Curse Word on Roof Spotted from Space

Satellite picture from Google Earth shows on a UK school roof a word that'd make a headmaster's head spin.

Oh, the things you can see from space!

Students at a UK grammar school used bricks to spell out a certain word for a certain bit of male anatomy (co*k), on the school's roof. Then it was spotted by satellite, in a Google Earth image, according to The Register.

The headmaster requested it be taken down. But hey, maybe the kids were just doing some kind of cosmic rooster worship?

Meantime, what can't be seen from space these days? The military has spy satellites with enough resolution to actually spot that human anatomy, er, in the flesh, were it to be displayed thusly. Google Earth uses images that aren't so crisp, yet a search (yes, on Google, but we're not going to provide the links here...) will reveal lots of, well, sunbathers.

On a less sensational note, there are some misconceptions about what's visible from space, and it all depends on from where in space you're talking about (that is, in low-Earth orbit or from the moon) and whether the in-space person is using binoculars, a telephone camera lens, or just the naked eye. Full story on SPACE.com here. Summary here:

There is a longstanding myth that the Great Wall of China is the only manmade object visible from space. It and several variations on the theme are great fodder for water cooler arguments. In reality, many human constructs can be seen from Earth orbit.

Shuttle astronauts can see highways, airports, dams and even large vehicles from an Earth orbit that is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) high. Cities are clearly distinct from surrounding countryside, and that's true even from the higher perch of the International Space Station, which circles the planet at about 250 miles (400 kilometers) up.

"You can see an awful lot from space," says astronaut Ed Lu, the science officer of Expedition Seven aboard the station. "You can see the pyramids from space, especially with a pair of binoculars. They are a little difficult to pick out with just your eyes."

From the moon, Apollo astronauts could not make out any manmade features.

Robert Roy Britt is the Editorial Director of Imaginova. In this column, The Water Cooler, he looks at what people are talking about in the world of science and beyond.