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NASA On Full Court Press To Deflate Doomsday Prophecies

Posted by samzenpus on from the don't-worry dept.

coondoggie writes "Insidious unknown planets lurking behind the sun ready to slam into Earth, supernova set to engulf the planet and giant, unseen asteroids screaming toward our globe are all theories espoused across the Internet as to how we will meet our demise on 12/21/2012. Do any of these theories even remotely hold out a scintilla of evidence they could happen? Not even remotely if you look at the material NASA has put out which pretty much debunks any and all of the notions being floated in across the cybersphere."

15 of 286 comments (clear)

  1. Thank God... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...we have NASA. I was really beginning to think it was The End.

    1. Re:Thank God... by durrr · · Score: 4, Funny

      The amount of stupidity will exceed the swarzchild limit, luckily nothing will escape from here after that.

    2. Re:Thank God... by meglon · · Score: 4, Funny

      That, and misspellings with no edti button....

      --
      Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    3. Re:Thank God... by Cryacin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So crazy. This whole Mayan doomsday prophecy stuff all amounts to nothing more than an ancient form of the y2k bug.

      --
      Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    4. Re:Thank God... by meglon · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yep. But yah know, if you listen to the wind you hear the same nonsense every year, often multiple times a year, usually from religious nutcases that just have to have a screw loose (or several). Where i grew up we had a large Jehovah Witness church not too far down the road, and several times a summer a couple little old ladies would come by preaching the end of the world was coming in the next couple months.

      It seems there are a small number of people in the world who's only interest is to have the world end... i just don't get it.

      --
      Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
    5. Re:Thank God... by LifesABeach · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Mayan's I've talked to think this is funny; they equate the calendar ending like December 31st. The cycle then repeats itself.

    6. Re:Thank God... by j-beda · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I personally think that it is convenient to have a fairly authoritative website to point people to who have concerns due to the woo-woos raising a fuss. Nothing is ever going to change the minds of the "true believers" but it is useful for those not yet completely bamboozled to have the opportunity to see a more reasonable world-view. I doubt very much that this cost NASA much in terms of resources.

  2. Of course they'd say that to avoid global panic by SpankyDaMonkey · · Score: 5, Informative

    There's 2 options here:

    1. Everything is fine, no gobal apocalypse

    2. There's something on the way that's going to kill us all, but if we tell you about it the whole world will panic and riots will stop the government getting itself to safety along with a handpicked few 'key' people

    Either way - they'll say it's safe

    And on that note, I'm going to hang up my tin foil hat

  3. Interesting propaganda campaign by jfengel · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This hardly seems like it's worth NASA's effort. You already know that the loons won't be convinced by it. A press release consisting of the single word "NO" is all it should really take.

    But it's also a great opportunity. Not on the 20th, but on the 22nd. When everybody wakes up, they say, "Wow, NASA got it right, and the kooks were kooks. Score one for science." It's nice to see science be able to just slam-dunk something without it getting balled up in revisionism, hedging, and accusations of malfeasance.

    And if people learn just a little bit more about gravity, seasons, the solar system, and the galaxy, so much the better.

    So kudos to NASA for seizing the day. "Proving that the world isn't ending" isn't really one of NASA's missions, but if it results in better support for NASA's real missions (both financially and in terms of having their results taken seriously), then I want to say "Good job" to their PR department. (Cheap, too!)

  4. Idiots by Mr2cents · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm postponing my doomsday-device test until December 22, just so I can laugh at those idiots who believe all that nonsense.

    --
    "It's too bad that stupidity isn't painful." - Anton LaVey
  5. We've got them now! by mosb1000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    They wouldn't deny it unless it were true!

  6. Vogons by DaveAtFraud · · Score: 4, Funny

    Of course NASA doesn't know that the Vogons will destroy the Earth on 22 December 2012 to make way for an intergalactic bypass. They missed the notification. The Vogons will miss their originally scheduled date of the 21st because, as usual, the construction project is behind schedule. Sorry for the inconvenience.

    Cheers,
    Dave

    --
    They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
    Ben
  7. Re:Really? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Smart people know things that dumb people don't?

    I hate you arrogant liberals.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  8. I'm gonna start calling Dec 31st.... by vell0cet · · Score: 5, Funny

    If people are going to call Dec 21 the "Mayan Apocalypse," I'm going to start calling Dec 31 the "Gregorian Apocalypse" ... every year.

  9. It's the End of the World... Again [Re:Thank God] by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yep. But yah know, if you listen to the wind you hear the same nonsense every year, often multiple times a year....

    Yep!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_apocalyptic_events

    --
    http://www.geoffreylandis.com