Archaeologists from Boston University and elsewhere, whist investigating Mayan ruins, have discovered new astronomical tables that date back 600 years further than the oldest ones previously known to exist. Their findings appear to suggest the Mayans were using a wide range of dating schemes for their calendars, some with a base length of 935 years and others lasting as much as 6700.
This means that the calendar people have been using as a basis for claiming the world will end with it--in December of this year--is by no means their primary calendar, and while very good at predicting astronomical events, shouldn't serve as a predictor of anything one way or another.
This is obviously an enormous relief, because while there's no scientific reason whatsoever to think that the world would be ending seven months from now, if the Mayans had thought so, well, then it must have been true!
(Author's Note: I'm on vacation next week. Rather than half-ass it for a while like I did last time, I figure I've earned a week off after doing five entries a week for almost nine months now. I'll be back Monday the 21st for the final run-up to #200!)
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