Apocalypse Not Now

There has been much speculation about the world ending on the 21st December 2012. As we have seen, it did not. But why was there so much hype surrounding this date? Let's find out.

NASA released a video intended to be watched on the 22.12.2012 about why the world didn't end yesterday. It shows that if the world were to end soon, we would know about it and explains some of the reasons why this canard has been going on for so long and why some people have been believing it since 1975.


First of all, let's start with the Mayan Calendar. The Mayan Calendar is an ancient system used by the Mayan civilizations. It was developed approximately 5,125 years ago and the Mayan creation date is said to be 13.0.0.0.0. and on the 21st December 2012, it will be the end of the 13th b'ak'tun (a Mayan measure of time) and that will draw the conclusion of the Great Cycle of the Long Count, but just as your calendar at home ends and you buy a new one, a new long count begins.. According to the Mayan beliefs, there have been three worlds before our's and on the final day of the 13th b'ak'tun, each world was destroyed by the Gods as they were unhappy with them. We are now the 4th world and the Mayans believed the same fate would befall us.


Rumours of how the world will end are varied, but the most common story is of Planet X and Nibiru (both fictional) colliding with the Earth and annihilating the human race and causing cataclysmic destruction on Earth. This obviously didn't happen and scientists have repeatedly disproved the existence of these planets. Another rumour is of alignment of the planets, an innocuous phenomenon that has happened many times before, most recently in the 1960's. And the final one is solar flares, which as I'm sure many of you know are harmless and have no current potential to eradicate our planet.


To conclude, no extermination imminent, nothing to worry about. If ever the Earth is at risk of destruction, I'm sure no-one reading this now will be here in 3.5 billion years.

Star Wars 7,8 & 9 - Good News?

There is going to be more Star Wars! Yay, right? It's what every Star Wars fan has been waiting for, but are we sure it's the right thing for the saga? The original Star Wars trilogy was created in the 70's and 80's, leaving so many questions unanswered: Where did Darth Vader come from? How did the Emperor build his empire? Who is Luke's mother? What was the Jedi Council? I could go on for a lot longer. All of these questions were unanswered before the prequels were made. The prequels were necessary to answer those questions and tie-up loose ends. But with every possible anomaly solved, do we really need more sequels?


Disney bought the Star Wars franchise a couple of months ago and have announced their plans to make more films, but why do we need more? Star Wars ended in Return of the Jedi with the death of Yoda (sorry for the spoiler, but if you didn't know that, you really shouldn't be reading this post!) and Luke being the last of the Jedi. How will they make three more films with that preset? It will certainly be a challenge. It is rumoured that the stories will be about Luke's son, although Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher have all said they would be willing to return. If the three protagonists do return, it would be somewhat unnerving to see the beloved characters middle-aged and beyond, as when we last saw them, they were in there late twenties, so it would feel peculiar seeing them at any other age. On the other hand, leaving Luke, Han and Leia out of the films would make it feel too distant from the original films, and would make it feel like a new set of films entirely. I sincerely hope that they keep C-3PO and R2-D2 will continue on in the films to maintain the tradition.


Although the prospect of further episodes seems relatively new, George Lucas had in fact been planning the episodes since the 1980's. Lucas stated in 1980 that the new films would begin between 20 and 30 years after Return of the Jedi and would be about the rebuilding of the Republic. Lucas abandoned the idea in 1999, telling Starlog Magazine:

Q. Does that mean you won't do episodes seven, eight and nine?

Lucas: I will not do seven, eight and nine.

Q: You will not? Will they be made by somebody else?

Lucas: No. They will not.

Q: So this trilogy ends it?

Lucas: This is it. This is all there is. 

Now onto directors. A director has not yet been confirmed, but there has been much speculation as to who it could or should be. Peter Jackson seems a bit implausible, but many other Sci-fi and noted film writers could be a possibility. Who do you think it should be?

Who do you want to be the director to the Star Wars sequels?

Jon Favreau

David Yates

Louis Letterier

Brad Bird

Barry Sonnefield

Create your own poll

The purchase of Star Wars by Disney is thought by many to be a big money-making scheme, and the film will be of poor quality because they were poorly thought out and as long as they have made films, Disney will be rolling in the money. But is that the intention? Or are Disney just trying to reinvigorate the magic of Star Wars? Who knows? We'll find out in 2015!