“My wife got this strange object from her grandmother, 10 cm long. She used it when she was younger, but no longer needed it.”
Answer: "It’s for stirring drinks."
“What is this fiber/sand ball? Found among thousands like it on a beach in Spain. It weighs almost nothing.”
Answer: "It’s a seagrass ball. They are used to have more surface area for bacteria to grow on, and it looks like these could possibly serve the same purpose."
“What are these and what are they for? The girl sitting across from me had them on all her fingers on both hands.”
Answer: "Oval finger splints for treating: arthritis, boutonniere deformities, crooked fingers, fractures, hypermobility (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome), lateral deviation, mallet finger, swan neck, trigger finger, and trigger thumb"
“Appears to be cotton, wrapped partially in burlap, and secured with steel straps. Hickman, Kentucky is written on the burlap.”
Answer: "We had one of these when I was growing up. It was a souvenir from some southern plantation-type place we visited. Just a mini bail of cotton, ready to be shipped off."
’’This was surgically removed from my cat’s stomach. It’s rubbery in texture and maybe about an inch long."
Answer: "It’s a rubber piece from a cat fountain."
“What is this kitchen cabinet used for? It has a pull-out shelf and an outlet inside. It was in the condo my son just bought.”
Answer: "It’s a stand mixer."
“It came bundled in my order, but I didn’t order this. Opened it without noticing, but it’s hard and murky.”
Answer: "Looks like opalite."
“What is this thing in my classroom? Makes subtle fan-like sounds and changes color on top.”
Answer: "AV1 is a personal avatar for children suffering from long-term illness, helping them to continue their education and maintain the normality of daily life despite no longer being able to access mainstream education."
“This is a small scoop with alligator clip as the handle. Found it cleaning out the kitchen.”
Answer: "A coffee scoop with a bag clip for the coffee bag."
“Got this as a prize in a Christmas cracker with no instructions, just a few sharp hooks.”
Answer: "It’s a needle threader."
“My college sent me this and I have NO CLUE what it’s for.”
Answer: "Looks like a germ key. Basically, it allows you to open doors, press buttons, and sign screens without touching them directly."
“Heavy metal cubes on the end of the chain with different shapes on each side of the cubes — AA battery for scale”
Answer: "Han Solo’s lucky dice"
“I found this ring in my backyard while doing gardening. After cleaning it, it doesn’t look like a normal ring. Any ideas?”
Answer: "This is a mourning ring. The initials belong to a lost loved one."
“What are these circular metal things on these stairs? I just hit my knee and man, did it hurt.”
Answer: "It’s a skateboard prevention device that keeps ’em from grinding on edges."
"Looks to fit in your mouth or roof of the mouth, maybe made of woven medical fabric with thin plastic through the middle.’’
Answer: "It’s a turkey caller."
“From a box of candy-making supplies — about 60 twisted screws are buried in the 4.5-inch-wide piece.”
Answer: "It’s for making spun sugar."
“Found buried in the closet of a commercial kitchen. What have I got? It’s about 6 inches in diameter.”
Answer: "It’s a hamburger press. Here’s an identical one."
“What is this thing?”
Answer: "It’s a pasta cutter."
“Red white and blue plastic mesh ribbon”
Answer: "It looks like a rod cover for a fishing pole."
“Small glass vessel with a handle and a hollow tube that is closed on one end. Penny for scale.”
Answer: "It’s a sugar cube server."
“What is this bubbling out of the ground in my yard? Purplish metallic gooey inside.”
Answer: “Carpenter here, that looks all the world to me like expanding foam. The manufacturers like to color them for brand recognition or purpose identification. All the signs are there. The even coloration, the outer skin that formed, and the familiar random expansion pattern.”
“I found it in a forest in Sweden, about 1 m from the ground, roughly 20 cm in size. Hard to the touch, but drips liquid when knocked.”
Answer: “Looks like a polypore fungus that is exuding excess moisture, called guttation.”
“Black liquid that appears to have dripped from the ceiling, right underneath a light.”
Answer: “Bad ballast, they are potted with that goo.”
“Belt contraption attached to the rear wheel of a Chevy Bolt”
Answer: “It looks like some homegrown charging system.”
“The hole gets smaller when I squeeze it. Found in the kitchen at my parent’s house. What do I use it for?”
Answer: “It’s to strip corn on the cob.”
“My husband and I heard a big crash at 5 a.m., like something had fallen off the roof. He found this feathery mass on the ground just now.”
Answer: “Ok, showed this to my wife (ornithologist and zookeeper of 15+ years). The inside very likely has fly eggs on it and the feathers are likely from a duck (down in the cut away section gives it away). But she has never seen a feathered mass grown off of a bird like this. So possible tumor that got pinched off the main body?”
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