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3 proofs that debunk flat-Earth theory | NASA’s Michelle Thaller | Big Think

Big Think | August 12, 2025



3 proofs that debunk flat-Earth theory | NASA’s Michelle Thaller | Big Think
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Hey flat Earthers, it’s time to put your theory to bed once and for all! “There are so many proofs that the Earth is round, it’s difficult to know where to start. And it’s not okay to think that the Earth is flat; this is not a viable argument,” says NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller.Thaller explains three observable proofs that instantly debunk flat-Earth theory with irrefutable evidence of the Earth’s round, curvaceous, gloriously spherical shape.The ancient Greeks figured out we were living on a sphere over 2,000 years ago, and there are things you can do to prove that the Earth is indeed roundโ€”just go to a body of water and look at ships or boats on the horizon with binoculars. Watch the video for the details!You can follow Michelle Thaller on Twitter at @mlthaller.
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MICHELLE THALLER:

Dr. Michelle Thaller is an astronomer who studies binary stars and the life cycles of stars. She is Assistant Director of Science Communication at NASA. She went to college at Harvard University, completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, Calif. then started working for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) Spitzer Space Telescope. After a hugely successful mission, she moved on to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in the Washington D.C. area. In her off-hours often puts on about 30lbs of Elizabethan garb and performs intricate Renaissance dances. For more information, visit
NASA.
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TRANSCRIPT:

MICHELLE THALLER: So, Oscar, you asked the question, “What are some of the easiest ways that you can prove that the Earth is round?” Because apparently, this is something that we’re debatingโ€”I have no idea why.

That’s a hard thing for me to even start talking about because there are so many proofs that the Earth is round, it’s difficult to know where to start. And it’s not okay to think that the Earth is flat. This is not a viable argument.

I have friends who have been on the International Space Station, they have orbited the Earth once every 90 minutes; I’ve had personal experience with people who have been up in space and can see with their own eyes that the Earth is round. And of course, we’ve taken all of these amazing pictures from space; they’re so beautiful, all those pictures of the Earth.

So I don’t really know what’s going on right now with this ‘Earth is flat’ thing, but I will tell you that this is one of the things I really enjoyed teaching my own astronomy class about because there are proofs all around you. It is not difficult to know that the Earth is round. In fact, people have known of this for way more than 2,000 years. The ancient Greeks actually had a number of really elegant, wonderful proofs that the earth was a sphere.

So let’s start from the simple to the slightly more complicated. One of the things you can see yourself, with a pair of binoculars, is if you actually go out to a lake and there are boats on that lake, the farther away a boat is the more the bottom of the boat will disappear, and you’ll basically just see the mast of the boat. And as a boat goes farther and farther away the last thing you will see is the very top of the mast of that boat, and that’s because the boat is actually going over the horizon that’s curvedโ€”and that means that as it goes farther and farther away you see less and less of the bottom of it, and more of the top of that. You can see that with binoculars by an ocean, by a lake, it’s really easy. That wouldn’t happen if the Earth were flatโ€”you would simply see the boat getting smaller and smaller and smaller as it went farther away, but you’d be able to see the whole thing with the same proportions.

Now, another way that you can tell that we’re on a sphere is to think about how there’s something called the tropics on the Earth, and the tropics are places near the equator of the earth were sometimes the sun is overhead in the sky. This was actually something that the Greeks used, not only to prove that the Earth was round about 2000 years ago, but they actually measured the circumference of the Earth, accurate to within just a couple percent. 2,000 years ago we’ve known that the Earth was round.

There was a really brilliant Greek scientist called Eratosthenes, and Eratosthenes noticed that there was a town called Syene, and on a certain date the sun would actually shine straight down to the bottom of a well. That mea…

For the full transcript, check out https://bigthink.com/videos/top-10-flat-earth-theory-proof

Written by Big Think

Comments

This post currently has 38 comments.

  1. @mildyconcusseddave1830

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Just a little bit of advice for people on here regarding the troll currently using the name 'Towering Genius', though that name frequently changes due to bans and insecurity.
    Please do not respond to him. That is precisely what he wants, as you may have noticed, there is an air of desperation around his posts, this is because the only people that will communicate with him are people online who don't know his history. Real life people don't bother any more, he's a waste of their time, and he's a waste of yours too.
    Treat him with the contempt he deserves, and ignore him, or post around him, not only will it make your life more peaceful, it will make him furious, there be a spate of about 30 posts a day as he desperately tries to get people to pay attention to him, and then he will give up and try to find a different video to troll, he cannot communicate like normal people, so don't try to.
    Don't think for one moment he is a flat earther, he isn't, he's just a lonely man who destroyed his own life and spews out his bitterness on the Internet in the hope of getting attention. It's not rare, and the solution is to realise how pointless he is and ignore him.
    That's all I'm going to say on the subject.

  2. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    NASA's psyop workers from communications department:

    @ Michelle Thaller aka Katy Jones – deputy director

    @ Brain Dead Jedi – a side kick

    @ mildyconcusseddave1830 – a side kick of a side kick

  3. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Globers cannot hold a high moral ground.
    Science lies everyday. Science has been lying everyday since the scientists faked the stick of Eratosthenes from 300BC.
    Fake ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐ŸคฅGlobe ๐ŸŒ!

  4. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    NASA's psyop workers from communications department:

    @ Michelle Thaller aka Katy Jones – deputy director

    @ Brain Dead Jedi – a side kick

    @ mildyconcusseddave1830 – a side kick of a side kick

  5. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Charles Darwin was the human equivalent of a system crashโ€”no school, no job, no prospects. He lived where society parks its inconvenient truths. Incest? Check. His cousin Galton tried to breed out people like Charles Darwin, but forgot to start at home. And that stutter? Evolutionโ€™s punchline. ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚

    Charles Darwin exhibited chronic educational failure, lifelong unemployment, and was housed in a psychiatric facility on the cityโ€™s outskirts. He engaged in incestuous behavior. His cousin, Galton, was a prominent figure in the eugenics movement. Charles Darwin's speech was marked by a severe stutter. ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚

  6. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    NASA's psyop workers from communications department:
    @ Michelle Thaller aka Katy Jones – deputy director
    @ Brain Dead Jedi – a side kick
    @ mildyconcusseddave1830 – a side kick of a side kick

  7. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    We have to question evolution:
    If Europeans evolved to become a better fit to become Americans then why are Europeans still here?

    If europeans didn't need to evolve then it means evolution has stopped! ๐Ÿ›‘๐Ÿซธ๐Ÿซท

    Europeans prove that evolution is faked.

    Cases:
    eastern Europeans
    western Europeans
    Europe: it's not even a continent.
    It is a FAKE continent!

  8. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Bizarre evolution: ๐Ÿ˜จ

    13.6 billion years ago:

    -13.6B years: trillions of light years away, "nothing" blew up! ๐Ÿ˜‚

    Between -13.6B and -4B years: nothing happened! Globe fakers created imaginary electrons and atoms. ๐Ÿ˜‚

    Between -4B and circa 1800AD: Evolutionists filled this time line with FICTIONAL stories!๐Ÿ˜‚

    Between circa 1800AD and 2025:
    Mankind burst on our flat earth
    Prostitution started.
    Telephone was invented.
    Internet was made.
    Undersea cables were laid.
    Globe was faked.
    AI appeared.

    Evolutionists made more bizarre stories.
    Apes turned into humans in their fiction. ๐Ÿ˜‚
    They faked evidence using cartoons, molecular fossils, videos, CGI, hand drawings, etc. ๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

  9. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    2 GREAT LINES THAT DESTROY THE PSYOP (MAGIC SPELLS) OF FAKE GLOBE/EVOLUTION:

    1. If Darwin evolved from apes than why did he stutter so badly? ๐Ÿช„๐Ÿง๐Ÿ”ฎ

    2. EVOLUTIONISTS: DO YOU STUTTER LIKE DARWIN? IF YES, WHY ? IF NOT, THEN WHY NOT? ๐Ÿช„๐Ÿง๐Ÿ”ฎ

  10. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Acts furthering the cause of FAKE globe/evolution: ๐ŸŒŽ ๐Ÿฆง ๐Ÿงฌ

    1908: PILTDOWN Man Fossil: FAKED โžก 2016: discovery of how it was faked.๐Ÿ’

    1931: BIG BANG FAKED: โžก2039: EXPECT discovery of how it was faked.๐Ÿ’ฅ

    1945: ATOM: FAKED โžก 2053: EXPECT discovery of how it was faked.โš›๏ธ

    1945: GLOBE: FAKED โžก 2053: EXPECT discovery of how it was faked.๐ŸŒŽ

    1953: DNA: FAKED โžก 2061: EXPECT discovery of how it was faked. ๐Ÿงฌ

  11. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Tsunamis ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠprove that our earth is FLAT.
    Tsunamis show that globe is FAKED.
    Check the flow of all tsunamis.

    The arrival of tsunamis fit perfectly with flat earth map.

  12. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    The US is totally broke!๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜ฎ๐Ÿ˜ฎ Bankrupt! It owes $36 trillion in debt!

    NASA cannot get paid! ๐Ÿ˜ญ
    NASA has little money to defend its fake ๐Ÿคฅ globe ๐ŸŒ. 20% of its fakers are shown the door.

    NASA brought it upon itself by lying since 1948, taking trillions of dollars for running psyops. ๐ŸŽฏ๐ŸŽฏ๐ŸŽฏ

    Michelle Thaler, a communication specialist, is running a psyop. She is not doing any science! She is uneducated in science.

    Eratosthenes didn't even exist. His stick is a lie. They faked the existence of stick from 300BC.

    NASA wouldn't zoom using p900 which makes the ships re appear after they have presumably gone down below the curvature on the other side of the fake ๐Ÿคฅ globe! ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚

    NASA faked the moon landings!

    NASA faked space walks in its swimming pools.

    Newton was not struck by any apple ๐ŸŽ on his head. Apples didn't even exist in his country at that time.

    NASA faked the sucktion of the space.

  13. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    PROOF: FAKE EVOLUTION = FAKE GLOBE

    What did Darwin know ? Sitting on his bum, and doing nothing all his life!

    What did Darwin NOT know ? ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜

    He did NOT know math, science, physics, chemistry, engineering, medicine, theories, accounting, employment, etc. ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ

  14. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Deep-Deceptions ๐Ÿคฅ of fake-globe: – UNVEILED TO YOU BY DEEP INTELLIGENCE ๐Ÿง ๐Ÿง ๐Ÿง 

    1 No material curvature in the earth: no curve = not a globe

    2 No rotation! It means stationary earth!
    3 No sucktion from space! It means space is not vacuum!

  15. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Did you know that science workers, receiving grants, do not pay any tax?
    They receive BLACK โšซ MONEY ๐Ÿ’ฐ๐Ÿ’ฐ๐Ÿ’ฐ,

    WHAT IS BLACK โšซ MONEY?
    Money received without tax department taking the tax!

    Science is BLACK โšซ MONEY, BLACK โšซ ECONOMY, and black ๐ŸŒ‘ OPERATION in dark ๐ŸŒ‘ web.

  16. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Flat earthers FIRST!
    โž–โž–โž–โž–โž–โž–โž–
    ใ€ฐ๏ธใ€ฐ๏ธใ€ฐ๏ธใ€ฐ๏ธใ€ฐ๏ธใ€ฐ๏ธใ€ฐ๏ธ
    ๐Ÿ‘„๐Ÿ‘„๐Ÿ‘„๐Ÿ‘„๐Ÿ‘„๐Ÿ‘„๐Ÿ‘„
    ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ๐ŸŒŠ
    ๐Ÿ”๏ธโ›ฐ๏ธ๐Ÿ”๏ธโ›ฐ๏ธ๐Ÿ”๏ธโ›ฐ๏ธ๐Ÿ”๏ธ
    โ›ด๏ธโ›ด๏ธโ›ด๏ธโ›ด๏ธโ›ด๏ธโ›ด๏ธโ›ด๏ธ

  17. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Prostitution started about 200 years ago circa 1800.

    Your Darwin didn't know or do any science. He SPECULATED and then confessed all his lies on his death bed ๐Ÿ› when he had no need for money ๐Ÿ’ฐ ๐Ÿ’ฐ ๐Ÿ’ฐ he made from his lies.

    Science is full of lies.

    Cases: PILTDOWN MAN fossil, DNA, radio metric dating, atom โš›, dinosaurs ๐Ÿฆ–๐Ÿฆ•๐Ÿฆ–, and more.

    How old is the cockroach ๐Ÿชณ?

    Where did the chicken ๐Ÿ” come from? Made in a factory! ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿญ

    How many fields of knowledge did the psyop creators suppress to invent fake ๐Ÿคฅ globe ๐ŸŒ๐ŸŒŽ ๐ŸŒin the fictitious big๐Ÿ’ฅ banged ๐Ÿงจ universe?

    No one is held accountable for the huge number of big psyops in science! ๐ŸŽโš›๐Ÿฆ•๐Ÿฆ–๐Ÿš€๐Ÿ’ฅ๐Ÿงฌ

  18. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    It is UNPRODUCTIVE to argue with globers.
    REASON: THEY are not EDUCATED in anything that is somehow related with FAKE GLOBE ๐ŸŒEARTH.

    SHORT LIST :

    Cosmic star paths

    Cosmic Sun and Moon paths

    Earth's gravity

    Earth's rotation

    Space

    Vacuum of space that does not suck

    Trillions of heavy balls stuck between fake gravity and fake suction

    Earth's curvature

    666

    North Pole ๐Ÿ’ˆ, South Pole ๐Ÿ’ˆ

    Magnetism

    Map making

    Time zones

    Theodolite

    Antarctica

    Arctica

    Gps, glosnass, military communication

    Line of sight communication, radars,

    NEW ADDITIONS:

    SUBMARINE sonar pings: reflections

    Optical zooming

    PS

    Globers always show us animations, CGI, simulations, Hollywood painitngs, blue ๐Ÿ”ต/ green ๐ŸŸขscreens.

    They always make excuses such as NASA's dog ate the evidence. ๐Ÿ•

  19. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    NASA Says 20% Of Workforce To Depart Space Agency
    Why is NASA replacing its 20% workers?
    What is NASA up to? NASA cannot be trusted!
    Its symbol is: SNAKE's forked tongue! ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ‘…๐Ÿ‘…

  20. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Globers are NEEDY ๐Ÿฅบ๐Ÿฅบ๐Ÿฅบpeople.
    They have a HOLE โญ•in their souls.

    They even fake their belief in fake globe, just to be LOVED. โคโ€๐Ÿฉนโคโ€๐Ÿฉนโคโ€๐Ÿฉน

  21. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    From the WHITE HOUSE:

    Presidential Actions

    PREVENTING WOKE AI IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

    Excerpts:

    One of the most pervasive and destructive of these ideologies is so-called โ€œdiversity, equity, and inclusionโ€ (DEI).

    In the AI context, DEI includes the suppression or distortion of factual information about race or sex; manipulation of racial or sexual representation in model outputs; incorporation of concepts like critical race theory, transgenderism, unconscious bias, intersectionality, and systemic racism; and discrimination on the basis of race or sex.

    DEI displaces the commitment to truth in favor of preferred outcomes and, as recent history illustrates, poses an existential threat to reliable AI.

    READ THE WORDS: DEI poses an existential threat.

  22. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    MULTIPLYING ๐ŸŒ: FROM 1 TO 1 TRILLION
    NASA was not happy with 1 globe.
    The predecessor of NASA turned 1 fake-globe into 1 trillion fake-globes using hypothetical big-bang.
    The entire universe was now teeming with 1 trillion globes!

  23. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    HOW MANY imaginative ways do these globers IMAGINE EVIDENCE in their fake globe ๐ŸŒ based universe ?

    โ€ข Cartoons as scientific evidence !

    โ€ข C.G.I. globe as scientific evidence !

    โ€ข Hand drawing of globe as scientific evidence !

    โ€ข Hollywood movies using hand-painted globe

    โ€ข Imaginary stick of Eratosthenes as scientific evidence !

    โ€ข Imaginary evidence of Galileo as scientific evidence !

    โ€ข Imaginary ancient Greeks as scientific evidence !

    โ€ข They collaborated with NASA and came up with trillions of FAKE SPACE GLOBES ๐ŸŒ๐ŸŒ๐ŸŒ.

  24. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    One D U M B glober said: If the earth is flat then what's on the other side of the flat earth?

    FACEPALM ๐Ÿคฆ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™‚๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™€

    This is how dumb these globers are!

  25. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    Britney Greiner is a MAN who was playing in WOMAN'S ๐Ÿ‘ ๐Ÿ’„๐Ÿ‘  BASKETBALL TEAM in the US and RUSSIA. Russia locked ๐Ÿ‘ฎ๐Ÿš”๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿš“๐Ÿ‘ฎโ€โ™‚her up in MAN'S PRISON! ๐Ÿ˜‚

    ALL HELL BROKE LOSE IN THE ILLUMINATI.

    SECRETS OF "MAN TO WOMAN CONVERSION" were about to be REVEALED!

    Source of problem: Hidden secrets of FAKE EVOLUTION and FAKE GLOBE ๐ŸŒ๐ŸŒ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿงฌ๐ŸŒ๐ŸŒ๐ŸŒ

  26. @Towering.Genius.T3

    August 12, 2025 at 2:58 am

    SHOW ME A FLY TURN INTO A HIPPO. WE KNOW YOU CAN'T DO SCIENCE! ๐Ÿ˜ƒ๐Ÿ˜ƒ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

    Who created fake ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ evolution?

    LGBTQIIA ๐Ÿณโ€๐ŸŒˆ

    Who created the first globe?

    LGBTQIIA ๐Ÿณโ€๐ŸŒˆ

    The mathematical correlations among fake ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ evolution, fake globe ๐ŸŒŽ, LGBTQIIA, and Brigitte Macron born as Jean Michel Trogneux, are very HIGH.

    More examples;

    Michelle O: First Lady /Man

    Starmer

    ILLUSION of globe ๐ŸŒ !

    ILLUSION of first lady!

    ILLUSION of fake ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ๐Ÿคฅ evolution!

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