maps

History visualized through the life of the most important humans

Art historian Maximilian Schich put together this pretty visualization that records humanity’s cultural history over 2,600 years. The blue and red dots you see above are the birthplaces and deaths for over 120,000 people who were “notable enough” to have their births and deaths recorded. The idea is that by tracking the lives of ‘important…

A Map of How Much Pollution Trees Have Scrubbed From Our Air

In 2010, trees removed more than 17 million metric tons of pollution from the air. In doing so, they saved more than $6.8 billion dollars in health care costs associated with pollution-related diseases, like bronchitis and asthma. In a recent paper in the journal Environmental Pollution, US Forest Service researcher David J. Nowak explains: Most…

Watch The European Colonization Of North America In Just 14 Seconds

At first glance, it looks like a nebula seen through the Hubble Telescope. But these expanding patches of flashing, colored light depict migration patterns across the North American continent, spanning a period of 400 years. The map is the creation of Maximilian Schich, a professor of art and technology at the University of Texas at…

Opportunity Rover’s Record-Breaking Mars Drive, Mapped

The Opportunity rover landed on Mars way back in 2004. Now, NASA reports that it’s clocked up 25.01 miles of driving on the Red Planet—setting a record for the longest distance a vehicle has driven outside Earth. https://gizmodo.com/what-a-rover-looks-like-after-a-decade-on-mars-1509484587 Opportunity snatches the titles from the previous best, the Soviet Union’s Lunokhod 2 rover, which drove 24.2…

World Map Reveals How Countries Are Divided Between Cat And Dog Lovers

Overall, most states in the U.S. have a balanced cat-dog ratio. But, it’s a different story when you look at the rest of the world, where the loyalty of some countries clearly favors one type of furry companion over the other. The marketing firm Euromonitor provided the Washington Post with data estimates of the pet…

Having Fun With The Equation of Time

If you’re like us, you might’ve looked at a globe of the Earth in elementary school long before the days of Google Earth and wondered just what that strange looking figure eight thing on its side was. Above: An analemma of the Sun, taken from Budapest, Hungary over a one year span. (Courtesy of György…

World map created by plotting out each terrorist attack since 1970

It’s incredibly sad that we can basically paint the map of our world just by using the locations of all terrorism acts since 1970. The brightest parts of the map show the areas of the world that have to deal with so much tragedy. The darkest parts are ‘safe’ because so few people live there.…

Drought Is Parching The United States From Underground, Too

It’s been a tough summer for drought in the United States and the latest news isn’t going to make it it any better. Because it turns out that it’s not just the surface that’s drying up. There’s a drought happening underneath us too. https://gizmodo.com/half-of-the-u-s-is-in-now-in-a-drought-1576252758 The map above, which was put together by NASA’s Earth Observatory,…

Google Maps App Now Gives Suggestions Based on Weather and Time of Day

The Google Maps app has proved invaluable for the intrepid urban explorer in navigating the city. Now a new update for iOS and Android can provide specific contextual details about what’s around you depending on your location, time of day, and even the weather. So if it’s raining (or about to), it will warn against…

This Slick-Looking Map Tells You Where You Can(‘t) Fly Your Drone

The Federal Aviation Administration has been dragging its heels on drafting drone regulations, lots of people are confused about, where it’s okay to fly their small aircraft. Using OpenStreetMap and government data, the wizards at MapBox created an interactive map to clear the air. To be more concise, the map shows you exactly where the…

​Track The Path Of Any Object Drifting on the Ocean

In 1992, a cargo container filled with more than 28,000 rubber ducks plunged into the North Pacific, and spent more than ten years floating around the world. By studying the travelogue of the ducks, scientists were later able to gather enough data to predict the dynamics of objects floating in the oceans. What the researchers…

FlowingData’s list of “19 Maps That Will Blow Your Mind and Change the Way You See the World. Top All-time. You Won’t Believe Your Eyes. Watch.” May actually be the most important list of maps and what they tell us about the world of all-time. You won’t believe your eyes. Watch. Related:

Google Maps for Mobile Now Lets Cyclists Avoid the Hills

Good news for cyclists everywhere: Google Maps for mobile now provides you with an elevation chart of its routes, so you can choose to avoid the hills—or take them on. The update plots elevation against distance, allowing you to compare the amount of climbing you’ll have to do. It shows multiple routes in the same…

Scientists Are Mapping the Ocean’s Plastic Because 99 Percent Is Missing

Last week, some strange news swept the science internet: Much of the plastic scientists expected to find on the ocean’s surface is gone, and no one knows exactly where it is. Now the scientists behind the research have shared a first-of-its-kind map of ocean plastic with National Geographic–and it could be key to solving the…

This Is the Most Detailed Map of Mars’s Surface Ever Made

Ever wondered how you might navigate your way across the surface of Mars, if you ever find yourself there? Well, perhaps you could use this: the most detailed map of the Red Planet’s geology ever made. The map compiles 16 years’ worth of observations from four orbiting spacecraft—Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express and…

These Insanely Detailed Maps Of Mars Are The Most Accurate Yet

After 16 years of painstaking work, the U.S. Geological Survey has released a series of geologic maps that offer the most thorough representation of the Red Planet’s surface to date. The revealing project will help mission planners target future areas for robotic — and potentially human — exploration. The USGS is no stranger to producing…

Explore New York City According to the Music It Inspired

New York City has not only provided the backdrop for a countless songs, but it’s also birthed entire genres of music. So when you start to plot where each of these moments happened, you’re soon left with a pretty exciting guided tour of one of the world’s biggest cultural capitals. YouTube links make it even…

These Rarely Seen Maps Turn Earth Into A Land From A Fantasy Novel

While each of these maps is incredibly striking, it isn’t always easy to recognize the places within them as spots on our Earth. Some of them look straight out a J.R.R. Tolkien novel, while others are more fanciful takes on familiar countries. https://gizmodo.com/a-collection-of-very-strange-maps-479288345 The World Map from the Saint-Sever Beatus, an apocalypse manuscript from the…

This Topographic Calendar Turns Your To-Do List Into an Actual Mountain

If you’re finding yourself overwhelmed with all the work on your plate, it’s probably a bad idea to keep track of it all on this lovely calendar Land Rover has made. Using the topography elevation lines you’d find on a 2D map as inspiration, this calendar ends up looking like a genuine miniature mountain on…

The World’s Offensive Place Names, Mapped

We’ve all sat in the passenger seat, notionally giving directions to a driver, but instead giggling at the slightly rudely named towns on the map. Fortunately, now you can find all those amusingly offensive place names, across the entire world, on one wonderfully juvenile interactive map. Maybe, perhaps, possibly a little NSFW. Find a Dikshit…