Mars, the Red Planet (Photo : Reuters)
Humans are convinced that life exists beyond Earth and the usual suspect where a civilization is hosted or once thrived is the Red Planet, Mars that is. Barren as it appears, Mars never fails to trigger the most fertile of imaginations - that we are not alone and soon life out there will be detected.
Even some NASA astronauts, they with brains disciplined and formed by Science, hold to the idea that extraterrestrials will be discovered eventually or these life forms will be the first to make contact or interact with humans. If nothing will be found on Mars then the universe will do the job. There has to be a breathing and intelligent life somewhere outside of Earth.
Mars, however, remains the main subject of the undying hope that man's interactions will extend outside of Earth. And thanks to the Internet, the idea that man would soon walk on Mars and colonize it was further encouraged by the recent finds of suspected signs of life on the Red Planet.
Some of which were listed below in a report by Evan Dashevsky of PC Mag, basing on official images released by U.S. space agency NASA:
- The Crab Monster. The photo of the space crab that was captured amongst the rocky terrain of Mars was described by Dashevsky as the biggest find in recent times that suggest there is something moving in the planet. But NASA insists it's just a rock.
- Or a lizard. If the crab is actually an inanimate object then perhaps a lizard will count as proof of life. No chance, NASA said. Again, what appears as a lizard is actually a rock but a shimmering kind.
- Mythical figures. A lady ghost and a mermaid were also mentioned as possible indicators life able to survive on what is generally known as the harsh Martin environ. But back on Earth, ghosts and mermaids are not exactly considered as living figures to begin with.
- A spoon. Someone may have left this giant piece of cutlery eons of years ago and now it's floating around on Mars, seemingly abandoned by its long-gone titan-sized users. NASA has no explanation but it can confirm that the pic that hit the Web was taken by the Curiosity Rover last August.
- The White House occupant. Could it be that American astronauts landed on Mars in recent years and decided to pay a tribute to U.S. President Barack Obama by sculpting his image using a huge Martian rock? Now the master opus is visible from afar. This again is left unexplained.
But Dashevsky offers one solid explanation. Despite the fact that Mars is mostly orange rocks, many would insist to believe that life is possible on the Red Planet and the likelihood is they will see things, which actually are geological mirages. Scientists call it Pareidolia, Dashevsky said.
The plain definition - the human brain tends to see or identify familiar patterns where they don't really exist. This is why we marvel at the shape of the clouds or helps us identify a particular face in a sea of other human faces.
What many are seeing as objects that seem to point to life on Mars is actually Pareidolia in action. That's how powerful the human imagination is, Dashevsky said, also noting that the brain is far from perfect.
