Hi friends, I still can't get over the feeling that NASA is missing the boat, and that the "blueberries" are some form of life, either fossil or presently alive, that we don't easily recognize as life because they are so alien. Look at this closeup: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040302a/12-ss-12-... -- isn't it at least worth considering that this thing might be a relic of some lifeform, or an actual living thing? What if Mars life evolved really differently from life on Earth and looks somehow more mineral than life here? I would be surprised if the requirements for life were the same on every planet. What if this is some organism that grew over thousands of years, accumulating minerals slowly? It might not look like a bunny, might not respire in any way we are used to, but that wouldn't mean it isn't alive. Incidentally, NASA screwed up and posted images of the same thing as supposedly coming from the "El Capitan" outcrop and the "Guadalupe" outcrop. The first is the URL I copied above, where the photo has the label "Focus on El Capitan-2" and the other is the URL I'm pasting in below this, where the label is "Focus on Guadalupe." http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040302a/16-jg-02-... They, and other interesting photos, are posted on this page: http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/opportunity/20040302a.html Anyway, as Patrick noted, it's fun to speculate. Best wishes, Joe