Machine with Concrete - Arthur Ganson
Why Hacker News recommends it
Shared whenever gear reductions, exponential scaling or playful kinetic art come up.
What it is
Arthur Ganson's kinetic sculpture chains twelve 1:50 worm gear reductions so the final gear, embedded in concrete, would take over two trillion years to turn once.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2015 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Recommends kybernetikos · 2018-10 · on “An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s”
I think this one is quite interesting: [this video] A motor connected to a series of reduction gears, with the last part of the chain encased in concrete.
Recommends Doxin · 2025-07 · on “Different Clocks”
I think the artist put it as "and then the last gear turns so slowly it doesn't really matter, so I cast it in concrete." Assuming we're talking about Arthur Gansons "Machine with concrete"[0] of course. I quite like how a lot of his work seems to have a punchline to it. [0] [this video]
Cites dominicgs · 2015-07 · on “Fist-sized 11M-to-1 gearbox”
There is one by Arthur Ganson in the MIT museum[1]. It's part of a great exhibit of fun/quirky machines and there's an interesting video about it on youtube[2]. [1] [this video] [2] [LINK]
Cites erre · 2015-09 · on “The 1,000-Year GIF”
This reminds me of "Machine with Concrete", by Arthur Ganson: [this video] From the video description: Each worm/worm gear pair reduces the speed of the motor by 1/50th. Since there are 12 pairs of gears, the final speed reduction is calculated by (1/50)12. The implications are quite large. With the motor turning around 200 revolutions per minute, it will take well over two trillion years before the final gear makes but one turn. Given the truth of this situation, it is possible to do anything at all with the final gear, even embed it in concrete.
Cites rzzzt · 2019-02 · on “A 500-Year-Long Science Experiment”
Arthur Ganson's "Machine with Concrete" is an installation that has 1:50 gears put in sequence, to the power of 12; the last section is embedded in concrete: [this video] There's also the pitch drop experiment, which IMO rivals watching grass grow: [LINK]
Cites zimpenfish · 2020-07 · on “Making a Googol:1 Reduction with Lego Gears [video]”
[this video] "With the motor turning around 200 revolutions per minute, it will take well over two trillion years before the final gear makes but one turn."