Facebook is making a map of every human-occupied building on Earth so that one day, people in the most remote areas of the world can also worry about what to do when their mom friends them on Facebook.
This new mapping project is part of Facebook's Internet.org Connectivity Lab, a group tasked with using drones, satellites, and lasers to improve internet access in developing countries. About 10 percent of the world still lives in remote or rural areas without internet connectivity.
The project has analyzed 21.6 million square kilometers' worth of satellite imagery — about 350 terabytes of data. And it's led to a much clearer idea of where buildings are in remote areas.
Knowing where people live in relation to each other will help Facebook figure out the best way to give these communities internet access.
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Read a more technical account of what Facebook is doing here.