Key Takeaways:
Every few years, a crackpot comes forward with a new “Armageddon from space” theory to scare those who performed poorly on the SATs. The current version has the doomsday clock ticking down toward the 2012 winter solstice — 5 years from now. Because this prediction has already spawned more than 100 books, astronomers might want to know enough about it to answer any questions.