Flat Earth Research Articles

Geochemistry of Permian carbonaceous shales from Raniganj sub-basin, Damodar Valley, India: Implications for provenance, weathering, tectonics and source of organic matter

Raniganj sub-basin, the easternmost depository of Damodar Valley encompasses the entire succession of Gondwana Supergroup, the lower and upper Gondwana sequences. The present investigation of Permian carbonaceous shales belonging to Barakar, Barren Measure and Raniganj formations of lower Gondwana sequence from this basin is an integrated study of inorganic and organic geochemical characteristics viz. major/trace elements, stable isotopic composition and kerogen type to ascertain source rock attributes such as provenance, tectonic setting, prevailing weathering/climatic conditions as well as source and type of organic matters. Trace element indices, such as La/Sc, Th/Co, Th/Sc, (Gd/Yb)CN, Eu/Eu*, Cr/V, Y/Ni, reveal that the shales are originated from felsic/granitic source rock. Prominent Eu-anomaly, enrichment of chondrite normalised light rare earth element (LREE) values and a flat heavy rare earth elements (HREE) pattern reflect post-Archean felsic source for the shales. The major element composition, especially relative enrichment of Al over readily soluble elements, Ca, Na and K yielding high CIA (74.9–84.6%) and CIW (87.1–97.5%) as well as low ICV (0.64–1.32) values, establishes significantly weathered and matured nature of the shales. The distribution of redox-sensitive elements (U/Th, V/Cr, Ni/Co, Ce/Ce*) as well as low ICV, depleted K2O/Al2O3 ratios and high CIA values point towards an oxic environment and warm-humid climatic condition during deposition of these shales. The conventional method for determining tectonic setting using major and trace element composition fails to clearly delineate the tectonic setting for the current shales. The samples show wide scattering across active and passive continental margin in the K2O/Na2O–SiO2 diagram, whereas the samples are concentrated near the active in the continental margin in the Th–Sc–Zr/10 diagram contradicting the geological framework of Raniganj sub-basin. Discriminant functions-based approach which categorises the tectonic setting into continental/oceanic arc, continental rift and continental collision settings has been proved to be suitable in the present case and reveals continental-rift setting for the shales from Raniganj sub-basin. The carbon isotopic signature (δ13Corg) of the shales reveals a range (−24.5 − −22.9‰) intermediate between that of marine and terrestrial (C3 plants) organic matters indicating possible mixed type of organic matters. The fluvio-marginal marine depositional condition obtained from K2O/Al2O3 and MgO/Al2O3 ratios further implies the possibility of mixed nature of organic matter. The geochemical parameters of the organic matter (Rock-Eval pyrolysis parameters S1, S2, TOC, HI, OI etc.) indicate that the studied shales contain thermally matured mixed Type III/II gas-prone kerogen and are derived predominantly from terrestrial sources with significant marine input.

Structure, geochronology, and petrogenesis of Permian peraluminous granite dykes in the southern Chinese Altai as indicators of Altai−East Junggar convergence

How and at which thermal conditions the convergence between the Chinese Altai and East Junggar operated remain poorly understood. This issue is addressed in the current study by focusing on the timing and petrogenesis of syntectonic granite dykes from the representative areas of Fuyun (convergent front) and Kalasu-Aletai (Chinese Altai interior). It is shown that Fuyun and Kalasu-Aletai dykes are fractionated I- and S-type granites, with zircon and monazite U-Pb ages of 300−291 Ma and 281−265 Ma, respectively. Geochemically, the Fuyun dykes have lower contents of aluminous (ASI: 0.97−1.13) and light rare earth element-enriched features, while the Kalasu-Aletai dykes have ASI = 1.01−2.17 and show overall flat rare earth element patterns with tetrad effects. The Fuyun dykes exhibit less evolved Sr-Nd isotopic characteristics (87Sr/86Srinitial: 0.7039−0.7048, εNd(t): + 5.7 to + 6.1) with respect to those of the Kalasu-Aletai dykes (87Sr/86Srinitial: 0.6978−0.7183, εNd(t): −7.6 to +3.0). The Fuyun and Kalasu-Aletai dykes are geochemically compatible with isotopically less evolved East Junggar arc components and heterogeneous Ordovician wedge sediment of the Chinese Altai, respectively, implying genetic links. We propose that the late Paleozoic Chinese Altai−Junggar convergence created a local perturbation of weak mantle beneath the southern Chinese Altai, causing partial melting of the underthrusting East Junggar and the overriding Altai components successively. The resulting magmas were emplaced along northward propagating syn-tectonic tensional fractures perpendicular to the Chinese Altai−East Junggar deformation front that serves as an excellent indicator of the convergent-shortening process.

Public history, personal pseudohistory, and VirtHSTM

In summer 2021, the Virtual History of Science, Technology, and Medicine group hosted two online panels on pseudoscience topics including Flat Earth, Hollow Earth, geohistory, alternate evolution, and forgeries. The panels discussed the roles of such theories in the history of science, as well as the public’s understanding of both history and science.

How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason by Lee McIntyre

Reviewed by: How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason by Lee McIntyre Michael Filas (bio) Lee McIntyre, How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason. MIT Press, 2021, 264 pages, $24.95 cloth. This book is Lee McIntyre’s fourth monograph from MIT Press, and it continues his examination of how we understand truth and post-truth. While he examines science deniers of many stripes—from flat-earthers to anti-vaxxers to climate deniers—he juggles his own deference to the principles of science with an earnest investment in swinging science deniers, one at a time, face-to-face, into the fold of science believers. Readers get a thorough review of the history and key moments in several pockets of science denial, but this review comes in the context, as advertised, of a reformer’s guide to converting the nonbelievers. McIntyre discovers that you do not convert science deniers by throwing volumes of data at them, or by belittling their perspective. Science deniers hold on to their beliefs less as rational facts than as a dimension of their identity. Only a respectful, recursive, face-to-face conversation will initiate a person’s belief transformation, and commensurate identity shift. The book begins as McIntyre recounts his investigatory trip to the 2018 Flat Earth International Conference in Denver, engaging with “six-hundred shouting, clapping true believers” (xvi), and documenting, through personal accounts, how he engaged with the convention attendees. He sustained listening, respect, and a measured approach throughout his interactions with the flat-earthers, but his mind was not changed (“don’t worry, I’m not one of them” he writes [p. 29]). However, through respectful dialogue, McIntyre learns how to recognize the telltale attributes, a nomenclature of five tropes he calls a “secret decoder ring” for fighting science denial (xiii). This methodological centerpiece argues that all science deniers make “the same [End Page 497] few mistakes in human reasoning: (1) Cherry picking evidence; (2) Belief in conspiracy theories; (3) Reliance on fake experts (and denigration of real experts); (4) Committing logical errors; and (5) Setting impossible expectations for what science can achieve” (p. 33). And McIntyre uses this five-trope critique throughout subsequent chapters, which include discussions of anti-vaxxers, climate denial, coronavirus denial, and opposition to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The book is structured in part as a travelogue through various brands of science denial, exemplifying as it goes McIntyre’s method for engaging in dialogue. Through the introduction and first chapter, we learn the nuances of how and why flat-earthers at the 2018 Denver conference have come to believe that “globalists” have bought into a hoax, sustained by faked photos from NASA; this exemplifies the conspiracy theory element of the five-trope critique. In chapter 2, we get a more in-depth explanation of each of the five telltale tropes, enumerated above, that reveal the errant thinking in science denial, plus a look at the motivational and psychological roots of science denial. This section importantly shifts the focus from how science denial is created to why people believe it, such as “motivated reasoning . . . whereby we are more prone to look for information that backs up things we want to believe” (p. 47, emphasis in original). And it also broaches one of the main insights of this book: “The content of the belief may not be as important as the social identity it affords” (p. 54). Chapter 3 goes deeper into the psychology of how and why science deniers hold their beliefs, and why they are difficult to convince with facts alone. He writes about concepts like the “backfire effect,” wherein a person becomes more convinced of their original mistaken belief when they are presented with correcting information (p. 63). “Belief formation and change are not just a matter of having correct factual information, but of the emotional, social, and psychological context within which beliefs are formed” (p. 66). The second part of the chapter illustrates the importance of face-to-face conversations in convincing hard-core science deniers to reconsider their beliefs. And here, McIntyre provides an...

Characteristics and Provenance Implications of Rare Earth Elements and Nd Isotope in PM2.5 in a Coastal City of Southeastern China

The source apportionment of fine particulate matters, especially PM2.5, has drawn great attention worldwide. Since rare earth elements (REEs) and Nd isotopes can serve as source tracers, in this study, the characteristics and provenance implications of REEs and Nd isotopes in PM2.5 of four seasons in Xiamen city, China, were investigated. The range of the ratios of ΣREE to PM2.5 was 1.04 × 10−5 to 8.06 × 10−4, and the mean concentration of REEs in PM2.5 were in the order of spring > autumn > winter > summer. According to the geoaccumulation index (Igeo), spring was the season in which anthropogenic sources had the greatest impact on the REEs in PM2.5. The chondrite-normalized REE distribution patterns exhibited light rare earth elements (LREEs, including La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm and Eu) enrichment and a flat heavy rare earth elements (HREEs, including Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu) pattern. Significant negative Eu anomalies and no significant Ce anomalies were observed in the PM2.5. The results of La-Ce-Sm ternary plots indicated that the REEs in the PM2.5 might be related to both natural and anthropogenic sources. Combined with the Nd isotope, the 143Nd/144Nd versus Ce/Ce* plot further illustrated that the REEs in the PM2.5 seemed to mostly originate from multiple potential sources, in which vehicle exhaust emissions, coal burning and cement dust made a great contribution to REEs in PM2.5.

Analysis of MATSim Modeling of Road Infrastructure in Cyclists’ Choices in the Case of a Hilly Relief

For too long, many refined transportation models have focused solely on private and public transportation, assuming that bicycles only require simple models, such as bird flight distance or trips on horizontal tracks at a constant speed. This paper aims to study the impact of the road characteristics, such as road gradient, type of road and pavement surface of the road, on cyclists’ behavior using dedicated modules of MATSim. For that, we compare two approaches: a standard approach which does not consider the road characteristics, and a second approach that uses MATSim bicycle extension of Ziemke et al. The two approaches are analyzed over a sub-regional area around a district, focusing on a suburban city with an undulating relief made of average-to-steep hills. The focus is on the bicycle transportation model because the catchment area has a particularly challenging altitude profile and a large variety of roads, whether in type—from residential to national highway—or in pavement surface due to the number of green areas, such as parks and forests. This area is defined as a rather large 7 × 12 km, including five suburban cities in the South of Paris, France. A synthetic population of 126,000 agents was generated at a regional scale, with chains of activity made of work, education, shopping, leisure, restaurant and kindergarten, with activity-time choice, location choice and modal choice. We wanted to know how accurately a standard model of bicycle travels can be made with a 2D flat Earth assumption by comparing it to an algorithm extension that explicitly considers road characteristics in cyclists’ route choices. Our finding is that the MATSim bicycle extension model impacts mainly the long trips. Otherwise, the differences are minimal between the two models in terms of travel time and travel distance.

Disinformation and Echo Chambers: How Disinformation Circulates on Social Media Through Identity-Driven Controversies

This article investigates how disinformation circulates on social media as adversarial narratives embedded in identity-driven controversies. Empirically, the article reports on the flat Earth echo chamber on YouTube, a controversial group arguing that the earth is a plane, not a sphere. By analyzing how they weave their arguments, this study demonstrates that disinformation circulates through identity-based grievances. As grudges intensify, back-and-forth argumentation becomes a form of knowing that solidifies viewpoints. Moreover, the argument resists fact-checking because it stokes the contradictions of identity work through grievances (pathos) and group identification (ethos). The conceptual contribution proposes a two-phase framework for how disinformation circulates on social media. The first phase, “seeding,” is when malicious actors strategically insert deceptions by masquerading their legitimacy (e.g., fake news). The second phase, “echoing,” enlists participants to cocreate the contentious narratives that disseminate disinformation. A definition of disinformation is proposed: Disinformation is an adversarial campaign that weaponizes multiple rhetorical strategies and forms of knowing—including not only falsehoods but also truths, half-truths, and value-laden judgments—to exploit and amplify identity-driven controversies. Finally, the paper has implications for policy makers in handling the spread of disinformation on social media.

Where the earth is flat and 9/11 is an inside job: A comparative algorithm audit of conspiratorial information in web search results

Web search engines are important online information intermediaries that are frequently used and highly trusted by the public despite multiple evidence of their outputs being subjected to inaccuracies and biases. One form of such inaccuracy, which so far received little scholarly attention, is the presence of conspiratorial information, namely pages promoting conspiracy theories. We address this gap by conducting a comparative algorithm audit to examine the distribution of conspiratorial information in search results across five search engines: Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yahoo and Yandex. Using a virtual agent-based infrastructure, we systematically collect search outputs for six conspiracy theory-related queries (“flat earth”, “new world order”, “qanon”, “9/11”, “illuminati”, “george soros”) across three locations (two in the US and one in the UK) and two waves (March and May 2021). We find that all search engines except Google consistently displayed conspiracy-promoting results and returned links to conspiracy-dedicated websites, with variations across queries. Most conspiracy-promoting results came from social media and conspiracy-dedicated websites while conspiracy-debunking information was shared by scientific websites and legacy media. These observations are consistent across different locations and time periods highlighting the possibility that some engines systematically prioritize conspiracy-promoting content.

A Spherical “Earth–Ionosphere” Model for Deep Resource Exploration Using Artificial ELF-EM Field

Fully coupled lithosphere, atmosphere, and ionosphere theory has demonstrated that extremely low-frequency electromagnetic (ELF-EM) fields present a broad application prospect in deep resource exploration, but previous studies have ignored the contribution of the Earth’s curvature. This study extends the theory of ELF-EM over a stratified Earth to the case where the Earth’s curvature must be taken into account, and presents an analytical solution of the ELF-EM field excited by a grounded horizontal antenna in a spherical Earth–ionosphere model, whose theoretical approach and solution method are notably different from the flat Earth–ionosphere model. Additionally, the Earth is treated as a concentric-layered sphere rather than an ideal homogeneous sphere. We aim to investigate the effects of the Earth’s curvature on the surface field, so as to broaden the coverage of the ELF wave in resource exploration. The solution is mathematically accurate and physically reasonable, since it reflects the sphericity and radially stratified structure of the Earth. We first verify the correctness and reliability of the proposed method by comparing the results with FDTD in a full-space spherical model. Additionally, we then compared the spherical results with the conventional controlled-source electromagnetic method and flat Earth–ionosphere results. The results show that when the distance between the transmitter and the receiver is comparable to the Earth radius, the spherical model better reflects the resonance of the wave in the cavity, suggesting that the effect of the Earth’s curvature is not negligible. Then, the numerical simulations conducted to investigate the properties of the EM fields and their sensitivities to the conductivity at depth in the Earth are discussed. Finally, the EM responses of some simple electrical conductivity structures models are modeled to illustrate their prospects in future resource exploration.

Delegating Critical Thinking Skills in Learners through Effective Questioning Technique in the Class

The 21st century is known as the "flat world" where people can communicate from anywhere, anytime. It is imperative that educators ensure their students have the necessary skills for adapting to the modern world, such as communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. By learning English, students will not only shorten their learning gaps for new opportunities but will also increase their chances of becoming global citizens. However, since most Vietnamese students do not know how to practice or promote their critical thinking skills while learning English, it is crucial that teachers understand and apply a variety of techniques and strategies to activate and guide students' critical thinking. Brookfield and Preskill (2005) state that well-structured- questions raise students' awareness of using their knowledge and comprehension of a subject at lower-order thinking skills (remember-understand-apply) to higher-order thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and creation). To learn how Vietnamese teachers delegate critical thinking questions to their students and how often they do so, the researchers conducted the study using a quantitative method to figure out how teachers' questioning techniques promote students' critical thinking skills. This study uses a quantitative methodology in which the researchers developed the questionnaires based on Bloom Taxonomy's thinking orders and contributed to Vietnamese Teachers for data collection. The results showed that most Vietnamese teachers know how to use questioning techniques and frequently develop them during their teaching. They use questions to evaluate learners' conceptual understandings and provide them with feedback on their thinking processes from simple to complex concepts and provide hints or alternative explanations, which boost the development of students' critical thinking skills.

Petrogenesis and Tectonics of Eocene–Oligocene Phonolites of Mecejana, Ceará, NE Brazil: the Role of the Fernando de Noronha Fracture Zone, Equatorial Atlantic

Abstract Located on the western continental tip of the Fernando de Noronha transform fracture (FNTF), northeastern Brazil, the Eocene–Oligocene Mecejana Phonolitic Province (MPP) was subjected to a multi-methodological study, comprising field and microscopic characterization, mineral and whole-rock chemistry, and Sr-Nd isotopes. These rocks intrude the Precambrian crystalline basement, forming mainly plugs oriented in the NE–SW direction. They are composed of alkali basalt, phono-tephrite, tephri-phonolite, and phonolite with phenocrysts of nepheline and sanidine, and minor diopside, aegirine-augite, aegirine, kaersutite, biotite and titanite. Chemically, they are sodic (Na2O/K2O > 1) and display Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE) enrichment, concave upward or flat Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE) patterns, weak to strong Eu anomaly, and high contents of Nb, Ta and Zr. They delineate two chemical groups, the less-evolved one comprising basalt to tephri-phonolites and the more evolved constituted by phonolites. Oxide and trace element modeling points out to an evolution by fractional crystallization, leaving olivine-rich gabbro and foidolite/nepheline syenite cumulates, respectively. The analyzed samples have Sr-Nd isotopic ratios akin to ocean island basalt (OIB) rocks (positive εNd of +3.0 to +0.9 at 30 Ma) and low to high 87Sr/86Sri (at 30 Ma) of 0.70264–0.70955. The data suggest a three-stage evolution model for the MPP: (1) <5% partial melting of a metasomatized phlogopite-amphibole-garnet peridotite generates an alkali basalt melt, (2) polybaric differentiation of this melt at crustal level (~570–220 MPa, 1040–645°C) leads firstly to phono-tephrites and tephri-phonolites and then to (3) foidolite and nepheline syenite. Petrographic, chemical, and isotopic characteristics of the MPP and similar rocks of the Fernando de Noronha islands suggest the control by the FNTF and reactivation of NE–SW trending deep-rooted Precambrian faults allowing channeling and emplacement of the alkaline magmas.

Computation of the lateral shift due to atmospheric refraction

Context. Atmospheric refraction modifies the apparent position of objects in the sky. As a complement to the well-known angular offset, we computed the lateral translation that is to be considered for short-range applications, such as wavefront sensing and meteor trajectories. Aims. We aim to calculate the lateral shift at each altitude and study its variation according to meteorological conditions and the location of the observation site. We also pay special attention to the chromatism of this lateral shift. Moreover, we assess the relevance of the expressions present in the literature, which have been established neglecting Earth’s curvature. Methods. We extracted the variation equations of refraction from the geometric tracing of a light ray path. A numerical method and a dry atmosphere model allowed us to numerically integrate the system of coupled equations. In addition to this, based on Taylor expansions, we established three analytic approximations of the lateral shift, one of which is the one already known in the literature. We compared the three approximations to the numerical solution. All these estimators are included in a PYTHON 3.2 package, which is available online. Results. Using the numerical integration estimator, we calculated the lateral shift values for any zenith angle including low elevations. The shift is typically around 3 m at a zenith angle of 45°, 10 m at 65°, and even 300 m at 85°. Next, the study of the variability of the lateral shift as a function of wavelength shows differences of up to 2% between the visible and near infrared. Furthermore, we show that the flat Earth approximation of the lateral shift corresponds to its first-order Taylor expansion. The analysis of the errors of each approximation shows the ranges of validity of the three estimators as a function of the zenith angle. The ‘flat Earth’ estimator achieves a relative error of less than 1% up to 55°, while the new extended second-order estimators improves this result up to 75°. Conclusions. The flat Earth estimator is sufficient for applications where the zenith angle is below 55° (most high-resolution applications) but a refined estimator is necessary to estimate meteor trajectories at low elevations.

“It Is Just a Flu”: Assessing the Effect of Watch History on YouTube’s Pseudoscientific Video Recommendations

The role played by YouTube's recommendation algorithm in unwittingly promoting misinformation and conspiracy theories is not entirely understood. Yet, this can have dire real-world consequences, especially when pseudoscientific content is promoted to users at critical times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we set out to characterize and detect pseudoscientific misinformation on YouTube. We collect 6.6K videos related to COVID-19, the Flat Earth theory, as well as the anti-vaccination and anti-mask movements. Using crowdsourcing, we annotate them as pseudoscience, legitimate science, or irrelevant and train a deep learning classifier to detect pseudoscientific videos with an accuracy of 0.79. We quantify user exposure to this content on various parts of the platform and how this exposure changes based on the user's watch history. We find that YouTube suggests more pseudoscientific content regarding traditional pseudoscientific topics (e.g., flat earth, anti-vaccination) than for emerging ones (like COVID-19). At the same time, these recommendations are more common on the search results page than on a user's homepage or in the recommendation section when actively watching videos. Finally, we shed light on how a user's watch history substantially affects the type of recommended videos.

Gravitational effects of ice sheets on sea level

When ice melts from a large ice sheet and the melt water runs into the ocean, global-mean sea level rises but, surprisingly, local sea level near the ice sheet may well drop. This is largely because the loss of mass reduces the gravitational pull of the ice sheet. We present a simple, analytically tractable model to illustrate this effect. We look first at a flat earth with a circular continent containing an ice sheet that is modeled as a point mass at its center and then extend the calculation to a rigid spherical non-rotating earth. With a bit more mathematical sophistication, we then carry out calculations for somewhat more realistic ice distributions and include the additional gravitation of the mass of displaced sea water. We give numerical results for the “fingerprint” of sea level change resulting from a 1000-Gt (1015-kg) loss of ice on a rigid, non-rotating earth, with parameter values appropriate to the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

Origin of Carnian Ma’antang cherts, northwestern Sichuan Basin, South China: Field, petrographic, and geochemical perspectives

Abundant Carnian bedded and nodular cherts occur in the Sichuan foreland basin, South China. These cherts faithfully record the Carnian Pluvial Episode and the earliest evolution of the Sichuan foreland basin. However, importantly, the formation mechanisms of the cherts and the source of silica remain controversial. To understand the origin of these cherts, we performed a multitracer study by combining field logging, petrological analyses, Si and O isotope analysis, and major and trace element analysis of chert samples from two stratigraphically correlated sections. The Ma'antang cherts have low Ge/Si ratios (∼0.02 μmol/mol) and display flat seawater-like rare earth element plus Y (REY) distributions with (Pr/Yb)PAAS < 1 and superchondritic Y/Ho ratios (Y/Ho ≥ 27). In addition, siliceous sponge body fossils and spicules appear both in the field and in thin sections, implying a biogenic origin. Insignificant negative Ce anomalies (0.83–1.54; average 1.06) indicate REY contributions to anoxic ferruginous seawater. The heterogeneous distribution and high values of stable Si isotope compositions (δ30Si = 0.5‰-1.2‰) and the very low Ge/Si molar ratio for microcrystalline matrix quartz clearly reveal biogenic (e.g., sponge-derived) silica as the Si source, excluding hydrothermal silica. The chert precipitation occurred under the temperatures of ∼29 to 33 °C, as determined using an oxygen isotope thermometer. Quantitative simulation based on isotopic and REY data suggest that Ma’antang cherts were frequently affected by freshwater influx into marine water. We propose that the biogenic extraction and precipitation of silica from upwelling seawater was the source of silica for cherts in Upper Triassic oceans.

Review: Mental Immunity: Infectious Ideas, Mind-Parasites, and the Search for a Better Way to Think, by Andy Norman

Andy Norman’s Mental Immunity promises a “cure” to the problem of infectiously bad ideas, or what he calls “mind parasites” that suppress our “mental immune system.” Some examples mentioned include flat earth theory, the notion that vaccines are more dangerous than COVID, and that white supremacy is an acceptable, albeit fringe, political stance. Despite the author’s claims that the book contains a novel method for rooting out and neutralizing bad ideas—a “mind vaccine”—it simply does not deliver.Instead, Norman, a philosophy professor at Carnegie Mellon, enthusiastically and frenetically offers nearly 400 pages of well-worn critical thinking techniques. Ask hard questions! Challenge bad ideas! Weigh out the facts! He weaves them into a deconstructed (read: disorganized) history of philosophy. The title, Mental Immunity, feels calculating, intended to catch the eye of those who, in the age of COVID, hope and wish for group “immunity” of any kind. Stylistically, the book seems minimally edited. It is overly conversational, anecdotal and, somehow, impenetrably dense all at the same time. Numerous pop culture references feel designed to build rapport with the reader but do not advance the argument.Norman’s argument is that better thinking will cure all of humankind’s ills, short circuiting messy and delusional ideas, no matter how cherished these bad ideas may be by some individuals and groups. Unfortunately, he spends no time addressing the most obvious challenge to his theory—unreasonable or delusional people are disinclined to engage as sincere participants in a reasoned exchange and are often downright hostile and belligerent when challenged. They tend to double down on their bad ideas and entrench themselves further. The critical thinking-based solution offered is great…for anyone with an open mind. By ignoring this major flaw, Norman’s whole undertaking feels tone-deaf, Pollyanna-ish, and like a bait-and-switch. Many excellent recent texts extol the virtues of reason and better thinking (see Stephen Pinker’s Enlightenment Now). Unfortunately, by promising too much, Mental Immunity ends up a disappointment.

Picturing Opaque Power: How Conspiracy Theorists Construct Oppositional Videos on YouTube

Conspiracy theories were once perceived as delusions of individuals on the fringes of society, but have become commonplace in mainstream culture. Today, they are produced, consumed, and circulated on various online media environments. From memes on 4chan, QAnon influencers on Instagram, to flat earth or antivaxx videos on YouTube, modern-day conspiracy culture embodies compelling mediated images and narratives that are composed of various audiovisual materials. Building on Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model, and Henry Jenkins’ notion of “participatory culture,” we analyze these audiovisual conspiracy theories as “oppositional readings” of hegemonic truths. More concretely, we analyze how conspiracy theorists reconstruct various audiovisual (mass-media) materials into streamlined narratives on YouTube videos to picture opaque power. Based on an in-depth qualitative analysis of 24 conspiracy theory videos, strategically selected from a larger sample of 200, we present three major categories of audiovisual narrative construction in conspiracy videos on YouTube: (1) Simulating: using fiction, religious and cultural images and narratives to render images of events otherwise invisible; (2) Deciphering: decoding hidden messages by “closely reading” images and looking for hidden symbolism; (3) Exhibiting: exposing information, research, and images that are “hidden in plain sight” but point to conspiracy. This article contributes to the growing body of literature on conspiracy theories by showing how they are not just texts, but should better be seen as media practices involving the recontextualizing of (mass)media material into new audiovisual conspiracy theory narratives. This shapes not just their content and form, but also their place in public discourse.

Some unusual wormholes in general relativity.

In this short review, we present some recently obtained traversable wormhole models in the framework of general relativity (GR) in four and six dimensions that somehow widen our common ideas on wormhole existence and properties. These are, first, rotating cylindrical wormholes, asymptotically flat in the radial direction and existing without exotic matter. The topological censorship theorems are not violated due to lack of asymptotic flatness in all spatial directions. Second, these are cosmological wormholes constructed on the basis of the Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi solution. They connect two copies of a closed Friedmann world filled with dust, or two otherwise distant parts of the same Friedmann world. Third, these are wormholes obtained in six-dimensional GR, whose one entrance is located in 'our' asymptotically flat world with very small extra dimensions while the other 'end' belongs to a universe with large extra dimensions and therefore different physical properties. The possible observable features of such wormholes are briefly discussed. This article is part of the theme issue 'The future of mathematical cosmology, Volume 1'.

Astronomers’ representations of the earth and day / night cycle: Implications for children’s acquisition of scientific concepts

Previous researchers (e.g., Vosniadou and Brewer, Cognitive Psychology 24:535–585, 1992) have claimed that children have naïve, but coherent, mental models of the earth, such as the flat earth and the hollow sphere. Recent studies have challenged this view, focusing on the original researchers’ methods of testing (drawing and open questions) and coding. In this study we tested the construct validity of these methods by asking expert astronomers to complete the same test originally used with 5-year-olds. Many astronomers gave responses that, if given by young children, would have been considered non-scientific and as evidence of naïve mental models. Many gave two or more seemingly contradictory answers to the same questions and, even when only their ‘most scientific’ responses were considered, fewer than 50% of these expert scientists were classified as having coherent scientific mental models. Comparison with children’s responses to a rephrased and disambiguated task indicated that even 6–7-year-olds gave more scientific answers. The astronomers’ comments revealed the main reasons why the original task lacks validity: they found many questions confusing and ambiguous. This may well explain many children’s responses, too. Since the task incorrectly indicates that experts in the field have fundamental misconceptions, it is likely also to have led to substantial underestimates of children’s scientific understanding.

Early Permian magmatism above a slab window in Inner Mongolia, North China: Implications for the Paleo-Asian Ocean subduction processes and accretionary crustal growth

Identifying magmatic rock associations in a subduction zone is substantial for understanding the related geodynamic evolution. The final closure time of the Paleo-Asian Ocean and the exact subduction processes have continuously been controversial, hindering our recognition of the tectonic evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Here we investigated the Early Permian gabbros-granodiorites from Xi Ujimqin in the northern Inner Mongolian region. The gabbros have slightly depleted light rare-earth elements [(La/Yb)N = 0.8] and flat heavy rare earth elements (HREE) [(Gd/Yb)N = 1.1] that are comparable to those of N-MORB. They show depletion in Nb and Ta, positive whole-rock εNd(t) values of +7.7 to +8.7 and zircon εHf(t) values of +8.7 to +10.6. These mafic rocks are interpreted to be products of partial melting of depleted mantle that had been metasomatized by slab-derived fluids, with subsequent fractional crystallization and minor crustal contamination. These granodiorites chemically resemble typical adakites and have MORB-like whole-rock SrNd isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sri = 0.7028–0.7029; εNd(t) = +8.2–+8.5) and positive zircon εHf(t) (+13.4–+15.9) values, suggesting that they originated from the subducted slab-melts and reacted with mantle wedge peridotite. UPb zircon dating shows emplacement of N-MORB-type gabbros and adakitic granodiorites at ∼297 Ma and ∼290 Ma, respectively. Our new data indicate the presence coeval slab-derived adakites and slab fluid-metasomatized asthenosphere-derived N-MORB-type rocks, indicating that subduction lasted until at least the Early Permian. Such an association along with the extension-related magmatism in northern Mongolia recorded the northward ridge subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean during the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian. This model is consistent with the spatial distribution and the ages of magmatic activity with positive εNd(t)–εHf(t) values from this region. Ridge subduction and induced slab windows probably played a key role in Paleozoic crustal growth of CAOB, and by inference in the other accretionary orogens throughout Earth history.