Skeptics snickered it would never be built. But in January, the Long Now Foundation will unveil its millennium clock, the brainchild of Danny Hillis, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Rings on the face bear markings for the lunar and solar cycles as well as the year; they rotate around a stationary hand indicating Big Time. A reminder of our, uhh, long-term responsibilities, the largely analog clock is meant to tick for 10,000 years. Though its longevity will be ensured by human guardians rather than technology, the engineering still impresses: The 22-pound pendulum bob made of tungsten, one of the densest metals, should swing for millennia - barring a direct nuclear hit.
ELECTRIC WORD
Millennium Timepiece
Mutant Marshlands
The Defender
(B)rush Hour
