With the Mayan apocalypse fast approaching, now is the time to start doing the things you've always wanted to do. So if you've ever wanted to stay on a private island, gamble with your life savings, or treat yourself to the best meal on Earth, you've got one day to do it. To help you decide how to spend December 21st, the day the world is supposed to end, we've put together a list of some of the experiences you need to experience before the apocalypse approaches.
A little for fun, a little for real. The world is supposed to end today. Again. At least this is what conspiracy theorists claim, who say that the Mayans, who predicted the end of the world on December 21, 2012, were wrong, and that it should end today, December 21, 2020. The Earth should thus enter a new era, or the Solar maximum when it will interact with a supermassive black hole, resulting in a collision with the planet Nibiru.
What will really happen? A great conjunction of planets!
We will soon witness a rare planetary alignment not seen for 800 years. Astronomers use the word conjunction to describe the meetings of planets and other objects in the sky. The term grand conjunction describes the meeting of the two largest planets in our solar system, mighty Jupiter and majestic Saturn. The next great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will be today, December 21, 2020. This date also happens to be the date of the December solstice. This will be the first Jupiter-Saturn conjunction since 2000, and the closest Jupiter-Saturn encounter since 1623, just 14 years after Galileo built his first telescope. At their closest, Jupiter and Saturn will be just 0.1 degrees apart, which is a fifth of the diameter of the full moon.
Such close conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn it won't be until March 15, 2080! So look to the sky tonight to see this rare phenomenon that will be visible until the end of 2020!
But if the world really does end, we have some suggestions for what you can do today!
1. Take off your clothes, it's going to get very hot. If the world ends today and the sun expands as it uses up the last of its hydrogen, it will get very warm. Clothes will only add to the heat. It's better to either strip the script or go to another Earth-like planet. Imagine doing that and then realizing that the world didn't really end. Then you should worry about something else...
2. Tell people exactly what you think of them. Tell your crush that you like them, tell the people around you how you feel about them.
3. Have fun like there's no tomorrow (maybe there really isn't). Have the last party of your life! In the last minutes, shake hands with family and friends, sit down and wait for the end.
4. Go to a bike shop and ride them back and forth until they kick you out.
5. Visit all the places in the world you haven't been before. At least virtually. The problem is that all flights are most likely cancelled.
6. Have sex!
7. Listen to The Final Countdown for Europe! This is, well, the final countdown!
