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Google is officially denying widespread Internet rumors that its Google Earth software located the mythical sunken city of Atlantis off the coast of Africa. Either that, or Google is totally trying to hide something. Since I always appreciate a nice juicy conspiracy theory, I'm going to go with the latter. From what it sounds like, a British aeronautical engineer was playing around with the new Google Earth 5.0, which includes undersea data, and noticed something funny off the coast of Africa, about 600 miles west of the Canary Islands, that resembled a pattern of a street grid. According to the United Kingdom's Press Association, the pattern of streets equated to an area the size of Wales.
In case you've had more important things to read about for the past few thousand years, Atlantis was a legendary island city first mentioned by Plato, allegedly a hard-core naval power located somewhere near North Africa that disappeared when it sank into the ocean. Guess global warming was a problem back then, too. Brand viagra 100 mg. Anyway, most people think that Plato made it up, kind of like how those guys in Georgia made up the story about shooting Bigfoot, but others just won't stop believin'.
So this guy is trawling the ocean floor with Google Earth--ah, if only we had that kind of free time on our hands--and was quick to announce his discovery. It looks like The Telegraph reported the story first, adding that the exact coordinates are 31 15'15.53N, 24 15'30.53W. Recently, Google's mapping products have revealed everything from a creepy dude walking around with a sniper rifle to what appear to be U.S. drones in Pakistan.
But when it comes to Atlantis, Google totally had to rain on everyone's parade. "It's true that many amazing discoveries have been made in Google Earth, including a pristine forest in Mozambique that is home to previously unknown species and the remains of an ancient Roman villa," a statement from Google read. "In this case, however, what users are seeing is an artifact of the data collection process. Bathymetric (or sea floor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor. The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data." ..I smell a cover-up!
(2.8.10 Update) Official EXPLANATION
"Some have speculated that these are the plow marks of seafloor farming by aliens," the post said of the undersea grid pattern off the coast of northwest Africa that had sparked the speculation. "One theory that's gained more traction is that these marks might be the ruins of the lost city of Atlantis. If that were the case, some of the city blocks would have to be over eight miles long--that's about 50 times the size of a city block in New York City."
The blog post expanded on Google's original explanation of the odd formation: "These marks are what we call 'ship tracks,'" it explained. "You see, it's actually quite hard to measure the depth of the ocean. Sunlight, lasers, and other electromagnetic radiation can travel less than 100 feet below the surface, yet the typical depth in the ocean is more than two and a half miles. Sound waves are more effective. By measuring the time it takes for sound to travel from a ship to the sea floor and back, you can get an idea of how far away the sea floor is. Since this process--known as echosounding--only maps a strip of the sea floor under the ship, the maps it produces often show the path the ship took, hence the 'ship tracks.'"
There are other "ship track" patterns visible on Google Earth ocean maps, Smith and Sandwell added, like one off the coast of Hawaii.
French doctors are puzzling over the case of 44-year-old civil servant who has led a quite normal life - but with an extraordinarily tiny brain .
In a case history published in Saturday's Lancet, doctors led by Lionel Feuillet of the Hopital de la Timone in Marseille say the father-of-two was admitted to hospital after suffering mild weakness in his left leg.
Scans by computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that the man's cerebral cavities, called ventricles, had massively expanded. "The brain itself, meaning the grey matter and white matter, was completely crushed against the sides of the skull," Feuillet told AFP.
"The images were most unusual... the brain was virtually absent," he said.
The patient's medical history showed that at the age of six months, he suffered hydrocephalus, also called water on the brain, and needed an operation to drain this dangerous buildup of spinal fluid.
Neuropsychological testing revealed the man had an IQ of 75, with a verbal IQ of 84 and performance IQ of 70. The bulk of people in society have a minimum IQ of 85, although the benchmark and the way it is measured are sometimes contested.
Despite this, "the man has been able to lead a life that can be considered normal," said Feuillet. "Even if he has a slight intellectual handicap, this has not hampered his development or building social networks."
Unexplained Media: Quotes & Texts
"If the people were ever to find out what we have done, we would be chased down the streets and lynched." - George H. W. Bush
