The end of the world?

For those who believe in it: hurry, there's not a lot of time left. If you put your trust in the Maya calendar, you only have a couple of hours left before the end of the world on December 21st... You can perhaps do those things you still wanted to do, or try and reach Bugarach in France. There, according to myth, the mountain will split into two halves and aliens will rescue some chosen few.

Those who don't believe will have a good laugh!

But why is it about 10% of the world's population believes in the apocalyps? They will say the Maya calendar - or the thirteenth b'ak'tun - will end on December 21st, but the Maya themselves claim they will only start a new one the day after.

Others say the planets Mercurius, Venus and Saturn will be on one line on that day. According to the believers this is not a coindidence. But our meteorogical instute Mira doesn't understand why people make so much of it. The moon has been closer to earth for hundreds or thousands of times, and yet it has done nothing else but influence ebb and upcoming tide.

Disaster scenario's have existed for ages. The German protestant Luther predicted the end of the world in 1600 en Christopher Columbus believed it would end in 1658. Nostradamus thought the millenium would be disastrous and 2000 would never come. And Jehavah's Witnesses have been 'adjusting' their end of the world a couple of times already...

Naturally, our planet will once cease to exist. It will extinguish in fire and every form of life will be extinguished. Only - it might take up to 5,000,000,000 years!