How do I use it as an ambient background on a second monitor or TV?

Open theplanetthinks.com/?cinematic in a browser and press F11 (or your browser's full-screen option). The interface hides itself and an auto-piloted camera drifts from edit to edit; move the mouse to bring the controls back. It works on any smart TV or streaming stick with a browser.

Can I use it as an OBS 'be right back' screen or stream background?

Yes. Add a Browser Source in OBS and set the URL to https://theplanetthinks.com/?cinematic at your canvas size (e.g. 1920x1080). The heads-up display is hidden automatically, giving you a clean, always-moving ambient scene for a BRB screen, an intro, or a starting-soon overlay. There is optional generative ambient music if you want sound.

A free screensaver website: watch the planet think

A calming, always-moving 3D Earth for a TV, a second monitor, or an OBS stream — a live screensaver powered by Wikipedia edits happening right now.

Launch the live globe → Launch the photo globe → Launch the map globe →

Then press F11 for full screen. Move the mouse to bring the controls back.

The Planet Thinks is a realistic day/night Earth that glows with every live edit to Wikipedia — each spark is a real change to an article about a place, drawn where that place is on the map. An auto-piloted camera drifts gently from one edit to the next, with optional generative ambient music, so it works beautifully as a live wallpaper, a lean-back screensaver, or an ambient background you leave running. It is a screensaver website in the most literal sense — nothing to install, open a tab and it runs. And nothing is looped: the scene is genuinely different every minute, which is exactly why it holds a glance on a second screen.

Use it as an ambient screen

On a second monitor

Open theplanetthinks.com/?cinematic in a browser.
Press F11 (or your browser's full-screen button). The interface disappears.
Lean back. Move the mouse any time to reveal the controls or leave.

Three globes run the same way, so pick whichever suits the room: Wikipedia edits, freshly uploaded photographs, or OpenStreetMap being mapped. You can also point the same full-screen mode at your own data.

As a TV screensaver — smart TV or streaming stick

Any TV with a browser can run it: the built-in browser on Samsung and LG TVs, Silk on a Fire TV stick, or Chrome on Chromecast with Google TV. Open theplanetthinks.com/?cinematic, go full screen, and switch off the TV's sleep timer. The scene renders at your screen's native resolution — on a 4K panel it is a true 4K screensaver, not an upscaled video loop.

As an OBS "be right back" screen or stream background

In OBS, add a Browser source.
Set the URL to https://theplanetthinks.com/?cinematic
Set width/height to your canvas (e.g. 1920 × 1080).

The heads-up display is hidden automatically, giving you a clean, living scene for a BRB screen, a "starting soon" card, or an intro — free, and different every stream.

The URL is the whole config — no account needed. Add &lang=de to show only one language edition's edits (comma-separated for several), &view=48.9,2.3 to open the camera over a place (lat,lng, optional third number for altitude), and &follow=off to keep the camera parked. Example — German edits, parked over Europe: theplanetthinks.com/?cinematic&lang=de&view=51,10,1.6&follow=off

Embed the globe on your site

The globe embeds anywhere an <iframe> works — a blog post, a docs page, a dashboard. Copy this snippet:

<iframe src="https://theplanetthinks.com/?cinematic"
  style="width:100%;max-width:800px;aspect-ratio:16/9;border:0;border-radius:12px"
  loading="lazy" allowfullscreen
  title="The Planet Thinks — live Wikipedia edits on a 3D globe"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://theplanetthinks.com/">The Planet Thinks — live Wikipedia edits on a 3D globe</a></p>

Tune the scene with the same URL options as above — e.g. /?cinematic&lang=de&view=51,10,1.6&follow=off for German edits parked over Europe, or /photos?cinematic for the photo globe. Inside an embed a small corner badge links back here; keeping the credit line under the iframe is appreciated.

A genuinely free screensaver — nothing to install

Most "free screensavers" for Windows or Mac arrive as installers, often with ads or bundled extras. This one is simply a web page: nothing to download, no account, no ads, no tracking. The code is open source (MIT), and the Earth imagery is NASA's public-domain Blue Marble and Black Marble — free in every sense of the word.

Frequently asked

Is this screensaver free?

Yes — it runs in any modern browser with nothing to download, no sign-up, no ads, and no tracking. It is open source, and the Earth imagery is NASA's public-domain Blue Marble and Black Marble.

What is actually moving on the globe?

Every spark is a real Wikipedia edit happening at that moment, drawn where its subject is on Earth. Nothing is pre-recorded or looped — see how often Wikipedia is updated for the live rate.

Does it need a fast computer?

No. It is a lightweight WebGL scene and runs comfortably on modest laptops, streaming sticks, and most smart TVs.

Does it work as a smart TV screensaver?

Yes — any smart TV or streaming stick with a browser works: open the cinematic link, go full screen, and switch off the sleep timer. There is no app to install, because none is needed.

Is it a 4K screensaver?

On a 4K display, yes. It is a live WebGL scene rendered at your screen's native resolution, so it stays sharp at 1080p, 1440p, or 4K — unlike looped screensaver videos, which are fixed files that get upscaled.

Launch the live globe →

Part of The Planet Thinks — a live 3D globe of Wikipedia edits. Also: watch the world being photographed · live edit statistics.