Halt It!
Artist
Designer Unknown
Datec. 1983
MediumOffset Lithograph
Dimensions16 x 11 in. (40.6 x 27.9 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.434
DescriptionFounded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and various scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is a nonprofit group dedicated to monitoring technology that could have dire consequences for the human race. In 1947, the organization created the Doomsday Clock, a symbol that metaphorically indicates how close humanity is to self-annihilation. Recalibrated each January, the clock posits midnight as global catastrophe, and currently takes into account not only nuclear threat but also issues around climate change, viruses, and other disruptive technologies. When it was originally released, the time read as seven minutes to midnight; in January 2024, this had shifted to 90 seconds to midnight.
In 1991, with the perceived end of the Cold War and the signing of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union, the clock was set at its most optimistic time: 17 minutes to midnight.
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