12/12/12 Is it the end?

1/25/12

The sun erupted late on January 22, 2012 with an M8.7 class flare, an earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME), and a burst of fast moving, highly energetic protons known as a "solar energetic particle" event. The latter has caused the strongest solar radiation storm since September 2005 according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.

NASA's Goddard Space Weather Center's models predict that the CME is moving at almost 1,400 miles per second, and could reach Earth's magnetosphere -- the magnetic envelope that surrounds Earth -- as early as tomorrow, Jan 24 at 9 AM ET (plus or minus 7 hours). This has the potential to provide good auroral displays, possibly at lower latitudes than normal.

1/16/12

A cruise ship with over 4-thousand people on board has grounded off Italy's north-west coast. At least 3 bodies have been recovered, with more than a dozen others still missing. Most of those on board the Costa Concordia were evacuated from the vessel after it hit a reef near the Island of Giglio, late on Friday. Passengers reported a loud bang during dinner, and were told the ship had stopped because of electrical problems.

2/18/11

THE date for Armageddon has been set - and it's not going to happen in 2012, so say Russian scientists.

The scientists claim April 13, 2036 is the day that the Apophis asteroid is most likely to hit the earth.

"Apophis will approach Earth at a distance of 37,000-38,000 kilometers on April 13, 2029," Professor Leonid Sokolov of the St Petersburg State University told Ria Novosti.

"Its likely collision with Earth may occur on April 13, 2036."

You might have noticed he used the word "may."

Asteroid 99942 Apophis was first discovered to be in the earth's impact zone back in 2004, and at roughly 300m wide, is estimated to be able to hit the earth with the force equivalent to somewhere around two Krakatoas.

Apophis could land anywhere in a streak that runs from the Middle East through the tip of South America to the west coast of Africa, according to a paper delivered to the 2007 Planetary Defense Conference.