Frost
Well-Known Fanatic
New York?s iconic Doomsday Clock, which was created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) and supposedly represents humankind?s tick-tock progression towards absolute destruction, is to be adjusted for the first time in almost two years today.
While not providing a concrete indication that Man is teetering on the brink of catastrophe, the clock was made just after the Second World War ? in light of the carnage caused when atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Initially set at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight meant to signify ?the end? for us all, the clock has been altered some 18 times since 1947 and has sat on five minutes to midnight since 2007?s failure to solve issues connected to the world?s stockpile of nuclear weapons.
The clock?s time is periodically moved forward or backward to reflect the state of humanity depending on significant and influential world events ? and today (January 14 at 10:00 EST / 15:00 GMT) will be the first time the moving of the minute hand is shown live via an online Web feed.
Although BAS has not yet revealed whether the clock will wind forward or back, a spokesman offered that influencing factors ?include international negotiations on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, expansion of civilian nuclear power, the possibilities of nuclear terrorism, and climate change.?
The closest the Doomsday Clock has ever come to reaching midnight was in 1953, when it was moved to two-minutes during the Cold War nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Read more: http://www.thetechherald.com/article.ph ... z0caSTWwbk
While not providing a concrete indication that Man is teetering on the brink of catastrophe, the clock was made just after the Second World War ? in light of the carnage caused when atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Initially set at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight meant to signify ?the end? for us all, the clock has been altered some 18 times since 1947 and has sat on five minutes to midnight since 2007?s failure to solve issues connected to the world?s stockpile of nuclear weapons.
The clock?s time is periodically moved forward or backward to reflect the state of humanity depending on significant and influential world events ? and today (January 14 at 10:00 EST / 15:00 GMT) will be the first time the moving of the minute hand is shown live via an online Web feed.
Although BAS has not yet revealed whether the clock will wind forward or back, a spokesman offered that influencing factors ?include international negotiations on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, expansion of civilian nuclear power, the possibilities of nuclear terrorism, and climate change.?
The closest the Doomsday Clock has ever come to reaching midnight was in 1953, when it was moved to two-minutes during the Cold War nuclear standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Read more: http://www.thetechherald.com/article.ph ... z0caSTWwbk
