Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Posted: 30th October 2025

October 30, 2025

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took his daughter to the launch of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in November 2022. (Korean Central News Agency)

How North Korea outsmarts US intelligence agencies—and what they should do to adapt

“American analysts focus on observable indicators and static assumptions, while North Korea manipulates visual evidence and creates ambiguity to gain time,” writes Lauren Cho. This has led to a concerning pattern in North Korea-US relations. Read more.

The climate consequences of the US-Russia global realignment

The PONARS Task Force on Russia in a Changing Climate, nine experts in fields ranging from political science to geoscience, write that “a geopolitical rapprochement between two of the world’s largest carbon emitters will have significant consequences for the global effort to stabilize the climate—both for better and for worse.” This Bulletin magazine article is available to all readers for a limited time.

Video: How Big Tech is reviving colonialism

Allison Stanger, Middlebury College professor and author of the forthcoming book, Who Elected Big Tech?, explains why citizens should be concerned about tech CEOs’ ability to influence government policy. Watch here.

Upcoming event

UPCOMING EVENT

Experts React: Netflix’s ‘A House of Dynamite‘

A nuclear missile is headed towards the United States in A House of Dynamite, Netflix’s new movie from director Kathryn Bigelow. How accurately does the movie depict the initial reactions of a known launch? What is America’s capacity to defend against a direct nuclear strike? Join the Bulletin to hear expert answers on these questions and on how the movie can spark more conversation about arms control and deterrence.

This virtual discussion will take place on Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 11:30 A.M. Central / 12:30 P.M. Eastern. Register to attend here.

IN THE NEWS

Los Angeles Times Op-Ed: The threat of nuclear war never went away

“The only real way to protect this country—and the world—from nuclear war is through fearless diplomacy,” writes Jerry Brown, executive chair of the Bulletin’s Governing Board, and Alexandra Bell, Bulletin president and CEO, for the Los Angeles Times. Read more.

In Chicago media, Bulletin Security Board Chairman Daniel Holz and Special Advisor Kennette Benedict each did an interview with Chicago’s Fox 32 and Bulletin President and CEO Alexandra Bell spoke to the Chicago Sun Times.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Halloween advice: Prepare for the zombie apocalypse

With Halloween around the corner, here’s a look back at a 2023 article by Erik English and Thomas Gaulkin. Thinking about the zombie apocalypse can also mean thinking about your real community’s emergency preparedness. Read more.

Recent articles

• A Bulletin resource guide to viewing ‘A House of Dynamite’
• What we should be talking about after watching Bigelow’s ‘A House of Dynamite’ nuclear thriller
  
• A conversation with Kathryn Bigelow, director of ‘A House of Dynamite,’ and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim
  
• Sébastien Philippe on winning the MacArthur ‘genius’ grant, nuclear war and academic freedom
• Washington’s neglect of South Korea’s security concerns is a proliferation problem

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I think that the fact that the Caribbean is so warm relative to normal has played a big role here. It makes you wonder if this is going to become a new normal going forward when we get storms like this.”

— Matt Lanza, digital meteorologist, “Hurricane Melissa Has Meteorologists Terrified,” Wired

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