The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will host a live virtual news conference at 10:00 a.m. EST/1500 GMT on Thursday, January 20th, 2022, to announce whether the time on the iconic “Doomsday Clock” will change. The organization will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Doomsday Clock, which was created in 1947.
WHAT
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, stewards of the iconic Doomsday Clock, will announce the 2022 time at a live virtual news conference. The Doomsday Clock is a metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation. It is also serves as a call-to-action to reverse the hands, which have been moved backwards before. The decision is made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board in consultation with the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, which includes 11 Nobel Laureates.
WHO
- Hank Green, science communicator, vlogger, and New York Times best-selling author (An Absolutely Remarkable Thing). Hank is known for producing the popular YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his brother, author John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, Turtles All the Way Down);
- Rachel Bronson, PhD, president and CEO, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists;
- Asha M. George, DrPH, executive director, Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, and member, Science and Security Board (SASB), 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 member, Science and Security Board (SASB), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists;
- Sharon Squassoni, research professor at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy, Elliott School of International Affairs, at the George Washington University, and co-chair, Science and Security Board (SASB), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists;
- Scott D. Sagan, PhD, Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science, the Mimi and Peter Haas University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, and Senior Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) and the Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) at Stanford University, and member, Science and Security Board (SASB), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; and
- Raymond Pierrehumbert, PhD, Halley Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, lead author on the IPCC Third Assessment Report, and member, Science and Security Board (SASB), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
WHEN
10:00 a.m. EST/1500 GMT, January 20, 2022.
WHERE
Media can register at https://bit.ly/2022clocksignup. Journalists will be provided a link to participate directly in the event, including the Q&A period. Those who elect to participate by a traditional dial-up phone call will be in a listen-only mode for the Q&A period. The event will also be livestreamed at http://www.thebulletin.org/.
WHY
The Bulletin’s Science and Security Board meets regularly to discuss world events and reset the Doomsday Clock annually. For 2022, they will take into account the prolonged pandemic; proliferation of nuclear weapons in Iran, China and North Korea; the continued climate crisis; state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, and disruptive technologies.
