Fuzzy metal. All I can come up with for this right now is either shavings or filings of metal. I briefly considered gypsum, talc or chalk, but those are calcium compounds, not metals. Any chance they'd give the wrong word to them?
But then again, maybe it's really obvious. We wash our cooking pans with steel wool, right? Perhaps they've stumbled onto Martian pot scrubbers! But seriously, this could be anything from an elemental metal to a manufactured device.
Regarding the fans, even though the blades are angled opposite, they may be contra-rotating, causing two times (or better) the airflow in the same direction. But regardless of what direction they blow (or suck), I still haven't the faintest idea what they're for.
*
*
*
B