THANKS FOR THE GOOD TIMES

Bad news - we are way past our 'extinct by' date (Robin McKie, The Observer, March 13th, 2005)

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice, wrote Robert Frost. But whatever is to be our fate, it is now overdue. After analysing the eradication of millions of ancient species, scientists have found that a mass extinction is due any moment now.

Their research has shown that every 62 million years - plus or minus 3m years - creatures are wiped from the planet's surface in massive numbers.

And given that the last great extinction occurred 65m years ago, when dinosaurs and thousands of other creatures abruptly disappeared, the study suggests humanity faces a fairly pressing danger. Even worse, scientists have no idea about its source.

'There is no doubting the existence of this cycle of mass extinctions every 62m years. It is very, very clear from analysis of fossil records,' said Professor James Kirchner, of the University of California, Berkeley. 'Unfortunately, we are all completely baffled about the cause.'

Oh cheer up, it might spare us and take the black fly.

Forgive the self-reference, but I'm collecting parallels between modern natural and evolutionary history and the Judeo-Christian biblical account. So far I have the order of creation, the expulsion from Eden (The trek out of East Africa), climatic catastrophe (Noah), the radical new light of Chrisitianity (The Enlightenment) and now the imminent end of the world. Any others?