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20/20
Air Date: Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Time Slot: 9:00 PM-11:00 PM EST on ABC
Episode Title: "N/A"
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]

�LAST DAYS ON EARTH�

Seizing the Future: Seven Ways the World Could End and What We Can Do To Save It, A Two-hour �20/20� Special Anchored by Elizabeth Vargas, Airing Wednesday, August 30

�We have come to learn that the universe has no shortage of ways it can kill us.� Dr. Neil Tyson, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History

How smart are we as a civilization? Smart enough to control our own destiny and avoid the cataclysms that could end life as we know it? Using state-of-the-art computer-generated graphics and interviews with the world�s top scientists, �Last Days on Earth� will take viewers inside seven of the deadliest threats to humanity. Some have the power to render us extinct, others can destroy the planet; all could entail the end of our civilization. How likely are they to occur, what exactly would happen if they did, and could we survive? Anchored by Elizabeth Vargas, �Last Days on Earth,� a 20/20 special, airs WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30 (9:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

�Last Days on Earth� goes beyond science fiction to science fact, as it takes viewers on a roller-coaster ride through black holes, intelligent robots, asteroid strikes and super-plagues. Viewers will journey from the outer reaches of the universe to the inner world of DNA, with a round-the-globe tour in between. The goal of the broadcast is to enlighten viewers with knowledge that could help diminish the likelihood of some of these doomsday scenarios.

�Of all the generations of humans that have walked the surface of the earth for 100,000 years, going back when we first left Africa, the generation now alive is the most important. The generation now alive, the generation that you see looking around you, for the first time in history is the generation that controls the destiny of the planet itself,� says Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics, City University of New York.

The deadly scenarios include:

� Death of a Star: Gamma Ray Burst and Black Hole

� Machines � Artificial Intelligence

� Super Volcano, including one in Yellowstone National Park

� Asteroid Strike

� Nuclear War

� Germs/Disease: Plague and Bioterrorism

� Global Warming/Climate Change

�Last Days on Earth� is anchored by Elizabeth Vargas. Rudy Bednar is the executive producer. Michael Bicks is the senior producer.

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