2012: The World Isn't Ending

The rumors have been flooding the internet for years and as we approach that infamous date, the media hype-machine is at its peak. You might hear words like Apocalypse, Armageddon, and Doomsday being loosely thrown around. Books have been published on the topic, programs about it have been aired on TV networks including The History Channel and The Discovery Channel, and a few years ago the major motion picture 2012, starring John Cusack, became one of the year's highest grossing films. So what's really going on here? Should we give up our jobs and focus on outfitting underground bunkers to make those last moments with our loved ones as pleasant as possible while we await our impending doom? Simply put: NO! There are a number of theories out there attempting to support this idea of mankind's demise, but they're all wrong:

The Mayan Calender

The Mayan Civilization lived by a Long Count linear calender lasting approximately 144,000 days, which was a period of time known as a b'ak'tun. According to Mayan stories of creation, the Gods failed in their first three attempted worlds. They succeeded on the fourth attempt and placed mankind into this world. The previous world was said to have ended after 13 b'ak'tuns (5125 years). The date marking the end of the third world and the start of the fourth world was set at August 11th or 13th, 3114 BC. This means that the current world will reach the end of its thirteenth b'ak'tun on December 21st or 23rd, 2012 AD.

Although the calender's cycle comes to an end, records show that the Mayans believed a new cycle would begin, just as it had in the past. Associating the end of the cycle with the end of the world has been called "a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in." In fact, the present day Mayan groups living in Guatemala have adopted an entirely new calendar system, and no longer consider the 13th b'ak'tun significant. Furthermore, Mayan elder Apolinario Chile Pixtun has acknowledged that "apocalypse" is a concept introduced by the Western world and has no connection with Mayan beliefs.

Polar Shift or Geomagnetic Reversal

This theory stems from observations that our planet's magnetic field is weakening, and implies that there will be a shift of the north and south poles. To add some more spice to the story, approaching solar storms are supposed to speed up the process. Some of this is partially true, in that the Earth does naturally go through geomagnetic reversals (the last one occurring 780,000 years ago) and we are affected by periodic solar storms.

The doomsday supporters try to paint the picture of this geomagnetic reversal as an overnight ordeal that will flip Earth and create chaos. In reality, the process is thought to take 5000 years to complete and has no particular start-date. In regard to the solar storms, astronomers do not expect the approaching storms to be anything out of the ordinary, and have found no evidence that links them to kick starting a polar shift.

Planet X Nibiru & Alien Invasion

These are two of the most imaginative theories. The first suggests that a massive unknown planet is on a collision course with Earth. This is simply impossible, since we would already be aware of the presence of such an object if it were supposed to hit us within the next two years. The second suggests hostile extraterrestrial lifeforms taking over. Sure, aliens could invade, but we have yet to prove that aliens exist, let alone are capable of invading.

Nostradamus & Einstein

Once all of the other theories have been exhausted, some people turn to the predictions of the great astrologer Michel de Nostradamus. His prophecies are gathered from four-line poems which were written in the 1500s. Analyzing the content of these poems is highly subjective and must be taken with a grain of salt, especially considering that they are written using vague, ambiguous language in an effort to avoid his own persecution by the Christian church.

A more modern figure, Albert Einstein, supposedly said something on the lines of: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." Not to play down the importance of bees on our planet, but we must keep in mind that Einstein was a physicist, not a beekeeper.

In this day and age, fear and paranoia run ramped through our society. Companies in different industries try to capitalize on this by feeding the public with sensationalism. It is important to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism when taking in this sort of information, especially when science-fiction writers are co-authoring documentaries on The History Channel. All in all, the world is not coming to an end on 2012, but if you still don't feel comfortable, listen to this statement released by Donald Yeomans, the head of NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission:

Desert Adaptation: Kangaroo Rat

No matter how uninhabitable an environment might seem, chances are there is something living there. Even a place like Death Valley, which is known as the driest and hottest part of North America, plays host to a few creatures, including the Kangaroo Rat shown above. Death Valley averages less than 2 inches of precipitation per year, yet moisture evaporates at rates of up to 150 inches per year. The Kangaroo Rat can go without drinking for months to survive this dryness. So just how do they manage? They have developed behavioral and anatomical adaptations to prevent water loss during gas exchange.

Since they spend plenty of time underground to escape the daytime heat, their burrows become quite humid. When gathering seeds, rather than eating them immediately, they store them in the burrows, which allows the seeds to reabsorb the moisture in the air. The Kangaroo Rat then regains this water when they consume the seeds.

Probably the most important adaptation is the animal's efficient kidneys. Due to the rodent's lengthened loop of Henle they can produce urine which is 5 times more concentrated than maximally concentrated human urine. Because of this ability, these Kangaroo Rats never actually have to drink. The water produced within its cells during oxidation of food is sufficient for their body. Furthermore, its nasal passages can reabsorb water vapor from its own breath. To top it off, Kangaroo Rats have no sweat glands, so they can't lose water by perspiring. With all of that figured out, these little guys can focus their attention on avoiding snakes.

An Eye Opening Genetic Malformation

During the development of an embryo there are many critical processes simultaneously at work , including body axis specification and formation of functional organs. Another important element is the development of the head, arguably the most anatomically sophisticated region of the body. On rare occasions craniofacial malformations will occur, resulting in disorders that have many potential origins, including abnormalities of brain patterning, of the migration and fusion of tissues in the face, and of bone differentiation in the skull.

Holoprosencephaly (HPE) refers to a range of problems involving the malformation of the brain and upper face along the midline. In the most moderate of circumstances, the signs of HPE are as subtle as one single central incisor, shown above on the left. The most extreme end of the spectrum can be associated with midline cleft lip, cyclopia, and an overlying proboscis, shown above on the right. The proboscis, which is the build-up of tissue seen above the eyes, forms because of the obstruction by the central eye. It is made up of frontonasal neural-crest cells that would have normally migrated between the eyes to form the nose and upper lip.

This is extremely rare in live births (~1 in 15,000), but is more commonly detected in early pregnancies (1 in 250); however almost all affected fetuses are miscarried. The cause of these deformities is thought to be due to mutations in the SHH gene. Source of pictures and information: Wilkie et. al (2001) Genetics of Cranofacial Development and Malformation, Nature Reviews Genetics, Volume 2; 458-468.

On Your Mark, Get Set, TOAD!

The Cane Toad (Bufo Marinus) is a massive terrestrial toad native to Central and Southern America. In 1935 they were introduced to Australia in an attempt to control the native Cane Beetle population which was growing out of control. Initially there were 3000 young toads introduced, but since then they have grown to an astonishing 200 million. Due to their migratory nature they have started to evolve larger legs, larger bodies, and increased their speed of movement.

It is estimated that these toads migrate at an average of 40 km per year. This is making people nervous since they are starting to destroy flora, as well as other species, such as the Northern Quoll and certain snakes. To get an idea of how they are spreading, see the map below:

Recently some researchers have made progress predictions regarding the migration of this explosively breeding species. In the spirit of the recent Olympics, scientists have staged a 2 meter sprint event in a laboratory setting. The Ecography journal reports that Toads could hop as fast as 2km per hour at 30C, but were only able to hop at 0.3 km per hour at 15C.

Previous studies have predicted that southern regions of Australia, including Melbourne, will eventually face the toad invasion. Head researcher Dr. Kearney feels otherwise: "The cane toads cannot survive in much of southern Australia because they would be too cold to move about and forage or spawn." Perhaps these cold temperatures will halt the progress of the toad army after all.

Montauk Monster All Talk

This is the 'Montauk Monster', which allegedly washed up onto the shore in Long Island's East Hamptons. The finding was initially published on July 23 in The Independent. This color photo popped up online last week through Gawker.com. Immediately questions arose as to what this creature actually was. Since then, the story has hit the media full force, including a mention on CNN and Fox News.

Jeff Corwin, wildlife expert from 'Animal Planet', has a simple theory. He claims that it's a raccoon with its muzzle partly rotted away, explaining the beak-like snout. With enough erosion, the canine teeth could easily resemble a beak like structure.

William Wise, director of Stony Brook University's Living Marine Resources Institute, disagreed after consulting with fellow biologists. He isn't sure what it is, but he has ruled out some options:

• raccoon - the legs are too long in proportion to the body
• sea turtle - they don't have teeth
• rodent - rodents have two large, curved incisor teeth in front of their mouths
  

He mentioned that the general body shape looks like that of a dog, but that the "prominent eye ridge and feet" don't match. This lead him to his best guess, crediting the monster to "A talented someone who got very creative with latex".

All of this is based on photograph analysis, because the actual body has yet to land in the laps of scientists. The photographer, 26 year old Jenna Hewitt, explained its current whereabouts stating that, "A guy took it and put it in the woods in his backyard; he has a big backyard." She wouldn't say who, and wouldn't say where. Sounds fishy?

Here's the other picture that was taken. I'm on the raccoon train...

Total Bullwhip

Here's quick tidbit of ear-opening information. The cracking sound that a bullwhip makes when it's properly snapped is actually a mini sonic boom. The end of the whip, called the cracker, moves faster than the speed of sound. This makes the whip the first human invention to break the sound barrier.


The cracker has much less mass than the handle section of the bullwhip. When it is sharply snapped, the energy is transferred down the length of the whip. The velocity of the whip increases with the decrease in mass, which is how the whip reaches the speed of sound and causes a sonic boom.

Frozen Wave Myth

These massive ice-blue wave formations can be found scattered over Antarctica. Popular belief states that these are created by waves of water instantly freezing as they come in contact with the frigid air of the region. This is untrue. In reality they are typically formed by compacted ice which uplifts due to glaciation. The shape is then altered by the elements. For example, the downward spikes that make the wave appear as if it's crashing down are due to melting - essentially they are icicles.

The photograph above, and the other below, were taken in 2002 by Tony Travouillon at the Antarctic Base of Dumont D'Urville. To dispel another myth, these do not occur on Lake Huron. In March of 2008 these same images were found all over the internet accompanied by text claiming that the waves were found on Michigan's Lake.

A Leap In Understanding

Almost every four years, an extra day is added to the month of February. What is the justification for February 29th? Put simply, it keeps the modern calendar in tune with celestial cycles.

Although a normal calendar year has 365 days, it actually takes the Earth 365.242 days to fully orbit the sun. This extra 0.242 adds up quickly over the years. Many cultures, since ancient times, have been adding days, weeks, and even months in order to compensate for this.

Older calendars were based on lunar months, which average 29.5 days; a year totaling 354 days. This caused many problems within the social structures. "The calendar in Rome had drifted so much that it was months off, and you might have the harvest holiday as seeds are being planted, things like that," historian David Duncan explained.

Once the true length of a solar year was determined, a calendar reform was to be implemented for the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar, ruler at the time, organized the Julian calendar into a 365-day year with a leap year every four years. Before this reform was initiated, the discrepancy needed to be fixed. So, in 46 B.C., he instituted a single year, known as the Year of Confusion, which was 445 days long!

So now everything was honky dory, right? Wrong...

By adding one day every four years, essentially every year had an extra 0.25 of a day. This is 0.008 days too much! This difference might appear minimal, but after 128 years it adds up to an entire day. By the late 16th century, the Julian calendar had drifted 10 days.

Then astronomers convinced Pope Gregory XIII that due to this drift all the Christian holidays were being celebrated on the wrong days. So, in 1582, the pope introduced the Gregorian calendar, which stated that only one out of every four 'century years' would be considered a leap year. So, 2000 and 2400 are leap years, but 2100, 2200, and 2300 are not.

The Gregorian calendar was adopted by most of the world and is still used today.