Jan 13th, 2017: Yearglass

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yearglass? What the hell is that? Like an hourglass, except it only gets turned once a year.

Budapest’s Timewheel (Idokerék in Hungarian) could be the world’s largest hourglass,
taking an entire year to drain completely.

Really tough to time your eggs.

Literally, a giant wheel designed to mark time, the public installation was built in 2004
to commemorate Hungary’s inclusion into the European Union. The giant wheel is slightly
concave, sloping towards the center choke point that marks the upper and lower grain
reservoirs. In the case of the Timewheel, the particles that fall to mark the passage of
time are tiny pieces of glass which trickle through the clock with the help of a computerized
system that keeps the timing perfect. Both the upper and lower reservoirs can be viewed
through large triangular panes of glass in the wheel.

Every December 31, a team of four people use thick steel cables to rotate the
Timewheel 180 degrees on its built-in rails, resetting the chronological monstrosity
for another year. Even with multiple helpers, the process takes up to 45 minutes to
complete the half-rotation.

The installation is located in a public park and visitors can come by and try to spin the
titanic granite wheel for themselves.

But I'll bet if you turn it you'll get your ass kicked.

Link

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Really tough to time your eggs.

Maybe better for century eggs?

[Clodfobble]

with the help of a computerized system that keeps the timing perfect.

My first thought was, "What a copout. For such a big undertaking, why not do the math and get it right?" But then I realized, oh, we kind of already did the math when we invented computers. And besides, if it takes 45 minutes to reset, it's never going to be exactly right anyway.

[Griff]

Is cool and will outlast the EU apparently.