The Increasing Peril of Nuclear Weapons: And how physicists can help reduce the threat

It is poignant to be writing about nuclear weapons in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. We were caught unprepared for the pandemic. The last pandemic of the scale of covid-19 occurred 100 years ago. The only two nuclear explosions in conflict occurred in Japan 75 years ago. There is no preparation for nuclear war. It is urgent to increase drastically efforts to avoid a second, more destructive use of nuclear weapons. To this end, the APS has initiated a project through its new Innovation Fund to engage the US physics community in advocacy for steps toward nuclear risk reduction.