The Doomsday Clock is a design that warns the public about how close we are to destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making. It is a metaphor, a reminder of the perils we must address if we are to survive on the planet.
Each year, the Clock is set by the Bulletin‘s Science and Security Board, a group of internationally recognized experts on nuclear risk, climate change, disruptive technologies, and biosecurity.
Right now, the Clock is the closest it has ever been at 90 seconds to midnight.
What will they set the Clock at this year? Join us on January 23rd at 10 am ET to find out.
Bill Nye | Science educator
Nye is an American science educator, engineer, comedian, television presenter, inventor, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling author. In his role as the creator and host of the Emmy Award-winning beloved 90’s television series Bill Nye the Science Guy, he helped introduce viewers to science and engineering in an entertaining and accessible manner, fostering an understanding and appreciation for the science that makes our world work.
Rachel Bronson | Bulletin president and CEO
Bronson oversees the publishing programs, management of the Doomsday Clock, and a growing set of activities around nuclear risk, climate change, and disruptive technologies.
Daniel Holz | Bulletin Science and Security Board chair
Holz is a professor at the University of Chicago in the Departments of Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics, the Enrico Fermi Institute, and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics.
Herb Lin | Bulletin Science and Security Board member
Lin is a senior research scholar for cyber policy and security at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and Hank J. Holland Fellow in Cyber Policy and Security at the Hoover Institution, both at Stanford University.
Asha George | Bulletin Science and Security Board member
George is the executive director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense. She is a public health security professional whose research and programmatic emphasis has been practical, academic, and political.
Alexander Glaser | Bulletin Science and Security Board member
Glaser is an associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs and in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Glaser has been co-directing Princeton’s Program on Science and Global Security since 2016.
Ambuj Sagar | Bulletin Science and Security Board member
Sagar is the deputy director (strategy & planning) and the Vipula and Mahesh Chaturvedi Professor of Policy Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. He previously served as the founding head of the School of Public Policy at IIT Delhi.
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With Israel’s relentless genocide of Gaza, and the escalation ladder moving step by step. Israel’s has bombed many of its neighboring countries, and now Iran has retaliated and bombed a Mossad base in Erbil, and 8 American outposts in Iraq. This is quickly becoming a regional war, which will certainly spiral into a global conflict. Checking in to see any updates sooner than the 23rd…?
I do not believe that we are doomed. I believe peace will prevail. I see mainland USA dealing with internal turmoil and a wild election in 2024, but it is better off economically than mainland Europe. Europe is suffering from the worst youth unemployment, a decline in childbirth rates, and a worker shortage, with many people getting older and fewer replacing them in the workforce. Eastern Europe is in a very bad situation; many countries, like Poland, are trying what they can, but decades of inaction and bad policies have plagued them. The Ukraine war is important, but it takes a back seat in the number of casualties and total wars in 2024. Too many territorial wars have started this year and last over colonial borders, and we see this in South America and Africa as well. South America is dealing with a gang issue, riots, poor economy, and inaction, but Brazil is doing better overall. Central America isn't well off, but policy changes are happening, so there's a bright spot. However, many countries in Central America face a crippling economic and safety situation with that said border issue south of America. We see Africa consistently facing infighting, tribalism, and, even in 2024, oppression. Dictators are rising, and bright minds are being slaughtered for ego, greed, and land borders/sea access. North Africa will see the worst effects of water scarcity in this decade. South Africa's infrastructure is failing, and so is the economy with blackouts. India is not better off with a right-wing Modi spreading more dogma for Hindus, further dividing people. I see Pakistan struggling with infighting and government corruption. The Middle East is a mess with proxy wars and ego fights. Eastern Asia faces a migrant crisis, and I see the situation in Indonesia and Burma. China has been a key player in mediation and control. Japan and East Asia have the worst birth rate I have seen in my lifetime, and earthquakes make it no better, with many people tired of government policies that aren't helping workers. The same is happening in South Korea and Taiwan. Russia has been exposed in these years for not having the strongest military, but it still has many key influences in mercenary actions around the world. Chinese hackers and drugs will play a big role in the USA for the end of the 2020s. I think there's hope; I want to believe steady leaders will prevail. I hope people learn and do better, but history is a great example – either we learn, or we lose, and lose bad.