Mayan apocalypse

Stuart Heritage revisits a film – on Channel 5 this Sunday – that finds new ways to obliterate the world

Twitter's king of optimism knights his positive champions of 2012

Jim Al-Khalili: Whether you are commemorating the birth of Jesus or marking all that's positive about humanity, this is a time to rejoice

Our correspondents report on preparations for the apocalypse around the world, which turned out to be unnecessary, and speculate about how and when the Earth will meet its inevitable doom

Guardian science correspondent Alok Jha heads to the Oval cricket ground in south London to explain what the ultimate fate of our universe will be

Guatemalans and tourists say farewell to an era and welcome a new one, when they mark the end of the Mayan long count calendar in Tikal

Shankar Chaudhuri: Even the scholars pushing the theory admit that only a single ancient text contains even the vaguest mention of world's end

Around 5,000 people gather at Stonehenge for a party marking the winter solstice and the end of the 5,124-year cycle of the Mayan calendar

Citlali Rovirosa-Madrazo: The Zapatistas foresaw the long-term dangers of globalisation. So much for the idea that the Maya are a 'thing of the past'