8 ms·
Beverly Clock
- laurent123456 9y agoIt says the clock has never been manually wound, but can it be manually wound? It's weird they keep repeating this in the article (and all the linked articles) because it seems it's just not how it works, a bit like a solar powered watch.
- jstanley 9y agoSure it can, just raise the weight by hand (or, if I've misunderstood it, do whatever other operation is caused by the change in pressure). It probably doesn't have a winder, but that doesn't mean it can't be wound.
- mjlee 9y agoOr just give the clock a warm, friendly hug.
- laurent123456 9y agoYes that would make sense. It seems it's the article that's not making much sense: > While the clock has not been wound [...] it has stopped on a number of occasions. > when the ambient temperature has not fluctuated sufficiently to absorb the requisite amount of energy, the clock will not function ...so it's been wound.
- edf13 9y agoIt reminds me of Triggers Broom... he's had the same broom for 20 years... http://foolsandhorses.weebly.com/triggers-broom.html http://foolsandhorses.weebly.com/triggers-broom.html
- dithering 9y agoShip of Theseus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
- toomanybeersies 9y agoNo, after it was initially wound, it hasn't been wound by a person again. It has stopped, but it has restarted on its own without human intervention.
- GuiA 9y agoFor all we know, it never had to be initially wound.
- biot 9y agoThe very next sentence: “However, after environmental parameters readjust, the clock begins operating again.” This suggests a lack of manual intervention.
- mpetrovich 9y agoRelated: Atmos clock https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmos_clock https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmos_clock
- oldcynic 9y agoSee also Cox's Clock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cox's_timepiece https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cox's_timepiece I'm sure Wikipedia used to have a much better write up, and more info on other clocks of a similar type. It's a shame they started on deleting and merging so much of the historic and esoterica - they lost a lot of accuracy and good data in the process. Now the best write up and photo is at http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/POWER/oddclocks/oddclocks.htm http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/POWER/oddclocks/oddclocks...
- neotek 9y agoOff topic, but I have never understood Wikipedia's intense drive to rid itself of anything interesting or unusual or esoteric. It's text in a database, you're not running out of space, nor are you diminishing the quality of other articles!
- Amorymeltzer 9y agoIt's an encyclopedia; its content should be encyclopedic. A website that holds on to everything else would be something different. While that's also fine, it's a different project with a different goal.
- jamesrcole 9y agoI know citing definitions only gets you so far, but the first definition Google provides for encyclopedic is "comprehensive in terms of information."
- yoz-y 9y agoIf the content starts to touch topics which are too niche, there is a risk that no-one will be able to verify it and the information will become unreliable.
- Double_a_92 9y ago
- placebo 9y agoI wonder if a similar principle could have been used in the construction of the late Dr David Jones’s bicycle wheel: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4762778/How-riddle-bike-wheel-finally-solved.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4762778/How-r...
- PuffinBlue 9y agoThis was my exact thought. I guess all these attempts at perpetual motion machines are variations of heat engines at some level of operation. At the least this clock could take the title of longest running 'fake' perpetual motion machine.
- creeble 9y ago31 micro-watt-hours. Wow. Analog clocks don't have much to do, but I'm glad we still use them.
- ableal 9y agoThat got me curious about digital clock chips. A quick search netted me this: https://www.ablicinc.com/en/doc/datasheet/real_time_clock/S35390A_E.pdf https://www.ablicinc.com/en/doc/datasheet/real_time_clock/S3... They specify a typical current of 0.25 uA at 3V supply, that's 0.75 uW power. So an energy of 18 uWh over 24h. Same ballpark, but does not move gears (just talks on the "phone" ;-)
- sannee 9y agoThe STM32L0x1 series has just a bit more at 0.9 uW (stop mode + RTC), but it gets you a full microcontroller. I am unsure if we have enough of an energy budget to get us some display (e-ink likely) (and the MCU also needs some extra energy for the updates) though.
- zokier 9y agoI think for an apples to apples comparison you'd need to include also some display/indicator system too, which for electrical clock would account for significant portion of the total energy use.
- scottinseattle 9y agoMy question is after the singularity and ensuing nuclear holocaust, how will we know what time it is
- gopz 9y agoSo this is probably a dumb question...but is the clock at all accurate? It says it stops periodically when there isn't sufficient fluctuation in temperature so do they manually correct it after?
- tlarkworthy 9y agoTell the time, run forever, choose 1
- matt-attack 9y agoI don't see how the winding mechanism should impact its accuracy. Obviously, it it runs out of energy, it needs to be reset once working again. I'd think that goes without saying. However, the mechanism that makes the clock tick-tock once per second is, again, separate from the winding mechanism, and I don't see why you'd have to (as another poster commented), "choose 1".
- rch 9y agoThe article mentions that it has stopped a few times, which would affect accuracy. The Clock of the Long Now operates on similar principles (temperature difference), but separates timekeeping from the display mechanisms in part to maintain accuracy.
- logfromblammo 9y agoAnd also so that the power required for the display may be redirected to the more critical timekeeping function if necessary. If you only have enough power left to keep time for the next month or to power the display for the next day, you turn the display off and hope that more power is added to the system during that month.
- rch 9y agoYes exactly. The other reason is to build in the notion of human interaction.
- 9y ago
- xupybd 9y agoI'm surprised to see Dunedin pop up twice in one day one Hackernew. Maybe NZ is more influential than I thought.
- aaron695 9y agoIt should be noted it has to be constantly adjusted to keep correct time and has broken. "When correctly adjusted its accuracy is better than one minute per week." [1] [1] https://doi.org/10.1088/0143-0807/5/4/002 https://doi.org/10.1088/0143-0807/5/4/002