How to Survive the Apocalypse

Scientists are busy debunking growing urban legend

(NEWSER) - The statement issued by a Los Angeles observatory and Sky & Telescope magazine this week says it all: "The world will not come to an end on Dec. 21, 2012." It seems a confluence of events—the coming end of the Mayan calendar, for one, and the marketing of a new apocalyptic movie, for another—is fueling hysteria that Armageddon is just a few years away. It's reached such a fever pitch that scientists who would normally ignore such things have to keep reassuring people that it's all hokum, reports the LA Times. More»

World will end in 2012: Sony site

(NEWSER) - The latest Armageddon hoax has a marketing spin that LiveScience's Robert Roy Britt describes as a "sick twist." Sony Pictures went to elaborate lengths to disguise its movie plug on the "Institute for Human Continuity" website, which warns of "cataclysmic events that will devastate our planet" in 2012—a date that is also, not so coincidentally, the title of an upcoming Sony film. More»

(NEWSER) - A helicopter ferrying workers to oil rigs off Canada’s Atlantic coast crashed into the ocean today, killing at least one, the Telegram of St. John’s, Newfoundland, reports. One passenger has been rescued, but 16 more remain lost. The chopper reported engine trouble prior to ditching about 40 miles offshore. “The helicopter is not on the surface of the water any more, and the search effort is going on,” an official said. More»

Adams describes horror after eighth body is recovered

(NEWSER) - One of three survivors of Sunday's devastating avalanche in British Columbia says it was a "gut-wrenching" decision to leave behind eight of his friends—whose buried bodies he since helped recover. Fearing another rush of snow, Jeff Adams left the site with two others. The experienced sledders, all close friends, knew about the weather warnings and took along avalanche gear, reports the Globe and Mail. More»