A £1m ($1.83 million) clock called the “time eater” has been unveiled at Cambridge University by Professor Stephen Hawking. Unlike conventional clocks, the Corpus Clock does not use hands or digital numbers.

This gold-encrusted timepiece took seven years to completely construct, and the initiative was led by inventor John Taylor who designed it in tribute to English clockmaker John Harrison who solved the problem of longitude in the 18th century.

The grasshopper or “chronophage”, meaning “time eater”, advances around the 4ft-wide face, each step marking a second. Its movement triggers blue flashing lights which travel across the face eventually stopping at the correct hour and minute. But the clock is only accurate once every five minutes - the rest of the time the lights are simply for decoration.

Oh, and every hour, on the hour, the sound of a “chain dropping into a wooden coffin” is played to really pound home the “time is a destroyer” concept.