Google地球上發現的十大奇特景緻

Top 10 Google Earth Finds

Columbus and Magellan had it rough. Exploration these days is quite literally an armchair activity, as high-resolution satellite images and tools like Google Earth make it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to pour over the globe with a fine-toothed comb. There are entire online communities devoted to finding and cataloging the most unusual locales worldwide, creating 21st-century atlases of minutiae. It isn't just for hobbyists either — Google Earth has helped scientists find previously unknown ruins and police locate clandestine marijuana fields. Here are ten of the most unusual discoveries.

— Dan Fletcher

Atlantis Found?

Might these be the ruins of the lost continent of Atlantis? Eager explorers certainly thought so, trumpeting this grid off the coast of Africa as streets in the mythical sunken city. Observers noted the area appeared to be the size of Wales, making such a large grid an impressive feat of ancient urban planning. The real explanation is far less fun: Google Earth engineers soon announced that the grid pattern was merely a digital artifact created by the sonar boats collecting mapping data. Whispers still linger, but it doesn't look like anyone will be dredging up a forgotten civilization anytime soon.

亞特蘭蒂斯?

這會是失落的的大陸亞特蘭蒂斯的廢墟嗎，探險狂熱者們當然會這樣認爲，他們大勝囂嚷着稱，地圖上位於非洲海岸邊上的格子狀圖案就是一座失落的神祕城市的街道。一些觀察者則發現它的面積有一個威爾士那麼大，這個地圖上的大格子於是就成了古代人類城市設計的又一大奇蹟。然而事情的真相卻遠遠沒有這麼有趣，谷歌地圖的工程師很快的宣佈，這個格子狀的圖案只不過是收集地圖資料的聲納船所產生的電子遺蹟而已。傳言依然有，但是人們短時間內恐怕不會再記起這個失落的文明。

Firefox Crop Circles

Maybe alien technology isn't so foreign after all. This Firefox crop circle sprouted up in a corn field in Oregon, but its origins are no mystery. In 2006, the Oregon State University Linux Users group created the giant logo — spanning more than 45,000 square feet — to celebrate the Web browser's 50 millionth download.

麥田裏的火狐狸圈
　　
　　可能外星科技並沒有想象中的那麼的不可理解，麥田裏的火狐狸圈出現在俄勒岡州的一片麥田中，但它的出現並不神祕。在2006年，俄勒岡州立大學的一個linux使用者團體創作了這個大型的標誌（佔地45000平方英尺）來慶祝這款遊覽器的下載量超過5億。

UFO Landing Pads, Maybe?

Here's a true Google Earth mystery. These odd formations can be found on air bases in the U.S. and Britain — this one comes from a base outside of Norwich, England. The U.K. Ministry of Defense called it a motorcycle range, but other speculate it may be some sort of calibration tool for satellites. No one really knows — and the military isn't saying anything more.

FO的登陸臺？ 可能吧
　　
　　這是一個真正的谷歌地球之謎，這些奇怪的組合可以在美國和英國的空軍基地地圖上看到，這張圖片則是來自英國諾里奇的一個空軍基地外，英國國防部宣稱它是一個機車的訓練場，但是其他一些人推測它可能是某種衛星用途的測定工具。沒有人知道真實的情況，軍方也對此保持緘默，不再多言。

Oprah Maze

She's got a massive syndicated show, a magazine called O and was dubbed the most powerful celebrity in the world by Forbes. Why shouldn't Oprah get her own corn maze? An Arizona farmer created this 2004 tribute to the TV talk-show host.

奧普拉迷宮
　　
　　她已經有一個影響巨大的脫口秀節目，一本叫做O的雜誌，並且還被福布斯評價爲全世界最具影響力的藝人。爲什麼奧普拉爲什麼就不能再擁有一個自己的麥田迷宮？ 一名亞利桑那州的農民在2004年創作了這個迷宮並獻給了這名脫口秀主持人。

Secret Swastika

When builders of the Coronado Naval Amphibious Base in San Diego planned this complex in 1967, satellite imagery was probably the furthest thing from their minds. But in 2007 Google Earth sleuths found that four unconnected buildings on the base formed an unfortunate shape when viewed from above: a swastika. The Navy says it's spending more than $600,000 to mask the shape. "We don't want to be associated with something as symbolic and hateful as a swastika," a spokesman said.

祕密的萬字文
　　
　　當科羅拉多州的海軍陸戰隊基地的建築師們在1967年計劃這一建築羣的時候，衛星地圖的出現可能是他們永遠不會想到的事情。但是，在2007年，谷歌地球的偵探們發現，基地上這四棟並沒有相連的建築從上空俯瞰的時候卻形成了一個不吉利的圖案—萬字文。海軍方面說他們現在已經花了超過60萬美元用來掩飾這一形狀。“我們不想被認爲與任何像萬字文這樣有不好暗示和令人討厭的東西有關聯，”一名發言人說。

Lost (and Found) at Sea

The SS Jassim, a Bolivian cargo ferry, ran aground and sunk on the Wingate Reef off the coast of Sudan in 2003. Now it's one of the largest shipwrecks visible on Google Earth.

海上消失（抑或重現）
　　
　　SS賈西姆號，一艘玻利維亞的貨運渡船，在蘇丹海岸外的溫蓋特暗礁處觸礁沉沒。現在它是在谷歌地球上可見到的最大船體殘骸之一。

A Face in the Clay

It looks disconcertingly like a face from above, but this formation in Alberta, Canada is entirely natural. Dubbed the Badlands Guardian, the "face" is actually a valley eroded into the clay. Some say the man looks like he's wearing earphones; that's merely a road and an oil well. Even the Badlands Guardian, it seems, isn't immune to exploratory drilling.

粘土上的臉
　　
　　從上面看它難以置信的像一張臉，但是坐落在加拿大，阿爾伯特省的這一形狀卻是完全的出自鬼斧神工。它被稱之爲不毛之地的守護者，這張臉實際上是又一條峽谷侵蝕粘土而成。有的人說這個人好像在帶着耳機；其實那裏只有一條路和一個油井。看起來，即使是不毛之地的守護者，依然是無法避免探測的鑽井。

Iraq's Bloody Lake

This blood-red lake outside of Iraq's Sadr City garnered a fair share of macabre speculation when it was discovered in 2007. One tipster told the tech blog Boing Boing that he was "told by a friend" that slaughterhouses in Iraq sometimes dump blood in canals. No one has offered an official explanation, but it's more likely the color comes from sewage, pollution or a water treatment process.

伊拉克的“血湖”
　　
　　伊拉克薩德爾城外的血紅色湖泊在2007年被發現時就已經引起了足夠多的血腥的猜測。有一個知情人士曾經告訴blog boing boing 說，他的“一個朋友告訴他”伊拉克的屠宰場會把血傾倒在運河中。不過，至今沒有人提供官方的解釋，但是顏色更像是下水道，污染或者水處理所造成的。

Airplane Graveyard

The Davis-Monthan Air Force Base outside of Tuscon, Ariz., is where old planes go to die. More than 4,000 military aircraft are parked on the base, from B-52s to stealth bombers, where they are salvaged for parts and broken down for scrap. It's one of the most popular satellite pictures online, making guided tours of the area are a hot ticket.

飛機墓地
　　
　　亞利桑那州，圖森市外的戴維斯—蒙森空軍基地，是舊飛機報廢的地方，基地上停着從B-52s到隱形轟炸機等共超過4000架軍用飛機。在這裏，飛機的某些部分被重新利用，其餘的則被拆掉以回收金屬。這張圖片現在是網絡上最流行的衛星圖片之一，並且去飛機墓地旅行也是一票難求。

Missile Test?

Google Earth has plenty of examples of planes, helicopters — even hot air balloons — caught in flight, but this cruise missile, thought to be fired during military training exercises in the Utah mountains, might be the most unlikely capture yet. If it is, in fact, a cruise missile.

Many dispute the image and say it's merely an airplane. You be the judge, but if you look closely, the "missile" appears to have wings.

導彈試射？
　　
　　谷歌地球曾經抓拍過很多的飛行中的飛機，直升機，甚至是熱氣球，但是這個被認爲是在軍事演習中發射於猶他州山區的巡航導彈，卻是至今爲止最難以置信的抓拍。當然必須先假設它確實是一個巡航導彈。很多的人質疑這副圖，他們說這只不過會一個飛機。當然，你覺着它是什麼，它就是什麼，不過，要是你靠近的仔細看的話，你會發現，“導彈”好像有一雙翅膀.