The "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists", in charge of this symbolic project since 1947, unveiled at a press conference in Washington its new schedule, supposed to measure the imminence of a world catastrophe.

It has been advanced by 10 seconds and now marks 90 seconds minus midnight, approaching midnight, the fateful hour that scientists hope will never be reached.

This is a record since its creation.

Since 2020, the clock has been 100 seconds round from midnight.

"We're moving the clock forward, and it's the closest it's ever been to midnight," the band said as they unveiled the new schedule, referring in particular, but "not exclusively," to "the growing dangers of war in Ukraine" and "the heightened risk of a nuclear escalation".

Climate crisis

"We live in a time of unprecedented danger, and the doomsday clock represents that reality," said Rachel Bronson, president of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

The new Doomsday Clock schedule unveiled on January 24, 2023 in Washington © Handout / Hastings Group Media/AFP

Moving the schedule forward "is a decision our experts do not take lightly. The US government, its NATO allies and Ukraine have a multitude of channels for dialogue at their disposal; we urge leaders to do their maximum to examine them all in order to turn back the clock”, she added.

This is why the statement of the group of experts will be available in English, Russian and Ukrainian, a first, she said.

In addition to the war in Ukraine and the nuclear danger, the scientists took into account "the continuing threats posed by the climate crisis" as well as the fact that "devastating events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, can no longer be considered as rare events that only happen once every hundred years".

The panel also discussed misinformation and surveillance technologies.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and scientists who worked on the "Manhattan" project, which produced the first atomic bomb.

The group sets the new time each year.

The apocalypse clock © / AFP

The doomsday clock "is a symbol that measures how close we are to destroying the world with dangerous technologies that we have made ourselves", according to the scientists.

Originally, after the Second World War, the clock showed midnight minus 7 minutes.

In 1991, at the end of the Cold War, it had dropped to 17 minutes before midnight.

In 1953, as well as in 2018 and 2019, it displayed midnight minus 2.

© 2023 AFP