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Mysterious polygons spotted by NASA in 2012. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Researchers operating China’s Zhurong rover say they have spotted a series of mysterious polygons hidden beneath the planet’s surface, similar to polygons NASA spotted on the surface of Mars in 2012. The newly discovered features, however, were detected more than 35 kilometers beneath the planet’s surface. While researchers believe that these polygon structures could have formed due to extreme environmental shifts in Mars’ ancient past, their exact nature and formation remain a mystery. The discovery was initially made during the rover’s one-year mission, which lasted from May...

Close window Published online: 22 February 2007; | doi:10.1038/news070219-9 Islamic tiles reveal sophisticated mathsMuslim artists were 500 years ahead of western researchers.Philip Ball The pattern on the Darb-i Imam shrine, built in 1453, is almost identical to Penrose tilings, discovered in 1973. Click here for a larger image K. Dudley and M. Elliff The complex geometrical designs used centuries ago in Islamic art and architecture were planned with a tiling system that was not discovered in the West until five centuries later, two physicists have claimed. Islamic tiling patterns were put together not with a compass and ruler, as...