All of it, astronomers say, is bunk.
天文学家们说,所有这些都是无稽之谈。
"Most of what's claimed for 2012 relies on wishful thinking, wild pseudoscientific folly, ignorance of astronomy and a level of paranoia worthy of 'Night of the Living Dead,'" Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory, in Los Angeles, and an expert on ancient astronomy, wrote in an article in the November issue of Sky & Telescope.
“大多数关于2012年的断言都来自某种臆想,异想天开的伪科学的荒唐,对天文学的无知,或者一定程度的类似《活死人之夜》的妄想,”洛杉矶里菲斯天文台主任、古天文学专家埃德·克虏伯在11月号的《天空和望远镜》杂志上撰文道。
But the trend has gone too far, suggested David Morrison, an astronomer at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., who made the YouTube video and is one of the agency's point people on the issue of Mayan prophecies of doom.
但戴维·莫里森认为,这种趋势太过火了,莫里森是英国国家航空航天局位于加利福尼亚莫非特基地埃姆斯研究中心的一位天文学家,他是航天局里有关玛雅人世界末日预言问题的出头人之一。就是他代表航天局在YouTube上发布相关视频的。
"I get angry at the way people are being manipulated and frightened to make money," Dr. Morrison said. "There is no ethical right to frighten children to make a buck."
“我对这种以左右和恐吓观众来赚钱的方法感到愤怒,”莫里森博士说。“从道义上来讲,没有人有权利用吓唬孩子的方式来赚钱。”
Dr. Morrison said he had been getting about 20 letters and e-mail messages a day from people as far away as India scared out of their wits. In an e-mail message, he enclosed a sample that included one from a woman wondering if she should kill herself, her daughter and her unborn baby. Another came from a person pondering whether to put her dog to sleep to avoid suffering in 2012.
莫里森博士说,他曾一天收到大约20封信和电子邮件,这些信息有的来自遥远的印度,都是些被吓得魂不附体的人发来的。莫里森举例说,在一封电子邮件里,一名妇女正在犹豫是否应该杀死她的女儿和尚未出生的孩子,然后自杀。在另外一封信中,一名女子正在考虑是否让她的够安乐死,以避免在2012年遭劫。