Space and Physics
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Rats, iguanas, a woman watching the Rover on its travels, faces in the sand and perfectly shaped pyramids.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.And now we give you... a floating spoon.
The newest case of Mars pareidolia has surfaced, this time in the form of a hovering piece of cutlery.
The unusual overhang may have been formed by Mars' winds. Rover/NASA
The structure was spotted by eagle eyed members of the UnmannedSpaceflight.com forum in an image captured by Mars Rover Curiosity on 30 August. Those that believe in civilizations, ancient or otherwise, on other planets have taken this as yet more proof there is, or was, intelligent life on Mars. However, these odd rock formations are easily explained, partly by pareidolia (a psychological phenomenon that causes the mind to perceive meaning where it doesn't exist) and partly by the unusual way the landscape of Mars has been formed.
According to Discovery, Mars’ thin atmosphere, coupled with its weak gravitational pull, means wind can create more intricate and unusual structures than on Earth. Mars experiences everything from small dust devils to planet-wide dust storms – this huge variance in weather creates all sorts of bizarre and delicate formations, such as overhangs and arches, just like the one you can see here with the "spoon," complete with a pencil-thin shadow.
Read next: Why Can We See A Woman On Mars?
[H/T: Discovery]
