This years "Doomsday Clock" announcement to be streamed live Tuesday Jan 26 at 1:30pm EST

[bananas]

A lot has happened in the past year - both positive and negative. It will be interesting to see if they move the clock.

http://thebulletin.org/press-release/doomsday-clock-announcement-set-january-26th-washington-dc9061

"DOOMSDAY CLOCK" ANNOUNCEMENT SET FOR JANUARY 26TH IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

Recent Global Tensions and Climate Change Developments to be Weighed

WASHINGTON, D.C. – NEWS ADVISORY – The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will host a live international news conference at 1:30 p.m. EST/1830 GMT on January 26, 2016 to announce whether the minute hand of the historic “Doomsday Clock” will be adjusted. The decision is made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board in conjunction with the Board of Sponsors, which includes 16 Nobel Laureates.

Tensions between the United States and Russia that remain at levels reminiscent of the Cold War, the danger posed by climate change, and nuclear proliferation concerns, including the recent North Korean nuclear test, are the main factors influencing the decision about any adjustment that may be made to the Doomsday Clock. In January 2015, the Doomsday Clock’s minute hand advanced two minutes, moving from five to three minutes before midnight, the closest it has been to catastrophe since the early days of above-ground hydrogen bomb testing.

News event speakers will include:

· Rachel Bronson, executive director and publisher, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists;

· Lawrence Krauss, chair, Bulletin Board of Sponsors, Foundation Professor, School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics departments, and Director, Origins Project, Arizona State University;

· Thomas R. Pickering, member, Bulletin Science and Security Board, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Jordan;

· Sharon Squassoni, member, Bulletin Science and Security Board, senior fellow and director, Proliferation Prevention Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC; and

· Sivan Kartha, member, Bulletin Science and Security Board, senior scientist and climate change expert, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), and co-leader of the SEI research theme “Reducing Climate Risk.”

TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON: You can attend the Doomsday Clock news event on January 26, 2016, 1:30 p.m. EST/1830 GMT at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C., in the Zenger Room. Attendance will be limited to credentialed members of the news media. For security reasons, all attendees must RSVP in advance by contacting: Patrick Mitchell, [phone] and [e-mail]; or Alex Frank, [phone] and [e-mail].

CAN’T PARTICIPATE IN PERSON?: Journalists unable to attend the live news conference can view a live steaming webcast of the event at http://clock.thebulletin.org/2016 . No questions can be taken over the one-way feed.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Patrick Mitchell, [phone], or [e-mail]; and Alex Frank, [phone] or [e-mail].


ABOUT THE BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS

Founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists subsequently created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 using the imagery of apocalypse (midnight) and the contemporary idiom of nuclear explosion (countdown to zero), to convey threats to humanity and the planet.The decision to move the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock is made by the Bulletin's Board of Directors in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 16 Nobel Laureates. The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies in the life sciences.

On the homepage:

"Few things are more important in the days in which we live than the search for those truths to which the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is dedicated."

-- Albert Einstein, Founding co-chair of the Board of Sponsors

[longship]

1. Anything to publicize the mission of the Bulletin is fine with me.

The doomsday clock is a brilliant and iconic focus.

The clock has been as close as two minutes to midnight in 1953-1960 during the hydrogen bomb era to 17 minutes to midnight from 1991-1995 during the fall of the Soviet bloc.

It is now three minutes to midnight. What time will it be after this year's evaluation?

Here is its history.