According to NASA, we are NOT going to die (phew, lol)

[tek_heretik]

Doomsday debunked (apparently), they didn't say anything about a mutant killer virus, etc, heh.

http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/article...12-fact-sheet/

Edit: And they didn't mention this time-bomb either, phht... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse

Edit 2: Supposedly a super nova more than 30 light years away won't hurt us, Betelguese happens to be 640 light years away. Apparently in the grand scheme of the universe, it's just a puppy and will die at a very young age.

[james147]

Does that mean we cannot go out looting on the 20th? dam...

[sealbhach]

That Betelguese thing is interesting, it may already have gone nova for all we know.

Professor J. Craig Wheeler of The University of Texas at Austin predicts Betelgeuse's demise will emit 1046 joules of neutrinos, which will pass through the star's hydrogen envelope in around an hour, then travel at light speed to reach the Solar System centuries later—providing the first evidence of the cataclysm. The supernova could brighten over a two-week period to an apparent magnitude of −12,[117] outshining the Moon in the night sky and becoming easily visible in broad daylight.[15] It would remain at that intensity for two to three months before rapidly dimming.[117] Since its rotational axis is not pointed toward the Earth, Betelgeuse's supernova is unlikely to send a gamma ray burst in the direction of Earth large enough to damage ecosystems...

The one extinction event that makes me nervous is the Yellowstone Supervolcano.

.

[tek_heretik]

The one extinction event that makes me nervous is the Yellowstone Supervolcano

Yeah, I'm not too fond of nuclear winters either, they scare the hell out of me, bleak and barren (dark too) planet with no food. Temperature dropping, brrr, even the rats wouldn't be safe from humans.

[tek_heretik]

Does that mean we cannot go out looting on the 20th? dam...

You sir, are funny! Besides that, you may have something there, there may be some actual looting, I wouldn't put it past the morons.

[james147]

You sir, are funny! Besides that, you may have something there, there may be some actual looting, I wouldn't put it past the morons.

Looters will take any excuse to loot doesn't need to be a good one.

[luckyone]

Yellowstone would be really bad.

[james147]

Is anyone else hoping for zombies?

[vinnywright]

naw it will be the alien farmers that planted the seed's of life hear a few million years ago and are almost hear to see what culinary delectables have evolved from the single cell organisms they seeded the planet with.

in addition to the cows,pigs,chickens,horses,fish,elephants,monkeys, and whatnot they will find a prolific bipedal mammalian species that is SO tasty that thay will forgo the mass possessing of all of them and actually keep some of these specimens for breeding and further production for those who can afford the delicacy of ,,,,,,,,,,what do thay call themselves ,,,,,,,,Aaaa yes humans ........Mmmmmmm good

VINNY

[capt-zero]

"How to serve man"

[tek_heretik]

I get the Betelgeuse thing now, if it takes 640 years for its light to get here, and its shrunk 15% (collapsing on itself like stars ready to go super nova do) in the last 20 years or so, so let's say another 100 years of collapsing, then BOOM, 640 year old super nova light will get here, kind of an anticlimax if you ask me, I will be dust by then. =(

Edit: Then again, there is no written in stone collapse rate for a dying star preparing to go super nova.

@james147...zombie target practice? Better start stock piling ammo now I guess then, lol.

[Snowhog]

"How to serve man"

"Twilight Zone" To Serve Man (1962)
"Mr. Chambers! Don't get on that ship! The rest of the book, "To Serve Man", it's... it's a cookbook!"

[kubicle]

Does that mean we cannot go out looting on the 20th? dam...

Nope...we still can. (Although it will be difficult to distinguish the looters from the Christmas shoppers...or the zombies...supernovas should be distinguishable...and probably supervolcanos, too)

[jlittle]

Then again, there is no written in stone collapse rate for a dying star preparing to go super nova.

Betelgeuse fluctuates a lot anyway, by one apparent magnitude (about 2.5 times), so a 20% collapse wouldn't be noticed. It might have gone bang already.

[tek_heretik]

Nope...we still can. (Although it will be difficult to distinguish the looters from the Christmas shoppers...or the zombies...supernovas should be distinguishable...and probably supervolcanos, too)

You are right about the Christmas shopping zombies, just hop on down to yer local Walmart... http://ca.images.search.yahoo.com/se...fp&fr2=piv-web

Edit: Have you ever noticed most of the Walmart 'zombies' are overweight? I've always wondered where they get all the money for all that food, it's not cheap to get like that. Ope, wait, might have just answered my own question, they shop at Walmart and REALLY cheap out on clothes, lol.