5 Scary End of the World Myths Debunked
By now you've heard that the end of the world is allegedly near. According to the ancient Mayan calendar, life will cease to exist as we know it on December 21, 2012. It's a scary thought and while most of us roll our eyes at the mention of the supposed doomsday prediction, in the back of our minds, it's hard not to wonder "what if." Some are so frightened, NASA has been flooded with calls about the possible end to all humankind. Well, rest easy folks. The rocket scientists aren't buying into the hype and neither should you. Here we debunk the five scariest end of the world myths.
- As the Mayan calender predicts, the world will end on December 21, 2012. We may be looking at this all wrong. The Mayans used a very complicated system for logging days and years. During the 2012 winter solstice (which is now), the calender runs out, but experts say that's not an indication that all humanity will die. They believe the calendar will just start over again in 2013. Basically, time gets renewed.
- Earth's magnetic poles will shift, causing earthquakes, tsunamis, continents to break away, and whole cities to tumble into the ocean. Yes, there is evidence that the planet's magnetic poles do in fact move, but it's a process that takes millions of years. It certainly won't happen so quickly that we would actually feel it.
- The sun will explode. Solar flares on the sun are normal, but a major storm or disturbance would have a build-up that would have been detected. NASA has not found any evidence of it.
- An out of control planet will crash into the Earth. According to the Mayan beliefs, Planet X (aka Nibiru) is on a collision course with Earth. Yet NASA, with their crazy amazing telescopes and satellites, have not detected it yet. If it was really going to hit earth, they would have seen it by now.
- The planetary alignment that will occur for the first time in 26,000 years will lead to our doom. Some people actually believe that this lineup would expose us to evil forces out there. But NASA insists there is no "galactic alignment" in 2012. During every winter solstice, there is a type of alignment, but they don't affect gravitational pull or planet orbits.
What do you think of the Mayan doomsday prediction?
Image via NASA Goddard Photo and Video/Flickr