The United States of Armageddon

“There have been end-of-the-world predictions every few years throughout history, really,” said astronomer David Morrison, head of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in Mountain View, Calif. “We had two or three last year.”

Though Morrison and other scientists work hard to tamp down fears of Comet Elenin, the mythical planet Nibiru and other supposed agents of impending doom, their voices of reason have a hard time being heard these days.

“We are completely drowned out by the doomsayers on the Internet,” Morrison said. “It’s very hard for the truth to even get a hearing.”