SYSK Selects: What's the 10,000 Year Clock?

# Stuff You Should Know Episode Summary

Josh and Chuck dive deep into the fascinating Long Now Foundation and their ambitious 10,000 Year Clock project, an ingenious mechanical timepiece designed to tick away for ten millennia with minimal human intervention. The clock combines ancient technology principles like pendulums and mechanical gears with clever modern engineering solutions, including ceramic bearings, temperature-driven energy systems, and a solar synchronizer that keeps it perpetually accurate. Built inside a mountain in West Texas on Jeff Bezos' property, this massive 200-foot clock represents humanity's attempt to foster long-term thinking and shift our perspective on time itself, all while answering the fundamental question: how do you build something that will still work when civilization might have collapsed?