Apocalypse Now: why the movies want the world to end every year

The last few years have begun with predictions of the Apocalypse hanging over us. The Rapture was supposed to come in 2011, with US preacher Harold Camping first saying it would come in May then readjusting his sights to October. Last year, of course, brought us predictions of the Mayan Apocalypse, which passed with lots of parties but no lasting fireworks. With solar activity expected to reach a cyclical peak in 2013, this year was shaping up as another big year for apocalyptic fears, however NASA have recently downgraded their predictions for solar storms. So does this mean that we can have a year off apocalyptic frenzies? Probably not.