Algorithmic road trip to visit a street named after each day of the year

Ben Ashforth set out to visit a street named after a day of the year for each date. He used OpenStreetMap to find the streets and then algorithmically routed a trip. Then he followed through and went on the trip. In a five-minute lightning talk, he describes the journey. See a photo for every day here. [via Waxy]

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EV charging road trip

We hear about electric vehicles being the future, but for that to happen, people eventually need to be able to drive long distances without getting stranded. For Bloomberg Green, Kyle Stock and Jeremy C.F. Lin frame this in the context of American summer road trip. If you drive a non-Tesla EV, you’re going to run into some challenges.

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A million dollars vs. a billion visualized with a road trip

A million dollars. A billion dollars. The latter is 1,000 times more than the former. Just add a few zeros, right? Tom Scott used a road trip to visualize the actual difference in scale.

Scott starts by setting the baseline of a million dollars with a short, one-minute walk. Stack one million dollar bills after the other and it’s about the length of a football field. Stack one billion, and he has to drive for an hour.

Oh scale, you are a tricky thing.

It reminds me of the scaled solar system a few years ago. Earth was sized as a marble, and distance and the size of everything else was scaled accordingly.

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Optimized Brewery Road Trip, With Genetic Algorithm

Visit the best American breweries of 2018, based on RateBeer rankings, while minimizing travel time and distance. Read More

Cross-country road trip at a constant 70 degrees

70 degree road trip

Road trips are fun, but it can be hard to enjoy yourself when you end up in a place during its hottest or coldest day of the year. Wouldn’t it be nice to travel across the country and have nice weather every single day? This road trip is for you.

Using data from the National Center for Environmental Information and Environment Canada, climatologist Brian Brettschneider mapped a 13,000-plus mile road trip and scheduled so that the high temperature every day is 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The trip starts in Texas, meanders northeast, makes its way all the way up to Alaska, and then back down. It would take a little over five months.

Just imagine all the points in Pokémon Go you could rack up.

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Top Brewery Road Trip, Routed Algorithmically

brewery-road-trip-final

There are a lot of great craft breweries in the United States, but there is only so much time. This is the computed best way to get to the top rated breweries and how to maximize the beer tasting experience. Every journey begins with a single sip. Read More

Map of literary road trips

Literature road trip

Ever wanted to follow in the footsteps of a famous writer or literary character in their journey across the country? Well now you can. Richard Kreitner for Atlas Obscura hand-cataloged the road trips — more than 1,500 entries — from twelve works of literature and Steven Melendez mapped the paths.

The above map is the result of a painstaking and admittedly quixotic effort to catalog the country as it has been described in the American road-tripping literature. It includes every place-name reference in 12 books about cross-country travel, from Mark Twain's Roughing It (1872) to Cheryl Strayed's Wild (2012), and maps the authors' routes on top of one another. You can track an individual writer’s descriptions of the landscape as they traveled across it, or you can zoom in to see how different authors have written about the same place at different times.

Pair this with the BreweryMap, which tells you nearby breweries during a road trip, and you've got yourself an adventure.

Happy travels.

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Getting there Safely—Avoid Driving Disasters

road with dark cloudsFrom weekend getaways to cross-country road trips, people spend countless hours driving each year. Despite the confidence you may feel behind the wheel, there are some situations where driving is not a safe option for anyone. The weather can cause especially dangerous driving conditions, often putting a driver and their passengers in unexpected and risky situations.

As you plan your summer travel, be informed and be prepared.

Keeping an emergency kit in your car is the best way to prepare for any type of emergency on the road.  Include items like a first aid kit, jumper cables, tools (like a roadside emergency kit), and maps in your emergency car kit. For a full list of items to include in your car kit visit, CDC’s Get Supplies webpage.

Here are some tips on what to do when driving through severe weather and what to do if disaster occurs when you are on the road.Warning Traffic Sign On Flooded Road

Severe Rain or Floods

Heavy rainfall can quickly make driving dangerous – from slippery roads to not being able to see very far in front of you.  If you get caught in a storm, remember your hazard lights and know when you need to pull over to a safe spot. If you cannot clearly see the road or road signs and signal, pull over to a safe location and leave your hazard lights on. Listen to the weather report and get to a safe location if the weather it predicted to get worse.

After a heavy rain, be aware of flooding in the area and avoid roads that may be covered in water. NEVER drive through flood waters—the water could be deeper then it appears. Six inches of water can cause you to lose control of your car, and a foot of water can sweep most cars away.  Turn around, don’t drown!

Tornado

If there is a possibility of tornadoes in your area, avoid driving. The last place you want to be in a tornado is in a motor vehicle. Cars, buses and trucks are easily tossed by tornado winds. Do NOT try to outrun a tornado in your car. If a tornado watch or warning is issued in your area while you are in your car, immediately find a building to take shelter. If you see a tornado, stop your vehicle and get to a secure location, low to the ground and protected from flying debris if possible. Do not get under your vehicle.

Earthquakes

Traffic cones on the cracked asphalt roadIf you are in your car during an earthquake, stop quickly and safely. If possible, move your car away from the shoulder or curb, avoid stopping on or under an overpass and move away from utility poles and overhead wires. Remain in your car and turn on your parking break. Your car may shake violently on its shocks, but it is a good place to remain until the shaking stops. If a power line falls on your car, call 911 or an emergency line for help, and stay inside until a trained person removes the wire. Also, tune into your local radio for emergency broadcast information on possible aftershocks and road damage caused by the earthquake. When driving after an earthquake watch for hazards, such as breaks in the pavement, downed utility poles and wires, rising water levels, fallen overpasses, and collapsed bridges.

Extreme Heat           

Cars can get hot very quickly, especially if they are sitting in the sun. During a very hot day and even with the windows open, interior temperatures can rise significantly when a car is parked. Anyone left inside a car when an area is experiencing extreme heat is at risk for serious heat-related illnesses or even death. Children and pets that are left unattended in parked cars are at greatest risk for health related illness. Never leave infants, children, older adults or pets in a parked car, even if the windows are cracked open. When leaving your car, check to be sure everyone is out of the car.

Take all the precautions you can to ensure you get to your destination safely, and never attempt to drive through dangerous travel conditions. Bad weather can strike unexpectedly, so be prepared by staying informed and having an emergency kit in your car.