Mayan Calendar Doesn't Actually End in 2012

Good news everyone: the world will (probably) not end in 2012! The millions of people no doubt living in abject fear of the end of the Mayan calendar can breathe a sigh of relief, because the conversion of dates from the Mayan calendar to our calendar could be off by 50 to 100 years, a new textbook argues. They're not sure when the calendar actually ends, only that the current estimate is probably wrong.

The much-hyped Dec. 21, 2012 apocalypse is based on the end of the Mayan calendar. But the textbook, Calendars and Years II: The Astronomy and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World, argues against key evidence supporting the currently accepted conversion of that calendar to Gregorian. (LiveScience has the technical details.) Without that evidence, the book argues, the whole theory tumbles “like a stack of cards.” So, who’s going to break this to Roland Emmerich? (More Mayan stories.)