Back in 1976, the Viking Orbiter 1 acquired some images of the Cydonia region of Mars as part of the search for a potential landing site for the Viking Lander 2.  One of the images included a shot of a region that looked remarkably similar to a face. The image was released to the public by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as part of their public relations effort.

Here it is:

Shortly after the images were released, some people (mostly in lay literature) argued that the face was artificially created, and that this was concrete evidence for either past or present intelligence on Mars. The rock formation looked so similar to a face – how could it not have been designed by an intelligent architect?

Some believe the face was created by Martians, others say it is a tomb, or part of an ancient city. Others believe that NASA is involved in a conspiracy to cover up the true nature of the Face – all part of a secret space program (then why would they have released the picture in the first place?).

Mac Tonnies goes so far as to say that the Face is a “genuine scientific enigma”. After NASA released new images of the Face in 1998, he claims that the “experts either don’t understand the workings of their own instruments or else feel somehow threatened by the Face’s enduring mystery.” (you can check out his very centered site here)

“Scientific enigma”, the Face is not.

Introducing…. Pareidolia

Humans – all humans – have an innate ability to detect patterns out of seemingly random noise. This ability is particularly strong when it comes to faces. As David Hume once said, “There is an universal tendency among mankind to conceive all beings like themselves, and to transfer every object, those qualities, with which they are familiarly acquainted, and of which they are intimately conscious. We find human faces in the moon, armies in the clouds; and by a natural propensity, if not corrected by experience and reflection, ascribe malice or good will to everything, that hurts or pleases us.

This phenomenon – detecting something clear and distinct from an apparently obscure stimulus – is called “pareidolia“. Carl Sagan hypothesized that, as a survival technique, human beings are “hard-wired” from birth to identify the human face. This allows people to use only minimal details to recognize faces from a distance and in poor visibility but can also lead them to interpret random images or patterns of light and shade as being faces.

Pareidolia not only applies to the detection of faces, but also to the perception of religious imagery and themes. In 1978, a New Mexican woman found that the burn marks on her tortilla she had made appeared similar to the face of Jesus Christ. Thousands of people came to see the burnt tortilla. Do think that if Son of God wanted to be seen, he would appear on a tortilla? Or the Virgin Mary, on a grilled cheese sandwich? Wouldn’t they pick something a little more majestic?

Revisiting the Face on Mars

But first, let’s revisit the Face on Mars. Back in 1976, the imaging technology was inferior to today’s, and the resolution of the images was significantly lower. Even compared to 1998, the resolution of space images has increased dramatically. Let’s compare the Face from lowest to highest resolution:

The 1976 version sure does look like a face, and if you strain your eyes, you might still see a face in the 1998 version. But what about the 2001 version?  Not so much.

Let’s look even closer at the 2001 version, just to be sure:

At the highest resolution, you need to slide the goalposts pretty wide to see a face.

In Conclusion…

So, combined with our knowledge of pareidolia, and the high resolution images provided by NASA, do you think the Face is still a face, or an optical illusion enhanced by the fact that we were originally looking at very low resolution images?

Throw in Occam’s Razor for good measure:  Is it more likely that the Face is a result of an advanced Martian civilization, or the simpler choice: Low resolution images and the effect of pareidolia?

I’ll go with the simpler of the two.

The post The Face on Mars: Alien Architecture or Example of Pareidolia? appeared first on Relatively Interesting.

Ah, Scientology, the pseudo-religion/cult built on a premise straight out of science fiction.  It’s mind boggling to think that Scientology has as large a following as it does, and even more upsetting that celebrities continue to endorse its ideals.

This infographic, courtesy of Visual.ly gives the low-down on Scientology – from it’s strange beginnings through to its ongoing legal battles.

Source: http://visual.ly/things-you-dont-know-about-scientology

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On my daily commute, I hit a stretch of road that’s usually backed up for a half mile or so for the same reason as the image below.  And every day, I play a game of Chicken with some jackass who tries to “sneak” in ahead of me.  Lucky for me, I have a crappy Honda Civic, so if they want to push their way in with their Mercedes, they can go right ahead, ’cause I ain’t movin’ an inch.

The post Worst driver. Ever. appeared first on Relatively Interesting.

Editor’s Note:  Generally, the content on RelativelyInteresting.com is skeptically themed and often pokes fun at pseudoscientific claims, quackery, cryptozoology, etc.  That being said, we also want to foster open discussion and debate around controversial topics.  As such, we think it’s fair to present the other side of the story.  After all, to be a good skeptic is to listen to both sides, weigh the evidence, and then make an educated conclusion. 

Many people disregard the existence of mythical creatures and cryptids. However, rumors about them continue to spread despite the lack of physical evidence. For example, hikers still claim to spot Bigfoot, anglers insist that the Loch Ness Monster scared away all of their big fish, and people in the south report the Chupacabra skulk around Puerto Rico to suck the blood from farm animals. Curiously, the rumors, photographs and video recordings reveal that these mythical creatures have similarities.

Bigfoot

Bigfoot believers have many names for the creature as it is also called Sasquatch, Yeti and the Abominable Snowman. In 1925, N.A. Tombazi, a Greek photographer, was on an expedition and claims he saw a Bigfoot. He described the creature as a being that walked upright, and occasionally, it would stop to dig for roots or forage for berries. Many people believe that Bigfoot exists, and to try to prove it, they explore the areas where other adventurers have spotted the creature. Bigfoot investigators have taken pictures and video recordings of the mythical being. Unfortunately, the photographic evidence is often indistinct. Believers frequently see Bigfoot in America’s wooded areas, but the creature has also been spotted in other countries.

Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness Monster is Scotland’s most famous mythical creature. The first report of its existence occurred in 1933, and after its first sighting, many more people claim to have seen Nessie. Loch Ness Monster followers believe that the creature is a plesiosaur, which is a large dinosaur that lived in the water and went extinct around 65 million years ago. People have spotted the beast in ways that are similar to Bigfoot sightings such as in blurry photographs and video recordings.

Mermaids

Hundreds of years ago, sailors began reporting mermaid sightings, and while most researchers disregard their testimonies as glimpses of manatees or other natural sea animals, there are several stories that feature remarkable details. For instance, Henry Hudson described seeing a mermaid during an expedition he took in the 17th century. In fact, he along with two other sailors claimed to have seen a woman in the water, and when the water disturbed her position, they saw that she had a porpoise type tail with spots like a mackerel. Despite the lack of photographic mermaid evidence, they compare to Bigfoot sightings as the mythical beings feature a human form.

Chupacabra

El Chupacabra, or goat sucker, is a Puerto Rican legend that began to spread during the 1990s. Those who have seen the creature claim that it has a line of spikes along its back, and it has eyes that glow. The Chupacabra is a vampire that sucks the blood from farm animals like goats and sheep. According to some rumors, the mythical creature is from outer space. However, some people dispute the outer space claim and say that it is a government experiment that went astray. The creature compares to Bigfoot in its form. For instance, the Chupacabra also stands upright and has human shaped hands.

Conclusion

Whether Bigfoot is real remains a mystery, but the possibility of mythical creatures in the modern world allows humans to use their wild imaginations and enjoy the potential for the improbable.

Guest Author Bio: James Duncan is a Senior Editor for Direct2TV who loves to write topics on Cryptozoology such as Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster, and other mythical creatures. James spends most of his free time researching evidence about Bigfoot. James has been focusing on Bigfoot evidence for 6 years.

The post Is Bigfoot any more legit than the other cryptids? appeared first on Relatively Interesting.

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Regardless of how hard you try to not spread your email address around, you still wind up getting letters from people pleading for your help. Commonly referred to as “Nigerian Scams,” there are many variants as people have become wise to this form of exploitation. The artists of these messages may go through great lengths in order to make a letter sound legitimate in order to pull you into this web of deceit. No matter how legitimate emails may seem to be, there are always tell-tale signs that they are indeed fake.

1. Dear Friend

Nearly 99.9-percent of the time, these messages are spawned from bots that have access to an email list without names. Using an opening such as “friend,” “beneficiary,” “dearest,” or anything else that isn’t your proper name is a good sign that they don’t know it. If someone is willing to hand over millions of dollars or a fraction of their business, you can be rest assured that they will already have your name and information and wouldn’t be contacting you in an email.

2. Undisclosed Recipients 

Emails that belong to a mass-mailer bot will either have “undisclosed recipients,” a long list of email addresses, or be completely blank in the address details of the message. This means that the email has been sent to a large group of people including yourself. In messages where they have your “ATM card ready” or need to “verify” your personal information in order to release the millions of dollars to you, many people have seen it as well. It may sound personal, but that’s the goal.

3. Email Addresses

This aspect of a scam email may be a little difficult for novice users to understand. Many times, a message will be from Nigeria but the email address will be using a “.hk” domain level. This means that they are using a domain reserved for Hong Kong. Within the message, they may be using a “.nz” address for you to respond to. This is the domain level for New Zealand. In the specifics of the email, which may be difficult for some to access, the sending server could be from “mail.bobsmeatmarket.com.” This is an indicator the “bobsmeatmarket.com” has been infected with a bot that is spamming email from this particular server. Since Bob is likely not related to the Nigerian prince in any way, this is an obvious indication the email is fake. Never trust an email that is so convoluted in this fashion. If it is a legitimate opportunity, they wouldn’t try so hard to hide the email address.

4. Links

Never trust links to verify your account information that are presented in an email. It is easy to code a link to take you to a fraudulent site while making it “look” legitimate within the email. Even if the message states that your account is going to be closed if you don’t act now, always manually enter the website by using your browser. This is a common practice for scam emails that involve PayPal, Blizzard, and a slew of others. Unless the actual programmed link is https:// to indicate a secured server, there is a good chance the link is fake. Companies will also use your name when contacting you in any way. For instance, PayPal will always message you using your full name on the account and never “user”, “account holder,” or “customer.”

The bottom line is that you should never willingly hand over your personal information to anyone over the Internet. Even if the email looks amazingly real, there could be a chance that it’s not. Always verify information provided in these emails by running a Google search on names, locations, addresses, and any other specific detail within the message. There is a good chance that someone else has received this message and has posted his or her findings on the Internet.

Guest Author Bio:

Jason Miner plays a vital role for www.blogcarnival.com.  He is an expert in writing topics of different categories.  He is helping the carnival team to grow & working on making this an even better place for bloggers.

The post Click Here: A Skeptical Look at Nigerian Email Scams appeared first on Relatively Interesting.

Man of Steel, the reboot of the Superman franchise is due out June 14th, 2013, and promises to be a smashing success.  To prepare yourself, relive the history of Superman – now a cultural icon – with this infographic.

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Studios, infographic courtesy of 8ball.co.uk

The post The History of Superman [infographic] appeared first on Relatively Interesting.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. With a mind-boggling amount of wedding traditions for you to follow, deciding to say “I do” is the easy part of planning your big day. Ever wonder if you’re the only one worrying about getting them all done?  Here we bring you four traditions from all over the world, showing that there’s not just one way to demonstrate your love for your new spouse.

China

The history of China is beautifully doused in mystery and legend. In China, getting married is seen as a very important event for the whole community and because of this; people really focus on the finer details in order to make a truly magical experience for all involved. One of the most important things when planning is the use of colour: invitations, flowers and decorations must be displayed in red, which represents both love and fidelity for the happy couple.

The wedding reception is another vital aspect of Chinese weddings. Tradition dictates that the bride and groom must drink half a glass of wine at their reception in order to ensure that they will enter into marriage with the strength to keep their love forever. What’s more, fish-based meals are normally presented as the main course, which must be eaten to ensure endless happiness and love for the newlyweds.

Russia

How much fun can a wedding be? Russian people know the answer better than most! The starting point of a Russian wedding is “the rescue” where the groom has literally to rescue the bride who is kept at her parents’ house.  In order to liberate her, the young man has to answer all kinds of questions such as “How old is your mother in law?” Once she is saved by her hero, they can all go to the church to begin the wedding.

During the wedding reception, it is very common for relatives and friends to shout out “gorko” which means “bitter”. According to the tradition, the more it is said, the sweeter the couple’s relationship will be!

Latin America

It’s well known that this beautiful part of the world is richly steeped in tradition and culture. In Mexico, wedding guests dance around the couple, encircling them in a heart shape before letting them free to begin their first dance. In Brazil, the tradition is completely the opposite of the British or North American habits and they actually choose the best man and the bridesmaid on the very day of their wedding. Other countries such as Chile or Argentina follow rural customs, with fortunate bride and grooms having the special opportunity to be carried in a horse-drawn carriage.

Spain & Italy

As much as Mediterranean people can’t live without sunshine, it’s also well known that they love the nightlife – la fiesta! This is probably the reason why most of the wedding ceremonies there take place during the evening. In these countries, weddings generally start around 6pm with dinner taking place at 10pm – so it is common that the party carries on until the early hours of the morning.

Spain is a great example of a culture where people put a lot of thought, effort and money into their wedding gifts. Paintings are often given to help decorate the couple’s new home and lots of money is spent on holidays and trips for the new husband and wife. Of course, as the economy has suffered, people have started to show how much they care in other ways. Beautifully crafted wedding gifts with engraved messages have become increasingly popular ways of wishing the couple a long and happy marriage. Add in one last essential ingredient of the Mediterranean wedding: throw rice instead of confetti and the couple will never go hungry!

Bonus:  Scientology

Not a country (obviously!) but the Church of Scientology is immersed in just as many traditions and practices as one – and this extends to their wedding ceremonies too. Scientologists believe that marriage is “part of the second of the eight dynamics of existence“, alongside all creative activity including sex and bearing children.

At the ceremony, the groom is told that he needs to provide his bride with “clothes and food and tender happiness and frills, a pan, a comb, perhaps a cat” because that’s what “girls” need. The couple also make a pact with each other that they won’t go to sleep at night until they’ve repaired any upset they might have had during the day.

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The fact is that people have been trying to sell each other snake oil ever since money was invented.  But it’s a little known fact that most snake-oil salesmen actually believe in the stuff they’re selling. Yes, they do.

Let me give you an example – the story of Jasmuheen.  This girl is very open minded.  She claims to be able to channel not only Jesus, but Buddha and Krishna all at the same time.  That’s some epic channelling skills.

It all started when she went on a New Age fair where she met a ‘wonderful indian man’ who had ‘shown her the light’, and taught her the secret of…. how to live without eating.

Breatharianism 101:

The kind old man taught her a secret method of living without eating. What I will reveal to you now is classified information that only Jasmuheen’s inner-circle knows… (Or people who bought her $20 book… but only her inner circle ever used this and you’ll soon know why):

1. Go to a secluded space with no water, electricity, no stores, and no access to food whatsoever. This is needed because the ‘energy of food will not allow you to get over it’
2. Set up a tend there
3. Spend 60 days in this secluded space
4. ????
5. You no longer require food.

The interesting thing is that the method is 100% correct.  After spending 60 days without eating or drinking you won’t  require food because you’ll be dead.

And it’s a fact that numerous deaths have been caused by people who were trusting enough to believe this girl

She herself claims that it’s obvious that those people weren’t pure enough for the ritual, and so they only have themselves to blame

Recently, the show 60 Minutes made a very extensive documentary about our little three-some channeler:

It’s interesting to note how apologetic she is in the video.  ”Oh, I wrote a book that will promise you better health and eternal youth if only you stop eating, but I didn’t write it thinking that anyone would actually do it.  It was for informational purposes only!”

In her book she promotes absolute responsibility, which is why she does not have to take responsibility for the deaths she caused. They have chosen to listen to her, and therefore it’s their fault.

So, okay, this woman charges thousands of dollars for her seminars, sells a lot of books to women who want magic in their lives, and you’re telling me that she’s not promoting or taking responsibility for her own product?

Anyone who tells you that you can live in this world without eating and drinking is a fraud or a psychotic, or both.

If only common sense was actually common

Nutritional science (and common sense) indicates that fasting for extended periods leads to starvation, dehydration, and eventually, death. In the absence of caloric intake, the body normally burns its own reserves of glycogen, body fat, and muscle. Breatharians claim that their bodies do not consume these reserves while fasting.

Few breatharians have submitted themselves to medical testing; of those that have, including a hospital’s observation of an Indian mystic Prahlad Jani surviving without food or water for 15 days, none have undergone peer review with results independently reproduced.  In a handful of documented cases, individuals attempting breatharian fasting have died, and among the claims investigated by the Indian Rationalist Association, all were found to be fraudulent.

And Jasmuheen is definitively not the only girl that promotes such odd, pseudo scientific  alternative practices.  Get this – there’s even a subculture of sungazers.   These are people who believe that it’s so passe to eat food and water, because all true energy comes from the Sun.

To the Sungazers, you’re really only getting your calories second-hand if you’re eating, and so it’s only totally logical that to achieve ‘total health’ you have to just stare directly at the sun for at least an hour a day. (This is the actual recommendation this guy makes in his book)

So let’s recap the ‘magical techniques for living without food‘ and their potential effects:

1. Breatharianism:  60 days of fasting + 0 caloric intake = death
2. Sungazing:  Staring at the sun for an hour each day + stupidity = blindness

Sounds legit to me…

Guest Author’s Bio:

Matt Neputin is a recovering psychotic and fiction author who writes at http://creepystories.org and has dedicated himself to the research of evidence based therapies.

The post Living without eating? A skeptical look at Breatharianism and Sungazing appeared first on Relatively Interesting.

Since Earth Day is nearly upon us, what better time to reflect on the wonders of our planet?

This infographic, “Fifty Unbelievable Facts About Earth“, provides us with at least 50 reasons why our pale blue dot is so damn awesome.

Here’s one more:

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbour life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit? Yes. Settle? Not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. … To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve, and cherish, the pale blue dot; the only home we’ve ever known.
? Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Get your scrolling fingers ready and read through the infographic (you click on it to see a larger version).

Source:  http://www.giraffe.ie/blog/50-facts-about-earth/

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