Have you ever wondered what kind of camera takes the aerial photographs Google use? Well, at least in Anchorage, Alaska, the company taking the pictures uses a Zeiss RMK TOP 15 Aerial Survey Camera System.

These are the Diomede Islands, two islands only 3km apart but one is in Russia, the other in the USA. These islands are right in the middle of the Bering Straights and the international dateline runs right in between them. Therefore, you can stand on the eastern island in Alaska and look into “tomorrow” in Russia, pretty trippy.

The Diomede Islands are often mentioned as likely intermediate stops for some kind of bridge or tunnel spanning the Bering Straits, which would be one big and expensive bridge!

Thanks: Adrian & Gut

Finally! We have proof that Google is hiding things from us in Alaska, Mexico and er… New Jersey. Hmmm. Anyway, it’s a conspiracy I tell you!

Firstly stretching over a large part of Alaska, all the way into the Yukon territory, is this gargantuan hole in the landscape. Interesting shape too…

Next we leap to the other side of the country for a very strangely-shaped hole West of El Paso. See the odd in-road of detail at the bottom-left corner of the rectangle? Weird.

While we’re down in Mexico, look at this super-cool hole which appears to be eating the surrounding landscape. Good lord!

Another country-wide leap and we’re somewhere off the coast of New Jersey, where this unsuspecting little boat is about to steer itself straight into the next episode of Lost!

However, could this incredibly exciting conspiracy theory simply be something much mre mundane..?

Muchos gracias to Eder Chiunti, Dan Karran, Lurlock, JoakimE and Ian.

This one might not be new to some of you, but this picture of a sea plane taking off in Alaska was too good not to post If you look around the edges of the port (or is it dock?) you can see hundreds of other sea planes parked (should this be anchored?), most of which are brightly coloured for some reason.

Thanks: paulio

It’s pretty obvious where the fire has been and where it is heading in the first forest fire in Louisiana (thumbnail #1) and there is an immense amount of smoke from this other fire in Louisiana. You can see a fire spreading like it’s a burning piece of paper in this fire in Texas (thumbnail #2).

There are also (low-res) shots of a huge fire in Central Cuba, a collection of fires in Alaska and yet more in Alaska.

Thanks: Rusty, K-milo, DDA & Jason