NASA, Arbiter of the Possible

NASA is sick of having to reassure people that the plot of the most recent Sci-Fi apocalyptic can't happen. Being an agency of action, they've taken two essential steps. First, they set up a 'Refute 2012' website (link).

Next, they decided to release a list of the most absurd science fiction movies that can never happen:

1. 2012 (2009)
2. The Core (2003)
3. Armageddon (1998)
4. Volcano (1997)
5. Chain Reaction (1996)
6. The 6th Day (2000)
7. What The #$*! Do We Know? (2004)

 But, being a nonpartisan government agency, NASA had to address the other side of the spectrum. So they released a list of the most plausible sci-fi movies:

1. Gattaca (1997)
2. Contact (1997)
3. Metropolis (1927)
4. The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
5. Woman In The Moon (1929)
6. The Thing From Another World (1951)
7. Jurassic Park (1993)

So, we may be reassured that whatever went down in '2012' won't, the center of the earth won't need adjustment, Bruce Willis won't be required to nuke asteroids (bummer), a volcano won't erupt from the La Brea tar pits, Arnold Schwarzenegger won't have to confront his clone and decide who's real, and that kid in 'What the #$*! Do We Know" won't be able to be in plenty of different places at once on a basketball court (sorry, I've never seen 'Chain Reaction').

But we should be afraid, too. The list of the plausible movies should fill us with dread, for they do not contain scenes of benevolence. 'Jurassic Park'? Dinosaurs eating people - bad. The robot from 'The Day the Earth Stood Still?' Bad, but at least we know the phrase that shuts him down (Klaatu barada nikto). And 'Metropolis' - a dystopian future with half the population living underground and society run by megalomaniacal industrial overlords?

Eh. Now that I think about it, it doesn't sound too far-off from what we've got now.

Full list - A.V. Club