By Hector Saavedra

People are walking down the street; perhaps they are going to the movies, to school, or are on their way to their job on a bright and sunny day when suddenly, all atoms that make up the earth cease to exist. All that was ever known, in an instant, simultaneously vanishes into oblivion.

This is one of the ten possibilities of how the world could end, as posted in livescience.com.

“The odds against this actually ever occurring are considerably greater than a googolplex to one,” wrote Sam Hughes in Livescience.

Hits on the website skyrocketed after an asteroid “buzzed” our planet earlier in the month, creating some chatter about the possibilities of how the earth could end.

Another idea, if one is interested in destroying the earth, is to impact the planet with a blunt instrument. In particular a meteor or another planet could be used. The qualifications to have results are as follows: the object should be falling at a minimum velocity of 11 kilometers per second, “and assuming zero energy loss to heat and other energy forms,” the object should have roughly 60 percent of the mass of the earth, according to Andy Kirkpatrick, who submitted the idea to the web site.

Rocks fall from the sky all the time – none of them have size that could significantly level the earth. Yet on March 2, an asteroid similar to the one that destroyed more than 800 square miles of forest in Siberia a century ago, just hissed by our blue planet. Missing the Earth by about 48,800, the asteroid named 2009 DD45 measured 69 feet and 154 feet in diameter. Though not enough to pulverize the entire planet, the asteroid, if it were to impact, would have to have a higher speed to give humanity the same “hello” it did to the dinosaurs.

According to Kirkpatrick, a smaller rock would also be able to destroy the earth.

“A mega-ton asteroid at 90 percent of the light speed would do just as well,” claimed Kirkpatrick.

Another interesting idea derived from “2010:Odyssey Two” by Arthur C. Clarke, would be to create and allow Neumann machines to end the world. A Neumann machine is “any device that is capable of creating an exact copy of itself given nothing but the necessary raw materials,” according to Livescience.com.

“When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.”- Revelation 11:7.

Although Jesus is said to come back after the seven year period, those who were left behind would have to endure seven long years of famine, destruction, and war.

There have been many occasions in which the end has been prophesied. According to the History Channel, the end was said to be prophesied in 1943. People, expecting their savior Jesus to return, quit their jobs. The end was also said to come in the year 2000 just as the clock ticked to 12 midnight. to welcome the first day of the year. People stocked up on batteries for their flashlights. They bought gallons of water to prepare for the end. But the end never came.

The end is not known to have a definite schedule. Whether people believe in the scientific theory of Doom’s Day, or the religious theory of the prince of evil, there is no telling what will destroy the blue planet.

The Earth may be destroyed in a couple of years, days, hours minutes, or even seconds. According to some, the clock is ticking