We are coming to the end of our Nobel Prize winner camp for flat-earthers, we have been on a hell of a ride whilst learning how to blow holes in the glober myth of a round earth.
In this article I want to highlight another difficulty the flat earth model has, however I'm sure that, seeing as it is real, there is also some real science to explain this next completely inexplicable phenomenon.
Let's Hear It For Mr Rayleigh
A popular myth that schoolchildren are told (usually by their parents, or kindergarten teachers), is that the reason the sky is blue, is that it is reflecting the colour of the sea.
For years this explanation didn't sit well with me. Why; I thought to myself, did water turn blue when there was a lot of it? I mean, the water in my glass isn't blue, when it comes out of the tap it isn't blue, it's not blue in the bath; why is the sea blue?
Of course the actual answer was worked out by Nobel Prize winning-British physicist; John William Strut, a.k.a. Lord Rayleigh (pronounced ray-lee). The phenomena was named after him, and today we know that the sky is blue in the day because of Rayleigh scattering.
Tiny particles in the gasses in our atmosphere, are struck by the light from the sun, and to cut a long story short, the shorter wavelength of blue light gets through much more efficiently than the longer wavelength colours like red, which are scattered.
However in the evening, when the sun is on the horizon, the light has more of the atmosphere to travel through, hence Rayleigh scattering gives us a red sky.
The exact equations, (linked below) and exact elements in the atmosphere that are responsible for Rayleigh scattering have been identified and the theory proved time and time again.
Tales Of A Flat Sky
The problem with the flat earth model, which I'm sure you're fully aware of, and therefore have the answer to. Is that if the sun is directly above the earth at all times, this throws up a very tricky problem.
Rayleigh scattering would indeed probably make the sky blue on a flat earth, however the sky would never be red. Even within the spotlight theory, the light from the sun would still be going through the same amount of atmosphere to reach the ground.
At the very edges, in order to create the dramatic sunsets that every person on earth has seen at one point or another, the spotlight angle would have to be so wide, that the sun would be literally sitting on top of us.
So what you have to do, is come up with a new set of mathematics, chemistry, and physics that can explain why the sky goes through the colour range it does from sunrise, to sunset, and voila! Nobel Prize!
By now you are going to have to build a new trophy cabinet to hold all of these Nobel Prizes; in some ways, it will be like you are taking the prizes of the very people who discovered made up these things in the first place.
Plugging The Gaps
As I said at the beginning, we are nearly at the end of our series now. Hopefully you have had answers that you can turn into at least outlines of scientific papers, which will eventually lead to you winning multiple Nobel Prizes.
However I want you to remember, that if just one element of what I have highlighted cannot be explained within a flat earth model, then you have to reject the whole thing.
Woah! Seems harsh? Well the problem is, that the round earth model predicts all these things and more. We have technology based on a round earth model, in an Einsteinian universe; it's called the Global Positioning Satellite System, otherwise known as GPS.
So if human society is going to use your model, then it has to work outside of the confines of the human mind. Which I'm sure it does! All you have to do is prove it, then simply sit back and collect your Nobel Prizes.
Good luck!
Further reading:
Rayleigh scattering: Wiki
Blue Sky And Rayleigh Scattering: - Hyper Physics
Why Is the Sky Blue?: - Atmospheric Optics
Image citation:
Related musings:
A Flat Earther's Rough Guide To Winning A Nobel Prize - Tackling The Sun Problem
A Flat Earther's Rough Guide To Winning A Nobel Prize - Much Ado About Gravity
A Flat Earther's Rough Guide To Winning A Nobel Prize - Eclipsing Logic
A Flat Earther's Rough Guide To Winning A Nobel Prize - Sub Solar Seasoning
Cryptogee Musings Contents Pages:
IN THE NEXT ONE OF OUR ROUGH GUIDES WE WILL BE WRAPPING UP THE SERIES WITH THE HARDEST OBSERVABLE PHENOMEN TO EXPLAIN YET. MUCH MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN THAN ANYTHING WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT.
IN THE MEANTIME PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REWRITE ALL SCIENCE AS WE KNOW IT AND WIN YOUR MULTIPLE NOBELS FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO HUMANKIND!
IF YOU HAVE ALREADY DONE THAT, THEN AS EVER, PLEASE LET ME KNOW BELOW!