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Famed physicist spars with forgotten rapper over whether the Earth is flat

Published Jan 26th, 2016 1:40PM EST

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The best thing and the worst thing about Twitter is that it gives everyone a forum where they can instantly voice their opinions. On the one hand, it means we get to read the real-time thoughts of brilliant minds like physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. On the other hand, it also means we have to put up with the ignorant ravings of celebrities like rapper B.o.B. and Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.

Oh, and speaking of both Tyson and B.o.B., they recently got into a Twitter feud over whether the Earth is flat. Yes, this is real life.

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Here’s one of B.o.B.’s tweets that explains why he thinks the Earth is really flat:

https://twitter.com/bobatl/status/691630923851436033

Tyson was pretty quick to pounce on that one:

However, B.o.B. was undeterred. He then came out with this little gem…

https://twitter.com/bobatl/status/691625693717893121

…that Tyson similarly dismantled in under 140 characters…

Despite all this, B.o.B. was unpersuaded and he went off the deep end with some mind-meltingly stupid posts. I’m not sure what he’s even trying to prove here:

https://twitter.com/bobatl/status/691728266760032256

B.o.B. then released a Neil deGrasse Tyson diss track (language not safe for work):

The track insinuates that NASA is part of a Pentagon-run conspiracy to misinform the public about the shape of the Earth. It also name-checks notorious Holocaust denier David Irving. Because apparently believing the Earth is flat just wasn’t stupid enough for B.o.B. — he just had to become a Holocaust denier as well.

Despite taking a wrecking ball to B.o.B.’s hilariously dim-witted hot takes on science, however, Tyson insists he’s not a hater:

It’s a wonderful and horrible time to be alive.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.