Exploring earth
Jinfo Blog

14th February 2009

By Penny Crossland

Item

Do you yearn to travel the world, but cannot afford exotic holidays? The answer to your wanderlust could lie with Google’s latest update of Google Earth. Version 5.0 of Google Earth (http://earth.google.com) has been grabbing headlines recently (http://digbig.com/4ygkh) due to several exciting new features. Users are able to navigate the seafloor in 3D and to browse videos and images of ocean life. Advanced software and collaboration with a long list of partners (http://earth.google.com/ocean/partners.html) means that a more detailed map of the ocean floor allows exploration of life below the surface – a virtual scuba dive! The same 3D technology also allows the virtual tourist to explore Mars, thanks to collaboration with NASA. Google Earth 5.0 also allows you to record your tour of the world and capture the video imagery generated by the programme. Narration can be added and saved. Finally, your tour can be shared with others via YouTube – the 21st century equivalent of those tedious slide shows of old! A further new feature is a satellite-imagery timeline, which allows you to wind back time with a ‘time slider’ to reveal imagery from past years and decades. You could discover how your locality has developed over time, while scientists can use the software to see the effects of global warming on glaciers and other geographical regions. Critics may see the facility as yet another of Google’s spying features, (see http://www.vivavip.com/go/e16171 for a recent report on Google Latitude); however, there are undoubtedly useful scientific and business applications. Finally, driving directions are offered to those who are lost, which can be presented as an animated journey (http://digbig.com/4ygkm), but the most fun feature of this programme has to be the flight simulator. This allows you to fly the world in an F16 fighter jet, with unlimited fuel. Staying at home need no longer be boring.

« Blog