What if the Earth was actually flat

If the Earth had an edge, I imagine it would look like a mesmerizing flat surface. Picture a flat Earth with a solar eclipse, trees growing diagonally, and a Great Wall of ice guarded by NASA (of course). While flat earthers have a vivid imagination, let's explore what would happen if they were right. How would the Earth function in space? Would it revolve around the Sun, or would the Sun rotate around it? And why couldn't you walk to the Earth's edge?

Before we dive in, let's have a quick recap of the Flat Earth theory. For thousands of years, people believed that the Earth was flat and everything revolved around it. Then, Nikolaus Copernicus introduced his theory that the Earth was not flat and definitely not the center of everything. Fast forward 500 years, and there are still individuals who are convinced that the Earth is flat.

But how would a flat Earth even work? The reason why planets form in a spherical shape is gravity. Gravity pulls matter together from all sides, resulting in a sphere. However, this wouldn't be the case for a flat Earth. Flat Earthers argue that there's no such thing as gravity and that some mysterious force accelerates the pancake-shaped Earth upwards. But the reality is, there would be gravity on a flat Earth, and it would be strange.

The center of gravity on a flat Earth would be right in the middle. Everything on and around the Earth would be pulled towards this point, and the further away you got from the center, the stronger the gravitational pull would be. At a certain distance, gravity would start pulling you downward, making it impossible to walk to the edge of a flat Earth. You wouldn't be able to witness the alleged 45-meter-tall wall of ice known as Antarctica guarding the Earth's edge, nor would you discover what lies beyond. However, at least you wouldn't fall off the edge.

This peculiar gravity would have other effects as well. Objects closer to the edge of the Earth would fall sideways instead of straight down, and trees would grow diagonally as they reached against the pull of gravity. Precipitation like rain, snow, and hail would fall toward the center of the Earth, converging and building up. The oceans would be sucked towards the center too, forming one giant ocean in the middle.

Air pressure would be a major concern on a flat Earth. Gravity would draw an excessive amount of air toward the Earth's center, leaving the areas around the edge with no air pressure at all. This would be problematic for people living in "Flat Earth Australia" as they wouldn't have enough oxygen to breathe. Those living closer to the middle, where the Arctic would be, would be crushed by the weight of the atmosphere. But their fate wouldn't last long.

A flat Earth would lack a geomagnetic field. This field, generated by the movements of the Earth's core, wouldn't exist on a flat Earth. Consequently, nothing would hold our atmosphere in place, and it would eventually spill into space. We would be exposed to solar radiation, leading to cancer and DNA damage, and there would be no breathable air left on the planet. So, I hope you have a life support system ready.

Now, let's address some burning questions. In this scenario, what would orbit what? Would there still be a day and night cycle or time zones? According to flat Earthers, the Sun and the Moon would both orbit the pancake-shaped Earth, acting like huge spotlights. However, from a scientific standpoint, if the Sun were a spotlight, it would be visible from everywhere on Earth, regardless of direct illumination. This would eliminate the day and night cycle we're familiar with. To rectify this, we can assume that the Sun