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Earth Nullschool

A rotating globe with every wind current on Earth drawn as moving lines, and layers underneath for ocean currents, particulates and the jet stream.

Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.

How to get the most from it

Earth Nullschool sits in Live Earth Maps under Wander, filed as instant.

  • Just open it. It pays off within seconds, with nothing to read first.
  • It works on a phone or a desktop, so open it on whatever is nearest.
  • It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
  • No account needed — you can start without signing up.
  • Go in expecting something mesmerising, beautiful and brainy.

About this category: Live data drawn on a map: storms, earthquakes, lightning, shipping, wildlife. Open one and the planet stops being an abstraction.

Good for

  • A five-second distraction
  • Watching something hypnotic for a while
  • Looking at something lovely
  • Giving your brain a workout
  • A quiet break at your desk
  • Killing time on your phone
  • Trying it with zero commitment

Earth Nullschool: quick answers

Is Earth Nullschool free?

Yes. Earth Nullschool is free to use and needs no account.

Do I need an account to use Earth Nullschool?

No. You can use Earth Nullschool without signing up for anything.

Does Earth Nullschool work on a phone?

Yes. Earth Nullschool works on phones as well as desktop browsers.

Is Earth Nullschool safe for work?

Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.

How long does Earth Nullschool take?

We file it as "Instant": Good within five seconds of loading.

More in Live Earth Maps

All 14 in Live Earth Maps
  • The carbon intensity of the grid across most of the world, coloured by how clean each country's electricity happens to be at this minute.

  • Industrial fishing vessel tracks worldwide, rebuilt from satellite signals, showing exactly where the world's fleets have been working.

  • Satellite-derived tree cover loss for anywhere on Earth, week by week, with alerts you can zoom in on until you are looking at one hillside.

  • Every lightning strike detected worldwide appears within seconds of the flash, triangulated by a volunteer network of home-built receivers.

Same mood: mesmerising

All mesmerising sites
  • Thousands of public webcams pointed at squares, harbours, volcanoes and building sites, some with archives stretching back decades.

  • Interactive classroom illusions you can drag, toggle and pause, which makes the effects considerably harder to dismiss.

  • A scatterplot of six thousand music genres you have never heard of, each one clickable for a sample and a list of its bands.

    • 1 hr+
    • Sound on
    • Desktop
  • Idle evolution from primordial soup to interstellar empire, with dozens of species branches and an enormous technology tree.

    • 1 hr+
    • Desktop

Keep exploring

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