Whats the latest news about the doomsday clock?
In 1947 during the U.S.–U.S.S.R. Cold War, the clock was started at seven minutes to midnight, and subsequently advanced and rewound per the state of the world and nuclear war prospects. Setting the clock is relatively arbitrary, and decided by the directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists reflecting global affairs. The clock has not always been set and reset as quickly as events occur; the closest nuclear war threat, the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, reached crisis, climax, and resolution before it could be set to reflect that possible doomsday. The most recent officially-announced setting — five minutes to midnight — was on 17 January 2007. Reflecting international events dangerous to mankind, the clock hands have been set eighteen times, since its initial start at seven minutes to midnight in 1947. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
The world is edging closer toward nuclear holocaust and environmental catastrophe, a prominent international group of scientists warned today, moving their symbolic Doomsday Clock ahead two minutes. “It is now five minutes to midnight,” said Kennette Benedict, executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. “This change reflects the global failures to solve the problems posed by nuclear weapons and by climate change.” In a joint news conference in London and Washington, D.C., the organization warned in a statement that the world stands “at the brink of a second nuclear age.” The symbolism of the move is significant because the organization, which includes more than a dozen Nobel laureates, has moved the clock only 18 times since it was set to seven minutes to midnight in 1947. The clock has been closer to midnight, two minutes away after the Eisenhower administration tested a nuclear bomb in 1953. But it is also a long way from its most optimistic setting, at 17 minutes to
