Amid the COVID-19 pandemic set to kill well over two million people around the globe, an international countdown of what leading science and security experts say represents a threat to human existence remains stuck at about a two-minute warning.
Scientists say the mishandling of the 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 and the lack of progress in 2020 in dealing with nuclear and climate perils, the Doomsday Clock remains as close to midnight as it has ever been – just 100 seconds to midnight.
The Doomsday Clock decision is made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Science and Security Board in consultation with the Bulletin's Board of Sponsors, which includes 13 Nobel Laureates. In January 2020, the Doomsday Clock moved to 100 seconds to midnight, closer to midnight than ever in its history.
In December 2020, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists marked its 75th anniversary. 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 humanity and the planet.
Over time, the Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and disruptive technologies in other domains.
"The pandemic serves as a historic wake-up call, a vivid illustration that national governments and the international organizations are unprepared to manage complex and dangerous challenges," says Dr. Rachel Bronson, president, and CEO, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Eight Republican presidential candidates took to the stage on Wednesday in Milwaukee for the first Republican primary debate of the 2024 election season.
The bodies of Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and some of his top lieutenants killed in a Russian jet crash on Wednesday were sent to a nearby facility for medical and forensic analysis, according to Russian media.
Political strategist Jonathan Harris breaks down the highlights from Wednesday's first Republican presidential primary debate and how Former President Donald Trump's absence affected the event.
A scowling Donald Trump posed for a mug shot Thursday as he surrendered inside a jail in Atlanta on charges that he illegally schemed to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, creating a historic and humbling visual underscoring the former president's escalating legal troubles.
Ramaswamy has crept up in recent polls, leading to his position next to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at center stage. He quickly took advantage of the spotlight, attacking the other candidates as "super PAC puppets" and drawing them into tit-for-tats that gave him more air time.
The former New York City mayor, charged as former President Donald Trump's chief co-conspirator in a plot to subvert the 2020 election, is charged with Trump and 17 other people under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
The 4-1 ruling Wednesday departs from the court's own decision earlier this year to strike down a similar law from 2021.
A private jet crashed over Russia on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, emergency officials said.
Children’s advocacy groups including Fairplay and Common Sense Media are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google, saying the tech giant serves personalized ads to kids on YouTube despite federal law prohibiting the practice.
A Tennessee judge agreed Wednesday to temporarily block a new rule advanced by state House Republicans that banned the public from holding signs during floor and committee proceedings.
