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Mayan apocalypse: Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver voted favourites to save us

If the end of the world really is nigh, the British public have declared who they want to save them: Bruce Willis and Sigourney Weaver.

The two actors were picked as the Hollywood action heroes best placed to save humanity from the brink of disaster in an online poll of 2,000 Brits.

More than one in four respondents put their faith in Willis, who played Harry Stamper in Armageddon, and Weaver, who was Ellen Ripley in Aliens.

The survey, carried out by OnePoll for online movie provider blinkbox, revealed that 57% of people were aware of the Mayan prophecy of the apocalypse and 13% confessed to being worried.

An asteroid strike was the most likely cause of the end of the world, closely followed by a natural disaster and a nuclear explosion, according to the poll.

Those surveyed also revealed where they would feel safest when the apocalypse arrives: 27% said in an underground bunker and 26% said at home, while 6% picked under a duvet.

Asked which movie best resembled what the end of the world will look like, respondents plumped for The Day After Tomorrow, the 2004 flick in which global warming ushered in a new ice age.

Natalie Haynes, a comedian and regular film reviewer, said: "Hollywood has been obsessed with humankind's imminent demise recently so the hype around the Mayan apocalypse reflects our current neuroses.

"We used to fear manmade crises like nuclear war, but now it all feels beyond our control - whether it's asteroids, plagues or zombies, our imagination has gone wild and more than ever we're wondering who could save us."

Elsewhere Paddy Power released odds for the likelihood that the Mayan prediction will be proved right.

They are offering 5000/1 for the world to end on Dec 21 2012 and 3000/1 for the World to end on any day in 2012.

A Paddy Power spokesperson said: "Whichever way you look at it, the Mayans were capable of some top-class Mystic Meg action.

"Even though we're pretty sure they've over-cooked it and that there won't be an apocalypse any time this December, we do think they foresaw the horrible and devastating end of the world for Simon Cowell with Maloney getting to the X-Factor final.

"You've got to hand it to them."

By Agency staff

Nasa Unveils 'Black Marble' Photos Of The               Earth At Night 

Nasa has unveiled the highest-quality images ever taken of the Earth at night.

The so-called 'Black Marble' photographs offer an "unprecedented new look at our planet", Nasa said.

The images are composites taken from a new NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite.

The pictures "show the glow of natural and human-built phenomena across the planet in greater detail than ever before", the agency added.

The new sensor aboard the Nasa/NOAA craft is sensitive enough to detect the light from a single ship in the sea at night.

Nasa explained:

Satellites in the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program have been making observations with low-light sensors for 40 years. But the VIIRS day-night band can better detect and resolve Earth's night lights.

The new, higher resolution composite image of Earth at night was released at a news conference at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. This and other VIIRS day-night band images are providing researchers with valuable data for a wide variety of previously unseen or poorly seen events.