I learned a new word this week: antipode. According to Wikipedia, "Antipodal points on the surface of a sphere are diametrically opposite; on the other side of a globe."
So, is the USA an antipode of China? Nope. Not at all.
Using this little antipodal toy, I found out that from my home in Texas, if I could dig straight through the earth, I would wind up somewhere in the Indian Ocean. [The top map is the original location and the bottom map is its antipodal point.]
And, if I were to dig all the way through the earth in a straight line from my home here in Taiwan . . . I would wind up in Paraguay. [And, no, Taiwan is not the same size as South America--the map scale on the left is different.]
So . . . I might not be EXACTLY 1/2 way around the world via the earth's core at least, but I sure am close.
And, Tiffany, one of my cousins who came to visit at the end of July, had just left Argentina after being there a year. For the year that she was there . . . we lived almost exactly on the other side of the world from each other! Cool!
Antipodes, huh? Learn something new every day!
ReplyDeleteFrom where I sit here in TN, my antipode is in the Indian Ocean as well.
well, you'd be kinda close to australia, at any rate. :)
ReplyDeletewell, i'd end up halfway between Morocco and the upper-eastern US (in the middle of the ocean too)...and that, is pretty cool given those are two priority places on my travel list. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool!
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