The SciencesDecember 18, 2012
The 2012 Apocalypse, or why the world won't end this week
Humankind's Enduring Fascination with the Apocalypse
The so-called Mayan apocalypse is just the latest in a long line of doomsday predictions
EvolutionDecember 18, 2012
Psychology Reveals the Comforts of the Apocalypse
The SciencesOctober 29, 2012
Revisiting Doomsday at the LHC
May 23, 2012
Apocalypse Soon: Has Civilization Passed the Environmental Point of No Return?
Although there is an urban legend that the world will end this year based on a misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar, some researchers think a 40-year-old computer program that predicts a collapse of socioeconomic order and massive drop in human population in this century may be on target
The SciencesMay 10, 2012
Ancient Time: Earliest Mayan Astronomical Calendar Unearthed in Guatemala Ruins
The ninth-century wall paintings predate existing Mayan astronomical records by hundreds of years
Space & PhysicsMarch 9, 2012
NASA Crushes 2012 Mayan Apocalypse Claims
The agency's Near-Earth Objects Program head points out many fallacies, including the claim that an imaginary planet will collide with Earth in December. Thousands of astronomers have not seen this
TechnologyJanuary 10, 2012
Doomsday Clock Moved 1 Minute Closer to Midnight
The Fukushima nuclear disaster and interest in nuclear power from Turkey, Indonesia and the UAE raised scientists' concern about the threat of humanity's destruction
EvolutionOctober 7, 2011
Doomsday, Apocalypse, and Rapture, Oh my!
The SciencesMay 20, 2011
Why We're Suckers for Stories of the Apocalypse
The SciencesMay 19, 2011
Judgment Day Math: The Numbers behind Harold Camping's May 21 Claim
HealthSeptember 1, 2010
Eternal Fascinations with the End: Why We're Suckers for Stories of Our Own Demise
Our pattern-seeking brains and desire to be special help explain our fears of the apocalypse
The SciencesAugust 1, 2010
The End: The Special Issue and Online Extras
A directory of "The End" articles from the September 2010 issue plus Web exclusives. Check back for updates every day.
The SciencesMarch 31, 2010
Competing Catastrophes: What's the Bigger Menace, an Asteroid Impact or Climate Change?
The authors of a recent report concerning a near-Earth asteroid impact and our preparedness disagreed on whether it was reasonable and prudent to compare NEO fatalities with those from climate change
The SciencesFebruary 25, 2010
End of the World [1999 Edition]
At the recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Stony Brook University's Robert Crease talked about how a 1999 article in Scientific American on Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and a future Nobel laureate got a few people thinking the planet was in jeopardy. Steve Mirsky reports
EnvironmentJanuary 1, 2010
The Nuclear Doomsday Clock Still Ticks
As long as opportunities and excuses for nuclear aggression persist, the world will never be safe from annihilation
The SciencesNovember 13, 2009
In 2012 neutrinos melt Earth's core, and other disasters
EnvironmentJune 27, 2007
The World Without Us: Suppose Humans Just Vanished--Then What?
In this episode, journalist Alan Weisman, Laureate Associate Professor in Journalism and Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona, discusses his new book "The World Without Us," a massive thought experiment about the aftermath of humanity's sudden disappearance. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. For info on and articles by Alan Weisman, go to www.homelands.org/producers/weisman.html