Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

NGDCOrigami Balloon

Finally --Hold it by the edges and blowsharply into the hole. The balloonwill inflate.

1

Start with a square of paperface-down

Crease it diagonally

2

Crease it along the otherdiagonal and the midline

3

Squash it into a flat triangle

4

Fold one point up

5

Fold all four points this way

6

Fold one of the free cornersto meet the center

7

Fold all four free cornersthis way

8

Fold down one of thefree points

9

Open up the pocket on the left;curl the point into the pocket

10

Fold and tuck all fourpoints this way

11

Open up the shape andfind the open end

12

Origami Balloon Projection and instructions courtesy Flaming Pear Software

http://www.flamingpear.com

The curiously-shattered image of the globe (left) can be folded into an origami balloon (some assembly required -- see below) that reassembles the map. The image is a composite from ETOPO2 topography and bathymetry overlaid with nighttime lights from DMSP. Print this page as big as you can, cut out the entire map square, and strike a blow for world pieces.

UNITED STATES OF AMERIC

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NIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

NOAA Satellite and Information ServicesNational Geophysical Data Center

see more at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/