Have No Fear: Mayan Culture Experts on Far-fetched '2012'

We're misreading that "Long Count" calendar, adds Eleanor Harrison-Buck, a Maya scholar who teaches at the University of New Hampshire. "The Mesoamerican concept of the ‘end of time' is in some ways similar to our own New Year's celebration.

"It represents the start of a new beginning ... Time and space are cyclical - never ending."