Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
The Corpus Clock resides at Corpus Christi College (Cambridge University). It was officially unveiled in 2008 by physicist Stephen Hawking, and has since been featured in films and won the title of Time's Best Inventions.
The clock is not always accurate, the pendulum sometimes sticks or even stops, the LED lights that represent the non-existent hands and numbers tend to lag and then hurry to catch up, the locust occasionally “blinks” as it devours time in a manner that is intentionally terrifying.
The grasshopper sits atop a 4.9 ft. gold-plated, stainless steel face. Absent of numbers, the hours, minutes and seconds are demonstrated by blue LED lights which are revealed by opening slits in three concentric rings. Interpreting time as a work of public art, not necessarily a precise instrument, the Chronophage is a low-friction mechanism that converts pendulum motion into rotational motion. It is homage to John Harrison, the 18th century clockmaker who invented the mechanism and can be viewed by anyone walking down the street in Cambridge.
#cambridge #grasshopper #tellingtime #clock #travelengland #coolstuff
The Corpus Clock resides at Corpus Christi College (Cambridge University). It was officially unveiled in 2008 by physicist Stephen Hawking, and has since been featured in films and won the title of Time's Best Inventions.
The clock is not always accurate, the pendulum sometimes sticks or even stops, the LED lights that represent the non-existent hands and numbers tend to lag and then hurry to catch up, the locust occasionally “blinks” as it devours time in a manner that is intentionally terrifying.
The grasshopper sits atop a 4.9 ft. gold-plated, stainless steel face. Absent of numbers, the hours, minutes and seconds are demonstrated by blue LED lights which are revealed by opening slits in three concentric rings. Interpreting time as a work of public art, not necessarily a precise instrument, the Chronophage is a low-friction mechanism that converts pendulum motion into rotational motion. It is homage to John Harrison, the 18th century clockmaker who invented the mechanism and can be viewed by anyone walking down the street in Cambridge.
#cambridge #grasshopper #tellingtime #clock #travelengland #coolstuff
