Baby Map

What it is

Baby Map is a dark map of the world that flashes gold every time a baby is estimated to be born somewhere. The flashes are worked out from birth rates, so the big countries flicker almost constantly and the small ones light up once in a while. A counter underneath totals the births since you opened the page, and a table ranks the countries by how many they have had while you watched.

How to play

Open it and watch. There is nothing to press, no settings, no speed control, and no way to make it stop short of closing the tab. Within half a minute the counter is past twenty and the table has a leader, and the two most populous countries are already pulling away from the rest. Leave it running in a corner of the screen if you want a number to check on between other things.

What makes it different

It makes one statistic physical. You know, in the abstract, that a lot of babies are born every minute. Watching the map pulse turns that into something closer to a heartbeat, and the table quietly tells you where the century is being born. It is a one-idea visualization done cleanly, with nothing added, which is why it works.

Why it is on Bored

A map you cannot interact with that you nonetheless cannot stop watching. It runs with no download and no account. The site shows a consent dialog on the first visit and a row of sponsored links above the map, so scroll past those.

Tips

• Give it a full minute before you judge it
• Watch one small country and wait for its turn
• The table under the map is the interesting part after the first minute
• Reload to reset the count and run it again

FAQ