The human brain seeks patterns and rules. In fact, it takes it one step further: if it finds no familiar patterns, it simply invents some. The more diffuse the signal, such as the background noise on the tape, the easier it is to find ‘hidden messages’ in it. Twenty-five years after uncovering the ‘Face on Mars’, the Mars Global Surveyor sent back crisp, clear images of the rock formations: the captivating human face had dissolved into plain old scree.
