The Earth is most certainly, positively, and unequivocally a sphere, but somehow B.o.B. must have missed the memo. The “Strange Clouds” rapper spent the better part of two days wrapped up in an insane Twitter rant in an attempt to convince his followers–and maybe even himself–that the world is actually flat.

Eventually B.o.B.’s bizarre tweets landed him into a heated argument with a famed astrophysicist that inspired him to write a propaganda-filled “diss track” that also casually features some Holocaust denial. But in order to understand how we even got to this place, let’s start at the beginning.

It all started when the Atlanta rapper posted a picture of himself with a peculiar question attached.

The cities in the background are approx. 16miles apart… where is the curve ? please explain this.

The cities in the background are approx. 16miles apart… where is the curve ? please explain this pic.twitter.com/YCJVBdOWX7

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

He then proceeded to support his theory with pseudoscientific photo evidence including the following gems:

Time-lapse photos of stars form perfect circles… how is this possible ? pic.twitter.com/d9d1sJja8z — B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

pic.twitter.com/POO02Sl6aV

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

pic.twitter.com/UFdFyEwb4M — B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

No matter how high in elevation you are… the horizon is always eye level … sorry cadets… I didn’t wanna believe it either.

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

Gleason’s Projection pic.twitter.com/7AB50swI2Y — B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

For the sake of this post and your scrolling fingers, I can’t include all of B.o.B.’s fantastic tweets, but in case you’re curious they can all be found here for your viewing pleasure.

Now, B.o.B. isn’t the first celebrity to publicly endorse this archaic theory, which has in fact been refuted by the entire scientific community. Just a few weeks ago Tila Tequila surfaced from reality dating show obscurity to post hundreds of angry capitalized conspiracy theory tweets, which included her own #FlatEarth theories.

Luckily this time around, science found its savior in famed astrophysicist and cosmologist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who took a few minutes of his day to disprove several of B.o.B.’s supposed facts.

He started off first by challenging B.o.B.’s skyline theory.

pic.twitter.com/bKCDLPgxYb

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

@bobatl Earth’s curve indeed blocks 150 (not 170) ft of Manhattan. But most buildings in midtown are waaay taller than that. — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016

Next, he took on B.o.b.’s supposed North Star evidence.

pic.twitter.com/RxIERI1St6

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 25, 2016

@bobatl Polaris is gone by 1.5 deg S. Latitude. You’ve never been south of Earth’s Equator, or if so, you’ve never looked up. — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016

@bobatl Flat Earth is a problem only when people in charge think that way. No law stops you from regressively basking in it.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016

But just because Tyson probably thinks B.o.B. is an idiot now, doesn’t mean he still won’t jam out to his Hayley Williams “Airplanes” collab.

@bobatl Duude — to be clear: Being five centuries regressed in your reasoning doesn’t mean we all can’t still like your music — Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 25, 2016

The Cosmos is knowable. When childhood curiosity persists as an adult, it inoculates against others telling you what to think

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) January 26, 2016

Unfortunately B.o.B. responded to Tyson’s comments the way most rappers respond to people saying things they don’t like–he wrote a “diss track.”

In a song titled “Flatline” (get it, since the Earth is flat now), B.o.B. spends over three minutes explaining the conspiracy to cover up Earth’s “actual” shape. If that wasn’t enough, he even throws in some Holocaust denial for good measure with the lines, “Stalin was way worse than Hitler, That’s why the POTUS gotta wear a Kipper.”

Clearly if B.o.B. keeps this up he’s going to find many more foes than friends willing support his cause. That being said, he still refuses to back down, tweeting, “No I’m not crazy, Yes I’m feeling fine, no I’m not doing anything stronger than weed, am I doing this to promote my music .. No..”. He later added,

Since all mass media wants to make me look crazy and drag me through the mud… make sure you mention the cloning centers I talked about

— B.o.B (@bobatl) January 26, 2016

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Rapper B.o.B. Really Wants You to Believe the Earth is Flat appeared first on Law Street.

For millennia, flags, banners, and standards have been points under which causes have coalesced and people have united. Now the entirety of Planet Earth and all of its inhabitants may have a single flag to call our own.

Oskar Pernefeldt, a student at Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm, Sweden, has created a banner to represent the entire human civilization and the rock we inhabit. It features simply seven interlocking rings on a blue background. Pernefeldt envisions this flag on the flight suits of astronauts, being waved at sporting events, or being hung outside one’s home.

Pernefeldt’s flag design. Courtesy of Oskar Pernefeldt/flagofplanetearth.com via Wikipedia.

On the official website, Pernefeldt points out that space missions thus far have represented the particular nations that have launched them; but such actions are representative of Planet Earth itself. One might further this argument by pointing out the collaborative nature of such things as the International Space Station, or the rise of private space agencies that do not necessarily have a nationalistic agenda. In addition, Pernefeldt feels that this flag would be the most suitable one to headline the possible Mars colony in the near future.

While the grand symbolism of the flag suggests an end to the squabbles and struggles that have plagued human civilization for so long, to be replaced with a harmonious and symbiotic cooperative way of life for all civilization, the more immediate practicality of the flag with regard to space missions is evident. Supposing, in our ever increasing and geographically expansive travels into the depths, we encounter other life that asks from whence we came, Pernefeldt poses hypothetically. We would simply point to the Earth, as opposed to attempt a complicated explanation of national divisions and identities. A resident of another planet may not immediately care with what subdivision an Earthling identifies himself, but simply what planet.

There are strong environmental themes and metaphors in the flag. The seven rings represent the seven continents and, as the designer explains, they form a flower at the center, which is a symbol for life on Earth. Further, the rings are connected to each other, demonstrating the interrelatedness of everything on the planet. Finally, the blue stands for the oceans. Yet the structure is such that the seven rings together can be looked at as the planet itself, and the background the Universe.

Many national flags represent that nation’s history and heritage. The stars and stripes of the American flag are an obvious example, remembering the original colonies and the present states. Considering the diversity of the inhabitants of Planet Earth, pinpointing an international identity is quite a challenge. One thing that we all share is the environment. The fragile Earth and its ecosystems are a concern with which everybody is–or ought to be–involved. It is something that affects us all, and is a universal source of beauty, tranquility, and happiness. We all owe our existence and health to the bounties and life-giving forces of the environment.

The efforts to pursue more sustainable lifestyles transcend national borders, languages, and cultural barriers. It is something to which all people can aspire regardless of their religious or geographic orientation; embodying these themes in a planetary flag is an ingenious move. There are no moves to officially adopt this flag for its purpose, and there is likely much time before it ever could be planted on foreign cosmic soil in the name of a united human race. Yet it already sends a powerful message of cooperation in the name of environmental conservation. To these ends, it may already be a rallying point.

Franklin R. Halprin

Franklin R. Halprin holds an MA in History & Environmental Politics from Rutgers University where he studied human-environmental relationships and settlement patterns in the nineteenth century Southwest. His research focuses on the influences of social and cultural factors on the development of environmental policy. Contact Frank at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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