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The Paly Voice

The Student News Site of Palo Alto High School

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To be or not to be scared of doomsday?

For those worried about the supposed  Friday, Dec. 21, end-of-the-world Mayan prediction, several options are available: (A) ignoring it, (B) freaking out, (C) adopting the “YOLO” (You Only Live Once) trend, (D) preparing for a zombie apocalypse or (E) taking comfort in a panel discussion at 7 p.m. today at the SETI Institute in Mountain View titled “Why the World Will Still Be Here After December 21: A Panel Examining ‘Doomsday 2012’ from a Scientific Perspective.

According to the invitation, SETI, an organization dedicated to learning and explaining life of the Universe, will host David Morrison, director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe at SETI, Ed Krupp, acting director of the Griffith Observatory and Andrew Fraknoi, an astronomy professor at Foothill College. The three will discourse on topics ranging from theories on the 2012 apocalypse, a general discussion of doomsday, the science behind the “fate of the Earth” and “cosmophobia” (Morrison’s word for “fear of celestial phenomena”).

After, the panel will also answer questions from the audience.

People can also watch the event live on Google Plus here or view the video on YouTube.

Palo Alto High School teacher Josh Bloom will offer extra credit for his Physics and Astronomy students who attend or watch the event and write a summary on it to “encourage them to engage in the content.” Bloom added that he personally feels sure that the world will not end on doomsday.

“That fact is, the world will not end on Dec. 21, 2012, and there is no logical or scientific reason to believe it will,” Bloom said. “Most of the claims made about what my bring about this end are factually inaccurate at best, and most are outright fabrications. This event tonight will address specifically many of these claims and provide the opportunity to learn what is and is not true about the planet we live on and the Universe we live in.”

“Fear not, humans,” Bloom added. “The sun will rise on Dec. 22, 2012, and we will all have two weeks of from school to revel in it.”

But maybe his students feel their time would be better spent setting up their zombie apocalypse kit.

Editors’ Note: Additional information regarding Bloom’s opinions on the topic of doomsday has been added to the original article. However, no corrections were added, and the current article reflects the same information present in the previous version.  

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