maps

A map that shows the most popular movie set in each U.S. state

What’s the most popular movie set in your home state? This map has the answer. Created by reddit user Jakubisko, the map uses ratings culled from IMDb to pick the most popular movie set in each state. It’s an interesting look at where the movies we love make their fictional homes — and also highlights…

Movies Ria Misra Jan 10

Population distribution of the United States, measured in Canadas

The population density of Canada is incredibly low compared to the United States. This map is a great way to visualize the difference between the two countries. You could fit the entire population of Canada into each area on the U.S. marked “Canada.” (Spotted on Stephen’s Lighthouse; original mapmaker unknown)

io9 Annalee Newitz Jan 9

Get All Starry-Eyed With This Indestructible Tyvek Constellation Map

I am a dope when it comes to constellations; identifying Orion’s Belt and the Dippers (Big and Little) is about as deep as my skills go when it comes to eyeballing the heavens. This Crumpled Sky Map by Palomar seems like it would be an awesome tool to help me and my fellow heavens-blind folk…

Tech News Jordan Kushins Jan 9

How Swarms of Tiny Satellites Are Creating a Real-Time Google Earth

Google Earth is an amazing resource, but if there’s one criticism that can be leveled at it, it’s that it’s permanently out of date due to the lag between when the data is acquired and when it appears online. But right now, a pair of Californian startups are putting swarms of tiny satellites into space,…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jan 9

The World’s Most (and Least) Populous Places Revealed In a Single Map

We’ve seen alot of world population maps, but this might just be prettiest one yet. Simple black lines trace the population density by latitude, so that a few cities, labeled in yellow, tower like the skyscrapers over the land. It’s not unlike a cartographical version of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures album cover. Go ahead, embiggen…

Tech News Sarah Zhang Jan 9

How Many Earths Would We Need to Live As Far Apart As Alaskans Do?

I’ve always been interested in the distribution of the human population across the globe. It’s far from an even spread—this map shows where people are most squished in (dark colors) and where they’re spread out (light colors): And the East Asian countries in particular are so jam-packed with people that there’s that theres’ this insane…

Tech News Tim Urban - WaitButWhy.com Jan 9

14 Fascinating Maps of Places Hiding In Plain Sight

Paper routes. All the swings in Harlem. Lost souls. The maps encased in Where You Are, the latest offering from the lovely ladies at London-based publisher Visual Editions, won’t actually get you anywhere—but they sure are fun to look at. Sixteen creative types contributed a personal entry for the collection in their own unique style…

Tech News Jordan Kushins Jan 8

Why the World Needs OpenStreetMap

Every time I tell someone about OpenStreetMap, they inevitably ask “Why not use Google Maps?”. From a practical standpoint, it’s a reasonable question, but ultimately this is not just a matter of practicality, but of what kind of society we want to live in. I discussed this topic in a 2008 talk on OpenStreetMap I…

Tech News Serge Wroclawski Jan 6

A map of 19th Century shipping routes and nothing else

Nautical trade routes stretch like so many lengths of string in this arresting visualization of intercontinental commerce in the 1800s. The map that emerges highlights not only several continents and their busiest ports, but the various trade winds that cycle through the lower reaches of Earth’s atmosphere. The map is the work of Ben Schmidt,…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jan 5

A Map of the 124 United States of America That Could Have Been

The fact that we’ve kept the number of U.S. states relatively static is nothing short a miracle—there have been hundreds of attempts at state secession over the years. But what if they had all succeeded? This brilliant map depicts that alternative universe, where the U.S. is broken up into 124 different states that stretch from…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Dec 31

What happens when people draw a map of the world from memory

Can you draw a map of the world just from memory? And if you did, how accurate do you think your map would be? Probably not very. You’d forget some land masses, make things too close too each other, bulge continents the wrong way and hastily add stuff without knowing where they would go. But…

Sploid Casey Chan Dec 30

Spend hours clicking through this animated 1930s atlas of America

After Charles O. Paullin’s Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States was published, its editor John K. Wright bemoaned their inability to create “motion-picture” maps. Over 80 years later, the University of Richmond has made that a reality. If you head over to the University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab, you can see…

io9 Katharine Trendacosta Dec 29

Spend Your Weekend Gawking at Nearly 700 Old Maps of the U.S.

Okay, history buffs. We’ve got a challenge for you: Learn as much as you possibly can from the 700 odd maps just uploaded to the University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab. Your brain will thank you later. The maps come from Charles O. Paullin’s 1932 Historical Geography of the United States—and they’re enthralling. The history…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Dec 28

You Are Here: The 13 Best Maps of 2013

Maps: Where would we be without them? This was banner year for beautiful, information-dense cartography, which provided a moment of self-reflection like a giant, geographic mirror. Here are our favorite maps from 2013 that helped us find our place in the world. A Map of Who’s Got the Best (And Worst) Internet Connections in America…

Tech News Alissa Walker Dec 27

What do other countries call Santa Claus?

Christmas Man. Daddy Christmas. Grandfather Frost. Yule Man. Yule Elder. Yule Gnome. Yule Goat. Father Christmas. Old Man Christmas. Biblical Magi. Christ Child. Christmas Log. All those names are names for Santa Claus in other countries around the world. Calling him just Santa Claus just seems so boring in comparison, doesn’t it? This map, popularized…

Sploid Casey Chan Dec 24

A Map That Reveals the Most Popular TV Show Set in Your Home State

No matter what state in the U.S. you live in, a popular TV show has taken place there. But what’s the absolute most popular show of all time to be set in your state? Business Insider has you covered. The Business Insider crew determined the most popular shows set in each state, by looking at…

Television Katharine Trendacosta Dec 24

12 Maps of America From Before We Knew What It Looked Like

The island of California. A huge triangle of land called Florida. A great ocean that cut down from the Arctic into the Midwest. As the New World came into focus beginning in the 17th century, explorers and cartographers struggled to measure a massive expanse of land that would take centuries to accurately map. Take the…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Dec 23

The map of the world if every country’s population matched its size

Here’s a fun way to look at the world. What if every country’s population actually matched its size? So more populous places like Japan and Vietnam that are cramped in tiny specks of land now get to stretch their feet a bit while uselessly big countries like Canada and Australia get their population booted to…

Sploid Casey Chan Dec 20

The Perfect Civic Pride Gifts for City Lovers

For the unapologetic urbanophiles in your life, these city-themed presents will be the perfect way to help them perpetuate their fierce (and sometimes scary) public displays of civic pride. And, because most of these gifts can be customized with a particular geographic location—some of them right down to a specific neighborhood—it’s the perfect way to…

Tech News Alissa Walker Dec 20

Adding More Layers is Apple’s Patent-Suggested Plan For Fixing Maps

It’s slowly getting better, but try as it might, Apple just can’t top Google’s Maps service when it comes to digital cartography That’s not to say it isn’t still keeping up the chase though — a newly uncovered patent points towards a raft of new features Apple has planned for the troubled service. The “Interactive…

Tech News Gerald Lynch - Gizmodo UK Dec 20

A map that shows the most popular movie set in each U.S. state

Population distribution of the United States, measured in Canadas

Get All Starry-Eyed With This Indestructible Tyvek Constellation Map

How Swarms of Tiny Satellites Are Creating a Real-Time Google Earth

The World’s Most (and Least) Populous Places Revealed In a Single Map

How Many Earths Would We Need to Live As Far Apart As Alaskans Do?

14 Fascinating Maps of Places Hiding In Plain Sight

Why the World Needs OpenStreetMap

A map of 19th Century shipping routes and nothing else

A Map of the 124 United States of America That Could Have Been

What happens when people draw a map of the world from memory

Spend hours clicking through this animated 1930s atlas of America

Spend Your Weekend Gawking at Nearly 700 Old Maps of the U.S.

You Are Here: The 13 Best Maps of 2013

What do other countries call Santa Claus?

A Map That Reveals the Most Popular TV Show Set in Your Home State

12 Maps of America From Before We Knew What It Looked Like

The map of the world if every country’s population matched its size

The Perfect Civic Pride Gifts for City Lovers

Adding More Layers is Apple’s Patent-Suggested Plan For Fixing Maps

Scientists Think They’ve Finally Discovered Why Your Cat Never Finishes Its Meal

Artemis 2 Day 7: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

5 Things We Noticed During NASA’s Historic Lunar Flyby

Trump’s War on American Cybersecurity Ramps Up With Planned $700 Million Cuts to CISA

10 Years Ago Today, ‘Star Wars’ Changed Its Future With the First Look at ‘Rogue One’

Mysterious VHS Tapes May Herald the Release of a New Boards of Canada Project

‘Exit 8’ Is a Satisfying, Scary Twitch Stream Come to Life

Sam Altman Says It’ll Take Another Year Before ChatGPT Can Start a Timer

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

Let us help find what you are looking for...