Tick tock. The Doomsday Clock edges closer to midnight

PLUS: Google's ugly diversity war, the physics behind 'Black Panther,' and a budget-friendly alternative to pricey cookware. [View this email in your browser]( [logo]( [[WIRED Magazine]1.26.18]( The world hasn't been this close to nuclear war since the US and Russia first tested their thermonuclear weapons in 1953. That's according to the organization of nuclear scientists that controls the Doomsday Clock, the 71-year-old measurement of how close we are to a human-caused global crisis. When the clock strikes midnight, everything theoretically goes kablooey, and for the last decade that minute hand has been creeping ever-closer to 12. Yesterday, it ticked forward to [two minutes to midnight](. So, things are not great. The Doomsday Clock may be just a symbol, but it's still a much-needed reminder that it would be terrifyingly easy for someone like Donald Trump or Kim Jong Un to kick off an unstoppable chain reaction. As [Garrett Graff]( points out, it's remarkable that the US has managed to avoid a nuclear catastrophe since the end of World War II, even as computer glitches and [emergency alert screw-ups]( have threatened to topple that first domino. "The current system makes nuclear war easier to start than to avoid; there’s precious little room for reflection," Graff writes. "The first ICBMs will leave their silos just four minutes after a presidential order; once they launch, there’s no mechanism to stop them. No country on the planet possesses the capability to shoot down an incoming strike." Also: Google's [ever-uglier diversity war]( the physics of how the Black Panther [charges his suit with bullets]( and a budget-friendly but imperfect [alternative to pricey cookware](. nuclear war The Doomsday Clock Ticks Closer to Nuclear War By Garrett M. Graff The graphical clock started at seven minutes to midnight. Its “peacetime” rating peaked in 1991 at 17 minutes to midnight, as the Soviet Union broke apart. It has gradually ticked darker ever since, first as nuclear weapons proliferated to countries like India and Pakistan, and then as it began to factor in other global threats, like climate change. Business The Dirty War Over Diversity Inside Google By Nitasha Tiku In interviews with WIRED, 15 current Google employees accuse coworkers of inciting outsiders to harass rank-and-file employees who are minority advocates, including queer and transgender employees. Physics How Much Energy Could Black Panther Collect from Bullets? By Rhett Allain In the Black Panther scene, it appears that the impact of the bullets lead to an increase in some type of stored energy in his suit (maybe like in a battery or something). But how much energy could he get from these bullets? To estimate this, I need three things: mass of bullet, speed of bullet, and number of bullets. This item has no URL. It's probably not published. Product Review We Test a Cheap Alternative to Expensive Cookware By Joe Ray Long story short, I measured my sister's All Clads, my piecemeal set, and five Made In pans. Out of 16 pans in total, the four with the most pronounced concavity were the Made Ins, and those four ranged between two and six times as far out as the average of all the others. [advertisement]( [Powered by LiveIntent]( [Ad Choices]( [WIRED Magazine Subscription] Get Wired Don't Let the Future Leave You Behind. Get 12 Months of WIRED Magazine for Just $10. SUBSCRIBE NOW Gender Equality The Dangers of Keeping Women Out of Tech By Mallory Pickett "It would be common for a tech company to start an interview without even saying good morning or good afternoon, just: 'I want to know what you know about pointers in C++, so show me how to do that.' Very adversarial, bragging, trying to show how much smarter they are. There are some women who feel perfectly comfortable in those environments, but I would say for the most part they don’t." Deals Pack Your Super Bowl Party With These Home and TV Deals By Jeffrey Van Camp "If you’re planning to host some friends, you may want to consider a tech upgrade. We found have some decent online deals on TVs, speakers, and other home items you may want for the big game." multiplex mayhem How Does MoviePass Make Money? We're About to Find Out By Brian Barrett “We’ve got more than four contracts that are revenue-producing, in the six-figures type range, for films,” says MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe of deals in which MoviePass promotes specific movies to its customers. “The studios really do see the light, and see that we could be a valuable ally in rejuvenating the business.” Genetics What Good Is Crispr If It Can't Get Where It Needs to Go? By Megan Molteni The first clinical forays involve removing cells from patients’ bodies, zapping them with electricity to let Crispr sneak in, then infusing them back into their bodies, to either better fight off cancer or to produce a missing blood protein. But that won’t work for most rare genetic diseases. Thanks, Reddit People Can Put Your Face on Porn—and the Law Can't Help You By Emma Grey Ellis Face-swap porn may be deeply, personally humiliating for the people whose likeness is used, but it's technically not a privacy issue. You can’t sue someone for exposing the intimate details of your life when it’s not your life they’re exposing. [advertisement]( [Powered by LiveIntent]( [AdChoices]( [WIRED Magazine]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, [wired@newsletters.wired.com]( to your address book. 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