2012 busted

For those of you out there believing in this silly-outer-space-apocalypse-theory: well it will not happen, at least not in the year 2012.

The movie was great. John Cusack managed to get his ass into the massive ark despite all odds-typical the-hero-never-dies plot. A huge success for Hollywood: grossing in excess of $766 million, brought the crew fame and wealth, and most important of all, left a lot of us panic over the prospect of a global cataclysm in 2012.

Image: effingdykes.blogspot.com

It's ridiculous to see almost all of my peers believing in this crap. The funniest thing is when you ask them why do they believe it, the answer would normally be: I don't know, the movie looks real! And the Mayan say so! Wow.

The science concept behind the plot isn't really new. Scientists have been studying the sun for centuries. To be exact, solar cycle was discovered in 1843 by Samuel Heinrich Schwabe, who after 17 years of observations noticed a periodic variation in the average number of sunspots(the culprit behind the solar storm in the movie) seen from year to year on the solar disk.

Image: commons.wikimedia.org

The thing is, there is a diagram called the Butterfly Diagram that plots the number of sunspots that occur every year. It is called the Butterfly Diagram simply because, well, it looks like a butterfly. So there is a 11-year cycle in which the sunspots vary-the next expected peak would be in 2013, not 2012. More sunspots means more solar activity, thus more photons would come to earth and heat us up like chicken in microwave oven.

Image: foodmayhem.com

However, our sun is a middle-aged star. So it still have plenty of time before it turns into an old fireball-time so long we would have gone extinct by then.

There is also another huge flaw in terms of science concept in the movie. I have written about this in a previous entry, about the occurrence of massive tsunami in the middle of the ocean. No, the wave is harmless in areas with greater depth. It only forms its formidable height and size when it travels to shallow waters.

Image: anacintamuhammad.blogspot.com

So the scene where the pitiful ocean liner got swallowed up by the massive tsunami should not be included-it makes great comedy but definitely not suitable for this movie.

Image: 2012hoax.org

Proponents of doomsday-in-2012 also suggest that the erudite Mayan predicted the armageddon. Well, if they were so smart they wouldn't have gone extinct. End of argument.

2012 also showcased the darker side of humanity-utilizing cheap labor in China to build the massive arks, and also the fact that no one was dispatched to rescue the Indian scientist that actually saved their ass. So instead of spending time crying over the so-called doomsday, why not we spend more time to reflect upon the darkness that's looming above our conscience?

Image: garelli.ch

Everyone has their eyes fixed on the apocalypse, but not the social side of the story. It's just like someone baked you a cake and you're only interested with the letters written on it, which reads: You're doomed.

Image: blog.tmcnet.com

Let's forget about doomsday, we're all gonna die someday anyway. Doomsday is just accelerating what's gonna come later. In fact I see the movie as a lesson to teach all of us to appreciate all that's around us. You know, appreciating lives after watching the movie would probably do more good than regretting over the inevitable fate.



Malcolm
info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films