5 ms·

NASA finds multi-billion-year-old 'coral' on Mars

20 points by geox 1y ago

dailyanchovy 1y ago
* coral shaped rock
- CommenterPerson 1y ago
  Yes. Also "Live science.com finds multi-billion year old click bait in NASA report".
- lutusp 1y ago
  > * coral shaped rock The technical term is "dendritic". It's sufficiently distant from nature to avoid suggesting a living organism.
tocs3 1y ago
Are there examples of non-life formations like this on Earth? What are they called (how can I see some)?
- Lichtso 1y ago
  Could be formed by viscous fingering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdwSMytC7y4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdwSMytC7y4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffman%E2%80%93Taylor_instability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffman%E2%80%93Taylor_instabi...
  - tocs3 1y ago
    I certainly see the dendritic nature of the rock but I am wondering if there are rocks found on Earth that look he same. Most of the examples of that sort of thing are more 2D patterns. Just some images of what I am talking about: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dindrite+rock&t=ffab&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dindrite+rock&t=ffab&ia=images&iax...
  - metalman 1y ago
    could be formed by something like a stromatilite(s), which are presumed to be the most ancient life forms to 1 leave macro fosils, and 2 are an existing species today or just some blobby rock's in any case, it's one more reason to go to mars, other than of course we dont realy have anywhere else to go, and with 9 billion people side eyeing each other, were going
- andrewflnr 1y ago
  I think I've seen similar textures on cave walls. But it's basically a diffusion-limited aggregation shape. A good few examples here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion-limited_aggregation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion-limited_aggregation
- mathgradthrow 1y ago
  Clickbait, there is no life on earth!
- lutusp 1y ago
  > Are there examples of non-life formations like this on Earth? What are they called (how can I see some)? The technical term is "dendritic." No suggestion of life. The next time you see a lithium-ion battery fire, you can impress your friends by saying, "Another dendritic disaster!" This link: https://www.electronicproducts.com/what-are-dendrites-and-why-do-they-cause-fires-in-lithium-batteries/ https://www.electronicproducts.com/what-are-dendrites-and-wh... includes a picture of dendrites in a lithium-ion battery. Not at all biological.
- general1726 1y ago
  Lighting hitting into sand will create similar elongated and branching stones https://tucson.com/news/science/this-is-what-happens-when-lightning-strikes-sand/video_0ceedb62-a30c-55c2-870d-0f94ae35fd43.html https://tucson.com/news/science/this-is-what-happens-when-li...
- tim333 1y ago
  I found this thing - Coral-like tafoni panel along Kaleidoscope Traverse, Wollemi National Park. https://www.instagram.com/p/DMgNKByBRkD/ https://www.instagram.com/p/DMgNKByBRkD/ not quite as coral like as the Mars stuff though
  - tocs3 1y ago
    This is what I was looking for.
stanmancan 1y ago
Original title is clickbait. "NASA finds another coral-like rock on mars"
bnrdr 1y ago
> "Curiosity has found many rocks like this one, which were formed by ancient water combined with billions of years of sandblasting by the wind," NASA representatives wrote in the statement. To save you a click
stemlord 1y ago
What is even the point of karma farming on hn?
HelloUsername 1y ago
Could we change link from livescience to the source? https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26634-curiositys-chemcam-views-a-rock-shaped-like-coral/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26634-curiositys-chemcam-... Also related post from the same day: NASA's Curiosity picks up new skills https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44790271 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44790271
lutusp 1y ago
I wish there was a scale that quantifies the degree to which an article headline struggles to attract clicks at the expense of accuracy. Looking further, I find that the JPL source article (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26634-curiositys-chemcam-views-a-rock-shaped-like-coral/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26634-curiositys-chemcam-...) used a similar headline, perhaps a bit less click-baity. I grant that the term "dendritic," which conveys the intended meaning without sensationalism, might be too technical for a wide audience. But "dendritic" doesn't suggest a living organism to the degree that "Shaped Like Coral" (from the JPL headline) does. And in retrospect the JPL headline begs to be turned into "... multi-billion-year-old 'coral' on Mars". But I wait with bated breath for the next iteration, titled "Scientists Baffled By Coral Reef on Mars!"
ndexter 1y ago
[dead]
tim333 1y ago
It would be cool if it was coral, if maybe unlikely. Apparently rocks may have been thrown from Earth to Mars by large asteroid collisions like the one that got the dinosaurs.

20 points by geox 1y ago

dailyanchovy 1y ago

* coral shaped rock

CommenterPerson 1y ago
Yes. Also "Live science.com finds multi-billion year old click bait in NASA report".
lutusp 1y ago
> * coral shaped rock The technical term is "dendritic". It's sufficiently distant from nature to avoid suggesting a living organism.

tocs3 1y ago

Are there examples of non-life formations like this on Earth? What are they called (how can I see some)?

Lichtso 1y ago
Could be formed by viscous fingering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdwSMytC7y4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdwSMytC7y4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffman%E2%80%93Taylor_instability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffman%E2%80%93Taylor_instabi...
- tocs3 1y ago
  I certainly see the dendritic nature of the rock but I am wondering if there are rocks found on Earth that look he same. Most of the examples of that sort of thing are more 2D patterns. Just some images of what I am talking about: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dindrite+rock&t=ffab&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dindrite+rock&t=ffab&ia=images&iax...
- metalman 1y ago
  could be formed by something like a stromatilite(s), which are presumed to be the most ancient life forms to 1 leave macro fosils, and 2 are an existing species today or just some blobby rock's in any case, it's one more reason to go to mars, other than of course we dont realy have anywhere else to go, and with 9 billion people side eyeing each other, were going
andrewflnr 1y ago
I think I've seen similar textures on cave walls. But it's basically a diffusion-limited aggregation shape. A good few examples here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion-limited_aggregation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion-limited_aggregation
mathgradthrow 1y ago
Clickbait, there is no life on earth!
lutusp 1y ago
> Are there examples of non-life formations like this on Earth? What are they called (how can I see some)? The technical term is "dendritic." No suggestion of life. The next time you see a lithium-ion battery fire, you can impress your friends by saying, "Another dendritic disaster!" This link: https://www.electronicproducts.com/what-are-dendrites-and-why-do-they-cause-fires-in-lithium-batteries/ https://www.electronicproducts.com/what-are-dendrites-and-wh... includes a picture of dendrites in a lithium-ion battery. Not at all biological.
general1726 1y ago
Lighting hitting into sand will create similar elongated and branching stones https://tucson.com/news/science/this-is-what-happens-when-lightning-strikes-sand/video_0ceedb62-a30c-55c2-870d-0f94ae35fd43.html https://tucson.com/news/science/this-is-what-happens-when-li...
tim333 1y ago
I found this thing - Coral-like tafoni panel along Kaleidoscope Traverse, Wollemi National Park. https://www.instagram.com/p/DMgNKByBRkD/ https://www.instagram.com/p/DMgNKByBRkD/ not quite as coral like as the Mars stuff though
- tocs3 1y ago
  This is what I was looking for.

stanmancan 1y ago

Original title is clickbait. "NASA finds another coral-like rock on mars"

bnrdr 1y ago

> "Curiosity has found many rocks like this one, which were formed by ancient water combined with billions of years of sandblasting by the wind," NASA representatives wrote in the statement. To save you a click

stemlord 1y ago

What is even the point of karma farming on hn?

HelloUsername 1y ago

Could we change link from livescience to the source? https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26634-curiositys-chemcam-views-a-rock-shaped-like-coral/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26634-curiositys-chemcam-... Also related post from the same day: NASA's Curiosity picks up new skills https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44790271 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44790271

lutusp 1y ago

I wish there was a scale that quantifies the degree to which an article headline struggles to attract clicks at the expense of accuracy. Looking further, I find that the JPL source article (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26634-curiositys-chemcam-views-a-rock-shaped-like-coral/ https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26634-curiositys-chemcam-...) used a similar headline, perhaps a bit less click-baity. I grant that the term "dendritic," which conveys the intended meaning without sensationalism, might be too technical for a wide audience. But "dendritic" doesn't suggest a living organism to the degree that "Shaped Like Coral" (from the JPL headline) does. And in retrospect the JPL headline begs to be turned into "... multi-billion-year-old 'coral' on Mars". But I wait with bated breath for the next iteration, titled "Scientists Baffled By Coral Reef on Mars!"

ndexter 1y ago

[dead]

tim333 1y ago

It would be cool if it was coral, if maybe unlikely. Apparently rocks may have been thrown from Earth to Mars by large asteroid collisions like the one that got the dinosaurs.