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Nasa has been working hard to reassure people that we’re not about to get smashed into the Sun by a rogue asteroid, telling people to stop spreading stupid internet nonsense about the misinterpreted Mayan calendar thing. The world is not going to end any time soon, so you’d better carry on paying your mobile bill.
In fact, there’s a pretty sad underside to these stupid claims of a 2012 apocalypse. Nasa scientist David Morrison has revealed that the space agency has been receiving letters and emails from upset kids, who are genuinely worried about the world ending. Calling it a “manufactured fantasy,” Morrison said: “I’m disturbed by letters from kids who are afraid. I think that is the worst part of this hoax, and it is a hoax.”
Anyone who’s old enough to remember the terror of nuclear apocalypse that hung in the air in the 70s and 80s will know how badly rumours of doom can impact on little minds, so if you see a sad Welsh goth teenager moping about on December 21st, give them a hug. Tell them it’s not the end of the world and they’ll soon grow out of the black eyeliner thing. [Nasa via Slashgear]
NASA Scientist Patiently Explains That the World Will Not End in December
NASA Engineer Explains -- Yet Again -- Why the World Isn't Ending
NASA to Stupid Doomsayers: The World Won't End Consumed By a Supernova in 2012
NASA are going to look silly when we all wake up dead on the 22nd
That they will.
And my mum will be annoyed too, the 22nd’s her birthday.
Uuuuum Longfellow, are you secretly my brother?…. :O
Ah, we knew you would one day discover the truth, just not via the comments section of a gadget blog!
To be honest, you’re always going to be better off on the “it’s not going to happen” side with these apocalypse predictions. After all, if you’re wrong, everyone’s going to die anyway,so nobody will be around to hold it against you.
I’ve got £50 with Ladbrokes at 10,000-1 that the world will end.
I tell you, I’m retiring if it does happen
Exactly, the most you’ll get is “ha ha, you were wro…”
im sure they only know about the space impact issues, what about yellow stone or Zombie out break hu??
I will bet you anything you want that the world will not end in 2012..
Let see… I read something about Nostradamus and Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ being a prediction of the Doomsday.
And to be honest, if it gets the tune of my feckin head, then maybe the end of times wouldn’t be such a bad thing…
…So how much?
How do they know it is a misinterpretation of the Mayan calendar? That implies that they know the correct interpretation which they can’t because there is a distinct lack of reliable information on the Mayan culture from within the Mayan culture.
Perhaps because they’ve identified the specific errors made in the supposed ‘misinterpretations’?
I believe the initial misinterpretation being that the Mayans didn’t have leap-years to adjust their calendar, so we actually passed their interpretation of that date several months ago.
How do we know that? Surely that is based on a different interpretation of the calendar. How do we know that that alternative is correct?
You don’t really get “different interpretations” of a calendar. The calendar gets translated, the calendar is then used to measure time according to the rules set by the calendar. That particular calendar equated December 21st with a date much earlier than we consider it to be, based on its lack of leap years.
Think of it this way; before the Romans added two extra months, their calendar ended two months early and began again, so for every year of our calendar, theirs got two months further ahead. this could carry on for ages, adding years and years to their calendar that we don’t have. Our calendar is equated (more or less) to the time it takes to travel around the sun once. Before that, Calendars were often incorrect, and over the major time period since then, we’ve either advanced faster or slower than them.
The translation is also a problem. Translation always leads to inaccuracy because you have to approxiamate the words for equivalent or similar words when there are not direct translations. It is made even more difficult when the language from which you translate is a dead language because there is even greater scope for mistranslation.
Plus it is widely accepted that the Mayan had a better understanding of celestial matters, including things like solar and lunar movements, than many civilisations both before and after, so for all we know, they may have got it correct and we may have it wrong. Unless that is also wrong.
On the subject of the end of the world, I am selling villas in Heaven. There is a very special price for three bedrooms with pool and sea view, if you purchase it before the 21st of December 2012. Please contact me. Cash only*
*purchase is non refundable.
I want to visit first…..I visited all 11 timeshares before I bought and some them are practically in hell
Here is a computer generated image of it. You can take my word for it
http://goo.gl/n2TTN
Sold….will you be arranging transport to the location?
Oh the irony if the heathen Mayans correctly predicted end of the world when the Christian Gods predicted rapture never happened in May.
Don’t forget the multiple times before that..
And not that I am defending Christianity, but I don’t think that religion deserves to be lumped in with that nutbag Camping
*any religion
The Mayans never predicted the World will end in 2012. They say that this year happens to be rather special as its the end of a 5000 year cycle and the beginning of a new one. See more here: http://youtu.be/3v67pxeizXo.
He looks like a Mayan version of Jimmy Saville
He was probably the one who led all their child sacrifices up the mountain then…
Neil Degrasse Tyson was irking me this morning with what appeared to be a complete lack of knowledge about the whole issue. Instead of letting people know that the world wasn’t going to end, he instead kept tweeting about the lack of science in Mayan culture and that’s why you can’t trust them to predict the end of the world.
/rant
To be honest, what irks me more is that people think the world is going to end based on a gazillion year old calender. If people think the world’s going to end based on that, there’s no helping them.
People’s stupidity irks me. I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but the lack of awareness in some people is astounding
The world is going to end on Dec 31st, as that’s when my funny cat photo calendar runs out if you ignore the little 2013 calendar printed on the back page. The Mayan calendar doesn’t have cats on it, so it’s totally wrong.
Nostradamus Psy Gangnam Style Doomsday 2012 – Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bM4prGJf4Nw