Mint Quick Edit | Tick-tock: Are we one second closer to doom?
- Yes, says the Doomsday Clock, which was set up by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to warn humanity of the threat of extinction. It may be just a concept, but it has the power to concentrate minds.
Humanity should be alarmed to note that as far as threats to our existence are concerned, things have never been this bad. Or so the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists concluded after it assessed all risks and reset the so-called “Doomsday Clock" at 89 seconds to midnight (which represents our annihilation), one second closer to doom than last year.
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This is the closest we’ve come to that fate on this clock designed during the Cold War in the wake of a nuclear arms race to alert us to the possibility of extinction. Its time is an index of danger. In 1947, when it was first unveiled as a concept, it was set at 7 minutes to midnight. In 1991, after the Soviet Union collapsed, its reading was pushed back to 11.43, a whole 17 minutes away from doom, the least gloomy it has been.
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Now, in the time-setting board’s view, risks arise from climate change, the scary possibility of the Russia-Ukraine war going nuclear, West Asian tensions worsening and nuke controls weakening, apart from biological warfare, misinformation and the weaponization of artificial intelligence. The clock may be just construct, but it should not be dismissed. We may be closer to catastrophe than we think. This ought to focus our minds.
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