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☆ Atomic Scientists Keep 'Doomsday Clock' as Close to Midnight as Ever
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

By Will DunhamWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Atomic scientists on Tuesday kept their "Doomsday Clock" set as close to midnight as ever before, citing Russia's actions on nuclear weapons amid its invasion of Ukraine, nuclear-armed Israel's Gaza war and worsening climate change as factors driving the risk of global catastrophe. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, as they did last year, set the clock at 90 seconds to midnight - the theoretical point of annihilation. Scientists set the clock based on "existential" risks to Earth and its people: nuclear threat, climate change, and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and new biotechnology. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by scientists including Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer. The clock was first unveiled during the Cold War tensions that followed World War Two.

Persons: Will Dunham WASHINGTON, Rachel Bronson, Bronson, Vladimir Putin's, Sergei Karaganov, Albert Einstein, J, Robert Oppenheimer, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Atomic Scientists, Reuters, Hamas Locations: Ukraine, Chicago, Russia, United States, Belarus, Russian, Europe, Israel, Palestinian, Gaza

CNN —The Doomsday Clock that has been ticking for 77 years is no ordinary clock — it attempts to gauge how close humanity is to destroying the world. Last year the Bulletin set the clock at 90 seconds to midnight mainly due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation. The clock isn’t designed to definitively measure existential threats, but rather to spark conversations about difficult scientific topics such as climate change, according to the Bulletin. Originally, the organization was conceived to measure nuclear threats, but in 2007 the Bulletin made the decision to include climate change in its calculations. “When the clock is at midnight, that means there’s been some sort of nuclear exchange or catastrophic climate change that’s wiped out humanity,” she said.

Persons: Rachel Bronson, ” Bronson, Michael E, Mann, Eryn MacDonald, ”, Bronson, “, Boris Johnson, George H.W, you’re Organizations: CNN, Atomic Scientists, Midnight, Manhattan Project, Security, Sponsors, University of Pennsylvania, Union of, ’ Global Security, Bulletin Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Glasgow, UK, Soviet Union, Iran, Paris

A science-oriented advocacy group on Tuesday said the Earth remains at its closest ever position to doomsday, citing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the climate change crisis and advances in artificial intelligence. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists kept its "Doomsday Clock" at 90 seconds to midnight – the same setting as in 2023. Midnight on the clock represents a theoretical point of global catastrophe and destruction. The clock dates back to 1947 and was typically “set” at minutes to midnight, though the group has switched to counting down the seconds in recent years. The clock has been as far away from midnight as 17 minutes in 1991 after the end of the Cold War.

Persons: Rachel Bronson, “, ” Bronson, ” Organizations: Atomic Scientists Locations: Ukraine, Gaza, Israel

☆ A.I. or Nuclear Weapons: Can You Tell These Quotes Apart?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Ian Prasad Philbrick | Tom Wright-Piersanti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

executives have likened their product to nuclear energy. creators’ calls for national and international regulation — much as scientists called for guardrails governing nuclear arms in the 1950s. The creators of this technology are telling us we need to pay attention.”Not every expert thinks the comparison fits. and nuclear energy, has upsides and risks. or nuclear technology.

Persons: “, ’, ”, Rachel Bronson, Julian Togelius Organizations: Atomic Scientists

☆ The Doomsday Clock is now set at 90 seconds to midnight — the closest we've ever been to the apocalypse
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Doomsday Clock is now 10 seconds closer to midnight. Scientists moved the clock's second hand to 90 seconds to midnight on January 24. "90 seconds to midnight is the closest the Clock has ever been set to midnight, and it's a decision our experts do not take lightly," Bronson added. In 2018, the Doomsday Clock was set at two minutes to midnight after President Donald Trump's continuous rhetoric about boosting the US' stash of nuclear weapons. And in 2020, the clock was moved to 100 seconds to midnight — which at the time was the closest to the apocalypse it had been in history.

☆ Kremlin expresses alarm over 'Doomsday Clock', blames U.S. and NATO
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 25 (Reuters) - The Kremlin expressed alarm on Wednesday that the "Doomsday Clock" had edged closer to midnight than ever, even though the scientists who moved the symbolic dial cited Moscow's own "thinly veiled threats" to use nuclear weapons. Midnight on this clock marks the theoretical point of annihilation. The clock's hands are moved closer to or further away from midnight based on scientists' reading of existential threats at a particular time. He said there was no prospect of any detente, based on "the line that was chosen by NATO under U.S. leadership". On Tuesday, the Bulletin's president cited repeated warnings by President Vladimir Putin and other Russian politicians that Moscow might be prepared to use nuclear weapons as a key factor in the decision to advance the dial of the "Doomsday Clock".

The hands of the Doomsday Clock are closer to midnight than ever before, with humanity facing a time of “unprecedented danger” that has increased the likelihood of a human-caused apocalypse, a group of scientists announced Tuesday. “We are living in a time of unprecedented danger, and the Doomsday Clock time reflects that reality,” Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said in a statement, adding that “it’s a decision our experts do not take lightly.”The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight on Tuesday. When it was unveiled in 1947, the clock was set at 7 minutes to midnight, with “midnight” signifying human-caused apocalypse. In 2020, the Bulletin set the Doomsday Clock at 100 seconds to midnight, the first time it had moved within the two-minute mark. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 to examine global security issues related to science and technology.

☆ 'Doomsday Clock' moves to 90 seconds to midnight as nuclear threat rises
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Katharine Jackson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The clock's hands are moved closer to or further away from midnight based on scientists' reading of existential threats at a particular time. The new time reflects a world in which Russia's invasion of Ukraine has revived fears of nuclear war. "Russia's thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict by accident, intention or miscalculation is a terrible risk. The clock had been set to 100 seconds to midnight since 2020, which was already the closest it had ever come to midnight. At 17 minutes to midnight, the clock was furthest from "doomsday" in 1991, as the Cold War ended and the United States and Soviet Union signed a treaty that substantially reduced both countries' nuclear weapons arsenals.

☆ Putin's nuclear threats move Doomsday Clock closest ever to Armageddon, atomic scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The 2023 Doomsday Clock is displayed before a live-streamed event with members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on January 24, 2023 in Washington, DC. The group has been measuring real and existential threats to humankind, from climate change to the prospects of nuclear war, for more than 70 years. The renewed global threat of nuclear war was compounded by the ongoing Covid pandemic, experts noted. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by the late physicist and Nobel laureate Albert Einstein, as well as scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb. The clock's threats "focus on manmade threats: nuclear risk, climate change and new disruptive technologies, including bio technologies," said Bronson.

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