‘A Bear On Mars?’ NASA Spots Trippy Phenomenon On Planet’s Surface

Scientists looking at the surface of Mars have spotted what looks like a bear staring back at them.

A camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took a photo of the formation on Dec. 12. It was shared Wednesday by the University of Arizona, which operates the camera.

A hill with a V-shaped collapse structure forms the bear’s nose and a circular fracture pattern creates the head, the university’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory explained in the blog for its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.

“The circular fracture pattern might be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater. Maybe the nose is a volcanic or mud vent and the deposit could be lava or mud flows?” it said.

This is due to a tendency for the human brain to try and see recognizable shapes in objects or data that are otherwise not familiar to us, known as pareidolia.

View the rest of the story here

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aileen Cannon—Judge Hearing Trump’s Documents Case—Reportedly Made ‘Significant’ Mistakes In June Trial

Topline U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s trial for retaining White House documents, made “key errors” during a criminal trial in a separate case earlier this summer, Reuters reports , raising additional questions about the Trump-appointed judge’s credibility as she prepares to oversee the ex-president’s May 2024 trial. U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, then a nominee for the position, speaks remotely during a ... [+] Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing on July 29, 2020, in Washington. Associated Press Key Facts Cannon presided over a trial in June for defendant William Spearman, who was facing charges of child exploitation and advertising and distributing child pornography. The judge refused to allow members of the public, including Spearman’s family members, into the courtroom during jury selection, according to a court transcript reported by Reuters, citing a lack of space in the courtroom, de
Read more

POV: Researchers often undercount how much visual misinformation is on Facebook

How much misinformation is on Facebook? Several studies have found that the amount of misinformation on Facebook is  low  or that the problem has  declined   over   time . This previous work, though, missed most of the story. We are a  communications researcher , a  media and public affairs researcher , and a  founder of a digital intelligence company . We conducted a study that shows that  massive amounts of misinformation have been overlooked  by other studies. The biggest source of misinformation on Facebook is not links to fake news sites but something more basic: images. And a large portion of posted pictures are misleading. For instance, on the eve of the 2020 election, nearly one out of every four political image posts on Facebook contained misinformation. Widely shared falsehoods included QAnon conspiracy theories, misleading statements about the Black Lives Matter movement, and unfounded claims about Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. Visual misinformation by the numbers
Read more

10 Best End of the World Love Stories From TV and Movies

From the unforgettable The Walking Dead television series to the record-breaking The Last of Us show inspired by the popular video game, people love dystopian-apocalypse TV and movies. Even more than that, viewers love a romance against the tragic backdrop of the end of the world. RELATED: ' Knock at the Cabin' and 9 Other Small-Scale Apocalyptic Movies Throughout the years there have been just as many iconic couples in apocalyptic media as there has been apocalyptic media. From Rick and Michonne to Bill and Frank, there’s a meant-to-be couple to swoon over in between those nail-biting moments of anticipation while watching a dystopian movie or show. COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY 10 Penny and Dodge, 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' (2012) Image via Focus Features A seemingly mismatched couple who find each other as the world is facing impending destruction by asteroid, Penny ( Kiera Knightley ) and her neighbor Dodge ( Steve Carrell ) begin to travel
Read more