How was the world created? People have asked this ever since they could ask anything, and answers have come from all sides: from religion, tradition, philosophy, mysticism... and science. While this does not seem like a problem amenable to scientific measurement, it has led scientists to come up with fascinating ideas and observations: the Big Bang, the concept of inflation, the fact that most of the world is made up of dark matter and dark energy which we can not perceive, and more.
Of course scientists cannot claim to know the definitive truth. But we can approach the question from a scientific viewpoint and see what we find out. How do we do that? First, we look to the data. Thanks to modern technology, we have much more information than did people of previous ages who asked the same question. Then we can use scientific methods and techniques to analyze the data, organize them in a coherent way and try and extract an answer. This process and its main findings will be described in the article.

Natural Earth III is raster map data for creating illustrations and animations of our planet with a plausibly realistic appearance. Using the data requires 3D or mapping software. Legibility is a key feature. Compared to photographs of Earth taken from space, Natural Earth III offers brighter colors, fewer clouds over land areas, distinct environmental zones, 3D mountains, and continuous rivers. Other features include:

•..Interchangeable data files that align precisely with each other.
•..Georeferencing information.
•..Seamless edge matching at 180 degrees longitude.
•..High resolution: 16,200 x 8,100 pixels (80 arc second).
•..Natural Earth III is free and without use restrictions.