Doomsday Clock: 85 seconds to midnight
The Doomsday Clock is at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set it on January 27, 2026, moving it from 89 seconds, because of nuclear risks, climate change, biological threats and artificial intelligence.
Key facts
| Current setting | 85 seconds to midnight |
|---|---|
| Set on | January 27, 2026 |
| Previous setting | 89 seconds (2025) |
| Set by | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Chicago |
| First setting | 7 minutes to midnight, 1947 |
| Farthest from midnight | 17 minutes, 1991 |
| Next announcement | January 2027 |
What is the Doomsday Clock?
The Doomsday Clock is a symbol, not a real clock. Since 1947 the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a nonprofit founded by scientists who had worked on the Manhattan Project, has used it to show how close they think humanity is to destroying itself. Midnight stands for global catastrophe. The closer the hands are to midnight, the greater the danger.
Each January the Bulletin's Science and Security Board, with advice from a board of sponsors that has included many Nobel laureates, decides whether to move the hands. They look at nuclear weapons, climate change, biological threats and disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Why 85 seconds?
On January 27, 2026 the hands moved from 89 to 85 seconds to midnight, the closest in the clock's history. The board pointed to wars involving nuclear-armed countries, weakening arms control, increasingly hostile relations between the US, Russia and China, climate responses it called badly insufficient, and the risks of biotechnology and AI.
Every major setting since 1947
| Year | Time to midnight | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| 1947 | 7 minutes | First setting, on the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |
| 1949 | 3 minutes | The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb |
| 1953 | 2 minutes | The US and USSR test hydrogen bombs |
| 1963 | 12 minutes | Partial Test Ban Treaty |
| 1972 | 12 minutes | SALT I and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty |
| 1984 | 3 minutes | Cold War tensions peak |
| 1991 | 17 minutes | End of the Cold War and the START treaty: the farthest from midnight ever |
| 2007 | 5 minutes | Climate change added to the threats |
| 2018 | 2 minutes | Nuclear tensions and climate |
| 2020 | 100 seconds | Switch from minutes to seconds |
| 2023 | 90 seconds | Russia's invasion of Ukraine |
| 2025 | 89 seconds | |
| 2026 | 85 seconds | The closest ever |
The clock has moved back as well as forward: it was furthest from midnight, 17 minutes, in 1991 after the Cold War ended. Since 2020 the Bulletin has counted in seconds because the hands were already so close.
The famous design, a quarter of a clock face with the hands near midnight, was drawn by the artist Martyl Langsdorf for the June 1947 cover of the Bulletin. She set it at seven minutes to midnight because it looked right.
Want to see the history of the planet on a clock instead? Try Earth's history in 24 hours, or read when the world will really end according to science.
Questions people ask
What time is the Doomsday Clock at now?
It is at 85 seconds to midnight, set on January 27, 2026. That is the closest to midnight it has ever been.
Who decides the Doomsday Clock?
The Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a nonprofit based in Chicago, in consultation with its board of sponsors. They announce the setting every January.
What happens if the Doomsday Clock reaches midnight?
Nothing happens to the clock itself: it is a warning, not a timer. Midnight stands for a global catastrophe such as nuclear war, so reaching it would mean the board believed disaster was imminent or had begun.
What was the furthest the Doomsday Clock has been from midnight?
17 minutes to midnight, in 1991, after the end of the Cold War and the signing of the START arms reduction treaty.
Why is the Doomsday Clock counted in seconds?
Because since 2020 it has been less than two minutes to midnight. The Bulletin switched to seconds to show smaller changes.
Is the Doomsday Clock scientific?
It is a judgement by experts, not a measurement. Critics say it mixes very different risks into one number; supporters say it is a simple way to make people pay attention to them.
Last updated October 23, 2026.