60 seconds further away from Doomsday
Source: Agencies |
January 16, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SCIENTISTS pushed back the hands on the symbolic Doomsday Clock by one minute citing hopeful developments in nuclear weapons and climate change.
The symbolic clock that shows how close mankind is to self-anihilation was moved back to six minutes before midnight from five minutes on Thursday.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which maintains the clock, attributed the move to efforts by world leaders to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals and collaborate on climate stabilization.
The group, which includes 19 Nobel laureates, said a key to the "new era of cooperation is a change in the US government's orientation toward international affairs brought about in part by the election of (President Barack) Obama."
When the clock was created in 1947, it was set at 7 minutes to midnight. It has been adjusted only 18 times before Thursday' move.
The last was in 2007, when the BAS moved it forward by two minutes citing North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions and a renewed US emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons.
The symbolic clock that shows how close mankind is to self-anihilation was moved back to six minutes before midnight from five minutes on Thursday.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which maintains the clock, attributed the move to efforts by world leaders to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals and collaborate on climate stabilization.
The group, which includes 19 Nobel laureates, said a key to the "new era of cooperation is a change in the US government's orientation toward international affairs brought about in part by the election of (President Barack) Obama."
When the clock was created in 1947, it was set at 7 minutes to midnight. It has been adjusted only 18 times before Thursday' move.
The last was in 2007, when the BAS moved it forward by two minutes citing North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions and a renewed US emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons.
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