The theory is generally accepted as being disproved by Aristotle in 330BC but the idea of the earth being a sphere was suggested by Pythagoras in the 6th century. The idea was first seen in ancient cultures including the Romans until the classical period. 'This is,' Brown continued with apparent exhaustion, 'one of very many ways we know Earth is not flat.'ĭepressingly, though, given that they're willing to ignore the copious evidence that Earth is round, Flat Earthers are probably willing to overlook gravity anyway.Flat earth theory is an archaic conception that the earth is shaped as a plane or a disk. If the planet were indeed a flat surface the way Flat Earthers claim, there would still be a gravitational pull towards the center of said disk, the physicist pointed out - meaning anyone at the purported 'edge' would fall sideways. 'That is, 'true down' is always toward the center of Earth.'

'Near Earth - or any other planet or star - 'true up' is always the direction opposite the gravitational force,' North Carolina State University physics professor David Brown told the newspaper. Of course, as USA Today emphasized as it sought to debunk this 'wrongheaded' meme and the junk science behind it, there's no true 'up' or 'down' in space - and furthermore, we don't experience the sensation of being 'upside down' because Earth's substantial gravity pulls everything towards the planet's center, creating the sensation of being upright on a flat surface that's actually just a very large sphere.

As the idiotic meme claims, Earth can't really be a globe because that would mean that some parts of the world are upside-down and at risk of falling off.

Flat earthers around the world