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37 Fascinating Pics That Captured Something Cool

It's easy to accuse the internet of coming down too much on the side of entertainment and too little on the side of education. That's kind of the way the internet works.

But the educational stuff is out there, and hey, it can be plenty entertaining, too. Check out these fascinating pics and see for yourself!

A totally burnt front lawn, and done on purpose.

Reddit | wallnumber8675309

It doesn't look too great right now, but the ashes will add nutrients to the soil, and the grass will grow back green and lush.

Accessibility on display.

Reddit | PhoenixFlamebird

This globe features raised continents, rivers, and cities for the benefit of the blind, kind of like a Braille map. In fact, some features are even spelled out in Braille.

Not all turtles can tuck their heads into their bodies.

Reddit | mlouisa70394

For example, the aptly named big-headed turtle, indigenous to SE Asia, has a skull that's just too big and bony to be retracted.

You've heard of the rare blue lobster before? Well, crayfish come in blue, too.

Reddit | M4C13Q

They're a bit less rare, however. In fact, there's a whole species of them: the electric blue crayfish, which is endemic to Florida.

Have you ever seen tattooed skin through a microscope?

CMAJ

Pretty amazing to see, but this skin also has a hitchhiker, as this person's tattoo got infected with a virus.

It's easy to see how this plant got its nickname, the laughing monkey orchid.

Reddit | savage-dragon

These happy little blooms were only discovered in Peru in 2006, but they immediately charmed orchid lovers everywhere.

No, this isn't a hockey mask and nobody has confused their sports.

Reddit | FreeRangeLemon

It's the mask someone had molded to their face to wear during radiation treatments. The Minnesota Vikings fandom is a nice touch for much needed morale.

This giant radio telescope in Armenia isn't working, but it hasn't been abandoned, either.

Reddit | mahlerific

The Soviets used the Herrouni array to make some cool discoveries, but its current owners don't have the funds to operate it. But they do keep it shining nonetheless should the day ever come that it can search the skies once again.

This lake gives the appearance of waves having frozen on the surface.

Reddit | CYBERSson

More likely, thawing and freezing and thawing and freezing have occurred here quite unevenly which, combined with winds, make it look like waves froze.

Few of us have ever seen the Great Pyramid from this angle.

Reddit | BetaKeyTakeaway

Straight overhead, it takes a moment to even realize that's what we're looking at.

It's hard to believe, but this ancient Egyptian dress is almost as old as the Great Pyramid.

Reddit | EleclCtriC

Discovered in many pieces in a tomb in Giza in 1927, this dress is estimated to be about 4,500 years old. The Great Pyramid is just over 4,500 years old.

Iceland is absolutely magical.

Reddit | GraveBreath

When you think of Iceland, you think of the volcanoes, the black sand beaches, the hot springs and geysers, but there's also scenes like this canyon studded with columnar basalt. Not bad, Iceland, not bad at all.

Well, that's terrifying.

Reddit | FormerFruit

Great White sharks are imposing and intimidating enough, but as this image shows, when they strike, they appear to roll their eyes back in their heads.

Sure, nobody's really worrying too much about their eyes at that point, and it's really a membrane that covers and protects their eyes, but talk about a terrifying image.

Quite the find.

Reddit | GoKysPlease

Although they're apart now, this skull was originally found still inside the helmet above it. The former warrior fought for Corinth at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.

Surprise halo.

Reddit | ferocioushulk

This kitchen's range hood has an unusual feature: when the sun is low outside, it hits the vent and bounces down to the hood, lighting it up like this.

The other side of the locket.

Reddit | primal-chaos

I guess those mementos had to come from somewhere, and before things like photocopying and printing came along, there were few choices other than to cut up an otherwise perfectly good pic.

It's still save-able, right?

Reddit | sulerian

If you haven't broken out your Cranium in a decade or so, you might want to check on the condition of the modeling clay inside. It might look like this. It's not as nasty as it looks - it's just coated in salt crystals that have formed over time, not bacteria or mold - but it will still need some attention.

How a Formula 1 driver fits into the cockpit.

Reddit | itsclassified_

I guess I never really thought about the posture of drivers behind the wheel of race cars that are so low to the ground. Makes sense though.

This shopping list, written 387 years ago, was discovered under the floorboards of a London home.

Reddit | jab116

According to the uploader, the note reads:

"Mr. Bilby,

I pray pvide to be sent too morrow in ye Cart some Greenfish, The Lights from my Lady Cranfeild Cham 2 dozen of Pewter Spoon: one greate fireshovell for ye nursery; and ye ohers which were sent to be exchanged for some of better fashion, a new frying pan together with a note of ye prises of such Commoditie for ye rest.

Your loving friend, Robert Draper

Octobre 1633

Copthall"

An artist no matter the medium.

Reddit | prof_Wombat

Some work better in oil paints, some watercolors, some prefer to sculpt clay, others bend wires or chisel marble. This artist made their morning's jam work for them. Not too shabby.

For most people with mismatched eye colors, it's the result of genetics.

Reddit | iyaayas

However, this person's eye changed from brown to blue after being struck with a tree branch. "My pupil does not adjust anymore so it always looks like it’s extremely dilated and my iris peeled up and is no longer brown but is showing the blue underneath. Also, I no longer have a lens in that eye," the uploader explained.

It's good that this formation has been so heavily photographed over the years.

Reddit | Daeebro

New Zealand's famous Elephant Rock doesn't look like this anymore. It lost its trunk in an earthquake in 2016.

This might be seen more to be seen less in the future.

Instagram | @jipvanleeusenstein

This clear mask was designed by Jip van Leeuwenstein to block AI facial recognition no matter what angle your face is viewed at.

Dogs can get vitiligo too.

Reddit | MrBonelessPizza

The condition that causes significant changes to a human's skin instead has made this Bernese Mountain Dog's fur lose pigment, lightening its color.

I always thought these were just in the movies.

Reddit | Mikehuntpunt91

But no, apparently old school gangsters did indeed cart around Tommy guns in violin cases.

Lightning in a bottle of paint.

Reddit | Lastoneinfirstoneout

Well, really it's a drop of pen ink in paint, but the ink flowed through the paint in a similar pattern to lightning arcing across the sky or rivers across the landscape. Sometimes art just kinda happens, I guess.

You may have found that a large bubble can form if you leave a dish soap bottle under a running tap, but this is big even by those standards.

Reddit | tweetypye

I never would've expected that it could get big enough to encase the entire thing, but that seems to be what's happening here.

Despite the odd flatness we see in this fork, it is indeed a real utensil.

Reddit | Graphyt87

It's just that it was apparently run over enough times to completely press all of its curves out. With that in mind, I'm surprised it looks as clean as it does.

This picture doesn't seem terribly noteworthy, but it actually shows us a couple of subtle facts of life.

Reddit | iPete102

For one thing, it demonstrates that snow takes longer to melt after it gets trampled. And once we know that, we can also see the most popular routes people took walking through this playground.

Even with a mode of transportation as small as a skateboard, it turns out you can still pick up a stowaway.

Reddit | aceofdiamonds42

In this case, this young lady happened to pick up a magnet that somehow ended up in the middle of the street while she was out riding.

All it takes to do this kind of damage is time and persistence.

Reddit | WeSoSmart

At least, that's what the uploader claims. Apparently, a dog peed in this exact same spot on the air conditioner for 20 years.

Yes, I'm surprised that both the dog and the unit managed to last that long, too.

It may be cool to look at, but you've got some bad news on your hands if you see this cluster on a tree in your yard.

Reddit | amebz

These are known as Gypsy moth caterpillars and if they're left to their own devices, they'll eat all of the leaves of this tree, which will eventually kill it.

So if this person wants to save the tree, they have to kill all of them.

This tooth has become very shiny and pretty over the centuries, but it probably didn't belong to what you might expect it to.

Reddit | bot_10

Although it may not come as much of a surprise to learn that this came from the Late Cretaceous period, the fact that it belonged to a bird might raise some eyebrows.

We've heard that birds are descended from dinosaurs, but it's still odd to consider that there was a time when they had teeth.

This street in the Netherlands features an actual parking spot for horses.

Reddit | lakeyoung

Not only is its intended purpose clearly marked, but whoever installed it was also thoughtful enough to leave a bale of hay for the horse to munch on.

Considering how quickly this green flash passes in a sunset, it's pretty amazing that somebody was able to get it on camera.

Reddit | hidenseek2019

According to Livescience, this flash is the most likely to occur at sunset or sunrise because those are the periods in which light travels more through the earth's atmosphere.

The atmosphere bends this light and tends to absorb red, orange, and yellow hues while also scattering blue and purple ones. This leaves a brief window where the green can flourish.

It's amazing how long things can remain lying around before somebody finally digs them up.

Reddit | Eman2105

For instance, this token was apparently given out to the winner of an annual Independence Day foot race in Westfield, New Jersey.

The 1911 winner either didn't want it or lost it so it remained in the ground for over a century until it was flagged by the uploader's metal detector.

Didn't even know that could happen.

Reddit | WhiskeyForElephants

This person severed a nerve in their finger, and as a result, only half the finger will prune up in water.

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