Washington, Nov 14 (IANS) The world won’t be coming to an end on December 21, 2012, as said to be darkly predicted by the Mayan calendar, says an astronomer.
Ann Martin, doctoral candidate in Cornell University astronomy department, points out that the Mayan calendar was designed to be cyclical, so the fact that the long count comes to an end in December 2012 is really of no consequence.

Simply, it is the end of great calendar cycle in Mayan society, much like our modern society celebrated the new millennium. It does not mean that the “world will end”, says Martin.

In fact, the Mayan calendar does not end then and there is no evidence to suggest that the Mayans — or anyone for that matter — has knowledge of the world’s demise, says Martin.

For the past three years, Martin has been a volunteer with Cornell’s “Curious? Ask an Astronomer” service, a website founded by astronomy graduate students in 1997, says a varsity release.

Curious? Ask an Astronomer features the answers to over 750 frequently asked astronomy questions, and readers who can’t find their answers there can submit a new question and receive an answer from a graduate student volunteer.