On sol 30, after a RAT operation, MER-B imaged a very small spiral shaped object. It looks like a piece of rotini pasta. It is very small and challenging to resolve. It can be found near the center of the image.
Although it does look like it might have a spiral structure, which would be difficult to explain mineralogically, this structure is only suggested by the image. The only problem with this feature is that it is very close to the limit of the resolution of the image. In other words, this might be just an optical trick, there might not be anything there. It might also have been created by the RAT itself, although the direction and alignment of this feature do not seem to agree with this hypothesis.
This is complicated by the fact that a slightly out of focus image would make a series of angular particles or sand grains appear more rounded. And, several rounded particles, in a line, might fool the eye into seeing a "spiral" shape.
There are also some other images, from the RAT operation on "bounce" from sol 67, which seem to show 2 more rotini, a very exciting possibility
However, if you look closely at another image with much better focus, the "rotini" are not as convincing. In fact, it looks like they are just soil particles.
Here is an example of 4 angular shapes, more or less in a line. When the image is blurred, the angular particles begin to look spherical, and the overall structure looks somewhat like a caterpillar, when in fact all we have is 4 random angular particles in a line.
On the other hand, the focus and resolution of the original rotini is fairly good, almost good enough to conclude this is not a trick of the optics. If the resolution were a little better, so that the structure of the feature were absolutely clear, in my opinion there would be no question that this is a fossil. However, given the tendency for the mind to perceive structure that is not there, I am not convinced that this feature is a fossil.
What might be most remarkable about this feature is, to my knowledge, this is the only possible fossil that anyone at NASA has commented on directly. A member of the media asked Steve Squyres about this in one of the press briefings, and after that there was bit of media coverage about it. So, although this is one of the more "famous" fossil like features on mars, it is not the most convincing.
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