Watch four billion years of humanity in a pixel shader

Me, in 2000: ah, so shaders can make textures in Quake 3 look glowy or wibbly. Me, in 2016: oh, okay, so shaders can also be used to create shoals of fish in Abzu. Me, right now: wait, so shaders can also be used to tell the story of a planet over four and a half billions years, from a lump of molten rock to the formation of mountains, rivers, and human cities.

Humanity, an in-browser shader created by David A. Roberts, is worth the four minutes it takes to watch.

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