“The world won’t end in 2012," laughed Gomez, who teaches in UA’s astronomy and physics department. “I can assure you of that."

Gomez said no one knows for sure if the Mayans intended to portend the end of the world on that particular day."

This non-story comes from Tuscaloosa, possibly in response to a piece about myself which seems to have ended up in the "amusing stories from around the world" section of a few newspapers...

KENSINGTON, Australia -- There are only 10 years left before the world ends. That's if you follow the ancient Mayan calendar, which is considered one of the most accurate ever and mysteriously ends on a date that scientists say corresponds to December 21, 2012, on the western calendar. As a result, many people believe the world will end on that date and one person who is preparing for the worst is Australian-based doomsday researcher Robert Bast. He believes the ancient Mayans had the ability to scientifically predict a major cataclysmic event that will destroy Earth. The smart money is on a polar ice shift, but Bast says a magnetic pole shift may also cause the equivalent of a nuclear war. Bast plans to move to a secret mountaintop in West Africa, which, according to his research, is the safest spot in the world.