Dr. Cynthia Woodburn of the PSU Math Dept will present “Apocalypse 2012? What do Mayan Calendars and Mathematics Tell Us” this Thursday, Sept. 15 at 2:00 p.m. in Yates Hall 215
History is replete with examples of doomsday predictions; from an Assyrian clay tablet predicting the end of times in 2800 BC to Y2K to Harold Camping’s prediction that the world would end on May 21, 2011. Another example is the claim that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 corresponding to the world ending in an apocalypse. Hollywood even jumped on the bandwagon with the disaster movie “2012”. We’ll take a look at what the mathematics and calendars of the Mayans have to say about 2012 and the end of the world as we know it.
Students are encouraged to attend.
There will be cookies and conversation afterwards in Yates 210.
Category Archives: Interesting/Supplemental
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BBC Report on the use of infrared satellite imaging to locate subterranean remains of pyramids, city streets, etc.
Recent Archealogical Finds On Horse Domestication Mean Reconsideration of Historical Art, Military History
Very interesting article on how recent archealogical discoveries in Saudi Arabia, pushing back the date of first domestication of horses by millenia, requires reconsidering early art, greek mythology and military history
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That’s World War One, by the way. Just passed away: obituary’s an interesting read
Timeline of literary invention
Partial but nonetheless well-done, brilliant timeline of technical and scientific inventions imagined in literature over the last 250 years. We are a creative species.
1985 G-7 Summit
See also: http://hnn.us/articles/5508.html
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A nice collection of both mainstream and trade ads for late 70s computing products.
Chinese of Today: “We Chinese”
Fascinating art and culture project by M. Scott Brauer photographing and interviewing Chinese citizens to get a better sense of what China is like today and might be in the future. You can view a large collection of the pictures and excerpts of the interview material at the We Chinese website.
Female Artists of Wartime Britain
This Independent article details the history of some of the British women who used art to record the wartime experiences. Don’t miss the slideshow link for more pictures.