Strange Science in Antarctica

The Final Experiment hasn't ended the flat-earth debate, but it has changed it

In an intriguing essay entitled “The Internet Is Killing Science Too,” the editors at

The Hinternet

define science as “fundamentally the activity of collectively, experimentally, and systematically ‘taking the measure’ of the world around us.” That seems like a great definition!

Only that activity is now, apparently, over, thanks to the Internet and also the shift in science toward computer simulations rather than real-world experiments. It’s a long, fascinating read and you should give it a look. (If you’re already a subscriber, maybe you can tell me what they had to say after the paywall about how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fits into all this.)

But rest assured, brave experimentalists persist in taking the measure of the world around us, and it’s in part thanks to the Internet. I’m referring to an expedition called The Final Experiment, which started as a YouTube channel but will get underway IRL just a few weeks from now. (I mentioned the project back in June in another essay, Proof We Live On a Globe.)

TFE’s destination: Antarctica. Its aim: to conclusively prove the shape of the Earth. Flat or round? If the sun stays above the horizon for 24 hours, as required by the “globe model,” participants will have to agree Earth is a round ball. If the sun sets, if there is no 24-hour daylight, which would be impossible in the flat-earth model, then Earth is probably disk-shaped.

(I can already hear your protests: the very fact that the shape of the Earth needs to be re-proved only underscores The Hinternet’s point. Similarly with the need to re-prove the existence of germs. And I hear that the Ether is back in style. But leave all that aside; let’s assume for the moment that science and our very civilization are not on the verge of collapse. That’s the only way I can keep my Xanax intake to the minimum.)

Colorado pastor Will Duffy, TFE’s founder, funder, and organizer, hopes that by gathering both flat-earthers and globers in one highly consequential spot, one side will forever vanquish the other. Unfortunately (and predictably), his hopes for such an outcome have already been dashed. The most prominent flat-earthers have not only moved the goal posts, but have yanked the ball away like Lucy in Peanuts.

For years, flat-earthers have admitted that seeing a 24-hour sun in Antarctica would invalidate their claims. To get around this inconvenient fact, they denied that Antarctica even exists and also claimed that no one can travel there due to the Antarctica Treaty. What you would find instead, if you travelled far enough south, was the “Ice Wall” ringing the flat disk. And you’d very likely be fired upon by the UN troops guarding the wall to keep you from discovering whatever lies beyond.

The map flat-earthers now claim never to have seen

Now, thanks to The Final Experiment, they’re changing their tune. They deny that they ever made positive claims about the shape of the Earth. They never put forward the “Gleason map” as the most likely model. They claim that the presence or lack of a 24-hour sun is a “false dichotomy.” They’ve come up with other inventive mechanisms for the sun to appear for 24 hours, including dual suns, sun simulators, and the like. And they’ve vilified the three flat-earthers who have agreed to participate in the experiment. (In my satirical science fiction novel, Ship of Fools, flat-earther Sarge Marshall faces exactly this type of hateful pushback when he travels to Antarctica in the company of a science journalist.)

Fortunately, the prominent flat-earthers’ back-pedaling has lost them at least one follower, as you’ll see in the video below. So The Final Experiment has had that much effect. Science continues apace, spreading truth and banishing darkness.

I’m eager to see what will happen when the expedition arrives at Union Glacier and the participants inevitably witness a 24-hour sun. Will the three flat-earth participants stay true to their word and agree that their model is wrong? Or will they claim they’re being conned somehow, as Sarge keeps insisting in Ship of Fools?

I’ll post regular updates on the expedition as it progresses in December. For now, you can get up to speed with the project in this video update from one of the participants on the glober side, Dave McKeegan.

Video Index

• 1:20 - feelings about The Final Experiment and description of the project

• 8:35 - effect of TFE on the flat-earth debate

• 13:37 - flat-earther leaves the movement

• 16:19 - more feelings about the trip, including concerns about his photography gear

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Thanks so much for reading! If you enjoyed this post, I hope you’ll give it a like or a share, or even subscribe or buy me a coffee.

Chapter 50 of Ship of Fools will appear on Friday. If you haven’t been following along, you can start with the Prologue or check out this preview and table of contents.