‘Doomsday Clock’ Ticks Close to Midnight

Time is ticking. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, founded in 1945 by those developing the atomic bomb, has moved the minute hand on its Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to catastrophe—at 11:57 p.m. The reason: their concern over rising sea levels. The clock was developed to alert the public about nuclear proliferation, with midnight representing epic disaster. But it is now used to signify a range of potential disasters. The last time it was moved, to 11:55 p.m., was in 2012. It hasn’t been as high as 11:57 p.m. since 1984, a time of escalated tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union.