It’s one of the biggest conspiracy theories of all time, fuelling a plethora of videos and posts on social media.
But if you believe the world is flat, a NASA scientist may finally change your mind with a brutal putdown.
In a new video, Dr James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, is asked ‘how do we know the Earth isn’t flat?’
His eloquent answer is something you’d learn at primary school, and instantly makes a mockery of the entire nonsense concept.
From the 16th century, great mariners explored our Earth by ships, such as England’s Sir Francis Drake and Portugal’s Ferdinand Magellan, he points out.
These pioneers set off because they knew the Earth was round, allowing them to go across one ocean and come back home the other way.
‘They made the first orbit of Earth by sea,’ said Dr Garvin, a planetary geosciences graduate from Brown University.
‘If the Earth were flat, they would have sailed off the end.’
People who believe the idea that the Earth is disc-shaped rather than spherical are called ‘Flat Earthers’ – one of the most prominent conspiracy theories today
In a new video, Dr James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, is asked ‘how do we know the Earth isn’t flat?’
Of course, it was much further back in time – more than 2,000 years ago – that humanity first understood the true shape of our planet.
Greek philosopher Pythagoras proposed that the Earth was round around 500 BC, but it was about 350 BC that Aristotle declared Earth was a sphere.
This was based on observations Aristotle had made about which constellations you could see in the sky as you travelled further and further away from the equator.
‘This was a magical revelation for the Greeks and the Egyptians, who were able to see from the motions of the stars and the way the sun moved,’ Dr Garvin said.
‘They took that information and it extended into the time of the great mariners that explored our Earth by ships.’
Fast-forward to the 20th and 21st centuries, astronauts have been able to witness with their own eyes the stunning curvature of the Earth.
‘At the dawn of the space age, in the late 50s and 60s, we were able to see for ourselves that our beautiful home is a gorgeous round object known as a sphere,’ the expert said.
‘And that was really special – it put ourselves into context of our solar system and our universe.’
Pictured, the curvature of Earth with the sun shining on the Caspian Sea from the vantage point of the International Space Station (ISS), 262 miles up
Pictured, the the curvature of Earth as seen from Concorde, which flew at a maximum altitude of 60,000 feet (11 miles)
For robotic probes adorned with cameras, the curvature of the Earth has also long been clearly visible.
But there’s also no denying the simple fact that the sun sets at different times in different locations.
If the Earth were flat, then shadows would be the same length, regardless of location.
Recently, a famous Flat Earther was humbled by yet further evidence that the Earth is spherical during a trip to Antarctica.
YouTuber Jeran Campanella saw the sun doesn’t set during the southern hemisphere’s summer – debunking the belief that Antarctica is an ice wall around the edge of a Flat Earth where the sun always dips in and out of view.
Finally, Dr Garvin also points to the other bodies in our solar system that are similarly spherical – moons, planets and even our sun.
‘We have a big round sun and a beautiful round Earth and a round Mars,’ the expert added.
‘The roundness of our solar system and our universe is a special thing and we should embrace that as we understand why our planet isn’t flat.’
If the Earth were flat, then shadows around the world would be the same length, regardless of location
During the southern hemisphere’s and northern hemisphere’s summer, the sun remains visible all day, including at midnight – a phenomenon dubbed ‘the midnight sun’. Pictured, multiple exposure of midnight sun on Lake Ozhogino in Yakutia, Russia
Also on Tuesday, a new study has revealed that people who believe in conspiracy theories like Flat Earth may be suffering from a lack of sleep.
In fact, poor sleep may be fuelling conspiracy beliefs by causing a ‘decline in cognitive function’, report scientists at the University of Nottingham.
And the more people spend reading conspiracies online into the small hours, the more their sleep is impacted – creating a viscous cycle.
Another recent study concluded that people who believe in conspiracy theories are more likely to be spiteful.
