Copasetic Flow

With more pictures coming in from the Mars rover missions that 'look like something', it seems that believers are becoming ever more hopeful while skeptics are becoming ever more skeptical. In the interest of promoting open-mindedness in scientific investigations, the following Earth-bound, Mars and Mercury rocks are presented for your consideration. From Just a Rock More Than A Rock ??? Earth Camel Rock near Tesuque Pueble, NM Image credit The Treasury: Petra, Jordan Mars Actually, this is a special rock. The rock in the lower right foreground is thought to be an iron meteor. Image credit Maritian meteor containing fossilized bacteria? Image credit Lady on Mars Image credit Earth Bear in a Rock: Pecos River Valley, NM Image credit Mars Skull Rock Image credit Mercury Spider scar: Mercury Image credit Not a rock! Also, not from Mercury. Image credit

In any scientific investigation, it's always important to keep an open mind. Otherwise, the important details can sneak right by while you're too busy hollering that they don't exist. I've been researching dugg reports of strange phenomena lately. Things like the woman, the canals, and the face on Mars. Just about as often as there is a report of a strange phenomenon, there's another report that claims to debunk it. In reading these 'debunkings' I noticed that most of them use the same logical fallacy. It's called the ' argument from fallacy ', and here's how it works: If P, then Q. P is a fallacious argument. Therefore, Q is false. And here's a further example from wikipedia: Tom : "All cats are animals . Ginger is an animal. This means Ginger is a cat.". Bill : "Ah you just committed the affirming the consequent logical fallacy. Sorry, you are wrong, which means that Ginger is not a cat".Of course, Ginger cou...

Martian Rock(Sculpture?) While 'digg'ing around the internet this week I found this article about a recent picture sent back from the Mars rover Spirit. The author was in an inordinate rush to dismiss the image as a case of pareidolia , which is defined as perceiving vague or random stimulus as being significant. Amusingly enough, pareidolia is a type of apophenia , which is what this article may wind up being categorized as. As an example, of the phenomenon, he sited the back of the New Hampshire quarter. I've lived in the Southwest for much of my life, and I've seen my fair share of rocks that look like something else . However, the above picture of the Mars 'sculpture' goes beyond this. All the other rocks look worn by the wind like sandstone does here. However, the rock of interest has not only NOT been worn in the same manner as the others, but is in a recognizable shape. Why? The author goes on to cite another 'expert' who says the 'statu...