It's great if you're unfamiliar with your destination and want to find some visual landmarks.Īnother great use of Street View is to walk down any street using just your mouse. Using this camera, Google maps out these areas so that its users can see them in a semi-real-life panoramic way.

The Street View vehicle takes photographs with an Immersive Media camera that delivers a 360-degree picture of the surroundings. One of the most amazing things about Google Maps is that the imagery is of such high quality that you feel like you're standing right there at that very spot. If you're lucky, you might catch one of the Street View cars with the Google logo and funky-looking camera on top driving around your town or city to update the photos. The mounds may be responsible for the aerial pattern of scattered circles, though Sparavigna says on-the-ground confirmation is needed.Part of Google Maps, Street View is a location-based service offered by Google that lets you see real-life images of places worldwide. 11, 2016 - the paper has yet to be peer-reviewed. Sparavigna discusses her theory in a scientific paper posted online on Jan. These pesky critters can create nesting mounds spanning some 47 inches (120 centimeters) across and are typically surrounded by bare ground up to 108 square feet (10 square meters), according to physicist Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, a specialist in image processing and satellite imagery analysis at the Politecnico of Torino in Ital. The feature to show where street view cars are. Turns out, the desert around the Grand Canyon is home to red harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus). Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. (Image credit: Google Earth)Īn odd polka-dot pattern near the cinder cone volcano dubbed Vulcan's Throne on the north rim of the Grand Canyon may have a simple explanation: ants. This weird polka-dot pattern in the vegetation near a volcano on the rim of the Grand Canyon could be the work of red harvester ants. Spiral art installation 'Desert Breath' in Egypt The site was once equipped with missiles in the open air, with embankments between paired launch sites. Here, one of those sites, the Oahu Defense Area in Hawaii, is shown in 1968. His plan is to build a geo-referenced database so that anyone can research the Nike missile sites through Google Earth. Those missiles became obsolete with the advent of long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).ĭavid Tewksbury, a GIS (geographic information system) specialist at Hamilton College in New York, aimed to preserve a visual record of the abandoned Nike missile launch sites before they vanish - either as a result of being reclaimed by nature, repurposed by the military or redeveloped. Some of those missiles even carried nuclear warheads. Meet Googles colorful Street View fleet and learn how we collect 360 imagery to power the world map.

Nike missiles, which were supersonic surface-to-air missiles, sat ready to launch at nearly 300 sites across the United States during a period of the Cold War, from 1954 to the 1970s. Discover when, where, and how we collect 360 imagery. This Google Earth image shows the Oahu Defense Area in Hawaii, which was equipped with missiles in open air with earthen revetments, or embankments, between paired launch sites, shown here in 1968.

Mystery structures on Chinese satellite images Google Street View was first introduced in the United States on May 25, 2007, and until November 26, 2008, featured camera icon markers, each representing. Word 'Hamad' written on al Futaisi IslandĬhurch of Scientology Bunker in New Mexico Island, in a lake, on an island, in a lake, on an island near Victoria Canadaīoneyard at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona

Polka-dot formation on Grand Canyon made by ants Wheel structures in Azraq Oasis in Jordanīull's eye in wheel structures in Saudi ArabiaĪbandoned launch sites at Oahu Defense Area in Hawaii Island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island Philippines

Google earth street view