Psychology
Africa: The cartographic (and demographic) truth
5 minute read Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025Two Africa-based advocacy groups, Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, launched a “Change the Map” campaign in April.
“When whole generations, in Africa and elsewhere, learn from a distorted map, they develop a biased view of Africa’s role in the world,” said Speak Up founder Fara Ndiaye — but hardly anybody outside Africa noticed.
That may be changing, because earlier this month the 55-member African Union endorsed the campaign, making it a diplomatic issue as well. The claim is that the traditional Mercator map of the world shows the African continent as hardly any bigger than Europe, whereas in reality it is at least four times as big.
That’s all very well, and it’s true that Mercator’s map projection dates from the 16th century, when European ocean-going ships were expanding and transforming everybody’s view of the world. But it’s also true that all flat maps distort the surface of a sphere (like the Earth) one way or another. Choose your poison, but you can’t have it all.
Gardening’s hidden benefits: How digging in the dirt could bolster mental wellbeing
3 minute read Preview Friday, Oct. 3, 2025Lawyer argues Meta can’t be held liable for gunmaker’s Instagram posts in Uvalde families’ lawsuit
5 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawsuit filed by families of the Uvalde school shooting victims alleging Instagram allowed gun manufacturers to promote firearms to minors should be thrown out, lawyers for Meta, Instagram's parent company, argued Tuesday.
Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the May 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
The families sued Meta in Los Angeles in May 2024, saying the social media platform failed to enforce its own rules forbidding firearms advertisements aimed at minors. The families, who were present at last month's hearing, did not appear in court, with a lawyer citing the back-to-school season. Many plaintiffs attended the hearing virtually, he said.
In one ad posted on Instagram, the Georgia-based gunmaker Daniel Defense shows Santa Claus holding an assault rifle. In another post by the same company, a rifle leans against a refrigerator, with the caption: “Let’s normalize kitchen Daniels. What Daniels do you use to protect your kitchen and home?”