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Doomsday Clock
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==History== [[File:Bulletin Atomic Scientists Cover.jpg|thumb|Cover of the 1947 ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' issue, featuring the Doomsday Clock at "seven minutes to midnight"]] The Doomsday Clock's origin can be traced to the international group of researchers called the Chicago Atomic Scientists, who had participated in the [[Manhattan Project]].<ref name="The Spokesman-Review">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=20061016&id=tGdWAAAAIBAJ&pg=5932,5424494|title=Doomsday Clock moving closer to midnight?|newspaper=[[The Spokesman-Review]]|date=October 16, 2006|access-date=February 28, 2021|archive-date=November 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127184452/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=20061016&id=tGdWAAAAIBAJ&pg=5932%2C5424494|url-status=live}}</ref> After the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], they began publishing a [[mimeograph]]ed newsletter and then the magazine, ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'', which, since its inception, has depicted the Clock on every cover. The Clock was first represented in 1947, when the ''Bulletin'' co-founder Hyman Goldsmith asked artist [[Martyl Langsdorf]] (wife of Manhattan Project research associate and [[Szilárd petition]] signatory [[Alexander Langsdorf Jr.]]) to design a cover for the magazine's June 1947 issue. As [[Eugene Rabinowitch]], another co-founder of the ''Bulletin'', explained later: {{quote|The ''Bulletin''{{'}}s Clock is not a gauge to register the ups and downs of the international power struggle; it is intended to reflect basic changes in the level of continuous danger in which mankind lives in the nuclear age...<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19840222&id=tbcfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2249,3820904|title=The Doomsday Clock|newspaper=[[Southeast Missourian]]|date=February 22, 1984|access-date=February 28, 2021|archive-date=July 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719020936/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&dat=19840222&id=tbcfAAAAIBAJ&pg=2249%2C3820904|url-status=live}}</ref>|sign=|source=}} Langsdorf chose a clock to reflect the urgency of the problem: like a countdown, the Clock suggests that destruction will naturally occur unless someone takes action to stop it.<ref>{{cite news|title=Running the 'Doomsday Clock' is a full-time job. Really.|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/26/world/doomsday-clock-scientists-trnd/index.html|access-date=January 29, 2018|publisher=CNN|date=January 26, 2018|archive-date=December 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203183529/https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/26/world/doomsday-clock-scientists-trnd/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2007, designer [[Michael Bierut]], who was on the ''Bulletin''{{'}}s Governing Board, redesigned the Doomsday Clock to give it a more modern feel. In 2009, the ''Bulletin'' ceased its print edition and became one of the first print publications in the U.S. to become entirely digital; the Clock is now found as part of the logo on the ''Bulletin''<nowiki/>'s website. Information about the Doomsday Clock Symposium,<ref name="Doomsday Clock Symposium">{{cite web|title=Doomsday Clock Symposium|url=http://thebulletin.org/press-release/2013-doomsday-clock-symposium|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722220038/http://thebulletin.org/press-release/2013-doomsday-clock-symposium/|archive-date=July 22, 2014|website=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|access-date=September 10, 2013}}{{void|comment|Fabrickator|There is a live url on the "thebulletin.org" website, but it differs from the original}}</ref> a timeline of the Clock's settings,<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/timeline/|title=Timeline|date=January 2015|website=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|access-date=February 9, 2021|archive-date=June 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624132114/https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/|url-status=live}}</ref> and multimedia shows about the Clock's history and culture<ref>{{cite web|title=A Timeline of Conflict, Culture, and Change|url=http://thebulletin.org/multimedia/timeline-conflict-culture-and-change|website=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|access-date=June 20, 2013|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010022254/http://thebulletin.org/multimedia/timeline-conflict-culture-and-change|url-status=live}}</ref> can also be found on the ''Bulletin''{{'}}s website. The 5th Doomsday Clock Symposium<ref name="Doomsday Clock Symposium" /> was held on November 14, 2013, in [[Washington, D.C.]]; it was a day-long event that was open to the public and featured panelists discussing various issues on the topic "Communicating Catastrophe". There was also an evening event at the [[Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden]] in conjunction with the Hirshhorn's current exhibit, "Damage Control: Art and Destruction Since 1950".<ref name="November 15, 2013">{{cite web|title=Damage Control: Art and Destruction Since 1950|url=http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/programs-calendar/#collection=damage-control|date=2013|website=[[Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden]]|access-date=November 15, 2013|archive-date=November 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104221329/http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/programs-calendar/#collection=damage-control|url-status=live}}</ref> The panel discussions, held at the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], were streamed live from the ''Bulletin''{{'}}s website and can still be viewed there.<ref>{{cite web|title=5th Doomsday Clock Symposium|url=http://thebulletin.org/multimedia/2013-doomsday-clock-symposium|website=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|access-date=September 14, 2013|archive-date=August 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803024636/http://thebulletin.org/multimedia/2013-doomsday-clock-symposium|url-status=live}}</ref> Reflecting international events dangerous to humankind, the Clock has been adjusted 25 times since its inception in 1947, when it was set to "seven minutes to midnight".<ref>{{cite news |date=January 10, 2012 |title=Doomsday Clock ticks closer to midnight |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/doomsday-clock-ticks-closer-to-midnight/2012/01/10/gIQAXpKfoP_blog.html |access-date=January 10, 2012 |archive-date=December 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204230520/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/checkpoint-washington/post/doomsday-clock-ticks-closer-to-midnight/2012/01/10/gIQAXpKfoP_blog.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Doomsday Clock has become a universally recognized metaphor according to ''The Two-Way'', an NPR blog.<ref>{{cite news|title=Doomsday Clock Moves Closer To Midnight, We're 2 Minutes From World Annihilation|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/25/580670125/doomsday-clock-moves-closer-to-midnight-were-2-minutes-from-world-annihilation|access-date=January 29, 2018|work=The Two-Way|publisher=[[NPR]]|date=January 25, 2018|archive-date=December 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209060424/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/25/580670125/doomsday-clock-moves-closer-to-midnight-were-2-minutes-from-world-annihilation|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the ''Bulletin'', the Clock attracts more daily visitors to the ''Bulletin''<nowiki/>'s site than any other feature.<ref name="slate">{{cite news|last1=Barasch|first1=Alex|title=What The Doomsday Clock Doesn't Tell Us|url=https://slate.com/technology/2018/01/what-the-doomsday-clock-doesnt-tell-us.html|access-date=January 29, 2018|work=Slate Magazine|date=January 26, 2018|archive-date=March 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308200823/https://slate.com/technology/2018/01/what-the-doomsday-clock-doesnt-tell-us.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
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