Today, scientists announced a new hominid fossil discovery in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa. The discovery is one of the most significant palaeoanthropological discoveries in recent times, revealing at least two partial hominid skeletons in remarkable condition, dating to between 1.78 and 1.95 million years. We are especially excited because Google Earth played a role in its discovery.
So how did this come about? Back in March 2008, Professor Lee Berger from Witswatersrand University in Johannesburg started to use Google Earth to map various known caves and fossil deposits identified by him and his colleagues over the past several decades, as it seemed the ideal platform by which to share information with other scientists. In addition, he also used Google Earth to locate new fossil deposits by learning to identify what cave sites looked like in satellite images.
At the beginning of this project, there were approximately 130 known cave sites in the region and around 20 fossil deposits. With the help of the navigation facility and high-resolution satellite imagery in Google Earth, Professor Berger went on to find almost 500 previously unidentified caves and fossil sites, even though the area is one of the most explored in Africa. One of these fossil sites yielded the remarkable discovery of a new species, Australopithecus sediba. This species was an upright walker that shared many physical traits with the earliest known species of the genus homo - and its introduction into the fossil record might answer some key questions about our earliest ancestry in Africa.
We're absolutely thrilled about this announcement, and delighted that our free mapping tools such as Google Earth and Google Maps continue to enable both individuals and distinguished scientists to explore and learn about their world. With these tools, places both foreign and familiar can be explored with the click of a mouse, allowing for new understandings of geography, topology, urbanism, development, architecture and the environment. Our efforts to organize the world's geographic information are ongoing - but at the end of the day, seeing the way these tools are put to use is what most inspires us.
Let's say that you have x different stocks, and the plots of their prices over time. You want to print them in newspaper, printing multiple plots on the same chart to save space. But here's the catch: no two plots on the same chart can overlap, lest the readers be confused. Look at the plots and figure out the smallest number of charts required.
Looking for a challenge like the riddle above? And I mean an exciting brain-twisting and turning kind of challenge. I mean competing with fellow coders from around the world for top bragging rights kind of challenge.
Since 2003, we've brought you our annual Google Code Jam - a competition in which professional and student programmers from all around the world solve tough algorithmic challenges in a limited amount of time. Last year's 23,000 contestants vied for the title of Google Code Jam champion. After five rounds and some furious typing, China's Lou Tiancheng (code-named ACRush) was named champion.
Sound like the challenge for you? Well registration is now open. And you can try your hand at problems from previous competitions and get up to speed with the rules. We recommend that you practice hard - Code Jam is not for the weak of heart! And, this year we've decided to take the show on the road - for the very first time, the final competition will take place in Google's Dublin office.
The qualification round starts on May 7, 2010 and after four rounds of online competition, the top 25 competitors will be flown to Dublin to match wits for the $5,000 first prize - and, of course, the title of Code Jam champion!
P.S. Have you solved our "Stock Charts" problem yet? Test your solution on the Code Jam website.
The first-ever Google Model Your Town Competition has entered the public voting phase. It's now up to you to help decide which of the five finalist towns should be the overall winner. Cast your vote before May 1.
Barranco (Lima, Peru)
Braunschweig (Niedersachsen, Germany)
Donostia - San Sebastián (Gipuzkoa, Spain)
Dursley (Gloucestershire, United Kingdom)
West Palm Beach (Florida, United States)
These five teams used Google SketchUp and Google Building Maker to create beautifully detailed 3D models of their communities - and now they're viewable in Google Earth by everyone in the world. To see all of the towns who entered the competition, check out the Google 3D Warehouse collection.
The winning town will receive an event hosted by Google in their honor, US $10,000 for their local schools and more. Don't forget to vote by May 1, and we’ll announce the winning town by May 15.
And if you're interested in learning how you can model your town, check out our Your World in 3D website for examples and other tools to help you get started.
