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The plains states might have been just about the only thing left to the United States.
maps

This Map Shows a Divided and Conquered USA If America Had Lost WWII

Which parts of the East Coast and California might Germany and Japan have claimed?
Frank Jacobs, Big Think September 29, 2023
Red means higher than average anomalies, and blue means lower than average ones.
maps

Uneven Gravity Makes You Weigh More in Illinois Than in Indiana

A number of factors cause you to be lighter or heavier in different parts of the world.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think September 22, 2023
An Iranian Tolkienologist sees swaths of Pakistan and India in J.R.R. Tolkien's specific descriptions of mountains and rivers.
maps

Is Mordor Based on the Himalayas?

Much of Asia seems to be riddled onto the Lord of the Rings map of Middle Earth.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think September 15, 2023
maps

The Center of the Earth Has an Imaginary Island and One Floating Soul

Fact and fiction blend together at zero latitude and zero longitude.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think September 8, 2023
Muhammad al-Idrisi made much better maps than this (we promise).
maps

The Father of Medieval Geography Is Unfairly Blamed for One Very, Very Bad Map

He also made the most accurate world map of that time—and left out the sea monsters.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think September 1, 2023
If not for the Yazoo Land Scandal, Greater Georgia might have encompassed most or all of the current states of Mississippi and Alabama.
maps

The Little-Known Land Fraud That Changed American History

Without this now-obscure land investment scheme, the Yazoo Land Affair, Georgia might have been a "super state."
Frank Jacobs, Big Think August 25, 2023
Printed in a communist youth magazine in the 1930s, Towards Soviet America visits all of capitalist America’s social injustices on the way to “Soviet America” in the center.
objects of intrigue

The Anti-Monopoly Board Game That Promoted a 'Soviet America'

In 1934, American Communists translated a Stalinist book about revolution into a children’s game. Curiously, it didn't catch on.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think August 18, 2023
A herd of Hereford cattle roam a lush green pasture in Australia, home to several of the world's largest private landholdings.
maps

What Do King Charles III, the Pope, and the Canadian Inuit Have in Common?

Meet the world's largest landowners.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think August 11, 2023
This vintage map, published in 1864 by H.H. Lloyd of New York, reflects anti-secession sentiment by taking secession to an extreme conclusion.
maps

A Map of the 'Disunited States' Shows the Fears of Civil War–Era America

A nation divided into not two—but four—took the idea of secession to an extreme.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think August 4, 2023
Burkhan Khaldun, Genghis Khan’s sacred mountain, in northeastern Mongolia, may hold his burial site.
maps

Mongolia’s 'Forbidden Zone' Is Guarding an 800-Year-Old Secret

Is the vast Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area the final resting place of Genghis Khan?
Frank Jacobs, Big Think July 28, 2023
The hostage drama that took place in this building on Norrmalmstorg in 1973 gave rise to the term “Stockholm Syndrome.” The bank has long since been replaced by a high-end clothing store, but the vaults are still there.
maps

There Are at Least 10 Cities With Their Own Psychological Disorders

Stockholm Syndrome is the most famous, and most relate to tourism or hostage-taking.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think July 21, 2023
The Globe, also known as the Avicii Arena, inspired the Sweden Solar System.
maps

There’s an Entire Solar System Hiding In Sweden

Get ready for the most peculiar road trip that will help you understand the vastness and emptiness of the solar system—and Sweden.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think July 14, 2023
Rama’s Bridge between India and Sri Lanka figures in ancient myths, and can be seen from space, in this case captured from the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994.
maps

Sea Cucumber Crime Is a Thing, and This Is Where It’s Happening

A "seafood mafia" is plying the waters between India and Sri Lanka to satisfy China's appetite for an increasingly rare delicacy.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think July 7, 2023
A map of West Africa features the world's roundest country (which is also the 14th most rectangular). Can you spot it? What about the eighth most rectangular?
maps

What Are the World’s Roundest and Most Rectangular Countries?

Mind-boggling as it is, they're often one and the same.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think June 30, 2023
The solar system as seen from Voyager 1 on June 22, 2023, via NASA's Eyes simulation. (Not pictured, because it's too small: Earth)
maps

Explore the View From Humanity’s Most Distant Spacecraft

Launched in 1977 and now nearly 15 billion miles from the Sun, Voyager 1 continues its journey at 38,000 miles per hour.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think June 23, 2023
Mapping Diversity shows the birthplaces of the women who live on as street names in major European cities. “Male” street names outnumber “female" ones 10 to one.
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The Most Popular Person in European Street Names Is a Woman

Can you guess who it is?
Frank Jacobs, Big Think June 16, 2023
Data from NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, show elevation across Antarctica. The low elevations on the left side show how the Weddell and Ross Seas were one connected.
maps

Octopuses (and Their DNA) Suggest Antarctica Will Melt Again

Two geographically separate populations of cute cephalopods once mated a very long time ago.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think June 9, 2023
It's remarkable how the coldness of space can evoke a tropical dive.
maps

A 19th-Century Family Portrait of Comets

The thrills and horrors of strange heavenly bodies, condensed into one attractive snapshot.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think June 2, 2023