It’s not quite the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine, thanks for asking), so to mark the auspicious day that’s in it Google has produced a special Mayan calendar doodle and the faux apocalypse is also trending on Twitter.
Some have interpreted the ancient Mayan calendar – the 13th Baktun – as stating the end of the world is today, Friday 21 December, simply because the calendar stops at this date.
For many others – particularly New Age types – the auspicious date is actually not the end of the world but the start of a new age of consciousness and that the world is on the cusp of an era of peace and enlightenment, a cosmic dawn if you will.
Well we’re still here and Google is still publishing doodles. The one live today across the world takes the ancient Mayan carvings, or baktuns, and reformats them into the words ‘Google’.
Clicking on the doodle will take you to all the latest news, Wikipedia entries and websites about the 13th Baktun and the cosmic energy that shall be flowing forth.
End of the world trends on Twitter
Earth being earth and the Twittersphere being what it is the first tweets to emerge from New Zealand as the 21st dawned were along the lines of “We’re still here!”
A new hashtag #EndOfTheWorldConfession has been retweeted close to 21,000 times at the time of writing with such confessions as “I let the dogs out” and “Kids, I never met your mother, you’re adopted.”
Another distinctly Irish hashtag #IrishEndofTheWorld that is trending has such classics as “Penneys is closing down”, “Fair city wins global recognition for its quality of acting…”, “Fianna Fail back in Government”, “Aslan is reforming” and my favourite: “Mam, quick – the tidal wave is coming!” “Jaysus, I left the immersion on..” “Maaaam! Come back!”
Have a nice day.
End of world image via Shutterstock