Since 1947, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists of the University of Chicago have maintained and controlled the Doomsday Clock.  This symbolic clock tracks earth’s proximity to total destruction— the closer to midnight, the closer to annihilation.  Originally, this clock represented the threat of global nuclear war, but since 2007, the Doomsday Clock has considered climate issues and nanotechnology.  Since its creation, the clock has changed 19 times (the clock was originally set at 11:53 PM).  The closest we’ve been to disaster was in 1953, when the clock was set at 11:58 PM.  This occurred after the United States and the Soviet Union tested nuclear weapons within 9 months of each other.  January 14, 2010 was the last time the clock was updated; currently, we are at 11:54 PM.  Adhering to this clock, Cinderella shouldn’t spend much time worrying about her carriage transmogrifying into a pumpkin. When the clock strikes twelve, they won’t be using her glass slipper to find her…they will be using the radioactive glass crater that kind of smells like her.