Its a femur, its a bone; no its just a rock on Mars, NASA says
A rock formation found by NASA on Mars very closely resembles a femur; the image captured by the robot Curiosity has unleashed all kinds of…
Does it look like a femur to you? Many who see this photo released by NASA of Mars say it looks like a bone. (Photo Courtesy: NASA)
A rock formation found by NASA on Mars very closely resembles a femur; the image captured by the robot Curiosity has unleashed all kinds of speculation about life on on the planet.
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If you pay close attention to the photo, the other rocks on the bottom half of the image are not at all similar to the one that looks like a bone, highlighting the half-buried artifact that could also be confused for a prehistoric tool used to skin animals or other everyday tasks.
According to NASA experts, the rocks shape is the consequence of erosion from wind and water, causing it to look like a femur.
“If life ever existed on Mars, scientists expect that it would be small simple life forms called microbes,” NASA officials wrote in the photo description. “Mars likely never had enough oxygen in its atmosphere and elsewhere to support more complex organisms. Thus, large fossils are not likely.”
Without a direct visual examination its impossible to confirm what it is, but NASA was very clear-cut in the statement it released accompanying the photo, but it does use adjectives such as likely, which could lend itself to conspiracy theories.
On August 5th the Curiosity celebrated its second year exploring Mars. That was the day that engineers from the Goddard Space Flight Center utilized the Sample Analysis at Mars tool (SAM) to sing Happy Birthday to the robot.
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