9 comments

  • ventana 1 hour ago
    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...

    • comrade1234 16 minutes ago
      I opened Apple Maps in globe mode and I still have trouble visualizing the water path.
  • OscarCunningham 27 minutes ago
    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.
  • shrx 1 hour ago
    > Figure 9: Longest Drivable Straight Line Path on Earth.

    Walkable, maybe, but definitely not drivable (it crosses directly over the Alps, for example).

    • pbhjpbhj 50 minutes ago
      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.

      • kakacik 27 minutes ago
        Extremely highly inprobable vs 100% there and directly impassable unless walking & doing some proper alpinism is hardly equivalent
  • mrgriscom 46 minutes ago
    I made a "first person" perspective rendering of this: https://mrgris.com/img/landfall/longest.png
  • paufernandez 35 minutes ago
    Nerd sniping at its best... ;)
  • dr_dshiv 59 minutes ago
    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.
  • metalman 12 minutes ago
    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