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How Do We Know Earth is Round?
Live Science
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10/10/2023
Members of the Flat Earth Society claim to believe the Earth is flat despite scientists explaining how we know the Earth is round since the third century B.C.
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Tech
Transcript
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00:00
How do we know that the Earth is round?
00:04
One of the most famous images of Earth is called the Blue Marble.
00:08
It was snapped in 1972 from a distance of about 18,000 miles by the crew of the Apollo
00:13
17 spacecraft, and it shows our planet as a water and cloud-covered sphere against the
00:18
black backdrop of space.
00:20
However, there are people who claim that this image is part of a vast conspiracy to trick
00:25
people into believing that Earth is round, when in reality, they say, it's as flat as
00:30
a pancake.
00:31
Members of a group known as the Flat Earth Society point to the visible horizon and say
00:35
that since they can't see the curve of the globe, that the planet must be a flattened
00:39
disk.
00:40
How do we know that it's not?
00:43
Well, no one has ever documented this so-called "edge of the Earth," which flat earthers say
00:48
is ringed with a giant wall of ice.
00:50
And scientists have been explaining how we know the Earth is round since the third century
00:55
B.C.
00:56
Earth is so big that from a person's vantage point on the ground, its curvature is simply
01:01
impossible to see.
01:02
But the ancient Greeks were able to "see" Earth's curve by looking at the sun's position
01:06
and comparing shadows that it cast in different places at the same time of day.
01:11
The laws of gravity also explain how a spherical planet would form, with its mass attracting
01:16
matter in space and building a shape outward from a central core.
01:20
And on a spherical planet, gravity's pull from the center is what keeps our feet on
01:24
the ground.
01:25
Not to mention that in the 16th century, Ferdinand Magellan sailed completely around the world,
01:31
which would have been impossible on a flat Earth surrounded by an icy wall.
01:35
Earth isn't a perfect sphere, more like an irregularly shaped ellipsoid, according to
01:39
the National Ocean Service.
01:41
But for those arguing that it's pancake-shaped, that idea falls a little flat.
01:46
The shape of the Earth, just one of life's little mysteries.
01:50
(upbeat music)
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