AP Photo
Engineer Stewart Huxley views The Corpus Clock, a new installation at Corpus Christi College at the University of Cambridge unveiled today by Stephen Hawking. It's nearly four feet in diameter.

YouTube link: The Corpus Clock & Chronophage. Dr John Taylor discusses his invention. Fascinating.

'Strangest clock on Earth': £1m timepiece with no hands or numbers is unveiled by Stephen Hawking

They call it the time eater. With every snap of its fearsome jaws, sting of the tail and release of the claws, it devours another second.

Today an extraordinary new type of clock was unveiled at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge by Professor Stephen Hawking.

This gold-encrusted monster - part grasshopper and part locust - advancing around the golden disc to measure the passage of time cost over £1million to make and seven years to build.

Unlike conventional clocks, the Corpus Clock does not use hands or digital numbers.

Instead it uses a series of 60 slits cut into the face, each six degrees apart, which light up to show the time.

The seconds are counted down by each step of the mechanical insect who crawls around the disc edged like a lizard's spine.

Its movement triggers blue flashing lights which dart across the clock-face, running in concentric circles to mark passing seconds before pausing at the correct hour and minute...

"Another quirky feature is the eerie sound of a chain dropping into a wooden coffin hidden behind the clock on the hour, which is intended to be a reminder of human mortality. "

There's more video at the Guardian story: Beware the time-eater: Cambridge University's monstrous new clock