NASA官網短片闢謠：12月21日並非世界末日
進入12月份以來，有關“世界末日”的謠言甚囂塵上。美國國家航空航天局（NASA)爲了避免恐慌，日前特意提前發佈一部名爲《跨過2012：爲什麼世界末日沒來》（Why The World Didn't End Yesterday）的短片闢謠，並在官方網站上開闢關於“2012世界末日”的答疑專區。
Dec. 21, 2012, won't be the end of the world as we know, however, it will be another winter solstice. Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, the claims behind the end of the world quickly unravel when pinned down to the 2012 timeline.
2012年12月21日不是世界末日，它只是另一個冬至日。那些明顯和常識相悖的‘末日’謠言當會在這一天之後不攻自破。
NASA官網答疑
Q: Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012?
2012地球會不會有危險？
A: The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.
世界不會在2012年終結，我們的地球在未來的40億年中還會正常運行。全世界的權威專家都確認地球沒有受到任何外在威脅。
Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012?
2012世界末日這種預測到底是從哪兒來的？
A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012 and linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.
故事的起源是蘇美爾人發現的一個假想中的行星尼比魯，有很多說法說它將撞擊地球。這個大災難說法起初預測的末日時間是2003年5月，但在那一天什麼事都沒有發生，所以末日日期又被挪到2012年12月，和古老的瑪雅人日曆紀元在2012年冬至日結束聯繫在了一起，這也就是2012年12月21日是世界末日說法的起源。
Q: Does the Mayan calendar end in December 2012?
瑪雅人日曆會在2012年12月結束嗎？
A: Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.
你家廚房的牆上也掛着日曆，12月31日一年結束，新的日曆就會繼續下去。同樣的，瑪雅人日曆也不會在2012年12月21日停止存在。這一天只是瑪雅人一個紀元的結束，但隨着而來的是瑪雅人日曆一個新紀元的開始，就像我們的新一年的日曆從1月1日開始一樣。
Q: Is NASA predicting a "total blackout" of Earth on Dec. 23 to Dec. 25?
地球在23日至25日會完全黑暗3天嗎？
A: Absolutely not. Neither NASA nor any other scientific organization is predicting such a blackout. The false reports on this issue claim that some sort of "alignment of the Universe" will cause a blackout. There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. One major alignment occurred in 1962, for example, and two others happened during 1982 and 2000. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.
絕對不會。包括NASA在內的任何科研機構從沒有預測過“黑暗3天”。這個錯誤的論調稱“行星將會連成一線” 導致地球黑暗，我們確信，在未來幾十年之內都不會有行星連線現象，而且即使行星出現了連線現象，它們對地球的影響也可以忽略不計。1962年、1982年和2000年都發生過大規模的行星連線情況，每年12月地球、太陽都會和銀河系的近似中心連成一線，但從未出現任何異常現象。
Q: Is the Earth in danger of being hit by a meteor in 2012?
2012年地球會不會被流星撞擊？
A: The Earth has always been subject to impacts by comets and asteroids, although big hits are very rare. The last big impact was 65 million years ago, and that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Today NASA astronomers are carrying out a survey called the Spaceguard Survey to find any large near-Earth asteroids long before they hit. We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs.
一直以來地球總會跟彗星和小行星發生碰撞，但重大撞擊的情況非常少見。上一次的重大碰撞發生在6500萬前，造成了恐龍的滅絕。NASA國家航空航天局的宇航員一直都在進行一個名爲“太空衛士”的調查，在任何接近地球的小行星撞擊地球很長時間之前，就會發現它們。根據我們的觀測，絕對不會有像殺死恐龍的小行星出現撞擊地球的情況發生。
