The Flat Earth - Don't worry I'm not one of them

[Eric Mc]

lionelf said:

Eric Mc said:

Alpinestars said:

Yep, I get that.

How do you prove to someone who believes the earth is "flat"

You don't even try. You just smile knowingly to yourself and raise a little pity in your heart for someone with an intellect that barely exceeds that of a rather dim dung beetle.

One day, in the not too distant future (I hope), religionists will likewise be regarded with such disdain.

It's a real shame that a topic such as this gets more responses than one on genuine science.

The internet is really dumb sometimes.

[RizzoTheRat]

DMN said:

utgjon said:

When I walk off the edge of a chair and go into free fall while observing the surface of the earth carefully the earth appears to accelerate up towards me. ...is the simplest explanation that this mysterious highly theoretical mechanism does not exist and the earth has just accelerated upwards towards me exactly as I've observed?

An average five year old could debunk that. Then again, a 5 year is probably smarter.

From a recent Infinite Monkey Cage I seem to remember some discussion about that possibly being exactly how gravity works. Current theories on how gravity works are based on general relativity, while all other forces are described by quantum theory, and a quantum theory of gravity is required to reconcile the two, so we don't fully understand how gravity works.

Eric Mc said:

It's a real shame that a topic such as this gets more responses than one on genuine science.

The internet is really dumb sometimes.

To misquote XKCD, stupid questions can lead to very interesting answers. Having a strawman/theory is a great way to start thinking about how or why it's right or wrong (in fact that's how most science is done), even if the initial theory is completely wrong.

[Alpinestars]

Eric Mc said:

It's a real shame that a topic such as this gets more responses than one on genuine science.

The internet is really dumb sometimes.

I could tell you all about Lactobacillus vaginalis if you want? Or Chalmydia and how to grow it? Or Bifidobacteria as indicators of faecal pollution in streams?

[Eric Mc]

RizzoTheRat said:

To misquote XKCD, stupid questions can lead to very interesting answers. Having a strawman/theory is a great way to start thinking about how or why it's right or wrong (in fact that's how most science is done), even if the initial theory is completely wrong.

In some ways I agree - but flat earth, come on....... NOBODY with ANY brain thinks this - unless they are -

a) certifiable
b) contrarian

If someone wanted to ask the question, for example, "Why do larger planetary bodies assume a spherical shape?", then ask that question instead of couching it in a nonsensical framework.

[Eric Mc]

Alpinestars said:

Eric Mc said:

It's a real shame that a topic such as this gets more responses than one on genuine science.

The internet is really dumb sometimes.

I could tell you all about Lactobacillus vaginalis if you want? Or Chalmydia and how to grow it? Or Bifidobacteria as indicators of faecal pollution in streams?

And why not.

This is the "Science Forum". If someone want to discuss nonsensical things like Flat Earths, there is always The Lounge.

[RizzoTheRat]

Eric Mc said:

In some ways I agree - but flat earth, come on....... NOBODY with ANY brain thinks this - unless they are -

a) certifiable
b) contrarian

If someone wanted to ask the question, for example, "Why do larger planetary bodies assume a spherical shape?", then ask that question instead of couching it in a nonsensical framework.

No, but it's thrown up some interesting discussion about geometry that it appears some people didn't know, and I wish I could remember the thing about quantum gravity I mentioned above.

[lionelf]

Alpinestars said:

I could tell you all about Lactobacillus vaginalis if you want?

Can you PM me with photos?

[Eric Mc]

RizzoTheRat said:

No, but it's thrown up some interesting discussion about geometry that it appears some people didn't know, and I wish I could remember the thing about quantum gravity I mentioned above.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Out of stupidity may come enlightenment.

[Alpinestars]

lionelf said:

Alpinestars said:

I could tell you all about Lactobacillus vaginalis if you want?

Can you PM me with photos?

It's a great party piece. I used to do research into Chlamydia in sheep, and amongst other things involved me collecting faecal samples from the poor dears by putting my hand up their bottoms. 100 sheep every morning. Put the faeces into saline, mash it all up, and inject the mixture into chicken eggs. The Chlamydia would kill the chicks, and if it didn't, at day 20, I'd have to do it by putting the egg into a fridge. Collect the yolks, which were now infected and all horrible and luminous green, and eventually grow new Chlamydia on Baby Hamster Kidney cells in a petri dish/Jar.

I then did a paper on abnormal Lactobacilli found in the vaginas of women with vaginitis. So I used to tell the story that I had to go and collect samples from both sheep, and women. It's only in later life I've realised why I was never very popular with the girls.

PS, sheep are more fun.

[Eric Mc]

For once, I'm glad I'm an accountant.

[Alpinestars]

Eric Mc said:

For once, I'm glad I'm an accountant.

Yep, I bailed to do the next worst thing as well. An accountant.

[Eric Mc]

Sensible move.

[Eric Mc]

Amusing discussion about this nonsense at about 30 minutes in -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvjs4hmDYRM&t=...

[Hackney]

James 33 said:

Danattheopticians said:

The Humber Bridge is one.

Seen a few of the videos on youtube. Some of them give an almost convincing argument but are of course wrong.
Can't remember what bridge it is (probably more than one) where the top of the support towers are further apart at the top than at the bottom due to curvature of the Earth.

Cough

Danattheopticians said:

The Humber Bridge is one.

Cough

[24lemons]

What benefit is there in governments lying about the shape of the earth? It just seems like conspiracy theories for the sake of conspiracy theories.

[jmorgan]

24lemons said:

What benefit is there in governments lying about the shape of the earth? It just seems like conspiracy theories for the sake of conspiracy theories.

Wander down some of the loons abodes on the internet and all will become clear.

[Boring_Chris]

I read on Reddit that the Earth and the moon are assumed to be solid lumps, but are actually quite malleable.

The gravity of Earth actually (apparently) causes the moon's light side to stretch out towards the Earth... so I'm guessing like a less exaggerated pear shape?

I haven't looked to verify this any further (I just took Reddit at face value) but blows my mind if true!

[RizzoTheRat]

That's actually more or less correct, the deformation of the moon due to the earth gravity is why it's now tidally locked, ie the same bit always points towards the earth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking

[ATG]

The Wookie said:

Had a conversation about the curvature of the earth with a colleague in my old job. We were discussing whether the mile straights at MIRA (which have been made to be perfectly flat end to end) were actually slightly downhill then uphill due to the curvature of the earth, and whether it would have been better to match that curvature!

On a similar topic, what should "altitude" mean on a map? Distance from a point at the centre of the Earth (which begs the question, what's the centre of the Earth?). Distance above a spheroid that provides a smooth, good approximation to the Earth's surface for the area covered by the map? Or should you define two points to have the same altitude if the gravitational field strength is the same at both points? The latter one is what we intuitively mean by "same height" because it is the kind of surface you could put a ball on and the ball would stay put; if it started rolling, you'd say it was rolling downhill. But such a "horizontal" surface is anything but smooth because changes in rock density mean that the gravitational field strength of the Earth is not just a function of distance from its centre of mass. If I remember right, OS maps use an Airey spheroid and a reference point for "sea level" at the harbour in Newlyn. So in theory a ball could roll "downhill" from one point to another even though the two points were at exactly the same height as defined on an OS map.

[Boring_Chris]

RizzoTheRat said:

That's actually more or less correct, the deformation of the moon due to the earth gravity is why it's now tidally locked, ie the same bit always points towards the earth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking

Makes sense, but still... woah! Haha.