The good, the bad, and the ugly of humans' impact on the Earth, in 13 aerial photos.
Ben Grant was looking for satellite images of planet Earth. Instead, he found himself looking at Earth, Texas.
Photo by Ben Grant, used with permission.
While working at a brand consulting firm in New York a few years back, Grant started a space club "as an excuse to bring people together to eat lunch," he says. For one session, he tried to pull some satellite images so the group could talk about how satellites work.
"I thought if I typed in the word 'Earth,' Apple Maps would zoom out and show the entire planet, but it actually went to Earth, Texas," Grant says.
Suddenly, his screen was filled with a strange pattern. Hundreds and hundreds of perfect circles, evenly spaced, in some kind of divine pattern. They were irrigation fields, he says, but he had never seen anything like it before.
Inspired by his accidental aerial discovery, Grant started investigating the overview effect: The idea that seeing our world in its entirety can give us a new understanding of what it means to be alive.
The term is typically reserved for astronauts who get the life-changing experience of viewing the entire Earth at once from space, but Grant wondered if he could feel the same thing by viewing the most miraculous and mesmerizing satellite images he could find.
From there, the Daily Overview was born: A project where Grant would show the world the most stunning man-made landscapes on the planet.
"I didn't know what that meant or if it'd be showing the negative or the positive or everything in between, but it just started from there," he says.
Here are some of Grant's favorite shots, painstakingly stitched together from raw satellite data and color-enhanced to give us a completely fresh perspective on human impact.
1. Irrigated fields in Earth, Texas. The photo that started it all.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
2. The Gemasolar Thermosolar plant near Seville, Spain.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
3. Tulip fields near Lisse, Netherlands.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
4. The Port of Antwerp in Belgium.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
5. The villas of Marabe Al Dhafra in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
6. A water community in Delray Beach, Florida.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
7. A highway interchange in Jacksonville, Florida.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
8. A community in Sun Lakes, Arizona.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
9. Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
10. Burning Man festival in Black Rock Desert, Nevada.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
11. An airplane graveyard in Victorville, California.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
12. A section of the Empty Quarter, the world's largest sand desert, in Saudi Arabia.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
13. And drainage systems around the Shadegan lagoon in Iran.
Photo by Benjamin Grant/Satellite Images (c) DigitalGlobe, Inc.
Grant says that while the pictures have gotten a lot of attention for being beautiful, he's most proud of how his project has made people stop and think.
"When people think about climate change or the way we're impacting the planet, they often think of trees being cut down or icebergs melting or heat rising off the pavement," he says. "That's kind of overdone now. People don't even see that image anymore."
The Daily Overview, he says, offers a different perspective of human impact: the good, the bad, and everything in between. It catches people's attention with mesmerizing images, then makes them ask questions and think about what they're seeing. And, at least Grant hopes, "that leads to people acting in service of the planet."
"There's something powerful in looking at the world this way, and it's changed people," Grant says. "I hope the work that I'm doing continues to change people."
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."