On Wednesday morning, the Internet converged on a story that left many observers baffled and enraged: Texas police arrested Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old Muslim student, for bringing a homemade clock to his high school, on the grounds that it constituted a “hoax bomb.”
The incident sparked renewed discussion about Islamophobia in the U.S. Expressions of support for Mohamed poured in from engineers, as well as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and President Barack Obama, both of whom offered to meet with the enterprising young student.
But all of this ignores the elephant in the room: How many other clocks out there might be bombs?
1) Big Ben
Actually, “Big Ben” is the name of the giant bell inside this clock, not the clock itself. What other secrets is this clock hiding?
Could this be the biggest and oldest bomb?#bigBen#IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/5GCsVIvOXX
— Abdul Hadee (@abdulhadee101) September 16, 2015
2) Cuckoo clock
This clock hasn’t exploded and killed anyone just yet—but that doesn’t mean we can trust it, even for a split second.
https://twitter.com/AnnettMcDavid/status/644118582591287296
3) Sundial
Just an innocent timepiece of yore? More like an ancient bomb.
1 to 12 in ancient Greek:
— The Classics Library (@StephenJenkin) January 22, 2014
Α ,Β, Γ, Δ, Ε, ς, Ζ, Η, Θ, Ι, ΙΑ, ΙΒ
So what's the time acc to this sundial in Ephesus…? pic.twitter.com/YEu3wroMID
4) Alarm clock
Sure, it didn’t detonate when it went off this morning. This morning.
I just found the exact digital electric alarm clock I used to get up for school in the 80s. Did you have one? pic.twitter.com/7Per20A4bE
— I❤️80s𝕏 (@IL0VEthe80s) September 16, 2015
5) Pebble Watch
Honestly, we’re not even sure if a smartwatch counts as a clock. What we do know is that each one is a potentially deadly wearable bomb.
https://twitter.com/gocupofcoffee/status/642627068052807680
Photo via nathanmac87/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)