This isn’t going to happen in 2012! Baseless theories, like a proposed planetary alignment on the scale of this photo illustration, have led many to fear the year 2012 needlessly. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (NASA) photo Rejoice, for the end is nigh. Not of the actual world, of course, but of 2012 ’s marketing campaign. As you are no doubt aware, Roland Emmerich’s end-of-the-world epic, 2012 , opened this weekend. As in Emmerich’s previous movies...

Aliens and science don’t usually go together. Maybe it’s the, let’s say, “disheveled” look of the overly eager UFO enthusiasts and abductees. Both professional and amateur astronomers alike are quick to distance themselves from talk of UFOs. But that is a far cry from saying there is no alien life. While there remains no solid proof of extraterrestrial life, more and more discoveries do seem to hint that it exists. A July paper in the International...