Humanity is closer than ever to catastrophe, according to the atomic scientists behind the Doomsday Clock.

The ominous metaphor ticked one second closer to midnight this week. The clock now stands just 89 seconds away — its first move in two years and the closest the clock come to midnight in its nearly eight-decade history.

Atomic scientists on Tuesday moved their "Doomsday Clock" closer to midnight than ever before, citing Russian nuclear threats amid its invasion of Ukraine, tensions in other world hot spots, military applications of artificial intelligence and climate change as factors underlying the risks of global catastrophe.

The clock is ticking on humanity.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved its Doomsday Clock forward for 2025, announcing that it is now set to 89 seconds to midnight –— the closest it’s ever been to catastrophe.

The U.S. Air Force said on Friday that it has awarded a contract to Sierra Nevada Corp to develop a successor to the E-4B, known as the Doomsday plane, due to its ability to survive a nuclear war.

The Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) project is intended to replace the aging 1970s-era aircraft, which is approaching end-of-service life, a Air Force spokesperson said in a statement.

To satisfy operational requirements, the weapon system will comprise of a commercial derivative jet hardened and modified to meet military requirements.

President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if its sovereignty or independence is threatened, issuing another blunt warning to the West just days ahead of an election in which he’s all but certain to secure another six-year term.

President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict.

Putin, speaking just days before a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, said the nuclear war scenario was not "rushing" up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern in a new interview has speculated over the reasons behind Victoria Nuland stepping down from her high-ranking position as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the number three top official in the State Department.

The Department of Defense announced its pursuit of a nuclear bomb that will be 24 times more powerful than one of the bombs dropped on Japan during World War II.

The Pentagon is seeking congressional approval and funding to pursue a modern variant of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb, which will be designated the B61-13, according to a DoD press release.

During the 70 years that the Soviet Union existed, Ukraine was an integral part of the nation.

Yet this geographic and political reality posed no threat to the United States. A Russia and a Ukraine, both inside the USSR, was an accepted reality that was seen as no threat for the seven decades that they were united.

Yet, today, because of a month-old war between Russia and Ukraine, over who shall control Crimea, the Donbas and the Black and Azov Sea coasts of Ukraine, America seems closer to a nuclear war than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.