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Strange Maps

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globes

Most Canadians Live South of Seattle and Other Map Surprises

We're wrong about directions and locations of many countries.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think December 8, 2023
And you thought yellow snow was bad.
antarctic

The Strange Case of Antarctica’s Red and Green Snow

It’s not a Christmas trick, but the colorful effect could change everything.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think December 1, 2023
The flavor is everywhere, though for years people didn't have a specific word for it.
food

Why We Couldn’t Describe a Flavor We Taste Every Day

The human tongue detected it long before it could say it.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think November 24, 2023
food

Do Colder or Warmer Places Eat More Spicy or Bland Food?

The correlation between temperature and flavor is obvious across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think November 17, 2023
Midwestern nice? Southern charm? Grumpy New England?
psychology

Your Personality Depends on Which U.S. State You Live In

A map of confidence and kindness from California to New York.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think November 10, 2023
The piece of sunken ocean is the size of India.
geological oddities

The Mystery of the World’s Largest and Deepest Gravity Hole

The sea level here is hundreds of feet lower than the rest of the ocean.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think November 3, 2023
The City of Light has a city of darkness underground.
tunnels

The Fight Between Cataphiles and Underground Police in the Paris Catacombs

Will the tunnels, host to many illegal parties, get filled with concrete?
Frank Jacobs, Big Think October 27, 2023
graveyards

Which States Have the Most Dead Presidents?

The answer reveals grave robbing problems for America’s deceased leaders.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think October 20, 2023
film locations

Where Humans Think Aliens Are Most Likely to Land

Will extraterrestrials try to see the city or the countryside?
Frank Jacobs, Big Think October 13, 2023
You might be on your own for a while on these roads less traveled, as seen on the Dalton Highway.
roads

The Loneliest Road in Every State in America

Find your state's quietest route.
Frank Jacobs, Big Think October 6, 2023
history

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.
physics

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.
fantasy locations

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
islands

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).
medieval

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