Youtube science wiz ‘proves’ Earth is round
On Thursday morning in Stoughton, former science teacher turned Youtuber Kurtis Baute successfully proved what some people have recently disputed: That the Earth is indeed round.
Baute cycled 140 kilometres from Regina to Stoughton along Highway 33 and set up a makeshift sundial made of a metre stick and a wooden base. An identical sundial was set up in Regina by Casey Sakires and Ryan Holota of the Saskatchewan Science Centre.
The shadow of each sundial was measured at exactly 11:11 a.m. and the 3.9-centimetre difference in length allowed Baute to calculate the circumference of the Earth.
“I expected the world to be round and I expected that the calculations would be pretty accurate, but it’s wondrous to actually witness that,” he said. “I saw the world as a sphere, and that was amazing.”
There was one small hiccup while the experiment was being conducted. As Baute watched the shadow slowly approach the metre stick, he realized something wasn’t quite right.
“A few minutes away I realized that both of our sundials, while they were in line with each other, they weren’t perfectly in line with the road. I think maybe they were a degree or two off,” he said.
“We could either try to reset everything really quickly and maybe make a bigger error or we could wait a few minutes.”
He, Sakires and Holota decided to wait a few minutes, and measured the shadows around 11:11 a.m. instead of the anticipated 10:59 a.m.
“It makes our measurement and calculations a little imprecise, but I’m still super pumped about how it turned out,” said Baute.
The bike ride went well on the way there. Baute said he had a strong tailwind, gusting up to 48 km/ h, which allowed him to make good time and complete the trip in seven hours.
“I mean, 138 kilometres in a straight line sounds really boring. I’m used to doing turns, but it was actually a beautiful ride,” he said. “The weather was gorgeous and the bluest skies ever.”
The weather for the trip back to Regina was less cooperative, with a strong headwind. Baute said he was grateful to accept a ride from someone in Stoughton for the first half of the trip, before biking the rest of the way.
Baute will be releasing his exact calculations and details of the experiment on his Youtube channel early next week.