Debunking another Flat Earth Video

Amazingly, there are grown adults in first world countries that believe the earth is flat.  They frequently post videos “proving” their B.S., military grade stupidity, thinking they’ve outsmarted the rest of the world.  It’s amazing and sad to see.  Here’s yet another one that I’ll be debunking here.  Although, MUCH of what they provide lacks source material, so we don’t know what they’re showing.

Debunking this video:

h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v = G 8 f J N _ 6 N H h 4

  1. at 00:12 seconds in, showing 2 images of the space jump, one showing a label on the capsule and one not.
    You have to provide sources. Show us the video. Is one from a rendering or a test at a different time?
  2. at 00:22 seconds in, an astronaut suddenly appearing from nowhere: Again, CONTEXT MATTERS! Was this just NASA’s broadcast switching from one recording to another? It’s CRITICAL for you to show us the source material, otherwise, there’s no way to confirm or debunk.
  3. car in space: No argument is actually given, therefore, there’s nothing to refute.
  4. 1:04, showing blockiness around the earth in a photo from the moon.
    I’m surprised the video maker knows enough about a paint program to increase the contrast, but not enough to know that this is a VERY WELL KNOWN artifact of lossy image compression. Also, your video is at 720×480… EXTREMELY LOW RES. Why?

    1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_artifact
  5. Picture of full earth over moon horizon: AGAIN DUDE! SOURCE MATERIAL!!!! Where the HELL did you get this image from? Is it claimed to be authentic or is it an artists work that you found on the internet???
  6. https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/epic-galleries/2016/solar_eclipse/full/168_2016068234208.png image with tilted box: More than likely they rotated the image so the north & south pole line up for your viewing pleasure. There’s no up or down in space. Neither the satellite nor its camera are necessarily oriented perfectly with the earth’s axis of rotation with the top of the camera perfectly lined up with true, earth north. I moved the levels down even MORE in my local paint program, and you know what I found? STARS!
    1. Also, notice in both YOUR and MY level modifications, there are horizontal bands that line up with the rotated box frame?  Those are artifacts of the CCD.  A fake wouldn’t have these and certainly wouldn’t hide them in low levels.
    2. If these were fake, there’d be no reason to have a non black background, no reason to rotate it (just manufacture it in the orientation you want), and no need to put stars in there far below the viewer’s ability to see, hidden in the very low gray scales. All of your “evidence” is evidence of it being real. Here’s a link to the gallery it came from: https://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov/galleries/2016/solar_eclipse
  7. 1:22 Saturn’s moon Enceladus: What are you trying to prove here? Again, you’ve revealed more detail of the surface of the moon that wasn’t visible in the original image and revealed stars that weren’t visible in the original image. Why hide this in a fake? You’re providing evidence that it’s real.
  8. 1:29 Green edge between moon and earth. Again, if it were fake, they’d have it perfect with no artifacts. This is likely an artifact of the CCD on the camera or the lenses. Everyone has seen these ghosting effects in cameras.
  9. 1:34 The earth and “copied” clouds. OMG! We’ve been debunking this one over and over and over for YEARS! That’s NOT AN IMAGE THAT NASA CLAIMS IS REAL!!! That’s the original iPhone wallpaper. There are multiple articles on how the artist created the image. Again, I’ve debunked this one so often, I write a blog post about it here: Does NASA fake photos of Earth?
  10. 1:47 yet AGAIN… JPEG COMPRESSION ARTIFACTS!!! How many DECADES do you want us to explain this to you before you finally understand what everyone else already understands?
  11. 1:58 Apollo 15 image. Ghosting on analog film is a VERY WELL known phenomenon. How many examples of this do you have in this video???
  12. 2:13, yet again, more JPEG artifacts!
  13. Poor lense, bandwidth, & compression problems in ISS footage.

OK, I’ve spent enough of my free time just on the first 3 minutes and 29 seconds of this 20 minute video… 13 innuendos in all.  I’ve debunked 100% of everything shown up to that point, though no proofs were shown of any claims, only innuendos, but I debunked those.  I never saw a top 10 count in that time segment though.  Maybe it’s later?  Maybe I’ll get back to it when I’ve got more time to waste.  But for now, I’ve got a life to get back to.

Science is NOT a “Religion”

OK, let’s debunk yet another #flerfer meme.  This one is an anti-science rant, and it’s wrong on OH! Soooo many levels.

Ridiculous flerfer rant, wrong on multiple levels, against science.

Let’s discuss each part of the text, one by one:

“After a bunch of stuff happened, NONE of which we have math for yet”.

Do these guys EVER do a simple search?  OF COURSE we have math for it.  We have math coming out of our ears.  In fact, they’ve used that math to create remarkably accurate computer simulations of the evolution of the universe.

Here’s an article that goes with that: https://www.seeker.com/mind-blowing-computer-simulation-recreates-our-universe-1768543905.html

Here’s another one:

Here’s more:

https://news.developer.nvidia.com/gpu-accelerated-supercomputers-create-largest-simulation-of-the-universe/

“then our lucky planet formed in the perfect goldilocks position”

They seem to think the Goldilocks zone of our sun is tiny.  It’s not.  Both Venus and Mars in inside the Goldilocks zone of this solar system.  And common sense says that if we’re going to exist on a planet, it’s going to be one that exists in such a zone, of course.  That’s not “luck”.  It’s common sense.   We’re not going to exist on a fire world like Venus or Mercury, nor an ice world like Pluto, nor a gas giant like Jupiter. There are trillions of planets in this galaxy and a sizable chunk of them are in their star’s Goldilocks zones.

“while furiously spinning”

Uh, no.  It’s not “furious”.  It’s a calm,  consistent, relatively slow rotation.  it takes a full 24 hours to complete 1 rotation.  Yes, that’s about 1,000mph at the equator.  For comparison, Jupiter makes a complete rotation every 10 hours.  Given its enormous size, that’s over 28,000 mph.

[the sun] “flying at 67,000 mph through our galaxy”

Not “through” the galaxy, but with the galaxy.  The Galaxy is a rotating disc and we’re rotating along with it.  And it’s rotating at 492,125 mph at our position in the disc.  But all the other solar systems in our general galactic vicinity are moving along with us relative to the center of the galaxy.  Relative to each other, we’re barely moving at all.  Speed is relative, of course.

“our galaxy that’s going 500 MILLION mph into NOTHINGNESS.”

Wrong on both counts.  At galactic scales, direction or speed no longer make much sense to talk about unless you are referring to another object to compare to.  For example, how fast are we moving towards or away from the Andromeda galaxy?  How about the pinwheel galaxy?  We can talk about that.  But as far as moving through the universe?  Not really.  But, we COULD use the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background) radiation as a reference frame.  If we consider that as “stationary”, we can look at the Doppler frequency differences in the CMB in different directions of the sky.  Doing that, we find that we’re moving roughly 2.2 million mph, relative to the CMB, NOT “500 MILLION mph”.

“into NOTHINGNESS”.

The universe isn’t nothingness and our galaxy isn’t moving “into” anything.  It’s simply moving relative to other galaxies and relative to the CMB.  There’s no “universal” speed for our galaxy.  You just have to pick another object and then ask, “how fast are we moving relative to THAT?”

[referring to the abiogenesis of life] “suddenly, out of nowhere”

It wasn’t out of nowhere.  It’s simply chemistry of the right atoms in the right configurations.

“with math we don’t have yet”

Well first of all, yes, we do.  Second, it’s more chemistry than “math”.

“reorganized, and self replicated, becoming complex multicellular life that then morphed slowly into fish”

Yeah.  The flerfer actually got something right, in spite of their uneducated mocking tone of those smarter than them.  Obviously this happened with errors in the genetic copies over time.  Most of them ended up dying.  A small handful were neutral.  And a smaller handful provided some kind of an advantage to survival.  Rinse and repeat, and you eventually get more and more complex organisms.

“while our nuclear furnace sun stays perfectly stable”

Nope.  It’s not been perfectly stable.  It has CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections)… “solar flares”.  Some are huge and dangerous.  It also fluctuates in brightness over tens of thousands of years and over longer periods of time is getting hotter and bigger.  Life can only survive about another billion years on this planet.

“heating us just right”

Nope.  This planet has gone through hot, dry epochs as well as ice ages.

“All by accident”

Pretty much.  Given the vastness of the universe, the trillions upon trillions of planets in the universe, odds are excruciatingly high that many planets are going to be in good conditions for life.

“on a random spinning rock moving is[sic] multiple directions at once”

No.  We’re not going in multiple directions at once.  Speed and direction are relative.  Given any reference frame, we’re moving in only ONE direction.  Basic logic and physics here.

“at incredible speeds”

Again, speed is relative.  We’re moving at “normal” speeds as would be expected.  And we’re not passing through any kind of a cosmic atmosphere, so the “speed” has no meaningful effect.  Again, speed is RELATIVE.  This is important.  Go get Einstein’s book, “Relativity, the Special and the General Theory”.  Pay special attention to the special theory of relativity.  It explains this simple concept in easy to understand, laymen terms… so simple that even a flat earther could understand.  And I’m not being snarky with that suggestion either.  It’s really important that you read it.  It’s public domain now, so it’s free.  Here it is:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5001

This is required reading before you’re allowed to talk about speed and distances anymore.

“All this we believe as we sit here, perfectly still.”

We’re not perfectly still.  Well, we are, in a Special Relativity perspective.  The flerfer actually listed multiple ways we’re moving as measured by rotation of the planet, orbit around the sun, the sun with the milky-way’s rotation and with the Milky-way relative to other galaxies and relative to the CMB, all of which can be and has been measured.  So, why they say we’re “perfectly still” is puzzling.

“That’s science!”

Not quite.  With my added corrections, it’s the result of science.  Science though, is actually the study of a body of knowledge.  It’s a way of objectively finding truth.

“But asking ‘where’s the rest of Antarctica?’ is ridiculous?”

Well, that’s the first time I’ve heard of that question.  Do they mean “the rest” other than this?

Yes, that’s a ridiculous question.

Tensorflow, Python, & NVidia CUDA Setup

If you’re trying to get started with Machine Learning using Tensorflow, you’ll likely experience frustration trying to find the right version of Tensorflow, Python, & NVidia CUDA drivers that all work together.

Having just gone through that frustration myself, I present to you a WORKING set of instructions.

NVidia CUDA

This part is NOT REQUIRED, unless you want to use your GPU for MUCH faster Tensorflow program execution.  You DO want to use your GPU, BTW!

As of this writing, CUDA 9.2 is the latest version, however, Tensorflow will not work with anything later than 9.0, so go here to download CUDA 9.0:

https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-90-download-archive

If you don’t have an NVidia GPU, click here to get one…

NVidia GPUs on Amazon.com
NVidia GPUs on Amazon.com

What is CUDA?

CUDA is software to allow you (or other programs written by other people) to write software to utilize your video card’s GPU (Graphic Processing Unit).  A GPU is hardware designed specifically for video operations that are many times faster than a CPU can do it.  Turns out, you can use your GPU for some specific types of calculations that have nothing to do with graphics and speed up those operations… like… a Neural Network like TensorFlow.  They’re also good for cryptomining, but we won’t get into that in THIS article.

Tensorflow

Once you have CUDA installed (assuming you have an NVidia GPU and want to take advantage of the massive speeds it’ll give you compared to just running Tensorflow on your CPU), it’s time to install Tensorflow.

Follow these instructions:

https://www.tensorflow.org/install/install_windows

They’ll also get you up and going with your first “Hello World!” program… after you get Python installed (next section).

Python

There are multiple versions and flavors of Python out there.  THIS is the one that will work with the version of Tensorflow and CUDA listed above:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-362/

Once you have them all installed, follow the tensorflow tutorial on the tensorflow link above.

That’s it!

Extra

Here’s an easy to use Python play site where you can write and test Python code as you learn it without installing anything!

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/execute_python_online.php

How We Know Satellites Exist (and the Earth is Round)

I know!  I know!  “How We Know Satellites Exist (and the Earth is Round)” sounds like a pointless title, but believe it or not, there’s a growing number of vocal flat earthers on the internet.  One of their arguments is that outer space and satellites don’t exist.  They believe we live on a flat plane under a dome.  No!  Seriously!  They actually believe that!  When you ask them how can that be if we have satellite TV and satellite dishes on our homes, that work and ONLY when pointed at a specific place in a clear sky, they give easily disproven responses.  I’ll list those here with the obvious explanations of why those are false, and I’ll show some images of satellite dishes in my own neighborhood, where they’re pointed, and some online tools so you can see where to point your own dishes.  In other words, you can confirm this YOURSELF without the word of scientists or anyone at NASA.  (Flat earthers reject anything from scientists and NASA and governments.  They actually believe they’re all lying and working together to trick us all, spending trillions of dollars, for some unknown reason, into believing the earth is something other than it is.)

But first, let’s easily debunk their responses to the question of why satellite dishes work if there are no satellites:

Towers

Obviously, it can’t be towers for the following reasons:

  1. Dishes are pointed pretty high and you’d definitely see a transmission tower.  It would have to be very near by, very large, and impossible to not see.
  2. Towers would be extremely local objects.  Dishes north of them would point south.  Dishes south of them would point north.  There are NO dishes in the northern hemisphere that point NORTH to geosynchronous satellites.

Mountains with towers

Exact same response as the towers answer.

Weather balloons

Weather balloons cannot stay in one place.  They move with the wind.  There’s no way a stationary dish could stay pointed to any.  There’s also the obvious pointing problem as with the towers.  If you’re south of one, you’d have to point your dish north and NO dishes in the northern hemisphere are pointed north that are pointing to geosynchronous satellites.

Planes

Planes cannot stay still.  Also, you have the same pointing issue as all of the above.  ALL DISHES in the northern hemisphere that point to geosynchronous satellites point south.  ALL OF THEM!

Helicopters

While helicopters CAN stay in one place, they can’t stay there very long.  They are also inside the earth’s atmosphere, making them very low in comparison to satellites.  You’d also have the same pointing problem as all of the items above… and dishes south of one of the helicopters would have to point north AND NONE in the northern hemisphere do that point to geosynchronous satellites.  And could you imagine the logistics and outrageously expensive costs to keep hundreds of thousands of helicopters in the air 24/7 across multiple continents AND the oceans (ocean liners use satellite TV too!)  And this would be impossible to hide from ANYONE on the ground (or water) from seeing them constantly taking off and landing for refueling and maintenance and the number of helicopters needed to pull off such a pointless exercise would cover our skies and there would literally be hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of helicopters falling out of the skies every day due to mechanical and weather problems.

Here are some pictures of satellite dishes in my own neighborhood

I’ve drawn lines to roughly (very roughly) where they’re pointing.  I’m pretty much just eye-balling it.   Note that the houses on the left are north-east of the road.  The road runs from NW to SE.  The top picture is facing south-east.

Satellites Left

All these dishes point in a generally southerly direction.

Satellites Middle

Satellites Right

Below is a 3D rendering of my and my neighbor’s house.  The satellite dishes from the photos above are pictured below with their general directions drawn, by me, from my rough eye-balling of where they appear to be pointing.

Satellite Pointers Arial

imageBelow is an online tool to help you determine how to point your own dish.  You enter your address, and it will show you a Google map and a pointer you can move to where your dish is.  You select the satellite you want to point to, and it will draw a line showing where to point your dish.  I chose the Dish Network satellite and it drew a line from the point where I showed it my own dish was.  As you can see, it calculates where to point my dish and that my dish is, in fact, pointing in that direction.  Remember, the image above is my rough guesstimate from looking at the dishes from my driveway.  I used no instruments to test the EXACT directions for the image above.  Below is the exact direction it should be pointing, and certainly is.

http://www.dishpointer.com/ is the site where you can try it out yourself.  (Flat earthers claim you should not believe anything you can’t test yourself!)  Note that you can do these calculations yourself, with pen and paper given the claims of the size and shape of the earth, where you are on it, and the location of the geosynchronous satellite, if, for some reason, you think this website is trying to trick you.  YOU can do the calculations yourself.

Satellite Tool

I do, indeed pick up a signal when pointed this way and I do indeed lose the signal when I move the dish just a little bit.

You can zoom out of this view with their tool and move the point anywhere on the map.  It will always point south if you’re in the northern hemisphere.

Feel free to independently verify this yourself.  Visit friends and family anywhere that have a satellite dish.  You’ll see they’re ALL pointing towards to south if you’re in the northern hemisphere.  While there, use the http://www.dishpointer.com/ tool to confirm the dish alignment, or run your own calculations.

The ONLY possible explanation for this is that satellites do, in fact, exist.  Also, these calculations are using math for a ROUND earth!  And it WORKS.  If the earth were flat, NONE of this would work!

Did the Astronauts Take Their Helmets Off On The Moon?

Claim:

The moon landing was a hoax.  Here’s photographic proof showing the astronauts with their helmets off on the moon.

Astronauts without helmets

“So, these guys on the Moon took a moment to take their helmets off for this picture …”

FALSE!

This is a training excercise on earth, obviously.  Specifically, it’s…

Apollo 16 astronauts Lunar Module Pilot Charles M. Duke, Commander John W. Young, and Command Module Pilot Thomas K. Mattingly II during a training excercise in February 1972

image

Here’s a link showing that very image:

Here’s How the Apollo Team Trained for Their Historic Space Missions

image

Debunking Flat Earth Claim of “Same Stars in Winter & Summer”

Claim:

If the earth revolves around the sun, why do we see the same stars at night all year long?  (Presented with the following image)

Screenshot_20170425-182250

FALSE!

imageObviously, anyone that knows anything about astronomy, or even casually looks up at the night sky through the seasons knows this is just batshit crazy.  Here’s a simple video of a star map showing the changing positions of the stars at the exact same time of night, over months.  Anyone can independently verify this by going out at night at the same time, every night, and making note of certain stars near the horizon.  Night after night, at the same time, they’re in a different position.

How to Easily Stump Any Flat Earther

If you’ve ever visited a NASA post on Google+, you’ll find that they draw the flat earthers out of their parents’ basements to post barely legible (on a good day) claims that everything NASA does is fake, that outer space doesn’t exist, that the world is flat, the sun is only a few thousand miles away, as well as the moon, satellites don’t exist, gravity doesn’t exist (no, really, they actually claim that), and a whole slew of grandiose, more expensive than God to pull off conspiracy theories.

If you’ve ever engaged with them, you’ll find some of them are incapable of intelligible thought or writing and are clearly psychologically damaged, but the ones that can write in mostly complete sentences will argue with you.  We’ll, they won’t really argue the point to support their claim.  They’ll just insult you, your intelligence, your upbringing, pretend like they’re amazed you actually believe the world is round, as if everyone else believes it’s flat, will have emotional tirades against you, tell you you’re indoctrinated, and blast you with pointless pictures and question, but they will almost never directly answer your questions.  They’ll try to overload you with ridiculous claims… so many, that it will be impossible for you to respond to them all.

I’ve found a way to shut some of them up.  I ask them one simple question:

___

To All Flat Earthers
Why, when I point my satellite dish to where a geostationary satellite is supposed to be, I get a signal, and when I point it away, I lose the signal?  Keep in mind, this is pointed to a clear, unobstructed sky, with no mountains or towers in the way.

Already debunked answers:

  1. Towers.  The dish isn’t pointed at any.  It it were, all nearby dishes would have to point to it instead of the sky.  Dishes south of it would point north.  But all dishes in the northern hemisphere point southward.
  2. Balloons.  Balloons can’t stay stationary.  They move with the wind.  Also, same positional problem with towers.  Dishes would be pointed all over the place.  They’re not.
  3. Planes.  Same with balloons.  They can’t stay stationary.  Also, the pointing problem.

Offer an explanation that explains why dishes work like that if satellites don’t exist.

___

Inundate them with this question.  Some will actually go away.  The others will instead make themselves look even more ridiculous.

But WHY engage with them?

image

Good question!  There’s little to no chance these flat earthers are even going to accept facts and reason.  But, they are actively recruiting new imbeciles to their cause.  By flushing out these kooks on public forums and exposing their idiocy, the few that might fall into their wacko way of thinking will be steered away, and that’s a win for everyone.  Plus, it’s highly entertaining to see how these people try to explain the logical contradictions of their flat world view.

Does NASA fake Photos of Earth?

Claim:

The earth is flat.  Everything NASA does is fake.  It’s a great big, decades long, world-wide conspiracy.  This photo proves it!  See all the copied and pasted clouds?

image

FALSE!

This image isn’t even presented by NASA as real.  It’s from the iPhone’s wallpaper art collection.  All it proves is that the guy that made it is very talented.

image

Here’s a full story on how the artist created the image and why clouds are replicated.

The guy who created the iPhone’s Earth image explains why he needed to fake it

Why can I see buildings far beyond the horizon If the Earth is Round?

Claim:

The earth is flat.  The fact that I can see buildings far beyond the horizon where they should be BELOW it is proof.

FALSE:

While it’s true that in some atmospheric conditions, light will bend near the ground and curve down and around the horizon to reveal buildings and landmarks much further than you’d be able to see had there been no unusual weather conditions or no atmosphere at all, it is NOT true that the world is flat, nor is this evidence for a flat earth.

imageA frequent example presented by flat earthers is a photo of the Chicago city skyline from Michigan, 60 miles away.  On most days, the entire Chicago skyline is below the horizon.  But when the air near the surface of the water is cooler than the air above, then light bends in a way to produce a “superior mirage”, allowing you to see images of objects below the horizon.  This is a temporary effect.

Mirage of the Chicago Skyline from Grand Mere State Park

It’s important to note that even in this image, frequently passed around by flat earthers, that only the top of the skyline is visible.  It appears as though the city is mostly under water.  That’s because, even though we’re seeing further than we normally can, the curvature of the earth is still present, even in this image, obstructing the lower parts of the city.  Additionally, notice the distortions of the stretched out appearance of the top of the Sears Tower.

Here’s a story about the photo on a Chicago ABC news affiliate website:

Mirage of Chicago skyline seen from Michigan shoreline

Click on the thumbnail below to see an animated GIF showing how even this photo proves the world is round.

image

Is Antarctica a No-Fly Zone?

Claim:

“No one is allowed to fly to, over, or near Antarctica and boats are not allowed near there per the Antarctic Treaty.”

image

FALSE!

MANY flights have flown over Antarctica and ships can go anytime they want.  Antarctica is the coldest place on earth with virtually zero human population on it.  There’s just no good reason to fly there unless you’re doing scientific research or extreme outdooring.  The waters are obviously dangerous due to all the ice and many ships have been lost.  Runways are ice covered year round and there’s virtually no infrastructure there to handle plane maintenance.  Straight lines for flights between the tips of South America, South Africa, and Australia barely cross the edge of Antarctica and there are reasons to avoid flying over it, due to the extreme weather.

image

But, that doesn’t mean no one goes and it doesn’t mean you can’t either.  Croydon travel is one of several companies that offer tours to and near Antarctica.

image

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The Antarctic Treaty

Here’s the preamble to the Antarctic Treaty.  In fact, in this PDF, linked from the official preamble, it provides guidelines on how to help protect the wildlife there should you choose to fly there.

In fact, this ad:

image

Is a travel guide for going there, should you choose to go.

The Antarctic Treaty

The 12 nations listed in the preamble (below) signed the Antarctic Treaty on 1 December 1959 at Washington, D.C. The Treaty entered into force on 23 June 1961; the 12 signatories became the original 12 consultative nations.

As of April 2010, 17 additional nations (Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Republic of Korea, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and Uruguay) have achieved consultative status by acceding to the Treaty and by conducting substantial scientific research in Antarctica. Russia carries forward the signatory privileges and responsibilities established by the former Soviet Union.

Another 21 nations have acceded to the Antarctic Treaty: Austria, Belarus, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Malaysia, Monaco, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Switzerland, Turkey, and Venezuela. These nations agree to abide by the treaty and may attend consultative meetings as observers.

The 50 Antarctic Treaty nations represent about two-thirds of the world’s human population.

Consultative meetings have been held approximately every other year since the treaty entered into force, but since 1993 they have been held more frequently. Each meeting has generated recommendations regarding operation of the treaty that, when ratified by the participating governments, become binding on the parties to the treaty.

Additional meetings within the Antarctic Treaty system have produced agreements on conservation of seals, conservation of living resources, and comprehensive environmental protection. For detailed information about the Treaty System, please visit the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat web site at http://www.ats.aq/.

What follows is the complete text of the Antarctic Treaty. The headings for each article were added by the National Science Foundation and are unofficial.

[preamble]

The Governments of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, the Union of South Africa, The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America,

Recognizing that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord;

Acknowledging the substantial contributions to scientific knowledge resulting from international cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica;

Convinced that the establishment of a firm foundation for the continuation and development of such cooperation on the basis of freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica as applied during the International Geophysical Year accords with the interests of science and the progress of all mankind;

Convinced also that a treaty ensuring the use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes only and the continuance of international harmony in Antarctica will further the purposes and principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations;

Have agreed as follows:

Article I

[Antarctica for peaceful purposes only]

1. Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only. There shall be prohibited, inter alia, any measures of a military nature, such as the establishment of military bases and fortifications, the carrying out of military maneuvers, as well as the testing of any type of weapons.

2. The present Treaty shall not prevent the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes.

Article II

[freedom of scientific investigation to continue]

Freedom of scientific investigation in Antarctica and cooperation toward that end, as applied during the International Geophysical Year, shall continue, subject to the provisions of the present Treaty.

Article III

[plans and results to be exchanged]

1. In order to promote international cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica, as provided for in Article II of the present Treaty, the Contracting Parties agree that, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable:

(a) information regarding plans for scientific programs in Antarctica shall be exchanged to permit maximum economy and efficiency of operations;

(b) scientific personnel shall be exchanged in Antarctica between expeditions and stations;

(c) scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available.

2. In implementing this Article, every encouragement shall be given to the establishment of cooperative working relations with those Specialized Agencies of the United Nations and other international organizations having a scientific or technical interest in Antarctica.

Article IV

[territorial claims]

1. Nothing contained in the present Treaty shall be interpreted as:

(a) a renunciation by any Contracting Party of previously asserted rights of or claims to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica;

(b) a renunciation or diminution by any Contracting Party of any basis of claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica which it may have whether as a result of its activities or those of its nationals in Antarctica, or otherwise;

(c) prejudicing the position of any Contracting Party as regards its recognition or nonrecognition of any other State’s right of or claim or basis of claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica.

2. No acts or activities taking place while the present Treaty is in force shall constitute a basis for asserting, supporting or denying a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica. No new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty shall be asserted while the present Treaty is in force.

Article V

[nuclear explosions prohibited]

1. Any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the disposal there of radioactive waste material shall be prohibited.

2. In the event of the conclusion of international agreements concerning the use of nuclear energy, including nuclear explosions and the disposal of radioactive waste material, to which all of the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX are parties, the rules established under such agreements shall apply in Antarctica.

Article VI

[area covered by Treaty]

The provisions of the present Treaty shall apply to the area south of 60o South latitude, including all ice shelves, but nothing in the present Treaty shall prejudice or in any way affect the rights, or the exercise of the rights, of any State under international law with regard to the high seas within that area.

Article VII

[free access for observation and inspection]

1. In order to promote the objectives and ensure the observation of the provisions of the present Treaty, each Contracting Party whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings referred to in Article IX of the Treaty shall have the right to designate observers to carry out any inspection provided for by the present Article. Observers shall be nationals of the Contracting Parties which designate them. The names of the observers shall be communicated to every other Contracting Party having the right to designate observers, and like notice shall be given of the termination of their appointment.

2. Each observer designated in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article shall have complete freedom of access at any time to any or all areas of Antarctica.

3. All areas of Antarctica, including all stations, installations and equipment within those areas, and all ships and aircraft at points of discharging or embarking cargoes or personnel in Antarctica, shall be open at all times to inspection by any observers designated in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article.

4. Aerial observation may be carried out at any time over any or all areas of Antarctica by any of the Contracting Parties having the right to designate observers.

5. Each Contracting Party shall, at the time when the present Treaty enters into force for it, inform the other Contracting Parties, and thereafter shall give them notice in advance, of

(a) all expeditions to and within Antarctica, on the part of its ships of nationals, and all expeditions to Antarctica organized in or proceeding from its territory;

(b) all stations in Antarctica occupied by its nationals; and

(c) any military personnel or equipment intended to be introduced by it into Antarctica subject to the conditions prescribed in paragraph 2 of Article I of the present Treaty.

Article VIII

[personnel under jurisdiction of their own states]

1. In order to facilitate the exercise of their functions under the present Treaty, and without prejudice to the respective positions of the Contracting Parties relating to jurisdiction over all other persons in Antarctica, observers designated under paragraph 1 of Article VII and scientific personnel exchanged under subparagraph 1(b) of Article III of the Treaty, and members of the staffs accompanying any such persons, shall be subject only to the jurisdiction of the Contracting Party of which they are nationals in respect to all acts or omissions occurring while they are in Antarctica for the purpose of exercising their functions.

2. Without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, and pending the adoption of measures in pursuance of subparagraph 1(e) of Article IX, the Contracting Parties concerned in any case of dispute with regard to the exercise of jurisdiction in Antarctica shall immediately consult together with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable solution.

Article IX

[Treaty states to meet periodically]

1. Representatives of the Contracting Parties named in the preamble to the present Treaty shall meet at the City of Canberra within two months after date of entry into force of the Treaty, and thereafter at suitable intervals and places, for the purpose of exchanging information, consulting together on matters of common interest pertaining to Antarctica, and formulating and considering, and recommending to their Governments, measures in furtherance of the principles and objectives of the Treaty including measures regarding:

(a) use of Antarctica for peaceful purposes only;

(b) facilitation of scientific research in Antarctica;

(c) facilitation of international scientific cooperation in Antarctica;

(d) facilitation of the exercise of the rights of inspection provided for in Article VII of the Treaty;

(e) questions relating to the exercise of jurisdiction in Antarctica;

(f) preservation and conservation of living resources in Antarctica.

2. Each Contracting Party which has become a party to the present Treaty by accession under Article XIII shall be entitled to appoint representatives to participate in the meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of the present Article, during such time as the Contracting Party demonstrates its interest in Antarctica by conducting substantial scientific research activity there, such as the establishment of a scientific station or the dispatch of a scientific expedition.

3. Reports from the observers referred to in Article VII of the present Treaty shall be transmitted to the representatives of the Contracting Parties participating in the meetings referred to in paragraph 1 of the present Article.

4. The measures referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall become effective when approved by all the Contracting Parties whose representatives were entitled to participate in the meetings held to consider those measures.

5. Any or all of the rights established in the present Treaty may be exercised as from the date of entry into force of the Treaty whether or not any measures facilitating the exercise of such rights have been proposed, considered or approved as provided in this Article.

Article X

[discourages activities contrary to Treaty]

Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes to exert appropriate efforts, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, to the end that no one engages in any activity in Antarctica contrary to the principles or purposes of the present Treaty.

Article XI

[settlement of disputes]

1. If any dispute arises between two or more of the Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of the present Treaty, those Contracting Parties shall consult among themselves with a view to having the dispute resolved by negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement or other peaceful means of their own choice.

2. Any dispute of this character not so resolved shall, with the consent, in each case, of all parties to the dispute, be referred to the International Court of Justice for settlement; but failure to reach agreement on reference to the International Court shall not absolve parties to the dispute from the responsibility of continuing to seek to resolve it by any of the various peaceful means referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article XII

[review of Treaty possible after 30 years]

1. (a) The present Treaty may be modified or amended at any time by unanimous agreement of the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX. Any such modification or amendment shall enter into force when the depositary Government has received notice from all such Contracting Parties that they have ratified it.

(b) Such modification or amendment shall thereafter enter into force as to any other Contracting Party when notice of ratification by it has been received by the depositary Government. Any such Contracting Party from which no notice of ratification is received within a period of two years from the date of entry into force of the modification or amendment in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph 1(a) of this Article shall be deemed to have withdrawn from the present Treaty on the date of the expiration of such period.

2. (a) If after the expiration of thirty years from the date of entry into force of the present Treaty, any of the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX so requests by a communication addressed to the depositary Government, a Conference of all the Contracting Parties shall be held as soon as practicable to review the operation of the Treaty.

(b) Any modification or amendment to the present Treaty which is approved at such a Conference by a majority of the Contracting Parties there represented, including a majority of those whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX, shall be communicated by the depositary Government to all the Contracting Parties immediately after the termination of the Conference and shall enter into force in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of the present Article.

(c) If any such modification or amendment has not entered into force in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph 1(a) of this Article within a period of two years after the date of its communication to all the Contracting Parties, any Contracting Party may at any time after the expiration of that period give notice to the depositary Government of its withdrawal from the present Treaty; and such withdrawal shall take effect two years after the receipt of the notice by the depositary Government.

Article XIII

[ratification and accession]

1. The present Treaty shall be subject to ratification by the signatory States. It shall be open for accession by any State which is a Member of the United Nations, or by any other State which may be invited to accede to the Treaty with the consent of all the Contracting Parties whose representatives are entitled to participate in the meetings provided for under Article IX of the Treaty.

2. Ratification of or accession to the present Treaty shall be effected by each State in accordance with its constitutional processes.

3. Instruments of ratification and instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Government of the United States of America, hereby designated as the depositary Government.

4. The depositary Government shall inform all signatory and acceding States of the date of each deposit of an instrument of ratification or accession, and the date of entry into force of the Treaty and of any modification or amendment thereto.

5. Upon the deposit of instruments of ratification by all the signatory States, the present Treaty shall enter into force for those States and for States which have deposited instruments of accession. Thereafter the Treaty shall enter into force for any acceding State upon the deposit of its instrument of accession.

6. The present Treaty shall be registered by the depositary Government pursuant to Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Article XIV

[United States is repository]

The present Treaty, done in the English, French, Russian, and Spanish languages, each version being equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the United States of America, which shall transmit duly certified copies thereof to the Governments of the signatory and acceding States.

In witness whereof, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, duly authorized, have signed the present Treaty.

Done at Washington the first day of December, one thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine.

For Argentina:

Adolfo Seilingo
F. Bello

For Australia:

Howard Beale
For Belgium:
Obert de Thieusies

For Chile:

Marcial Mora M.
L. Gajardo V.
Julio Escudero

For the French Republic:

Pierre Charpentier

For Japan:

Koichiro Asakai
T. Shimoda

For New Zealand:

G.D.L. White

For Norway:

Paul Koht

For the Union of South Africa:

Wentzel C. du Plessis

For the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics:

V. Kuznetsov

For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:

Harold Caccia

For the United States of America:

Herman Phleger
Paul C. Daniels