Just checked the Doomsday Clock from The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and it reads 85 seconds to midnight, the closest to disaster it has ever been, yet the idea of a nuclear war seems more far-fetched than ever. We've just been waiting too long, maybe. Seen that movie too many times.

What if we're wrong? More than once, the steady judgment of one person has prevented retaliation during the false alarm of a nuclear strike. Boris Yeltsin in 1995. A Russian naval officer during the Bay of Pigs. What if next time our leaders are, oh, impulsive?

Where am I going with this...? Oh, yeah, but we can already shoot missiles out of the sky. How far are we away from truly effective missile defense, and what will this mean for the seemingly chronic rivalries of the nuclear powers?

Read the full prediction: Comprehensive Continent-scale ICBM Defense Systems