Blogger: I Know Where the Simpsons Live

Phil Plait says he picked up on revelatory clue in recent Elon Musk episode
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 23, 2015 1:48 PM CST
Blogger: I Know Where the Simpsons Live
A scene from The Simpsons, courtesy Fox.   (AP Photo/Fox)

Astronomy blogger Phil Plait was psyched when he heard SpaceX chief Elon Musk was set to appear on the Jan. 25 episode of The Simpsons. But what he saw in one scene blew his mind even more than Musk's appearance: an apparent clue to the elusive question of where the cartoon family really lives. In the scene, Plait explains on Slate, the tips of the waxing crescent moon are pointing to the right, toward the sun. But in the Northern Hemisphere, the tips during this phase actually point to the left.

Which means … well, it could mean the show has been based somewhere Down Under the whole time, which is what Plait postulates. But while Cheryl Eddy writes for io9 that she likes the way Plait thinks, she attributes the reverse-facing moon to "what was probably (??) just an honest animation mistake," mainly for one reason: There was a 1995 Simpsons episode called "Bart vs. Australia" in which Bart calls an Aussie boy to ask him which way the water drains in the Southern Hemisphere, followed by the family actually visiting Australia. (More The Simpsons stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X