The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (Bulletin) will announce whether the time of the iconic “Doomsday Clock” will change during a live virtual news conference at 10:00 a.m. EST/1500 GMT on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024. This year’s event will feature science educator Bill Nye.
Previously in January 2023, the Doomsday Clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight the Clock has ever been.
WHAT
The Bulletin, stewards of the Doomsday Clock, will announce the 2024 time at a live virtual news conference. The Doomsday Clock is a metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation. The decision is made by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board (SASB) in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 9 Nobel Laureates.
The Doomsday Clock also serves as a call-to-action to find solutions to the world’s most urgent, man-made existential threats in order to move the hands of the Clock away from midnight.
WHO
- Bill Nye, science educator, engineer, TV personality, and New York Times bestselling author.
- Rachel Bronson, PhD, president and CEO, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
- Daniel Holz, PhD, professor at the University of Chicago in the Departments of Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics, the Enrico Fermi Institute, and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, and SASB chair, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
- Asha M. George, DrPH, executive director, Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, and SASB member, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
- Alexander Glaser, PhD, associate professor in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs and in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, and SASB member, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
- Herb Lin, ScD, senior research scholar for cyber policy and security at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and Hank J. Holland Fellow in Cyber Policy and Security at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and SASB member, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
- Ambuj Sagar, PhD, deputy director (strategy & planning) and the Vipula and Mahesh Chaturvedi Professor of Policy Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and SASB member, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
WHEN
10:00 a.m. EST/1500 GMT, January 23, 2024.
WHERE
The event will be livestreamed at TheBulletin.org. Media can submit questions to be answered in real time during the Q&A period by emailing DoomsdayClock2024@hastingsgroupmedia.com. Questions may also be submitted in advance.
WHY
The Bulletin’s SASB meets regularly to discuss world events and resets the Doomsday Clock annually. For 2024, it will consider multiple global threats, including disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the Russia-Ukraine war, Israel-Hamas war, bio-threats, the continued climate crisis, and state-sponsored disinformation campaigns.
A live embeddable HD stream of the announcement will be available here: https://youtu.be/-p67zvLaUFs
Following the announcement, hi-res video, photos, headshots and logos will be available to members of the media at https://bit.ly/DDC2024PressKit. A streaming replay of the Doomsday Clock announcement and the full text of the 2024 Statement will be available online at http://www.TheBulletin.org/.