A group at New York University came up with a theory that the Sphinx could have been carved by the wind. To be fair, they consent that all of the detailed features would have been done by human artisans, but they created a trial and showed how natural forces could have created a shape similar to the Sphinx body shape.

At first glance this theory has some of us giggling. Natural causes made the sphinx? Probably because science has asked us to go down the road of believing chance and happenstance made many creations that seem to have an intelligent being behind them.

In this frame of mind, what could have been made by natural forces in our area?

Photo by John Gibbons on Unsplash
Photo by John Gibbons on Unsplash
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Glen Canyon Dam

The explanation behind this obvious natural phenomenon is simple. Anyone who has had to use Lime-A-Way on their faucets knows about calcium buildup. So clearly the Colorado River is chock-full of, well chalk in the form of hard water deposits. You can see them on the cliff walls where the water line used to be. So it stands to reason that as the water pooled in that specific spot, it slowly built up residue essentially damming the river, which caused more pooling and more deposits. This repeated process caused the dam to rise. So simple.

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
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The Transmission Panel in Red Hills Park, St. George

The metal frame when anchored in the sandstone accidentally connected to an electrical current thus magnetizing the structure. The panel is made up of all of the micrometal refuse in St. George. The build-up caused a smooth metal panel to form on the grid.

Photo by Courtney Smith on Unsplash
Photo by Courtney Smith on Unsplash
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The Many Letters on Mountains in Utah

Think of your town and look to the nearest mountain and you will see what deceptively looks like a letter representing your town, or its college/university. A lot of less-trained eyes think it is an actual letter, it's actually a patch of snow that won't melt due to cold air fissures common in the mountains of Utah. The reason we see a letter is because of a brain phenomenon called pareidolia

Pareidolia is the phenomenon in which people see faces or other patterns in ambiguous images

So it's actually not a letter at all, your brain just wants you to believe that the random patch of snow represents something close to you. Why else would the letter conveniently always represent the thing it is close to?

https://www.google.com/maps/
https://www.google.com/maps/
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I-15

This beloved freeway that carries memories of road trips seems like a constructed masterpiece. It's actually a ribbon from ancient tar pits that was exposed by weathering. It naturally mixed with gravel in the area making it smooth and sturdy.

Some think it was built to connect cities and towns of Utah, in reality seeing the convenience of this ancient natural pathway cities chose to build along it. City planners wisely guessed that it could be used to roll along in the future. It wasn't until it was established that government entities started spraying lines and making lanes to organize traffic.

Wow, this is crazy. I started convincing myself these items could be an effect of natural causes.

Can 5 Endangered Texas Sites Be Saved?

Through neglect, lack of maintenance, or trying to make way for progress, these nine locations throughout Texas have been identified as an 'endangered place' by Preservation Texas.

Gallery Credit: Lucky Larry, Mix 93-1 and Maleri McHam

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