lurkitty

The hands of this clock has been at seven minutes to midnight still since February 27, 2002. You'd think that a clock maintained by some of the world's most renowned scientists would keep better time. But we should be thankful that it hasn't moved forward since then.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has kept the Doomsday Clock as a symbol of nuclear danger since 1947. Its Board of Directors moves the hands depending on their assessment of risk of nuclear danger. The last time the hands were closer to midnight was in 1983, when India and Pakistan were threatening each other and the Scientists feared that "Arms control talks [with the Soviet Union] have been reduced to a species of propaganda..."

North Korea has tested a small nuclear device. What happens now? Kim Jong Il has already shown that he doesn't give a damn if his people starve, so further economic sanctions will do nothing other than assure that thousands of farmers will die. South Korea and Japan will want their own bombs as a result. We are witnessing the beginnings of an arms race.

We shall see whether the hands of the clock move in the coming weeks.