--- title: "Flat Earthers Puzzled by Why People Don’t Fall Off “Bottom” of Globe" description: "The Flat Earthers have struck again — and this time, they're pondering why cities don't plummet into space when they're on the planet's \"bottom.\"" date: "2022-12-15" modified: "2022-12-15" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/flat-earthers-bottom-globe" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "conspiracy theories" - "earth" - "flat earth" - "the digest" --- # Flat Earthers Puzzled by Why People Don’t Fall Off “Bottom” of Globe ![The Flat Earthers have struck again — and this time, they're pondering why cities don't plummet into space when they're on the planet's "bottom."]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Impossiball-ers The Flat Earthers have struck again — and this time, they're confused as to why people and cities don't plummet into space when they're on the planet's "bottom." In spite of, millennia of established science, national news outlets like [*USA* *Today* are still forced to debunk]() these kinds of outlandish claims, often spread via misspelled Facebook memes like the viral one below, which suggests that it is "scientifically impossiball \[sic\]" for the island of Manhattan to be hanging "upside down" without falling into space. ![]() ## Disc Jockeys 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. 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. "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. "That is, 'true down' is always toward the center of Earth." 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. "This is," Brown continued with apparent exhaustion, "one of very many ways we know Earth is not flat." Depressingly, though, given that they're willing to ignore the copious evidence that Earth is round, Flat Earthers are probably willing to overlook gravity anyway. **More on conspiracy theories:** [*Beloved Actor George Takei Absolutely Skewers Elon Musk*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()