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Breaking news - a boulder rolled down a hill on Mars and landed upright

lajoswinkler

By lajoswinkler
in Science & Spaceflight

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lajoswinkler

lajoswinkler

Posted
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http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2014-275

The shadow cast by the rock in mid-afternoon sunlight reveals it is about 20 feet (6 meters) tall. In the downward-looking image, the boulder is only about about 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide. It happened to come to rest with its long dimension vertical. The trail it left on the slope has a pattern that suggests the boulder couldn't roll smoothly or straight due to its shape.

high resolution photo

It's kind of funny how something so stupid on Earth is great news if it happens on Mars, don't you think? :)

It sounds as one of those stupid news during the summer season when nothing happens.

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Javster

Javster

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someone is going to come up with a theory about how the rock is actually a lifeform, or that the rock was moved there by martians trying to create a stonehenge...

Obviously it's staged by the same people who faked the moon landings, caused 9/11, are brainwashing us with microwaves and radioactive wifi, and make us have to wear tinfoil hats!

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Hal

Hal

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Why....didn't....you....DODGE?!!!!!!!!

Great, now I can't stop thinking of the end of Prometheus.

THERE ARE 2 DIMENSIONS YOU CAN TRAVERSE OVER THE GROUND! JUST RUN 20 FEET TO THE LEFT!

In all seriousness, this is pretty silly. Although I guess this kind of thing is a lot rarer on Mars, what with the thinner air and lack of water for erosion.

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Aethon

Aethon

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Dam- Ninja's.

Funny how like minds think great. Before I read the comment's I was going to mention that in a dream last night, Percival Lowell told me that Mars has sentient rocks, and this is part of their rock Olympics. I think it's pretty obvious. :blush:

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Idobox

Idobox

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I think it's quite interesting actually.

From the trail, and the resting position, I'm sure proper physicist/geologists can tell a lot bout the nature of the dust/sand in that area and the density of the rock itself, information that is usually hard to get from orbit.

Also, standing rocks are rare enough on Earth that they are usually considered human artefacts. Although it's not shocking news, that kind of stuff on Earth would likely end up as a local tourist attraction or be passed down as a legend by generations of pub dwellers.

Most importantly, the rock looks kinda angular. Crazies are going to enjoy this one a lot.

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