Astronomy/Polar Shifts

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Question
Tonight, a friend of mine mentioned a theory of Dec. 21, 2012 regarding a polarity switch Earth may undergo.

After researching the theory on the internet, i found that it's impossible to find any information on this that seems factual. But, it did start me thinking about Polar Shifts, since i read that the earth has undergone them before and they never seem to correlate with mass-extinction or massive cataclysm.

So, my question is regarding the polar shifts that earth undergoes. What exactly happens to the planet when it experiences these shifts, and when can we predict the next one will occur?

Thanks for your brilliance!

Curt

Answer
Curt, good for you, for being a skeptic.  I wish I knew more about this, but I have located a webpage about some serious research into this topic, done at Los Alamos.
http://www.psc.edu/science/glatzmaier.html

Look at their URL links at the bottom of their page.  This is real science, not Mayan prophecies, etc.

Keep Looking Up!
-Ed

Astronomy

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Ed

Expertise

I am not a professional astronomer by any means, but astronomy has been an interest of mine since childhood, and I am well-informed on the subject. If unable to answer someone`s question personally, I will know how to quickly find the answer online, because I keep myself informed about developments in the field and I know where to look for information.

Experience

I worked in an observatory for awhile at one point, doing various interesting things with a computer.

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