Curiosity may have killed the cat — or, at least, used up one of its lives — but in the internet age, there's no need to risk life or limb just to figure out what something is.
Just snap a pic, make note of any specific details, and post the thing on Reddit. Someone always knows what it is.
They're defective pole tags, a standardized way to alert technicians to potential safety hazards on utility poles. This specific symbol means "Do Not Climb." The pole has been deemed unsafe and is due to be replaced.
It's a Surveyor 1 probe, which was sent to the moon in prep for the Apollo missions.
They're the work of potter wasps, so called because of how their tiny nests look like little clay pots. Each pot is made by a female wasp, who lays a single egg inside before stocking the rest of the space with food for the larva when it hatches.
There's always someone around from the industry that actually uses the things. It's a plastic buckle, meant to help secure straps around large packages for shipment.
Considering that it's an explosive charge meant to purposely cause avalanches, I feel like this sign isn't worded strongly enough.
It's a splitting maul. When smashed hard into a log, the moving pieces help split the wood.
This is a butterfly clip, used to secure nets, brushes, etc. to the long poles used in pool cleaning.
It's the Marker Wadden, a project to restore the biodiversity of Lake Markermeer by creating islands, marshes, and mud flats using the natural sediment of the lake itself.
It's not a tooth, but a fossilized cast of the inside of a rudist shell. Rudists were organisms from the late-Jurassic period that spent most of that time and the following Cretaceous period building reefs.
It's actually an unripe persimmon, which will turn orange when it's ready to eat.
It's a basting "brush" for barbecuing. It seems silly, but the links in the chain hold sauce as well or better than most traditional brushes. The metal won't scorch over high heat and it's way easier to clean.
This is a punch needle, used for making rugs. It's similar to the hooks in the kits you can find in arts and crafts stores to make decorative rugs.
They're not nearly so cool. Rather, they are riding trowels, which are used for finishing concrete floors quickly and getting a smooth surface every time.
This is a Custom '60s Spaceliner. It was one of the many "bubbletop" vehicles made during a craze for space-age style.
It's a rack used to dry glass bottles. The mouths go over the hooks, allowing the bottles to drip dry.
While the description makes it sound like an alien egg thing, it's actually a smooshed golfball. The outer shell has cracked, releasing the hard black core and rubber band insulation.
They're called weirs and are created to help control the water's flow. There are many reasons to use them, such as measuring the river's speed, making the river safer for boats, powering mills, etc.
It's the gym's sound system, specifically, a model called a Soundsphere. The outer orbs send the sound out around the room, with the big center part being the sub-woofer.
I'm not sure if I could muster the willpower not to press it and find out what it does. Thankfully, it's not embarrassing. The button plays the sound of running water to cover up any other embarrassing noises you may be making.
It's a tiny glow stick used by fishermen. There are a bunch of different uses for them, from allowing you to see your rod when fishing at night to attracting certain species of fish to your bait.
It's a magnetic mount for a cell phone or a portable GPS system. A metal ball would be attached to the device, which holds it to the magnet in the mount.
It's an emergency pull cord and shouldn't be tangled up like that. In accessible washrooms, it's important for the cord to reach the ground. That way, if someone falls, they can still alert someone for help.
They're often called ghost plants because of their white color. They contain no chlorophyll, which is what makes plants green. Instead, they're parasitic, living off the nutrients of other plants.
Knowing that it's a kind of slime mold called Stemonitis doesn't make me feel any better about it. Since it typically grows on rotting wood, there's likely a structural problem that needs solving.
