3 ms·
Walk (or drive, or sail) without turning and you’ll follow a great circle.
by mikeash 9y ago
Walk (or drive, or sail) without turning and you’ll follow a great circle.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoStay perpendicular to North/South and you follow a parallel. None of these things is of course possible IRL.
- mikeash 9y agoStaying perpendicular to north/south requires turning, unless you’re on the equator.
- pbhjpbhj 9y agoOr listing (ie leaning); still it seems straight, YMMV.
- mikeash 9y agoConsider the degenerate case where you’re ten feet away from the North Pole. You’ll need to go in a tight circle. The situation at more moderate latitudes is the same, just less extreme. It only seems straight because we’re usually at moderate latitudes and the rate of turning is low.