Comment on Why don't compasses have just two Cardinal directions (North, East, -North, -East)?
Nora@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 day ago
Why stop at two, when you could stop at just one? North Negative North = south Negative 90 North = west 90 North =east
We could use one, and assume we’re operating in the field of complex numbers:
North
i North
-North
i^3^ North.
And we could use the complex modulus to indicate distance… or we could map the Riemann sphere onto the surface of the earth and use a single complex number to indicate location.
Now you’re talking!
Directions from maps: turn pi at the nearest i intersection
Why stop at one when you could stop at just zero?
This reply was brought to you by The Lost MC.
In emergencies when you need to use a compass you can save time by using these maximally efficient cardinal names: , , , and .
Yes!, now we are getting somewhere.
sznowicki@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Better idea! What if we use 0 for North and then divide the circle around by exactly 360 points? That way we don’t need NSEW, we have 0, 90, 180, 270!
SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Ah… I love airplanes… To be clear, the issue with this is that magnetic 0 is not the same as true 0. There’s a slight offset that can cause issues. So why not have like… True 0 and magnetic 0. T0 and m0?
chillpanzee@lemmy.ml 1 day ago
Fun fact… there is an ICAO effort to “get rid” of magnetic headings for runway numbers. I listened to a presentation they did last year, and as much as I went into it thinking it wasn’t needed, I was a convert listening to them.
Btw, magnetic variation is pretty significant in some places. It’s 13 degrees where I am.
SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 1 day ago
What’s the new one? I must have missed the presentation. Probably because I wasn’t invited.
adespoton@lemmy.ca 1 day ago
Why not?
Because what happens when your referent changes? Which direction is Mars from Earth? We obviously need a single navigational system that works anywhere in the universe.
SpikesOtherDog@ani.social 1 day ago
Easy! Assuming the earth is the center of the universe, coordinates are 360,360
± the current position of the Earth in the solar system ± the current position of the solar system in the Milky Way. In the Local Cluster, in the Local Group, in the Virgo Supercluster, in the Local Mesh
In order to return, we just go that way: Image
guy@piefed.social 1 day ago
Mars would be that way I assume