Make:

• Digimech clock
• Kosmoscope will abstractly inform you of an earthquake
• Kinetic ring sculpture keeps you on edge
• The New York City Waterfalls
• Add your own images to other people's photos with the Image Fulgurator
• Uber Ultraman

So.. Why exactly do the toucans need to peck the pendulum to keep it moving? I thought the whole point of a pendulum was that it could sustain it's own movement.

Posted by: ad_astra on April 23, 2008 at 12:05 PM

Well, in any mechanical clock the pendulum doesn't sustain its own movement - no pendulum can sustain its own movement outside of a completely frictionless system. In a clock, the escapement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escapement) provides energy to keep the pendulum moving. The pendulum just regulates the speed of the escapement. If you read the making of page, though, it turns out the toucans don't actually do anything; he originally wanted them to, but now they're just for show.

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