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NASA Tells Us Why The World Won't End With The Mayan Calendar Next Week
December 21, 2012, is a day that has been circled on the calendars of conspiracy theorists and doomsday soothsayers for quite some time now. That's the day that the Mayan Calendar comes to an end, which has led some to believe that the world will be snuffed out along with it. If you buy into any of these theories, you're probably already preparing for the end in whatever way you find most suitable, whether that means finding peace with your maker or preparing to party like it is literally your last day on Earth.Before you do anything too rash, like go on a "there is no tomorrow" shopping spree or give away all of your worldly possessions, you may want to have a look at this video. It comes our way courtesy of NASA and explains in four short minutes exactly why the world isn't coming to an end next week. It turns out that much like our own modern calendar, the Mayan version isn't actually ending so much as it's just rolling over to begin again. The rocket scientists (no, really they are!) at the space agency are so confident that we'll all be here the day after the predicted cataclysmic event that they've even post-dated the video for December 22.
This is good news for anyone who has been reluctant to make any long-term plans for post 12/21/2012. If you've been holding off on booking that trip for next year or even buying gifts for the holidays, I think it's safe to say you can feel free to go out on a limb. NASA has you covered.
[Photo Credit: Kraig Becker]
Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Video, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
exoticdoc2 Dec 16th 2012 5:09PM
Why do they keep calling it a Mayan calendar prediction? It predicted nothing, it simply ended there. It did not have a little note written at the end saying "world ends this day." People maybe expected them to keep producing calendars ad infinitum? They had to stop sometime.
George Dec 17th 2012 11:28AM
Not quite correct. It predicted the end of a long cycle. I think the better question is why pay attention to what the Mayans had to say on the nature of the universe? They also believed human sacrifice was required to appease angry gods and weren't able to develop soil preservation and other agricultural management systems that would have kept their society from total collapse.
exoticdoc2 Dec 17th 2012 3:32PM
Fine, it predicted nothing about the end of the world, which is what this whole thing is all about. A "cycle" of what? Certainly not the apocalypse. The Mayan civilization was depraved and failed in a number of ways, hardly the kind of group I would lend much credence to.
wifibandit 76 Dec 16th 2012 10:57PM
thank you! I've been saying the same thing for the better part of the year
TURK Dec 16th 2012 5:40PM
NO SUCH THING WILL HAPPEN
cindy hill Dec 17th 2012 1:47AM
You mean no such luck.
Al Dec 22nd 2012 3:48PM
Sirs
isn't it possible that we could get swallowed up by a black hole and you guys just never see it coming? You always say that they are extremely hard to see or find.What if theres one out there right now..... or maybe we will have thousands of earthquakes on that day to destroy us....just saying....hope not that by the way is my 64th birthday ,how bout that born and die on the same date dec 21st ................
Al Taggart
Lori Dec 17th 2012 10:02AM
Take it easy Al. Not as uncommon as you think, to die on ones birthday. My grandmother pssed away on her 76th birthday. No doomsday conspiracy there.
Dick Frizzell Dec 16th 2012 6:40PM
This prediction is about as stupid as the one that all the computers and electronics would go nuts on Jan 1st 2000
jen Dec 16th 2012 10:25PM
This prediction makes a great deal less sense than the 2000 computer prediction. The reason the electronic world did not end 1/1/2000 is because engineers and programers worked very hard to correct the problem. If the problem had not been corrected we would have had chaos for a while. That panic was because of a real correctable problem. Kind of like if we actually had a near earth object headed our way and didn't know how close it would really get, then NASA pushed it away. The Mayan "thing" however is based on a calendar ending. Our calendar ends every 12/31 and no one panics. The ancient Mayans obviously didn't know everything because their civilization is gone. Their world ended a long time ago. I myself have plans for 12/21/12. I will be at work.
kevin Dec 17th 2012 6:11PM
I am replying to Jen comment, The Mayans are not gone there are like 20 million Mayans in the world if not more. The Y2K (1/1/2000) Not everyone fixed there computer before that date and there computer still worked after that, VCR's were going to not work either but they did. It was a scam to get people to buy the software to fix the Y2K problem that was nothing at all wrong with anything.
John Dec 17th 2012 9:33AM
Computers did freak out on that day. Just not all of them.
seeyouonthe22nd Dec 16th 2012 9:01PM
The only tragedy will be the sudden panic and fright created by everyone else. That's the ONLY threat on the 21st. I stocked up on a few supplies just in case the stores are sold out by ppl going doomsday crazy. At least I won't have to stand in line for food or water because of a senseless panic. "What a bottle of water cost today, it will cost tomorrow.....life will go on, you will pay your bills." (Morgan Freeman- Deep Impact)
Dori Dec 16th 2012 9:54PM
With all the hundreds if not thousands of end of the world predications, I keep wondering why this one is getting so much attention. Most of them are largely ignored.
Robin Dec 17th 2012 11:14AM
Because it's the scariest. I fear however, this is the reason why so many people are going nuts. They figure if the world is ending anyway, it might as well be on their terms. It makes me want to hide until the weekend. Actually, I have to work the weekend, so I'll hide until Monday. lol
Marcheal Dec 16th 2012 10:58PM
People and their theories.
Mary Dec 16th 2012 11:35PM
Sounds like the Mayan Calendar works similar to the Julian Date Perpetual Calendar that the military sometimes uses for certain types of projects, vs. the Gregorian calendar with which most Americans are familiar on a daily basis.
ANTMAN Dec 17th 2012 5:00AM
........and of course we always have the tried-and-true 'DOG YEARS' CALENDAR to fall back on if all else fails!
NASA BOB Dec 17th 2012 12:18AM
TAKE ALL OF YOUR MONEY OUT OF THE BANK NOW ON THE 21st THE SUN WILL SHAKE A HEAT BALL WILL COME VERY CLOSE.....TAKE NOTE.. THIS IS FROM FL-AT -NASA OFF THE LINE..
Ben Dec 17th 2012 12:47AM
I am suspecting this is disiformation to keep the public calm.