grasshopper and part locust - advancing around the golden disc to measure the passage of time cost over $1 million to make and 7 years to build. Inventor John Taylor calls the new version of the escapement a 'Chronophage' which means 'time eater.'"


The work has involved 200 people, including engineers, sculptors, scientists, jewellers and calligraphers. Taylor regularly flew over in his own plane from his home on the Isle of Man to keep an eye as beady as his creature's on the work.

The article continues, "For all its apparent eccentricity, the clock is based on solidly traditional clockwork - unusual in these days of digital electronic clocks. It has taken 7 years' research and construction, incorporates 6 patented inventions, and is predicted to run for at least 250 years assuming the world lasts that long."

Engineer Stewart Huxley refuses to reveal the secret of its tricks, which include the pendulum occasionally apparently catching and stopping for a heartbeat, and then swinging faster to catch up.

The rippling gold-plated dial was made by exploding a thin sheet of stainless steel onto a mould underwater: none of the team actually saw it happen because the only place in the world which could make it was a secret military research institute in Holland.

To say that this invention is bizarre is a vast understatement. To say that it eerily (and blatantly?) uses prophetic themes and terminology (as highlighted above) is completely accurate.

I mean, seriously, what is the purpose of creating a machine like this let alone one that uses such strange imagery not to mention one that gives it's viewer a strong sense of impending doom? What's the point?

Surely, such brilliant minds and educated personalities could be spending their precious time on more important things and pressing issues of the day, no? And the price tag attached to this thing! What's up with that too!?!


The inventor added, "Instead of being hidden away inside the clock, the mechanism becomes external and enlarged, and is transformed into a Chronophage - a fearsome beast which drives the clock, literally eating away time. Conventional clocks with hands are boring. I wanted to make timekeeping interesting. I also wanted to depict that time is a destroyer- once a minute is gone you can't get it back. That's why my grasshopper is not a Disney character. He is a ferocious beast that over the seconds has his tongue lolling out, his jaws opening then on the 59th second he gulps down time."

Another quirky feature is the eerie sound of a chain dropping into a wooden coffin hidden behind the clock on the hour, which is intended to be a reminder of human mortality.

The clock does not use hands or digital numerals. By a complex feat of engineering, its movement triggers blue flashing lights that dart across the clockface. What appears to be lights flashing in sequence are actually controlled mechanically, using the same principle as a zoetrope, the old fashioned way to view a moving image through slits. The total wattage used by the clock is less than that of three 60 watt bulbs.

The timepiece is completely accurate only every 5 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.

The clock, which has been described by the college's librarian Dr Christopher de Hamel as "both hypnotically beautiful and deeply disturbing," has now been donated to the college where it will hang outside the new Taylor library named after the inventor.

Dr de Hamel: "I wanted it to be a monster, because time itself is a monster... It is horrendous, and horrible, and beautiful. It reminds me of the locusts from the Book of Revelation. It lashes its tongue, and flicks its eyes at you. It’s bonkers."

Well, that says it all doesn't it? Interesting to say the least.

RECOMMENDED READING:
Cambridge University's Monstrous New Clock (VIDEO)