The Atlantic’s James Fallows points us to this Google Earth-powered tool from Paul Rademacher that allows users to overlay the size of the Deepwater Horizon spill over any metropolitan area. Placing the image of the spill over the D.C. metro area provides a stunning look at just how big this disaster really is. In this case, Rademacher, who works for Google Earth, points out on his site that it is very hard to imagine the…

Any fan of the space program should recognize quite a few faces roaming around D.C. this week. Last night, the biggest gathering of Apollo astronauts in years arrived at the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum for the annual John H. Glenn Lecture featuring the Apollo 11 crew, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, along with NASA’s first Flight Director, Chris Kraft, and of course, astronaut and Senator John Glenn himself. The audience was…

Find out! DC WASA has developed a Google Earth-based fire hydrants file for the whole city, showing where in- and out-of-service hydrants are. Their web site has the Google Earth KMZ file, as well as a help document on how to use it (basically, just add it to Google Earth). The pink dots are the non-working hydrants and the purple ones are the working ones. It’s kind of busy, with hydrant number labels all over…

A year ago, we geeked out over the possibility that Google Maps would soon include its Street View feature in D.C. area maps. Google has indeed collected Street View imagery for Washington, DC, but still no launch date has been announced for the feature. In the meantime, we’ve got something a little cooler – or at least something with a comparable “gee whiz, that’s neat” factor – to tide us over. On Tuesday, Google announced…

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can’t afford to go out there. And there’s no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist’s faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt,…

There’s been all kinds of crazy stuff found on Google’s new StreetView application, which we wrote about before – guys who appear to be peeing on the side of the road, climbing fences into houses, and so on. While D.C. won’t be getting StreetView for a little while longer, there is still some strange stuff to be seen with good ol’ Google Maps. Joyriding has long been a problem in D.C., where (usually) kids steal…

There’s so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it’s almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don’t have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist’s London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with…

Senators and staff in the Russell Senate Office Building are “sheltering in place” in the Russell parking garage after Capitol police have found a “suspicious powder” in the Russell Senate Office Building attic, according to WAMU. The first of two tests on the substance returned toxic, but the second did not. Capitol police are conducting a third test, the results of which are expected in half an hour. More than 200 people are reportedly inside…

… Wait, Google already does. Google has now put forth its Google Earth feature. It’s in its beta testing period but here’s what you’ll be able to do: — Fly from space to your neighborhood. Type in an address and zoom right in. — Search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions. — Tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings. — Save and share your searches and favorites….