Mars Rover Found Something That Looks Too Much Like a Skull

Bright Side

What if Mars is hiding more than just rocks and dust? One of NASA’s rovers just captured something that looks way too much like a skull—and it's got scientists and mystery-lovers buzzing. Is it just a weird-shaped stone, or could it be a relic from the planet’s ancient past? From optical illusions to actual fossil-like forms, this discovery raises questions no one expected. Take a closer look at the strange object that's stirring up curiosity across the globe. Watch now and decide for yourself—coincidence… or clue?  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  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  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  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  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.

Transcript

00:00Well, here you are.

00:05You're the first person to set foot on Mars.

00:07And your first mission is to explore a place called Jezero Crater.

00:11You're wading through the thick, rust-colored dust

00:14when suddenly you trip over something and almost fall.

00:18You lean closer to examine the culprit and recoil in horror.

00:23A skull is staring back at you.

00:26Who did it belong to?

00:28An ancient Martian dinosaur?

00:30A representative of a long-lost civilization?

00:33Now, this isn't a made-up story.

00:35That's what NASA's Mars robot called Perseverance

00:38would tell you if it could speak and, you know, had consciousness.

00:42The rover had indeed found something strange.

00:45But it wasn't a real skull.

00:47It just looked like one.

00:50In reality, those were rocks that seemed to be out of place on the Red Planet.

00:54Right now, Perseverance is exploring the edge of a big,

00:58empty bowl-shaped area called Jezero Crater.

01:01Scientists think that a long, long time ago,

01:04this crater held a giant lake.

01:06Perhaps it was even full of tiny life.

01:09Since December 2024,

01:11the rover has been rolling down a steep hill called Witch Hazel Hill.

01:15It's an important mission because this hill might hold secrets about what Mars' weather

01:20and environment were like billions of years ago.

01:23Anyway, on April 11, 2025, Perseverance stopped to look at a special spot where two types of rock

01:31meet.

01:32One was light-colored and the other was dark.

01:34And right at that spot, scientists saw a weird-looking rock they later named Skull Hill.

01:41It stood out dramatically because it was dark and had a sharp shape.

01:46But the creepiest thing?

01:47It was full of little holes.

01:49A real nightmare for those with trypophobia.

01:52So NASA shared its discovery in a blog post.

01:55They explained that Skull Hill didn't look like the other rocks nearby.

01:59The area where Perseverance found these strange rocks is called Port Anson.

02:05Scientists think that many of the rocks there didn't originally form in that spot.

02:09They were moved from somewhere else an exceptionally long time ago.

02:13But how did they move?

02:15Or what moved them?

02:17Now, don't get your hopes up.

02:19It doesn't mean we'll find space neighbors on Mars.

02:22These kinds of rocks are called floats.

02:24They are likely to have traveled a long way across Mars billions of years ago, back when

02:30the planet was much warmer and wetter, with rivers, lakes, and maybe even oceans.

02:35As the water dried up and the soft ground around the rocks slowly wore away over time, the tougher

02:42rocks stayed behind, sitting on the surface.

02:45Now, scientists are trying to figure out how the strange holes on Skull Hill were made.

02:50One idea is that tiny parts of the rock broke off and wore away over time, leaving behind

02:56little pits.

02:57Another idea is that Martian winds, which carry dust in tiny rocks, might have slowly scraped

03:03the surface, kind of like sandpaper, and created the holes.

03:07Skull Hill is dark-colored, and at first, scientists thought it might be a meteorite that had come from

03:12space.

03:13But when they looked more closely at the chemicals in the rock using Perseverance's supercam,

03:18ooh, the results didn't match what you would expect from a typical meteorite.

03:24Nope.

03:25So, scientists now think Skull Hill might be a volcanic rock.

03:29On both Earth and Mars, dark volcanic rocks get their color from minerals like olivine,

03:35pyrosine, and biotite.

03:37If Skull Hill is volcanic, it might have come from old lava flows nearby that have broken down

03:43over time.

03:44Or maybe it was blasted out of the rock during a huge crash, something like an asteroid impact,

03:50that dug deep into the ground and pulled up volcanic rock from below.

03:55What helps scientists in their research is that Perseverance now has some cool tricks that

04:00help it figure out what Martian rocks are made of.

04:04That's how we can learn where the rocks came from and how they formed.

04:07Lately, the rover has been super busy.

04:10In just a few months, it has collected samples from 5 rocks, studied 7 rocks very closely,

04:16and blasted 83 rocks with its laser to learn about them from a distance.

04:21That's the fastest pace of research since the rover landed on Mars 4 years ago.

04:26At least, that's what NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab says.

04:30Usually, it can take months to find just one interesting rock in a crater.

04:34But up on the edge of the crater, aka the rim, cool and strange rocks are popping up all the time.

04:42Scientists are especially excited about getting these rock samples back to Earth

04:46to see if they'll show signs that life ever existed on Mars.

04:50But there's a problem.

04:52The plan to bring the samples back, called the Mars Sample Return Mission,

04:56is really complicated, expensive, and running into delays.

05:00So, for now, the samples are staying on Mars, waiting for their ride home.

05:07Hey, Uber!

05:08There's another rover that is currently working hard to help us get more information about our neighbor.

05:14That's Curiosity.

05:15And it might have found a clue about what happened to Mars' atmosphere from billions of years ago,

05:21thick and carbon dioxide-rich.

05:23If the red planet once had warm temperatures and flowing water,

05:28what are the signs of all the carbon that should have been left behind?

05:32Normally, a planet like that would have carbonates,

05:35minerals made when carbon dioxide reacts with water and rock buried in its soil.

05:40But on Mars, very few carbonates have ever been found, which has been a big mystery.

05:46Now, scientists might finally have an answer.

05:49A new study suggests that iron carbonate, called sidorite,

05:54may be hidden inside Mars' sulfate-rich rock layers.

05:58These layers weren't easy to spot in satellite images from orbit.

06:02That might be the reason why carbonates may have gone unnoticed for so long.

06:07At one point in the past, Mars' carbon cycle got out of balance.

06:11The rocks started pulling in more carbon dioxide than they were releasing.

06:15Over time, this may have caused Mars to lose too much CO2 from its atmosphere.

06:20It cooled the planet and made it dry and lifeless.

06:24The planet might have been still habitable when this happened,

06:27but once carbon dioxide started turning into sidorite,

06:31Mars may have begun getting too cold to support life.

06:34The Curiosity rover found these carbon-rich rocks in Gale Crater,

06:39an area on Mars that used to be full of water.

06:42The rocks also contain a lot of salts, which usually form when water dries up.

06:47This supports the idea that Mars went through some huge changes,

06:52likely from a planet with a nice climate to the cold, dry world we see today.

06:57If scientists find more sidorite in other parts of Mars,

07:01it could help explain where all that ancient carbon dioxide went.

07:05Even better, it would support the idea that Mars was once warm, wet,

07:09and maybe even habitable.

07:12But that's not the only discovery Curiosity has made.

07:16The rover has a set of special instruments called SAM.

07:20Sam's job is to study the rocks, dirt, and air on Mars to learn more about the planet.

07:25And one of Sam's biggest findings happened when it studied rocks from Gale Crater.

07:31Sam found organic molecules.

07:33Organic molecules are special because they're made of carbon,

07:37and on Earth, carbon is super important for life.

07:40Plants, animals, and people are all made from carbon-based molecules.

07:44So finding these molecules on Mars makes scientists wonder if it's another proof that Mars once had life,

07:51a long, long time ago.

07:54When Sam looked even closer, it found certain patterns in gases,

07:58like carbon dioxide and methane.

08:00These patterns might match what you would expect if tiny ancient lifeforms were making organic molecules.

08:07But there's also another explanation.

08:10These molecules might have been made by sunlight reacting with gases in Mars' air.

08:15In this case, no life would have been involved at all.

08:19On Mars, strong ultraviolet light from the Sun can break apart and mix up molecules,

08:24creating new ones that eventually land on the ground.

08:27So even though scientists don't have a clear answer yet,

08:31finding organic molecules is a really big deal.

08:35At the very least, it tells us that Mars had the right ingredients for life,

08:39even if we don't know yet if life actually existed there.

08:44Now, scientists are using Sam and Curiosity's other tools to keep searching for more clues.

08:49That's it for today.

08:51So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,

08:54then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

08:56Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.

09:00So here's what it moi would love to see.

09:02My friends will give them a direction and

09:27a country beef with fire up.

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