Dr. David Morrison is the Director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute and Senior Scientist for Astrobiology at the NASA Ames Research Center. He holds a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard and is internationally known for his research on small bodies in the solar system, including advocacy for developing plans to defend the Earth from impacts by comets and asteroids.
A Fellow of CSI, he has written extensively on such fringe science topics as Velikovsky, cosmic catastrophes, UFOs, the creation science movement, and most recently the climate crisis caused by global warming. For the past two years he has been the primary scientist critic of the widespread fear that the world will end in 2012, and of the doomsday sleaze artists who use the Internet, blogs, and cable TV to frighten people for profit.
Dr. Morrison's discussion largely centers around the hoax of 2012.
Bio
David Morrison
David Morrison is director of the Carl Sagan Center for Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute, former director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, the senior scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute where he participates in a variety of research programs in astrobiology -- the study of the living universe.
Dr. Morrison obtained his doctorate in astronomy from Harvard University. He is the author of more than 155 technical papers and has published a dozen books. He has been a science investigator on NASA's Mariner, Voyager and Galileo space missions. Morrison is recipient of the Dryden Medal for research of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Sagan Medal of the American Astronomical Society for public communication, and the Klumpke-Roberts award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for contributions to science education. He has received two NASA Outstanding Leadership medals and he was awarded the Presidential Meritorious Rank for his work as director of space at NASA Ames. Morrison was a founder of the multidisciplinary field of astrobiology, and he provides on-line answers to questions from the public sent to "Ask an Astrobiologist," found at: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/astrobio/
Morrison is perhaps best known for his leadership since 1991 in defining the hazard of asteroid impacts and seeking ways to mitigate this risk. Asteroid 2410 Morrison is named in his honor.
Independent U.S. government agency established in 1958 for research and development of vehicles and activities for aeronautics and space exploration. Its goals include improving human understanding of the universe, the solar system, and Earth and establishing a permanent human presence in space. NASA, previously the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), was created largely in response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik in 1957. Its organization was well under way in 1961, when Pres. John F. Kennedy proposed that the U.S. put a man on the Moon by the end of the 1960s (seeApollo). Later unmanned programs (e.g., Viking, Mariner, Voyager, Galileo) explored other planets and interplanetary space, and orbiting observatories (e.g., the Hubble Space Telescope) have studied the cosmos. NASA also developed and launched various satellites with Earth applications, such as Landsat and communications and weather satellites. It planned and developed the space shuttle and led the development and construction of the International Space Station.
multidisciplinary field dealing with the nature and existence of and search for extraterrestrial life (life beyond Earth). Astrobiology encompasses areas of biology, astronomy, and geology. The principal areas of astrobiology research can be classified as (1) understanding the conditions under which life can arise, (2) looking for habitable worlds, and (3) searching for evidence of life.
Yes David What Can I say I thought about the wrong calendar Mayan has the corn bearer in the center no tongue sticking out, makes a big difference in attitude,David now ranks with Mel Gibson. I went back listened some more and it got worse. His depiction of Zecharia Sitchein, tells me he has never attended Sitchin`s Lectures, in fact David couldn`t even say his name properly. The short piece on Professor Michio Kaku, David`s comments rank with Glen Beck. There is a connection between Zecharia, Michio, and the Mayan Prophecies, and the Sun Spot Cycle. David "If some people don`t know, You just can^t tell them ", you may have all the degrees, but to make basic silly mistakes like your lecture, here and now, Shame on degrees. Alright enough...to the real people out there, THE MAYAN PROPHECIES, by Adrian G Gilbert and Maurice M Cotterell also check out my articles...www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/7866 and 7982. David David David, no foolin the fools.
Happy someone noticed the difference between the Mayan and Aztec calendar, I use the Mayan Tzolkin "the energies that rule the days, I live 2 hours from Uxmal one way and 2 hours to Chichen Itza the other way. Thank you diazjonathan, Mayan prophecies seem to align with Sunspot Activity. The Mayans tell me "The Sun Will Speak To You", the rise of the KU-KU-UL-KA-AN.
Really quick just change your slide 11:41 time fora.tv
the calendar you presented is Aztec Calendar and not the Mayan.
Other then keep up the good work.
It is unfortunate that over half the people in any given population are ignorant, gullible, naive and yes, downright stupid. Many to the point that they are downright pround of their ignorance and believe they are educated. Case in point, there are many people that will not believe that man landed on the moon, even after one shows them that there are man made reflective surfaces that were placed there and are used to measure the distance from the earth to the moon, but have no problem believeing that there aliens here amoung us, and will believe anything that even hints that there are. These are often the same people that will believe that the world will end in 2012 or that god will return on a given date. There have been institutions and people, since man learned to walk upright and talk, that take advantage of this, such as religion, governments and even capitalism, in the form of advertising, knowing that a great many people will believe anything if told enough times. Throughout time the course of mankind has been changed by propaganda to sway public opinion, such as Hitler's Minister of Propaganda Joseph Gobbles to get the German public to go to war with Europe, not to mention fear mongering for the purpose of "preemption" to sway people to go to war. Of course, there are also religious leaders that have their own agenda. Even today, we have propagandist to sway people who do not seem to have the capacity to differentiate between news and propaganda. I don't think that mankind will ever evolve to a point that we will not be affected by people that mean to mislead us for what ever purpose or motive thay may have. If there are aliens here then they may be here to study us like we might study monkeys at a zoo.
member. 
