AP: “The Pacific Island country of Nauru has changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, its president said, matching the spelling and pronunciation in the national language.” See also RNZ coverage. This follows other countries’ name… More

It makes sense that a mapping app for the Apple Vision Pro would evoke Boston’s Mapparium. Using that virtual space to display cartograms, which is what Worldmapper VR does, is not something I would have… More

Update your maps: Nauru is changing its name to Naoero. apnews.com/article/naoe...

Nauru, the world's third-smallest country, changes its name to Naoero

Nauru has changed its name to the Republic of Naoero, aligning with its national language. The international code will shift from NRU to NRO, and its people will be called dei-Naoero.

apnews.com

Ed Parsons, who used to work at Google, has some words about the Google Earth AI image generation debacle. “Veterans of the Geo organization understood an unwritten rule that took decades to build: Geospatial trust is… More

UPDATE: After the publication of this piece, Google sent 404 Media a statement saying it was “rolling back this feature in Google Earth while we work on implementing stronger guardrails.” www.404media.co/google-earth...

Google Earth’s New AI Lets Anyone Fabricate Completely Bullshit Satellite Images

"Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran. Then I put a fatal crash on a street in Amsterdam."

404media.co

It’s been possible to use 3D models in Google Earth for decades. But Google’s announcement yesterday its AI image generation model, Nano Banana 2, can be used to create custom images and 3D rendering inside… More

I used to do some work on the ethical use of satellite and drone imagery for aid and disaster response, and it is genuinely hard to express in words what a dangerous, stupid thing Google is doing by making it easy to use GenAI to create faked satellite imagery:

How to plant a nuclear plant in Iran

The question is: what on earth is Google doing?

digitaldigging.org

Google Earth, a tool often used as a source of satellite imagery to verify photos and videos, has added a feature that allows you to alter satellite imagery with AI, for reasons. blog.google/products-and...

The Guardian: “A US government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation at a ⁠global conference in Brazil ⁠this week, ​causing a stir among attenders who took screenshots and posted them online.” Not… More

Shot:

Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 7d ago

here's a very random question: why is it that Google Maps hides Brighton? attached are several screengrabs that show it displaying much smaller places but not Brighton, you have to zoom in soooo much to get it to appear, it's so weird?

NASA has released a new 3D model of the Earth’s gravitational field. “The geoid is an equipotential surface that can be thought of as the shape an ocean surface would take due to the Earth’s… More

A U.S. government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a state department presentation at a ⁠global conference www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Google Maps users in New Zealand will get a voice that “speaks English with a Kiwi accent while accurately pronouncing te reo Māori (the Māori language) place names.” Street View imagery has been refreshed in… More

Ars Technica on plans by Xona Space Systems to launch a constellation of low-Earth-orbit navigation satellites. Compared with GPS, the satellites would be much more resistent to interference because their signals would be 100 times… More

A members-only exhibition at the Royal Geographic Society, Skin Maps: Semi-Permeable Cartography, features “collages and reworkings of historic maps” by artist Steph Morris. From Morris’s website: The new collages by Steph on display arose from… More

Like #art? Like #maps? Come to a #FREE, fun workshop @rgs.org this Friday, 31 July! Steph Morris will lead participants through his exhibition, 'Skin Maps: semi-permeable cartography' and a collage activity on identity and mapping. Book now for the last places! #artsky #academicsky #skystorians

Redrawing the map – art workshop

Join artist Steph Morris in exploring his exhibition followed by making your own maps with collage and other techniques.

rgs.org

I’m opposed to generative AI and all its works. According to some leading names in the cartographic community, that makes me a gatekeeper, a Luddite, and an irrational AI hater. So, generative AI has come… More

What can a Korean star chart from the MacLean Collection tell us about the heavens it was made to govern? Salvatore Martinelli explores this topic in the essay "Two Epistemologies of the Sky," which thinks about the order and allocated fields of astrological elements in the Korean court.

On July 16, The Oxford Handbook of Digital Classical Studies, ed. by @eltonteb.bsky.social, Olympia Bobou & Rubina Raja was published! I’ve a chapter on digital mapping. It tells the story of how maps became such an important part of ancient world digital humanities academic.oup.com/edited-volum...

Digital Maps and Mapping

Abstract. This chapter surveys the history, technological advances, and application of digital mapping within the field of digital classics. It looks at ho

academic.oup.com

New date for a tour of #skinmaps, Steph Morris' beautiful collage exhibition inspired by #maps in the @rgs.org collections! 11 August, 2pm, FREE for all! #art #exhibition #freeevent www.rgs.org/events/upcom...

Skin maps: semi-permeable cartography, guided exhibition tour - 11 August | RGS

See the maps which inspired the art of Steph Morris, and join the artist for a guided walk through the exhibition on 11 August.

rgs.org

The old map shows what's now the Tate Modern when it was still a power station. The Google map is so much uglier and doesn't bother to name a lot of the streets, but it does s show chain shops and corporate hotels.

I had replied to the below: Paper maps are great. Never run out of juice, let you see the close-up detail and the big picture at the same time (because they're three feet wide, unlike your phone), and the more you use them the more you learn your way around without them, unlike obeying a machine.

Michael D. Green, PhD@michaeldgreen.phd · 4w ago

Can’t lie, the fact that y’all were driving with PAPER maps is insane. Even worse, you had to ask random strangers for directions??

There are so many takes on the paper maps vs GPS debate right now and I can't respond to all of them because I am so tied up with conflicting thoughts on the subject.

A new interactive map predicts the density and extent of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks, which exist in symbiosis with land plants. The estimate is based on soil samples and data from previous studies, fed through… More

I recently fell down the mechanical watch rabbit hole, and in doing so inadvertently discovered that maps and watches have a long history with each other. It’s a relationship that started long before smart watches… More

Maps and Watches

I recently fell down the mechanical watch rabbit hole, and in doing so inadvertently discovered that maps and watches have a long history with each other. It’s a relationship that started long before smart watches… More

maproomblog.com

A new study has succeeded in mapping, on a global scale, the fungal network that supports plant life and helps regulate our planet’s climate. www.wired.com/story/theres...

There’s a Global Network of Fungi Under Your Feet. This Is the First Complete Map

A new study has succeeded in mapping, on a global scale, the fungal network that supports plant life and helps regulate our planet’s climate.

wired.com

This week on The Map Room: Geofence Warrants Constitute a Search, Says U.S. Supreme Court www.maproomblog.com/2026/06/geof... Satellite Imagery of the Venezuelan Earthquakes www.maproomblog.com/2026/07/sate... Mapping with Fish Guts www.maproomblog.com/2026/07/mapp...

A study of the diet of chinook salmon in the Salish Sea has enabled researchers to create a map of the availability of their forage species. The Tyee: Instead of scientists trawling to try to… More

Wired: “Satellite technology is being used to streamline rescue efforts in Venezuela following the two earthquakes that struck on June 24. Space agencies have shared images with emergency authorities and the Venezuelan government that not… More