The internet has undoubtedly improved human life. It has given more people more access to more information at less cost than at any other time in human history. But this unprecedented access has also made it easier than ever to spread complete, unverified, unfiltered nonsense to millions of people. Case-in-point: the theory that Elon Musk and SpaceX’s historic Falcon Heavy launch was all CGI.

Despite the fact that we’ve seen the Earth from space and we know it’s round, and that literally thousands of people watched, felt, and heard the Falcon Heavy take off from the Kennedy Space Center last week, it was mere days before flat-earthers and CGI conspiracy theorists took to Twitter to expose “the truth.”

Exhibit A:

#ThatAwkwardMomentWhen
An accidental flash exposes your CGI Studio….

And everyone sees your #CGIfakery for what it is @SpaceX #FakeX#CGIfakery#FalconHeavyFail#FlatEarth #Firmament Win pic.twitter.com/8mteocUN27

— Everything Serious (@NothingSirius) February 8, 2018

Musk, ever the troll, leaned into the ridiculous and issued a response during a press conference:

You can tell it’s real because it looks so fake, honestly. We’d have way better CGI if it was fake.

But hey, is there a more productive way to engage with a vocal minority that insists every single scientist on Earth is wrong and that they, alone and angry at an armchair, are right? Probably not.

Also on the show this week, since Dan and I missed covering the Falcon Heavy launch in real time, we’re catching up by breaking down the future of the Falcon, and the final resting place of “Starman.”

Muskwatch airs on Nerdist.com and YouTube every Tuesday, but you can hack the planet and watch it two full days earlier on Sunday if you’re an Alpha subscriber. Find out how you can get 30 days free (and be 48 hours smarter than your dumb friends) right here.

What do you think of this week’s top stories? What else would you like to see us discuss on Muskwatch? Let us know in the comments below!

WHAT ELSE IS ELON MUSK UP TO?

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• This human-controlled robot is like IRL Pacific Rim
• SpaceX wants to make a helpful version of Skynet