Cinema Arts Centre Huntington, NY
Dr. Kevin Manning
Astrophysicist; NASA Consultant
2012— Are we all doomed come December 21, 2012?
Program Description
Are we all doomed come December 21, 2012? Is the calendar that the ancient Maya of Mexico and Guatemala kept about to roll up the red carpet of time? Dr. Kevin Manning discussed the fiction and truth that inspired Roland Emmerich’s over-the-top disaster flick.
Presented At
Cinema Arts Centre Huntington, NY
Film Synopsis
A frustrated writer struggles to keep his family alive when a series of global catastrophes threatens to annihilate mankind.
Geophysicist Dr. Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), part of a global team investigating the effect on the Earth of solar radiation, discovers that the Earth's core is heating up faster than expected. Meanwhile, sci-fi writer Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) stumbles on the same information. As world leaders race to build arks to escape the impending catastrophe, Curtis struggles to find a way to save his family. The film includes references to the Mayan and Mesoamerican Long Count calendars in its portrayal of the disastrous events.
About the Speaker
Dr. Kevin Manning is a retired astrophysicist, having worked as a consultant with NASA, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory launched on the space shuttle with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and other ground-based observatories. Dr. Manning won national and international awards in his field, and did some work with Brookhaven National Laboratory. Besides the numerous workshops he's presented over the years at libraries, observatories, and science centers, some noteworthy ones include those made at Tufts University, State University of New York at Stony Brook, the NSTA National Convention, AAAS Breakfast with Scientists, and the National Parks Service.