BOOM: World's Awesomest* Astrophysicist Destroys December 21 Prophecy In A Snap

[Playinghardball]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson just has a way of doing this with a smile.

*Yes, we’re fully aware that “awesomest” is not a real word. We just like it.

Found on FORA.tv’s YouTube channel/MoveOn.org

[TeamPooka]

1. NDT Rules!

[LongTomH]

2. The only thing that will happen on Dec 21 this year will be a lot of End Of The World Parties.....

.....resulting in some truly apocalyptic hangovers on Dec 22.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

10. +1 nt

[Odiath]

11. Any excuse to party

Were I only old enough to have enjoyed Y2K... I bet that was quite the scene.

[Squinch]

12. Actually, I'm going to go around and see if I can get a believer to give me his car. A nice one.

Maybe a nice house, too.

[Lucky Luciano]

16. I am short some S&P 500 options that will expire.

That is all that day means to me.

[1monster]

21. Not to mention all of those who decided to wait and see before doing their

Christmas shopping. The malls will be overwhelmed!!!

[leftyohiolib]

3. that's him right there, the bastard who killed pluto as a planet

you're correct ndt rules!

[Kelvin Mace]

4. So this man knows

something about planet killing.

[MynameisBlarney]

5. *adjusts tinfoil hat*

But this was from 2009!!!

*eyetwitch*

What if he's WRONG!?!?!!!

[Voice for Peace]

7. awesomest is now a real word.

also, somebody who does that, ie, be's the awesomest,
is an Awesomist.

Or an awesomeiste, if they're extra awesomest.

[Squinch]

14. If they do it while making coffee, they are an awesomista.

[Voice for Peace]

19. hahaha good one

[midnight]

8. I remember doomsday predictions for 2000, and some nonsense that the

computers were not able to adjust to the new millennium.

[D Gary Grady]

24. It was a real but minor problem that simply got fixed

I've done a lot of software development and actually created some Y2K problems myself, so I can say on the basis of actual knowledge (and, were I not shameless, a little shame) that the year 2000 problem was genuine and potentially serious. But once it was widely recognized, it simply got fixed. That's the lesson to take from this: If we recognize a problem in time and do something about it, we can make the problem go away. The wrong lesson (and I don't mean to pick on you about this) is to assume that since the problem was solved there was never a problem to begin with.

The reason this is more than a bit of historical trivia is that global warming deniers sometimes point to the Y2K problem as an example of a crisis that never materialized and suggest that we can therefore assume that all crises are mere hype. That's ridiculous in itself, but it's doubly bad in the case of Y2K because it shows that if we recognize and act on a danger it time we can avert it. It's too late to prevent all the problems of global warming (some are already here), but we can at least mitigate them.

[RebelOne]

27. Yeah, but I was one of those freaking out about it.

I kept stocking up on canned food, plus plenty of tuna. I was eating tuna for a long time after 2000.

[heaven05]

9. lol

although I can't wait for the end of the world parties.

[loyalkydem]

13. I've been saying for years

Come December 23rd, people are going to say, oh what the frack did I do

[Liberalagogo]

15. Sheldon Cooper is not a fan

[SheilaT]

17. Oh, darn.

And here I was hoping I could get out of buying a present for my son, whose birthday is on December 22. Sigh. (Leaving to see how much money is in the checking account.)

[tclambert]

18. Oh, you people are silly. The world actually ended on Dec. 31, 1999.

Weren't you paying attention? The world ended and everything since then is just a hi-def illusion.

[Plucketeer]

20. I think the Mayans were Right!

Just look around...... The world - the GOP world IS hurtling towards it's demise. Here's hoping it's the GOP that goes off the cliff - on December 21st! YES!

[Gore1FL]

22. World's Awesomest* Particle physicist Destroys December 21 Prophecy In A Snap

* See * in OP

[Marie Marie]

23. Damn it! I made a deal with my doctor that

if the world didn't end on 12/21/12, I would have that colonoscopy he has been nagging me about. Looks like it is bend over baby time. Freakin' science!!

[Left Coast2020]

25. Yeah! And hows that U.N. taking over the internet thing working out?

Heard that from the Tea Bagger Times.

[AgingAmerican]

26. Republicans will dust off their Y2K bunkers

...and spend Dec 22 cowering in them.