December 1 Brings Countdown to Non-Apocalypse It’s December 1,
2012, and many around the world are counting down to the
purported Mayan Apocalypse, the end of the indigenous group’s
Long Count calendar. Never mind that revelations during the past
year alone have put ancient Mayans firmly in touch with the
future, most notably with the May 2012 discovery of a scribe’s
wall covered with murals plotting Venus’s orbit 7,000 years out.
NASA has been doing its best to debunk apocalypse myths all
year, and now it has taken it a step further: The space agency
is now warning of a dark side to apocalyptic rumors, cautioning
that while those who don’t believe in the rumors may consider it
a joke, there are some who are mentally vulnerable, “frightened
children and suicidal teens who truly fear the world may come to
an end,” LiveScience.com reported on November 28 after an online
NASA session over Google+ designed to quell doomsday fears.
Anyone worried can go to NASA’s 24-hour apocalypse-debunking web
page. The 21st of