The Lost City of Atlantis is still lost – despite hopes that Google Earth had located the fabled city on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

Observers noted what seemed to be a grid of streets and the outlines of a big city on the sea floor about 960km (600 miles) off the African coast.

Experts had said this was one of the possible sites of the city described by Plato, the Greek philosopher.

But Google said the lines represented sonar data collected from boats.

“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 Google statement said.

“In this case, however, what users are seeing is an artefact 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,” she added.

“The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data. The fact there are blank spots between each of these lines is a sign of how little we really know about the world’s oceans.”

The story of Atlantis, a fabled utopia destroyed in ancient times, has captured the imagination of scholars ever since it was first described by the philosopher Plato more than 2,000 years ago.

He wrote of a land of fabulous wealth, advanced civilisation and natural beauty. Debate rages over where it might lie, if it existed at all: some say it is near Cuba, off the coast of Cornwall, near Gibraltar or in the middle of the Atlantic.

Source: BBC News

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 U.K.’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 hardcore naval power located somewhere near North Africa that disappeared when it sank into the ocean. Guess global warming was a problem back then, too. Anyway, most people think 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.”

The search engine Google launched a new service Monday to allow Internet users to explore the depths of the world’s oceans from the comfort of their homes on dry land.

The “Ocean in Google Earth” feature will allow users to “dive beneath the water surface, explore 3D underwater terrain and browse ocean-related content contributed by marine scientists,” a Google statement said.

“Google Earth is equipping itself with a new dimension: depth,” Jean-Francois Wassong, an engineer at Google France, told a news conference.

Nearly four years after Google Earth enabled users to zoom in to view streets, and later explore galaxies in the sky, the latest version of the software allows virtual travellers to dart across miles of unchartered territory underwater.

“Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the planet’s surface but only a little bit has been explored,” said Florence Diss, head of Google’s geographical partnerships, referring to findings that humans have examined just five percent of world’s seas.

By allowing users to explore underwater volcanoes, hunt for whales and learn more about shipwrecks, Google says “Ocean in Google Earth” offers a platform for everyday Internet browsers to link up with the scientific community.

The feature includes 20 different layers of content contributed by leading ocean explorers, scientists and researchers, such as photos and videos of “hot spots” around the world and information on marine protected areas.

It also has an animal tracking device in which users can follow animals that have been tagged by satellite.

Diss said the decision to expand Google Earth to cover the world’s oceans “is not about making money”. But she would not reveal the project’s cost.

Since its launch in June 2005, Google Earth has been downloaded more than 400 million times.

The free software gives Internet users access to satellite images and maps around the world.

Source: Yahoo! & AP