Talk:Doomsday Clock

100 seconds

It is not 1 and two thirds of a minute.

The unit of seconds is made on purpose.

We are in the new category, measured in seconds, not minutes.

"Humanity is 20 seconds closer to the apocalypse, thanks to climate change, nuclear arms, and information warfare."

Climate change will trigger draughts / famines / food shortage / social instability / political pressure... That can lead to civil war, conventional war or nuclear war. And this gentleman in 1949 wrote a book about 1984: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughtcrime Thoughcrime, fake news, information warfare...

Stefek99 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 09:34, 3 March 2020 (UTC)

People were no longer scared of minutes, which is why they switched to seconds. Next year they may as well switch to milliseconds given to what Russia has been doing. Eventually the "scientists" will get down nanoseconds and then picoseconds when nothing continues to happen. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.127.235.79 (talk) 23:09, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

When is the position announced?

Is the position of the clock only announced at New Year, these days? Earlier the timing was clearly more fluid. A generic "New Year" mode would explain of course, why the pandemic was not referred to - in early Jamuary '20 it was still not plain how difficult and global it would become.

The clock has been moved forward several times since 2015, to positions never reached before, not even at the height of the Cold War. I figure that if the committee met now, they might place the clock at one minute to midnight - given several reasons: the Ukraine war and the risks of WMD escalation, the climate challenge, North Korea, the risks of new pandemics, etc. 188.150.64.57 (talk) 03:38, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

Not changing it after two rounds of nuke threats by Russian officials makes the idea of the clock a joke now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.231.40.125 (talk) 16:54, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

The article currently states that the position is "assessed in January of each year"; later on, it states that the Science and Security Board meets twice a year. The announcements appear to usually come out in the latter half of January. Fabrickator (talk) 03:08, 4 May 2022 (UTC)

Commentaries

I offer the following selection of articles generally commenting on the Doomsday Clock, with the thought that some might be appropriate to include in the article:

• explanations
  • How to read the Doomsday Clock BBC (multiple columns/various dates)
    • The lost nuclear bombs that no one can find (Zaria Gorvett, 8/4/2022)
    • The revealing junk of abandoned Soviet nuclear bases (Chris Baraniuk, 5/11/2022)
    • How to evaluate the risk of nuclear war (Seth Baum, 3/10/2022)
  • Panic Time Columbia Journalism Review (Spring 2020)
  • What Even Is The Doomsday Clock? New Republic (1/25/2018)
  • Eeek! Doomsday Clock 2022 Revealed Clive Maxfield (1/20/2022)
  • What the Doomsday Clock is really counting down to Vox (1/21/2022)
• elimination
  • The Doomsday Clock: why there’s no point worrying about Armageddon The Guardian (1/26/2015)
  • The Doomsday Clock has been ticking for 70 years. It’s time to let it die. Grist (1/30/2021)
  • It's Time to Nuke the Doomsday Clock Gizmodo (1/20/2022)
• disparaging
  • Why the Doomsday Clock really moved Alexandra Petri (1/10/2012)
  • Extremely Stupid Doomsday Talk Gwynne Dyer (2/5/2017)
  • The Doomsday Clock Is Stupid Paste (1/25/2018)
  • Why the Doomsday Clock is an idiotic indicator the world's media should ignore National Post (1/25/2018)
  • The ‘Doomsday Clock’ is, of course, ridiculous American Enterprise Institute (1/22/2015)
• other
  • Doomsday Clock: What's It All Mean? The Comics Journal (3/4/2020)

Fabrickator (talk) 23:03, 27 March 2022 (UTC), Fabrickator (talk) 03:08, 4 May 2022 (UTC), Fabrickator (talk) 01:09, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

What to add if the clock goes further to midnight

From looking at The Bulletin website, I've written a summary.

"Russia invades Ukraine, increases nuclear tensions, and attacks the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, threatening Europe. North Korea test-launches ballistic missiles, possibly prepares for a nuclear test, and Iran continues its nuclear weapons program. The switch to renewable energy slows as climate change intensifies. Disinformation increases, AI technology progresses, surveillance increases, and COVID-19 lingers."

I've summarized this from these articles:

• The 2022 nuclear year in review: A global nuclear order in shambles
• Consider the climate crisis: The best of the Bulletin’s 2022 coverage
• Disruptive technologies in 2022

🍁🏳️‍🌈 DinoSoupCanada 🏳️‍🌈 🍁 (talk) 00:20, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

And now another round of the Israel-Palestine conflict has led to a war that looks like it's going to last for some time, already the most intense war involving Israel for at least forty years - plus there could be more coming in the wider region...I fully expect them to move the minute hand yet a bit closer to midnight in three months from now. 188.150.64.57 (talk) 18:05, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

They didn't move it at all - that was a major surprise, considering what has been happening over the past eight months. 188.150.64.57 (talk) 18:16, 23 January 2024 (UTC)

How long is a second worth in this context?

A month? A year? --116.240.236.234 (talk) 12:28, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

I think you have raised a good point. Time on the clock is metaphorical and does not denote actual time. The articles Doomsday Clock and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists did not make this clear, so I clarified this in both articles.—Anita5192 (talk) 15:57, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

Thank you. 116.240.236.234 (talk) 14:22, 27 January 2024 (UTC)