This is really a picture of the surface of Mars. My heart almost stopped when I saw it. Unfortunately, this is not evidence for life. So take a deep breath. Sigh. On his Bad Astronomy page, Phil Plait, explains those little tendril thingies that appear to be rising from the Martian dunes.
Our eyes are playing tricks on us trying to pull a 3D image out of a 2 dimensional photo. As Phil explains, this photo is of a dune region near the north pole of Mars where darker sands from basalt mixes in with the light red dust that settles over it. What we are actually seeing are leftover features of avalanches. Yep, that's right avalanches.
During the Martian summer, frozen CO2 sublimates and disturbs the heavy darker basalt sands which then roll down the slopes in these little channels taking some of the lighter red dust with it. Voila! You get those scrubby looking bushes.
These images have been seen before, but like Phil says, it just amazing to look at them up close again and again.
Here is a link to bigger photos: HiRise.
Note: Unfortunately due to personal matters I was not able to post my regular weekly diary This Week In Space.