Once you're out of school and not sitting through science classes anymore, you either start looking for signs of science in the world around you or you forget it's there at all. But the signs are still there, if you know what to look for.
And hey, sometimes the signs are so obvious you can't possibly miss them. But there are wonders going on all the time. Just check out these pics and see for yourself!
It just goes to show you, if you look after your tools, they'll look after you, too. Sixty years is a long time for anybody to do anything, after all.
That the chisel this guy's been using that long still looks like a chisel let alone functions like one is incredible.
Plumbing involves a lot more playing with fire than you might expect, which is why plumbers carry blowtorches and fire resistant blankets.
Just check out what kind of heat they work with, as smoke rises off this pipe that's just been soldered together.
Yes, there are ornamental varieties of kale that come in different colors, like purple.
But this kale plant was a much more typical shade of green until a frost came along, after which it turned purple, according to the uploader. That's a new one for me!
We've all seen a full moon before, right?
But this is a bit different because so few of us have seen it from this angle — this is how it looks from the International Space Station, orbiting more than 250 miles (400 km) above the Earth.
Given how old this bottle of cocaine found in an old pharmacy is, you'd think that the medical use of the drug was long in the past.
And of course, it's a problematic thing, because cocaine does have legitimate medical usages — to the point that it's still used today as a local anaesthetic.
Sawfish are endangered today but the uploader of this pic received this sawfish "tooth" — technically a "rostrum" — from their grandfather, who acquired it 50-60 years ago, long before it was protected.
Although this one is 107 cm (42 inches) long, a sawfish's rostrum can get quite a bit larger than that, up to a quarter of the fish's total length, which can reach 23 feet.
This guy is all wired up for participation in a sleep study. Not sure how scientists expect to get a good, fair examination of someone's sleep patterns when they're hooked up to all this stuff but at the same time, how else are they going to take the measurements they need?
Anyway, if you're thinking of participating in a sleep study as well, just know that this is your future beforehand.
At least in terms of what birds get to sleep in.
The uploader of this pic wrote that they left the fur combed out of their two big, white, fluffy dogs outside and local birds obviously carried it off to build nests out of.
Now that's a special way to keep a memory of your beloved companion: as the precious gem they were. This dog's owner had their dog's ashes turned into a diamond.
As you might imagine, it's not the cheapest option out there, but it's definitely different.
To be fair, I don't know what exactly I did expect from scallops swimming, but certainly I didn't think that it would look like a bad stop-motion animation. It's surprisingly comical, and I love it.
Even in the 19th century, school kids would get bored in class. "Doodles in 1878 by my great great grandfather, an eight-year-old at the time," the uploader of this pic explained.
That textbook is definitely a keeper for that family!
Okay, there are probably a lot of areas where it wouldn't make sense to have kinetic sidewalks that generate power from the footsteps of people walking on them, but there are far more where it would make sense to use them.
Let's roll 'em out!
However, although it's neat to look at, seeing how the burner lines show up in the liquid is not a good sign.
It means that the heat isn't being conducted across the bottom of the pot evenly anymore — might be time for a new pot.
If you wonder sometimes why bridges get closed in high winds, this video from the NYC Fire Department concerning a closing of the Verrazano Bridge ought to clear that up.
Turn up your sound for the full effect.
The give-and-take between East and West has been going on for a lot longer than most of us might think.
Case in point, these diaolou in China, an architectural fusion that was clearly once fashionable. Now, they're largely sitting empty, although they are protected UN World Heritage Sites.
Sorry, no. While the distinctly purple glow on the horizon here may be otherworldly, it has nothing to do with extraterrestrials.
Rather more boringly, it's the combination of low cloud cover and purple LED lighting at a local greenhouse.
Just in case you've ever wondered where those fancy stamped concrete tiles come from, here's the process for creating them. It's pretty apt to call them stamped concrete, isn't it?
I mean, it sure doesn't look normal, nor does it look terribly appetizing.
But it's the result of a perfectly safe chemical reaction to the acid when you pickle garlic. Weird to see, but totally harmless.
This somewhat ridiculous experiment resulted in an absolute banger for Italian singer Adriano Celantano.
Exploring how music could cross language barriers, he wrote and performed this song, called "Prisencolinensinainciusol" with gibberish lyrics intended to sound like American English. Every word of it is nonsense, except for "all right," and it managed to hit number 5 on the Italian charts in 1973-4.
Give it a listen.
"Dad created plasma in the basement. Apparently it is the 4th state of matter and is created under a vacuum with high voltage. He has been working on it for a while and is quite proud of himself," the uploader of this pic explained.
Totally cool. Here's hoping the house doesn't end up in another dimension.
