Core77

Here's an unusual design problem: how do you make a clock that only turns 30 times in 10,000 years? The Long Now Foundation, showing here at last weekend's Maker Faire, has addressed this challenge in a clever and rather beautiful way: given the weight and slowness of the clock they want to build, they're replacing ball bearings with a mesmerizing series of flexors that "pass" the clock mechanism along, rather than rolling. Lovely video, thoughtful treatment of a really abstract concept, and the website is worth a check too.