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Photos: The best of Google Earth

Around the world, via burning oil fields, topless sunbathers and Area 51...

By Will Sturgeon on 6 November 2006 17:50

The Hollywood sign, California, USA.

copyright: Google



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Comments

There are 19 comments. Join the discussion

  1. 1. Mark Kobayashi-Hillary

    How much time did Will spend scrolling across images of the Hague looking for a woman sunbathing on her roof? We should be told...

    • 7 November 2006 09:36
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  2. 2. Don Tregartha

    Thanks Will, for a glorious waste of time!

    • 7 November 2006 14:39
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  3. 3. anonymous

    are you completely sick? 90% of all self-announced "the best of google earth" is actually in the UK (according to you)? wake up and travel the world. (Ed note. Are you sure? I think you'll find it is closer to 30 per cent... clearly you are not a maths teacher, or heaven help the kids you teach if you are.)

    • 8 November 2006 11:17
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  4. 4. Dave Harcourt

    surely the mysterious green circles are center pivot irrigated fields

    • 8 November 2006 12:06
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  5. 5. AJL

    FYI:
    Nellis Air Force Base =/= Area 51

    • 8 November 2006 14:06
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  6. 6. anonymous

    You could only manage to put one photo per page?

    • 8 November 2006 14:39
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  7. 7. anonymous

    The only thing missing from this story is a KML file with all the places, so that we could all view them in Google Earth or Google Maps...

    • 8 November 2006 15:11
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  8. 8. stijn v.

    That image from the Versaille gardens (21) looks more like an early Mikey Mouse if you ask me.

    • 8 November 2006 15:34
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  9. 9. EatingPie

    The circles look like agricultural growth. In Arizona an Central Valley satellite photos you see the same thing. The automated sprinkler systems roll across the fields in a circle, creating these circles of crops (not to be confused with crop circles!).

    • 8 November 2006 15:35
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  10. 10. anonymous

    Civilian vs MilitaryTechnology
    So if this is what is commercially available, - just how close can the military go???? - Read the watch on your wrist?

    • 8 November 2006 15:36
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  11. 11. sandeep z george

    where are the 2 major things i expected to see in this collection

    1. GREAT WALL OF CHINA
    2. TAJ MAHAL OF INDIA

    (Ed note. They are in China and India respectively.)

    • 8 November 2006 15:57
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  12. 12. Chris

    Nellis AFB is in Las Vegas itself. The base known as Area 51 is actually Groom Lake.


    As a side note...I had an aeronautics professor who used to work there as a test pilot when he was in the service. He said there's a big poster in the hangars that says when the satellites are going over, so they know when to pull everything off the ramp so pictures can't be taken...

    • 8 November 2006 17:09
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  13. 13. anonymous

    You might already have this up your editorial sleeves, but might be worth asking readers to submit their own best views from Google Earth - could be anything - and then edit these together as a follow up piece. Can we do better? We should be allowed to find out!

    (Ed note. Any contributions would be welcome.)

    • 8 November 2006 18:51
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  14. 14. Erik

    How do you like this "face" i found in Caucasus Mountains in Russia:

    http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=sochi,+russia&ll=43.90754,40.410461&spn=0.119223,0.340576&t=h

    (Ed note. We love it Erik.)

    • 9 November 2006 22:25
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  15. 15. John H Woods

    There's a better plane-in-the-air shot over Haweswater, Huntingdon, UK.

    I think it's a WWII Lancaster flying on a battle of Britain memorial site.

    John

    PS: what about the Arlesberg bug?

    • 10 November 2006 14:16
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  16. 16. Sally

    Strange that the shot of Microsoft headquarters should look like a PCB

    • 10 November 2006 14:53
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  17. 17. anonymous

    That is the Devils's Punchbowel and Gibbet Hill at Hindhead.

    • 18 July 2008 10:25
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  18. 18. anonymous

    The building group is on neither North Island nor Coronado; it is on the Naval Amphibious Base down the Silver Strand from Coronado.

    • 28 October 2008 12:27
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  19. 19. G807

    cool place
    awsome place
    but
    nerdy place

    • 31 December 2009 04:15
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