interesting to see whats electrifed. from apod.

 

 

 

Explanation: This is what the Earth looks like at night. Can you find your favorite country or city? Surprisingly, city lights make this task quite possible. Human-made lights highlight particularly developed or populated areas of the Earth's surface, including the seaboards of Europe, the eastern United States, and Japan. Many large cities are located near rivers or oceans so that they can exchange goods cheaply by boat. Particularly dark areas include the central parts of South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The above image is actually a composite of hundreds of pictures made by the orbiting DMSP satellites.

 

(Editor's note: This image has generated many print requests. Unfortunately, we do not sell prints. However, a high-resolution digital version of the image is available here.

 

if you clik the link you can blow it up even more:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061001.html

This is a highly exaggerated view that makes it look like there's hardly any undeveloped land out there when in fact the population densities of half the counties in Ohio, for example, are very low.  I mean, this map makes it look like they're running out of open land in Nevada. 

Damn I didn't know Hawaii was that far away.

 

This is a highly exaggerated view that makes it look like there's hardly any undeveloped land out there when in fact the population densities of half the counties in Ohio, for example, are very low.  I mean, this map makes it look like they're running out of open land in Nevada.

 

Not real sure where you think Nevada is but....it doesn't even come close to being filled with lights.  I understand what you are saying for Ohio and some other states, but Nevada is a bad example....it clearly looks undeveloped!

This is a highly exaggerated view that makes it look like there's hardly any undeveloped land out there when in fact the population densities of half the counties in Ohio, for example, are very low.  I mean, this map makes it look like they're running out of open land in Nevada. 

 

in the case of the usa i am not sure the amount of light generated necessarily correlates directly to the population. it more says to me that we use a lot of power and are a well lit up country.

 

what struck me most: north vs south korea, puerto rico, the wide solid line of light along the european riviera & eastern italy, & finally wow take a look at the nile in egypt -- its all lit up.

 

 

 

 

Damn I didn't know Hawaii was that far away.

 

 

It takes about five hours to fly from LA to Hawaii, if that gives you an idea.

Looking at that map I understand why the U.S. makes up 6% of the population yet consumes (what is it, 40-50 percent of the world's resources?).

^Stupid Americanos!! :laugh:

Yeah, mostly because the average person around the world is still making under $1,000 a year because their land and governments suck.  Now you can scroll over China and other parts of the world on Google Maps and it really illustrates what an advantage the US has land and climate-wise over everywhere else in the world.  We have some of the best natural harbors in the world, the best navigable inland waterways, the best farmland, have to import very few raw materials, have the most and best universities, most of the world's largest companies, and virtually all the medical and scientific advancement in the world happens here.  And in places you can still buy a few acres of land for $10,000.   

 

^ I know places in Colorado you can buy land for $500 an acre. ;) Oh and you can see every star in the sky too.. amazing. I could never see that many living near the city.

Damn I didn't know Hawaii was that far away.

 

 

The flight is long, but it's worth it!

dear nasa,

 

do not define anticrepuscular rays by asking me to picture crepuscular rays.

 

asshat.

what struck me most: north vs south korea

 

Oh yeah, North has major power problems. I've seen maps with only North, and the only lit up area is where a statue of old Kim Jong stands.

You can see the the development along the Trans-Siberian railroad. India-Pakistan-Bangladesh has power....but alot of their neighbors don't. Prudhoe Bay is almost as bright as Anchorage. Tokyo-Osaka-Fukouka looks like one large snake like metro. Istanbul looks pretty funky. Outside of North Africa, the only things you can really make out in the African continent are see Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Khartoum. Thank God Europe, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan aren't wasting power like the U.S. too. :)

Especially compare the inhabited part of China to the US, obviously the US has much more useful land than does China, Mongolia, Nepal, and Tibet are as worthless from an economic development persepctive as is Nevada and most of the area between the Rockies and Sierras. 

^ not so fast. hang on, the way things are going there will be some idiotic phoenix's and las vegas's in china's rural wastelands too in the near future, believe it!

 

soon the new dubai may even end up being a light beacon for extra-terrestrials.

^^ I don't know....the Gobi, the Himalayas, the Altays, the Muslim uprisings in Xianing (Sp?) >> the province N of Tibet....I'd be really surprised if even a Chinese business man would invest there. Western China is alot different than Western North America.