Are we on the brink of total human annihilation?
Eh, we might be. Today at 3.30pm the Doomsday Clock is expected to be moved closer to midnight.
The Doomsday Clock symbolises the current threat of global annihilation. Scientists adjust it according to world events that represent a danger to Earth and humanity, such as nuclear war, climate change and advances in biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
The clock is currently running at three minutes to midnight where 00.00 symbolises the end of humanity.
Happy Thursday!
(1953)
The countdown was set 70 years ago by a group of experts working on a project to design and build the first atomic bomb and wanted something tangible to measure the global threat.
The Telegraph reports that Atomic Scientists are likely to move it forward today by one minute, making it the closest it has ever been to the apocalypse since 1953 when the US took the decision include in its nuclear arsenal with the hydrogen bomb.
Scientists dropped the hint last week when they said:
“Tensions between the United States and Russia that remain at levels reminiscent of the Cold War, the danger posed by climate change, and nuclear proliferation concerns – including the recent North Korean nuclear test – are the main factors influencing the decision about any adjustment that may be made to the Doomsday Clock.”
The clock was originally set to seven minutes to midnight. In 1991 we reached our safest point when it was put back to 17 minutes to midnight as the Cold War ended and the treaty to reduce the number of nuclear weapons by US and Russia was signed.
The event will be streamed live this afternoon, watch it live here.
