Scientists say Earth is undergoing true polar wander Posted on October 2, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol 
October 2, 2012 – EARTH - True polar wander is a geophysical theory, a way of thinking about Earth processes that might happen and that these scientists believe do happen. The theory suggests that if an object of sufficient weight on Earth – for example, a supersized volcano or other weighty land mass – formed far from Earth’s equator, the force of Earth’s rotation would gradually pull the object away from the axis around which Earth spins. A supersized volcano far from Earth’s equator would create an imbalance, in other words. As explained at Princeton.edu: If the volcanoes, land and other masses that exist within the spinning Earth ever became sufficiently imbalanced, the planet would tilt and rotate itself until this extra weight was relocated to a point along the equator. That’s the theory of true polar wander. It would cause a movement of Earth’s land masses, but for a different reason than the reason the continents drift in the theory of plate tectonics (formerly called “continental drift”). In the theory of plate tectonics, the continents drift because Earth’s the layer of Earth underlying our planet’s crust (called the mantle) is convective. That is, it circulates, slowly – like water about to boil. In true polar wander, on the other hand, a similar-seeming movement of land masses on Earth’s crust happens in order to correct an imbalance of weight with respect to Earth’s spin. Scientists’ understanding of true polar wander overlaps with their understanding of plate tectonics in various ways. That’s understandable, since it’s all the same Earth. Scientists delving into true polar wander want to know when, in which direction, and at what rate the Earth’s solid exterior might be rotating due to true polar wander. To sort it out, they say, you would need a stable frame of reference to which observations of relative motion might be compared. Doubrovine and his team say they found one: volcanic hotspots. Oceanic hotspots form an island chain. As land plates drift, a successive of volcanoes form over the hotspot. In geology, hotspots are volcanic regions fed by Earth’s underlying mantle. For example, the Hawaiian Islands are believed to have formed over a hotspot in the mantle. The hotspot created a volcano, but then – as that land plate drifted over time, as described by the theory of plate tectonics – the volcano drifted, too, and was eventually cut off from the hotspot. Gradually, another volcano begins to form over the hotspot, right next to the first one. And then it moves on … and another one forms … and so on … and so on. Earth’s crust produces first one, then another volcano over the hotspot until a long chain of volcanoes forms, such as in Hawaii. Hotspots have long been used to understand the motion of tectonic plates. Doubrovine and colleagues went a step further in order to understand true polar wander. Instead of treating the hot spots as static – frozen in place at one spot above Earth’s mantle – their computer model let the hotspots’ positions drift slowly. According to these scientists, this drifting is what produced a model of a stable reference frame, which in turn let them draw conclusions about true polar wander. They say their model does a good job of matching observations of real hotspot tracks on Earth – the path drawn by each hotspot’s island chain – which gives them confidence their results about true polar wander are accurate.  The Mayans reveal their darkest mysteries: New excavation reveals secrets of their calendar - including black-clad figures and symbols never seen before A vast city built by the ancient Mayan civilization and discovered nearly a century ago in modern day Guatemala is finally starting to yield its secrets - including a hint that apocalyptic predictions around the 'end' of the Mayan Calendar may be wrong. Excavating for the first time in the sprawling complex of Xultzn in Guatemala's Peten region, archaeologists have uncovered a structure that contains what appears to be a work space for the town's scribe. Its walls are adorned with unique paintings - one depicting a line-up of men in black uniforms, and hundreds of scrawled numbers - many calculations relating to the Mayan calendar, and stretching up to 7,000 years into the future. 
The painted figure of a man - possibly a scribe - is illuminated in the doorway of the Mayan dwelling, which holds symbols never seen before 
Angelyn Bass cleans and stabilizes the surface of a wall of a Maya house that dates to the 9th century A.D. A mysterious figure is shown painted on the wall in the foreground 
Four long numbers on the north wall of the ruined house relate to the Maya calendar and computations about the moon, sun and possibly Venus and Mars; the dates may stretch some 7,000 years into the future. These are the first calculations Maya archaeologists have found that seem to tabulate all of these cycles in this way 
Mayan temples in Guatemala: Researchers have found walls adorned with unique paintings - one depicting a line-up of men in black uniforms, and hundreds of scrawled numbers - many calculations relating to the Mayan calendar 
Never-before-seen artwork - the first to be found on walls of a Maya house - adorn the dwelling in the ruined city of Xultún 
The Mayan sites in Guatemala have been investigated by scientists since the Seventies The excavations, which were funded by National Geographic, have already revealed details about the Mayan calendar and the lives of the inhabitants which were previously unknown. One wall of the structure, thought to be a house, is covered with tiny, millimetre-thick, red and black glyphs unlike any seen before at other Mayan sites. Some appear to represent the various calendrical cycles charted by the Mayans - the 260-day ceremonial calendar, the 365-day solar calendar, the 584-day cycle of the planet Venus and the 780-day cycle of Mars. Four long numbers on the north wall of the ruined house relate to the Maya calendar and computations about the moon, sun and possibly Venus and Mars; the dates may stretch some 7,000 years into the future. ‘Why would they go into those numbers if the world is going to come to an end this year?’ observed Anthony Aveni of Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., an expert on Mayan astronomy. ‘You could say a number that big at least suggests that time marches on.’ These are the first calculations Maya archaeologists have found that seem to tabulate all of these cycles in this way. Although they all involve common multiples of key calendrical and astronomical cycles, the exact significance of these particular spans of time is not known. Archaeologist William Saturno, of Boston University in the United States who led the exploration and excavation, said: ‘For the first time we get to see what may be actual records kept by a scribe, whose job was to be official record keeper. ‘It's like an episode of TV's 'Big Bang Theory,' a geek math problem and they're painting it on the wall. They seem to be using it like a blackboard.’
The scientists say that despite popular belief, there is no sign that the Mayan calendar - or the world - was to end in the year 2012, just one of its calendar cycles. Anthony Aveni, professor of astronomy and anthropology at Colgate University, said: ‘It's like the odometer of a car, with the Maya calendar rolling over from the 120,000s to 130,000.
‘The car gets a step closer to the junkyard as the numbers turn over; the Maya just start over.’ 
Archaeologist William Saturno of Boston University carefully uncovers art and writings left by the Maya some 1,200 years ago DO THE MAYANS PREDICT THE WORLD WILL END IN 2012? Inscriptions on Mayan tablets found in temples such as Tortuguero refer to 'the end' - and many internet conspiracy theories have predicted our world will be swallowed by a black hole, hit by an asteroid or devoured by ancient gods. But many ethnic Mayans dismiss the apocalyptic predictions as largely a Western idea. Rather than the end of time itself, the inscriptions refer to the start of a new era.
The 'apocalypse' refers to the end of a cycle of 5,125 years since the beginning of the Mayan Long Count calendar in 3113 B.C. The paintings represent the first Maya art to be found on the walls of a house. The walls reveal the oldest known astronomical tables from the Maya. Scientists already knew they must have been keeping such records at that time, but until now the oldest known examples dated from about 600 years later. Astronomical records were key to the Mayan calendar, which has gotten some attention recently because of doomsday warnings that it predicts the end of the world this December. Experts say it makes no such prediction. The new finding provides a bit of backup: The calculations include a time span longer than 6,000 years that could extend well beyond 2012. Aveni, along with William Saturno of Boston University and others, report the discovery in Friday's issue of the journal Science. The room, a bit bigger than 6-feet square, is part of a large complex of Mayan ruins in the rain forest at Xultun in northeastern Guatemala. The walls also contain portraits of a seated king and some other figures, but it's clear those have no connection to the astronomical writings, the scientists said. One wall contains a calendar based on phases of the moon, covering about 13 years. The researchers said they think it might have been used to keep track of which deity was overseeing the moon at particular times. Aveni said it would allow scribes to predict the appearance of a full moon years in advance, for example. Such record-keeping was key to Mayan astrology and rituals, and maybe would be used to advise the king on when to go to war or how good this year's crops would be, he said. ‘`What you have here is astronomy driven by religion,’ he said. On an adjacent wall are numbers indicating four time spans from roughly 935 to 6,700 years. It's not clear what they represent, but maybe the scribes were doing calculations that combined observations from important astronomical events like the movements of Mars, Venus and the moon, the researchers said. Why bother to do that? Maybe the scribes were ‘geeks ... who just got carried away with doing these kinds of computations and calculations, and probably did them far beyond the needs of ordinary society,’ Aveni suggested. Experts unconnected with the discovery said it was a significant advance. ‘It's really a wonderful surprise,’ said Simon Martin, co-curator of an exhibit about the Mayan calendar at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. While the results of the scribes' work were known from carvings on monuments, ‘we've never really been able to identify a working space, or how they actually went about things,’ Martin said. The new work gives insight into that, he said, and the fact the room had a stone roof rather than thatching supports previous indications that the scribes enjoyed a high social standing. ‘It's a very important discovery. We're only getting a glimpse of it’ in the published paper, said John B. Carlson, director of the Center for Archaeoastronomy in College Park, Md. ‘This is an intriguing start for this discovery.’ Xultzn, a 12 square mile site where tens of thousands once lived, was first discovered about 100 years ago by Guatemalan workers and roughly mapped in the 1920s by Sylvanus Morley, who named the site ‘Xultzn’ - ‘end stone.’ Scientists from Harvard University mapped more of the site in the 1970s. The house discovered by Prof Saturno's team was numbered 54 of 56 structures counted and mapped at that time. Thousands at Xultzn remain uncounted. The team's excavations reveal that monumental construction at Xultzn began in the first centuries B.C. The site thrived until the end of the Classic Maya period; the site's last carved monument dates to around 890 A.D. Prof Saturno said: ‘It's weird that the Xultzn finds exist at all. Such writings and artwork on walls don't preserve well in the Maya lowlands, especially in a house buried only a meter below the surface.’ Prof Aveni added: ‘The most exciting point is that we now see that the Maya were making such computations hundreds of years - and in places other than books - before they recorded them in the Codices.’ The findings were reported in National Geographic magazine and in the journal Science. Will the world end on December 21, 2012? The unsettling evidence behind ancient astrologers' claim and the film they inspired A tidal wave engulfs the Himalayas. A tsunami scoops up a warship and dumps it on the White House. The Great Wall of China crumbles and thousands of screaming tourists plummet to their deaths. Soon the horrors reach British shores. A massive earthquake sends Big Ben crashing to the ground and destroys the newly-built Olympic stadium, great surges in our rivers drown millions up and down the country, and plunging asteroids turn our towns and cities into smoking ruins. Those who survive the initial onslaught flee in terror, but to run is futile for this is the ultimate catastrophe — the end of the world, as predicted by the Hollywood disaster movie 2012, which opens next month. 
Domesday: Scenes from Roland Emmerich's new disaster movie, 2012 Starring John Cusack and Thandie Newton, 2012 is directed by Roland Emmerich, whose previous films, Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, have conjured up similarly apocalyptic visions — with Earth invaded by hostile aliens, or threatened with the sudden onset of a new Ice Age. While these have been dismissed as entertaining bunkum, Emmerich’s latest effort is causing rather more of a stir. Its plot revolves around a real-life prediction that the world will end on December 21, 2012, and many doomsayers claim there is evidence to suggest that this prophecy will come true. In America, they include Richard Heene, the Colorado father who created a worldwide frenzy when he claimed, falsely, that his six-year-old son Falcon had floated off in a home-made helium balloon shaped like a UFO. It has since emerged that Heene planned to build an underground bunker to protect his family in the event of the sun exploding in 2012. Whether his strange craft was part of his escape plan has yet to be established, but Heene is far from alone in his fear of this imminent Armageddon. Far-fetched though it sounds, rumours about what might happen in 2012 are fuelling so much hysteria that NASA has had to intervene to allay public fears. ‘Two years ago, I got a question each week about 2012,’ says David Morrison, director of NASA’s Lunar Science Institute in California. ‘Now I’m getting a dozen a day and people are really worried. ‘A couple of teenagers over here have told me they were contemplating suicide rather than facing the end of the world and I’ve also had quite a few questions from England. ‘One of the saddest inquiries was from a woman who said her only friend was her cat. ‘She wanted to know if she should have him put down before 2012 so that he wouldn’t suffer.’ Morrison has posted a list of 20 questions and answers on NASA’s website to address people’s worries. But fascination with our apparently looming annihilation continues to grow — with more than 175 books about it advertised on the Amazon website alone, and some ghoulish entrepreneurs even offering 2012 survival kits. So, what has led to such alarm about 21/12/2012, a date causing panic not seen since fears about the Millennium computer bug in the year 2000? 
Worrying prediction or hokum? Another scene from 2012 Is it all nonsense or could we really be only three years away from Doomsday? This belief in our imminent demise is based on a calendar produced by the ancient Mayan civilisation, which flourished in the steamy rainforests of central America for nearly 2,000 years until its mysterious collapse around AD900. Today its abandoned temples and palaces have been engulfed by the lush green vegetation of the jungle, their rooms inhabited only by wild animals and birds — yet this was once one of the sophisticated societies of its day. Without wheels or metal tools to help them, the Mayans built many splendid stone buildings, including intricately designed observatories in which they developed a highly advanced understanding of astronomy. Scanning the heavens for many centuries and noting any association between the movement of the celestial bodies and events on Earth, they produced complicated almanacs full of horrifying imagery. The rising of the planet Venus in the morning, a sign believed to augur Mayan success in war, was represented by pictures of decapitated heads, while the lunar eclipses were symbolised by drawings of a dead goddess with a rope around her neck. Eclipses were thought to be a time of great danger for women, and a period when many children would be born deaf or blind. For all their gruesome illustrations, these almanacs were remarkably accurate in their astronomical calculations. With neither telescopes nor other equipment at their disposal, the Mayans managed to calculate that a lunar month — the period between successive new moons — lasted 29.5305 days, just 34 seconds away from what we now know to be its actual length. They also accurately forecast the movements of planets including Jupiter and Mars, and the occurrence of both solar and lunar eclipses for many centuries to come. Given these very precise predictions, Doomsday theorists are alarmed that the Mayan ‘Long Count’ Calendar, as it is known, appears to end abruptly on a date they recorded as 13.0.0.0. On the Gregorian calendar which we use today, this corresponds to December 21, 2012. The only clue as to what the Mayans thought might happen on that day comes from an ancient stone tablet, discovered during roadworks in Mexico back in the Sixties. Carved upon it are hieroglyphics that refer to the year 2012 and an event that will involve Bolon Yokte, the Mayan god of war and creation. Weathering and a crack in the stone have made the last part of the inscription illegible, but Mexican archaeologists have interpreted it as saying: ‘He will descend from the sky.’ Might this be a warning of impending divine wrath? Those who believe so include journalist Michael Drosnin, author of the best-selling book The Bible Code, which describes the work of three Israeli mathematicians who analysed the Book of Genesis using a computer. 
Apocalypse: A wave of catastrophe hits the earth in the film They supposedly discovered coded references to the names of 66 legendary rabbis who lived and died many centuries after Genesis was written. The text was also said to contain hidden details of the rabbis’ birth and death dates, and of the towns and cities in which they would live. Continuing this analysis, Drosnin claimed to have found encoded descriptions of the Earth being pounded by comets in the year 2012. Others have suggested that, on the day in question, the winter solstice, the sun will be in exact alignment with the centre of our galaxy. According to Lawrence Joseph, author of a book called Apocalypse 2012, unspecified gravitational and energy forces may be acting on us from the centre of the milky way — and, if disrupted, he speculates they would throw our bodies and our planet out of kilter, resulting in catastrophe. He compares this to the way in which even a momentary disruption of electrical power can cause the clocks on DVD players and microwaves to blink meaninglessly. But this theory is debunked by David Morrison of NASA. ‘The galactic centre is very far away, approximately 30,000 light years, so it has negligible effects on the solar system or the Earth,’ he says. ‘In fact, the sun goes in the general direction of the galaxy’s centre every December and nothing at all happens.’ Morrison also refutes a popular internet theory that worldwide devastation will be caused by Earth’s magnetic polarity suddenly changing and throwing its direction of rotation into reverse. ‘The Earth has been rotating in the same direction for the past four billion years,’ he says. ‘The magnetic polarity does change every few hundred thousand years and the last time was about 400,000 years ago, but there is no evidence to suggest that it will happen again any time soon. ‘Even if it does, it has no bearing on the direction in which the Earth spins, and there is no reason to think it will do any other harm.’  Repetition of doom? The 2012 date is based on the sudden demise of the Mayans, whose skulls are seen above
One idea with at least some credibility is that the Earth will one day be hit by a large extra-terrestrial object. But David Morrison dismisses the idea put forward in the film that this will be a mysterious planet known as Nibiru — long the subject of speculation among the gloom-mongers of cyberspace. Niburu was supposedly first identified by the Sumerian people, who lived 5,000 years ago in what is now southern Iraq and it is said to be heading towards Earth at an alarming rate. Astronomers insist that there is no such planet but, much to Morrison’s frustration, this only increases suspicion that governments worldwide are concealing its existence to avoid global panic. ‘The simple laws of planetary motion tell you that if this thing really was only three years away from hitting Earth, it would be the brightest thing in the sky apart from the sun and the moon,’ he says. ‘It would have been tracked by thousands of amateur and professional astronomers all over the world. You just can’t hide a planet.’ Fictitious though planet Nibiru is, the Earth has always been subject to strikes by comets and asteroids. But to do any real damage, an object would have to be more than a mile wide. Such big hits are rare and the last was 65 million years ago, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Searches of the cosmos for potential collisions up to 100 years into the future by NASA’s Near Earth Object Program led to them reporting that there are no serious threats in the offing and, even if a sizeable projectile did hit us, it might not wipe us out altogether. ‘There would be global firestorms and severe acid rain,’ says Don Yeomans, manager of the programme. ‘But all of these effects are relatively short-term, so the most adaptable species, like cockroaches and humans, would be likely to survive.’ According to Bill McGuire, Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London, we are 12 times more likely to experience the explosion of a super-volcano — defined as an eruption that expels 1,000 cubic kilometres or more of debris, enough to obliterate an area the size of Yorkshire. The site that currently gives most cause for concern is Yellowstone Volcano in the American state of Wyoming, which continues to rumble ominously and could explode with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima bombs and plunge the planet into a nuclear winter. ‘There would be great clouds of sulphur gas that would mix with the water in the atmosphere to form a veil over the Earth, cutting out sunlight and dramatically cooling the Earth’s surface,’ says Professor McGuire. ‘Plants would be unable to photosynthesise and there would be widespread crop failures, famine and starvation. ‘A super-volcano probably wouldn’t kill all of us, but there would be a devastating impact on our global economy and society.’ One thing the scientists agree upon is that life on Earth will one day come to an end. The constantly diminishing supplies of hydrogen in the sun, as in all ageing stars, will cause it to swell up and become what astronomers call a ‘red giant’. It will then engulf us before collapsing in on itself and becoming a ‘white dwarf’. 
Chichen-Itza, Mexico: The Mayans, who built this pyramid, prospered for 2,000 years until their ‘Long Count’ Calendar abruptly ended on the date 13.0.0.0., which in our modern system corresponds to December 21, 2012 The good news is that this is unlikely to happen for another four billion years or so. And since none of the other aforementioned fates is likely to befall us for a very long time to come, if at all, we are probably safe to get on with our Christmas plans for 2012. We cannot be too complacent about mankind’s longevity, however. Quite apart from the much trumpeted dangers of global warming, some experts suggest that the Earth’s magnetic field — which is crucial for deflecting solar radiation and channelling it into belts that harmlessly circle the planet — will diminish to the point where it can no longer protect us from the sun’s rays. This could lead to an epidemic of cancers and a major disruption of the food chain. Compasses would stop working, animals would be unable to find their way back to breeding grounds, and the weather would become less predictable. The Earth would become unstable, unleashing a series of natural disasters. Such a lingering end to humanity’s time on Earth might not be the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters, but it lends a chilling resonance to the final lines of TS Eliot’s famous poem The Hollow Men, penned in the aftermath of World War One. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper. -
Second inscription that confirms date of 'end' of Mayan calendar -
'End date' marks end of 5,125-year-old cycle of time -
1,300 year old carvings described as biggest hieroglyphic find in decades -
Inscription found on blocks abandoned by looters 
Marcello A. Canuto, director of Tulane's Middle American Research Institute, examines hieroglyphics at the La Corona dig site in Guatemala Archaeologists have found carvings in a stone staircase at the La Corona dig site in Guatemala which confirm the ‘end date’ of the Maya calendar, December 21, 2012. It is only the second known inscription which confirms this 'end date'. New Age sects around the world have interpreted this as a potential doomsday event - with sales of blast shelters rising in the U.S. and believers taking refuge in a village in France. The Mayan tablets are the subject of wild internet conspiracy theories, with predictions our world will be swallowed by a black hole, hit by an asteroid or devoured by ancient gods. The 1,300-year-old inscription is described as one of the most significant hieroglyphic finds in decades. Most of the inscription, carved into a stone abandoned by looters, deals with political history - but there is a reference to 'the end' in a passage about a king's return. ‘This was a time of great political turmoil in the Maya region and this king felt compelled to allude to a larger cycle of time that happens to end in 2012,’ says David Stuart of the University of Texas at Austin, who led a dig at the site. But many ethnic Mayans dismiss the apocalyptic predictions as largely a Western idea. Rather than the end of time itself, the inscriptions refer to the start of a new era. The 'apocalypse' refers to the end of a cycle of 5,125 years since the beginning of the Mayan Long Count calendar in 3113 B.C. 'The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth,' says Nasa, 'These fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012.' ‘This text talks about ancient political history rather than prophecy,’ says Marcello A. Canuto, dco-director of the excavations at La Corona. 
A newly discovered Mayan tablet reveals the 'end date' for the Mayan Calendar - it's only the second artifact to specify the date 
The carved blocks were found at the La Corona dig site in Guatemala 
The hieroglyphics were found on blocks abandoned by looters at the La Corona dig site Since 2008, Canuto and Tomás Barrientos of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala have directed excavations at La Corona, a site previously ravaged by looters. ‘Last year, we realized that looters of a particular building had discarded some carved stones because they were too eroded to sell on the antiquities black market,’ said Barrientos, ‘so we knew they found something important, but we also thought they might have missed something.’ 
The find has been described as the most significant hieroglyphic discovery in decades 
Marcello A. Canuto, director of Tulane's Middle American Research Institute, examines hieroglyphics at the La Corona dig site in Guatemala DO THE MAYANS PREDICT DOOMSDAY IN 2012? THE CULTS AND THE REALITY Inscriptions on Mayan tablets found in temples such as Tortuguero refer to 'the end' - and many internet conspiracy theories have predicted our world will be swallowed by a black hole, hit by an asteroid or devoured by ancient gods. Cults have gathered in the tiny French village called Bugarach where they hope to survive the apocalypse. Hundreds of books have been published on the subject since the Seventies, predicting Earth's demise at the hands of a mysterious planet Nibiru, or a black hole. 'The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth,' says Nasa, 'These fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012.' But many ethnic Mayans dismiss the apocalyptic predictions as largely a Western idea. Rather than the end of time itself, the inscriptions refer to the start of a new era.
The 'apocalypse' refers to the end of a cycle of 5,125 years since the beginning of the Mayan Long Count calendar in 3113 B.C. What Canuto and Barrientos found was the longest text ever discovered in Guatemala. Carved on staircase steps, it records 200 years of La Corona history, states David Stuart, director of the Mesoamerica Center at The University of Texas at Austin, who was part of a 1997 expedition that first explored the site. Most of the inscription, carved into a stone abandoned by looters, deals with political history - but there is a reference to 'the end' in a passage about a king's return. While deciphering these new finds in May, Stuart recognized the 2012 reference on a stairway block bearing 56 delicately carved hieroglyphs. It commemorated a royal visit to La Corona in AD 696 by the most powerful Maya ruler of that time, Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' of Calakmul, only a few months after his defeat by long-standing rival Tikal in AD 695. Thought by scholars to have been killed in this battle, this ruler was visiting allies and allaying their fears after his defeat. ‘This was a time of great political turmoil in the Maya region and this king felt compelled to allude to a larger cycle of time that happens to end in 2012,’ says Stuart. So, rather than prophesy, the 2012 reference places this king's troubled reign and accomplishments into a larger cosmological framework. ‘In times of crisis, the ancient Maya used their calendar to promote continuity and stability rather than predict apocalypse,’ says Canuto.
Mayan temples in Guatemala: Researchers have found walls adorned with unique paintings - one depicting a line-up of men in black uniforms, and hundreds of scrawled numbers - many calculations relating to the Mayan calendar 
Mayan carvings at La Corona: The 1,300-year-old inscription is described as one of the most significant hieroglyphic finds in decades 
Why the world will NOT end in 2012: Nasa scientist debunks conspiracy theories Skyscrapers crumble to the ground, fiery meteorites smash into Earth and a Tibetan monk cowers as a massive tidal wave swamps his mountain retreat. It is a vision of the coming apocalypse thrillingly captured in the latest Hollywood blockbuster. But fears that the world is due to end in December 2012 is just a myth fuelled by internet rumour, according to a leading Nasa scientist. Doomsday? The film 2012 will inflame existing fears about the possible end of the world Dr David Morrison, who runs the space agency's 'Ask an Astrobiologist' service, says he has received more than a thousand emails from those worried that the world is due to end in 2012. In an article published by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Dr Morrison has answered the top 20 questions in an attempt to assuage these fears. According to the theories on the internet, the calendar used by the ancient civilisation of the Mayans is due to come to an end in December 2012. Luckily for conspiracy theorists, this coincides neatly with predictions by an obscure sci-fi author, who wrote about the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer, that a planet named Nibiru will collide with the Earth on that date.  The Mayan calendar ends in 2012, but Dr Morrison said this did not mean the world would end Fears have been further inflamed by an apocalyptic film called '2012' starring John Cusack, which is out this November. A quick search on Amazon reveals there are 175 books listed that deal with 2012 doomsday. First off Dr Morrison dismisses the possibility that the planet Nibiru even exists. He writes: 'The bottom line is that Nibiru is a myth, with no basis in fact. 'To an astronomer, persistent claims about a planet that is "nearby" but “invisible” are just plain silly.' And Dr Morrison laughs off suggestions that the government has been complicit in hiding its existence from the public. 'Even if they wanted to, the government could not keep Nibiru a secret,' he says. 'If it were real, it would be tracked by thousands of astronomers, amateurs as well a professional. These astronomers are spread all over the world. 'I know the astronomy community, and these scientists would not keep a secret even if ordered to. You just can’t hide a planet on its way to the inner solar system!' He also addresses the concerns of those who worry that the Mayan calendar is due to end in 2012. 'Ancient calendars are interesting to historians, but they cannot match the ability we have today to keep track of time, or the precision of the calendars currently in use. 'The main point, however, is that calendars, whether contemporary or ancient, cannot predict the future of our planet or warn of things to happen on a specific date such as 2012. 'I note that my desk calendar ends much sooner, on December 31 2009, but I do not interpret this as a prediction of Armageddon. It is just the beginning of a new year.' He added although many believe prophecies by the sixteenth century seer Nostradamus predict the end of the world in 2012, there is no evidence he has correctly predicted anything. He also tackles the belief circulating on some internet forums that an alignment of planets in our galaxy the Milky Way could in some way disrupt the Earth's gravitational field or reverse the Earth's rotation. 'A reversal in the rotation of Earth is impossible. It has never happened and never will,' he said. He added that although the magnetic polarity of Earth does take place around every 400,000 years scientists don't believe it will take place for another few millennia and there is no evidence it would do any harm. 
Enlarge  Nasa scientist David Morrison (left) has moved to calm fears that the world will end in 2012, as predicted by sixteenth century seer Nostradamus (right) Publicity for the film '2012' also comes under attack for stirring up fear about the date. Like many Hollywood blockbusters nowadays, '2012' uses a sophisticated PR campaign which incorporates elements of 'viral' marketing. In the trailer for the film, which plays on conspiracy theorists' fears that the truth is being somehow hidden, viewers are directed to a 'faux scientific' website. The website purports to be the home for The Institute for Human Continuity, an entirely fictitious organisation which allows visitors to sign up for a lottery which will decide who will be saved when Armageddon comes. It boasts light, airy rooms, plenty of greenery and no doubt the service would be five-star. But the main reason guests would flock to the Ark Hotel would be its ability to save them from a natural disaster of Noah proportions. That's because the futuristic building has been designed to withstand floods caused by rising sea levels. 
Giant biosphere: Architects have designed a modern day Ark to withstand floods caused by rising sea levels 
All at sea: The shell-shaped hotel is designed to withstand tidal waves and other natural disasters The floating behemoth is a 'biosphere' conceived as a safe, self-contained haven. Branded as a green, self-sustaining environment for guests, the shell-shaped hotel would withstand tidal waves and other natural disasters. Architects say the Ark's shell-like construction of arches and cables evenly distribute weight so it is also invulnerable to earthquakes. The design uses solar panels and a rainwater collection system to provide inhabitants with power and water. 
Shaking up the design: The Ark's shell-like construction of arches and cables evenly distribute weight so it is also invulnerable to earthquakes 
Futuristic: The Ark Hotel has been designed to withstand floods caused by rising sea levels, boasts a green, self-sustaining environment for guests, and would withstand tidal waves and other natural disasters The greenhouse-like environment also provides for lush vegetation to help with air quality and provide food sources. Because of the see-through structure enough daylight is filtered through internal rooms to reduce the need for lighting. And to ensure quality of light, the frame is protected with a self-cleaning layer. The Ark has been designed by Russian firm Remistudio with the assistance of the International Union of Architects' program Architecture For Disaster Relief. 
Finding inner calm: The greenhouse-like environment also provides for lush vegetation to help with air quality and provide food sources 
Eco-zone: The Ark has been designed by Russian firm Remistudio with the assistance of the International Union of Architects' program Architecture For Disaster Relief Alexander Remizov, of Remistudio, has previously said: 'For architecture, there are two major concerns. 'The first is maintenance of security and precautions against extreme environmental conditions and climate changes. The second one is protection of natural environment from human activities. 'The Ark is an attempt to answer the challenges of our time. Provision is made for an independent life support system. 'All the plants are chosen according to compatibility, illumination and efficiency of oxygen producing, and with the aim of creating an attractive and comfort space. 'Through the transparent roof there is enough light for plants and for illuminating the inner rooms.' 
Greenhouse effect: The see-through structure means enough daylight is filtered through internal rooms to reduce the need for lighting 
Biosphere: The design, which uses solar panels and a rainwater collection system to provide inhabitants with power and water, can be adapted to work on both land and water | 
