“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!
Edit: here are the gcmap links to the two paths: sea [1], land [2].
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]
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.
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.
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
The paper is basically like this (spoiler alert):
“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!
Edit: here are the gcmap links to the two paths: sea [1], land [2].
[1]: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=25%B017%27N+66%B040%27E-58%B037...
[2]: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=24%B033%27N+118%B038%27E-37%B02...
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]
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
I opened Apple Maps in globe mode and I still have trouble visualizing the water path.
Does it help to point out that the water path looks suspiciously like the day/night line on a map?
Like this: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5477/
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.
That would an interesting finding!
> Figure 9: Longest Drivable Straight Line Path on Earth.
Walkable, maybe, but definitely not drivable (it crosses directly over the Alps, for example).
There might be icebergs or sandbars or rocks or volcanic activity or wars blocking the sailing route too. They seem like equivalents.
The longest mettled straight route with minimal deviation would also be an interesting exercise.
Extremely highly inprobable vs 100% there and directly impassable unless walking & doing some proper alpinism is hardly equivalent
But what would flat-earthers consider the longest possible paths to be? Not the ones shown in the article, presumably?
I made a "first person" perspective rendering of this: https://mrgris.com/img/landfall/longest.png
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.
Nerd sniping at its best... ;)
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
Wikipedia has an article listing some of the notable (walking) straight line missions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_line_mission
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...