Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists February 16th 2023
Posted: 16th February 2023
Feb. 16, 2023
CLIMATE CHANGE
Did climate change help cause the Bronze Age to collapse?More than 3,200 years ago, a flourishing and interconnected network of mighty empires that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea, stretching from Italy to Afghanistan, underwent a near-total and sudden collapse in a matter of decades. Why? Read more.
NUCLEAR RISK
Psychological reflections on the tragic dynamics of warWill Russia really use nuclear weapons in Ukraine? Putin’s invasion has parallels with other acts of wartime aggression, suggesting that an “escalation of the fighting may make that choice highly likely,” says historian and psychoanalyst, Charles B. Strozier. Read more.
BIOSECURITY
Private-sector research could pose a pandemic risk. Here’s what to do about it.Independently funded research on pathogens that could cause pandemics is not subject to the same policies as government funded research. But the risk doesn’t depend on where the money comes from, argues Dr. Gerald Epstein. Read more.
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IN THE NEWS
Claiming the Doomsday Clock as a universal toolBulletin Board Fellow Haneen Khalid discusses what it’s like to be in the room when the Doomsday Clock is set and what it means to her in this Inkstickopinion piece. Read more.
NUCLEAR RISK
How the ban treaty addresses the inherent injustices of nuclear weaponsAlexander Kmentt writes about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and how it addresses the legacy of nuclear weapons testing and use. Read more.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
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“[E]ven if the Ukraine war never goes nuclear, any ultimate Russian victory would add to the sense that nuclear weapons are increasingly useful elements of state policy, for both offense and defense.”
? Jon B. Wolfsthal, Bulletin Science and Security Board Member, ”Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons at our behest. Here???s what we owe them,” The Washington Post
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