September 16, 2005

Can you dig a hole to China? Let's say you're 8 years old, and you want to dig a giant hole in your yard to the other side of the world. Click on a starting point somewhere on the map, and let Google maps help you figure out where you'd really pop up.

I'd come out swimming somewhere off the coast of Australia, provided there aren't any sharks nearby. Try zooming in for a more precise click on where you'd start your dig and where you'd end up.

posted by Mickey 19 years ago
  • Outsopurce your kid. Everything is made in China and he can be shipped back when (:and if) you want him (ok:or her)...
  • that is so cool it hurts me
  • Indeed, that completely and utterly rocks. Nevermind that I'd be in the middle of the Indian Ocean!
  • Few hundred (?) miles off the coast of Madagascar. Can hissing beetles swim?
  • Wow- Mr. Knickerbocker's laundry room!
  • I think that the legend exists because in 1912 11 year old Jamaal O'Shaughnessy dug a whole in his backyard just outside of Trenton, New Jersey and did, in fact, come out near Shanghai eight months later. However, it has been determined that O'Shaughnessy miscalculated and started his dig on a slight slope which ultimately led him to China instead of off the coast of Australia where he should have come out.
  • Just surfaced in Western Australia. Inside a chicken coop. it looks like.
  • From the map, it appears that a hole dug near Washington DC would come out off the east coast of Australia, while a hole dug from London would exit off the West coast of Australia. The inescapable conclusion seems to be that all holes lead to Australia. All monkeys who wish to take up pick and shovel to verify this theory, see you 'round Sydney for a cold one.
  • Interesting. One country that is pretty much on the other side of the earth from China is Brazil. And the site is .br. I think this is a communist comspiracy.
  • It's a little wonky; if I dig back down from Mr. K's laundryroom, I end up in Africa instead of Canada. Wrong turn at Albuquerque!
  • Shouldn't you just follow the tunnel back out of Mr. K's laundry room? Did you fill it back in?
  • It's full of socks!
  • Waaaaaaait a minute here. Socks? Are they pairs or singles?
  • Who can tell? /quickly makes alternate weekend plans
  • Wait... How do you win this game?
  • Missed Australia by just a tetch. On the other hand, I have someone's marvellous sock collection...
  • Oops! . . . Lawsuit!
  • What a pain if you ended up in an ocean. It would chase you down the hole and (almost) all the way back to your own back yard. And it would be salt water and no good for a pond.
  • Drats, the wide-open Atlantic ocean, off the coast of Argentina. Nowhere near Australia. *kicks the world* Great post, though! ( ( (
  • How did I end up off the coast of Chile?
  • That is just wild, I started where my swimming pool used to be, ended up off the SE coast of Australia in the Indian ocean. I then took the return trip and ended up on a gravel road about 30 miles from my backyard. Good post I got a chuckle or two from it.
  • This can't require a line straight through the centre of the earth -- I'm pretty sure NZ's antipode is Spain (roughly) and this tells me I'll end up just south of the Aleutian Islands/Bering Strait area. I could have at least come up within swimming distance of somewhere warm, jeez.
  • Western China. And there's a weird old guy in my chicken coop.
  • On the international date line somewhere in the ocean...which makes sense since Ghana is on the greenwich meridian.
  • Middle of the Indian Ocean. Ride that tsunami, baby! Ride that tsunami!
  • Godammit Google. The empty desesrt in Botswana has a higher zoom level than Honolulu? You fuckers.
  • South Pacific. But wouldn't the hole just fill up with water?
  • tracicle, Chyren, others: after it goes there, it imeediately jumps back to your original latitude, for some reason. You must zoom out, and look for the thumbtack that say "your hole ends up here!"
  • Wait a second, who are all these people in my laundry room? Oh, is it a Hawai'i MoFi meetup? about dang time!
  • I can explain the socks, btw. There's no need for accusations.
  • Wait: seven-toe toesocks, Mr. K? Hmmmm.
  • ...a weird old guy in my chicken coop Yoda he must bee.
  • Actually, those are the one's I stole from Nostril.
  • Mine comes out to the border of Brazil and Argentina..
  • AH HA! The truth finally comes out. You are so deep, Knickerbocker. I'm sure it will be the plank for you, Mr. And no lifejacket, either. Prepare to meet the Great White Sharks. Expect no mercy when we catch you. After him, my limping, one-socked Monkeys!
  • Uh, I came out off the west coast of South America, which is totally on the wrong hemisphere, since I was digging from New Mexico.
  • I had the same thing happen, but when I messed with the zoom, it moved me over to the ocean west of Oz. Seems to be a bug.
  • you know I have to say it. The theological implications are staggering.
  • That was rubbish.I started digging in Cornwall, UK and came out somewhere in the South Atlantic.
  • My hole is filling with South Sea salt water. oh shit! *begins rapid back filling