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 pore 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 10 of the most unusual discoveries.
— By Dan Fletcher
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 person appears to be wearing earphones; that's merely a road and an oil well. Even the Badlands Guardian, it seems, isn't immune to exploratory drilling.
