End of the world! December 21 2012

[TheNewTeddy]

So the Mayan calendar says the world will be ending this Friday at 6:11am eastern.

I for one could care less. If it ends, it ends. I doubt it will, and have plans for the 22nd and beyond, but if I wake up and everyone is dead, I'll just get along with my (after)life and maybe amuse myself watching people freak out.

Curious how other forumites feel? Anyone here really think it's going to end?

[Guest Derek L]

So the Mayan calendar says the world will be ending this Friday at 6:11am eastern.

I for one could care less. If it ends, it ends. I doubt it will, and have plans for the 22nd and beyond, but if I wake up and everyone is dead, I'll just get along with my (after)life and maybe amuse myself watching people freak out.

Curious how other forumites feel? Anyone here really think it's going to end?

My question, does it happen all at once, or will OZ disappear first?

[Merlin]

I am anxious about it. I hope it doesn't end but if it does, I will try to remain happy in the fact that I have tried my best even though my disability has hampered me much of my life.

[TheNewTeddy]

6:11am eastern time.

[Guest Derek L]

6:11am eastern time.

Just after three in the afternoon here,,,,right in rush hour before Christmas......Fantastic.

[DogOnPorch]

[Guest]

It would end now, just as Bradford City are competing for a promotion spot.

[Guest Manny]

Nonsense. My pet turtle always knows when the world is coming to an end, and he aint said nothin, so...

[Sleipnir]

...if the world ends, how would you be able to say 'I told you so'?

[TheNewTeddy]

...if the world ends, how would you be able to say 'I told you so'?

In heaven/hell

[Wilber]

I'd believe the turtle.

[Wilber]

double post

Edited December 18, 2012 by Wilber

[Moonlight Graham]

If the world ends, what will happen to the moon? Think about THAT!

[Sleipnir]

If the world ends, what will happen to the moon? Think about THAT!

Flings into the sun probably.

[BC_chick]

I'm going to be really mad at Y2K for crying wolf if the world ends on Friday. I would've at least packed a toothbrush.

[GostHacked]

It's simply a new era in the Mayan calendar. The calendar seems to document a single rotation of our solar system around the galaxy. The last cycle started about 25,000 years ago. And the new one begins soon.

We move from the age of Pisces, to Aquarius. And I will spare posting the song :!

[sharkman]

How in the world did these ancient primitive people figure out the rotation of the solar system? They did human sacrifice! It doesn't add up, one of history's oddities.

[Bonam]

How in the world did these ancient primitive people figure out the rotation of the solar system? They did human sacrifice! It doesn't add up, one of history's oddities.

Not really, a lot of ancient civilizations paid close attention to astronomy and accurately documented the movements of the stars and constellations and the cycles they observed. Whether it's ancient China, ancient Egypt, classical Greece, the Mayans, etc, they all made meticulous records of astronomy that were not bested until the Renaissance.

[sharkman]

Hold on a sec. I'm talking about the idea that an ancient civilization could track a solar system through the galaxy and say it'll take 25,000 years for one cycle. This is far more than just tracking stars and seasons, etc. Are you saying that several peoples were doing this, documenting that we live in a solar system and it's moving through a galaxy and in 25000 years, one cycle is complete?

[GostHacked]

Not really, a lot of ancient civilizations paid close attention to astronomy and accurately documented the movements of the stars and constellations and the cycles they observed. Whether it's ancient China, ancient Egypt, classical Greece, the Mayans, etc, they all made meticulous records of astronomy that were not bested until the Renaissance.

And with many lost civilizations being uncovered these days, many of these groups isolated from each other all paid a lot of attention to the stars. The Egyptians did it as well. The Pyramids seem to represent some stars themselves (Orion).

And yes much of that knowledge was lost for one reason or another.

[bush_cheney2004]

How in the world did these ancient primitive people figure out the rotation of the solar system? They did human sacrifice! It doesn't add up, one of history's oddities.

Well, we still do human sacrifice, but for different reasons. Consider that ancient peoples had very dark skies at night. Agrarian societies were very interested in equinoxes and solstices. Stone references were erected to figure this stuff out. Even the shape of the earth was obvious after witnessing a lunar eclipse.

Edited December 18, 2012 by bush_cheney2004

[GostHacked]

Well, we still do human sacrifice, but for different reasons. Consider that ancient peoples had very dark skies at night. Agrarian societies were very interested in equinoxes and solstices. Stone references were erected to figure this stuff out. Even the shape of the earth was obvious after witnessing a lunar eclipse.

Head out of the city on a clear night and one can easily see the stars and the galaxy. Without all the light pollution our modern way of life emits, we can't see the stars as well as we used to. Unless you get out of the city and away from the light pollution.

[Bonam]

Hold on a sec. I'm talking about the idea that an ancient civilization could track a solar system through the galaxy and say it'll take 25,000 years for one cycle. This is far more than just tracking stars and seasons, etc. Are you saying that several peoples were doing this, documenting that we live in a solar system and it's moving through a galaxy and in 25000 years, one cycle is complete?

No, they didn't know about the solar system as we know it today. They just knew in what constellation the Sun, moon, and planets rise and set, and how that drifts over time from one constellation to another. With modern knowledge, we know that this corresponds to certain motions of the solar system. By the way, not sure where the number 25,000 was pulled out of (it is not referenced in the Mayan calendar, just something Gosthacked made up) but it doesn't correspond to one solar system rotation around the galactic center (we'd have to be going faster than the speed of light to do that). The actual time period for the Sun to orbit the galactic center is 225-250 million years.

Edited December 18, 2012 by Bonam

[Shakeyhands]

I have tried my best even though my disability has hampered me much of my life.

Ok, has anyone bit on this one yet? What's your disability?

[GostHacked]

No, they didn't know about the solar system as we know it today. They just knew in what constellation the Sun, moon, and planets rise and set, and how that drifts over time from one constellation to another. With modern knowledge, we know that this corresponds to certain motions of the solar system. By the way, not sure where the number 25,000 was pulled out of (it is not referenced in the Mayan calendar, just something Gosthacked made up) but it doesn't correspond to one solar system rotation around the galactic center (we'd have to be going faster than the speed of light to do that). The actual time period for the Sun to orbit the galactic center is 225-250 million years.

I've read it on a few articles, I will see if I can locate them again.