I was chatting to a young friend of mine today whose significant other is a member of the church of Satan - both are limited in formal learning but generally very well informed and he I know has an IQ of about 170.

Apparently the tinfoil hat brigade are predicting the world will end in 2012 thanks to the influence of Wormwood (aka Planet X and a whole lot of other names - which passes regularly at long intervals through our solar system), that it is linked to solar flares readily visible without any equipment at ground level in the UK, that it is linked to the death (already mentioned here) of redwinged blackbirds and fish (allegedly something to do with gamma-rays).

I am also told that factual observations and predictions (the test of the scientific method - formulate null hypothesis and test) are to be found all over the internet - some plainly loopy but others apparently hard to fake and and sober.

About 20 seconds with Mr Google will show that God-botherers are linking the events to many parts of the Bible from Genesis to Revelations.

What does the panel think?