SCIENCE

Getting a ticket for prime seats in a major global or international event such as the Olympics opening or the Miss Universe beauty pageant would cost hundreds of dollars. However, one universal event that people all over the world are anticipating could be viewed anywhere. All that people have to do on midnight of Dec 21, 2012 to see if the end-of-the-world prediction would come to pass or be classified a hoax is to bring out a chair and a telescope on the front yard and gaze at the sky.

One of the most well-loved Bible stories is Noah's ark, which has apparently inspired Liu Qiyuan, a Chinese inventor, to come up with a 21st century version of the ark designed to withstand a doomsday predicted on Dec 21, 2012 by the Mayan calendar.

Music has long been considered a refuge of people and artists from global problems. At the same time, songs are a good way to express one's sentiment about different events in one's life, including lost love, considered by some as akin to the end of the world.

Scientists are often perceived as serious human beings. However, a released video of NASA Johnson Space Center’s own version of Korean superstar Psy’s hit single “Gangnam Style” proved that they certainly know how to lighten up and have fun.

While explanations from scientists and religious leaders have allayed apprehension of a doomsday over the end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar, two events that happened in the past few days may arouse again fears of an end-of-the-world scenario.

In three days, the world will know if the Mayan Calendar prophecy is just a prediction gone wrong or there is an actual truth about an Armageddon tied to the end of their calendar cycle.

Many are wondering if the Mayan Calendar 2012 is true and if the world will meet its end on Friday, December 21.

"If you're watching this video, it means one thing: the world didn't end yesterday," begins a NASA video of Mayan calendar doomsday debunking. Obviously, the video was supposed to be released Dec. 22, 2012.

Australia's efforts to save the Great Barrier Reef will be judged by the United Nations' environmental arm UNESCO in 2013, a deadline that will likely push efforts to the limits as this would be a make or break for the tourist attraction if t it is deserving as UNESCO's World Heritage site and worth to be preserved.

It has been a hot debate whether the world will end on Friday, December 21, as per the infamous Mayan Calendar 2012.

The Mayans had in no certain terms predicted the planet will explode or implode on Dec. 21, 2012. But some people still worry, and many of them are calling institutions like NASA to ask doomsday questions. The scientists, in turn, have repeatedly assured those who are panicking that Earth remains safe in 2012.

Sky-gazers can still catch an amazing view of the 2012 Geminid meteor shower. Traces of the meteor shower will be visible this afternoon at about 2 p.m. (AEDT) while its peak is expected to occur once again at approximately 6 p.m. (AEDT).

U.S. space agency NASA said this week that the annual Geminid meteor shower is set to reach its peak between Dec.13 and 14, specifically during pre-dawn hours though some astronomers have indicated that specks of the spectacle could remain visible up to Dec 16.

The fear that the world would end on Dec 21, 2012, caused by an apparent wrong interpretation of the Mayan Long Count Calendar, has created a loud buzz in the scientific and religious spheres. Doomsday scenarios are actually not new to mankind, with one of the first apocalyptic fear caused way back in 79 AD when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the Italian city of Pompeii. The volcanic ash spewed by the volcano appeared to be a fulfillment of the prediction of Seneca, a Roman philosopher, t...

After eternally bashed for its defective iPhone iOS 6 mapping system, which had led numerous tourists to Australia to get lost in the land Down Under, Apple has finally released the much reliable and dependable Google Maps app for its Apple iPhone products.

Sky-gazers can witness another exceptional visual feast up in the sky. The 2012 Geminid meteor shower, which scientists claim as the most intense meteor shower of the year, is expected to peak between December 13 and 14.

The Dec 21, 2012 doomsday prediction based on the Mayan calendar has split the world with believers on one side and non-believers on the other side. Their course of action as the so-called apocalypse date fast approaches indicates how people view the prediction - either with disdain or belief.

Just when people are talking about the Mayan calendar end of the world predictions, an asteroid called 2012 XE54 narrowly missed Earth Tuesday, Dec. 11. The 3-mile-long asteroid 4179 Toutatis was still in the process of orbiting Earth when the newfound asteroid buzzed the planet - at a distance closer than the moon.

Massive asteroid 4179 Toutatis, which is approximately 3 miles wide, will appear the closest within 4.3 million miles to planet Earth on early Wednesday morning. Spectators can view the extraordinary phenomenon on their computers.

While many people believe the apocalypse prediction of the Mayan calendar would take place on Dec 21, majority of people see humour in the end-of-the-world prediction, while businesses hear the ka-ching of the cash register.

The Mayan calendar end of the world 2012 predictions does not mention asteroid Toutatis, but it is going to buzz Earth in two days. Does it pose any threat to the planet?

With the December showing of the Peter Jackson-movie The Hobbits: An Unexpected Journey, interest in hobbits is on the rise again. On the same week that the movie starts to show in different global cities, an Australian anthropologist made public her use of forensic facial reconstruction methods to come up with a 2D image of the Flores hobbit.

In the run-up to the Dec 21, 2012 doomsday scenario caused by global concern over an end-of-the-world possibility based on Mayan calendar predictions, French authorities have prevented access to the Bugarach Mountain.

Scientists are frequently being seen on the media these days, speaking about the apocalypse and Dec. 21 end of the world scenarios associated to the Mayan calendar. Find out what have they been saying.

Sir Patrick Moore, the world-renowned British astronomer whose works advanced the study of space and encouraged the common folk to "look up," died Sunday at his West Sussex home. He was 89. A series of tributes flooded Twitter and Tumblr following the announcement of Sir Patrick's death.

While many rationale and thinking people dismiss the Dec 21, 2012 end-of-the-world doomsday prediction as a hoax, the speculations had caused a global buzz with different groups contributing their two-cents' worth of advice.

NASA grieves over the loss of space spider “Nefertiti” last Monday at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. after surviving 100 days in outer space aboard the International Space Station. The experiment mission was designed to conclude if a spider dependent on gravity while catching their food can settle in and survive in micro gravity.

'Rodent life on Mars?' This is the idea raised by a UFO hunter this week. There is an ongoing debate among those who have scrutinized on YouTube the NASA photo supposedly taken by Mars' rover Curiosity. The still image could be that of a rock or a rodent. What do you see?

PacX Wave Glider, the self-controlled swimming robot, reached Australia on Thursday, Dec 6, after a 9,000-nautical mile journey from San Francisco over one year.