This map corrects everything you thought you knew about the world
Maps have a way of distorting our perception of the world. But AuthaGraph is trying to bring us back to reality with a new map that accurately depicts the size of continents in comparison to each other.
AuthaGraph corrects these common misconceptions (like the size of Africa) by converting the spherical surface of a world globe into 96 triangles. The triangles are then transferred to a triangular pyramic and are finally unfolded into a rectangle. The map itself can be laid out flat or folded into a three-dimensional globe -- and it's accurate both ways.
AuthaGraph mostly fixes the problem of land masses towards the poles being enlarged and distorted, while giving better accuracy to the real size of central continents. And yes, that means the U.S. and Greenland stop falsely looking so gigantic in comparison to other land masses like Africa.
The new map still isn't perfect — because it's hard to represent a spherical image on a flat surface — but it does a much better job of representing countries closer to their actual proportions. However, the map sits on a bit of a curve and there isn't a perfect latitude and longitude grid like we're used to seeing.
The map's creator notes that traditional maps focused on land masses because that's where humans live and what influenced most of our behavior. But as time went on, people started caring about a lot more than just the land masses we live on. Specifically, there are five areas: Sea ice around the North Pole representing global warming, territorial sea claims for marine resources, an ozone hole above the South Pole, Greenland's melting glaciers, and El Niño causing unusual weather in the ocean.
And AuthaGraph aims to provide a map where each of these interests is more accurately understood and represented on the globe.
So, if you'd like to educate yourself on what the world actually looks like, spend some time with AuthaGraph. It will probably give you a whole new idea of what's around you.
Molly is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While there, she studied life sciences communication and conservation biology. Molly has worked in multiple communications positions at UW and recently acted as a science intern at Business Insider in NYC. She is a lover of all things science and tech related, and is always ready to take on a new challenge. When Molly isn't writing, she fills her time training for IRONMAN events, acting as the unofficial #1 Wisconsin athletics fan, and trying as many new foods as her budget will allow.
