While doomsayers hunkered down to await the coming apocalypse, others took a more lighthearted view on Friday of a Mayan prophecy of the world’s end and marked the event with stunts and parties. Interpretations of the Mayan ‘Long Count’ calendar point to an era of more than 5,000 years coming to a halt on 21 December, although in Sydney it was business as usual.
With Australia one of the first countries to see the sun rise on what is supposed to be the end of days, Tourism Australia’s Facebook page was bombarded with posts asking if anyone survived Down Under. ‘Yes, we’re alive,’ the organisation responded to fretting users. Scientists in Taiwan also had their tongues firmly in cheek, setting up a two-story replica of a Mayan pyramid and planting an electronic countdown timer on top, drawing crowds at the National Museum of Natural Science.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard set the satirical tone this month with a one-minute spoof address recorded for a youth radio station. ‘My dear remaining fellow Australians, the end of the world is coming,’ she intoned.
Pubs from India to Malaysia have got into the doomsday spirit, with one in Kuala Lumpur hosting an ‘End of the World’ party with global tunes until it all ends.
But although most saw the funny side, with an explosion of humourous banter on Twitter, elsewhere many worried that the ancient civilisation’s calendar really will herald a fiery finish to human civilisation. US space agency NASA has been contacted by thousands of worried people asking for advice on what to do. In a web page devoted to debunking Mayan prophecies, it reassured them the world will not end in 2012.
With Australia one of the first countries to see the sun rise on what is supposed to be the end of days, Tourism Australia’s Facebook page was bombarded with posts asking if anyone survived Down Under. ‘Yes, we’re alive,’ the organisation responded to fretting users. Scientists in Taiwan also had their tongues firmly in cheek, setting up a two-story replica of a Mayan pyramid and planting an electronic countdown timer on top, drawing crowds at the National Museum of Natural Science.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard set the satirical tone this month with a one-minute spoof address recorded for a youth radio station. ‘My dear remaining fellow Australians, the end of the world is coming,’ she intoned.
Pubs from India to Malaysia have got into the doomsday spirit, with one in Kuala Lumpur hosting an ‘End of the World’ party with global tunes until it all ends.
But although most saw the funny side, with an explosion of humourous banter on Twitter, elsewhere many worried that the ancient civilisation’s calendar really will herald a fiery finish to human civilisation. US space agency NASA has been contacted by thousands of worried people asking for advice on what to do. In a web page devoted to debunking Mayan prophecies, it reassured them the world will not end in 2012.