Martian fossil?????

Well NASA isn't saying anything about this but it is quite
interesting.
http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=hf_mars_rotini_040301_02.jpg&c ap=Opportunity's%20Microscopic%20Imager%20found%20 this%20intriguing%20object,%20lookingmore%20like%2 0Rotini%20pasta.%20Its%20odd%20shape%20has%20stirr ed%20up%20Mars%20researchers,both%20inside%20and%2 0outside%20of%20the%20NASA%20Mars%20Rover%20Explor ation%20team.%20Whetheror%20not%20this%20object%20 i
%20related%20to%20biology%20has%20prompted%20a%20v ariety%20ofviews.

Darren Drake:
Well NASA isn't saying anything about this but it is quite
interesting.

You make it sound as if NASA isn't saying anything because they have
something they want to keep secret. They published the photo and they
will publish their assessment at the appropriate time, I am sure. I
expect the assessment to contain somewhat more detail than "quite
interesting," and I consequently expect that NASA will need more time
than space.com needed before commenting. Also in contrast to the
space.com caption, I expect that NASA's release will have proper
grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

(Darren Drake) wrote in message . com...
Well NASA isn't saying anything about this but it is quite
interesting.
http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=hf_mars_rotini_040301_02.jpg&c ap=Opportunity's%20Microscopic%20Imager%20found%20 this%20intriguing%20object,%20lookingmore%20like%2 0Rotini%20pasta.%20Its%20odd%20shape%20has%20stirr ed%20up%20Mars%20researchers,both%20inside%20and%2 0outside%20of%20the%20NASA%20Mars%20Rover%20Explor ation%20team.%20Whetheror%20not%20this%20object%2
i
%20related%20to%20biology%20has%20prompted%20a%20v ariety%20ofviews.

I think the leading explanation is that it was caused by the drill.
You can get the same shapes here on Earth when drilling in permafrost.

Clear Skies,
James King

Lurking Luser wrote:

(Darren Drake) wrote in message . com...

Well NASA isn't saying anything about this but it is quite
interesting.
http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=hf_mars_rotini_040301_02.jpg&c ap=Opportunity's%20Microscopic%20Imager%20found%20 this%20intriguing%20object,%20lookingmore%20like%2 0Rotini%20pasta.%20Its%20odd%20shape%20has%20stirr ed%20up%20Mars%20researchers,both%20inside%20and%2 0outside%20of%20the%20NASA%20Mars%20Rover%20Explor ation%20team.%20Whetheror%20not%20this%20object%2

i

%20related%20to%20biology%20has%20prompted%20a%2 0variety%20ofviews.


I think the leading explanation is that it was caused by the drill.
You can get the same shapes here on Earth when drilling in permafrost.

Clear Skies,
James King

I would like to add, that looking at the way the RAT works, one can
see that the cutting edges go in a trajectory that much resemble what
the "fossil" looks like. I mean, the grinding wheel rotates fast
around it's own axis, and at the same time there is a slower rotation
of the wheel around the RAT's central axis. I'm not good in English
to explain it properly, so here are some of the RAT specs:

http://athena.cornell.edu/the_mission/ins_rat.html

Regards,

- Alex

"Darren Drake" wrote in message
om...
Well NASA isn't saying anything about this but it is quite
interesting.

http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=hf_mars_rotini_040301_02.jpg&c ap=Opportunity's%20Microscopic%20Imager%20found%20 this%20intriguing%20object,%20lookingmore%20like%2 0Rotini%20pasta.%20Its%20odd%20shape%20has%20stirr ed%20up%20Mars%20researchers,both%20inside%20and%2 0outside%20of%20the%20NASA%20Mars%20Rover%20Explor ation%20team.%20Whetheror%20not%20this%20object%20 i
%20related%20to%20biology%20has%20prompted%20a%20v ariety%20ofviews.




Why does it have to be indicative of primitive life?


Maybe it is better thought of as an indicator of an Italian chef?


Did anybody in the clean room at the launch pad have pasta for lunch?

(Darren Drake) wrote in message . com...
Well NASA isn't saying anything about this but it is quite
interesting.

Deep down (and on the surface too) I *really* want them to find
fossils (as do a lot of others - whether they'd admit it in public or
not). But, I don't think this is a very good candidate. It looks
very much like piled up scrappings from a double bladed RAT. But, at
the least, it's worth further examination. Pseudo-stereo with the
microscope would have been nice, but I don't think they tried that
technique until after this picture was taken.

It will be interesting if they see this effect in other cracked rocks
that they RAT. If they do then I think well have a 99% chance of
knowing what really caused it.

But, as long as we're speculating....

Does anyone have a good reason why the spherules (or what ever they're
calling them) couldn't be fossils? Squyres seems to think that
they're concretions because of the way they're laid down, in, around,
and though the different layers.

And, that they don't seem to deform the layers around them... hmmm,
what the heck does that mean? What would it mean if they *did* deform
the layers around them?

What do tiny invertibrates look like when they die, float to the
bottom, get burried, and are replaced by minerals? How would the
spherules have to be distributed to be something like that?


The Lunatic

Tag Line: If God wanted us to travel to the stars, He would have given
us a large moon and lots of water to make rocket fuel out of.

You ever considered using www.tinyurl.com ?

--
Hilton Evans
-----------------------------------------------
ChemPen Chemical Structure Software
http://www.chempensoftware.com
"Darren Drake" wrote in message om...
Well NASA isn't saying anything about this but it is quite
interesting.


http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=hf_mars_rotini_040301_02.jpg&c ap=Opportunity's%20Microscopic%20Imager%20found%20 this%20intriguing%20object,%20lookingmore%20like%2 0Rotini%20pasta.%20Its%20odd%20shape%20has%20stirr ed%20up%20Mars%20researchers,both%20inside%20and%2 0outside%20of%20the%20NASA%20Mars%20Rover%20Explor ation%20team.%20Whetheror%20not%20this%20object%20 i%20related%20to%20biology%20has%20prompted%20a%20 variety%20ofviews.


---
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The Lunatic wrote:
And, that they don't seem to deform the layers around them... hmmm,
what the heck does that mean? What would it mean if they *did* deform
the layers around them?

It means they grew in the matrix rather than being deposited there, then
buried. If they were deposited the layers would sort of "pile up"
around the spherules as they buried them.

What do tiny invertibrates look like when they die, float to the
bottom, get burried, and are replaced by minerals? How would the
spherules have to be distributed to be something like that?

There has been a lot of discussion about this (some of it by non-loonies
:-) ) on alt.sci.planetary, often cross posted to various geology
groups. The consensus seems to be that it most likely these are mineral
formations, with the caveat that on earth the seed they grow around is
often organic.

Greg


--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

SkyTools Software for the Observer:
http://www.skyhound.com/cs.html

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