Unexpected discoveries

Have you ever thought about the usefulness of some existing inventions? In my opinion Google has the potential of being one of the most innovative companies in the internet industry today. With new applications and tools available constantly they just keep on surprising. As an environmental engineer I work a lot with Geographical Information Systems (commonly known as GIS) that makes it possible to study and visualize spatial pattern using maps. Usually I work with soft-wares such as ArcGIS or Manifold, but for the non-professional Google earth is a really simple and powerful tool to study the environment. I just found this article on the unexpected discoveries found using GE. Did Google expect this when they developed this application?

Many of these discoveries weren't found by the Google staff themselves, but by common users. You should never underestimate the creativity of the human brain!

But of course, sometimes imagination can take the best out of anybody...