Pleated-Jeans
The internet isn’t always people yelling at each other.
Sometimes, people come together to solve problems, whether they found a septic tank in their back yard and need help identifying it or if they find a microchip in their food. Either way, someone has an answer.
Maybe I’m lucky but the coolest thing I’ve ever found was an onion ring in my fries and I didn’t need help identifying it.
1. “This is a on gate blocking road access to some cell towers. Why so many locks, and how would someone even open it?”
Answered by u/WG47:
“You can open the gate by unlocking only one padlock. The way it’s designed means that multiple people can use the gate, and if one person loses their keys, only their padlock needs [to be] replaced. As opposed to one padlock with many keys, you’d need to give tons of people the new key.”
2. Found on Guam in shallow water. 3-meter diameter disk. Top looks like polyester in a honeycomb shape that is fiberglassed to flimsy aluminum disk. I’m stumped on this one. Never seen anything like it.
Answer: There was recently a Chinese Long March 3B rocket launch that failed, and the rocket and its payload was seen reentering the atmosphere near Guam.
3. Me and my parents found this in our backyard earlier today (it reads “do not enter poison gas”) it’s on a circular concrete thing.
Answer: It is the cap to a septic tank.
4. I found this squishy thing in my Monster coffee. I don’t know what it is and I’m pretty grossed out.
Answer: I’m a process chemist for a food company. Heat excursions and a tad bit too much calcium will lead to sodium alginate gelling. If you ripped it open, there would probably be a bit of a core where the alginate may not have fully hydrated.
5. Found while clearing yard. Weighs about 6 lbs. Area has WW2 history. Should I call EOD?
Answer: EOD here. That is definitely uxo. Everyone had the right answer, call emergency services. Furthermore, when you people find stuff that looks suspect just call it in; We’re bored.
6. Nuclear shelter? Suicide booth? What is it actually?
Answer: Looks like JCDecaux public bathroom (toilet) … The cabin should rotate and while it closes on one side the other side will reveal the bathroom.
I work for JCDecaux, the toilet will automatically clean themselves when the door closes and detects that nobody is inside.
7. Weird little “room” in the peak of my old barn. No way to access it, it’s only a few feet across.
Answer: Probably just set up as a nesting area for barn owls. Barn owls are not destructive, and they eat rodents.
8. Husband’s truck exploded, this came out
Answer: It’s the inside bits, the catalyst, of a catalytic converter.
9. Mystery ceramic or porcelain piece found on beach in Cancale, France
Answer: When you hold it up to a bright light, is it translucent? Porcelain will be translucent, while other types of ceramic earthenware will not be.
When you run your fingers or a nail over the blue detailing, does it feel noticeably raised or like you could scratch it (as opposed to a relatively smooth surface)? If so, it is likely blue transferware, a later style which developed to more efficiently replace hand painting by transferring a design onto the piece. If instead, it’s smooth and not translucent, then it likely is faience ware (Delftware).
Based on the image, color, and size, I would say it’s more likely to be transferware than Delftware.
Additionally, even if it was Delftware, that doesn’t necessarily indicate Dutch origin, as similar styles of delftware were also produced in England and other places (known as English delftware).
10. Washed up on a beach in Florida.
