Did Google Ocean Find Atlantis?

(NEWSER) - Google has rebuffed a claim that Google Earth 5.0 helped uncover the lost city of Atlantis, vnunet reports. The undersea lines spotted by an engineer are not streets, a Google spokesperson said, but traces of boats gathering data with sonar technology. Google Earth has aided in other "amazing discoveries," however, including an ancient villa and "a pristine forest in Mozambique." More»

Underwater volcanoes, shipwrecks now available to program's users

(NEWSER) - Google has added a new feature to its Google Earth software, which now enables users to explore the world’s oceans and access information from scientists and explorers, AFP reports. “Google Earth is equipping itself with a new dimension: depth,” an engineer said. Surfers can “dive beneath the water surface, explore 3D underwater terrain, and browse ocean-related content contributed by marine scientists,” Google noted. More»

Covers thousands of square miles, endangers fish

(NEWSER) - If you’re planning on taking a cruise, hopefully your ship won’t travel through the “great Atlantic garbage patch” that covers thousands of square miles between Bermuda and the Azores islands. The plastic debris is so small that some pieces are almost invisible, and the floating trash heap—pushed together by currents—is difficult to see from the surface, the AP reports…but it’s still enough to make you queasy. More»

Atlantic plastic patch threatening food chain

(NEWSER) - Researchers trying to determine just how much plastic trash is building up in the world's oceans have found a large concentration just north of the Caribbean. The study—based on more than 22,000 plastic fragments collected over the years—found that a huge area between 22 and 38 degrees north latitude is accumulating trash delivered by ocean currents in the same way as the huge plastic patch in the Pacific, the AP reports. More»

Thousands of bizarre creatures discovered in blackest black

(NEWSER) - A team of scientists have discovered thousands of incredibly bizarre new creatures living in the blackness of the deep Atlantic ocean. They range from "Jumbo Dumbo," an octopod that swims by flapping a pair of ear-like fins, to shining golden crustaceans. Most of the animals found are only a few millimeters long and were discovered on the slopes of the Atlantic ridge as far down as 3 miles deep. More»