In case you've been living under a rock, this week marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. It's a story that's been hard to miss with all the hype and cultural noise, including the re-release of the James Cameron film TITANIC in 3D and a new mini-series debuting this weekend on ABC.
But leave it to National Geographic magazine to produce some stunning and comprehensive commemorative work.This month's issue of the magazine has some incredible new photos of the wreck of the Titanic that have been taken in the last two years. They include a mosaic composed of thousands of images of the Atlantic seabed (below) where the ship rests that have been stitched together for the first comprehensive look at the wreck. You can zoom in to details, which are truly remarkable in their clarity. There are also some stunning interiors of the ship, shot in a similar manner by robots shooting multiple images that are then combined. The one here is of the lush Turkish bath in the ships storied first class section, with its ornate mosaic tiles still mainly intact. Amazing.
There is also an in-depth article about the process of mapping out the site as well as efforts by the salvage company RMS Titanic, Inc. to take a more historic approach to this ships final resting place.