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futurism
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Apocalypse
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futurism
evolution
The Ancient Apocalypse
Finally, a reason to think we'll survive the next apocalypse. Last week, a study that traced the origins of humans through mitochondrial DNA concluded that 70,000 years ago humanity underwent its greatest disaster ever. Africa experienced a massive drought at the time and it devastated our population, leaving perhaps as few as 2,000 people alive on the entire planet. Yet somehow we recovered — a warm thought for all the cold nights we spend dreading nuclear war, the next pandemic, dwindling water and food supplies, and global warming. More »
radiation
One Pill Could Cure Radiation Sickness
Radiation exposure is going to be a serious problem after the nuclear apocalypse, or when your orbital home is going to be bombarded with plenty of dangerous cosmic radiation from solar flares. And in fact, it's already a problem now in many workplaces where people work with radioactive materials. But a solution may be in sight with a new pill, Protectan, that developer Cleveland BioLabs promises can prevent radiation sickness. More »
art
Photoimagist Carl Warner depicts what the apocalypse and beyond might look like in a captivating series of food shots staged to look like scenery. In this piece, a black olive-and-watermelon ship sails through a sea of cabbage seeking revenge on vegetarians who have virtually annihilated the entire fruit and vegetable population. More vegetable landscapes below.
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Postapocalyptic Images Made Out of Food
Photoimagist Carl Warner depicts what the apocalypse and beyond might look like in a captivating series of food shots staged to look like scenery. In this piece, a black olive-and-watermelon ship sails through a sea of cabbage seeking revenge on vegetarians who have virtually annihilated the entire fruit and vegetable population. More vegetable landscapes below.More »
poll
Now That Plagues Are Played Out, What Should Be Movies' Next Apocalypse?
We fell in love with Doomsday's plague-quarantine horror, but sadly the rest of the world failed to fall with us. And maybe the failure of yet another movie about a deadly virus wrecking civilization means that people are finally sick of plagues? After I Am Legend, 28 Days/Weeks, and countless others, it's time for something else to take its turn crashing everything down. What do you think should be our new global disaster movie meme? More »
retro-futurism
Russians prepare to parade nuclear missiles through Red Square as part of the annual Victory Day celebrations. The procession of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, a scary Cold War tradition, ended after the Soviet Union fell, but now Russia is reviving it. Call it apocalyptic retro-futurist nostalgia. Or maybe just overcompensation. Either way, Russians will be screaming and maybe throwing their underwear at these shiny gray WMDs. A gallery of weapon-porn, after the jump.
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Nuclear Missiles Are Rock Stars In Moscow
Russians prepare to parade nuclear missiles through Red Square as part of the annual Victory Day celebrations. The procession of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, a scary Cold War tradition, ended after the Soviet Union fell, but now Russia is reviving it. Call it apocalyptic retro-futurist nostalgia. Or maybe just overcompensation. Either way, Russians will be screaming and maybe throwing their underwear at these shiny gray WMDs. A gallery of weapon-porn, after the jump.
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disaster
These modular, snap-together housing units were developed to aid in disaster relief for a potential hurricane in New York City. But to us they look a lot more like something we'd use in San Francisco after the next Big One. After San Francisco's devastating 1906 earthquake, people moved into tiny shacks in Golden Gate Park (a few of the shacks still exist). These habitats are this century's answer to the earthquake shack: they can snap together in an infinite variety of combinations and are covered with inflatable, water-resistant shell. Check out the future of San Francisco housing below.
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Instant, Inflatable Housing For San Francisco's Next Quake
These modular, snap-together housing units were developed to aid in disaster relief for a potential hurricane in New York City. But to us they look a lot more like something we'd use in San Francisco after the next Big One. After San Francisco's devastating 1906 earthquake, people moved into tiny shacks in Golden Gate Park (a few of the shacks still exist). These habitats are this century's answer to the earthquake shack: they can snap together in an infinite variety of combinations and are covered with inflatable, water-resistant shell. Check out the future of San Francisco housing below.
More »
australia is doomed
Seven Reasons Why Australia is the Most Apocalyptic Country
Ever since On the Beach was published in 1957, Australia has been the country we think of when we think "global apocalypse." That might be because people fantasize it's the one continent that will escape nuclear fallout. Or because it's so remote that people north of the equator imagine it as a savage wasteland of mutations. Either way, Australia is the coolest spot to stage the end of the world. The inspirations for that come from fiction and nonfiction. Check out our list of the reasons Down Under is going down. More »
review
Last night the two-hour post apocalyptic documentary Life After People aired on The History Channel, and it was awesome. As astrophysicist and author David Brin puts it in the film, "We're the first generation that could, by deliberate actions, cause its own doom." Find out what the Earth would do once we vacate, and check out some clips.
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Dogs Rule The Planet In 'Life After People'
Last night the two-hour post apocalyptic documentary Life After People aired on The History Channel, and it was awesome. As astrophysicist and author David Brin puts it in the film, "We're the first generation that could, by deliberate actions, cause its own doom." Find out what the Earth would do once we vacate, and check out some clips.
More »
life after people
New Television Series Examines Life Without Humans
Movies like The Mist, I Am Legend, and Cloverfield depict aliens, monsters from the briny deep, and superviruses hell-bent on driving people out of the cities and off the face of the Earth. But what would really happen tomorrow if everyone suddenly vanished today? A new series on the History Channel called Life After People asks that exact question, and while it looks a bit like 12 Monkeys, it also looks utterly fascinating. Plus their tagline "Welcome To Earth, Population: 0" actually sounds like a great scifi series. Catch it this coming Monday on The History Channel.
apocalypse
Sunspot Announces New Cycle, End of the World
Mark your calendars - It may not feel like it, but last Friday was potentially the start of the end of the world. Friday, you see, saw the identification that a new 11-year solar cycle has started (as Charlie pointed out) and according to many, when solar cycles peak, so does societal and cultural revolution (look here for evidence of that theory, skeptics). According to New Scientist, we're still a few years away from the peak of this cycle — some researchers predict 2011 and others 2012. Wait... 2012? That date sounds familiar. Something to do with Timewave Zero. More »
apocalypse
Searches for "End of the World" Are Skyrocketing on the Internets
Smartypants futurist Jamais Cascio has noticed something especially eschatological in the search logs for his blog, Open the Future. A few months ago, "end of the world" suddnely become the most popular search term leading people to his writing. Just to illustrate the weirdness, he's created a graph showing how the phrase stacked up against other search terms like "anthrax" and "astroid strike." Check out the results, with handy color coding. More »
afterburn
A giant solar flare hits the Earth and decimates the entire Eastern hemisphere, killing millions of people and mutating others into hideous creatures. Would you run for the hills or start trying to save the world's greatest art treasures? Most people would probably be busy building a seriously badass underground bunker rather than thinking about the fate of the Mona Lisa while avoiding mutants and marauding pirates, but the heroes of the new comic book miniseries Afterburn coming next month from Red 5 Comics. Preview panels after the jump.
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Solar Flare Divides World Into Pirates and Art Collectors
A giant solar flare hits the Earth and decimates the entire Eastern hemisphere, killing millions of people and mutating others into hideous creatures. Would you run for the hills or start trying to save the world's greatest art treasures? Most people would probably be busy building a seriously badass underground bunker rather than thinking about the fate of the Mona Lisa while avoiding mutants and marauding pirates, but the heroes of the new comic book miniseries Afterburn coming next month from Red 5 Comics. Preview panels after the jump.
More »
apocalypse
A List of All the Ways We Imagine Los Angeles Being Destroyed
Sure it's cool to destroy New York, but it's even cooler to destroy Los Angeles. That's why Omega Man, the 1970s version of I Am Legend, took place in Los Angeles. Viral decimation is only one of the many ways LA has been crushed, according to a 1998 book by Mike Davis, Ecology of Fear, in which the irascible social critic gives us a helpful list of how LA is destroyed in 145 scifi/disaster novels. Of course nukes top the list, with a whopping 49 books wiping out LA in a big blast. But you'll be surprised by some of the lesser-known forms of LA-elimination. More »
i am legend
A trailer for the upcoming movie I Am Legend shows Will Smith and his canine buddy wandering an entirely empty New York City. But that's nothing new. Hollywood has always loved to show one of the most bustling cities on the planet smashed to hell and emptied of human life. Check out our list of movies that crush New York under their boots. Special bonus: click through our gallery featuring emptied-out NY, with many mangled Statues of Liberty.
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Movies That Smash the Statue of Liberty
A trailer for the upcoming movie I Am Legend shows Will Smith and his canine buddy wandering an entirely empty New York City. But that's nothing new. Hollywood has always loved to show one of the most bustling cities on the planet smashed to hell and emptied of human life. Check out our list of movies that crush New York under their boots. Special bonus: click through our gallery featuring emptied-out NY, with many mangled Statues of Liberty.
More »
poll
Chances are the seeds of the end of the world are already in our midst. But which technology that we embrace to our bosoms will end everything? Help us decide, before it's too late!
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Which Current Technology Will Destroy The World?
Chances are the seeds of the end of the world are already in our midst. But which technology that we embrace to our bosoms will end everything? Help us decide, before it's too late! More »
southland tales
Southland Tales Devolves Into Artistic Apocalypse
Southland Tales was eagerly anticpated by fans who loved director Richard Kelly's cult hit Donnie Darko, but. But the weird movie that blended musical comedy with post-apocalyptic LA is getting raked across the coals by reviewers. Kelly was able to sign up talent like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott and Justin Timberlake, but even this A-list Oscar crowd of thespians couldn't save the flick from itself. More »
movies
