The virtual mapping tool, which turns four years old this month, has led to some amazing discoveries

Atlantis? courtesy Google

Google Earth in its current form went live in June 2005. In addition to allowing users to fly to their childhood homes, zoom in on potential vacation spots, and explore under the sea and atop the world's highest peaks, the virtual mapping software has proven instrumental in a number of scientific discoveries -- several in 2009 alone. Here's a look back at some of the highlights.

Any guesses on future Google Earth discoveries? Will Google Earth be an ever-more-important scientific tool in the future? Post in the comments.

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1 Comment

Orange8Lightning@aol.com we could capture an alien making a crop circle (or a human with a micro wave). We could establish live cams from space to every place on earth. We could attach lasers to satellites to zap criminals from space.


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