After months of hard work using many different maps, Szucs successfully sorted the world’s rivers based on their ocean drainage basins. Finally, he unveiled a series of new maps where the thousands of Earth’s rivers were color-coded based on their respective destinations. The categories include the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Arctic, and the Indian Ocean, as well as the landlocked ones that will never reach the sea.

Determining a river’s course is a complex task that is influenced not only by topography but also by climate and human interventions. Szucs, operating Grasshopper Geography, a small family business, utilized open-source satellite imagery and 3D elevation modeling for his work. He analyzed river flows to create a global master map and 45 regional maps of specific countries.

Nicholas Pinter, a geomorphologist at the University of California, Davis, praised Szucs’ work as a rigorous piece of art. Thanks to Szucs’ work, the interconnectedness of the world’s rivers becomes evident in his maps. He has managed to show how rivers from different continents ultimately feed into the same ocean expanse. It poetically exposes that the ocean boundaries are more of a human construct than natural.

Szucs hopes his maps will raise awareness of environmental issues stemming from the connectivity of Earth’s rivers. He knows that pollution in one area can impact distant communities, and the hydrologic patterns revealed in his maps show that. Another interesting fact from his studies is that Asia is the only continent with rivers flowing into all four oceans.

There are exceptions in Szucs’ maps. They don’t include Antarctica and Greenland because they lack detailed elevation data, and permanent rivers are absent due to year-round freezing. Still, in the future, these frozen landscapes might transform as they have before, and someone will have to make river maps for them as well.

The maps also highlight the impact of human activity on river courses, showing heavily managed rivers like the Colorado, Yellow, and Indus. Szucs’ artistic representation, though a snapshot, provides a good look into the diverse stories of rivers worldwide, shedding light on their natural courses shaped by topography and the influence of human actions.

Making ice cream from scratch is a project that lets people be creative with their favorite mixes. While making ice cream at home may sound difficult, it’s much easier than it seems, and the results are truly delicious. Homemade ice cream can be made using simple ingredients and without fillers, emulsifiers, preservatives, thickeners, or stabilizers. The best part is that a variety of mixes can be used for the base of the ice cream.

Great Ice Cream Can Be Made at Home and With Simple Ingredients

The base for the ice cream is probably the most important part of the process. It turns into the popular frozen dessert and is made with milk or water and sugar, cream, and whole or egg yolks should be added. There are many other bases to experiment with, ranging from ones that are fuss-free to others that require more attention to detail. Despite that, every ice cream base is incredibly simple to make.

The Are Many Types of Ice Cream That Can Be Made at Home

Custard-based ice cream is the most common one. It is a French-style ice cream and egg custard with a good amount of heavy cream that is perfect for it. Still, this base requires a little more attention. Another way to prepare ice cream with less concern over the base is to make a Philadelphia-style ice cream, known as American-style ice cream. The base is made with cream, milk, or a combination of both but does not include eggs.

To make traditional homemade ice cream using any method, an enthusiast should use an ice cream maker. Churning ice cream prevents it from forming big ice crystals and clumping them together. Small ice crystals allow for a smoother texture in the finished product. But, ice cream can be made without a machine! The no-churn options include shaking up heavy cream, sugar, and mixes in a jar or whipping up a sweetened condensed heavy cream base with fruit.

A Simple Ice Cream Recipe Can Be Used as a Basis for Custom Flavors

A basic ice cream recipe can be just as great as a complex one. Enthusiasts can use a simple recipe to experiment with flavors and mixes and make themselves a custom version. So, how can simple ice cream be prepared? First, an ice bath in a large bowl should be made ready with a fine mesh sieve over the bowl. Milk, cream, half the sugar, and vanilla should be prepared in a large saucepan. It should be brought to a gentle simmer with occasional stirring until the sugar is dissolved. The milk should not boil before it is removed from heat.

The egg yolk should be beaten with a pinch of salt, and the rest of the sugar should be placed in a large bowl until it is well combined and the mixture lightens in color. Half the hot milk should be gradually whisked into the egg yolk mixture to warm the eggs. That will help to keep the eggs from curdling when it is returned to the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture. The custard should be cooked over medium, with stirring throughout, and until it is thickened and the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon. After the custard is left to cool for about 20 minutes, it should be made up one day ahead and stored in a refrigerator. Everything should be put into an ice cream maker until the base has thickened. Then, it should be transferred to an airtight container and frozen until firm.