What did we do before the internet?
Find a crazy bug in your attic? Well, I guess you'll just have to kill it with fire because there's no Google to ask. Or, you could hire a professional — if that's your thing.
But these days, all you need to do is look online — and if your Google-fu isn't strong, Reddit has your back.
They kind of look like ironing boards, but they don't fold down, and they have seat belts near the bottom.
So of course, user 1ailill asked Reddit to help them understand.
By backing their chair up to one, the rider can use the seat belt to secure themselves in place and enjoy a safe, comfortable ride.
They are also handy for parents with strollers, providing more security than the built-in brakes.
Luckily, these Fairy inkcap mushrooms aren't poisonous. They start with transparent white caps before turning gray, and crumble when touched. Though technically edible, they aren't known for their flavor.
It's a Velella, an ocean creature that lives on the surface of the water. The sail on its back catches the wind, moving it about the ocean as it feeds on plankton in the water below.
Commenters quickly recognized them as vintage lubricators. Filled with oil, the metal is just soft enough that you could press your thumb against the oval on the body and get a few drops for your sewing machine, hinges, etc.
The combs are meant to be used to create faux wood finishes on walls or furniture. Just scrape along wet paint or stain. These days, the same tools are usually made of plastic or rubber.
This is apparently a sea cucumber, making me seriously question how people ever thought they looked enough like cucumbers to name them after the veggie.
These are the emergency sirens for the Crystal River Nuclear Power Plant. Luckily, they've never been needed, but residents are used to the test alerts happening every Friday at noon.
Turns out that it's a tool specially made for balancing a cone of sugar over a punch bowl for the German beverage, Feuerzangenbowle.
Once you have a steaming mixture of spiced wine, the tool is placed over the bowl with the sugar cone balancing on it. Then, you soak the sugar in rum and set the whole cone on fire.
The sugar caramelizes and drips down into the wine — which sounds delicious!
It didn't take long for it to be identified as Harry E. Wilkens, whose face was emblazoned on the glass bottles of Wilkens Whiskey in the early half of the 20th century.
It's a heliograph, or signal mirror, used in WWII to send messages by reflecting the sun in specific patterns such as Morse code.
Meet the Woolly Alder Aphid, possibly the cutest bug I've ever seen. They're sometimes called Maple Blight Aphids because the trees look covered in fuzz as the bugs feed on the sap. Don't worry, though — they don't harm the trees.
It was found while cleaning the shop and was quickly identified as an extruder screw for injection moulding. Those cost a pretty penny, so if they don't need it, they can sell it for a good profit.
"Thought it might be a sharpening stone, but that just abrades the surface. Readily absorbs machine oil and Windex."
He was most of the way there. It is a sharpening stone, but one meant to be used after soaking in water or oil. I have one just like it for sharpening my kitchen knives.
It's an old microwave tower, part of the first wireless system for telephone and television broadcasts. The system has long been replaced with new technologies, but many towers still stand.
A person wasn't meant to touch food, meaning that everything needed a specialized tool. This specific one is made for serving slices of tomato. Yep, just tomatoes.
After trying them at a Chinese restaurant, cannibalaj now knows that he can find similar ones on Amazon. They're guava flavored, which sounds very tasty.
I would have been hoping that it was something cute. But no, it's most likely the burrow of a Carolina Wolf Spider.
NOPE.
It's a common snapping turtle, which may seem like a letdown, but they did catch the turtle in the act of laying eggs, which is pretty cool.
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, in fact. What looks like eyes are actually just spots on its body that are meant to help camouflage it from predators. I'd say it works pretty well since snakes are scarier than caterpillars.
It's a Taishogoto, a Japanese stringed instrument that first appeared between 1912-1926 (the Taisho period). By pressing the keys, the pitch of the strings can be changed while the musician strums.
While the exact use of the plate is still unconfirmed, Reddit did manage to identify that the piece is depicting the story of the Samaritan woman at the well from the Gospel of John, chapter 4.
Turns out that "magnet fishing" is a thing. People toss a line with a powerful magnet into the water. Kind of like metal detecting, but wetter and without the beeps.
No word on what the magnet has captured or why it's just hanging there.
Would you have been able to identify any of these things?
