I’ve been watching this clock for 40 years, also watched it get enshitified the last 20 years.

It has always been a symbol of empire, run by many the same fools who enabled the madness. But the revolving door and who contributes got worse since the 1990s. And it’s just some thing now.

They may be wrong or correct, who am I to know. But not to be relied on, I think

Honestly? Not very.

I grew up in the 1980's doing duck-and-cover drills in school until the Berlin Wall came down. Growing up a science nerd who practically lived at the library, it was pretty obvious that duck-and-cover would do jack-and-shit if anybody ever pressed the big red button. So, I had to come to terms with the possibility that somebody might nuke where I grew up, probably far too early than was good for my mental health.

What it comes down to is this: In the unlikely event that somebody pops off a nuclear weapon, there is precisely dick that you, I, or anybody else likely to read this thread could do about it. It's way above any of our pay grades, to steal a phrase. The only thing you can really do is take heart in the fact that there is nothing you did to cause it and nothing you can do to stop it, just like a solar flare or a gamma ray burst. The best you can hope for is that you're somewhere in the first two blast radii because the most likely outcome is a bright flash, and that'll be that. No suffering, no radiation sickness, no cancer eating you alive months to years later.

I get that's not the kind of response you're looking for, and I can't blame you for that. However, neither am I willing to lie. Nuclear war is possibly one of the most horrible things the human race is capable of, and there is no happy medium, nothing reassuring, nothing hopeful that can be said.

Hug your loved ones.

Trump's cabinet probably:

And this is well before Trump's announcement of nuclear testing resumption.

If he actually goes through with it, everyone will know because it shows up on seismographs, something he's apparently ignorant of... And the comission will surely move it closer.

I am extremely concerned. There's never been somone so unscientifically minded, with no one knowledgable on nuclear warfare advising him directly, with their finger on the button like this.

And what's annoying is that my relatives do not care. Even the scientifically minded ones. There is absolutely nothing Trump can do wrong, at least nothing that can get through without being warped and dismissed as hysteria. That in itself is scary, as there's now no "political fallout" check on Trump's actions until 401Ks literally evaporate.

i feel this whole clock thing is such a liberal jerk off grounded in idealism not materialism. theyve been edging on 89 seconds to midnight since 2024.

i remember them moving the clock forward when north korea did some missile test a long time ago, as if north korea are the global aggressors 🙄. and of course it was 7 minutes to midnight during the cuban missile crisis.

trump threatening war on like 5 different countries is worrying, but i feel its mostly just MIC stock manipulation.

If we're talking the bomb? Not very.

Climate change is a bigger fish to fry.

I'm not very concerned about global war.

China doesn't want war, Europe doesn't want it. Sure the US might attack someone, but that's not global war.

Im currently on the ostrich defence.

I stopped watching the news, I blocked as much news as I can on here and reddit.

Piece of piss.

I am very worried about the US starting WW3. It’s March of 1939, and nazis are actively fabricating a casus belli against weaker foreign political enemies.

If I see a mushroom cloud I'm running towards it. No need to go to work, no need to pay back mortgage.

The people who have the power to burn it all down are unstable. I am concerned, but helpless.

Global war between who?

Russia has been shown to be a paper tiger. China wants to dominate through trade not warfare. Everybody else doesn't really have an axe to grind. At least, not on that scale.

Reminder that they basically changed the scale in the 90's, when history was supposed to be over. It's higher now than during the damn Cuban missile crisis, not because we're somehow closer, but because of a kind of ratchet effect as a very baseline Cold War level of tension returns.

Extremely concerned. The rise of facism always means mass death

A bit more concerned now that the US is resuming nuclear tests.

To be honest, the idea of nuclear weapons ever being used again is far scarier to me than WW3 in general.

@KingPorkChop@lemmy.ca @asklemmy@lemmy.ml

The Doomsday Clock was last updated January 2025, I remember having watched it live when the update was announced. But it's pretty much out of date at this point, especially due to news from the most recent few weeks.

While we're "just" two months from the next update (yeah, time flies), perhaps the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists should consider updating it every three months or, even, every month...

...even though the Doomsday Clock have been had a similar role and power that of UN: none at all, they can't even stop nuclear countries from pushing the juicy fan-with-three-blades passion-colored button, shall any of these countries decide doing it for the sake of it.

Which reminds me of a joke: "What's the difference between a rock and the UN? A rock can be thrown during a tantrum, at least". Similarly, "What do the Doomsday Clock and a sundial have in common? Both can't tell you the time during the night time".

At this point I just want closure, so either let's all shoot each other nukes, or fucking begone with this danger close bullshit

It's always been midnight.

liberal bullshit

I'm not nearly as concerned about global war as I am about Civil War. There are enough reasonable leaders on all sides that if the few really whacky ones get froggy, they'll get dealt with.

The world biggest problem is the 800 pound gorilla in the White House. He's everybody's loose cannon.

Unless we see another event like covid, it's 110% sure pedonald will want to play with his war toys before the next "election" (that he'll win with Putin like percentage). Pretty sure he will try something on Canada soon enough, and pretty much any other countries than Russia are potential target. In my dystopic scenarios, the billionaire elite is ready to solve the climate crisis by whipping 80% of the earth's population, AI and automation are almost ready, they just need a couple million slaves to work and entertain them (how do you feel powerful without people to fear you?).

i'm not at all concerned since the us is led by a mentally stable person who definitely thinks before he acts while considering all possibilities, outcomes, and consequences and doesn't get all his information from cable news.

War is basically inevitable at this point

Whatever your stance on the Pedophile Felon President, basically all of his policies are inevitable going to destroy the economy of the USA. Once that happens, the only option would be to use force internally to control the people and internationally to literally steal what they need to stay afloat

The people of the USA are still deluding themselves that their military will be loyal to the people because they didn't march super well for the Rapist in Chief that day... ignoring the military has followed every single idiotic order to date without as much as a follow up question

How are they determining this

It's the great equalizer, everybody will suffer and die equally while those hiding in bunkers will be sealed in with concrete by angry ghouls.

if my nightmares last night are anything to go by, i must be concerned about that on some level.

I mean the article was in January and no world leader was randomly starting wars with other countries, showing incredible mental deterioration or talking about testing their nuclear missiles and asking if they would go to heaven so I'm sure it's fine....

If the fascists do attack Europe, it will be with overwhelming force across the ocean to destroy us, rather than invasion. I don't really see a way we win that.

Sure, we could fight back with our own nukes, but they number in the hundreds, and the USA is too large for that few to truly end the threat of renewed attacks :-(