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Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

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Re: Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

#31

Post by stock_toaster »

panacea wrote: post #18
InclinedPlane wrote: post #4

Usually I prefer not to speculate on this sort of thing, because if we just wait we'll have a ton more information soon. However, I wonder if it could be a fulgerite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgurite

Interesting theory. I had to check, and yes, Mars does have dry lightning (in dust storms). If not that, I wonder if it's something produced volcanically like onyx.

I was thinking an ore vein that was harder than the material around it, and said outer material had been weathered away faster to expose it.

Either that or a door handle! :P

Re: Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

#32

Post by pekk »

cgag wrote: post #29
mark_integerdsv wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm interested as to why you'd assert that so confidently. Is it perhaps the more comfortable of the two possibilities?

I can't imagine there's anyone on this forum who doesn't want it to be alien technology.

I don't want it to be alien technology if it isn't.

Re: Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

#34

Post by bigiain »

hdivider wrote: post #6

I'm certainly not an expert on this, but I'd say the most important number to think about when looking at rover images is the scale . "the little protuberance is probably about 0.5 cm tall, or even smaller." Five mm is obviously tiny. Keep this in mind before making up hypotheses as to what the thing is. =) We have to wait until better data is available. What's fascinating in itself though is that no person, however…

Well, at 5mm it's clearly an antenna in the 112GHz band, from which we can conclude that 1) there'll be other alien antennas in line-of-site of this one, and 2) Martians clearly run very high bandwidth wifi networks.

Re: Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

#35

Post by edmccard »

mark_integerdsv wrote: post #23
Bjartr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it's a more reasonable explanation than aliens at least.

I'm interested as to why you'd assert that so confidently. Is it perhaps the more comfortable of the two possibilities?

No, it's just the more reasonable. Most likely it's not any kind of artifact, but we have a lot more evidence for the existence of man-made spacecraft than we do for alien spacecraft, and Mars is a lot closer to Earth than it is to anywhere aliens might come from.

Re: Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

#36

Post by rsheridan6 »

cgag wrote: post #29
mark_integerdsv wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm interested as to why you'd assert that so confidently. Is it perhaps the more comfortable of the two possibilities?

I can't imagine there's anyone on this forum who doesn't want it to be alien technology.

I don't. If aliens exist and are able to travel to our vicinity, we're probably screwed as a species.

Re: Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

#37

Post by waskosky »

cgag wrote: post #29
mark_integerdsv wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm interested as to why you'd assert that so confidently. Is it perhaps the more comfortable of the two possibilities?

I can't imagine there's anyone on this forum who doesn't want it to be alien technology.

If the evidence becomes associated with conspiracy theory though, many people prefer to shy away because of the commonly held feelings about "those people." For example the recent claims of ET corpses being genetically studied, mysteriously absent from headlines it seems: http://divinecosmos.com/start-here/davids-blog/1109-disclosu...

Re: Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

#38

Post by jholman »

bpc9 wrote: post #2

So that's where R2D2 ended up. It looks almost like molten metal poured into a sand cavity, and then with the sand blown away. I guess you wouldn't get oxidation or similar activity on Mars (?), so it remains nice and shiny. I wonder how far the shape goes down, and what could have caused it?

> I guess you wouldn't get oxidation or similar activity on Mars

Mars is principally deeply covered in iron III oxide. That's why it's red.

Re: Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

#39

Post by InclinedPlane »

panacea wrote: post #18
InclinedPlane wrote: post #4

Usually I prefer not to speculate on this sort of thing, because if we just wait we'll have a ton more information soon. However, I wonder if it could be a fulgerite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgurite

Interesting theory. I had to check, and yes, Mars does have dry lightning (in dust storms). If not that, I wonder if it's something produced volcanically like onyx.

Mars likely had more lightning when it was wetter, as well. Also, some Mars rocks and regolith have extremely high concentrations of Iron, so lightning induced in situ sintering of a little hunk of fulguritic Iron isn't out of the question.

The cool thing is that Curiosity is so crammed full of equipment for studying mineralogy and chemical composition that we'll likely be able to solve the riddle pretty quick.

Re: Curiosity images strange metallic-looking object on Mars

#40

Post by gbog »

rsheridan6 wrote: post #36
cgag wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine there's anyone on this forum who doesn't want it to be alien technology.

I don't. If aliens exist and are able to travel to our vicinity, we're probably screwed as a species.

What is nice with alien is that we really don't know. So the sentence above tells much more about your pessimism than about aliens.
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