VANCOUVER—With just a bike and two sticks, a Vancouver science enthusiast has proven that the Earth is “indeed round.”
Kurtis Baute knew he needed to go somewhere flat. So he set out to Saskatchewan to recreate an experiment some 2,200 years old. His findings were uploaded to his YouTube channel early Tuesday morning.
“Most people don’t understand the basics of the solar system,” Baute said in an interview. “A tenth of Americans think that maybe the world is flat.”
Not always a lover of science, Baute said he became fascinated after understanding the “story and the process” behind the facts. Once a former science teacher, he now works full-time posting videos on those very topics on YouTube.
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The previous measurement for calculating the Earth’s circumference meant pacing more than 800 km between two cities in 240 B.C.
But Baute headed to one of the globe’s longest stretches of flat road in Saskatchewan on Hwy. 33. The Saskatchewan Science Centre placed a sundial in Regina and Baute cycled 138 kilometres to Stoughton where he rooted down the second.
Then, he began to measure the shadows.
“Since the sun is very far from the Earth, the light hits us in parallel lines,” he explained. “If the Earth was flat and the sun is very far away, then those shadows would be the same length.”
In fact, the shadows were roughly four centimetres shorter in Stoughton than in Regina.
The trip was “remarkably fast,” lasting eight hours. Baute insisted the winds gusting up to 48 kilometres an hour helped him “to sail.”
Baute determined the size of the circumference of the Earth using several equations. Notably, his calculations were 17 per cent smaller than the original value, weighing in at 33,120 kilometres.
“We think about science as a dead tome of facts. But it’s a constantly evolving thing,” he said.
His enthusiasm for sharing science comes in part from what he sees as growing anti-science sentiment and a lack of understanding about the fundamentals.
And the results come one month before Flat Earthers descend in Edmonton for an international conference. Baute said he was invited by one of the organizers to the event and is “seriously considering it.”
That’s because the topic appears extremely polarized.
But there are people listening who may just be confused, he insisted.
“That’s exactly why I do what I do,” he said. “It’s a shame that people won’t engage … I’m really keen to get people excited about science.”
Baute’s next experiment will simulate the Earth’s ecosystem by placing plants — and himself — in an airtight room for three days.
Melanie Green is a Vancouver-based reporter covering food culture and policy. Follow her on Twitter: @mdgmedia