UN to vote on adopting new world map that shows true size of all countries

Markoff 12 points 10 comments September 04, 2026
www.independent.co.uk · View on Hacker News

Discussion Highlights (3 comments)

final_aeon

Typical. They're trying to make the 3rd world huge

metalman

As the inventor of Globe On a String™©® I am WAY ahead of curve. It was touch and go there for a minuit, but the god like feeling of fishing a string through a planet and suspending it at my sole will, but well ok, I keep it in the livingroom and anyone who visits,but well again, ok, actualy everybody is wierdly intimidated by a Globe on a String™©® and wont give it a swing, though I'm telling you megalomania does have it's moments, and Globe on a String™©® is perfect for those moments where you realy want to take a disproportionate view of the world.

gildedkris

As I understand: * Mercator has accurate shapes but inaccurate sizes. * Equal Earth has inaccurate shapes but more accurate sizes. Inaccurate shapes are not a problem when looking at a big (global) static picture. Your brain still matches the shapes and connects the dots. However in a digital app when zoomed in, street views of NZ, east China, Chile, and Canada would be completely warped to be borderline unusable for most people. Zooming in would likely force the app to switch or gradually transition back to a shape-preserving projection, likely Mercator. If Google would actually get on board with this UN resolution, would we start seeing shapeshifting countries and cities in Google Maps whenever we zoom? How do you counter this?

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