A picture of a map showing the sea route from India to the United States has 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 US in a straight line, without hitting 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's possible to sail from India to the USA in a completely straight line," the caption of the post read. And reacting to the image, Elon Musk wrote, "whoa".
Take a look below:
Other social media users meanwhile pointed out that the map seems a little less than straightforward. Some X users also questioned whether the map maker really knew what they were talking about. "This line is far from straight," wrote one user. "That's not straight though," commented another confused user.
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However, even though the line might not look straight on a 2-dimensional map, it looks straight when drawn on a globe. Meaning, the line doesn't turn left or right but makes a continuous line in one direction.
A user shared a short video showing the sea route on a 3D globe. "because 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:
People on social media thanked the X user for putting the journey into perspective while others lashed those who found the original picture confusing. "Thank you. I was a flat earther for half a minute and couldn't wrap my brain around that one," wrote one user. "Glad I read the comments before writing 'THAT'S NOT A STRAIGHT LINE,'" said another.
Some users, however, still argued that the line was not straight regardless because it followed the Earth's curvature.
