Doomsday Clock Is Now Closer to Apocalypse Than Ever Before

The human race is mere seconds from catastrophe, according to the ominously named “Doomsday Clock,” as it ticks closer to midnight than ever before.

The symbolic clock, set to its new time on January 27, was created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as world tensions ballooned following World War II. The scientists chose to use a ticking clock to convey threats against the planet in a way that the average person could understand. In the decades since, the clock has become...