The End Is Nigh - Again!

It seems no year is complete without a doomsday prediction or two and
-- despite every prophecy to date being demonstrably wrong -- 2015 is
proving no exception, with everyone from evangelical preachers to the
New Zealand Skeptics foreseeing the coming apocalypse.

In the case of the NZ Skeptics, it's because their 2015 Conference
has the theme "Apocalypse How?", taking a look at the many diverse
ways in which the world is supposed to end -- rampant genetic
engineering, hurtling asteroids, zombie invasions, pandemics or
environmental collapse.

"We've lived through the predicted end of the world so many times,
we've lost count," says Skeptics spokesperson Vicki Hyde. "There's
been the Mayan calendar countdown, the Millenium Bug debacle, the May
21 2012 non-rapturous Second Coming, countless comet and asteroid
no-shows, and we're all still here."

There have been dire predictions of world doom this coming week based
on regular lunar eclipse cycles; November is predicted to see no
fewer than three huge asteroid impacts creating massive earthquakes
and tsunami. Hyde is confident that the doomsday dates will pass with
no major incident of note, except for the Skeptics Conference.

"Like all our conferences, there'll be a lot of education and
entertainment. We need to know which end-of-the-world scenarios have
any evidence behind them so we can prepare properly. We predict that
such preparations will not involve digging bunkers, euthanasing pets
or wearing white robes."

The 2015 NZ Skeptics Conference is being held November 20-22, at the
Rochester-Rutherford Halls in Christchurch, and is open to all.
Further information and registrations can be found online at
http://conference.skeptics.nz/

ENDS

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