“What is the purpose of this sign?”
It means don’t scare the flamingos. Many people would pass by this sign and scare the birds to make them fly, so that they could take a nice picture.
“What did I just catch?”
A feather star (crinoid), a relative of starfish and sea urchins.
“Does anyone know what this is from? Found it at my late grandmother’s place. I believe it was from a game of some kind.”
It’s a pétanque (boule) ball. Petanque is a type of sport played in French Provence.
“Found this thing in the living room of my new apartment. What is this?”
This is an antique Turkish-style bell brazier, also referred to as a mangal. Typically used by nomadic peoples of the Middle East for heating and some cooking, since you cannot have a hearth in a tent. Instead, you burn charcoal in a specially designed brazier, which contains the fire and radiates the heat.
“Came across this creature on the Olympic Peninsula. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Those are squid eggs.
“Found in my aunts ‘treasure’ collection. Seems like a heavy metal weight inside.”
This is a hard resin ’tracker pebble’ used along this piece of coast to track longshore drift. The pebbles have a serial number, are buried in a location, and then refound further down the coast on pebble beaches by metal detectors.
“This just drove across the road in front of me in Melbourne, Australia.”
Food delivery bots have been lurking for several years now. It’s happening. We are officially in the future.
“It is approximately 10 feet long and open at the end. It was found with some similar looking ones scattered around on a hillside while hiking.”
These are avalanche breakers that are installed in mountainous areas for hikers’ safety.
“What is this? Spotted it on my grandma’s shelf among other items collected while traveling around the world.”
It’s a Fiji cannibal fork.
“Reddit is my last hope to find out what it is!”
That’s a Freshwater Drum’s (a type of fish living in Northern and Central America) “throat teeth.”
“Found this small kettle years ago. Does anybody have an idea of why it has this unique shape?”
That’s a portable men’s urinal for bedbound patients.
“Found these scissors at a thrift shop and they have 2 parts: a spoon-shaped part and the other one shaped like a ring. The inscription says ’Rochester NY, USA’.”
They’re called pineapple eye snip scissors and are used for removing the eyes of pineapple.
“Ran across this random structure in the middle of the forest. What is it?”
It is a “splinter protection cell” (Splitterschutzzelle), which is basically a one-person bunker.
“Spotted this elastic thing attached to a school desk. Anybody got any ideas?”
It’s a fidget for kids (and adults). They can bounce their ankles/feet on it.
“Saw this jar, with red liquid inside, tied to a tree in a forest in France, what is it used for?”
It’s wild boar bait. You smear it at the bottom of the tree and the wild boar rubs their body against it, giving the hunter time to set up a good shot. It can get kind of red-ish over time.
“What is this building in New York?”
This 150 ft tall climbable sculpture is located in Hudson Yards, New York and is called “The Vessel.”
“It beeps when the 2 outer prongs are connected and beeps twice as fast when the middle one is also connected. The only thing written on it says ‘CHINA’.”
It’s a liquid level sensor for people with vision problems. It tells them when their cup/glass is full.
“This weird wrapped car. The lights were wrapped in cloth. Serial numbers all around. Anything significant or just tacky?”
It obscures the car while being test-driven, so the yet-to-be-released models are not photographed and published. The random “wave” patterns effectively hide the body contours and lines.
“Visited an antique shop and saw this thing. Does anyone know what it is?”
That’s a shuttle for a weaving loom.
“4” by 4″ scissors. Uncomfortable to hold, in either hand, 2 or 4 fingers. What are they used for?"
They’re children’s training scissors, like for kids in pre-school. The extra 2 holes are there so that an adult can assist and help the kid.
“Veterinarian here. Felt this hard growth during a routine examination of a rescue cat, knew right away it was some kind of foreign body and took radiographs — composed of some kind of metal. Removed it but not sure what it is? The bone shows no evidence of damage from impact.”
This is a .22 caliber round. Given the amount of deformation and lack of damage to the bones, it almost certainly went through something else before ending up where it did.
“Found this in Apple Maps. Something on the top level of my parking garage at work”
This is a spider crane which is very common in construction where there are tight areas to have to bring machinery through like a multi-level garage. It’s covered in a tarp.
“Father-in-law found this amongst his stuff and we’re not entirely sure what it is...”
This is a can opener for soft drink cans before pull tabs. You punched one triangle hole along one edge, and then another on the opposite side so your drink would flow smoothly. This opener already has a spike at the back (front) for the “breathing” hole.
“These strange fields are north of the Sacramento airport. I’m dying to know what they are for.”
It’s part of the Natomas Basin Conservancy. They are artificial marshlands created as a habitat for local hawks, cranes, etc. It also serves as water overflow for local fields, irrigation, etc.
“Found 3 bottles filled with these weird colored bricks with a spring inside them. They are greasy and easy to melt. They don’t burn and have no smell.”
This is a filler for a lava lamp. The spring stays at the bottom and is heated from the bulb. The paraffin just floats in the water.
“My patient found this under his bed. What is it? Should I burn it just in case?”
This is Dysdera crocata, a kind of spider that eats woodlice. This one is definitely dead.
“Today my children brought a weird thing in from the pool. Of course, I told them it was an Alien egg and that it was time for them to write their wills, but I also want to know what this is.”
This is a gelatin capsule that vitamins and medicine are sold in. When it gets into the water, it becomes soft, sticky, and it gets bigger.
“What is this frying pen used for?”
It is used to cook raclette.
“It looks suspicious but has several interchangeable sized tips and appears to have a purpose. What is this for?”
It’s a snowman kit: the nose, the eyes, the mouth, and the buttons.
“What are these for in an outdoor area of a hospital?”
These are emergency showers. An affected person (chemical spills, laboratory mishaps, etc.) will pull the lever on the top and tepid water will douse them from the showerhead (above) and boot sprayer (below). The duration of these showers is required to be 15 full minutes.
“This thing was in my colleague’s KFC drink.”
It’s the nozzle from the soda machine. It must have fallen off.
"These things are all over the Norway mountains. What are they? Boxes with supplies?
In the beginning of the 20th century, people used these “wardrobes” to store compost and something like soil and sand that was spread around the snow. It made the snow melt faster and the roads were easier to clean. Now, these things are nothing more than a tourist attraction.
“I found this in my grandmother’s apartment. Is this a deactivated bomb or something?”
It looks like what you have there is a WWII era 81mm mortar. There is no fuse in the nose of it, and by all accounts, it should be inert. However! If you look down the hole that should be in the nose and it’s filled with a plastic-y, somewhat smelly brownish material, IT COULD STILL BE LIVE.
“What is this big hole that is usually found on milk cartons?”
It reduces the pressure. This is actually a measure to keep the milk contained if it’s suddenly dropped, or frozen.
“Currently at the beach in Nags Head, NC and these things are constantly being washed up and are all over the place. They appear to twitch and move slightly. Any ideas?”
They are called “naked sea butterflies.”
“What is this? Found it by my toaster. Please don’t tell me it’s some kind of cockroach molt!”
“Wow, dude — this looks like a rattlesnake tail...” And it really was one!
• Don't insult other visitors. Offensive comments will be deleted without warning.
• Comments are accepted in English only.
• No swearing words in comments, otherwise such comments will be censored.
• Your nickname and avatar are randomly selected. If you don't post comments for 7 days, they both are reset.
• To choose another avatar, click the ‘Random avatar’ link.
