Ben Thompson
You don't need me to tell you that there's a lot of doom and gloom in the news lately.
Often times you can gauge how much bad stuff is going on in the world just by glancing at headlines.
But scientists have concocted a more precise way of measuring just how badly things are going.
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You may have heard of the Doomsday Clock.
It's essentially a giant clock which a group of atomic scientists use to estimate how close we are to nuclear annihilation.
A nice cheery subject for your Sunday, eh?
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Earlier this year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the clock's hand forward ten seconds, meaning it was now 'ninety seconds from midnight'.
Factors such as the war in Ukraine had contributed towards the Clock's hand being moved forward.
Explaining the decision, the Bulletin said: “This year, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moves the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward, largely (though not exclusively) because of the mounting dangers of the war in Ukraine.
"The Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight—the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been."
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The dial is intended to serve as a call to action for world governments.
However, it has many people intrigued about what happens when 'midnight' is reached on the Clock.
Well, fortunately that hasn't happened yet.
Why do I say fortunately?
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Because midnight on the Doomsday Clock means nuclear war, and that means mass extinction for humans.
In a statement, Rachel Bronson, the CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said: "When the clock is at midnight, that means there’s been some sort of nuclear exchange or catastrophic climate change that’s wiped out humanity.
"We never really want to get there and we won’t know it when we do."
Given how swift a nuclear apocalypse would be, there's very little chance that anybody would around to move the dial to midnight anyhow.
And even if somebody had managed to survive a full scale nuclear war, would that really be their first concern?
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Updating the remaining survivors that the end of the world has indeed occurred doesn't strike me as high on the priorities list.
Bronson added: "We are living in a time of unprecedented danger, and the Doomsday Clock time reflects that reality.
"It’s a decision our experts do not take lightly. The US government, its NATO allies and Ukraine have a multitude of channels for dialogue; we urge leaders to explore all of them to their fullest ability to turn back the Clock."
Let's hope world leaders heed her words.