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What's something that's taken for granted that occasionally makes you think, wait wtf? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 2 days ago by manicdave to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

88 comments fedilink hide all child comments

For example, Britain's national mapping organisation's brand is associated in our national consciousness with going to a small shop in a quaint village to get a map showing how to walk up a mountain. It's called Ordnance Survey. If that sounds like Artillery Research to you, that's because the project started because the king wanted to know how to accurately bomb Scotland.

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[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

You're talking about great circle routes, which is why long distance airplane flights look strangely curved on most flat projection maps.

What's even more fun is Coriolis force, which in the Northern hemisphere will deflect your path slightly to the right. Pilots tend not to think about it because the wind is a much greater force for deflection but it's there.