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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists | 2/2 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletin_of_the_Atomic_Scientists | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T10:20:10.934343+00:00 | kb-cron |
Once the Soviet Union developed atomic weapons, the concern surrounding the world's destruction was a great fear of the scientists working on the Bulletin. The proximity of nuclear devastation was a popular interest and, as a result, Bulletin co-editor Hyman Goldsmith asked landscape artist Martyl Langsdorf to create a cover for the June 1947 magazine. Langsdorf, who was married to Manhattan Project physicist Alexander Langsdorf, first considered using the symbol for uranium but then realized that a clock would better convey "a sense of urgency." The resultant Doomsday Clock, which only has bullets labeling the numbers in the upper left hand corner, has been featured on the cover of the Bulletin many times since its creation. The proximity of the minute hand to midnight has been the Bulletin leadership's way of warning the public about manmade threats to humanity; the Clock is a metaphor, not a prediction. That is, the time on the clock is not to be interpreted as actual time. When it began in 1947, the minute hand was 7 minutes to midnight; in 1953, when the Soviet Union continued to test more and more nuclear devices, it was 2 minutes to midnight. This proximity to midnight of the Doomsday Clock during the early 1950s shows the concern that the Bulletin contributors had about the Soviet Union and the nuclear arms race. The warnings of the Bulletin continued throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and the focus of the efforts shifted slightly from warning about the dangers of nuclear war to the necessity of disarmament. In 2007, the leadership began taking anthropogenic climate change into account in its Clock discussions. Throughout the history of the Doomsday Clock, it has moved closer to midnight, and farther away, depending upon the status of the world at that time. The Clock has been getting closer to midnight since 1991, when it was set to 17 minutes to midnight, after the United States and the Soviet Union reached an agreement on nuclear arms reductions. As of January 27, 2026, the Doomsday Clock stands at 85 seconds to midnight. It is the closest approach to midnight, exceeding that of 1953, 2018, 2020, 2023, and most recently 2025. The decision to move the hand of the Clock is made by the Bulletin's Science and Security Board, which meets in person twice a year, with subcommittees meeting more often; the announcement of the decision is made every January. Each November, prior to the Science and Security Board's fall discussion, the Bulletin hosts an annual dinner and meeting in Chicago; both events are open to the public. Reflecting international events dangerous to humankind, the Clock has been adjusted 27 times since its inception in 1947, when it was initially set to seven minutes to midnight (11:53pm).
== Online editions == The Bulletin has had a public-access website available online for some years, with a subscription magazine that comes out 6 times per year and is currently published by Taylor & Francis Online. An e-newsletter is also available without charge by signing up via the Bulletin website. Backfiles of the subscription magazine are available in the John A. Simpson Collection. The backfile from the first (1945) issue through the November 1998 issue of the Bulletin has also been made available free of charge via Google Books. November/December 2008 was the last print edition of the Bulletin, which became all-digital only that year. SAGE Publications began publishing the Bulletin's subscription magazine in September 2010; Taylor & Francis took over from Sage in January 2016.
== Indexing == The journal is indexed in the Journal Citation Reports, which states that the journal has a 2023 impact factor of 1.9, ranking it 44th out of 166 journals in the category "International Relations" and 26th out of 67 journals in the category "Social Issues".
== See also == Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists Franck Report List of international relations journals Richard Garwin
== Notes and references == The records of the Bulletin are kept at the Special Collections Research Center of the University of Chicago Library.
== External links ==
Official website "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists". Internal Revenue Service filings. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. The John A. Simpson Archive at Taylor & Francis Digitized Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Google Books