WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 24, 2023 –The Doomsday Clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, due largely but not exclusively to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation. The new Clock time was also influenced by continuing threats posed by the climate crisis and the breakdown of global norms and institutions needed […]
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Posted inUS
At doom’s doorstep: It is 100 seconds to midnight
Editor’s note: Founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock two years later, using the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero) to convey threats to […]
Posted inWorld
2021 Doomsday Clock: This is Your COVID-19 Wake-Up Call — It Is 100 Seconds to Midnight
WASHINGTON, D.C. January 27, 2021 – The COVID-19 pandemic will end up killing well over two million people around the globe. The mishandling of this grave global health crisis is a “wake-up call” that governments, institutions, and a misled public remain unprepared to handle the even greater threats posed by nuclear war and climate change. Given this […]
Posted inSci/Tech
More Relevant Than Ever, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Turns 75
CHICAGO, IL. December 3, 2020 – A week from today, one of the most influential publications in the world, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, will mark its 75th anniversary. Thriving as never before and expanding into a range of multi-media platforms, the Bulletin remains true to its mission: 75 years of bringing attention to evidence-based journalism and actionable […]
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Doomsday Clock Changed: It Is Now 100 Seconds From Midnight – Twin Threats of Nuclear War, Climate Change Seen as Worsening
WASHINGTON, D.C. January 23, 2020 – The iconic Doomsday Clock symbolizing the gravest perils facing humankind is now closer to midnight than at any point since its creation in 1947. To underscore the need for action, the time on the Doomsday Clock is now being expressed in seconds, rather than minutes: Today, the Bulletin of […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Joe Cirincione: A new, hopeful moment for US nuclear policy
April 22, 2019 – Underneath the daily, depressing headlines, five converging trends offer hope, for the first time in more than a decade, for dramatic positive change in US nuclear policy. The first trend is the growing recognition that current US nuclear security strategies have failed to make America safer. The policies pursued by President […]
Posted inRegional
Report: Oroville Dam Quakes in February Related to Spillway Discharge
Dec. 18, 2018 – A closer look at small earthquakes that took place at the Oroville Dam in California’s Sierra Nevada foothills in February 2017—near the time when the dam’s spillway failed—suggest that the seismic activity was related to reservoir discharge that opened and closed fractures in the rock below the spillway. It seems likely […]
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: It Is Now 2 Minutes To Midnight
WASHINGTON, D.C. January 25, 2018 – Citing growing nuclear risks and unchecked climate dangers, the iconic Doomsday Clock is now 30 seconds closer to midnight, the closest to the symbolic point of annihilation that the Clock has been since 1953 at the height of the Cold War. The decision announced today to move the Doomsday […]
Posted inUS
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Advances Doomsday Clock to Two and a Half Minutes to Midnight
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2017 – It is now two and a half minutes to midnight. For the first time in the 70-year history of the Doomsday Clock, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board has moved the hands of the iconic clock 30 seconds closer to midnight. In another first, the Board […]