An Ohio University professor has good news for those concerned that the world will end this year — it's all talk.
Kenneth Hicks, a professor of physics and astronomy, wrote a piece for The Columbus Dispatch arguing scientific evidence doesn't point toward the end of the world in 2012.
"The rumors are based on a large dose of pseudoscience and a splash of astronomy, which is not a concoction I would recommend," Hicks wrote.
The fact that the Mayan calendar ends on the same day as the winter solstice this year doesn't merit the conclusion that the world will end that day, Hicks said.
Rather than concerns about the world ending, Hicks said he hopes to see more scientific developments this year: more information about Mars from the Mars Scientific Laboratory; continued emphasis on the James Webb Space Telescope from NASA; and new discoveries about dark matter and dark energy.
"So 2012 could be a banner year for science," Hicks wrote. "In the meantime, pseudoscience is best left to Hollywood."
rm279109@ohiou.edu
