cartographers without borders

How long are the world’s coastlines? The length of any coast is a matter of opinion, because a coastline is a fractal. Connect the dots along a coast every 100 meters and you’ll get a much shorter total length than if you connected dots every meter. The coastline paradox is easier to visualize when downsampling is taken too far. (Update: I might not have made this map if I’d seen this excellent explanation.)

Britain has decided to leave Europe. Where will it go? Adrift without a leader, it will likely be carried north on the warm North Atlantic Current. Fluid dynamics simulations suggest it will eventually lodge between Iceland and Greenland. The fate of Northern Ireland is less certain.

It’s a graticule party.

Locations approximate. Learn more: 1, 2, 3.

My plan to create a perfectly flat and level Kansas by moving 5,501 cubic miles of earth from west to east. It’s the ideal Kansas. Still some details to work out about rivers, roads, etc. Watch out for the 900-foot cliff bisecting Kansas City.

Yolo is a city in Yolo County, California.

Mars has surface water, but not enough. Ceres, the largest asteroid, might be 25% water. If we simply crashed Ceres into Mars, that could cover 33% of Mars with oceans up to 5900 meters deep. (Spherical projection by request.)

Mars has surface water, but not enough. Ceres, the largest asteroid, might be 25% water. If we simply crashed Ceres into Mars, that could cover 33% of Mars with oceans up to 5900 meters deep.

Two ways to turn the San Juan Islands into hexagons, as for gaming.

The reason for the season.