45 Times People Indulged In Their Curiosity So We Wouldn’t Have To
“Curiosity killed the cat” is one of the oldest sayings or idioms within the English language that has held up against the test of time. The saying can basically be boiled down to allowing your curiosity or nosiness to get the better of you and often leading to you, or someone else, getting in trouble. Thankfully, the world, and definitely the internet, is filled with hundreds of other people who most likely were curious about the same things you’ve been wondering about. The only difference being that they allowed their curiosity to get the better of them. Take a look at some truly bizarre and fascinating things that have happened to everyday objects because people just had to know what would happen. Scroll and be glad you don’t have to experience it yourself.
What could go wrong when swimming at below 40 degrees Celsius
There’s nothing quite like a nice swim on a scorching day to cool off. But only during a hot day, not during winter, and certainly not in -40 degree weather! But you’re surely asking now, “what would happen at that temperature?”
Well, these two ladies did just that, jumping into a heated outdoor pool on a snowy day. The pool’s heat kept them warm while the snow continued to pile and cover the tops of their heads, with clumps of snow clinging to their eyelashes.
Leaving a can in a hot car
We already know that shaking a can of soda is a bad idea unless you don’t mind being covered in sugary stickiness. We also know that a car gets ridiculously hot in summer. So, what happens when you combine the two?
This poor soul found out the hard way after leaving a can of carbonated lemonade in their car during a hot and sunny day. It’s most likely that the heat kept increasing the pressure within the can until it became too much.
Vinyl records and hot cars don’t mix
While we are on the topic of hot cars, tins of pressurized soda aren’t the only thing that you should not leave in a hot car. Those prized vinyl records of yours shouldn’t be left either. They are notorious enemies of hot weather.
When locked up in a giant metal box in direct sunlight, the intense heat will cause the records to start warping or bending as the heat from the sun interacts with chemicals and additives used to make the vinyl. Yikes!
Putting a highlighter in the microwave
Microwaves are amazing kitchen aids that can heat your leftovers, pop a bag of popcorn, or warm up a cup of milk to help you get all warm and snuggly for the night. We know not to put metal in them, but other things are just as hazardous.
And by “other things,” we mean highlighters. Yes, those colorful markers you used to highlight the important parts of your textbooks and notes. The heat of the microwave will cause the ink to boil and shoot out as the pressure builds.
Dirt Struck by Lightning
Lightning might not strike the same place twice, but something certainly interesting happens when it strikes clumps of hard dirt. These bolts of electricity have fascinated us for thousands of years and continue to do so. The phenomenon pictured is more fuel to that fascination.
These people were lucky enough to collect a chunk of dirt that had crystallized after being struck by lightning. The reason for this change is the heat from the lightning strike; as you know, glass is just heated sand at the end of the day.
Beaches and lightning
It is believed that we can trace our knowledge of glass making back approximately 3,600 thousand years! It is crazy to think how this art first came about in Mesopotamia. Most likely, nature had a part to play in this.
The above image hints as much, showing the aftermath and effects of a lightning strike along a beachfront. Granted, the sand is black and charred, not blown into smooth glass, but the heat could have easily done so in the right conditions.
Lightning striking a golf course
Speaking of lightning, what we just saw is still quite a rare occurrence. This is mainly because lightning seldom strikes the ground itself and instead targets and strikes taller objects within the strike zone. Of course, metal objects are also at risk.
Take this particular golf course, though. Most likely, that flagstick was just enticing enough to attract a ground-reaching bolt, leaving behind it a rather distinctive and beautiful print on the grass that surrounded the metal pole. If we were them, we’d leave this design.
Spray tans are not resistant to crying
We all want to look for the summer, whether that means losing a few pounds, toning up those abs, or getting some color. Unfortunately, some of us just were not blessed with tannable skin. But thankfully, for those like us, we have spray tan.
Of course, artificial tans have a reputation for being quite looking quite bad when not done correctly. But in small amounts, the spray can look pretty good. That said, spray tan and water are definitely not friends, as this young lady found out.
Dyeing your hair and your hands
We would be lying if we didn’t say that sometimes we would love to change something about our hair, even though we love it. A new style or cut – just something different for a bit – adds some fun to life. Hair dyeing is a popular choice.
Hair dye is a great way to experiment with new looks and colors, natural and not. Just remember that dye is powerful. So, make sure that you are using a good pair of gloves to avoid dyeing your hands by accident.
Try not to get your hair stuck in a zipper
Just as dyeing your hair can be a struggle, so can having long hair. Sure, it can be great having long flowing locks, but they are so much work to maintain. The worst part by far is the risk you face of getting strands stuck in hazardous places.
Having to deal with hair laying everywhere and getting it caught on stuff is the pits. The above picture shows us what happens if you accidentally get a strand of hair caught in a zipper. At least it was only one little strand!
Adding food coloring to plant water
Food coloring is a great way to safely add some color to any cake or smoothie you might be making. But just because it is called food coloring does not mean you have to limit its use to the kitchen.
Some people allow their creativity to run wild, such as this person who added blue food coloring to their rose’s water source, resulting in hypnotizing mix of blues and whites. The tints of blue on the edges are thanks to the plant’s stem system.
What could go wrong pouring dish soap in a fountain
Do you remember how earlier we said that thing about cats and curiosity? Well, some people are just plain naughty sometimes, just like the guy who thought it would be funny to pour dishwashing soap into a public water fountain.
If you were not aware, you only ever need to use just a little bit of dish soap when washing up, as the stuff has a habit of lathering nicely. Wonder if whoever did this decided to empty several bottles into the fountain!
Leaving artichokes to flower
Whatever one’s feelings are when it comes to artichokes, they’re quite versatile. Since the classical antiquity period, they have been featured in cultural and folklore history for many cultures around the Mediterranean Basin. We think they taste great on pizza.
Artichokes are still very popular today, with most grown in Italy, Spain, France, and the Americas. Because they’re planted to be eaten, few people get to see them flower, which is a shame once you realize how beautiful the blossoms are.
Using your shoes to lift heavy weights
Some of us have probably heard the old saying, “Success always leaves footprints.” Let us just say that this guy took the saying quite literally and not in the way you would think. This was not what we pictured, anyway.
No, your eyes aren’t tricking you; those shoes do have an outline of a bony foot. The story behind it was that one gym-goer had a habit of moving dumbbells out of the way using his feet for years, eventually leaving a skeletal print behind.
The effect of chlorine on leaves
We can often forget or don’t know how important it is to keep our swimming pools clean. Not doing so can lead to algae growth or the spread of bacteria and germs that breed and pollute the water. We’ve all seen those green slime pools.
That is where chlorine comes in, a powerful sanitizing chemical that can kill germs while also re-oxidizing the pool. This stuff is so powerful that it actually striped this leaf of its pigment, leaving it completely transparent! No wonder it lightens our hair.
Reusing the same spoon everyday for 45 years
It is always fascinating to see the effect time can have on an object. Whether it’s watching the slow growth of a tiny sapling into a tall tree or the spread of grey within your hair, watching the marvels of passing years leaves us in awe.
One person posted a photo of an old and weathered spoon that his grandmother has been using for 45 years! We don’t know what’s more amazing, that she actually flattened the spoon’s tip or that she hadn’t lost it in all that time.
The scary reality of getting sunburned when you have vitiligo
The harmful effects of the sun and its rays are no laughing matter, especially now that we know what can happen. People with fair skin and red hair already know the suffering of forgetting the sunscreen, but what about someone with vitiligo?
Vitiligo is a medical skin disorder that results in a loss of skin pigmentation and most commonly appears as white patches on specific body parts. Because of this, affected patches are extremely sensitive to the sun, as seen in the photo.
Water and oil fires do not mix!
Fires are nice to have at a distance and when they are made safely and correctly, and are absolutely terrifying when not controlled. And sometimes people don’t make the right decisions when in a panic, as this image shows us.
What we see here is what happens when you throw water onto a grease or oil fire. Grease fires are very dangerous since their fuel source is a liquid that readily spreads and is only worsened by water. These should be extinguished in some other way, but not by us…
Putting clear soap in an old soap bottle
We often believe that something can only be called art if done with a pen, a brush, or a camera. But true art, we would argue, can be discovered everywhere and brought to life. It only needs a little imagination!
When this person decided to refill this almost empty bottle with clear soap, they discovered their hidden artistic talents. The clear liquid mixed with thicker, white soap remnants, creating an aquatic and jellyfish-themed art piece. Adding food coloring would jazz it up!
Sun-dying a shirt by leaving it in the sun for months
It cannot only be us who thinks there is a pattern here. It seems people are forever forgetting or leaving things in their cars. But hey, the result is always interesting! And sometimes, we get something beautiful. Accidental art, if you will.
Did you know you can actually tie-dye your shirts and clothing without the mess or spending money? We don’t think the owner of this shirt knew either, but leaving it there for a couple of seasons gave it an awesome sun-dye job!
What a nerve damaged finger can show us
It’s honestly crazy to think about how our bodies work, how a network of tiny cells and nerves is what causes us to think, flap our arms about and move around seamlessly or with minimal effort. Anyone who has suffered any injury knows what a blessing our bodies are.
The next image was taken by an individual who, following a nasty cooking accident, damaged half of the nerves in his finger. One day, while bathing, he realized that his nerve-damaged finger was only half pruning after spending forever in the water.
Accidentally freezing and making maple syrup cubes
Every one of us has to admit to having misplaced (ahem…forgotten) something in the fridge for a longer time than we should have. Sometimes it’s a nasty green and hairy surprise. Other times, it’s something you would never have expected.
It was this Canadian’s lucky day. She was searching through her fridge and came across a surprising discovery. She had forgotten a bottle of maple syrup at the back of their fridge, which crystallized into sugary gems due to the cold!
Opening a box of Play-Doh after a decade
We all have a fond memory of a place, toy, or game that defined a part of our childhoods, a memory that we can look back on with nostalgic glee. Play-Doh was one such toy that entertained us for hours!
Like most of us, you most likely tried licking it, even though you weren’t allowed to, only to realize how salty it was! Hee is a decade-old blob of Play-Doh that has actually started to crystalize because of the salt.
Taking a photo on a skyline while on vibrant
Taking the perfect photograph is not always as easy as we hope it will be. Something about our lighting is off; other times, some random passer-by walks right into your shot, and sometimes it is something you would never have imagined.
Have you ever taken a photo while your phone was vibrating? We never have either. This person did, and the results are really quite trippy. The vibration transformed the once straight skyline into a set of wacky and warped buildings.
Leaving a coconut in the freezer
The world is filled with brilliant ideas, made by brilliant people, who, more often than not, were motivated by laziness. Coconut is a tasty and refreshing nut-seed fruit (yes, it’s technically all three) that can be eaten or drunk. If only it were easier to crack!
Well, this genius easily cracked his by simply freezing it for a few hours. The reason it cracked is that, you guessed it, coconuts are filled with water. Water which, once frozen, caused the outer shell to crack as it hardened.
Heating and cooling a marble really quickly
Just as the world is filled with brilliant ideas, it is also filled with crazy and potentially dangerous ones, thought up by people who probably needed adult supervision. Such as heating a marble over a flame and then dumping it into ice-cold water.
Boredom obviously got a hold of this madman, leading them to think of this bizarre experiment. The rapid temperature change caused the glass shell to expand and contract, causing the glass to shatter and create this beautiful mosaic. Okay, maybe we’re annoyed because we didn’t think of it first.
When Bamboo is allowed to grow without tourists
Traveling around the world, or even within your own country, is arguably one of the greatest things you can do for yourself and your soul. But while traipsing around the world might be a beautiful experience, other adventurers are not always as kind.
You often hear how disruptive or messy tourists can be, either on the news, from your relatives, or your own first-hand experience. This picture illustrates the imperfect side of tourism, showing us a lone bamboo shoot completely untouched by tourists.
Planting over 90,000 trees with the same shovel
Physical labor is taxing business; that is why the expression “putting your nose to the grindstone” is so accurate. The trick is to get yourself to believe that hard work doesn’t have to be unpleasant, that it can be meaningful.
What we see here are two shovels put side by side. The only difference between them is that the one on the right is shorter, and it is shorter because it was used to dig holes to plant over 90,000 trees!
Polishing a coconut
We’ve talked about coconuts in freezers but let’s see what other shenanigans people have gotten up to with them. While they’re delicious, it seems they are also somewhat of an endless source of entertainment, with some people now trying to polish them!
They have managed to polish that coconut to such a sheen that you could fool anyone into believing it was actually a wonky bowling ball. But it has the added benefit of giving you a tasty treat if it breaks!
Burning wood with high voltage
While we are talking about creativity that results from boredom, let’s see what else people have been up to. The next one is sure to shock (pun intended) as we look at what happens when using a high voltage on wood.
When the high voltage comes into contact with the wood, it leaves behind a burnt feather-leaf-like pattern called a Lichtenberg figure. The pattern is believed to be a result of the electric discharge traveling through solid material and trying to exit.
Leaving footprints in wood after praying for 20 years
With that in mind, you don’t always need something as powerful as a high voltage shock to leave a mark. Sometimes dedication and doing something over and over is enough to achieve it, as the monk Hua Chi showed the world years ago.
For over twenty years, the aged monk has been praying in the same spot within his beloved temple, leaving behind an actual indentation of his bare feet into the wooden boards of the temple’s floor as proof of his devotion.
The worn steps of Pisa
If you thought the last photo was impressive, wait until you see this one. Leaving an impression of your feet in wood is one thing. But actually, wearing away marble stone slabs seems too unreal for it not to be fiction.
It is very real as this image of the steps of the Leaning Tower of Pisa show us. The tower is said to attract over 1,000 people up and down its steps per day. No wonder the steps are misshapen!
When you don’t pay attention
Most of us know how important it is to remain 100% focused while driving a motor vehicle, not only for our safety but for our passengers and others on the road. Not paying attention often leads to accidents like this one.
Okay, fine, it’s not a real accident. At least you were paying attention! Not much is known about this image other than it is most likely a publicity stunt. But some people on the internet still try to trick people into believing it’s real.
When storms pick up roads
Speaking of road safety, sometimes it’s not just other drivers or us that we need to look out for. No, we aren’t talking about animals. We’re talking about nature itself and why it really is a force to be reckoned with.
Rain and storms often weather, erode, and generally damage roads by wearing down the tar or creating potholes. What you don’t hear about is when storms physically uplift and move entire sections of the asphalt and move it over! We’re happy someone snapped this picture before it was fixed.
Mist coming into contact with wind turbines
Wind turbines are a fantastic advancement of modern technology that offers us a greener way to generate power, which they can do by converting the force of the wind that blows against them into energy. Let’s take a closer look!
This amazing shot shows us what happens when thick clouds of mist roll into a field of wind turbines. The force and pull of the turbines collect the mist together and then shoots it out into these beautiful wave-shaped strips.
Not trimming ornamental cabbages
We usually think of flowers, trees, and herbs when we think about making our gardens pretty. We don’t put veggies or fruits on the list because they are supposed to be eaten! That is, until we heard about ornamental cabbages.
Cabbage is another superfood that can be included in a variety of dishes. Some, however, are considered decorative cabbages because they have a bitter flavor and will begin to flower and take on a whimsical appearance if left untrimmed for a long time!
Owning a pair of identical teddies for 30 years
Everyone had that favorite teddy in their childhoods years, be it a bear, a dog, or any other kind of fuzzy animal or blanket. They were our first companion that we took everywhere and with whom we shared many memories.
Generally, our teddies looked a little worse for wear by the end of childhood. A sentiment that this user perfectly captured, showing a picture of their brother’s childhood teddy and an exact duplicate their mother bought for his first child.
Making your own light show with glow sticks and steel wool
Remember how earlier we talked about how some ideas can be equal parts brilliance and equal parts madness? This person is a shining example of a brilliant artist that went to incredible lengths for their art (basically a normal artist).
He had the great idea to film himself spinning around a couple of glow-sticks to see what they would look like. But he didn’t stop there and decided to attach pieces of burning steel wool to the ends! It’s crazy beautiful.
When a bear breaks into your car
While real-life bears might look as cute as the teddies we grew up loving and cuddling, they are far from harmless. Bears are notoriously strong animals, and they have a huge appetite, as this image shows. Their power is what scares us most.
We see here what happens when a hungry bear cracks open your car in search of food. Fortunately, the driver was not in or anywhere near the car when this happened. We hope his car insurance covered grizzly bear attacks!
Forgetting fruit in your locker for 6 months
Leaving or forgetting some food at the back of the fridge and having to throw it away before it starts walking off is bad enough. But forgetting fresh fruit for 6 months inside your gym locker is so much worse.
While this poor soul did leave their lunch during the pandemic, luckily, it was just fruit and no dairy or meat! We wonder what their first thoughts were when they got back and discovered these fossilized fruits waiting for them.
How many germs are on a kid’s hand?
We all know that kids are cute and lovable. But they are also covered in dirt and sticky candy remnants more times than they are actually clean. But hey, that’s what it means to be a kid. We remember those days.
One mother, Tash Sturm, worked as a microbiologist and frequently brought her work home with her. After days of repeat begging, she finally allowed her son to press his hand against a Petri dish to see what bacteria would grow from it. Here are the results.
When water pipes burst under a basketball court
Basketball courts – actually, any kind of court – are expensive to make, especially the indoor types which usually have wooden floors. Because of this, it can be an absolute nightmare when something goes wrong, and it results in serious damage.
Check out this wacky photo; that is what the wooden floor of the basketball court looks like after the water pipes underneath it burst. It doesn’t seem that uncommon; there’s an episode of The Simpsons where the same thing happens.
Not moving a rug in years
When we think of the sun, we tend to only think of the effects it can have on plants and on us (always wear sunscreen, folks). Well, this next image will remind us all that the sun can affect anything!
When the photographer returned home to see their parents, they discovered that the dining room rug, which had been there for 16 years, had been removed. And what he saw was that over time, the sun had bleached the wood around the rug.
Paper cutting a printer for years
If you have been to college, worked in an office, or have watched The Office, you will have at some point seen a printing machine. At first glance, you would think that nothing can damage the great box, but think again.
While a printer may appear untouchable at first glance, closer examination shows that the thousands of pages it has printed or copied over the years have gradually worn away its plastic sides. Talk about the power of the notorious paper cut!
A gassy dead whale
This one is a little gross, so if you are squeamish, it might not be a bad idea to give this one a scroll and skip it altogether. Death is a sad thing, but it is also a part of nature.
When an animal, or in this case, a whale, dies, its body fills up with gases during decomposition, which causes it to balloon. Because of this, it is not uncommon for the bodies of whales to float and wash up on shorelines.