Is the World Ending?

We've all heard the rumors by now that according to the Mayan calendar, the world is set to end on December 21st of this year. But before you break out "4 Minutes" by Justin Timberlake and Madonna at 11:56PM on the 20th, it is important that all of you who are superstitious understand the facts behind the stories.

Slate writer Phil Plait is eager to debunk the doomsday theories. According to the writer, while on a shopping trip to Walgreen's, he came across a magazine ominously titled "Apocalyptic Prophecies." While thumbing through it, Plait found accounts of people defending the end-of-the-world theories and stirring up more fear.

The cherry on top of his investigation of the publication, however, was his discovery on the front cover under the bar code.

Image Courtesy of Phil Plait

Plait aptly ends his article saying, "It kinds make you wonder how seriously the publisher takes all this, doesn't it? I never knew expiration dates themselves had expiration dates past their own expiration date."

But if a publisher's silly mistake isn't enough to convince you that doomsday is merely a sensationalist theory without an ounce of truth behind it, Plait would like to direct your attention to 2012hoax.org.

The website complies factual evidence and devastating stories of what has already happened as a result of the over-the-top hype and what will continue to happen until people understand there is no truth behind the theory.

First of all, the Mayans used two different calendars. One had 365 days and another had 280 days. The information gets particularly complicated here, but it is important to understand that the Mayans never factored leap years into the equation, so technically their version of December 21, 2012 has come and gone without anyone taking notice. According to 2012 hoax's website, the Mayan calendar had an error of about 1 day every 4 years.

If you need more proof that we will all live to see December 22nd - or if you're looking for ways to put your superstitious friends at ease, I encourage you to check their website