Linked to the close of the Mayan calendar, a variety of rumors have spread regarding ways the world could
end in 2012.
One popular contender is Nibiru, a supposed planet that some claim will
collide with Earth at the end of the year. But despite the buzz, there
is no scientific evidence supporting the alleged planet's existence. [
VIDEO: 12-21-2012 - Just Another Day]
Nibiru has been linked to NASA by various bloggers, and is also
sometimes referred to or confused with Planet X, another supposed world
for which there is no evidence.
Because of the Nibiru NASA connection that’s been claimed, the space
agency put out a statement to say there is no Nibiru or Planet X coming
to destroy Earth in 2012. What follows below is the true science and
history of these supposed rogue planets, with reference to a real
object, Comet Elenin, that somehow got mixed up in the whole mess.
Artist's conception of the rogue planet Nibiru, or Planet X.
CREDIT: gilderm | sxc.hu
The origins of the Nibiru myth
The story began in 1976, when Zecharia Sitchin wrote "The Twelfth
Planet," a book which used Stitchin's own unique translation of Sumerian
cuneiform to identify a planet, Nibiru, orbiting the sun every 3,600
years. Several years later, Nancy Lieder, a self-described psychic,
announced that the aliens she claimed to channel had warned her this
planet would collide with Earth in 2003. After a collision-free year,
the date was moved back to 2012, where it was linked to the close of the
Mayan long-count period. [
VIDEO: End of Days in 2012? NASA Scientist Says No]
When Comet Elenin appeared in 2011, many were concerned that it was the
mysterious planet in disguise, despite the fact that planets and comets
both appear different under a telescope (a comet has a gas atmosphere
[coma] and a tail, while a planet does not).
Skywatcher Michael Mattiazzo got this image of comet Elenin, September 1, 2011, in the southern hemisphere.
CREDIT: Michael Mattiazzo
But instead of slamming into the Earth, the comet strayed too close to
the sun and broke into pieces. The leftover fragments continued on their
path to the outer solar system for the next 12,000 years, still bits of
comet and not a more cohesive planet.
Evidence for Nibiru?
Proponents of the fictitious planet note that, in 1984, a
scientific paper
was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters which discussed
several infrared sources with "no counterparts" that turned up in a
survey of the sky. Such surveys are common in astronomy, and usually
involve follow-ups that individually detail the more interesting
sources. In the
follow-up
of the 1984 survey, most of the sources turned out to be distant
galaxies. None were identified as planets. Both papers are available to
the public.
A planet with an orbit so eccentric that it took 3,600 years to orbit
the sun would create instabilities inside of the 4.5 billion year old
solar system. After only a few trips, its gravity would have
significantly disrupted the other planets, while feeling a responding
push from those planets that would have changed its orbit significantly.
The easiest and most verifiable piece of evidence arguing against the
existence of the theoretical planet can be performed by anyone -
according to the information available, a planet with a 3,600 orbit that
is due to impact Earth in 2012 should be available to the naked eye.
Easily-performed calculations
show that by April 2012, it would be brighter than the faintest stars
viewed from a city, and almost as bright as Mars at its dimmest. This
would make it visible to astronomers everywhere.
The most common rebuttal to this is the cry of conspiracy theory.
However, there are hundreds of thousands of amateur astronomers around
the world, each with their own telescope. On top of that, most of the
thousands of professional astronomers are linked, not to the government,
but to private universities.
David Morrison, the Senior Scientist of the NASA Astrobiology Institute,
pointed out that "NASA and the government get most of their information from these outside astronomers, not the other way around."
Between the amateur and professional astronomers, there are plenty of people who would have noticed a new star in the sky.
Nothing to fear
Doomsday reports across the internet frequently incite fear, but it's
interesting to note they are nothing new. People have been decrying the
end of the world for
hundreds of years, to no avail.
Rumors spread like wildfire on the internet, but the same technology
can make it easier than ever to delve into the scientific evidence about
such events.
৩৬
শতাংশ বা এক-তৃতীয়াংশেরও বেশি আমেরিকান বিশ্বাস করেন, আন আইডেন্টিফাইড
ফ্লাইং অবজেক্ট (ইউএফও) বা ভিনগ্রহ থেকে আসা এলিয়েন স্পেসক্র্যাফটের
অস্তিত্বে। সম্প্রতি ন্যাশনাল জিওগ্রাফিক চ্যানেলের ‘চেসিং ইউএফও’
অনুষ্ঠানটির জন্য চালানো এক জরিপে এ তথ্য জানতে পারেন গবেষকরা। আর নিজের
চোখে ইউএফও দেখার অভিজ্ঞতা হয়েছে বলে দাবি করেন শতকরা ১০ ভাগ মার্কিন
নাগরিক। খবর এবিসি নিউজের।
বিশ্বের সর্বোচ্চ শৃঙ্গে আরোহন করেন বলে তার
এক সহযোগী প্রতিষ্ঠান জানিয়েছে। 
ঢাকা, মে ২৪ (বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকম)- ডিপ্লোমা প্রকৌশলীদের পদমর্যাদা
দ্বিতীয় থেকে তৃতীয় শ্রেণিতে অবনমনের প্রতিবাদে দেশের বিভিন্ন পলিটেকনিক
ইনিস্টিটিউটে বিক্ষোভ হয়েছে। কয়েকটি প্রতিষ্ঠানে বিক্ষুব্ধ শিক্ষার্থীদের
সঙ্গে সংঘর্ষ হয়েছে পুলিশের। 
