The “spiders” of Mars
Do you know what we don’t want to find on Mars? Spiders. Arachnids are already a source of terror for many people on our own planet, so the idea of finding them elsewhere doesn’t arouse much enthusiasm. If we ever plan to colonize Mars, the last thing we need is to be confronted with more spiders to scare us. Fortunately, this is not the subject of the photograph in question. What NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter actually captured in May 2018 was a geological phenomenon called araneiform terrain. This is a seasonal process resulting from the accumulation of carbon dioxide beneath the planet’s surface, which heats up and escapes, leading to the deposition of darker dust around the opening. It’s a phenomenon that doesn’t occur on Earth, and this image was taken during winter at Mars’ south pole.
Les Araignées De Mars
An egg that isn’t an egg
The discovery of an egg on another planet would naturally give rise to the idea of the presence of some form of life. The question then arises as to whether we should wait for the egg to hatch. Who can say what might be lurking inside, or what creature might emerge in search of its egg? But human curiosity is hard to curb. Unfortunately, the object photographed by the Curiosity rover is not really an egg. Although it is called “Egg Rock”, this name comes from the Bar Harbor region of Maine. What’s more, its size is much smaller than the image might suggest, with NASA stating that it’s the size of a golf ball.
An Egg That Isn’t One
