ARTICLES BY TEACHERS
Will the world really end in 2012?
|
The world will end in 2012. Whole continents will crack and shift, super-volcanoes will erupt and burn cities and giant tsunamis will crash on the coastlines with one even throwing an aircraft carrier at the White House. These were just some of the scenes in the movie “2012”. My family and I watched the movie recently and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The special effects were simply phenomenal but what really impressed me were the scientific explanations as to why the world would end in 2012. It was very believable and close to real science. Or was it? |
|
| According to the movie, there will be an ominous planetary alignment within our solar system in 2012. This was supposedly predicted by the ancient Mayans and it gets better because their calendar ends on 21st December, 2012. The alignment will result in terrible continent shifting and super tsunamis. Also an intense solar storm will occur in 2012 that will really bring the Earth to a boil and fire up all the volcanoes on the planet. I must admit I was very curious as to whether all these will really happen. I satisfied my curiosity by referring to what could probably be the most credible reference- NASA. Are you ready for this? |
|
| According to NASA, the Mayan long count calendar ends just like how your kitchen calendar ends on 31st December. Just as your calendar begins again on January 1 — another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar. Also there is no imminent galactic alignment predicted by NASA. Even if it were to occur, their effects on earth will be negligible. Incredibly each December, the Earth and Sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence. | |
| What about the solar storm? According to NASA, solar activity has a cycle and its peak is every 11 years. This is what they call a solar maximum where the solar flares will cause interruption of satellite communications at the most. The next solar maximum will occur in the 2012-2014 timeframe and is predicted to be an average solar cycle, being not that different from previous cycles throughout history. | |
| So what do you think? Will the world end in 2012 in view of the above explanations from NASA? It is hard to totally dismiss the notion that the world will end soon isn’t it, with all the weird weather we’ve been having. I have my own theory as to how the world will end. A super virus or bacteria will kill us all. | |
| For those of you who do not take biology, (what’s wrong with you?) higher temperatures will make enzymes more effective, especially enzymes in microorganisms. What this means is that microorganisms will be more active at these higher temperatures. They thrive in environments where temperature and moisture is high and we’ve had a lot of both lately | |
| There are three types of microorganisms- fungi, bacteria and viruses. Fungi are not much of a problem. They mostly cause exterior infections. It is the bacteria and viruses that are scary. Bacteria can be killed by antibiotics but we are running short of strong antibiotics. There are very little drugs that can combat viruses. The only defense we have is immunization and that is also quite limited. New viruses are popping up at an alarming rate. My dear readers, did you know that we are at war with these guys and they are slowly winning. | |
| When bad guys rob and fight with just fists, policemen used batons and they wore shorts. When bad guys used knives, the police had guns. Bad guys then used machine guns and the police started wearing bullet proof vests. Bad guys then replied with armour-piercing bullets. Get the picture? | |
| The last antibiotics that can kill all strains of bacteria is Vancomycin. According to BBC news, a new super strain of Staphylococcusaureus bacterium is able to beat it. This means my dear readers, that we now have NO weapon to beat this super bacterium. It is only a matter of time before they reproduce in large numbers and infect large populations. |  |
| Let’s move on to the viruses to which we don’t really have anything to fight with. Have you noticed that symptoms such as cough, runny nose and fever now take a long time to go away even after your visit to the doctor? They also return just as quickly. Our drugs are no longer as effective. The viruses are now better parasites. | |
| With so many theories now as to how the world will end, I still believe that we will be wiped out by the little guys. Why? In biology, there is a scientific law, which in simple terms, refers to the balance of nature. The world is overpopulated and we are seriously damaging the earth. Nature’s answer: kill the humans. It tried to slow down our reproduction by introducing HIV. Then nature started infecting our food: mad cow disease, swine flu, bird flu. Now nature is beating our drugs. | |
| Though I don’t think that it will happen in 2012, I believe it is only a matter of time before a superbug wipes off most if not all humans. I know the access code of a microbial-free lab in the university I studied in. After putting my family in, I could still load another five people before sealing the door, so be nice to me….See you in class! |  |
