NASA recently spotted something strange on Mars—a nearly perfect square-shaped formation on the planet’s surface! At first glance, it looks like something artificial, sparking wild theories about aliens and ancient civilizations. But scientists believe it's actually a natural geological formation, likely caused by cracks, erosion, or volcanic activity. Nature sometimes creates surprisingly geometric shapes, just like hexagonal basalt columns on Earth. While it's not proof of Martian life, it’s still an exciting discovery that makes us wonder what else is hiding on the Red Planet. Who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll find something even more mysterious! Credit:
KSC-09-S-00026: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/ksc_030609_kep_launch
Mars Report Odyssey: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20231122-MARSODf-0001-Mars%20Report%20Odyssey%20November%202023
Perseverance Rover’s Descent and Touchdown on Mars: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20210222-M2020f-0001-Perseverance%20Rover%E2%80%99s%20Descent%20and%20Touchdown%20on%20Mars
Peseverance Mission Overview: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20200727-M2020f-0003-Peseverance%20Mission%20Overview
Mars' Ancient Ocean: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20150305_Mars_m11796_Ocean
Firing Room 1 Simulations for Artemis I: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20200203-MH-GEB01_0001-Firing_Room_1_Sims_For_Atermis_1-3241077
How Water May Have Affected Volcanoes on Mars: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20180608_Tonga_m12932_Volcanoes
Peseverance Mission Overview: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20200727-M2020f-0003-Peseverance%20Mission%20Overview
IceBridge images of crack: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20161208_IceBridge_m12449_IceBridge
Mars Evolution from Wet to Dry: By NASA, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13016/
Visualizations of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai: By NASA, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4635/
Ingenuity Third Flight MastcamZ Video: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20210425-TECHf-0001-Ingenuity%20Third%20Flight%20MastcamZ%20Video
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Flight: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20230406-TECHf-0001-Ingenuity%20Flight%20Update%20Media%20Reel%201080
Happy Birthday, Curiosity: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20130805_HappyBirthday_m11331_Curiosity
The Cydonia 'D&M Pyramid' Landform: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA04745
Perseverance Explores the Jezero Crater Delta: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20220906-Perseverance_Explores_Jezero_Crater_Delta_UHD
Animation is created by Bright Side.
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
KSC-09-S-00026: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/ksc_030609_kep_launch
Mars Report Odyssey: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20231122-MARSODf-0001-Mars%20Report%20Odyssey%20November%202023
Perseverance Rover’s Descent and Touchdown on Mars: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20210222-M2020f-0001-Perseverance%20Rover%E2%80%99s%20Descent%20and%20Touchdown%20on%20Mars
Peseverance Mission Overview: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20200727-M2020f-0003-Peseverance%20Mission%20Overview
Mars' Ancient Ocean: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20150305_Mars_m11796_Ocean
Firing Room 1 Simulations for Artemis I: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/KSC-20200203-MH-GEB01_0001-Firing_Room_1_Sims_For_Atermis_1-3241077
How Water May Have Affected Volcanoes on Mars: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20180608_Tonga_m12932_Volcanoes
Peseverance Mission Overview: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20200727-M2020f-0003-Peseverance%20Mission%20Overview
IceBridge images of crack: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20161208_IceBridge_m12449_IceBridge
Mars Evolution from Wet to Dry: By NASA, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13016/
Visualizations of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai: By NASA, https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4635/
Ingenuity Third Flight MastcamZ Video: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20210425-TECHf-0001-Ingenuity%20Third%20Flight%20MastcamZ%20Video
Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Flight: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20230406-TECHf-0001-Ingenuity%20Flight%20Update%20Media%20Reel%201080
Happy Birthday, Curiosity: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20130805_HappyBirthday_m11331_Curiosity
The Cydonia 'D&M Pyramid' Landform: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/PIA04745
Perseverance Explores the Jezero Crater Delta: By NASA, https://images.nasa.gov/details/JPL-20220906-Perseverance_Explores_Jezero_Crater_Delta_UHD
Animation is created by Bright Side.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV
Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz
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Our Social Media:
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en
Stock materials (photos, footages and other):
https://www.depositphotos.com
https://www.shutterstock.com
https://www.eastnews.ru
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For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me
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This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00There's a weird structure on Mars. A square. A near-perfect square standing alone in the
00:16endless red desert. And it looks too perfect, too precise to be anything but artificial.
00:23Nature is chaotic, and it rarely makes things look so deliberate. So the Internet took one
00:28look at it and lost its mind, as the Internet tends to do. The image spread like a virus
00:34on social media, igniting every conspiracy theory you can think of. Some were convinced
00:39it was proof that intelligent life had once tread upon the Martian sands. Let's dive
00:45in and sort it out.
00:48The image is real, and it's really old. The thing, not the picture. NASA's Mars
00:53Orbiter camera snapped it in 2001, capturing a tiny slice of Martian terrain. And there
00:59sat the square. Now is that evidence for intelligent life? Well, Mars is an empty world now, a
01:06rust-colored desert. But once, long ago, it may have been something else entirely. A planet
01:17filled with roaring rivers, vast oceans, and thick clouds rolling across the sky. Now,
01:23in a world like that, life, if it ever had a chance, could've taken root. And there's
01:28a possibility it did. Scientists think that life could've existed on Mars in a short
01:33period from around 4.1 to 3 billion years ago. It could've started during the early
01:39era of Martian history, called the Noachian period, and lasted all the way to the late
01:45Hesperian period. Meanwhile, here on Earth, the first oceans were just forming. Life on
01:50our planet was just beginning, in the form of tiny bacteria in deep-sea hydrothermal
01:55vents. While Mars was already fully wet, on Earth, there were no plants or animals, just
02:01microscopic life trying to survive. So, Mars took the lead in the life game. It
02:09had a much thicker atmosphere, which could've trapped enough heat to keep water liquid.
02:14Valley networks, huge traces across the red landscape, show us the incredible story of
02:19rainfall, rivers, and lakes. Huge asteroids were still hitting Mars at the time, and
02:24they could've brought organic molecules with them. But if that's true, what happened,
02:29and where did life go? A recent NASA study suggests that the answer is more complicated
02:35than we thought. Astronomers believe that something drastic happened to Mars, like boom,
02:43and its cozy climate was gone, its atmosphere thin, without a strong magnetic field like
02:48Earth's to protect it, solar radiation stripped away the air, leaving Mars cold and dry. The
02:55ocean simply evaporated. Some of the water escaped into space, while the rest froze underground,
03:01or became locked in polar ice caps. Today, all that remains is a ghostly memory.
03:08Dry channels and salty mineral deposits. But it looks like the transition wasn't sudden
03:16at all. It was slow and gradual. The planet was changing from wet and warm to cold and
03:21dry over millions of years. In fact, Mars kept its ocean even after the temperatures
03:28dropped to freezing. Some parts of Mars, especially the northern lowlands, might have remained
03:33wet for many, many centuries. Shouldn't the water freeze when it gets below 32 degrees
03:38Fahrenheit? Well, yeah. But there are many reasons why this miracle happened, like Mars's
03:44thick atmosphere and warm water traveling through currents. And during that time we
03:49mentioned before, from Noachian to the late Hesperian, life could've found a way.
03:59Microbes on Earth thrive in some of the harshest places – beneath Antarctic ice, in deep
04:04sea vents, in toxic volcanic lakes. Hey, life doesn't care! So, these times in Martian
04:09history would be amazing for it. But don't be mistaken – Mars was never a paradise.
04:16Even during its cozy times, it wasn't as lush and green as we might imagine. In its
04:21early days, Mars was something more extreme, something closer to the young Earth. During
04:26the Noachian period, it was warm yet wet. Then, the climate shifted into the Hesperian
04:32period. Oceans were stretching across the northern lowlands. Temperatures dropped, and
04:37snow piled high, forming massive glaciers in the south, transforming the planet into
04:42an icy world. Finding microscopic life at that time is possible, but an intelligent
04:48civilization? Eh, that's less likely.
04:54The square that went viral isn't evidence for intelligent life yet. And here's why.
04:59First things first, people freak out because nature doesn't make straight lines. But
05:04that's not really true. Actually, nature does it all the time. For example, here on
05:10Earth, we have the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, a beautiful field of hexagonal basalt
05:15columns. These are completely natural. They're formed by volcanic activity.
05:20There's also the Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Hey, remember it from the Close Encounters
05:25movie in the 80s? That's a symmetrical rock formation, and it was created by erosion.
05:30However, if we looked at these things from space, they'd look artificial.
05:36So what is the square? How about a fracture pattern in a rock or some terrain that's
05:41broken apart along straight lines due to stress? This happens on Earth all the time, when rock
05:47expands and contracts over time. And on Mars, the surface is just constantly battered by
05:53meteors, winds, and extreme temperature shifts. No wonder rock would get stressed.
05:59What happens here is another case of pareidolia. It's our brain's favorite thing to spot
06:04patterns in something random. Hey, we evolved like this. So, sometimes, we might look at
06:10natural objects and see insane stuff – faces on trees, animals in clouds, shapes, and so
06:16on. Besides, NASA has been photographing Mars
06:20for decades. We have high-resolution images of craters, mountains, valleys, riverbeds
06:25– hey, everything. Wouldn't an ancient civilization leave us, well, something better
06:31than some square-like rock? Even though things erode over time, we'd find more signs, roads,
06:38foundations, artifacts, ruins, or at least something.
06:41Though, to be fair, we do see something. The square wouldn't be the first time Mars has
06:47played tricks on us. Over the years, we've spotted everything, from tunnels to carved
06:52faces. Even Bigfoot. Or this doorway, for example. A perfectly cut rectangular opening.
06:59That's what people saw when NASA's Curiosity rover sent back an image of the East Cliffs
07:04on Mount Sharp. It's almost like an ancient passage leading deep into the surface. You
07:10just need to go in and find some fantastic underground base.
07:14Well, NASA decided to take a closer look at it. It turns out, it's just 12 inches tall
07:21and 16 inches wide – the size of a dog door. That's because what we're looking
07:26at isn't a doorway, but an open fracture – a break in the rock that happens naturally
07:31over time. These kinds of cracks are extremely common both on Earth and on Mars. They form
07:37when bedrock is stressed, expands, contracts, or gets eroded by wind and time.
07:43If you walked through a desert here on Earth, you'd see plenty of similar shapes. Canyons,
07:48cliffs, and even boulders have fractures that, from the right angle, might look like
07:53doorways. They're just not getting photographed by NASA.
07:56Also, the straightness of lines turns out to be just a trick of perspective. If you
08:02zoom out, you'll see that it's just one small break in a much bigger rock formation.
08:08Or the infamous Cydonia face. The photo was taken back in 1976 by NASA's Viking 1 orbiter
08:15when it was scanning Mars. In the region known as Cydonia, it captured what looked like a
08:21massive humanoid face – a rocky formation about 1.2 miles long. And this one face inspired
08:28books, documentaries, movies, and podcasts. But when NASA's Viking orbiters first took
08:36pictures of Cydonia, the cameras weren't super advanced. The image of the face had
08:41a low resolution and made the details fuzzy. NASA's later missions had far better cameras,
08:48and when Mars Global Surveyor revisited Cydonia in 2001, the truth was undeniable. The face
08:55was just a hill – a lumpy rock formation with ridges and depressions carved by wind
09:00and erosion. And in 2006, during another mission, a colored image with insanely high detail
09:06was made. No traces of face left there whatsoever. That's another pareidolia trick for you.
09:14Mars has plenty of secrets left to uncover. But they will be related to its fascinating
09:18history, not some secret ancient civilization. The conclusion is, don't trust everything
09:24you see online. Sometimes, a mysterious rock is just a rock.
09:32That's it for today! So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like
09:37and share it with your friends. Or if you want more, just click on these videos and
09:40stay on the Bright Side!