Will Doomsday Clock move?

Since it first appeared in 1947 on the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, an academic journal, the clock has been moved forward or backward 17 times. Originally, the clock was set at 11:53. The last time the clock hands were moved was February 2002: The magazine8217;s board of directors8212;a team of political scientists, nuclear physicists and retired military officials8212;decided that the 9/11 attacks and anthrax crisis were a global wake-up call. In 1953, shortly after the US and the former USSR successfully tested hydrogen bombs, the clock was moved to its most alarming time: Two minutes until midnight.

In November, when the board of directors gathers here for its bi-annual meeting, North Korea will be a focus of the discussion. So will the Middle East and Asia. If the hands are to be moved again, a decision could be announced in the next few months, said Seth H Grae, a board member. 8220;We8217;re not here to politick. We8217;re here as a scientific reality check,8221; he said.