It reminds me of a bit I did a few years ago trying to find the
"longest straightest" line in Atlanta [PDF]: https://matthewritch.com/pages/LongestStraightestLine.pdf
Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
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Re: Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
#42But what would flat-earthers consider the longest possible paths to be? Not the ones shown in the article, presumably?
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…
> Of course this depends on the projection you use!
But if you do not believe in a globe how do you understand projections?
Re: Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
#43I 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...
Re: Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
#44Learned this the expensive way
Re: Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
#45Before I opened the solution, I knew it had to pass through the beagle straight. It is the only choke point separating the largest oceans, about both their empties areas, the far south. I guess my biggest surprise is that there is a straight line through the Beagle straight.
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.
Re: Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
#46But what would flat-earthers consider the longest possible paths to be? Not the ones shown in the article, presumably?
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 ;-)
Re: Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
#47This geographic puzzle feels like the modern day version of the Seven Bridges of Königsberg:
Re: Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
#48There'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.
It seems like that path crosses the Suez canal. I think it's fair that bridges and/or tunnels don't count.
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.
Re: Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seems like that path crosses the Suez canal. I think it's fair that bridges and/or tunnels don't count.
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.
technically Antarctica is covered in (solid) water.
"technically incorrect the worst kind of incorrect".
Re: Longest Straight Line Paths on Water or Land on the Earth (2018)
#50There'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 you are talking about the trail from Cape Town to Vladivostok, that one is not a straight line.
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.