A Mars Rock to get Excited about , Curiosity Rover Discovers Stick-Like Figures in Mars Rock

Meanwhile, back on Mars... I’m checking out these stick-like figures. Each is about a quarter-inch long. Maybe they're crystals? Or they could be minerals that filled spaces where crystals dissolved away. Stay tuned! Science continues.
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The features were discovered on Jan. 2nd when the first Curiosity images of 2018 were being examined and are deemed so interesting NASA has sent Curiosity back to the rock to check them out further.

Barry DiGregorio , a research fellow for the British Centre for Astrobiology in Buckingham has looked at the picture and speculated the formations could be Ordovician trace fossils similar to those he has photographed here on Earth.

"They look remarkably similar to Ordovician trace fossils I have studied and photographed here on Earth," DiGregorio told Inside Outer Space. "If not trace fossils, what other geological explanations will NASA come up with?"

Serendipitously, they were first spotted in black and white imagery. The features were compelling enough for the science team to roll Curiosity back to examine them further, making use of MAHLI — a focusable color camera mounted on the rover's arm, Vasavada said. "These were unique enough, given the fact that we didn't know they were there … [that] we thought we should go back," Vasavada explained.
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It's life Jim but not as we know it.

hard rock and soft rock mix together, over the years the soft rock erodes leaving the hard rock showing

It looks like fossilized cat poop.

originally posted by: gortex

It's life Jim but not as we know it.

Interesting find, even more interesting that they drove back to investigate the features more in detail (whatever they are). Here's a slightly larger version of the image featured in the OP (click to enlarge):

Source

a reply to: gortex

Cool rocks. Really strang erosion patterns.

That's fascinating. I do wonder if weather could do something like this over a long period of time. Hopefully we get to see more of this type of thing. They could be some kind of fossil. Or they could just be rocks.
Either way I'm interested to see where this research leads.

Looks like lead. It is flattened and one piece is bent and folded at the bend where the rock broke off. You can even see intentation in the end of the bent piece. Probably ejecti rock that was smashed into other rocks from impacts or geology.

originally posted by: dan121212
hard rock and soft rock mix together, over the years the soft rock erodes leaving the hard rock showing

Isn't it rather pop that erodes hard rock? And country kills Martians - at least it does in Mars Attacks ( that was a documentary, right?)

NASA will never find life. They would be out of business for doing so.

originally posted by: NeoSpace
It looks like fossilized cat poop.

You beat me to it

You will eat the cat poop Ron Burganey!!! a reply to: NeoSpace

You will eat the cat poop Ron Burganey!!! a reply to: NeoSpace

You will eat the cat poop Ron Burganey!!! a reply to: NeoSpace

You will eat the cat poop Ron Burganey!!! a reply to: NeoSpace

You will eat the cat poop Ron Burganey!!! a reply to: NeoSpace

a reply to: gortex

I've read this yesterday, but I couldn't find any credible information wether NASA would believe that it could be possibly true fossilized worms.

Also wanted to post this ,but you know how it goes with NASA it's something like if you want to rule this out then give us the money and we'll send another rover to take it home for examination like in 2045 AD

By then spaceX will have a full colonization on the Martian plane and we can give it to our kids as souvenirs

originally posted by: jeep3r

originally posted by: gortex

It's life Jim but not as we know it.

Interesting find, even more interesting that they drove back to investigate the features more in detail (whatever they are). Here's a slightly larger version of the image featured in the OP (click to enlarge):

Source

That looks like a damaged water line that has sat out in the conditions so long. It seems to be some kind of metal pipe that has been run over by something.

ETA

It even looks like there was a trough for the one on the right and there are indentations on the rock on the left that look to be the same size as the ancient 'cat poop'/Pipe looking rocks.

The scale of it is interesting, if not immediately apparent. Just a few mm I think?

Fascinating image though OP, thanks for finding it. Good to have some proper ATS content on ATS.

a reply to: Justoneman

It's everthing they don't tell it really is..

I think it was an alien who was peacefully sitting on a rock watching sunset , when suddenly it got threatened by something that shot it to ash only leaving behind his left pointing finger and some guts laying on the top left upperside of the OP picture can you see it?

It's still points at the direction the shot was fired upon..

All the discussion of the worm-like thingies and no one noticed that corroded nickel laying between the rocks!