AEWS --- Apocalypse Early Warning System -- Want to track the apocalypse? Follow the billionaires’ jets, this app says.

 

 

Artist and coder Kyle McDonald has a theory: the ultra-rich will flee city centers before an apocalyptic event.

By Rachel Lerman

 

An aerial view shows private jets on the tarmac of Le Bourget Airport near Paris. 

 

Image credit: (Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters)

  

 They have endless amounts of money. Sophisticated bunkers. Private jets. Might the oligarchs of the world know — or be warned — in advance of a nuclear apocalypse?

So goes the theory underpinning the newest project from Los Angeles artist and coder Kyle McDonald, who has created what he calls an Apocalypse Early Warning System by tracking private jets around the world. If a large number of jets suddenly flee city centers, transporting their likely affluent passengers to bunkers and isolated resorts, he figures it might be a warning sign for the rest of us.

“I want people to laugh. I hope they see it and they feel the sort of humor of our situation — that we’re locked in a battle between the ultra-wealthy and the working class,” McDonald said. 

“And remember, there’s still things we can do. We’re not completely downtrodden and lost of all hope.”

Apocalypse Early Warning System

In the event of an imminent nuclear apocalypse, we suspect that many people who have access to private jets will immediately take to the skies and escape city centers. This site tracks this indicator in realtime. The current emergency level is reported on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being an indicator of a likely imminent apocalypse.

built by Kyle McDonald

GitHub / Telegram / RSS / Discord

267/31,465 

Last Update: May 9, 5:30 AM MST

Boing Boing

4 days ago

Apocalypse Early Warning System tracks the rich scrambling their private jets - Boing Boing