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The Latest Time on the Doomsday Clock and Why You Should Care

The world's most ominous alarm clock has been reset. How close are we now to global midnight?

ByStephen C. George
Credit: Bank Artist/Shutterstock

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For nearly 80 years, a global alarm clock has been ticking away. Its hands have been set and reset more than 25 times, sometimes backwards, but too often creeping forward to oblivion. How close is that clock to going off this year?

That’s the annual question posed by the keepers of the Doomsday Clock. It's not an actual clock, but it is an urgent warning to humanity — a metaphorical yet nevertheless ominous countdown to existential midnight, the end of the world as we know it.

The current time is ... (Credit: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

For 2025, the Bulletin elected to set the clock even closer to doom.

"The world has not made sufficient progress on existential risks threatening all of humanity," said Daniel Holz, chair of the Bulletin's science and security board, in a news conference announcing the new time on January ...

  • Stephen C. George

    Steve George is the Editorial Director of Discover Magazine, overseeing all print and digital content for the brand. He edits and writes for both the website and print magazine.

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