According to the annual assessment of global threats known as the Doomsday Clock, humanity remains perilously close to annihilation.
Created by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in 1949, the hypothetical countdown to Armageddon relies on the opinions of scientists and security experts to determine the threat level facing the planet.
This year's findings place us at 11:57 PM, which is the same result as last year's assessment that had advanced the time from 11:55 PM due to terrorism and climate change.
Apparently, the growing acrimony between America and Russia as well as North Korea's nuclear aspirations in 2015 were not enough to nudge the minute hand any further this year.
This is not exactly cause for celebration, since midnight represents the total destruction of civilization.
So while things have not gotten worse, they also have not gotten better either.
And we're certainly far away from the blissful-in-retrospect days of 1991, when the clock stood at an amazing 17 minutes to midnight, its best time ever.
However, there's still hope for the future, since the Doomsday Clock has been in this position and even closer to minute before and humanity managed to not destroy itself.
Source: ABC News