Is it just me, or do we all need a slightly larger spike of caffeine in the morning than usual? Doesn’t it seem to take longer to get up to speed these days? Maybe that’s a normal thing, I don’t know.
I do know that any and all help waking up is welcome. And it’s not just a physical thing. Stretching and moving around is great, but you’ve got to get your brain in the game, too. So, here are some fascinating pics that should help your engage your gray cells!
1. Showing that no good deed goes unpunished, here’s the aftermath of one woman’s attempts to make some hats to hand out to the homeless.
Behold, the power of Scotchgard, leaving the outline of hats on the deck weeks later where rain gets repelled.
2. At Legoland, you can get special glasses to wear during their fireworks displays that turn the fireworks into bright bricks in the sky.
Not sure how they work, but pretty amazing that they do — just bear in mind that they’re not free, of course.
3. On board the 737th Boeing 737 ever delivered to Southwest Airlines, there’s a small plaque to commemorate the occasion.
In the grand scheme of things, that’s kind of small potatoes considering that more than 10,000 737s have been produced , and Boeing makes 52 of them every month. But still, a nice detail if you’re ever flying Southwest.
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4. How does your glass of water end up looking like this?
Well, it has to be a nice, frosty cold glass, obviously. The water closest to the glass freezes, at which point it becomes lighter than the liquid water it’s in and starts to float, sending it above the rim. Neat!
5. At this canal in Belgium, boats get to make a journey over land on a sort of escalator to get to another section at a different elevation.
The inclined plane at Ronquieres moves boats 1.5 kilometers (just under a mile) in distance and up 68 meters (225 feet).
6. What looks like a grape on the outside but isn’t a grape? A kiwi berry.
File that under “things I had no idea existed but now want to try.” Apparently they’re much different than regular kiwis, sweeter and acidic, with a bonus of no fuzz on the outside.
7. Just imagine cutting into a tree and finding a golf ball, of all things, lodged inside.
So somebody must have taken the penalty and just dropped a new ball back in the day, and they were right to do so because that’s one tough lie.
8. Just like the rain made the outline of Scotchgarded hats appear, it also brought this intricate spiderweb into focus.
Can you even ask for a more beautiful reminder to clean your windows?
9. This post tells a story, with one side still clean and pure, and another that’s clearly rusted and weathered.
As it happens, only one side of this post faces the ocean, and I think you can guess which.
10. When your lawn goes dormant for winter, it doesn’t always go at the same time, often producing a maze-like pattern.
Or, if you prefer, a leopard print or a jigsaw puzzle pattern. Either way, it’s just another show of autumn being the coolest season.
11. Another unusual fruit, this is a horned melon, which some say tastes like a banana.
Also known as a kiwano melon or jelly melon, others will say it tastes more like a cross between a kiwi and a cucumber, although the flavor can depend on its ripeness.
12. This attractive shell, sporting a pattern that looks like a mountain range, is actually home to a nasty customer.
It belongs to a cone snail, which has been called the most venomous creature on Earth. So, pick up that shell with care!
13. Isn’t it amazing how rain makes things show up unexpectedly? Check out how a good rain shower made the staircases inside this building stand out.
Of course, it’s really how the building dries that shows off what’s behind the walls — stairs and floors transfer heat to the exterior better than bare walls, so they dry faster.
14. Speaking of different rates of heat transfer, here’s a cool shot of morning frost being contained within these horses’ shadows.
Because they sleep on their feet, they haven’t moved long enough for the sun to melt the frost in their shadows.
15. A red sky at night is supposed to be a sailor’s delight, but what about a purple sky?
I’m not sure about the folklore or the science behind this phenomenon, so I’d say hunker down and hope it all blows over.
16. I know, it looks like a lightning bolt running through a mountaintop, but there’s a good reason for it.
This is a long exposure shot of a popular climbing spot outside of Cape Town, South Africa, and the glow is provided by the headlamps of climbers scaling it at night.
17. At first glance, I would be reluctant to stand too close to these faucets when washing my hands.
But on closer inspection, you can see that the water drains behind the faucets, instead of just falling off the edge onto the floor. Subtle!
18.There’s an Easter egg hidden inside this movie’s title design.
Which is completely appropriate considering Ready Player One is all about finding hidden Easter eggs in video games. There’s a maze in the title, starting top left, and concluding at the egg in the middle of the O.
19. Showing the tenacity and determination of life, this tree, once reduced to a stump, is still branching out and growing.
It looks pretty odd, but you have to give that tree some major credit for not just giving up.
20. Thanks to these fellows who happened to have a thermal imaging camera handy, you can see how the body reacts to trauma, at least in terms of heat.
On the hand in question, the pinky got jammed in a car door, and it’s clearly much hotter than the other fingers.
21. Believe it or not, this is just one towel, even though it looks like two different towels.
It’s really a pink towel being held up to a mirror, and the reflection looks gray because mirrors have a slight green tint to them.
22. Where two branches of the Susquehanna River meet, you can see the difference between them for miles.
The two branches have different flow speeds and densities, and one has a muddy bottom while the other has a rockier bottom.
23. If you’re ever in Switzerland, you might be able to find one of these handy devices that helps you pick out the country’s many mountain peaks.
And they’re all conveniently labelled for a nice, educational experience.
24. I know, this looks like a Halloween display for the ages, and it’s close, but not quite.
This is actually the day after, All Saint’s Day, in cemetery in a town in Serbia, where red lamps have been placed around the graves. Spooky!
