Will the world end in 2012

Will the world end on 21st Dec 2012 ? Will the humanity get wiped out ? This is the biggest question circulating in the Internet, Youtube and many channels (channels are making a big  business ). In fact many people ask me about this. With my knowledge in astronomy, cosmology and above all 50 years of teaching , I rest my argument on this subject scientifically, logically and religiously. Those who believe that the world will end, place their arguments in their favour. In fact the common people are scared by their arguments. Thiruvalluvar says, " whatever is heard from whomsoever, we must grasp the truth from it ".  எப் பொருள் யார் யார் வாய்க் கேட்பினும் அப் பொருள் மெய்ப் பொருள் காண்பது அறிவு.( 423)  Whatsoever heard from whomsoever , grasping  the truth  is the  wisdom.(423 ) Let us try to find out the truth. 1) Will the end of the Mayan Calender bring the 'doomsday' ?  Mayan calender which has the origin of south Mexico is a long count calendar having 5128 years, it ends on 21st Dec 2012. In my book " Calendar Reformation " I had discussed in length about Mayan Calendar. It is just a calendar like any other country's calendar,  meant to hang on a wall. It has no divine power to predict the end of the world. Hindu Calendar has a cycle of 60 years, first year being Prabhava and last  being Akshaya. After the last year, once again the first year will start. Similarly Chinese calendar  also has  60 years cycle. In Mayan calender, there is no cycle, it is considered by ancient Mayans as the Cosmic clock that ends in zero on 21st Dec 2012, so,  according to them,  the world will end. It is absolutely wrong. The end of a 'man made calendar' will not bring an end to the God/Nature made world. After the 21st of Dec, the Mayan calendar will start again from the first year like any other . 2) Is planet Nibiru heading towards the earth ? It is said that a planet  like object Eris or Nibiru said to be the god of ancient Sumerians is heading towards the earth. If it hits the earth, it is believed,  that will bring total destruction to the world. There is no scientific support for the existence of this planet. From the year 1983,  NASA is trying to locate it but in vain. In the outer solar system there appears a black patch which is considered as a planet ( like Pluto) , this is named as planet Nibiru by some people. It will never hit the earth. Initially the same people fixed 2003 for Nibiru's hit and frightened the world, now it is shifted to 21st Dec 2012. Again, it will be shifted to some other date. 3) Will the Polar shift take place ? What is this polar shift ? it is nothing but  north pole becoming south pole and vise versa. This is believed to bring  a great disaster to the world. It is a fact that  7,40,000 years ago this reversal had happened but  when will the next reversal happen nobody knows. There is no indication of any kind in the 'attitude and behaviour' of the earth's magnetic field for the immediate polar shift. It is not likely to happen in next thousands of years. 4) Will the rare planetary alignment destroy the earth ? It is said that  a rare alignment of the earth, the sun and the centre of the universe  will happen on 21st Dec.12 which will bring catastrophic effects to the earth. This is an astronomical phenomena that occurs once in 25,800 years. Everything in the universe is orbiting centring some other object.The moon orbits round the earth, earth orbits round the sun, the sun orbits round a supper massive black hole. Because of these orbits,  celestial objects aligning in a straight line is a common phenomena. These alignments will not bring any destruction , in the wide spread universe, the gravitational effect generated will be meagre, it will not wipe out the lives on the earth.There were events of many planets coming  in a straight line in the past. Nothing had happened to the earth except some tidal rises.  5) Will the Nostradamus prediction become true ? Nostradamus died in the year 1566. He had written some quatrains ( verses of 4 lines ) in the name of predictions. His predictions are of general nature,  mostly vague and ambiguous ( not even one is clear cut ) which can be interpreted in any way. Mostly they are misinterpreted according to the requirement.  Let me give an example for how badly the interpretations are given. In one of his so called predictions , he says Antichrist in the name of Mabus will be born.The interpreters combine  the names of Obama and Bush and coin the word maBus = Mabus. Like this many unmeaningful , unacceptable, unreasonable and absurd interpretations are given.  6) Does it mean that all his predictions are wrong ? Some of the predictions of Nostradamus had become popular because of  mere coincidences ( regarding the second world war, Hitler, Twin Tower fall and so on ) . The events of the globe are not predetermined to predict, global  events occur as per the existing environmental conditions.Considering  environmental conditions, weather, storms, cyclones, etc are scientifically predicted. It has its limitations, as on to-day , even  the occurring of  an earthquake can not be predicted. Nobody predicted the latest massive destruction of Japan ( 2011 Tsunami ). Natural calamities and catastrophes are mostly unpredictable. Nostradamus predictions are  vague , something like the predictions of street astrologers, which can be understood by the listeners to their requirements. Nostradamus prediction for 1999 said, " from the sky will come a great king of terror. To bring back to life the great king of the Mongols." This great king of Mongols is considered as Genghis Khan. People thought that  the world will end in 1999 just before the year 2000 starts,  many were prayerfully prepared  to meet the final doomsday but nothing had happened. Nostradamus prediction utterly failed. The prediction given by Nostradamus for the year 2012 is, " In the sky will be seen a great fire dragging a trail of sparks ". The interpretation given for this prediction  is , " the mighty solar flares of the sun in the form of solar storm will reach the earth and destroy ".  6) Will the mighty solar flares destroy the earth ? The solar flares are  nothing  but the flames of the burning sun, they are formed often on the photosphere of the sun and looped. So far, the earth had not experienced any major adverse  effect of solar flares or flames. Formation of solar storms are the regular features of sun's photosphere ( surface ), this phenomena  never  harmed  the earth on a large scale. In fact the earth is continuously bombarded by solar particles ( solar storm of less intensity ). The size and timing of the solar storms are monitored by US Space Weather Prediction Centre. Any future mighty solar storm in the form of a Cosmic harricane will be detected by this Centre and proper precautions will  be taken to save the globe, this centre  is working all the twenty four hours of a day. 7) Is the  formation of solar storm, a rare event ? No, it is a very common affair, solar storms of less intensity is often striking the earth, nothing had happened , the largest ever recorded solar storm hit the earth on Sep.1859, it just disrupted the telegraph system ( there was no telephone system then  ). In the sky some aurora ( light display ) was seen. Scientists say a mighty solar storm is likely to hit the earth in between 2012 and 2014 , according to them, utmost  it will disrupt the electrical grids and telephone net works. Officials of UK and USA are preparing to manufacture controlled power 'outages' which will protect the electricity grids from damages. ( outage = temporarily stopping the electricity ) In fact, in July 2000, there was a peak in the solar activities, because of this, a strong solar storm hit the earth  which was  named 'Bastille Day Event ', as a result,  brilliant aurora was seen in Texas, there were some  electrical disruptions, some  setbacks in the satellite functioning, more than that nothing had happened. The expected solar peak may cause some disruptions but not a total disaster to the earth.  8) What will happen on 21st Dec.2012 ? According to NASA, nothing bad will happen to the world . Our mother earth is surviving for past 4.5 billions of years and it will survive for some more billions of years. Scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with  Dec, 21 (2012).  Let us believe NASA scientists  and be peaceful. -