Doomsday 2012: NASA Debunks The Apocalyptic Prophecies

NASA took time out of its busy schedule this past week to ease the minds of many who believe the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. Following misinterpretations of the ancient Mayan calendar, doomsday seekers have been busy preparing for a front-row seat for the end of all things. However, the US space agency said Mayan apocalypse rumors are just that: rumors.

Growing fears of the apocalypse have led to frightened children everywhere and teens becoming suicidal, among others, trying to make sense of the supposed end of the world. But while the 21^st of December can be associated with a number of events, it does not have anything to do with the world meeting its maker.

Not only is NASA trying to help soothe doomsday fears, but Mayan scholars are also playing their part, telling the world that ancient Maya had never seen this day as apocalyptic. The 21^st of December is most notably associated with the Winter Solstice, an annual occurrence. Yet, this year, the date also marks the end of the 13^thb’ak’tun calendar cycle.

According to ancient-mythology.com, the b’ak’tun calendar cycle is based on Mayan myth that their gods (Quetzalcoatl and Tepeu) wanted to create a people that would both resemble and praise them. However their attempts were less than fruitful, and on the end of the last 13th b’ak’tun (equivalent to 144,000 days) all creation ended and the gods began anew. The last 13th b’ak’tun ended on August 11, 3114 BCE, officially starting the next cycle, which is now set to end on December 21, 2012 AD.

However, Mayans have never seen this date as an end of all creation, only the completion of a cycle. And thus, the Mayans have never associated the end of the b’ak’tun with the end of the world.

“We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth, and turning us into folklore-for-profit. They are not telling the truth about time cycles,” charged Felipe Gomez, leader of the Maya alliance Oxlaljuj Ajpop, according to PhysOrg.

The doomsday myths have ballooned out of control partially due to Hollywood. Several movies and documentaries have promoted the idea that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world on 12-21-12. And to further complicate the matter, some governments and groups are heeding the prophecies just in case.

The Culture Ministry is hosting an event in Guatemala City just in case the world does end. And in other places, tour groups are promoting doomsday-themed getaways and retreats.

Gomez has urged the Tourism Institute to rethink their doomsday celebrations, which he is criticizing as a “show” disrespecting the Mayan culture and its beliefs, which have nothing to do with the end of the world.

Oxlaljuj Ajpop released a statement saying that the Maya time cycle simply “means there will be big changes on the personal, family and community level, so that there is harmony and balance between mankind and nature.”

The alliance is holding events it considers sacred in five cities to mark the event and Gomez said the Culture Ministry would be wise to throw its support behind their real celebrations.

It’s safe to say that apocalyptic rumors such as the 2012 doomsday prophecies spread more readily due to the Internet age. While the Internet can be a great resource tool and a good platform for spreading word of developing news, it has also shown that it is a bane for technology as it makes for a grand stage for rumors that often become so virulent, that they affect the lives of millions of people who turn these falsehoods into twisted reality. This starts a snowball that can grow out of control, as has occurred with the 2012 doomsday prophecies.

At NASA, the agency is taking a strong stance to debunk the persistent online stories of doom. One such end of the world rumor is the tale of a fictional dwarf planet that is supposedly on a crash course with Earth. According to the myth, the rogue planet Niburu, supposedly discovered thousands of years ago by the Sumerians, will crash into our planet sometime next month. There are also variations on this myth, with some calling for dwarf planetEris to come hurtling toward us with apocalyptic vengeance. The myth has also been inaccurately tied to the end of the Mayan calendar.

And along with the end of the Mayan calendar doomsday predictions, several other doomsday rumors are easily picked apart with minimal scrutiny, according to NASA.

“Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, Dec. 21, 2012 won’t be the end of the world as we know it. However, it will be another winter solstice,” NASA associates wrote in a Google+ post.

NASA has launched a new site called Beyond 2012, dedicated to debunking pseudo-science. The site maintains there is no Niburu (or Planet X, according to some doomsdayers) and there is no worry of Eris coming even remotely close to our planet as it is floating around in the outer solar system about 4 billion miles away. And even if any of these celestial bodies were to come crashing into Earth in the next few weeks or so, they would be easily visible with the naked eye by now.

Other popular doomsday fears countered by NASA on the Beyond 2012 site are the prophecies that there will be an imminent reversal in the Earth’s rotation, giant solar storms that will disrupt and destroy the entire planet, and a disastrous rare alignment of the planets.

The Beyond 2012 social site links to a video of a recent Google+ hangout where a panel of science experts take on a series of 2012 doomsday claims and explain why there aren’t any truths to them.

Among the panelists in the Google+ hangout video is NASA’s own David Morrison, an astrobiologist at Ames Research Center.

At the beginning of the discussion, Morrison said that while 2012 doomsday theories were “a joke to many people” and while there was no real threat to Earth or its citizens, it was nevertheless “appropriate for NASA to answer questions” about such doomsday prophecies, if only to soothe the fears and potentially prevent some from harming themselves.

“There is no true issue here,” said Morrison during the Google+ Hangout event. “This is just a manufactured fantasy.”

Unfortunately, added Morrison, this fantasy ends up having real-life consequences. As one of NASA’s most prominent 2012 doomsday myth speakers, Morrison said he receives numerous emails and letters from people who are worried about the coming apocalypse; most of these letters are from the younger generation. Some of the more notable letters come from people who say they cannot eat, are too worried to sleep, and some who even go as far as to admit they are having thoughts of suicide, he said.

Although these people should have nothing to fear, they have been led to believe the world is in fact coming to an end, and it is wreaking havoc on their well-being.

“I think it’s evil for people to propagate rumors on the Internet to frighten children,” Morrison said.

While NASA is most concerned with how the young are handling these frightening rumors, Morrison said that not every 2012 apocalypse believer thinks the world will end on December 21. Some expect a day of universal peace and spiritual transformation. Yet, even these prophetic beliefs are based on ancient myth rather than cold hard facts.

Ultimately, we should be more concerned about real-world problems that will shape the future of society, such asglobal warming and climate change, said Andrew Fraknoi, an astronomer at Foothill College in California.

Mitzi Adams, a heliophysicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, agreed.

“The greatest threat to Earth in 2012, at the end of this year and in the future, is just from the human race itself,” Adams said.

Along with the Google+ Hangout video, NASA released a series of answers to the most popular questions revolving around the 2012 doomsday scenarios. You can find the full list of questions and answers at NASA.gov.

NASA predicts total blackout on 23-25 Dec 2012 during alignment of Universe.

US scientists predict Universe change, total blackout of planet for 3 days from Dec 23 2012.

It is not the end of the world, it is an alignment of the Universe, where the Sun and the earth will align for the first time. The earth will shift from the current third dimension to zero dimension, then shift to the forth dimension. During this transition, the entire Universe will face a big change, and we will see a entire brand new world.

The 3 days blackout is predicted to happen on Dec 23, 24, 25....during this time, staying calm is most important, hug each other, pray pray pray, sleep for 3 nights...and those who survive will face a brand new world....for those not prepared, many will die because of fear. Be happy, enjoy every moment now. Don't worry, pray to God everyday. There is a lot of talk about what will happen in 2012, but many people don't believe it, and don't want to talk about it for fear of creating fear and panic.

We don't know what will happen, but it is worth listening to USA's NASA talkabout preparation. Whether it's true or not, better be prepared. No panic, stay calm, just prays. Remember to smile more, love more and forgive more...every day. Better avoid traveling during December.

NASA crashes two probes into a mountain on the moon

A pair of NASA moon-mapping probes smashed themselves into a lunar mountain on Monday, ending a year-long mission that is shedding light on how the solar system formed.

The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, spacecraft had been flying around the moon, enabling scientists to make detailed gravity maps. The probes sped up slightly as they encountered stronger gravity from denser regions and slowed down as they flew over less-dense areas.

By precisely measuring the distance between the two probes, scientists discovered that the moon's crust is thinner than expected and that the impacts that battered its surface did even more damage underground.

Out of fuel and edging closer to the lunar surface, the probes were commanded to smash themselves into a mountain near the moon's north pole, avoiding a chance encounter with any Apollo or other relics left on the surface during previous expeditions.

"We do feel the angst about the end of the mission," said Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which oversaw the mission. "On the other hand, it is a celebration because this mission has accomplished tremendous science."

The U.S. space agency lost radio communications with the first spacecraft at 5:28 p.m. EST (2228 GMT) and the second about 20 seconds later, a NASA mission commentator said.

The probes' final resting place was named after the first U.S. woman in space, Sally Ride, who orchestrated GRAIL's educational outreach program before her death in July. The spacecraft included cameras that were operated by students.

Scientists may have found two different Higgs bosons

Scientists studying data from the Large Hadron Collider who announced the possible discovery of the 'God particle' - Higgs boson - now say they may have actually found not one, but two previously unknown particles.

The most recent release from the Atlas experiment at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) showed the scientists seem to have found one Higgs boson with one mass, and then another with a statistically significant slightly higher mass, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

There seems to be one version of Higgs boson with a mass of 123.5 gigaelectron volts (the unit particle physicists prefer using to measure mass) and a second Higgs with a mass of 126.6 GeV.

First proposed in 1964, the Higgs boson is the last missing piece of the Standard Model, a widely accepted theory that describes the basic building blocks of the universe.

According to that model of our world, the Higgs particle must exist to bestow mass on other fundamental particles. However, until it was possible to build high-powered colliders like the LHC, it has been impossible to detect.

Researchers at CERN in July announced that they believed their experiments had finally revealed the Higgs, but their findings may have been far from definite, the paper said.

The Higgs they found appeared to show that the Higgs seemed to be decaying into two photons more often than they had expected - hinting at a new, as yet unimagined physics.

Now, scientists with the project's Atlas experiment have finally admitted the bizarre revelations from their data - that there appears to be not one Higgs' boson signal, but two, the paper quoted 'Scientific American' as saying.

Geminid meteor shower to grace night sky tomorrow

Cosmic fireworks will enthral sky gazers tomorrow night as the Geminids meteor shower will be at its peak.

"Astro lovers are expected to see shooting stars whizzing past in the skies as the Geminid meteor showers will be seen on the night of December 13 and 14, Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) President C B Devgun told PTI.

The Geminids are known for producing up to 60 multi-coloured meteors per hour at their peak, he saidThe best time to view the shower is on December 14 at 5 AM in the east. And the good news is that in 2012, the moon will be in a new moon phase, so there will be no moon to ruin the show.

One of the most spectacular meteor showers, Geminids, never seems to disappoint sky observers, he said, adding, as the point of origin of the shower lies in the direction of the constellation of Gemini, they have been named Geminids.

Geminids have another interesting fact. The source of the meteor shower is not a comet but a rocky asteroid named 3,200 Phaethon, which is in a highly elliptical 1.4 year orbit.

The usual meteors do not leave glowing trails but the brighter ones can have a yellow, green or blue hue, Devgun said.

Meteors are startling streaks of light that suddenly appear in the sky when a dust particle from outer space evaporates high in the earth's atmosphere.

The light phenomenon in the atmosphere is called a "meteor", while the dust particle is called a "meteoroid". When the number of meteors is large, it is called a meteor shower or meteor storm. The shower always happen on a particular day or a time period as it is associated usually with comets.

Now, a headset to give you 360-degree vision

Eyes in the back of your head! French scientists claim to have developed a headset that gives you a 360-degree field of vision.

The headset captures images from every direction around the user, then transforms them into something the human vision system can comprehend.

The system called FlyVIZ was designed by Jerome Ardouin and colleagues at the Grande Ecole d'Ingenieurs Paris-Laval in France, the New Scientist reported.

The headset is at prototype stage: at 1.6 kilogrammes, it's a bit heavy to walk around with, and remains connected to a laptop for image-processing while it runs.

It uses a video camera, mounted atop a helmet, along with specially shaped mirrors to capture the environment on all sides of the user, then displays it in real time on a modified 3D Viewer headset.

The system takes about 15 minutes to get used to, its creators claim in a paper they presented at the Virtual Reality Software and Technology conference in Toronto, Canada.

Once acclimatised, the user is able to move around and interact fluidly with their environment.

In a series of trials, users grabbed sticks that would have been outside their normal field of view, dodged balls thrown from behind them, and even drove a car.

Despite the strange new perspective on the world, the device does not cause any nausea, motion sickness or visual fatigue, the team claimed.

Even though FlyVIZ acquires and displays images in 2D, users still had serviceable depth perception, which the researchers attribute to wearers intuitively tracking object motion and parallax in the image to compensate for a lack of normal binocular vision.

Scientists have identified a new bio-catalyst which can manipulate hydrocarbon chemicals, found in ice-cream, soaps and shampoos, into ready-to-use fuels in cars.

Scientists at the University of Manchester believe this development could mean fuel for cars or household power supplies could be created from naturally-occurring fatty

acids.

Researchers, led by Professor Nick Turner used synthetic biology to hijack the naturally-existing fatty acids and direct those fatty molecules towards the production of ready-to-use fuel and household chemicals.

Hydrocarbon chemicals are everywhere in our daily lives, as fragrance in soap, thickener in shampoo and fuel in the car.

Their number of carbons and whether they are acid, aldehyde, alcohol or alkane are important parameters that influence how toxic they are to biological organisms, the potential for fuel and their olfactory perception as aroma compounds.

The breakthrough allows researchers to further explore how to create renewable energy from sustainable sources, and the advance could lead to more innovative ways of sourcing fuel from natural resources.

"In our laboratories in Manchester we currently work with many different bio-catalysts that catalyse a range of chemical reactions - the key is to match up the correct bio-catalyst with the specific product you are trying to make," Turner said in a university statement.

"Bio-catalysts recognise molecules in the way that a lock recognises a key - they have to fit perfectly together to work. Sometime we redesign the lock so that if can accept a slightly different key allowing us to make even more interesting products.

"In this example we need to make sure that the fatty acid starting materials would be a perfect match for the bio-catalysts that we discovered and developed in our laboratories.