this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] ComradeRachel@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 3 days ago (3 children)

How can it be the true size if it’s still a projection on a 2d surface? I thought could only see the true size on a 3d globe.

[–] vithigar@lemmy.ca 17 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

True size is possible just fine on a 2D surface. For both too large and too small to be even possible there must exist some transitional point where the size is correct.

You cannot have both the size and shape correct at the same time. Having the correct size means distorting the shape, and vise versa. One or the other can be correct, but never both.

It's a curved 2d surface

[–] Liz@midwest.social 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's a much closer approximation, anyway.

[–] ComradeRachel@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Also I just noticed that the borders no longer line up and it looks like there is ocean in between which isn’t the case. So I shows the size more accurately but is not useable as a map really.

[–] Liz@midwest.social 1 points 1 hour ago

Ah, yes, this would be a frustrating map to try and actually use.