“Small and hollow fabric cone that came for free when I bought this mattress for a deck chair.”
“They’re meant to cover your drink outside to prevent insects getting in it. I have a cotton quilted one to put over my coffee mug to help keep it warm.”
“Double-bowl sink with a hole connecting them. The tap does not reach the second bowl. What is it used for?”
“It is for schools, you can put a sponge there.”
“What is this camera-looking device in my wife’s hospital room? Mounted on the ceiling, about 5cm wide, and the clear plastic case extends 1cm out. Green light flashes like a Wi-Fi modem.”
“It’s part of a tracking system. These are placed all over the hospital and interface with tags on equipment and, in some cases, personnel. For example, if you want to know where a particular IV pump or other device is, you can log into a system and determine which receiver it’s closest to. They are also sometimes used to notify the nearest personnel if assistance is needed. For example, if a patient pushes the call button in their room, it will send a notification to the nearest person to that room so they can respond. It does not contain a camera.”
“Found two of these small, red, styrofoam-like balls in my cat’s food bag. What are they?”
“Looks like a styrofoam ball from a plastic plant that has red ’berries.’”
“Found this in the cup holder of a camp chair. Felt like hard rubber, looked like it was going to be papery or squishy. Was all connected and one solid piece.”
“Kudos to wearing gloves.”
“It looks like a mud wasp nest.”
“Projections on a gate along a wash.”
“It’s to prevent people from forcing the gate open with a large truck.”
“Spoon-type thing with a metal plate and hole?”
“Is a soup spoon for mustachioed gentlemen.”
“Found by the side of the road on Isle Of Skye. About 2 feet tall and filled in water on the ground within, no visible markings.
“It’s a well from a natural spring. It’s where people used to get their water from.”
“What is this small metal clamp with two balls.”
“It’s a clip to keep a bag of something closed. Typically for bags of ground coffee or beans.”
“Green, translucent substance found on the beach, looks like glass but has gel or jello-like consistency.”
“A day or two ago, a bunch of college kids filled up an inflatable pool on the beach with green jello. They do ‘jello wrestling’ every year. You were looking at a couple of hundred dollars of jello that they left on the beach after wrestling in it while a live band played. They chose green this year.”
“Barely visible filaments, white or transparent, spiky and pierce easily through fingers/clothes/feet. Very annoying.”
“It’s a tree known as Lagunaria patersonia which seed pods dry and drops very similar spiky fibers, which are the absolute worst. My parents had a big one by their pool and, for years, had no clue what was causing these prickles to drop onto the chairs. Anytime you’d get out of the pool, you’d instantly be coating in the things.”
“Small cylinder tightly wrapped tissue paper all different lengths and color.”
“Paperoni! There was a plastic machine that cut different lengths, and you stick them together to make things.”
“What is this cylindrical shape about 10 meters high with some sort of filter on top?”
“Giant air-vac. It allows air in and out in the event of vacuum or overpressure conditions inside a pipeline while keeping water from escaping the pipeline. It prevents pipeline rupture or collapse due to overpressure or over-vacuum condition.”
“8” long, white, and red, made of (solid?) wood, no moving parts. Found in the ocean closer to a harbor."
“Did you smell it?”
“It’s a Fishing Float.”
“Glass cylinder, found in workshop of older house we moved into.”
“These might be raw stock for a glass blower or a glazier. I think these would be heated and rolled out into window panes since they are apparently meticulously bubble and inclusion-free.”
’’These were mailed to me unannounced. I have no idea what they are. Any help?"
"They go on your key ring, and you use them to open doors or push buttons, so you don’t have to use your fingers."
“A weird key — I’m not sure what it goes to.”
"It’s a Yale tubular emergency key for tubular locks."
’’This ring was buried in my garden. After cleaning it, I saw that it doesn’t look like an ordinary ring. Any ideas?’’
"This is heartbreaking. The ring is worn as a mourning ring. It’s a Georgian/early Victorian ring whose initials belong to the lost loved one. They were typically made from gold (18k+) and enameled in black. It looks like yours was made around the 1820s-40s."
“An iron cone on either side of a gate outside the entry to a building in Bath, England”
"It’s a snuffer. A visitor to your house would use it to put out their torch."
“What is this thing that you always see on an escalator?”
"They help keep shoes, dresses, handbags, etc. from getting snagged in the tiny gap at the side."
“It almost looks like a fridge with a seat in it, and an opening for your head. About 4 or 5 feet tall, I think.”
"It’s a personal sauna."
“What is this cleaner used for? It’s found outside the office building.”
"I think it’s for drying wet umbrellas, though the ones I’ve seen usually have the microfiber side facing inward so as to have 2 sides wiping across the surface of the umbrella."
“I work in recycling and have found multiple objects like this. It’s made of some kind of silicone. What is this thing?”
"It’s a magnetic bottle holder strap."
“I found this on the beach in the UK, I think it’s something boat related?”
"It’s a dock bumper that mounts to the water’s edge and stops boats from getting scraped against the edge of the dock."
• 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.
What I don't understand is why the downvotes?
"I don't understand it and I am displeased therefore I downvote"
something like that I guess.