Top 5 scientific discoveries made by using Google Earth

 
By means satellites, scientists were able to explore the area, where anyone and did not occur to send scientific expeditions. And thanks to Google Earth, made ​​a number of important discoveries, and sometimes these discoveries are made completely casual people.

The remains of Roman villas, 2005

One of the earliest archaeological discoveries made by in Google Earth, held in 2005. Ironically, the author of the opening, a local resident Luke Mori started the program just to explore the area near his native Parma. Quite suddenly he noticed a strange oval artifact in the fields near the city.

One of the earliest archaeological discoveries made in Google Earth, held in 2005. Ironically, the author of the opening, a local resident Luca Mori started the program just to explore the area near his native Parma. Quite suddenly he noticed a strange oval artifact in the fields near the city.

Luca Mori took him for a computer glitch, but nevertheless informed the specialists of the National Archaeological Museum, which organized the expedition. Immediately after the start of excavation, they found the remains of ancient ceramics and ancient Roman villa, built by BC.

Australopithecus sediba age 2 million years old, South Africa, 2008

Lee Berger  Paleoanthropologist, a bold set out in courageous study of South Africa, running Google Earth in the comfort of his office. Professor began to explore the area of ​​limestone caves in South Africa, which is known to scientists as the Cradle of Mankind.
Berger founds on satellite images of previously unknown caves suitable for the life of ancient people. In 2008 he organized a semi amateur expedition, taking with him only one student, as well as his son and dog. On the site they found fifty alleged accommodation of Australopithecus (the great apes, two legs walking hominids with little brain).

Visiting one of the caves, his father sent a 9-year-old son to look around, and after 15 minutes he brought the stone to perfectly preserved fossilized fragments of the clavicle and the mandible. Excavations at the site have revealed skeletons and fragments of other women and a teenager whose age is estimated at 1,78-1,95  million years old.

The importance of this discovery is that the obtained samples belong to a new, previously unknown form of Australopithecus, very similar to the people. That's two million years ago apes began to walk on two legs, and use the tools to form the beginnings of speech. The new species was named Australopithecus sediba. Probably, this species is an ancestor of Homo habilis, then there is a bridge from apelike hominid species to modern humans.

Tropical forest on Mount Mabu, Mozambique, 2008

On satellite pictures of northern Mozambique the British scientist Julian Bayliss found a complete unknown "oasis" - an isolated rain forest, located high in the mountains in a remote place. It turned out that this forest is known by locals, but there has never been fitted out a scientific expedition.

But these isolated territories are especially interesting to biologists because they often find new species of animals and plants. Mount Mabu did not disappoint - in 2008 an expedition was sent there, the results of that study until now. In total, it was discovered more than a hundred (!) Of new species - plants, birds, butterflies, monkeys, snakes - all in three weeks. This tropical forest experts jokingly call called Google Forest.

Stone artifacts, Saudi Arabia, 2011

As wilds of Mozambique, the deserts of Saudi Arabia only unfriendly to researchers and travelers. In early 2011,   David Kennedy Australian scientist decided that the easier it will first explore the area on satellite images than to find something in the sand.

The study of desert meter by meter bore fruit - was discovered more than 2,000 sites on which something is viewed. These coordinates are entered on the list, and on-site study revealed several thousands of artifacts of ancient civilizations - the stone wheels, the trap for the birds, the tomb of a strange shape, and much more. The artifacts are scattered over a vast area from Syria to Yemen, are more than 9,000 years old.

Ancient pyramids, Peru, 2008

In 2008, scientists were able to detect a large number of ancient pyramid under a layer of soil in the desert of Peru, combining images of Google Earth with infrared photography.

Pyramid found under the field of wheat, one kilometer from the famous Nasca geoglyphs - a group of giant geometric shapes, each about the size of a hundred meters (triangles, spirals, bird, monkey, spider, flowers). These geoglyphs noticed only in the 20th century, when the plane flew over them. By gigantic figures can not be covered with earth.

This post sponsored by:
Dr Mobiles Limited
1 Huron Street, Takapuna, North Shore 0622
Tel: (09) 551-5344 and Mob: (021) 264-0000
Web - Map - Google+ - Email - Posterous - Twitter - Blogger - Flickr -  Auhtor