Images: Google Earth 5.0 travels oceans, time, and space
The newly updated version of Google's mapping service lets users foray underwater to the sea floor, as well as back in time through older aerial and satellite images.
Josh Lowensohn
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
Google Earth 5.0, which was released on Monday, lets users travel underwater to see the sea floor. It also lets them travel back in time to see earlier versions of the service's aerial and satellite photography.
No longer is the ocean floor simply a blob of blue. You can now fly under the surface and see subsurface ridges and landmarks like this underwater mountain range off the coast of Hawaii.
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Ocean dead zones
Google Earth also highlights areas of the ocean that are not capable of supporting life such as this dead zone off the coast of Florida.
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Titanic
While you can't actually see the sunken wreckage of the Titanic, Google Earth now points out shipwrecks. Sometimes there are even videos that show crews trying to recover the wreckage.
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'Planet Earth' urchins
Through a partnership with the BBC, various footage from the Planet Earth television series is available for watching right in Google Earth, including this clip of sea urchins scouring the sea floor for food.
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Mars 3D Crater
If the Blue Planet isn't enough for you, images of Mars now include extensive 3D terrain rendering, letting you see how deep or high the Red Planet's surface can be.
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Sacramento 1998
The new history feature in Google Earth 5 lets you go back in time to see satellite and aerial imagery from the past. In this picture you can see a chunk of land in Sacramento, Calif., in 1998.
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Sacramento's Raley Field
In this shot you can see the same bit of land from the previous picture, but updated to 2008 where Sacramento's Raley Field baseball stadium has since been erected.
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Recording feature
The new record and playback feature lets users record what they're doing in Google Earth. These virtual tours can then be sent to others for viewing, just like an e-mail.
