NASA publishes article debunking 2012 theories

3 News.co.nz ^ | 11/17/2009 | Dan Satherley

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

NASA scientists are sick of being asked if the world is going to end in 2012 – so much in fact, they've published an article on their website explaining just why it's a load of rubbish.

The release of Roland Emmerich's blockbuster film 2012, in which John Cusack's character Jackson Curtis has to deal with the end of the world, has only made matters worse.

There are several theories as to how the world is supposed to end, most of which focus on a particular date - December 21. The best-known is that relating to the Mayan 'long-count' calendar, which some say ends on December 20 and begins anew the following day – much like our modern calendar ends on December 31, and begins anew the next day.

Unfortunately for its modern-day adherents, it was already out of use by the time of Spanish colonisation in the 1500s, and there is little consensus on the exact start date of the current long-count cycle or what its renewal actually meant to the ancient Mayan civilisation.

NASA points out that doomsday was originally set for May 2003, but combined with a different Mayan calendar and shifted to 2012 when nothing happened.

Another theory says a planetary alignment will impact the Earth negatively, but according to NASA no such alignments are going to happen in the next few decades.

Nor will crossing the galactic plane (when the solar system crosses the centre line of the Milky Way galaxy) cause any problems, as that happens every year with no consequence.

[muddler]

Your billions of tax dollars at work.

[TigersEye]

Are they sure?

[Crim]

As sure as there are about the global ice age...er...global warming...er climate change....

hrm...time to build an arc?

[Crim]

Although an ARK might be more useful....dumbass...

der...

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

I believe NASA than Roland Emmerich.Its just a movie.

[TigersEye]

I’m going to call NASA just to be sure. ;^)

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

First it was CNN fact checking a SNL skit, now NASA debunking 2012...

Did I miss something... did we get groundhogs day and April Fools Day all mixed up or something?

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Be sure to call Caltech and JPL too.

[TigersEye]

I’m going to get away in a hot air balloon. Not a silver one though.

[TigersEye]

And the USGS.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

You Bet

:)

[Las Vegas Dave]

News flash:
Various guests on George Noory's Coast to Coast AM radio show have stated, "...Not enough books have been sold, (to get the word out, of course), doomsday has been officially postponed to 2021....

< /humor >

[TigersEye]

And the Chamber of Commerce. I want a variety of opinions.

And escape routes.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

LOL

[ntmxx]

I guess they don’t want to be saddled with another hoax, like the last one they went along with; while getting paid for looking the other way.

[1776 Reborn]

“I guess they don’t want to be saddled with another hoax, like the last one they went along with”

Y2K, 2012, Obama??? (;^)

[Gamecock]

I will be more than happy to bet any takers $1,000,000 that the world WILL NOT end in 2012.

Any takers?

[SunkenCiv]

Nibiru -- Armageddon Planet or Astronomical Baloney? My Take: Conspiracy theorists are convinced that a rogue planet is bound to doom Earth in 2012. NASA astronomer David Morrison gives his take. Wed Oct 01 2008 06:59 PM ET | content provided by David Morrison

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[Sherman Logan]

The world may indeed end in 2012, but there is nothing resembling scientific evidence that it will.

We cannot say it won’t, only that there is no known reason it should.

For that matter, it might end 10 minutes from now.