It\u2019s scary to think that Google launched its Earth project 20 years ago. The map grew and changed, became popular, and then seemed to fall out of fashion \u2014 unjustly, it has to be said. The current version not only lets you scour any piece of land to find your home, but also now features 3D models of the planet\u2019s top architectural monuments and geographical wonders. Anyone sick of gazing at the Sydney Opera House or the Eiffel Tower can take a computer-generated flight over the Alps or the Himalayas. The app includes virtual tours for those cooped up at home because of the pandemic, as well as handy tools for measuring distances and calculating areas.<\/p>\n https:\/\/platform.leolabs.space\/visualization<\/a><\/p>\n This globe will appeal to prophets of doom and fans of conspiracy and espionage theories: The map tracks all of the satellites (and what they are turning into, i.e., space debris) currently orbiting our planet. You can zoom in and hover your mouse cursor over any object to find out its name and type (satellite, debris, or something else). Detailed satellite information, sadly, is not provided, but you can do your own online search based on names.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.ventusky.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n Nothing to talk about? That\u2019s what the weather\u2019s for! This map provides real-time visualizations of meteorological data for any location on Earth. On the left-hand side, you can select temperature, cloud cover, pressure, precipitation, humidity, air quality \u2014 anything that goes on outside. On the right, you can change the units of measurement so as not to wrestle with inches versus centimeters or Fahrenheit versus Celsius. The timeline at the bottom offers a rudimentary weather forecast. Our favorite pastime at the moment is checking the temperature in Verkhoyansk<\/a>, that well-known vacation spot and an excellent data point for anyone who complains \u201cit\u2019s a bit chilly today.\u201d<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.flightradar24.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n For those frustrated with the lack of detailed satellite data in LeoLabs\u2019 visualisation, welcome to Flightradar24. Here you can find out about almost any aircraft currently in flight or about to take off, in real time. That includes information about the airline, place of departure and destination, model, altitude, speed, and route progress. Besides being incredibly interesting, the service has practical benefits for those who like to keep everything under control. Say you\u2019re meeting someone at the airport: Just enter the flight number on the Flightradar24 to learn the plane\u2019s precise landing time. Flight info on the airport website is for wimps.<\/p>\n Paid subscribers get to see a more comprehensive flight history, with aircraft serial number, vertical speed, outboard temperature, and a bunch of other stats for true aviation geeks. Incidentally, a similar map exists for seagoing vessels<\/a>. And even though the Ever Given<\/em> blockage has long been cleared, it\u2019s still fascinating to watch the marine traffic through the Suez Canal.<\/p>\n https:\/\/thetruesize.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n The greatest ever illusionist is not David Blaine or your bank manager, but Gerardus Mercator. There are other ways to project a sphere onto a plane<\/a>, but the world map familiar to everyone since childhood is his. Print out the map and try to stick it evenly onto a globe, however, and you\u2019ll drift off course \u2014 and as you get closer to the poles, the size mismatch only increases. The trick is, with the Mercator projection, the horizontal dimensions in the extreme northern and southern latitudes have to be stretched, which causes Greenland and Africa to look roughly equal in size.<\/p>\n TheTrueSize lets you take any country \u2014 from that same Mercator projection \u2014 and drag it around the map to make objective comparisons. Just type a country\u2019s name in the search bar, and when it\u2019s highlighted on the map, drag it to a different part of the world to see, for example, Mexico\u2019s real size relative to Europe, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo\u2019s to Alaska. Not recommended for users from Greenland.<\/p>\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/11\/01113748\/top-interactive-maps-google-earth.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLeoLabs: Everything in orbit<\/h2>\n
![\"LeoLabs:](\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/11\/01113728\/top-interactive-maps-leolabs.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nVentusky: Weather at your fingertips<\/h2>\n
![\"Ventusky:](\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/11\/01113525\/top-interactive-maps-ventusky.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFlightradar24: Everything about aircraft<\/h2>\n
![\"Flightradar24:](\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/11\/01113310\/top-interactive-maps-flightradar24.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTheTrueSize: Which is bigger, Greenland or India?<\/h2>\n
![\"TheTrueSize:](\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/11\/01113301\/top-interactive-maps-thetruesize.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nEarth 2050: Glimpse the future<\/h2>\n
![\"Earth](\"https:\/\/media.kasperskydaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2021\/11\/01113235\/top-interactive-maps-earth-2050-EN.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n