5 Votes
NASA: THE WORLD WILL NOT END IN 2012
The apocalypse is not scheduled for December 21, 2012, according to NASA. Scientists at the US space agency are taking an unusual swipe at doomsday crackpottery this week in an online campaign designed to address fears fueled by the end of a cycle in the ancient Mayan calendar, a Hollywood movie, and a fresh wave of pseudo-science crackpots. Not to mention Sony’s viral marketing campaign.
“Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012,” NASA states in a new FAQ web page set up for the occasion. “Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists know of no threat associated with 2012.”
The space agency is taking aim at a popular end-of-days scenario given credence on various crank websites that a planet called Nibiru or Planet X will collide with Earth during the 2012 holiday season, wreaking havoc and devastation on an unparalleled scale. The story goes that NASA has been secretly tracking this rogue planet since 1983 but has suppressed all news of its existence across the world in the name of “global security.” NASA says this tale is factually untrue.
Of course, that’s just what you’d expect them to say…
Similarly tagged OmniNerd content:
- Curiosity Lands on Mars, by VnutZ 10 months ago
- First Habitable Kepler Planet, by VnutZ over 1 year ago
- Who Wants To Be An Astronaut?, by VnutZ over 1 year ago
- Gravitionally Lensed Quasar, by VnutZ over 1 year ago
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GuSh by Anonymous
dis is mad annoyin the world aint gon end u ant got no real prof u sayin dat it wnt or it will luk unless sum1 has prof i aint belivin nutin
2012 by Anonymous
dont want the world to end im only 11 n to young to die n i luv my mommy n dont want her to die n i dont want my family to die especially my baby brother hes only 2 years old hes to young to die but if the world really ends 2012 i luv all yal people i dont kno and i feel the same way you do about your whole family and friends dieing and i wish you all the best n good luck in the future or 2012
RE: 2012 by Anonymous
but we cannot do anything when we got to die we got to die.i am just 10 years old
RE: 2012 by Anonymous
lol u cant be 11 and write like this =)
RE: 2012 by Anonymous
maybe shes a great writer so STFU! =)
RE: 2012 by Anonymous
Im only 11 too:(
i want to get a chance to have kids and watch them grow.
I want to have fun when im like 14 15 16 17 18 19!
And go to parties..
I wanna live i wanna have a great live.
I still want to do so many things before i die:(
i wanna grow up to be 100 years old >x’(
RE: 2012 by Anonymous
I didn’t know 11 year olds are that whiny and annoying. Well, I guess I’m going to contribute to the world by not having any kids now.
RE: 2012 by Anonymous
The world will not end in 2012
RE: 2012 by Occams
Are you sure?
RE: 2012 by scottb
Any rational person would assign it a probability more than 1 – 109.
RE: 2012 by wyldeling
I think you meant 1 – 10 -9.
RE: 2012 by scottb
Oops. Yes, of course.
RE: 2012 by VnutZ
So you’re saying there’s a chance!
:-)
RE: 2012 by scottb
Well, sure. It’s possible that a previously unknown asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. If its trajectory takes it near the sun, we’re not likely to know about it until quite soon before it impacts.
It’s also possible that Betelgeuse (or some other nearby candidate) shifted on its axis and went supernova a few centuries ago and the gamma burst will hit us next year.
Reaching even deeper into the improbability well, it’s possible that some unknown process has caused our own Sun’s fusion processes to stop — it would take many years before it stopped emitting light, but we could be nearing the critical point where the light goes out.
You can’t assign a zero probability to any of these, because they depend on empirical facts whose truth cannot be known with perfect precision.
On the other hand, my estimate of p > 1 – 109 probably way underestimates it. I like the odds.
RE: 2012 by scottb
Damn. I did it again. That should be p > 1 – 10-9.
RE: 2012 by VnutZ
I guess I better stock up on batteries and thicker coats.
RE: 2012 by scottb
Yes — but only if you’ve already adequately mitigated all of the more likely risks, such as sharks, terrorists. falling coconuts, radioactive fallout from a nearby nuclear plant, or a stroke.
RE: 2012 by Occams
Actually, the probability of you being hit by lightning is much higher than those things.
RE: 2012 by scottb
Except for stroke. But, yes — I was just listing a handful of unlikely things that were still more likely than the world ending in 2012.
RE: 2012 by VnutZ
I’m good on all those … I was still working on the zombie apocalypse preparations before getting to the 2012 end of the world. So many things to do.
RE: 2012 by scottb
On the subject of asteroid impacts, here’s a great talk by Phil Plait on the subject at TEDX Boulder on YouTube.
RE: 2012 by Occams
Ion drives and a tractor beam, already available now! The Treckies will love it.
My favorite fiction propulsion system is the “contradiction engine” from the Hitchhiker’s Guide. That device contains a logical contradiction that it is so infuriating that it generates enough energy to drive a spaceship forever.
I think you could probably make one using a few of those small-government de-regulation conservatives you are currently discussing on the “Votes and Dollars” thread.
However, it turns out that the Russians have been onto this idea for some time.
RE: 2012 by Occams
I asked: “Are you sure?” facetiously because, as you say, there is a tiny but finite probability of some cataclysmic event destroying our planet next year. So you can never be positive that it won’t happen then.
That is not to say that any faith should be placed in a prediction, unless it is based on the mechanics and dynamics of a cataclysmic event. We don’t have that for 2012.
Of course, if the Bogons inform us that they are sending a constructor ship next Tuesday to clear Earth out of the way of a planned inter-galactic super highway, that would be different.
2012 by Anonymous
Dey Made A Movie bout it now so idk foreal im a lil scared but its just god judgement day is cumin n were gonna hav a new world dats wat god says in da bible wants he returns its judgement day n we will die but cum straeight back to a new world
Transition..? by gnifyus
From what I understand, the prophesy merely describes a transition from “One World Age to the Next”. No horrible end, just a demarcation in time. Supposedly everything was divided into “Galactic Days”; one galactic day = 25,625 years and is divided into five cycles of 5,125 years.
Why? I don’t know. It was somehow related to the Mayan understanding of the Solar System, and some sort of “synchronization” between our sun and the central galaxy.
But, you really can’t blame Hollywood for making a movie out of it, and for taking the “End of days” theory. Transition is so-o boring.
2012 by Anonymous
The planet in question will not colide with earth as you suggest, but it will sligshot earth but it’s gravity will affect earth.
If NASA is contesting this possibility why they do not publish the denial on their official webpage?
We ordinary people are a disposable items on the eyes of any government!
2012 by Anonymous
What I think, the Mayans had to end the calendar sometime didn’t they? It’s just the end of the calendar, so what? It’s probably just a cycle, it starts over, they can’t just go on and on and on
Sad by Occams
THis must be a sign of NASA is really struggling to justify its existence.
As if we need NASA to tell us the bleeding obvious.
Everyone knows that the earth will end up in a black hole. It is the only way that Mark’s description of the stars falling from the sky can happen
Not going to happen by Anonymous
The world will not end in 2012. So what? some church people think that some god is going to rise and end the world? This its the biggest load i have ever heard, god is not real, there is no god. I have nothing against people that belive in gods but someday people are going to have to accept that there is no god, there is significant proof that this stuff wont happen, as NASA have said, planet x would be visible to the naked eye by now if it going to colide with us in 2012. Its also impossible for the earths rotation to stop. Anyway, why would earth be the only planet with earthquakes, volcanos errupting and all the stuff, its always earth because thats what these church people think, that earth is just going to be targeted for no reason? Face it people the world will not end for another 4 billion years. Sony should be taken to courte for putting images in peoples heads about the world ending, people are commiting suicide, little kids are worried sick thinking that they will die in a few years, its not going to happen!
The world MAY not end, but it's sure going to be different! by Anonymous
Any fool that would take NASA’s word for anything, that your life may depend on, IS a fool! IGNORANCE is what ends up killing most people.
It’s the most preventable form of death there is.
Fact #1- Your own government, which includes NASA, wants a population REDUCTION, idiot! They want the earth’s population of 6.5 BILLION REDUCED to only 500 million, or so. This is an undisputed fact. If you had an education, you would already know this.
Fact #2- The close fly by of Planet X, by itself will result in a 50-80% die off by mid 2013.
Fact#3- Add to that the Y-Class solar storms that are DEFINITELY going to occur during 2012, coupled with our atmospheric shield being in an almost non existent mode, and you have a recipe for a VERY high death toll of 90% of all species on earth!
Fact #4- Don’t even count the Galactic alignment that will DEFINITELY occur on 12-21-12. Who says Planet X does not exist? NASA?
Fact #5- NASA admitted that it had been found (BY THEM, no less) in 1983. Yes they started tracking it with their IRAS (infra red astronomical satellite) satellite way back then.
Fact#5- They alluded to P X again in 1992, when THEY said that a large planetary body, with a mass of 8 times that of the earth was entering the outer solar system, and was causing havoc with the orbits of Uranus, and Neptune!
Fact #6- In 2007,NASA completed the construction of the world’s LARGEST and most EXPENSIVE infra red telescope at the south pole, known as the SPT. This was a top secret crash, black program, that was kept secret from even the workers at the regular Amundsen-Scott South Pole Base. The SPT is located geographically right at, the south pole. Why was it located there, the most inaccessible and remote corner of the earth? Why, because Planet X is approaching our solar system from the SOUTH, fool! It didn’t hurt any that infra red scopes work best in the cold and the dark!
Now, any fool that would like to know how to save their worthless butt, now that they strongly suspect that their own government is trying to “off” them, can get what info they need on several websites, but the best one I’ve found so far, is www.yowusa.com It is a site with many videos about P X, and caters to beginners in the P X survival saga.
The guy who runs this site is very level headed, and is NOT a kook. He used to work as a science director for CNN. His videos are full of expert scientists, astro-physicists, etc. THEY KNOW what they are talking about!
Go see for yourself. NASA has been lying to us for years, and covering up valuable discoveries on Mars, and our moon!
Remember, what you DON’T KNOW, can KILL YOU!
As for me, I’ve got a mine tunnel staked out in the mountains of Colorado!
the movie is a peie of crap by Anonymous
the movie is obviously fake. okay. but what about the shifting of the poles? what about the solar flares? there are so many things you are forgetting about. mater of fact, one of nasas own scientists has betrayed what you are saying and has said that the solar flares are more of a risk now that we are burning more co2 and it is possible that the solar flare which IS scheduled to happen could destroy many things. but this is not all, just all i can fit. and for the idiots that believe in the movie, i just have one thing to say “what the fuck man?”
The world could end, any moment, any second... by Anonymous
Face it, ANYTHING could happen.. It’s a crazy universe.. Just be glas your still alive!
world cant end by Anonymous
i really dont want the world to end cause in got 3 kids who are still babys and i cant let them die
2012 by Anonymous
I know that if the world will end in 2012,we will all be living on Mars if some destruction Of our planet(Example: The entire Planet turns into lava like as if the Sun is in the Red Giant Stage and swallows the Planet and Blows up)Happens because ill just be early in my teens when that happens because I don’t want to live on Mars or die young. but it could be true.