The apocalypse is nigh!

[ZenGum]

Tomorrow morning, my time, in fact. We have less than 24 hours.

Well, maybe.

This is our actual Prime Minister.

... Whether the final blow comes from flesh-eating zombies, demonic hell-beasts, or the total triumph of K-pop...

Yes, she is joking, and doing a promo for a show on the government radio network (tripleJ), but if you read the comments, it seems not everyone gets that.

[footfootfoot]

She is awesome. I love her. And I love her accent.

[BigV]

NASA says no.

NASA's swamped with panicked dumbasses, and so takes a social media approach, as well as a FAQ (excerpted here) to soothe the sheep.

Question (Q): Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012? Many Internet websites say the world will end in December 2012.
Answer (A):The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.


Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012?
A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012 and linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.


Q: Does the Mayan calendar end in December 2012?
A: Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.



Q: Is NASA predicting a "total blackout" of Earth on Dec. 23 to Dec. 25?
A: Absolutely not. Neither NASA nor any other scientific organization is predicting such a blackout. The false reports on this issue claim that some sort of "alignment of the Universe" will cause a blackout. There is no such alignment (see next question). Some versions of this rumor cite an emergency preparedness message from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. This is simply a message encouraging people to be prepared for emergencies, recorded as part of a wider government preparedness campaign. It never mentions a blackout.


Q: Could planets align in a way that impacts Earth?
A: There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. One major alignment occurred in 1962, for example, and two others happened during 1982 and 2000. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.


Q: Is there a planet or brown dwarf called Nibiru or Planet X or Eris that is approaching the Earth and threatening our planet with widespread destruction?
A: Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax. There is no factual basis for these claims. If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Eris is real, but it is a dwarf planet similar to Pluto that will remain in the outer solar system; the closest it can come to Earth is about 4 billion miles.

Kids that can't sleep, parents talking about killing their families in advance of the unspeakableunimaginableomigod. I'm not sure NASA's actually doing good here, interfering with Darwin...

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by BigV

...parents talking about killing their families in advance of the unspeakableunimaginableomigod...

If they're dumb enough to buy this shit, that may be a good thing. Cleaning the gene pool.

[Trilby]

Now all the fun's out of it.

[BigV]

Science. It's what's for dinner. Wait, that's the GMO foods thread.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by BigV

Science. It's what's for dinner. Wait, that's the GMO foods thread.

Yeah, because in this End of the World Thread, you're for dinner!

[ZenGum]

I'll have you know I have been eaten by zombies twice already this morning.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

I'll have you know I have been eaten by zombies twice already this morning.

That's the downside of recreational umm meds.

[orthodoc]

You clearly didn't heed the CDC web site advice on the zombie apocalypse ...

Okayyyy ... the CDC web site is down (I was going to attempt to link to it). The zombies' strategy is strong!!!

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by footfootfoot

That's the downside of recreational umm meds.

No, that was the giant spiders.

Originally Posted by orthodoc

You clearly didn't heed the CDC web site advice on the zombie apocalypse ...

Okayyyy ... the CDC web site is down (I was going to attempt to link to it). The zombies' strategy is strong!!!

!!!

[footfootfoot]

So according to BigV's NASA FAQ I will probably have to pay my December mortgage

[BigV]

that holds only for people who want to stay in their houses.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by BigV

that holds only for people who want to stay in their houses.

There's the rub

[orthodoc]

I already paid my December rent, so the world needs to keep going at least until Jan. 1.