The photo has been viewed more than 6 million times on X.
A photo of a map showing the sea route from India to the United States caught the attention of billionaire Elon Musk. The map, which has been viewed on X (formerly Twitter) more than 6 million times, shows the possibility of sailing from India to the United States in a straight line, without colliding with any piece of land. It shows a curved blue line between the two countries – from Mumbai to Alaska via Madagascar.
“Without touching a single piece of land, it is possible to sail from India to the United States in a perfectly straight line,” the caption of the post read. In response to the photo, Elon Musk wrote: “Wow.”
Take a look below:
Stop
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 27, 2023
Meanwhile, other social media users pointed out that the map looks a little less clear. Some X users also wondered if the mapper really knew what they were talking about. “This line is far from straight,” one user wrote. “That’s not true though,” another confused user commented.
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However, although a line may not look straight on a 2D map, it looks straight when drawn on a globe. Meaning that the line does not turn left or right, but rather makes a continuous line in one direction.
One user shared a short video showing the sea route on a 3D globe. “Since the Earth is a globe and this is a 2D projection, this is what the path actually looks like,” the user wrote.
Watch the video below:
Since the Earth is a globe and this is a 2D projection, this is what the path actually looks like pic.twitter.com/1MnxhXAfMG
– C 🌖 (@sekira22) September 27, 2023
People on social media thanked User X for putting the trip into perspective while others criticized those who found the original photo confusing. “Thank you. I’ve been a flat earther for half a minute and I can’t get my head around this,” one user wrote. Another said: “Glad I read the comments before I wrote ‘this is not a straight line’.”
However, some users still said that the line wasn’t straight regardless because it followed the curvature of the Earth.
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