Something About 90 Seconds

To play till doomsday.

2023 marks both the fiftieth anniversary of The House with a Clock in its Walls and the twenty-sixth anniversary of the Doomsday Clock. Not the Izard clock, but the symbolic representation of a man-made global catastrophe, according ot the members of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

We discussed the symbol years ago when it was just 5 minutes to midnight. Reuters reports earlier today the group set the clock closer to midnight than ever before: 90 seconds.

The new time reflects a world in which Russia's invasion of Ukraine has revived fears of nuclear war.

Threats of nuclear war, disease, and climate volatility have been exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, putting humanity at greater risk of annihilation.

The Doomsday Clock" created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to illustrate how close humanity has come to the end of the world, moved its "time" in 2023 to 90 seconds to midnight, 10 seconds closer than it has been for the past three years.

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.

A Chicago-based non-profit organization, the bulletin updates the clock's time annually based on information regarding catastrophic risks to the planet and humanity.

The organization's board of scientists and other experts in nuclear technology and climate science, including 13 Nobel Laureates, discuss world events and determine where to place the hands of the clock each year.