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2012 MAYAN APOCALYPSE, COSMIC CATACLYSMS AND OMINOUS OMENS…
IF IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT – WILL WE BE FINE?
[dropcap]B[/dropcap]e sure to watch End of the World Specials premiering 2 December 2012 at 11.00pm exclusively on National Geographic Channel (Astro Ch 553)
The ancient Latin adage carpe diem – seize the day – may take on striking new meaning as 21 December 2012 – the apocalyptic date thought to be predicted by the Mayans – rapidly approaches. But, the massive flooding that some believe the Mayan prophesied as the end of the world is only one in a long list of threats to mankind.
Premiering on 2 December 2012 at 11.00pm on National Geographic Channel (Astro Ch 553), End of the World examines the fate of the world and threats that could spell the end for humanity – and the planet – from cosmic catastrophes to super volcanic eruptions and physics experiments going fatally wrong.
[pullquote align=”right”]End of the World Specials premiering 2 December 2012 at 11.00pm exclusively on National Geographic Channel (Astro Ch 553)[/pullquote]
Examine apocalyptic omens, venture to an underwater graveyard for secrets behind the Mayan predictions, go on a mission to evacuate Earth and count down the top ten most chilling cataclysms that could usher in the end of humanity as we know it.
In Evacuate Earth, find out what could happen if a neutron star presented planet Earth with an inescapable date with destruction.
Humanity must mount a desperate effort to escape the only home we’ve ever known.
Count down the Ten Ways to End the World, from black holes hurdling through space and hostile extra-terrestrials to machines whose super intelligence could overrun the globe and cutting-edge physics experiments with the potential for bone-chilling side effects.
Venture to the Mayan Underworld to unearth new revelations about the most infamous date in the Mayan calendar and find out if there are Omens of the Apocalypse out there – or if they’re just all in our minds.
Episodes include:
End of the World – The Mayan Apocalypse (2 December 2012, 11.00pm)
In this film, Paul Murton travels to America to explore how the phenomenon now better known as ‘2012’ has swept across the internet with hundreds of websites featuring frightening predictions – all envisaging a different take on the impending world cataclysm. Murton examines how this terror has spawned ‘survival communities’ in which people hoard food supplies, learn how to defend themselves and build bunkers to see them through the impending apocalypse. To discover who the Mayan really were, he visits the ruins of the ancient Mayan city of El Mirador in Central America to see where the civilisation was founded and gain an insight into why they believed the world would be on the threshold of destruction in 2012 – specifically 21st December at 12pm. Murton commented, ‘This city has been at the heart of vast and thriving civilisation thousands of years ago yet today it is covered by jungle. Perhaps we should consider the possibility that our own civilisation could meet a similar fate?’
End of the World – Evacuate Earth (2 December 2012, 12.00 midnight)
What would we do if the Earth were about to be destroyed? EVACUATE EARTH examines this terrifying and scientifically plausible scenario by exploring the technologies we would devise to carry as many humans as possible to safety. In EVACUATE EARTH, we envision a scenario in which a neutron star – tiny and incredibly dense- is flying straight toward our solar system. When it arrives in 75 years, it will pull our planets out of their orbits and shred the planet we live on. Our only choice is band together, create a vast ship and a new drive to power it, and find a new planet in the closest possible solar system to escape to. After a journey of almost a century, the ship will deliver mankind’s remnants to our new home, and the human story will begin again.
End of the World – Omens of the Apocalypse (9 December 2012, 11.00pm)
The year 2011 gets off to a disturbing start. On New Year’s Eve, blackbirds die in Beebe, Arkansas by the thousands. Nearby, fish and more birds perish. Then a wave of unsettling animal deaths seems to sweep the globe. Are the deaths connected? A wide-ranging story begins with an investigation of the blackbirds’ death and ends by assessing how the human mind is inspired, or derailed, by seeming patterns or coincidences in nature.
End of the World – Last Days of Man: Ep 1 (9 December 2012, 12.00 midnight)
In Episode One, Threats from Nature, five potential threats to our survival are investigated. From risks such as collapsing stars and hostile extraterrestrials, which originate in outer space, to more down-to-earth but equally alarming dangers like super volcanoes and natural pandemics, scientists and other experts, outline the risks and potential solutions to humankinds greatest threats.
End of the World – Last Days of Man: Ep 2 (16 December 2012, 12.00 midnight)
In Episode Two, Threats from Mankind, five additional potential threats to our survival are explored, starting with the worst nuclear disasters yet-Chernobyl. From the abandoned city of Pripyat and the Chernobyl disaster, things go from bad to worse as scientists and other experts count down risks and race to find solutions to threats that also include climate catastrophes, doomsday wars, robots who use their artificial intelligence to outsmart us, and synthetic biology gone bad.
End of the World – Mayan Underworld: The Real Doomsday (16 December 2012, 11.00pm)
Host Diego Buñuel ventures deep underwater to vast graveyards of Mayan human sacrifices and through dangerous underground tunnels to new revelations about the Mayan calendar. Ground breaking National Geographic technology, a brilliant SUNSPHERE that turns darkness into day, makes his quest unique. The search leads him to understand more about the mysterious collapse of Mayan civilization over 1000 years ago. And how the Mayan may have forecast the same fate for us. Is the Mayan Doomsday prediction scheduled to happen on December 21, 2012? Should we bother buying Christmas presents? Buñuel has the answers.
