The bizarre rap battle between astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and hip-hop artist B.o.B over the shape of the Earth now has a mic-drop moment.
On Sunday and Monday (Jan. 24 and Jan. 25), B.o.B — whose real name is Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. —posted a number of photos on Twitter that showed flat horizons, claiming the images are evidence that the Earth is flat.
Tyson responded via Twitter, gently pointing out the absurdity of this viewpoint. Then, on Monday evening, B.o.B released a "diss track" calling out the scientist, who shortly thereafter joined the rap battle by tweeting a link to a new song by a rapper proclaiming that the Earth is, quite obviously, spherical. (This second rapper's name, confusingly, happens to be Tyson).
And then, on Wednesday night (Jan. 27), Neil deGrasse Tyson took things to another level. He appeared on Comedy Central's "The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore" to take B.o.B to task for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories.
"There's a growing anti-intellectual strain in this country that may be the beginning of the end of our informed democracy," Tyson, the head of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium in New York City, said on the show.
"Discovery and exploration got us out of the caves, and each generation benefits from what previous generations have learned," he added. "Isaac Newton, my man, said, 'If I have seen farther than others, it's by standing on the shoulders of giants.' Can I get an amen? So that's right, B.o.B — when you stand on the shoulders of those who came before, you might just see far enough to realize the Earth isn't f---ing flat."
Tyson paused for a beat, and then added, "And, by the way? This is called gravity!" Cue the mic drop. Boom.
You can watch the 4.5-minute segment on Comedy Central's website here: http://www.cc.com/video-clips/rca4i7/the-nightly-show-with-larry-wilmore-neil-degrasse-tyson-slams-flat-earth-theorist-b-o-b
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
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