Part of me feels this is a ridiculous waste of time by NASA. On the other hand, if NASA officials feel that they are wasting their time answering ridiculous questions about the science of the Hollywood film “2012,” maybe they have to waste a little of their time debunking it on a website to avoid wasting more of their time individually introducing science to moviegoers.
Sometime ago, NASA has put up a webpage debunking the end-of-the-world science from 2012.
“Remember the Y2K scare? It came and went without much of a whimper because of adequate planning and analysis of the situation. Impressive movie special effects aside, Dec. 21, 2012, won’t be the end of the world as we know. It will, however, be another winter solstice.
“Much like Y2K, 2012 has been analyzed and the science of the end of the Earth thoroughly studied. Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, the science behind the end of the world quickly unravels when pinned down to the 2012 timeline. Below, NASA Scientists answer several questions that we’re frequently asked regarding 2012.”
Movie goers to 2012, which grossed $760 million, inundated NASA with questions about the disasters portrayed in film.
NASA wants those who fear that the Mayan calendar portends the end of the world to not worry. There are no planets on a collision course with earth, nor is the earth’s rotation going to change, nor will a reversal of the magnetic polarity wipe out life and there are no signs of massive and unusual solar storms in the near future.
“Now, I for one love a good book or movie as much as the next guy. But the stuff flying around through cyberspace, TV and the movies is not based on science. There is even a fake NASA news release out there,” said Don Yeomans, NASA senior research scientist.
Yeomans, head of NASA’s Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission, said 2012 was an “exceptional and extraordinary case” of bad science.
In these times of budget cuts, NASA does not have the time to take care of its important missions. Yet these dedicated scientists have to fend off crazy movie goers who think the world is coming to an end. At least now they can just direct them to the website debunking the movie theatrics.
Nevertheless, there is one bone to pick with NASA. The U.K.’s Metro reported that “A panel of Nasa (sic) experts concluded 2012 was the most scientifically flawed blockbuster ever made.”
I sincerely hope that the panel was not specially put together to come to this ground shaking conclusion. I also hope they did not put together a study to determine what are “scientifically flawed” and “scientifically viable” movies.
Hopefully, NASA’s conclusions on this topic are as scientifically meaningless as the movie 2012.
