Giant Freakin Robot

There’s just something charming about vintage science films. Maybe it’s the fluttering footage and the scratchy audio. Maybe it’s the monotone narration that always seems to be done by the same guy. Or maybe they just bring up happy memories of getting to watch films instead of doing actual work in class. Whatever the reason, this vintage short film about the first accurate atomic clock conjures up plenty of warm-fuzzy nostalgia, despite originating several decades before I was alive.

The short popped up on Boing Boing earlier this week, and was originally created by the U.K.’s National Physical Laboratory way back in the 1950s. I can practically hear the “beep” telling my teacher to move to the next slide…