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NASA video crushes 2012 Mayan apocalypse myth
NASA debunks fear of an apocalypse caused by calendars, incoming planets, solar flares and planetary alignments.
Fri, Mar 09 2012 at 9:26 AM
365 DAY: The steps and top platform of El Castillo, the pyramid at Kukulkan, Chichen Itza, represent the days of the year. (Photo: Alaskan Dude/Flickr)
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have put out a new video to address false claims about the "Mayan apocalypse," a non-event that some people believe will bring the world to an end on Dec. 21.
In the video, which was posted online on March 7, Don Yeomans, head of the Near-Earth Objects Program Office at NASA/JPL, explains away many of the most frequently cited doomsday scenarios. [See video]
Addressing the belief that the calendar used by the ancient Mayan civilization comes to a sudden end in December 2012, and that this will coincide with a cataclysmic, world-ending event, Yeomans said: "Their calendar does not end on December 21, 2012; it's just the end of the cycle and the beginning of a new one. It's just like on December 31, our calendar comes to an end, but a new calendar begins on January 1."
Yeomans also attempted to allay fears regarding potential causes of a Mayan apocalypse, including Nibiru, an imaginary planet that some people think is swinging in from the outer solar system just in time to collide with Earth in December. "This enormous planet is supposed to be coming toward Earth, but if it were, we would have seen it long ago. And if it were invisible somehow, we would have seen the [gravitational] effects of this planet on neighboring planets. Thousands of astronomers who scan the sky on a daily basis have not seen this," he said. [Believers In Mysterious Planet Nibiru Await Earth's End]
He added that there is zero possibility of a NASA cover-up. "Can you imagine thousands of astronomers who observe the skies on a daily basis keeping the same secret from the public for several years?"
As for solar flares, Yeomans explained that these do exist — in fact, two massive solar flares erupted just days ago, sending bursts of solar radiation into space — but they are part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle. Radiation from solar flares can damage orbiting satellites, but Earth's magnetosphere shields its inhabitants from the blasts, and the flares are not a health concern.
The well-known stone pictured in the video is actually an Aztec calendar, which was adopted from the Mayan calendar, changing the names of the days and months but following the same method.
"Then we have planetary alignments," Yeomans said. Some doomsayers believe the other planets and the sun will align with the Earth in December and cause catastrophic tidal effects. "Well, first of all, there are no planetary alignments in December of 2012, and even if there were, there are no tidal effects on the Earth as a result. The only two bodies in the solar system that can affect the Earth's tides are the moon, which is very close, and the sun, which is massive and also fairly close. But the other planets have a negligible effect on the Earth."
(Incidentally, it is perfectly normal for the sun and moon to align, bolstering each other's gravitational pulls on Earth and generating higher-than-normal ocean tides. This happens twice each month.)
Addressing the claim that Earth's axes are going to shift on Dec. 21, 2012, he said: "The rotation axis can't shift because the orbit of the moon around the Earth stabilizes it and doesn't allow it to shift." He noted that the magnetic field does shift every half-million years or so, but "there's no evidence it's going to happen in December, and even if it were to be shifting, it takes thousands of years to do so. And even if it did shift, it's not going to cause a problem on the Earth apart from the fact that we're going to have to recalibrate our compasses." [What If Earth's Magnetic Poles Flip?]
Invoking the astronomer Carl Sagan's famous maxim, he said: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Since the beginning of time there have been literally hundreds of thousands of predictions for the end of the world, and we're still here."
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I just hope this end of the world isn't as bad as Y2K. Now that was a close call!
this is not the first time humanity tried to believe and assume that the earth is going to end based on numbers and historical texts luckily the planet where we live is still on a right path for its long journey
He forgot to dispel the one where the government starts rounding up citizens onto traincars and killing them off in droves, and all the rich smart people go live underground beneath the Denver airport built by the Masons and they release a genetically engineered plague on mankind for the sake of nature.
Does that mean its true?
Less than two months away. I'm excited. I want to see how everypony reacts to this. Bet there'll be some suicides among the conspiracy people.
Mayan calendar system and calendar systems of other ancient cultures were based on natural cycles of the sun and moon. So the ancient calendars are cyclic and do not have the end or beginning. If you are interested in modern model of calendar based on cycles of the sun and moon I advise you to visit the website http://sunmooncalendar.com
Whatever. Wake me when the world *doesn't* end.
Duh.. been telling you this for years! It's your people that have been blowing up this panic, for whatever reason.. Not even trying to understand. Oh, but now, you've got it all figured out.. haha!
even if, let it come
While pondering space, other planetary systems etc I come to the conclusion that things will be whatever they are when they get there.. now, 5 minutes, or in distant years. Is there anything we can do to stop this? No! Instead of looking for doomsday live good in today.. this is the only thing we can be sure of. Yes space science is really interesting, good things to know are there. Still live for today.
Also, the Temple of the Sun in Chichin Itza is Aztec.
"The well-known stone pictured in the video is actually an Aztec calendar[.]"
THANK YOU. Thank you, thank you thank you. It drives me nuts that people don't know the difference, but they don't know because no one bothers to point out that there is a difference. But you did, and that is beautiful and good.
I also was wondering why it is referred to as Mayan. When I was in Mexico City I purchased a poster of the Sun Stone or Aztec Calendar with extensive explanation by Robert Sieck Flandes
How many civilisations have come and gone? Will the current one be the first one that never dies?
The end will come, it's only a matter of time...foolish mortals.
WELL WHAT ARE YOU THEN? - Monty Python
Nice to have someone with clout debunk them. I keep pointing at the sun and mentioning 11 year solar cycles.
I am 71, and have lived through 6 of them. The world has yet to end.
That just proves how easily people are fooled. Just like religion, say this and mean that. People are so easily brainwashed....
maya calander as 1 years diference,weth modern calander.apocalip next years?
your mestop anonymous/jean claude landry,fix soon,all by back...
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