A NASA scientist lays down the truth about 2012

I’ve written quite a few posts about 2012, as I’m a fan of science and the truth, and I hate bullshit, particularly anti-science bullshit.

Lots of people are spreading rumours and non-science rubbish about 2012, some of them to make money. One of the worst lies is that NASA knows that something will happen in 2012 and they’re keeping quiet about it. It’s not true.

A NASA scientist called David Morrison has been bombarded by questions about 2012 on the ‘Ask an Astrobiologist’ section of the NASA website. It’s heart-breaking that this guy has spared time to answer scientific questions from the public, but has received over 5000 questions about this 2012 nonsense, including threats for denying its existence.

Here’s his response to all this bullshit.

Now stop it! And go and ask him some real scientific questions

Want to see some more David Morisson? He gave a long, but very entertaining lecture about 2012 that can be watched here.

The Equation of Nonsense

I’ve always been fascinated by why people believe weird things, particularly the totally illogical ones. I delved into this world when I researched my 2012 blog posts, and there seemed to be a pattern behind a lot of the crazy beliefs, particularly in the way they’re constructed.

Based on this I’ve made my own equation for nonsense. I’ve seen that the more successful illogical beliefs tend to have a number of common features, and the more of these features they can fit into one crazy story, the more people will believe the story and defend it passionately.

I’ve tried to capture this in my equation (don’t get excited, there isn’t any maths), and I’ve used it to make my own insane myth.

Worried about the end of the world in 2012? Then know these things, and relax

The internet is awash with tales of how the Earth will end in December 2012. There are books, viral videos, there’s a Hollywood film, scare stories on the news, and you can even buy survival guides.

Scared?

Well don’t be. It’s all nonsense.

Don’t believe me? Well read the following 20 points, then relax.

The Mayan Apocalypse of 2012: Part 5 – Why is it so popular?

I’ve written four posts so far about the end of the world in 2012, the first was about the Mayan roots of the myth (it turned out its nothing to do with the Maya really), and the second, third and fourth posts looked at the different events that have been predicted to cause the end our world, from planet Nibiru to solar storms to polar shifts. A lot of them were nonsense, a few possible, but there is no reason to believe they would happen on the 21^st of December 2012.

I’ve enjoyed writing these posts more than I thought I would, I learnt how the Mayan Long Count calendar works, and I’ve read some awe inspiring, and quite frankly fun ideas about how the world could end. However almost everything I’ve read was complete nonsense, and often strayed into the realms of the ridiculous.

But if all of this is nonsense, why are so many people worried about December 2012?

The Mayan Apocalypse of 2012: Part 4 – Polar Shifts & Super Volcanoes

Heard the world’s going to end in 2012?

This is post number 4, this time I’ll be looking at some of the predicted geological causes of destruction; super volcanoes, a polar shift and crustal displacement.

In the first post I looked at the Mayan roots of the prophecy, and found that there weren’t any, the 2012 myth is the produce of modern Western culture, not ancient Mayan culture. In post 2 I looked at Nibiru and cosmic alignments, and in post 3 I looked at solar storms and impacts from space.

So is a polar shift going to cause a crustal displacement, unleashing enormous earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions and destroying our civilization? Read on…

Panspermia: did life on Earth come from space? – Part 3, Richard Hoover & cyanobacteria from space

In two previous posts I’ve looked at different versions of panspermia, the idea that life may have originated elsewhere in our Galaxy and may have travelled to our planet early in its formation, giving rise to all of the life we see on Earth today.

In post 1 I introduced the idea, and looked at how simple bacterial life could travel to the Earth, and in post 2 I looked at some more extreme versions of panspermia, including the idea that intelligent aliens could have deliberately seeded the Earth with life.

You may have also seen in the news recently that a NASA scientist called Richard Hoover has claimed he has found fossilized bacteria in a number of meteorites.

What does this mean for panspermia? Unfortunately, probably not much. Find out why…

The Mayan Apocalypse of 2012: Part 3 – Solar Storms & Meteor Impacts

So you’ve heard that the world may be coming to an end on the 21^st of December 2012, as predicted by the ancient Maya?

Interested in finding out the truth? Then read these posts.

In part 1 I looked at the Mayan basis of the myth and found out that there actually isn’t one, the Maya never predicted the end of the world. In part 2 I looked at how planet Nibiru and cosmic alignments could harm the Earth, and found out that Nibiru doesn’t exist, and that cosmic alignments are totally harmless.

In this post I’ll continue to look at possible causes of destruction from space, focussing on solar storms and a possible impact from an asteroid or comet. As before, I’ll look at the theory and evidence with an open and fair mind.

The Mayan Apocalypse of 2012: Part 2 – Nibiru & Cosmic Alignments

In part 1 I investigated the Mayan origin of the 2012 Apocalypse prediction, and found that the Maya never actually predicted the end of the world, certainly not in December 2012. The myth that the world will be destroyed is a Western idea and has nothing to do with the Maya, in fact, the Maya living today are getting fed-up with all this nonsense.

However, people have made predictions that various natural disasters could occur in 2012, such as solar storms, planetary collisions and polar reversals, some of which could threaten humanity. Even if the Mayan prophecy isn’t true, could any of these catastrophes still happen?

In this post I’ll look at the planet Nibiru and cosmic alignment, in the next post I’ll look at solar storms and asteroid and comet impacts, and the 4^th post I’ll look at super volcanoes and polar reversals.

As before, I’ll do this with an objective and open-mind, as a lot of people are worried about these events and I believe they should be clearly understood by everyone.

The Mayan Apocalypse of 2012: Part 1 – The Maya

I’m guessing you’ve heard the prediction that the world will end on December the 21^st 2012? You’ve probably seen the film too. But do you know where this prediction comes from, and how likely it is to come true?

There are lots of versions of the prophecy, with lots of different causes for the end of the world. In this post I’ll describe the prediction itself and look at who the Maya were. Then in following posts I’ll look at some of the predicted astronomical causes of destruction, like cosmic alignments and solar storms, some of the terrestrial causes of destruction, such as a polar-reversal and crustal displacement, and I’ll make a conclusion about how likely all of this is to happen.

Why am I writing about this on an astrobiology blog? Because the prediction deals with various disasters that could wipe-out life on Earth, and I’m interested in astronomy, geology and mass extinctions. Also, if such events could happen here, they maybe they could happen to alien civilisation too, and could help explain why we haven’t yet found conclusive proof for the existence of intelligent aliens (see the Fermi Paradox).

Lots of people have attacked and defended the 2012 prediction, some of them a little too zealously, I promise to look at all of this with a fair and open-mind, because a lot of people are seriously worried about the predictions and they deserve to read an accurate description and a fair analysis. I won’t make fun of anyone involved. I’ll give it to you straight, as they say…

The periodic table of irrational nonsense

I’ve just discovered the blog of a brilliant sceptic called Crispian Jago (yep, that’s a pretty cool name). It’s full of wit and humour, and the best thing I’ve seen so far is a periodic table of irrational nonsense. Its brilliant. I won’t try to explain what it is, as my words won’t do it justice, I urge anyone reading this to check it out tout suite.

I don’t plan to blog much about scepticism, as I’d rather focus on the fun aspects of science and not spend my time arguing with irrational people, but I felt that I had to mention this and Crispian’s blog.  I find a lot of sceptical blogs can be a bit depressing. It’s not the blogs themselves, or their writers, it’s the fact that they point out just how irrational, and quite frankly insane, people can be. Sometimes I don’t particularly want to be reminded that vast swathes of humanity believe in such nonsense as homeopathy, astrology, creationism or that a great God in the sky created our world and that he or she actually gives a shit about each of us. It’s pure 100% bullshit and it terrifies me that people believe in this crap.

Crispian’s blog is brilliant though. He viciously takes the piss out of the lunatics with style and intelligence. I can’t stop reading it and have been spamming his posts with over-enthusiastic comments all morning.

Go and read his blog.