The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which is the group that sets the time of the clock, introduced it back in 1947 to predict the chance of annihilation from a range of threats

The world is closer than ever before to total apocalypse, the scientists behind the Doomsday Clock have warned. The Doomsday Clock was begun in 1947, as a metaphor for the danger that the world was facing.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced on Jan. 28 that the hands of the Doomsday Clock are moving forward, to 89 seconds to midnight—the closest it has ever been to apocalypse.