Wikinews:Bad jokes and other deleted nonsense/World ends
Prepared Story: "World Ends"[edit]
Our World, planet Earth, ended today (insert date) aged approximately 4.55 billion years. The end of the Earth as a platform for sustaining life also brings about the end of human Civilisation.
Obituary: Planet Earth[edit]
The origins of planet Earth are disputed, with various explanations offered by both theologies and science. Many scientists agree that Planet Earth was formed approximately 4.55 billion years (4,550,000,000 years) ago when it - along with eight other planets of the Solar System - coalesced under gravity from the dust, ice and metals of the early solar nebula.
During its early days, known as the Hadean period, the Earth was very different from the planet that ended today. There were no oceans and no oxygen in the atmosphere. Bombarded by material left over from the formation of the solar system, the surface was radioactive and molten. The surface cooled slowly, forming the solid crust within 150 million years. Eventually clouds formed, and rain gave rise to the oceans within 750 million years. Volcanic activity was intense.
Earth's distinguishing characteristic among the planets of the solar system was its ability to support life. The details of the origin of life on Earth are unknown, though it is widely agreed that perhaps around 4 billion years ago a molecule in the chemistry of the early Earth gained the ability to replicate, or make copies of itself. At some point DNA took over the function of the replicator, and virtually all known terrestrial life survive from generation to generation through the action of DNA.
Barring last-minute escape attempts by Human Beings or other terrestrial species, the end of planet Earth, by whatever cause, almost certainly entails the end of this life.
Events leading up to the end of the World[edit]
(Narrative to be completed)
Depictions and predictions of the end of the World[edit]
The end of the World, of planet Earth and human civilisation have been variously predicted in religions, scientific theories and in popular culture. The branch of theology and philosophy concerned with the final events in the history of the world or the ultimate destiny of human kind is knowna as Eschatology.
- Religious predictions of armageddon, the Apocalypse or the End times
- End of the world (philosophy)
- Wikipedia:The End of the World in popular culture
A simple paradox[edit]
This wikinews entry documents an event than will axiomatically entail the end of wikinews, the internet and the human civilisation that underpins them both. This is an example of a simple Paradox. In practical terms this means that, while this entry can document the end of the World as it occurs, it will never be complete or finished.