The Bryant Clipper William Cullen Bryant High School Long Island City, NY
Issue Date: Sunday, December 16, 2012 Issue: December 2012
Search

At-a-glance

-
Advertising

           What will really happen on December 21, 2012? Will it be the end of the world as we all know it, or simply just another day of the year?

            Massive earthquakes, giant tidal waves, raging fire storms; is this really possible, or just a fictional story only to be seen on movie screens? With the recent release of the film “2012” it seems like the perfect time to try and figure out the story behind this mysterious date.

            Predictions for the date all seem to be rooted in the end of the Mayan calendar: December 12th, 2012 which coincidentally will be the day that in 26,000 years the sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way.  The calendar was constructed by an advanced civilization called the Mayans around 250-900 AD.

            With an advanced knowledge of astronomy and anticipation for the end of their calendar as the day comes closer, excitement and fear are a few of the reactions from people everywhere, which is similar to the chaos that grew with the inevitable arrival of “Y2K”.

            With websites like survive2012.com and slogans like “2012: The End”, NASA Senior Scholar David Morrison says, "The purveyors of doom are promoting a hoax.”

            Dr. Karl Sagan, author of Great Moments in Science, believes that a calendar year which ends will just roll over to the next cycle (0.0.0.0.1) or simply to the next day, December 22, 2012.

            With no definitive answer in sight, the only option for many of us is to wait and see what the universe has in store. For more information visit http://www.december212012.com

 


Back to the articles list

0 COMMENTS - Add your comment below

ADD YOUR COMMENT
Name
Email
Comments, recommendations or suggestions.
Submit

Staff View

Lisa Chatterjee

Advisor
Email Me

Online Archives

There are currently 12 editions on-line. Click on edition name to view articles.

Current Conditions Partly Cloudy
Temperature: 70.1 °F
Wind Speed: 4 mph W
Gusts: 9 mph WSW
Rain Today: 0 "
Advertising