The Doomsday Clock is a University of Chicago project launched in 1947 by the creators of the first atomic bomb. Employees of the institution periodically publish a magazine, the cover of which depicts a clock, the hands of which show a few minutes until midnight.
The time remaining until 12 o'clock symbolizes the tension in international relations and the strengthening of their nuclear potential by countries. Midnight itself is a symbol of a catastrophe that will entail the partial or complete destruction of our civilization. Previously, scientists meant by it only a nuclear cataclysm, but today researchers recognize that global climate change can also lead to a hypothetical disaster.
Not only representatives of the University of Chicago, but also many invited experts, among whom should be at least 18 Nobel laureates, take part in the meeting on the next transfer of the hands of the Doomsday Clock.
History of the Doomsday Clock
When the clock was set in 1947, it showed 23:53.
In 1949, the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb, and the clock was set to 23:57.
In 1953, the USA and the USSR tested thermonuclear bombs, and the Doomsday Clock began to show 23:58. This is the closest position of the clock hands at the moment to midnight - to the Day of Judgment.
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In 1960, the world community realized the real threat of nuclear war, and the hands of the clock were turned back for the first time. They started showing 23:53 again.
In 1963, the States and the Soviets signed an agreement banning the testing of atomic weapons, and the time on the clock was again set back 5 minutes, that is, the hands showed then 23:48.
If we take into account the initial position of the hands, the time on the Doomsday Clock was set only 22 times. In 1991, the Cold War ended and the USSR collapsed, America and Russia signed a strategic arms reduction treaty. Thanks to this, the arrows were moved to 23:43, which became their farthest position from midnight.
Just the other day, a new transfer of arrows took place. From 23:57 they were transferred to 23:57:30, and this is the first time in the entire history of the project, when scientists added or subtracted not a whole minute, but only thirty seconds. Either the experts believe that the situation has not worsened so much, or they are now trying to "save" time, so that it does not happen that it is already midnight on their watches, and no Apocalypse has happened.
Donald Trump Will Ruin Humanity?
The pessimism of the people of science is caused by the newly elected US President Donald Trump.
Upon taking office, the head of the "citadel of democracy" immediately announced that the United States will soon increase its nuclear potential. In addition, Trump refuses to recognize global warming, arguing that this is all a hoax in order to distract the world's attention from more pressing problems.
Thus, the experts concluded that the current president of the Stars and Stripes country will not help and assist the world community in the fight against climate change.
And finally, Trump's statements that the United States does not need immigrants, and that all work in America should go to the Americans, were perceived by liberal forces as a manifestation of xenophobia and even nationalism, which supposedly should have a negative impact on relations between different states.
In short, the researchers suggest that it is the reign of Donald Trump that could lead to the outbreak of a third world war and the mutual destruction of nuclear powers.
At the same time, the defeat of Hillary Clinton in the elections, who publicly declared her intention to fight Russia with all the forces available in the United States, with her actual calls for a third world war, for some reason are not regarded by scientists as a positive factor for humanity. In their opinion, it was just pre-election hysteria, but the statements and the first decrees of the already elected president are much more serious steps. Let us note by the way that among Trump's statements there is this: the government of Barack Obama wanted to unleash a third world war and in every possible way strove for this …