WASHINGTON — As moviegoers across the nation watched the end of the world last week with the opening of “2012,” news of Earth’s demise spread quickly across the Web. The scientific community, fed up with the misleading prophecies, quickly fought back on the Internet with their own series of articles and a YouTube video setting the record straight.
(Photo courtesy of Mike 23 Creative Commons)
December 21, 2012 marks the first winter solstice in 26,000 years when the sun and Earth will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way.
In the film, the world comes to an end on Dec. 21, 2012 – a date that marks the end of a Long Count period, or 25,000-year cycle, on the Mayan calendar. The film is directed by Roland Emmerich, who is also responsible for the doomsday features “The Day After Tomorrow” and “Independence Day.”
In the past, the scientific community has not responded to such hype and just waited for the end-of-the-world storm to pass, said Don Yeomans, senior research scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. For instance, the Y2K scare leading up to 2000 paralyzed many with fears that computers and electronic equipment would not correctly transition into the new century. People stockpiled water bottles and dry food to prepare – for what turned out to be a smooth transition.
But with “2012,” it was quickly evident on the Internet that there were a number of misinformed people and that the disaster scenarios were multiplying, he said.
This time, members of the scientific community decided they needed to step in and let the science do the talking.
So NASA posted a series of responses on its site to the many rumors in the film, addressing one by one the misconceptions by providing scientific backing to reveal the truth. A YouTube video also set the record straight.
Bob Waxman, author of “2012: The Ultimate Meaning,” said his book also attempts to dispel the myths.
“The book tells the truth about 2012,” he said. “There is so much propaganda out there. The Earth’s crust is going to crack and cause volcanoes and earthquakes, and supposed solar flares that are going to heat up inner core, a planet that no one has ever seen [is going to crash into us], every possible way to destroy the Earth is in the movie.”
But the release date of his book – Dec. 21, 2009 – plays into the “2012” movie theme. It’s exactly three years before the supposed doomsday promulgated in “2012.”
NASA’s Yeomans said that movie producers played into the hysteria, creating an Institute for Human Continuity Web site and even allowing users to vote for the leader of the new world.
“Normally, folks would think this is nonsense, but its Internet life was building,” he said.
Another popular theory explored in the movie includes a planet named Niburu crashing into the Earth.
In fact, no planet by the name of Niburu exists, Yeomans said.
The catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when no such event occurred, the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012.
Yeomans said he is not sure that there is anything scientifically correct in the movie because he has not yet seen it himself.
But he and other scientists hope that accurate information from trusted experts will stop end-of-the-world rumors from spreading further.
“We are not movie critics,” said NASA spokesman Dwayne Brown. “Our duty is to give the science fact, not the science fiction.”
