Science Stories with Joe Johnson: Spiders on Mars, Shorter Days on Earth, and Goo from the Deep

It’s not David Bowie’s band—but “spiders from Mars” are real, at least geologically speaking. That’s just one of the mind-bending science stories Radio Catskill’s resident science guy Joe Johnson brought us recently.

Spiders on Mars? Yes, But Not the Kind You Squash
These “spiders” aren’t living creatures, but strange dark formations on the Martian surface recently photographed in remarkable detail by the Mars Express Orbiter in 2024. Though first spotted from orbit back in the early 2000s, NASA released new data last year suggesting how these peculiar half-mile-wide, spider-like features—located in a region of Mars near the South Pole known as “Inca City”—actually form.

The explanation lies in Mars’ extreme climate. Temperatures can plummet to -225°F, and the planet’s atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide with a mere 1% of Earth’s air pressure. During the brutal Martian winter, CO₂ gas deposits directly onto the planet’s surface as translucent dry ice. Come spring, sunlight penetrates the ice, warming the dark soil below. This causes sublimation—ice turning directly into gas—resulting in sudden gas eruptions that blast through the ice, scattering dust and debris in branching patterns that resemble spiders.

NASA scientists recently confirmed this “spider” formation theory in a Mars simulation chamber on Earth, offering a compelling Earth-based model for a truly alien phenomenon.

Why August 5th Might Be One of the Shortest Days Ever
Shifting gears from Mars to Earth, Johnson highlighted another space-time oddity: the ever-so-slight shortening of Earth’s daily rotation. According to the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, August 5, 2025, was predicted to be 1.25 milliseconds shorter than a standard 24-hour day.

“Milliseconds may not seem like much,” said Johnson, “but when it comes to GPS systems, air traffic control, and data transfer networks, precision matters.” In fact, just a 1-millisecond discrepancy once knocked out Qantas Airlines’ system.

The exact reason for the change? A combination of factors—atmospheric dynamics, oceanic movements, shifts in Earth’s core, even melting polar ice—all subtly redistribute the planet’s mass and affect its spin. While the long-term trend is for days to get longer (thanks to the Moon slowly drifting away), these short-term fluctuations are still significant enough to warrant attention from scientists and technologists alike.

Scientists Find New Lifeform… on a Boat Rudder
Back here on Earth, another mystery unfolded under the hull of a research vessel named Blue Heron, operating in the Great Lakes. When the boat was dry-docked last fall for repairs, the captain noticed a mysterious black goo oozing from the rudder housing—an area normally ungreased to avoid contaminating the water.

A sample was sent to microbiologists at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. What they found was astonishing: 20 different microbial genomes, including one never before seen on Earth. This simple organism, tentatively dubbed Ship Goo 001, may belong to an entirely new phylum—a major classification just below kingdom. That’s extremely rare in modern biology.

Even more bizarre: the microbe seems to thrive in an oxygen-free environment, raising big questions. How did an anaerobic organism end up on a ship that’s only ever operated in the oxygen-rich Great Lakes?

So far, scientists have only detected the organism’s DNA, not isolated it. But one thing is clear: it’s not just the surface of Mars that holds surprises—our own planet still has plenty of unexplained life right under our rudders.

Image: Features known as ‘spiders’ near Mars south pole, as seen by the CaSSIS (Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System) aboard ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. (Credit: ESA / SWNS)