Did Curiosity really find a levitating spoon on Mars?

Mars has seen its fair share of pareidolia in recent months. But a soup spoon? The debate goes on.

|
MSSS/JPL-Caltech/NASA
This raw image of rock formations on the surface of Mars was taken by the Mastcam onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 1089, August 30. Some online commenters have suggested that the picture appears to show a levitating spoon.

For a while, there was the Mars rat – or if you squinted, maybe some kind of lizard.

Then came the Martian jelly doughnut – later shown to be a piece of broken rock moved by the Opportunity rover. This summer, it was a pyramid, theorized by some to be the creation of intelligent life. NASA said it was just an ordinary rock.

For years, the curiouser and curiouser have speculated about structures on the Red Planet, and for all of NASA’s official dismissals, can’t seem to stop from hypothesizing about the Curiosity rover’s latest “sighting”: a floating spoon.

Users on Unmanned Spaceflight, an online forum moderated by the Planetary Society, described the object as “ridiculously long and delicate” and a “soup spoon.”

“Once you spot it, it becomes obvious; it really does look like a spoon hanging in the air, just above the surface of some layered rock,” reports Discovery News’ Ian O’ Neill. “But as Mars is devoid of any civilization, advanced or otherwise, that is capable of manufacturing said spoon, there’s probably a more logical answer.”

“It's unclear how old the delicate feature may be or how long it will be able to survive on the surface before its worn down by Martian weather,” writes ABC News.

NASA has not confirmed what the object is, but it did say that the image could simply be another case of Martian pareidolia, according to the Tech Times. The term refers to a psychological phenomenon of people interpreting things they see as a familiar pattern or object.

The “spoon” could be an optical illusion caused by the shadows, writes Discovery's Mr. O’ Neill. He goes on to conclude:

So, once again, this little nugget of Mars pareidolia is a rock that happens to be shaped like a spoon. But it’s a fascinating rock, and an awesome find, providing some geological hints as to the erosion processes that can etch out such delicate formations on the surface of the Red Planet.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Did Curiosity really find a levitating spoon on Mars?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0902/Did-Curiosity-really-find-a-levitating-spoon-on-Mars
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe