education
30 Times People Had No Idea What They Found, But The Internet Knew The Answer
Learning new things every day.
Time for some unplanned history, science, and general knowledge class, because that’s what the Internet excels at. It won’t find your lost keys, but it can certainly explain what is that weird, slimy, dead-looking thing that washed up the shore.
Subreddit ‘What Is This Thing’ is one of those popular places where people gather to help each other answer unusual questions. From gold to rare specimens and less-than-hygienic-purposes tools, here are things that will keep you wondering had you not known the answers.
1. This rare ring picked after gardening is actually a Georgian/early Victorian mourning ring made of 18k+ gold with black enamels. Made around 1820s-40s.
2. Broken Megalodon tooth found at Myrtle Beach, Sc.
3. Big holes at the side of milk cartons are pressure relief holes which will pop out and prevent the carton from exploding when dropped.
4. Picture from 1964 in Tx shows Twilight effect; that is sunset liting exhaust trail of a rocket launch residue.
5. This yet-to-be-released car model is being test-driven, so random ‘wave’ patterns are used to hide body contours, lines and prevent product copying.
6. Cleaner found a non-wireless voice recorder under the dresser. Woman later explains it’s from her controlling partner.
7. That’s not a domestic cat – it’s a black bobcat taken at quite an angle.
8. Not a parasite, nothing scary. Just two worms making more worms and they need to get a room.
9. Small kettle which is actually a portable men’s urinal for bedbound patients.
10. Random structure in the middle of the forest turns out to be a WWII one-man bomb shelter.
11. Scissors with four holes for training, so a grown-up can co-scissor and help kids.
12. A multi-story car park with small passages between walls and tiny ladders among small holes on floor and ceiling.
It’s actually an art in Bristol. The site describes the art like this:
“They are where the Borrowers live. They give mice easy access between the floors. They are the routes taken by the night time security team of ninja gerbils. Whatever you choose to believe, Bristol’s Harbourside Car Park has doors, walkways and ladders that are most definitely not for humans.”
13. ‘Treasure’ collection has a heavy pebble. This is a ‘tracker pebble’ for tracking longshore drift with serial numbers.
14. No, definitely not what you think it is. This is used around shoes to grip on ice, called ‘yak tracks’.
15. Moved in to this neighbor – could be a themed backyard, a voodoo altar for Papa Legba or a just really overkill habitat for the small tortoise in the middle.
16. These mirrors are ‘gadespejl’ in Denmark or ‘Skvallerspegel’ (gossip mirror) in Sweden. Basically, lets you look out to the street for juicy gossip from the comfort of your couch.
And our parents blame the Internet and smartphones for not going out anymore.
17. Southern California, 1:30 am. These are grow lights for local cannabis.
18. No, like the pants, this thing is innocent. A snowman kit with a missing plastic pipe.
19. Clock in an assisted living facility for bedsore prevention. Two-hour intervals to help people to remember turning their body over.
20. This auto-mobile thing zooming down the sidewalk in Melbourne, Australia is actually an automated delivery.
21. Found washed ashore in the Olympic Peninsula are squid eggs.
22. Looks like a nude palette which is actually world’s largest lithium deposit. Picture taken on a flight between DC to Las Vegas.
23. In the Brauhaus Bathroom of Germany, they have Papst or ‘Pope’ which is for puking. Traditional practice is to have people drink until they puke and drink again.
24. Silver capsule kept in a wooden container engraved in a tree. This is a geocache which is a fun hobby for some!
25. The Lucky Iron Fish to help people with iron deficiency by adding irons into their food to increase their iron intake. The fish shape is to call it a ‘lucky fish’.
26. One-foot high structure of bee hotels. Some people call them insect hotels, but either way, they are homes for important pollinators and help the ecosystem.
27. Not prohibiting birds to fly. This sign is to prohibit people from scaring flamingos for pictures.
28. A rain chain dangling down a home for traditional downspout of a gutter system.
29. A paintball can only be useful in a real-life drug raid if it has pepper inside.
30. This peculiar truck that looks like it’s sliced in half is actually a floatplane mover. Its sole purpose is to move planes up and down a boat ramp into the water.
