When you spring forward Sunday, be happy you don’t have to set the Great Gravity Clock
Daylight saving time begins Sunday and, along with it comes the debates on whether we should keep playing with time and what a pain it is to have to re-set all the analog clocks in our homes.
The Florida Legislature passed the Sunshine Protection bill in 2018 that asked Congress to let Florida stay bright an extra hour year round. But that didn’t happen, so we turned our clocks back in the fall, and now we have to spring forward again at 2 a.m. Sunday — whether we like it or not.
As for the clocks, it is admittedly easier now that many of our timepieces are computerized, and these automatically adjust to mankind’s pesky whims for messing with time.
Our smartphones, computers and Apple Watches are good to go and should read the correct time when you wake up with one hour less sleep on Sunday morning.
But as you go about adjusting your microwave, stove and car clocks before you go to bed Saturday night, just think about what a task it must be to adjust a real big clock.
Take the Great Gravity Clock at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale.
This eye-catching marvel stands 52 feet tall and is the biggest kinetic energy sculpture in Florida, according to Joseph Cytacki, vice president of programs, exhibits and life science at the museum.
The clock, he says, has been in the museum’s Grand Atrium since 1993 and is one of only four that exist in the world. (The other three are in St. Louis, Mexico and Japan.)
The clock was completely restored in 2017. And, unlike the Apple Watch, it requires resetting.
Not just twice a year, but every morning.
The museum shuts the clock off at closing time. Lynn Sage, an exhibits technician, manually and electronically restarts the clock every morning — including the time changes.
How the Gravity Clock works
Cytacki explains:
“Three rails sit below the clock’s face. Each rail holds minute balls — 10 minute balls and hour balls. Every minute, a ball moves around the face of the clock and is released onto the rails. Through gravity, the balls move along the tracks and mark the time.”
To tell the time you have to apply some math skills — hey, it is an educational museum, after all.
For example: If there are five balls on the bottom rail (representing the hour), four in the middle rail (10-minute rail), and three at the top (representing the minute rail), the time would be 5:43.
Miami Beach’s iconic clocks
In case you’re wondering, the distinctive South Beach Clock Tower on 10th and Ocean Drive’s Art Deco row, as well as the digital clock atop the sea green Bank of America building on Lincoln Road and Washington Avenue, are both programmed electronically, says Miami Beach spokeswoman Melissa Berthier.
So, nope, you shouldn’t expect to see someone moving the numbers ahead in the wee hours.
