The Maya Calendar

The Maya Calendar What is the Maya Calendar? The Maya, whose culture in Central America and southern Mexico peaked around 800 A.D. before going into steep decline, had an advanced calendar system that incorporated the movement of the sun, moon and planets. For the Maya, time was cyclical and repeated itself, making certain days or months lucky or unlucky for certain things, like agriculture or fertility. The Maya calendar reset in December of 2012, inspiring many to see the date as an end-of-days prophecy. The Maya Concept of Time: To the Maya, time was cyclical: it would repeat itself and certain days had characteristics. This notion of cyclical as opposed to lineal time is not unknown to us: for example, many people consider Mondays to be â€Å"bad† days and Fridays to be â€Å"good† days (unless they fall on the thirteenth of the month, in which case they are unlucky). The Maya took the concept further: although we consider months and weeks to be cyclical, but years to be lineal, they considered all time as cyclical and certain days could â€Å"return† centuries later. The Maya were aware that a solar year was roughly 365 days long and they referred to it as a â€Å"haab.† They divided a haab into 20 â€Å"months† (to the Maya, â€Å"uinal†) of 18 days each: to this was added 5 days annually for a total of 365. These five days, called â€Å"wayeb,† were added at the end of the year and were considered very unlucky. The Calendar Round: The earliest Maya Calendars (dating from the preclassic Maya era, or about 100 A.D.) are referred to as the Calendar Round. The Calendar Round was actually two calendars that overlapped one another. The first calendar was the Tzolkin cycle, which consisted of 260 days, which roughly corresponds to the time of human gestation as well as the Maya agricultural cycle. Early Mayan astronomers used the 260 day calendar to record the movements of the planets, sun and moon: it was a very sacred calendar. When used consecutively with the standard 365 day haab calendar, the two would align every 52 years. The Maya Long Count Calendar: The Maya developed another calendar, better suited for measuring longer periods of time. The Maya Long Count used only the haab or 365 day calendar. A date was given in terms of Baktuns (periods of 400 years) followed by Katuns (periods of 20 years) followed by Tuns (years) followed by Uinals (periods of 20 days) and ending with the Kins (number of days 1-19). If you added all of those numbers up, you would get the number of days that had passed since the starting point of Maya time, which was sometime between August 11 and September 8, 3114 B.C. (the exact date is subject to some debate). These dates are usually expressed as a series of numbers like so: 12.17.15.4.13 November 15, 1968, for example. Thats 12x400 years, 17x20 years, 15 years, 4x20 days plus eleven days since the beginning of Maya time. 2012 and The End of Maya Time: Baktuns - periods of 400 years - are counted on a base-13 cycle. On December 20, 2012, the Maya Long Count Date was 12.19.19.19.19. When one day was then added, the entire calendar reset to 0. The thirteenth Baktun since the beginning of Maya time therefore came to an end on December 21, 2012. This of course led to much speculation about dramatic changes: some predictions for the end of the Maya Long Count Calendar included the end of the world, a new age of consciousness, a reversal of the Earths magnetic poles, the arrival of the Messiah, etc. Needless to say, none of those things happened. In any event, historical Maya records do not indicate that they gave much thought to what would happen at the end of the calendar. Sources: Burland, Cottie with Irene Nicholson and Harold Osborne. Mythology of the Americas. London: Hamlyn, 1970. McKillop, Heather. The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. New York: Norton, 2004.

Top 10 Medical Careers That Dont Require a Graduate Degree

Top 10 Medical Careers That Dont Require a Graduate Degree according to the experts over at bestmedicaldegrees.com, there are at least 30 promising career options for people  with an interest in a medical profession but without the time or resources for medical school. here are the top 10 highest paying careers that require a bachelor’s degree and either on-the-job training or professional certifications. take a look at the list and see which one will be right for you!10. dietician and nutritionist ($55k)professional dieticians and nutritionists are required to have bachelor’s degrees in nutrition science and will need some kind of partnership or mentoring from physicians or fellow dieticians. these partnerships allow access to patients so dns can practice the development and implementation of schedules and lifestyle plans. they may also work in hospitals, care facilities, or other clinic or gym settings where they can work directly with clients.9. cytotechnologist ($61k)with a  bachelor’s  degree and graduation fr om an accredited cytotechnology program, certified cytotechs work in laboratories where they research cells and cellular anomalies to contribute to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and illnesses.8. medical sonographer ($64k)sonographers operate imaging equipment during diagnostic appointments or assist physicians and surgeons during procedures. you’ll need an associate’s degree and a professional certification.7. registered nurse ($68k)rns must be licensed to practice in hospital and physicians’ offices, but many schools are moving from a two-year diploma to a two-year associate degree or a bachelor’s of science in nursing. many medical institutions are reporting a shortage of nurses, so the job prospects are promising.6. nuclear medicine technologist ($70k)an associate or bachelor’s degree in nuclear medicine technology prepares you to operate scanners and administer drugs to assist in a diagnosis or treatment of various ailments.5. radiati on therapist ($75k)â€Å"rad techs† are responsible for administering radiation treatments, most often for cancer patients, and working alongside radiation oncologists and radiation physicists. jobs may be available in hospitals, cancer centers, and outpatient clinic settings.4. biomedical engineer ($86k)biomedical engineering is a relatively recently established field that involves the research and development of diagnostic medical technology, including imaging equipment, prostheses, and pharmaceuticals. a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and professional training on the job is necessary to secure a position in medical equipment manufacturing, hospital, or university settings.3. physician assistant ($90k)â€Å"pas† work closely with physicians to diagnose and treat patients; you’ll need a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field like nursing and an accredited physician assistant educational program. this in-depth but highly supervised work may also help you discover whether you want to pursue a degree in medicine further down the road.2. cardiovascular perfusionist ($94k)a cardiovascular perfusionist is responsible for maintaining heart and lung functions during surgery, monitoring blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, and blood gasses. many work in operating rooms or intensive care units and have completed perfusion training programs in addition to a bachelor’s degree in health studies.1.   medical and health services manager/administrator ($40-110k)if you like a demanding environment and excel under pressure, a position as a medical and health services manager/administrator may be for you! administrators are expected to stay up-to-date on relevant policies and laws, technological changes, and the daily operations of physicians’ offices, hospitals and clinics.