Most people know that Earth's landmasses once formed single supercontinent, but how said continent peeled away from itself – or the extent to which Earth's continents remain connected – is not always immediately apparent. That's where the Dymaxion map comes in.

This is the map we've all dreamed of seeing. It's a depiction of Earth in which its primary geological features have been inverted, showcasing a planet with a sprawling landmass that extends across two-thirds of its surface.

You’re looking at the most detailed map yet of the Antarctic landmass. Stripped clean of all its ice, the polar continent exhibits a number of interesting features, including vast mountain ranges, sprawling plains — and the lowest gorges and valleys that have ever been seen on Earth.

To date, astronomers have catalogued over 860 exoplanets. If that wasn't remarkable enough, scientists have also been able to determine the atmospheric composition of many of these planets by analyzing their spectral shifts. But even more incredible would be the ability to actually chart landmasses and oceanic…

Benjamin Franklin's perspicacity never fails to amaze. In few places is his mental acuity more evident than his letters of correspondence, wherein Franklin frequently ruminated on topics scientific, technical and philosophical. What follows is an excerpt from one such letter, originally addressed to a scientific…

A South Pacific island that's been on scientific charts for at least a decade — including Google Earth and Google Maps — has just been undiscovered. Eager to check out "Sandy Island" for the first time, a group of Australian scientists recently ventured to the spot where it was supposed to be, and were instead greeted…

From the famous maps of cartographer Heinrich Bünting's Itinerarium Sacra Scripturae (Travels According to the Scriptures), come these fascinating mashup of religion, fantasy and map-making.

Europeans first reached Brazil in 1500, but for centuries before that any decent mapmaker knew where Brazil was. It was an island a hundred or so miles west of Ireland... and this cartographic phantom endured as late as the 1800s.

In 1450, Venetian monk Fra Mauro created what cartography experts say may be the first known "modern" world map. Two hundred fifty years later, a copy was made that now resides in the cartographic collection of the British Library.

Have you ever wondered what a map of the continental U.S. might look like if it were subjected to the stylings of Christopher and J.R.R. Tolkien, who, together, illustrated the world encompassing LotR? Wonder no more; redditor Jvlivs has made Middle Earth-ified America a reality.