2012: end of world?

Off late there has been widespread interest in this number "2012" with conspiracy theorists back into limelight suggesting that the world would come to end on Dec 21 2012. Curiosity made me to dig some material about this event to decide whether I should be on a trip to Hawaii or not.

The main basis for the prediction is the Mayan calendar which accurately calculates the solar & lunar cycles. Unlike the western calendars where the numbers are in base-10 format, the Mayan calendar is represented in base-20 and base-18 format. The second digit is in base-18 format and the rest of the digits are in the base-20 format.

To measure dates over a long period, the Mayans used the "Long count calendar" that can measure upto 144,000 days (1.0.0.0.0) which is roughly 394.3 solar years. Every such 144,000 days is represented as 1 b'at'kun and the world would start its 13th b'at'kun (13.0.0.0.0) on Dec 21 2012 which means there is a new calendar round according to the Mayans which is similar to resetting the odometer of a vehicle when all the digits are 9.

According to the Mayans, the world begins a new cycle every 20 b'at'kun or nearly 7886 years. The starting date of the current world is Aug 11, 3114 BC as per the Mayans and therefore the 20 year world cycle will be in the year 4772 :)

So after the Y2k bug & 2000 doomsday predictions, this conspiracy theory will also rest in peace. I would have been on my dream destination (Hawaii) if the doomsday prediction was definite. Hmm... life continues...

Signs Off

Urs Ved