Pythagoras was one of the first to suggest it, and Ancient civilizations already knew it. Although it is now confirmed by hundreds of scientists throughout time, there are still people who deny the spherical shape of the Earth. The best known are the flat-earthers, but there are all kinds: there are those who say that the Earth is hollow, others that it has a geoid shape, and now there are those who claim that neither flat nor round, planet Earth has a toroidal shape or, in other words, a donut.
The Origins of the Theory
Compared to other perspectives on the shape of the Earth, the belief that our planet is shaped like a donut is relatively new. It was first seen in 2008, and, at first, most users thought it was a joke.
Let’s face it, the theory sounds absurd. We may even find more sense in a flat Earth. But despite this, videos and posts have emerged explaining the model in more depth, along with the reasons why we don’t notice the hole at the center of the Earth. That explanation is provided by a flat-earther user of some renown named Varaug, who in 2012 explained that we cannot see the hole in the center of the Earth because “light follows the curvature of the torus, making the hole ‘invisible.'”
Crumbling the donut
There are already many scientists and astrophysicists who list the reasons why our Earth cannot have a toroidal shape. Among them, there is the renowned astrophysicist Tabetha Boyajian, who also assures that this theory is a clear example of a wrongly applied scientific method:
“All this theory says is, ‘You know what, I’m going to make something up without any motivation,’ and that’s not how theories develop.” Thus, the astrophysicist lists multiple pieces of evidence why our planet cannot be toroidal.
- Sunrise and sunset would be very different from what we are used to, and the day would not last 24 hours.
- During eclipses, the shadow of our planet would not be round, but analogous.
- The hole would not be invisible, since the only objects capable of bending light are those of larger size or mass, such as black holes.
What would the toroidal Earth look like?
Theoretically speaking, a toroidal planet is possible but astronomically improbable. And worst of all? The conditions on such a planet would be extreme, but technically we could inhabit it.
Boyajian and Oxford professor Anders Sandberg explain in detail how different our toroidal-shaped planet would be:
- Gravity changes around the planet would be very noticeable, with lower gravity at the equator and higher at the poles.
- A sunrise/sunset cycle would last 2 hours and 50 minutes.
- Those inhabiting regions near the hole would have double seasons, such as the second winter in July.
- The winds would be so powerful that many areas of the planet would be completely uninhabitable.
Of course, all of this is a hypothesis of something that does not exist, not reasons to justify the belief in toroid Earth, although the remote possibility of such a planet elsewhere would make the day for proponents of the theory.
Images from: GQ, The Conversation, Live Science, NBC News