An amazing picture was found by an astrobiologist Nathalie Cabrol. Posting it on Twitter, she wrote: “This is the most amazing rock I’ve seen in 20 years of exploring Mars.” For those who want to make sure that this is not a hoax, the photo can be viewed on the NASA website.
The post of the researcher has attracted huge attention – since April 11, it has gained 1.3 million views. The astrobiologist, naturally, was intrigued.
Most of those who responded considered the find evidence of past life on Mars and agreed that the ribs of some kind of skeleton were sticking out of the ground – they were exposed by the wind.
Abigail Freiman, who represents the Curiosity project team, explained on Twitter that the mysterious ribs are just “corals”. That is, they are not alive.
Most likely formed by sulfates that precipitated from the water that was once on Mars. Scientifically, such formations are called diagenetic crystal clusters – structures consisting of a combination of several different minerals.
But this explanation seemed strange to many. If this is a natural formation, then there should have been many such stones....<<<Read More>>>...