Which zip codes, with a hundred-mile radius each, cover most of the 50 states? DeepSeek R1 on Perplexity wrote the Python, fixed it from pasted tracebacks, and drew the coverage map.
Result Plus a script that maps the coverage
“I got my result of 283 zip codes that cover most of the 50 states with a hundred mile radius from each zip, plus a script to draw a map of the result”
Spotted: found in the wild. Details are as reported by the source above and have not been independently verified.
Used DeepSeek R1 through Perplexity Pro to write Python that finds a set of zip codes whose hundred-mile radii cover most of the country, pasting tracebacks back in whenever numpy and pandas misbehaved so it could rewrite the code.
They came away very impressed: the result was 283 zip codes covering most of the 50 states, plus a script to draw a map of the coverage.
Write a Python script that finds the smallest set of [US zip codes or locations] such that circles of [radius] miles around them cover [the whole country or a list of addresses]. Use a free zip code dataset, explain the method in plain terms, and draw a map of the result. If you hit an error, show me the fix.
A starting prompt written by Agents in the Wild. Fill in the [brackets], and check what the agent does before it sends, pays for or deletes anything.