Some of the world’s treasures are good at hiding in plain sight. I’m not talking about those times where piles of cash or jewelry were left in an unassuming bag, but that has certainly happened too.
Instead, I’m referring to the ways that fascinating and even mind-blowing things can look fairly normal at first glance.
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Fortunately, we not only have pictures of these curious finds, but enough context to explain what’s so great about them.
Those stairs lead up to a mountain path in China known as Heaven’s Gate.
Unfortunately, this site can mean so much to people that they give their lives for it, as the Globe and Mail reported one Canadian daredevil did when he attempted to fly through the opening in his wingsuit.
From our perspective, destroyers and battleships both seem to be massive, impressive looking warships, but there’s a big size difference between them.
And in this shot from October 25, 1945, we can see that comparison in this moment where the smaller USS Renshaw destroyer lined up with the USS Missouri battleship.
This may seem like anything from an aerial view of a sprawling city to the design of a counter, but it’s a little more natural.
In fact, we’re actually seeing what a frog’s skin looks like when we’re incredibly close to it.
This device’s surroundings give a little clue as to what it is.
Indeed, we’re looking at the inner workings of a pinball machine. Considering how many things light up and move when we play, it’s not a big surprise that they’re this complicated.
It’s pretty easy to see what makes this deer so special.
Still, even seeing how impressive an albino buck looks doesn’t really make it clear how rare it is to see animals that look like this.
After all, they’re kind of an easy mode for predators.
It’s kind of hard to tell what’s going on with this tree and that’s because there’s sort of more than one here.
More specifically, we’re seeing a mighty tree grow out of the stump of another one. And so, the roots had to get a little complicated before they could reach the ground.
It’s natural to look at all of these dots and shrug your shoulders, but that might change once you realize what you’re looking at.
Each of those dots is a galaxy, which means that a whopping 11,700 of them are represented in this picture.
And let’s not even get into how many stars and planets could be hanging around in each one.
Not only will this model airplane survive being thrown by this guy, but it won’t even crash.
That’s because it’s light enough that he can throw it and it will fly to the other side of the room before landing fairly gently in the arms of two other people.
Dams aren’t so uncommon that we necessarily find them interesting on their own, but the Three Gorges Dam in China operates on a whole different level.
According to Business Insider , it’s able to control 42 billion tons of water, which actually makes it powerful enough to slow the rotation of the Earth.
Granted, it can only do this to the extent that it makes a day longer by 0.06 microseconds, but that’s still insane to think about.
Your eyes may be sharp enough to tell what’s wrong with this tree, but I’ll let you know what’s going on anyway.
Apparently, it was able to grow in such a way that it almost completely absorbed this road sign by the time this photo was taken.
This is a weather map of France, but it also looks like an appropriate reaction to the news.
The south of France, and parts of Western Europe in general, are currently experiencing their most intense heat wave on record, which is definitely something to scream in frustration about.
It’s hard to tell what’s so unusual about this cat until you look at it’s little feet.
As you may have noticed, it has two extra toes, which means that it paws look like little mittens. No word on whether it’s actually named that, however.
This looks like the colors are inverted, but it’s actually a safety warning.
This is why people always tell you to sleep with your bedroom door closed. The left is the hallway, where a fire gutted the space. The right is the other side of the door, which is also a child’s bedroom.
Ever been curious about the inside of a pop machine?
It’s both refreshingly simple, while still being cool. The skinnier slots on the left are for the less popular flavors.
You don’t usually get such a good look as the bone plate connections on a skull.
This is from a deer, but the human skull has similar patterns where the different plates of bone join together.
Panoramic photos are almost cooler when they fail.
In this case, the photographer was trying to get a night shot of the beach, but lightning stuck in the middle of the pan.
Distant ships can appear to be hovering.
It’s due to a massive mirage called a Fata Morgana, which is a strip of distorted light right along the horizon.
Blue bees exist — and they’re so cute!
Blue carpenter bees are found throughout China and South Asia. They are big, fuzzy, non-aggressive, and totally adorable.
A real hidden staircase in an old Victorian mansion.
Why can’t my old house have cool secrets like this? The closest I have is a cupboard under the stairs, but there isn’t even a boy wizard living in there.
Stingrays are so graceful, that it’s hard to believe they have solid skeletons.
But they do, and on top of that, the skeletons are just as graceful and elegant. This one is from a freshwater stringray.
I hope you aren’t afraid of heights.
This is the longest and tallest glass bridge in the world, allowing you to look down over the Zhangjiajie National Forest in China.
Protect your skin, people!
This man drove a truck for 28 years, meaning that the left side of his face was constantly exposed to more sun than the right. The difference is incredible.
The Star Wars scroll would take minutes to create these days.
But before computers were as cheap and as powerful as they are now, things had to be done a little bit differently. A moving camera literally had to film the printed text.
Before photography, scientists often has to practice their artistic skills too.
These are Galileo’s carefully rendered drawings of the moon in its various phases.
This photo may look like vintage California, but it’s actually Iran.
Before the coup that brought Islamic hardliners into power, Iran was far more “westernized” than it is now. However, that was only really true for the upper class.
People bring more than just flowers to Bob Ross’ grave.
They also bring art supplies. I can’t get over the little squirrel figurines. They’re perfect.
He’s buried at Woodland Memorial Park, Gotha, Florida.
This frozen explosion is actually fruit.
It’s native to Australia and the Pacific Islands. In Hawaii, it’s called hala. You eat the red-orange parts, which are sweet, but if left out too long in the sun, you’ll learn why its nickname is “stink nut.”
This may look like someone’s half-finished C3PO cosplay, but there’s a lot more to it than that.
This is actually what remains of the original costume from the first movie. As you can see, it hasn’t been used in a very long time.
In July 2006, the video with the highest views on YouTube was “Evolution of Dance.”
It had over 27 million views. It hung on to the top spot until mid-2008, when it was toppled by a few music videos, particularly
These strange growths are actually a lot less terrifying than they look.
That’s because they’re actually seed pods for snapdragon flowers and just happen to look like scary faces for some unfortunate reason.
