Talk:Martian spiders

message: I would really like to include the following photos, which I'm 99% sure came from Nasa or the ESA or one of their subsidiaries thus SHOULD be in the public domain. However, I can't seem to find the original photos themselves (and I don't know whether the martianspiders.com owner has redistribution rights, nor have i contacted him; fow now I'm using the one picture I could find off Nasa's site as the main picture for the article). So, I'm not going to use them just yet. If someone could find them (in the public domain, IE from jpl.nasa.gov or similar pub domain licensed image site) and upload them and somehow either link to the additional photos for clarity and more examples, or include one or two with some caption text. Lots of good images here for examples.
These photos show fairly definite cratering and channeling. And definitely impact how they should be viewed. I'll try not to advance any one specific agenda though. I think that until the issue is resolved conclusively all competing theories should be paid lip service equally.
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo1201762b.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo1201762a.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo1201762c.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/old/object51.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/may2003/e1300520.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/e0700829.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/e0701468.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/e0702165b.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/e0800031b.jpg.htm (Dust devils, or geysers, or something else entirely? Not sure. Associated with the region the "spiders" are found in.)
http://www.martianspiders.com/e0800043.jpg.htm (black streaking associated with the lichtenberg figures.)
http://www.martianspiders.com/e0801508.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/e902694.jpg.htm (massively overlapping figures leading to chaotic terrain)
http://www.martianspiders.com/e1003496b.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/e1003496c.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/e1102247.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/e1200836c.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/e1203003.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo800197.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo801169.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo801169c.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo801169b.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo801333.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo801451b.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo900407.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo900407c.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo900547.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo900642b.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo1004753.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo1102686a.jpg.htm
http://www.martianspiders.com/eo1103706.jpg.htm
The first couple of photos are the best as they're nice close-ups. But I've been searchign nasa's site up anddown and can't seem to find the originals. I swear Nasa's hiding them. ;o] j/k. Not a conspiracy theorist. I'd just like to get one of the first 2-3 as the "definitive" spider photo. They show single figures in their entirety and should be considered THE "spider" photos. The rest just show variants, larger scale formations, and the chaos terrain created when a number of them all over lap.
So, yeah, if someone could find the original public domain versions of this guy's source photos, I'd appreciate it. Mgmirkin 21:32, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Photos

message: I'm hoping someone can also find the original press release from Nasa or the media about the "spiders" when they were originally discovered, before all this "life on Mars" "sand geysers" stuff was released. If someone could link to that, it would be great. Mgmirkin 21:37, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Original article from Nasa or the press?

message: Reordered 'See Also' alphabetically. Added 'Martian spherules' to 'See Also' sich it's another semi-mysterious feature of Mars that hasn't yet been fully explained. If that link isn't necessary, someone else can take it out. No worries. Mgmirkin 16:27, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: * Maybe the info in this section should just be integrated with 'Causes?' Except that there's really no definitive info one way or the other as to whether the 'additional info' directly influences spider formation. Still it's useful to consider the differences between north and south poles in trying to understand causation... Even if we don't yet have the full picture. Just points to ponder, I guess? For now I'll just leave it as "additional info". Mgmirkin 19:07, 4 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: See Also

message: Nondistinguished, I'm wondering why this subtle edit was made removing reference to one of the primary creators of Lichtenberg figures (electricity):
Diff
I'll Assume good faith, but add the reference to electricity back in, as the definition of Lichtenberg figure on Wikipedia explicitly notes electricity in their formation. Cheers. Mgmirkin 22:40, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, anyway, made a couple minor edits to compromise. "The formation is similar in its branching  appearance to Lichtenberg figures and diffusion-limited aggregation. Similar branching patterns are also seen in watershed erosion regimes as well as the branches, roots and leaf veins of plants." DLA seems to be a fairly specific subset of Lichtenberg figures? the line(s) now refer to both Lichtenberg figures & DLA. Changed 'is DLA' to 'similar in appearance to DLA,' as the cause of the spiders has not yet been conclusively determined, despite competing theories. So, we can't say for sure yet what process 'is' the cause, just what some of the leading theories happen to point out as possibilities due to similarity. Hope this is an acceptable compromise? Mgmirkin 22:57, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

text: P.S. Decided to leave out specific reference to electricity, as it's mentioned in the Lichtenberg figure article, and is thus implied by reference. Plus, can't find a specific reliable reference that uses the term 'electricity.' Despite "apparent" the similarity of Lf's and Lf's electrical origin (one might also note DLA's electrical origin, from sources I've seen roundabouts online, not that one should trust every source one reads online *wink*). Ahh well. Mgmirkin 23:01, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Lichtenberg figures are a subset of diffusion-limited aggregation which is a well-studied phenomenon in chaos theory and fractal forms. There is no reason to single out one kind of diffusion-limited aggregation. Nondistinguished 05:16, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Why was this changed?

message: Merger proposal with Dark Dune Spot because it is thought that the "spider webs" and the Martian dark dune spots may be related features caused by the same phenomenabased. Scientific sources to this:
1.- 
2.- 
3.- 
4.- They are unusual dark spots, fans and blotches, with small radial channel networks often associated with the location of spots. Ref: 
5.- The 'Martian Spider' web page has dozens of images of radial troughs or channels with identical morphology to Dark Dune Spots (DDS); some examples: , , , , , , , , ,   BatteryIncluded (talk) 23:43, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merger proposal with [[Dark Dune Spot]]