“Some random user on Reddit posted a picture claiming that this is the longest straight line path on water possible on the Earth. We implemented a smart algorithm to solve this problem, found the elevation data, ran our algorithm... yes, that random user was right. Also, here's the longest path on land.”
Thanks, I really enjoyed reading it, even though I hoped that they would disprove the original claim!
They only identify the Reddit user as "kepleronlyknows", but in the Reddit thread [1] he links to his video visualization [2], where his user name is Patrick Anderson.
Before he made the video visualization using Google Earth, he actually went to the library and used a string on a real globe. [3]
If it is undrivable in a straight line, why does that count? I’d assume the longest you could drive in a perfectly straight line would either be the longest straight highway or some drivable desert.
There's a longer land path that starts in or near Senegal and ends in China. But they miss it because it goes near the Dead Sea, and they treat anything below sea level as water.
In passing, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Salopek is walking from Ethiopia to Tierra del Fuego, tracing the path of human migration out of Africa. Walking the coast, not a straight line.
The one they give also crosses numerous rivers and lakes. For the strict version of the challenge where you literally can't cross water it's likely that the best solution is across Antarctica. Guaranteed by temperature to contain no water whatsoever.
it would be interesting if it was a list of actual journeys with the sub lists of deviations required.
a special club for the brutaly determined and persistant the "strait liners"
things like having to beg, bluff, bribe, your way through someones house
Over water, probably something like the entire 60th parallel south.
Over land, I think you want to start near the westernmost point of the African continent and thread the needle of the Isthmus of Suez, and stay south of the Caspian Sea. At least in the projection gcmap.com uses (plate carree - essentially the x-coordinate and y-coordinate are just raw longitude and latitude), this keeps you south of Lake Baikal and allows you to get very far east in far eastern Russia. Something like 17.5 N, 16 W to 69 N, 178.5 E seems to work:
This is different from the Portugal-to-China path that is the longest over land in reality, which a flat-earther would have crossing the Mediterranean.
Yeah, but how do they explain, that the same world looks different, e.g. having different distances and angles depending on the map "type"? This is kind of important for traveling, navigating or measuring the size of the property you own.
They’re flat earthers, they either have no explanation or a completely bogus explanation. Certainly don’t look for any semblance of reason. They just invent whatever to try and feel like they have some secret knowledge.
I'm just curious. I think they still believe to have a consistent worldview themself, as every human does. My question was more regarding their self-understanding and less the kind-of "marketing" they throw at outsiders.
They would tell us we are contradicting ourselves because none of them are straight lines in the traditional sense, if we really believe the Earth is a sphere. Don't underestimate trolls ;-)
Beagle Channel is very narrow and has islands both on the north and the south. This path goes thought the Drake Passage that is south of the islands that are south of the Beagle Channel. The Drake Passage is very wide.
I myself walked the longest path to 1200 karma. It was painful. Blisters of delta_karma=f*vote_points, where f could be 0.5 or 0.3 or unknown lower no. I'm tired, boss.
I know the globe is unintuitive (it still blows my mind that Muslims in New York City face roughly northeast to point toward Mecca) but it still seems bizarre that the water route can start near the arctic circle, cross the Pacific ocean, nearly touch Antarctica, cross the Atlantic ocean, and cross the Indian ocean to end well north of the equator and still travel only 80% of the way around the globe. This view of the rest of that great circle helped me visualize it: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=58%B037%27N+162%B014%27E-25%B01...
> it still blows my mind that Muslims in New York City face roughly northeast to point toward Mecca
It never occurred to me they would face the shortest distance to Mecca. I've looked it up and apparently it's a point of contention in North America, although the great circle seems to be standard. Interestingly there are landmasses around the antipode of Mecca, which means your direction would vary wildly as you travel around.
If you're in New York and you look due East across the Atlantic, what country are you looking at?
Most people would assume Portugal.
Nope, you're looking (over the curve of the earth, of course), at Morocco. Look just a tiny bit to the south and you're looking at the rest of West Africa. Look Southwest and you're looking at Australia, or even Brazil.
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[ 0.13 ms ] story [ 16.1 ms ] thread“Some random user on Reddit posted a picture claiming that this is the longest straight line path on water possible on the Earth. We implemented a smart algorithm to solve this problem, found the elevation data, ran our algorithm... yes, that random user was right. Also, here's the longest path on land.”
Thanks, I really enjoyed reading it, even though I hoped that they would disprove the original claim!
Like this: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5477/
Hope it makes sense.
Before he made the video visualization using Google Earth, he actually went to the library and used a string on a real globe. [3]
1: https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/15mwai/the_longest...
2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpQwuGueeoA
3: https://imgur.com/a/great-circle-2hYFM
Walkable, maybe, but definitely not drivable (it crosses directly over the Alps, for example).
The longest mettled straight route with minimal deviation would also be an interesting exercise.
Use your feet, car centric person.
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=10%B0+24%27+41.4%22+N,+14%B0+31...
"technically incorrect the worst kind of incorrect".
Depends on where and when.
Plenty of puddles form around the bases in summer.
edit: and the article already notes this longest possible path from Portugal to China, citing a 2023 article: https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/these-are-the-worlds-longe...
Over land, I think you want to start near the westernmost point of the African continent and thread the needle of the Isthmus of Suez, and stay south of the Caspian Sea. At least in the projection gcmap.com uses (plate carree - essentially the x-coordinate and y-coordinate are just raw longitude and latitude), this keeps you south of Lake Baikal and allows you to get very far east in far eastern Russia. Something like 17.5 N, 16 W to 69 N, 178.5 E seems to work:
http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=17.5n16w-21.79n0.21e-26.08n16.4...
Of course this depends on the projection you use!
This is different from the Portugal-to-China path that is the longest over land in reality, which a flat-earther would have crossing the Mediterranean.
I think it would be something like Portugal-Kamchatka:
https://i.ibb.co/9mqz8fvb/image.png
But if you do not believe in a globe how do you understand projections?
It never occurred to me they would face the shortest distance to Mecca. I've looked it up and apparently it's a point of contention in North America, although the great circle seems to be standard. Interestingly there are landmasses around the antipode of Mecca, which means your direction would vary wildly as you travel around.
But apparently, it's the middle of the ocean, although there does appear to be an atoll very close by: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tematagi
Most people would assume Portugal.
Nope, you're looking (over the curve of the earth, of course), at Morocco. Look just a tiny bit to the south and you're looking at the rest of West Africa. Look Southwest and you're looking at Australia, or even Brazil.
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/geowizard