It was long-believed that the Great Wall of China was the only man-made creation that could be seen from space, but that’s simply not true. Viewed from above, the wall looks similar to a road, and is no more significant from space than other roads around the world.
However, some beavers may have pulled it off. According to an article on Treehugger (and originally found by Jean Thie in the Google Earth Community), a massive beaver dam in Alberta, Canada can be seen from space. At 2,790 feet long (more than twice the size of the Hoover Dam), this beaver dam is quite impressive.
While it’s possible it could be viewed from space, it’d probably be tough to pick out. A small brown blob from that altitude could really blend in pretty well. Still, it’s a very impressive bit of engineering by those beavers. You can read more about it on Treehugger, or fly there yourself using this KML file
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About Mickey Mellen
Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. He runs a web design firm in Marietta, GA, where he lives with his wife and two kids.
Pretty cool, but uh, Beavers are not men, hence it is not “man made” but “beaver made”.
Go Alberta Beavers!
LOL! Beavers are not Men! However you could say this is the only object made by a animal that is visible from space.
cracks me up, Beavers = men. ROFL!
GEB readers might be interested in reading about Jean Thie’s original find here on the Google Earth Community:
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=961698#Post961698
Jean Thie is the Executive Director of Ecoinformatics International in Canada (http://www.geostrategis.com/). Jean’s posts and placemarks are full of fascinating information about this dam and about beavers in general.
Pretty cool, but uh, Beavers are not men, hence it is not “man made” but “beaver made”.
Read again friends, they’re not saying this dam is created by men… so Beavers do not = men… sigh.
Thank you for adding the link to Jean’s post on the Google Earth Community 🙂
Noisette — You’re welcome. I greatly apologize for missing that with the initial post.
I am all about going green and how popular it has become these past few years. I liked this article on the beaver dam that was seen all the way from space! How awesome is that?! I have found green awards for those of you interested in leading a green economy!