What is the Doomsday Clock?
The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clock created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a journal founded in Chicago by Manhattan Project physicists. It represents how close humanity is to a man-made global catastrophe. Midnight stands for that catastrophe; the distance to midnight, in minutes and later seconds, expresses the level of danger. Since 27 January 2026 it has read 85 seconds to midnight.
Who sets it?
The Bulletin's Science and Security Board, around twenty experts in nuclear physics, climate, biology and technology, in consultation with the Bulletin's Board of Sponsors, which includes several Nobel laureates. They meet twice a year and announce the clock's position every January at a press conference.
How is it calculated?
It isn't, in any mathematical sense. There is no formula: the figure is a collective judgement answering two questions. Is humanity safer or more at risk than a year ago? And than 78 years ago, when the clock was created? The factors considered are public: the state of nuclear arsenals and treaties, the trajectory of emissions and temperatures, biological risks and, more recently, 'disruptive' technologies (AI, disinformation, space).
What do the settings mean?
- 17 minutes (1991): the furthest from midnight. End of the Cold War, START Treaty, dissolution of the USSR.
- 7 minutes (1947): the original setting, chosen by artist Martyl Langsdorf for graphic reasons.
- 2 minutes (1953, 2018): the H-bomb, then the collapse of arms control.
- 100 seconds (2020): the first setting expressed in seconds.
- 85 seconds (2026): the current record.
The full timeline explains every move.
Why it is not a prediction
The clock does not say when the world will end, or even whether it will. It says: 'this is how dangerous we judge the situation to be, and this is what would make it less dangerous.' Every Bulletin statement ends with concrete recommendations to governments. The hand has moved back nine times — proof, by construction, that midnight is not inevitable.
The criticisms
Three come up again and again. It is subjective — true, and openly acknowledged by its authors. It mixes risks of different kinds (a nuclear war is instantaneous, climate unfolds over decades) — also true, which is why the Bulletin discusses them separately in its statement. It is alarmist — that debate is open; its defenders reply that the clock has moved back every time leaders acted, which is the opposite of fatalism.
And this site?
This site is not the official clock and has no connection with the Bulletin. It explains the clock, traces its history and offers a simulator to understand, in a playful way, which events and decisions weigh on the hand. Our method page explains how we set the weights.