Today is Dec. 21, 2012 which has been largely advertised as "Doomsday" according to an ancient Mayan calendar which predicts the world will end.
As of Friday morning, the world has failed to implode on itself. Today does mark an end, to the 13th 144,000-day cycle (called a b'ak'tun) of the ancient Mayan Long Count Calendar. The calendar works by counting first days, then 20-day chunks of time, then 260-day periods and 7,200-day periods. Ticking up like a car odometer, the calendar finally keeps track of 144,000-day blocks of time called b'ak'tuns.
The Mayan calendar began somewhere around 3,114 years before the current era, and is set to end on December 21 or 23 (depending on the translation). NASA scientist Mitzi Adams describes what the Mayans would have done had their civilization lasted and why there is no cause for alarm.
In response to some of the concern that was spreading among the 6 million Americans that believed the world would come to an end, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Clinical psychologist Scott Bea of the Cleveland Clinic, said this is all about the "fear of the unknown," rather than the world coming to an end.
Schools around the nation have been dealing with rumors -- some spread on social media -- of problems related to the so-called doomsday supposedly foretold in the Mayan calendar. Numerous schools in Michigan, in response to the doomsday predictions, closed two days early for the holidays.
On Thursday, Oxnard police responded to Twitter messages that spoke of a possible safety situation at Pacifica High School related to the Mayan calendar. Police told KEYT-TV that there was no threat and, despite some reports, the school was not placed on lockdown.
