NASA regularly releases images from Mars taken by robots exploring the Red Planet and discovering unusual rock formations. One of the most interesting discoveries was a donut-shaped rock that may have come from the outside of Mars. Even more interesting was the striped rock found by the Perseverance rover on the rim of Jezero Crater. The latest discovery is a rock that looks like a human face.
Forms that do not exist
The phenomenon that causes people to see familiar shapes where none exist is called pareidolia. This is a natural reaction of our brain, which evolved to find patterns. As Carl Sagan explains in The Demon-Hunted World, the ability to recognize potential threats, such as a snake in the grass, was essential to survival.
Dr Jess Taubert from the University of Queensland offers a similar explanation. In an interview with IFL Science, he emphasizes that “our brain is constantly trying to understand the world around us, looking for patterns that help us assess the situation and respond appropriately“.
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According to Carl Sagan, the ability to quickly recognize threats – even where they didn’t exist – increased the chances of survival. Finding a pattern, even a false one, could save a life. This explains why some people see human faces or other familiar shapes in Martian rocks, even if it is only a play of shadows and human imagination.
We can see unusual pictures from Mars thanks to him rover perseverance. It is one of the most advanced research instruments ever sent to Mars. The rover mission was launched in 2020 and has so far provided countless valuable data about the Red Planet. Weighing more than a ton, Endurance was designed to search for signs of ancient life, study the planet’s geology, and collect rock and rheolith samples. A modern set of analytical instruments is on board, including spectrometers, high-resolution cameras and lasers to analyze the chemical composition of rocks.
2024-10-11 14:22:00
#Mars #Scientists
