Doomsday Clock
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- "Seven Minutes to Midnight" redirects here; for the episode of Heroes, see Seven Minutes to Midnight (Heroes).
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clockface maintained since 1947 by the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago. It uses the analogy of the human race being at a time that is a 'few minutes to midnight' where midnight represents destruction by nuclear war. The clock has appeared on the cover of each issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists since its introduction.
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[edit] Time changes
The clock was started at seven minutes to midnight during the Cold War in 1947, and has subsequently been moved forwards or backwards at intervals, depending on the state of the world and the prospects for nuclear war. Its setting is relatively arbitrary, set by the Board of Directors at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in response to global affairs. The setting of the clock has not always been fast enough to cope with the speed of global events, either; one of the closest periods to nuclear war, the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, reached its head and resolution in a number of weeks, and the clock either could not be changed or was not changed to reflect any of this at the time. Nevertheless, the changing of the clock usually does provoke attention, which is presumably the goal of the Bulletin Directors.
The clock was last changed in 2002 back to seven minutes to midnight, after recent deterioration in international relations. Each time nuclear conflict comes closer, it is moved forward. Conversely, the minute hand moves back as world events improve. It has been moved 17 times in response to international events since its initial start at seven minutes to midnight in 1947:
- 1949 - The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb. Clock changed to three minutes to midnight (four minutes closer to midnight).
- 1953 - The United States and the Soviet Union test thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another. Clock changed to two minutes to midnight (one minute closer, its closest approach to midnight to date).
- 1960 - In response to a perception of increased scientific cooperation and public understanding of the dangers of nuclear weapons, clock is changed to seven minutes to midnight (five minutes farther from midnight).
- 1963 - The United States and Soviet Union sign the Partial Test Ban Treaty, limiting atmospheric nuclear testing. Clock changed to twelve minutes to midnight (another five minutes farther).
- 1968 - France and China acquire and test nuclear weapons (1960 and 1964 respectively), wars rage on in the Middle East, Indian subcontinent, and Vietnam. Clock changed to seven minutes to midnight (five minutes closer to midnight).
- 1969 - The U.S. Senate ratifies the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Clock changed to ten minutes to midnight (three minutes farther from midnight).
- 1972 - The United States and the Soviet Union sign the SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Clock changed to twelve minutes to midnight (two minutes farther).
- 1974 - India tests a nuclear device (Smiling Buddha), SALT II talks stall. Clock changed to nine minutes to midnight (three minutes closer to midnight).
- 1980 - Further deadlock in US-USSR talks, increase in nationalist wars and terrorist actions. Clock changed to seven minutes to midnight (two minutes closer).
- 1981 - Arms race escalates, conflicts in Afghanistan, South Africa, and Poland add to world tension. Clock changed to four minutes to midnight (three minutes closer).
- 1984 - Further escalation of the arms race under the U.S. policies of Ronald Reagan. Clock changed to three minutes to midnight (one more minute closer).
- 1988 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union sign treaty to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear forces, relations improve. Clock changed to six minutes to midnight (three minutes farther from midnight).
- 1990 - Fall of the Berlin Wall, success of anti-communist movements in Eastern Europe, Cold War nearing an end. Clock changed to ten minutes to midnight (four minutes farther).
- 1991 - United States and Soviet Union sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. Clock changed to seventeen minutes to midnight (seven minutes farther, its greatest distance from midnight so far).
- 1995 - Global military spending continues at Cold War levels; concerns about post-Soviet nuclear proliferation of weapons and brainpower. Clock changed to fourteen minutes to midnight (three minutes closer to midnight).
- 1998 - Both India and Pakistan test nuclear weapons in a tit-for-tat show of aggression; the United States and Russia run into difficulties in further reducing stockpiles. Clock changed to nine minutes to midnight (five minutes closer).
- 2002 - Little progress on global nuclear disarmament; United States rejects a series of arms control treaties and announces its intentions to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; terrorists seek to acquire nuclear weapons. Clock changed to seven minutes to midnight (two minutes closer).
On October 11, 2006, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists released a statement[1] in response to North Korea's recent nuclear test:
The press release also outlined concerns with Russia, Pakistan, and Al Qaeda, and concluded by stating:“North Korea's recent underground nuclear test is part of a worrisome trend of increased nuclear proliferation. Before making a decision about moving the hands of the Clock, however, the Board of Directors is also watching to see how the international community responds to North Korea's actions.”
“While we continue to follow closely the actions surrounding North Korea's first nuclear test, we are mindful as well of the larger context of nuclear proliferation and disarmament. All these considerations continue to inform the Board's decisions about the state of global security.”
[edit] In popular culture
[edit] In fiction
- The Doomsday Clock is referenced in Piers Anthony's novel, Wielding A Red Sword, in which the mythical Incarnation of War can control the position of the hands up to midnight and therefore bring about World War 3.
- The clock illustrations used in the Watchmen graphic novel series is a reference to The Doomsday Clock. On page 18 of issue #1, a newspaper on Adrian Veidt's desk bears the headline "Nuclear Doomsday Clock Stands At Five To Midnight, Warn Experts".
- The Doomsday Clock was used on the game Empire Earth 2 on a mission of the United states Featuring a battle on the Bering Sea between US and USSR, The Soviet Union was provoking America to war by attacking Alaska, while US do all that he can to prevent the clock from getting to midnight
[edit] In music
- The Doomsday Clock is alluded to throughout 2 Minutes to Midnight, a single from Iron Maiden's album Powerslave.
- The song "Def. Con. One." by the band Pop Will Eat Itself: "Ten to doomsday, moving fast... Heads up! Mind that blast. No time to sleep, it's Def. Con. One. Can't get no sleep as the ticking ticks on."
- The song "Why Did I Fall For That" by the Who has the lines "Four minutes to midnight on a sunny day/Maybe if we smile the clock'll fade away/Maybe we can force the hands to just reverse/'Maybe' is a word, maybe 'maybe's' a curse... We simply believe that we'd remain intact/But history is asking why did you fall for that."
- The song "Easy/Lucky/Free" by Bright Eyes contains the lyrics, "I set my watch to the atomic clock. I hear the crowd count down 'til the bomb gets dropped. I always figured there'd be time enough; I never let it get me down."
- The Doomsday Clock is directly mentioned in the Ozzy Osbourne song "Thank God for the Bomb" on the album The Ultimate Sin. It is, however, cited inconsistent to the clocks purpose. "The face of the doomsday clock / Has launched a thousand wars / As we near the final hour / Time is the only foe we have."
- Australian Band Midnight Oil discuss the Doomsday Clock and the threat of nuclear war in their song "Minutes to Midnight" from the album Red Sails in the Sunset. The album cover depicted the disturbing scene of the city of Sydney after a fictional nuclear attack.
- "Midnight in a Perfect World" by DJ Shadow, featuring Gift of the Gab (from group Blackalicous), alludes to nuclear war and that we are "now approaching midnight", especially the full lyrical "Gab Mix" off the "Entroducing..." reissue from 2005.
- On the cover of American band Alive's album "11:59" (a very obvious reference to the doomsday clock), the Trinity test's rising fireball can be seen with the text: "It's later than we thought..." written at the bottom.
[edit] In television
- Gummi Bears Season 4 Episode 4 "A Knight to Remember" The ghost of a Gummi knight helps Cubbi destroy the mysterious Doomsday Clock.
- Glenn Beck has a large Doomsday Clock on the set of his CNN Headline News television show, and he occasionally adjusts the time based on the news of the day.
- The title Venture Brothers episode Twenty Years to Midnight is a reference to the Doomsday clock.
- The eighth episode of the series Heroes is named Seven Minutes to Midnight.
