Doomsday

Scientists have come up with yet another radical climate change plan that they hope will save us from one of the most immediate catastrophic scenarios presented to us by global warming. The plan centers around the “doomsday glacier,” or the Thwaites glacier, which could raise sea levels exponentially if it melts.The reason that the glacier is referred to as the doomsday glacier is because it currently acts as a shield for other glaciers found in the colder parts of our world. So, if it melts and collapses, the…

A couple feet of sea level rise may not sound like a lot. But if sea levels rose by two feet (0.6 meters) worldwide, the effects on coastal communities would be catastrophic.Cities like New York, Miami, and New Orleans would experience devastating flooding. Across the globe, 97 million people would be in the path of rapidly encroaching waters, putting their homes, communities, and livelihoods at risk.That's what would happen if the Thwaites glacier, nicknamed the 'doomsday glacier,' collapsed. But it wouldn't stop…

Substantial ice loss has been observed in the Antarctic region since the 1970s, but a new study suggests for at least some significant regions it actually started as far back as the 1940s, and perhaps even earlier.A research team led by the University of Houston collected sedimentary rock cores from seven locations near the massive Thwaites Glacier and nearby Pine Island Glacier to determine precisely when current melting began to ramp up.Dating back over 10,000 years, the rock samples tell the story of the ice shelves…

The AUV is programmed in advance and then sent out on long journeys under the glaciers of Antarctica. Credit: Anna Wåhlin The unmanned underwater vehicle Ran has gone missing under a glacier in Antarctica. The vehicle, owned by the University of Gothenburg, is one of just three in the world that is used for research and has contributed to important knowledge about the so-called Doomsday Glacier. …

Cover of the 1947 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists issue, featuring the Doomsday Clock at seven minutes to midnight. Credit: Public domain/Wikimedia Once every year, a select group of nuclear, climate and technology experts assemble to determine where to place the hands of the Doomsday Clock. Presented by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the…

Once every year, a select group of nuclear, climate and technology experts assemble to determine where to place the hands of the Doomsday Clock. Presented by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Doomsday Clock is a visual metaphor for humanity's proximity to catastrophe. It measures our collective peril in minutes and seconds to midnight, and we don't want to strike 12. In 2023, the expert group brought the clock the closest it has ever been to midnight: 90 seconds. On January 23 2024, the Doomsday Clock was…

Even the cleverest, most cunning artificial intelligence algorithm will presumably have to obey the laws of silicon. Its capabilities will be constrained by the hardware that it’s running on.Some researchers are exploring ways to exploit that connection to limit the potential of AI systems to cause harm. The idea is to encode rules governing the training and deployment of advanced algorithms directly into the computer chips needed to run them.In theory—the sphere where much debate about dangerously powerful AI currently…

Despite a 2024 so far marked with serious conflicts, climate uncertainty and the rapid ascension of AI technologies, the famous Doomsday Clock has remained paused at 90 seconds to midnight, the same time as last year.The clock, created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, aims to signify how close to world destruction we are. While it initially focused on nuclear annihilation – fittingly, given Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer and other Manhattan Project scientists were among its founders – it was…

The symbolic "Doomsday Clock" was held at 90 seconds to midnight Tuesday, reflecting existential threats to humanity posed by potential nuclear escalation from the war in Ukraine and the multiplying impacts of the climate crisis following Earth's hottest recorded year.Set by top scientists and security experts, the timing of the clock remains the same as last year and the closest it has ever been to midnight in its more than 75-year-history."Trends continue to point ominously towards global catastrophe," said Rachel…

"Trends continue to point ominously towards global catastrophe," said Rachel Bronson, president and CEO of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which reset its Doomsday clock to 90 seconds to midnight. The symbolic "Doomsday Clock" was held at 90 seconds to midnight Tuesday, reflecting existential threats to humanity posed by potential nuclear escalation from the war in Ukraine and the multiplying impacts of the climate crisis…