Is the Doomsday clock ticking away? Let's see what the atomic scientists have to say.

There is a Doomsday Clock created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) at the University of Chicago. It is relatively young compared to the daunting history of Doomsday predictions. In scientists' views, having kept watch of the end as well, there are 6 minutes left. Since 1947, the clock has ticked back and forth, landing on 6 minutes to midnight on January 14, 2010, and stays there till today.

According to the BAS website, the Doomsday Clock conveys how close humanity is to catastrophic destruction--the figurative midnight--and monitors the means humankind could use to obliterate itself. It was started at seven minutes before midnight, the figurative end of civilization. The clock has been adjusted 19 times until today. Most recently, it has moved one minute away from midnight, with the hopeful state of world affairs, as the live news conference in New York City took place on January 14, 2010.

Factors that influence the clock are international negotiations on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, and climate-changing technologies and biosecurity. World leaders are cooperating to reduce the nuclear weapons arsenals and secure the nuclear bomb-producing material.

Away from the Doomsday frenzy, BAS remains silent with their Doomsday Clock still. The predicted earthquake in New Zealand just hasn't happened the way it should have - May 21, 6pm local time. While an earthquake of a 4.9 magnitude occurred at 6:31pm, 1305 kilometers away from New Zealand, a far more convincing event may be necessary for the Doomsday Clock to move.

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