![]() For example, gene drives are an early example of biological robotics already in development. ![]() The movie clichés of cyborgs and "killer robots" tend to disguise the true risks. With increasing storm severity due to climate change, the risks to toxic waste sites grow.Īt the same time, the Bulletin has increasingly turned its attention to the rise of artificial intelligence, autonomous weaponry, and mechanical and biological robotics. That was just one major metropolitan area. An estimated 2 million kilograms of airborne contaminants above regulatory limits were released, 14 toxic waste sites were flooded or damaged, and dioxins were found in a major river at levels over 200 times higher than recommended maximum concentrations. There are tens of thousands of large scale waste sites in the US alone, with 1,700 hazardous " superfund sites" prioritized for clean-up.Īs Hurricane Harvey showed when it hit the Houston area in 2017, these sites are extremely vulnerable. For example, commercial chemical use is all pervasive, as is the toxic waste it creates. Many of these threats are well known already. In 2022, their warning extends beyond weapons of mass destruction to include other technologies that concentrate potentially existential hazards – including climate change and its root causes in over-consumption and extreme affluence. Mentors of mine, notably Aaron Novick, and others who profoundly influenced how I see my own scientific discipline and approach to science, were among those who formed and joined the early Bulletin. The Clock has become a universally recognized indicator of the world's vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and disruptive technologies in other domains.Īt a personal level, I feel some sense of academic kinship with the clock makers. While nuclear annihilation remains the most probable and acute existential threat to humanity, it is now only one of the potential catastrophes the Doomsday Clock measures. They realized more bombs did not increase the chances of winning a war or make anyone safe when just one bomb would be enough to destroy New York. But the scientists who founded the Bulletin in 1945 were less focused on the initial use of "the bomb" than on the irrationality of stockpiling weapons for the sake of nuclear hegemony. The clock was originally devised as a way to draw attention to nuclear conflagration. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists January 9, 2022 Join us for the 75th anniversary Doomsday Clock announcement on Thursday, Jan. There is scant hope of it winding back on what will be its 75th anniversary. The hands have never before been this close to midnight.
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