Okay, the world is not going to end in 2012.  The source of this info?  The Mayans.  The living Mayans.  You didn't think all that's left is stone tablets, did you?  In that AP news report, a Mayan Indian Elder named Apolinario Chile Pixtun, among others, gives the straight scoop.

One.  It's not the end of the world

Two, the supposed stone that dates an Apocalypse in 2012?  It's with some stones that cover events in 4772 as well.  So if there is a Mayan Apocalypse, it's, umm, a non-apocalyptic one.

And three, my favorite quote from the article.  "But most archaeologists, astronomers and Maya say the only thing likely to hit Earth is a meteor shower of New Age philosophy, pop astronomy, Internet doomsday rumors and TV specials".

Chile Pixtun, a Guatemalan, notes that the doomsday theories spring from Western, not Mayan ideas.  So read that article.  And, sorry to rain on your apocalypse, but it ain't gonna happen.

.. is just another year.

Alex, The Daytime Astronomer, Tues&Fri here, via RSS feed, and twitter @skyday

Read about my own private space venture in The Satellite Diaries