Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January 22, 2024
Posted: 22nd January 2024
SPECIAL TOPICS
TOMORROW: The 2024 Doomsday Clock announcement
Right now, the Clock is the closest it has ever been at 90 seconds to midnight. What time will it be this year? Join experts from our Science and Security Board along with science educator Bill Nye on January 23rd at 10 am EST to find out. Learn more.
IVANA NIKOLIĆ HUGHES, XANTHE HALL, IRA HELFAND, MAYS SMITHWICK
Nuclear deterrence is the existential threat, not the nuclear ban treaty
In response to a Bulletin article that criticized the nuclear ban treaty, a group of activists argue that a process to abolish nuclear weapons is vital to world safety. From scholarly analyses to known close calls, they argue, the message is clear: The world has avoided nuclear war only through luck. Read more.
ROBERT SOCOLOW
Destiny science for the Anthropocene
Robert Socolow, a co-winner of the 2023 John Scott Award, the oldest science prize in the United States, explains his approach to climate science in the Anthropocene era—an approach he calls “destiny science.” Read more.
The Bulletin has reset the Doomsday Clock 25 times since its debut in 1947, most recently in 2023 when we moved it from 100 to 90 seconds to midnight.
Here are answers to some of the most frequent questions we get about the Clock.
MATT FIELD
Did China keep the COVID virus sequence secret for weeks?
“In outbreak response, speed is critical as authorities seek to quickly determine the cause of a disease and prevent it from spreading. A new report is now raising fresh questions about China’s early response to COVID-19,” writes the Bulletin’s biosecurity editor. Read more.
SPECIAL TOPICS
Congratulations to the Bulletin’s 2023 Rieser Award recipient
The Bulletin is delighted to announce Emily Strasser as the 2023 Leonard M. Rieser award recipient for her August 2023 piece, “My grandfather helped build the bomb. ‘Oppenheimer’ sanitized its impacts.” The honorable mention goes to Louis Reitmann and Sneha Nair for their essay “Queering nuclear weapons: How LGBTQ+ inclusion strengthens security and reshapes disarmament.”
Read more.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Those who believe they can succeed are usually the ones who do. The stories of what human beings have achieved by applying stubborn optimism as an input in the face of seemingly impossible challenges never ceases to amaze me.”
—Christiana Figueres, climate change leader and was the head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2010 – 2016, “Why a mindset of stubborn optimism about the climate crisis is needed, now more than ever,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
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