1. Crop-Circles, Skepticism, and Snow-Sculpting
Florida 1999
HKN Dinner, November 2, 2004
Crop-Circles, Skepticism, and Snow-Sculpting
Carlo Séquin, EECS, CS Division

2. From “CONTACT” Meeting NASA Ames Campus, Palo Alto, 2003
Florida 1999
From “CONTACT” Meeting NASA Ames Campus, Palo Alto, 2003
This picture totally blew me away. My knowledge about crop circles was very limited.
This picture looked so perfect that I first assumed it was done in photoshop.
But fortunately there was somebody in the audience who had personally seen this
And actually stood in one of the circles and experienced the energy field.
We then had a very heated and interesting discussion about possible origins and meanings of this artefact.
A sign from extra-terrestrial intelligence ??

3. The Face on Mars Picture taken by Viking Orbiter in 1976
Florida 1999
The Face on Mars
Similar controversies were raging about this image”
The face on Mars is the image of some photographs of the Cydonia region of Mars
taken in 1976 by the Viking Orbiter.
Some people believed that some intelligence had deliberately carved the face of a human
To make a statement or send a message of some kind.
Picture taken by Viking Orbiter in 1976

4. Face on Mars Close-up High-res. photo, Global Surveyor, 4/8/2001
Florida 1999
Face on Mars Close-up
Nevertheless, on April 8, 2001 Mars Global Surveyor drew close enough for a second look. It captured an extraordinary photo using the camera's absolute maximum resolution." Each pixel in the 2001 image spans 5.1 feet (1.56 meters), compared to 141 feet (43 meters) per pixel in the best 1976 Viking photo.
What the picture shows is the Martian equivalent of a butte or mesa -- landforms common around the American West. "It reminds me most of Middle Butte in the Snake River Plain of Idaho," said Garvin. "That's a lava dome that takes the form of an isolated mesa about the same height as the Face on Mars."
High-res. photo, Global Surveyor, 4/8/2001

5. How Do We Make Sense of the Unknown?
Florida 1999
How Do We Make Sense of the Unknown?
Different people have
different mental frameworks, belief systems
and/or use them with different priorities
to come up with possible “explanations”.
I then realized that different people approach strange unknown artefacts and experiences
In quite different ways and use different mental frameworks to make sense of the unexplained…

6. My Attempt at Classification
Created by:
Intelligence Nature
Meaningful message,
or object
Artistic,
or playful artifact
Random one-time occurrence
Systematic,
repeatable process

7. Random one-time occurrence
Self-Test
I will display some intriguing(?) pictures:
Check yourself, how you interpret them...
Possible Answers,
with respective
probabilities:
Artistic,
or playful artifact
Random one-time occurrence
Meaningful message,
or object
Systematic,
repeatable process

8. Let’s start with another mysterious example...

9. Nazca, Peru
Are these ancient landing strips ?

10. Florida 1999
More Strange Lines…
Secret is reveales when you can see how lines are generated …

11. Petroglyphs
But what does it mean ?

12. Graffiti

13. Faces on the Rocks
Mt. Rushmore

14. Panorama from Mars Rover “Opportunity”
Miracles of Photoshop ?

15. Strange Life Forms

16. Codex Seraphinianus

17. Codex Seraphinianus

18. Clouds in the Sky
UFO ?

20. Fire in the Sky

21. Volcanic Vent Hole ?
Art by Andy Goldsworthy

22. Andy Goldsworthy – Stone Formations

23. Andy Goldsworthy – Ice Formations

24. -- but is there an explicit message ??
Florida 1999
Probably made by human
-- but is there an explicit message ??

25. Antarctica

26. 2001 ?

28. Breckenridge CO, January 2004 Snowsculpting Championships

29. “Turning a Snowball Inside-Out”
A model of the Morin Surface
= Half-way point of sphere eversion
The challenge is to turn a sphere inside-out:
Surface may pass through itself,
but no ripping, puncturing, creasing allowed, e.g., this is not an acceptable solution:
PINCH

30. Sphere Eversion Process
But there are more contorted paths that can achieve the desired goal.
Bernard Morin figured out one such path.
Charles Pugh made models from chicken wire.
Nelson Max made a first computer simulation.

31. Gridded Models for Transparency
3D-Print from Zcorp
SLIDE virtual model

32. Shape Adaption for Snow Sculpture
Restructured Morin surface to fit block size: (10’ x 10’ x 12’)

33. The Final Model

34. Day1

35. Day2

36. Day3

37. Day 4

38. Day4

39. Day5
Honorable Mention: “Most Ambitious Design”

40. “Paradigm Shift” (British Columbia)

41. “Year of the Dragon” USA - Tennessee

42. “Winter Oasis” (Canada – Ontario)

43. Why Do People Do Such Things ??
All this effort for a short-lived artifact ?
The joy of creating something of your own design …
The pride of astounding people ...

44. Crop Circles

45. Crop Circles

46. Milk Hill Crop Circles

47. Milk-Hill Design Analysis
409 Circles
Milk Hill crop formation is exactly the same design as the interior of the Raelian Symbol which Raelians have been wearing publicly since 1990.

48. Crop Circle Construction
Probably not of extraterrestrial origin !
26 person-hours of crop squashing,

49. What Is the Message ? Prof. Velvel Kahan, early 1980’s:
Why are you giving this talk ?
Who is the audience you are trying to reach ?
What is the message you want to get across ?
( “If you don’t have answers to these questions, you may as well forget giving your talk !” )

50. Message #1
Don’t blindly believe everything you see or hear - even if it comes from an authoritative source such as the President of the most powerful nation in the world …
Use common sense
Check the facts
Look for other explanations
Apply “KISS” principle

51. What will it be ?
Faith-based Government (wishful thinking) (fabricated interpretations)
vs.
Fact-based analysis, logical thinking, rational decision making.

52. Message #2: I love my job !

53. I love my job ... I love the flexibility it gives me.
Florida 1999
I love my job ...
I love the flexibility it gives me.
I love the variety.
I love the art-math connection.
I love the “philosophy” connection.
The reason that I am interested in this topic and feel qualified to speak is that I had a rather varied professional career path:

54. Stay true to your calling!
Message #2 -- to you ...
Find out: What is Your true calling ?
What do you really like to do ?
What are you good at ?
Don’t choose your career just for the $$s.
You can’t excel in a job you don’t like!
Stay true to your calling!

55. Be prepared to adapt to it!
Message #3
The world around you is a mysterious, challenging place -- and it is changing constantly…
Be prepared to adapt to it!

56. Life-long Learning
Your education is not finished when you leave UC. Keep a critical but open mind!
You will be obsolete in 5 years if you do not make a conscious effort to continue your education.
This is a good antidote against boredom and calcification of the brain...

57. Questions ?

58. “Knot Divided”
Accepted, August 5, 2004 for competition in January 2005