How big is it really?

August 19, 2010 5:09 PM

The BBC's Dimensions site lets you view a range of phenomena overlaid on different parts of the Earth. What if the moon was sitting on Alice Springs? What do the Pakistan floods look like if placed on England? What would the walls of Beijing look like around London? Much more to explore.
posted by Jimbob (11 comments total)

some prior art
posted by phrontist at 5:20 PM on August 19, 2010

That's really awesome. The Pakistan floods cover basically the whole Eastern seaboard. Insane.

I sort of wanted to see the area effected by the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, but didn't see it (unless I overlooked it).
posted by codacorolla at 5:27 PM on August 19, 2010

Neat.

Too bad it can't do existential comparisons, such as how big Tom Cruise's ego would look when overlaid on Harrison Ford's.
posted by bwg at 5:31 PM on August 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

So good. My one request of this site would be that it remember my location from one request to another. Nothing's as boring as having to type your city name over and over.
posted by migurski at 5:42 PM on August 19, 2010

What if the moon was sitting on Alice Springs?

I'd take up surfing.
posted by pompomtom at 5:42 PM on August 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

What if the moon was sitting on Alice Springs? What do the Pakistan floods look like if placed on England? What would the walls of Beijing look like around London?

What if you really looked at your hand?
posted by DU at 6:20 PM on August 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

I sort of wanted to see the area effected by the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, but didn't see it (unless I overlooked it).

This will do that.
posted by invitapriore at 7:31 PM on August 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Pakistan floods' Dimensions are very striking.

One-fifth of the country submerged.

If that doesn't garner attention and aid, what will?
posted by xm at 8:07 PM on August 19, 2010

This actually made me less impressed with the Marianas Trench. Huh.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 8:27 PM on August 19, 2010

I put my own zipcode in there. The floods range from the Canadian border in Maine down to North Carolina, as wide as Massachusetts most of the way. That's completely immense, and I'm shocked. That would displace a hundred million Americans, easy. 20 million affected is completely understandable, and utterly shocking.

The US really, really needs to step up, here. I know we've been doing some good already, but we need to do a hell of a lot more - this is our oldest and closest ally in the region, and they've stuck by us through thick and thin, even when it was politically unpopular. We need to pull out the stops, and get them as much help as they need, soonest. This needs to be a strategic priority - Pakistan is our friend, there for us after 9/11, and they need to be able to call on us now that they really need us, and know that we'll be there with our blood, toil and treasure to see them through. The USA are the good guys? Let's prove it.
posted by Slap*Happy at 9:28 PM on August 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

This is an interesting way to visualise the inaccuracies of the map projection in use, try searching for "Greenland", and then for "Uganda", note the change in size.
posted by nfg at 6:48 AM on August 23, 2010