Is it the end of the world as we know it - or do you feel fine?
So many myths of the Mayan-calendar predicted doomsday of Dec. 21, 2012 have lathered people into a fright that the U.S. Government came right out and posted on its blog that the world will not end this month.
"These rumors have many people frightened, especially children...Many of these rumors involve the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 (it won’t), a comet causing catastrophic effects (definitely not), a hidden planet sneaking up and colliding with us (no and no),'' according to the government blog post, mentioned in a Los Angeles Times story.
The post links to a video, Just Another Day, where scientist Don Yeomans of Jet Propulsion Laboratory further debunks the notion of the world ending.
"[The Mayan calendar] doesn't end. It's just the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one,'' said Yeomans, who works in JPL's Near-Earth object program.
Thousands of astronomers who scan the skies on a nightly basis would all have to have been keeping the same secret for years, if another planet were moving in on the earth readying to let loose mayhem, he said, incredulously.
Yeomans goes on in the video to debunk several scenarios, replacing what he calls myths with scientific fact.
Another NASA video, The Science of Doomsday 2012, can be viewed here.
Patch Asks: Is it all guff or are you a little freaked out?
