We are now 90 seconds to our doom
theverge.com
We are now 90 seconds to our doom
1–10 of 35 posts
Re: We are now 90 seconds to our doom
#2> While it’s just a metaphor, the decision to move the clock’s hands closer to midnight reflects real-world risks.
To have studies and experts is not enough to communicate the world situation. This seems a very visual and pedagogic way of representing the risks that the world is facing. And to be fair, Russia has said numerous times that they are willing to use atomic bombs to fulfill the annexation of new territories, even if it were a bluff things can go wrong easily with this kind of rhetoric.
Re: We are now 90 seconds to our doom
#3I have no idea why anyone pays attention to this thing anymore. It's just become a cheap tool that journalists get a free pass to hit their budget.
Re: We are now 90 seconds to our doom
#4Clickbait title.
Factual headline: "This is the closest humanity has ever been to its own annihilation, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists."
Re: We are now 90 seconds to our doom
#5Problem is they have to keep moving it closer to midnight or they won't get any media attention. This leads to ridiculous outcomes like showing we are currently 5x closer to nuclear war than during the Cuban missile crisis when it was at 7 mins. Not sure why anybody takes this seriously.
Re: We are now 90 seconds to our doom
#6also happens to coincide with the amount of dreams i've been having of being wiped out by some huge bomb/nuke. very odd and in a way comforting because i find myself dying fully in my dreams, and thus giving me a bit more grappling power with the concept of death
Re: We are now 90 seconds to our doom
#7Minutes-to-midnight over time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock#Timeline
90's were nice.
Re: We are now 90 seconds to our doom
#8Problem is they have to keep moving it closer to midnight or they won't get any media attention. This leads to ridiculous outcomes like showing we are currently 5x closer to nuclear war than during the Cuban missile crisis when it was at 7 mins. Not sure why anybody takes this seriously.
Honestly it seems to me that Putin is mentally much closer to using nuclear weapons in his offensive war than Krushchev was in his perceived defense of Cuba in 1962.
The likelihood of an accidental nuclear launch was definitely higher then (e.g. by a submarine commander misinterpreting the situation). But I do think the likelihood of an intentional nuclear strike is substantially higher today. Some Russian decision makers seem to believe they could get away with a tactical strike. And then there's North Korea.
Re: We are now 90 seconds to our doom
#9Clickbait title. Factual headline: "This is the closest humanity has ever been to its own annihilation, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists."
the thing I never understood about nuclear annihilation is that doesn't it mainly focus on urban areas? Just curious are there enough nukes in the world to wipe every square km of the earth? When nations scale their arsenal what's their budgeting rationale, to hit all the major cities of an opponent?
Dropping a Tsar Bomba 17,080 km² https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/
* Surface of North America 24.71 million km²
* Surface of South America 17.84 million km²
* Surface of Africa 30.37 million km²
Re: We are now 90 seconds to our doom
#10Problem is they have to keep moving it closer to midnight or they won't get any media attention. This leads to ridiculous outcomes like showing we are currently 5x closer to nuclear war than during the Cuban missile crisis when it was at 7 mins. Not sure why anybody takes this seriously.
> Problem is they have to keep moving it closer to midnight or they won't get any media attention.
It was last moved in 2020 and doesn't appear to move every year. Moreover, it has been moved back in the past. I don't get the impression this is some cynical media ploy but instead an educational effort from some well meaning experts in their respective fields trying to raise awareness and provoke action towards remedying various existential threats, including nuclear war, but also climate change and biological threats.