Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists unveils interactive Dashboard

CHICAGO, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has unveiled a new interactive Dashboard illustrating the science that informs the time of the Bulletin’s iconic Doomsday Clock.
Founded in 1945 by University of Chicago scientists who had helped develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of the 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 Science and Security Board in consultation with the Governing Board and the Board of Sponsors, which includes 16 Nobel Laureates.

“We are inundated each year with questions about how we decide the time of the Clock,” said Rachel Bronson, executive director of the Bulletin. “We always post a very thorough explanation of the Science and Security Board’s decision, but the new Dashboard will give a terrific, detailed look at some of the actual data the Board takes into account."

The Doomsday Dashboard features interactive graphics. Care to know the number of nuclear weapons in the world in 1983? Just hover your mouse over the Global Nuclear Weapons graph. In companion graphs, you can see how many metric tons of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium each country has stored, and you can even see which countries have had security breaches with nuclear material, and the types of incidents that have occurred.

In 2007, the Bulletin began to consider possible catastrophic disruptions from climate change in its hand-setting deliberations. The Doomsday Dashboard provides four important data sets: global sea rise in millimeters since 1993; the parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since 1958; annual and five-year differences in global temperature; Arctic sea ice minimums in millions of square kilometers. “Some of graphs provide important information that I think most people can’t really visualize,” said John Mecklin, editor of the Bulletin. “You may have a general idea that scientists are worried about sea level rise, but to see the graph slope upward so dramatically over the last 15 years really brings it home.”

The Dashboard also provides links to the latest research in biosecurity and emerging technologies: everything from information on the dangers from “gain-of-function” research to coverage of the global development of killer robots and cyber warfare.
The Bulletin’s Doomsday Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies. The new interactive Dashboard provides a powerful look at what is being considered each year when the Clock is set.

For more background on the Doomsday Clock, please see Doomsday Clockwork.        

It is 3 minutes to midnight 

Bulletin Media Contact: Janice Sinclaire, jsinclaire@thebulletin.org