In the Internet age, it’s easy to get overconfident about our depth of knowledge. There is an endless treasure trove of information just a search away. However, we gathered 75 unexpected photos that prove there are still plenty of surprises to be had out there.
Just when we think that we’ve seen it all, life presents us with a new mystery to unravel. It’s funny how that works. From fascinating anomalies in nature to shocking human-made surprises, these unique photos will have you shaking your head in wonder and confusion. It turns out, life is pretty incredible sometimes.
At Leipzig Airport in Germany, airplanes have to taxi across the Autobahn to get from the terminal to the runway. It looks pretty insane. However, the system works very well there and it’s rare that they get an aircraft this big landing.
Starfish normally look like stars. However, due to a birth defect, it’s possible for a starfish to have four points instead of five. It can take on a square shape, but in other regards, it’s totally healthy.
People don’t often pay too much attention to yellow wet floor signs. However, this creative sign aims to change that by playing on people’s instinctual fears. It makes it look like a shark is swimming in the puddle!
There are some species of sunflowers that grow up to four meters tall. In other words, they can grow to be higher than your house! Imagine walking through a full garden of them in person.
Believe it or not, this cat used to be all black. One day, as winter was beginning, his fur just started changing colors. Now he has a reddish-orange hue to him.
Despite what it may look like, it’s not something out of a science-fiction film. It’s actually an x-ray image of a pregnant dog. How many pups do you count inside of the pregnant mamma?
These unique flooring tiles will have your guests doing a double-take. Each tile represents a different room in an apartment complex and there are even creepy people watching out of the windows! It’s a very creative idea.
This man dropped his headphones in the sand while he was at the beach and the magnets inside collected thousands of tiny iron shavings. They stuck right to the side of the device. We had no idea that sand has so much metal in it.
Nature is capable of producing some pretty incredible things. For example, this flower variety with petals that look like the universe at night. It is completely real and is not photoshopped, we swear.
This flashlight is powerful enough to completely illuminate the inside of the man’s hand. We can see all of his veins and blood. It’s a bit spooky, however, it at least proves that he’s not a robot.
The law of gravity doesn’t seem to apply to this statue found outside the Cairo Airport. The top rock appears to be hanging in thin air. There is nothing supporting it, although, there is a suspicious rope hanging off of the bottom of it.
Here we have a “one-liter bottle before expansion”. It looks like a little plastic test tube. The step where the factory machines inflate the bottle was skipped in this case.
At first glance, one might mistake this image for a pile of rotten logs in a forest. However, it’s actually a whale skeleton. It was spotted deep in a rainforest on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.
Sadly, this cat was born blind and will never be able to see. She will never be able to appreciate her beautiful eyes for herself. However, they are absolutely stunning and remind us of the planet Earth.
How did the tire end up wrapped around the tree? It’s a big mystery. Has it been there since the tree was just a tiny sapling first sprouting from the ground?
Here we have a visual representation of how big the sun is compared to the Earth. Apparently, one million Earths can fit inside the sun. To show that, they placed a million small blue balls inside the plastic container.
On the left is a candle burning normally. On the right is a candle burning in a zero-gravity environment on the Mir space station. It turns out, gravity has a big effect on flames!
This picture clearly illustrates how closely related birds and dinosaurs are. It shows the claw of a Southern Cassowary. The Cassowary is a type of large flightless bird that lives in Australia.
Most bananas have a curve in them. However, you’ll notice that these bananas are completely straight. They didn’t curl up in the direction of the sun as a typical bunch would.
The man was very surprised to learn that he is not able to sweat where his scars are. The scar tissue means there aren’t any pores on his skin anymore. Now, when he sweats it leaves patterns on his clothes.
This squirrel lost his bushy tail, likely due to some sort of unfortunate disease. Looking at the image really makes you realize how closely related different rodent species are. Squirrels are basically just tree rats.
Check out how tense this athlete’s leg muscles are after his race. We didn’t even know it was possible for legs to have this appearance. It looks like the worst cramp ever. The muscles must have gotten quite a workout in!
We bet you’ve never seen any light bulbs like this in anyone’s homes before. It is a light bulb from a soccer stadium floodlight that is industrial-sized and, of course, super heavy duty. It must cost a fortune to replace one.
“I tried to take a photo of my mum’s eye with my macro lens but it focused on me instead,” explains the photographer. The closeup image didn’t turn out exactly as he had planned. However, he did get a very interesting result.
Did you know that dogs can get dental implants just like humans can? In addition, many dogs also get metal crowns as shown in this photo. It gives the pups a nice shiny smile.
The reason this butterfly looks so unusual is that it was born half-male, half-female. In science terms, it is a bilateral gynandromorph. It causes the butterfly to have split male and female characteristics.
When it comes to plumbing, sometimes you have to get creative. That’s what this picture proves. The family called the plumber and he plugged their pipe with a small tree.
This is an all-natural thorn. It was found on a tree branch growing on its own. However, due to its large size and shape, it looks like a weapon forged by man.
It’s hard to believe this fish is real. However, it is called a Surge wrasse. It was caught off the coast of Hawaii where there are reportedly tons of fish that look like this around the reef. The rainbow colorings are incredibly beautiful.
Here we have a type of fungi called the bleeding tooth fungus. It is one of the most bizarre types of mushrooms that we have ever seen. It literally has red gooey drops dripping off of the surface.
It’s a huge coincidence that these two cars were parked next to each other. Fascinatingly, they both have opposite incorrect door colors. One has a blue door and the other a red door.
When flying over the desert, most people expect it to be just one flat expanse of sand. However, this image was captured on a plane flying over the Sahara desert. The terrain actually has a surprising amount of texture to it!
At first glance, it appears to be an entire lobster in the package. However, it’s really just one giant lobster claw. They placed a banana next to it so you could get an idea of the size. It is so big that it is deceiving.
Have you ever wondered what it looks like inside an oyster shell while the oyster is growing pearls? Well, now you know. This cracked oyster had a bunch of partially formed pearls in it. They weren’t quite ready for a necklace yet, but they were starting to take shape.
Imagine the golfer’s surprise when he picked up this lost ball recently. It had a hilarious note printed on the side that was very fitting to the situation. It’s a joke that keeps getting passed on over and over again.
Here we have an aerial view of the night market in Bangkok. There are endless rows of colorful tents, all beautifully illuminated. We would love to go explore the interior someday and try some food.
These patches of dirt and grass in the stream look surprisingly similar to the continents of the world. It is a natural map. Whether it was human-made or created by chance isn’t entirely clear.
38. Inverted Grate Icicles
The storm drain grate was turned upside-down to reveal hundreds of sharp icicles. We’ve never seen them from this perspective before. They turned into perfect spikes!
The amount of effort it takes to stack fruit in the supermarkets every day is pretty incredible. Some vegetables are just tossed onto the stack. However, these tomatoes were formed into a perfect ziggurat.
The moment before the storm sets in is always a little bit worrying. The ominous dark clouds hang high in the sky. They could burst out into rain at any second. However, there is also a beautiful quality to it.
Without looking through an ultraviolet camera, it’s hard to know whether suntan lotion is working. However, this person did an experiment to test it. They marked their arm into sections for the different SPF shades and took a UV photo of it.
The
ghost glass frog can be found in the jungles of Central America, as well as some parts of the Amazon in Colombia and Ecuador. It has the most insane-looking eyes. We wouldn’t want to double-cross one.
Somehow, we don’t think this greeting card really belongs in the “loss of a loved one” section. However, it is pretty funny. The cute pup is goofy enough to cheer anyone up.
Technically, the inside of this tropical pitcher plant won’t really scan as a QR code. Although, it certainly looks like you should be able to scan it. The markings form random square patterns.
Here we have a needle and thread as viewed under an electron microscope. You can see all of the minute details. However, the truth is that everything looks more interesting when you magnify it a thousand times.
Despite what it may look like, it’s not a see-through fish. It is technically a different type of animal entirely. It’s a sea creature known as a salp that moves by pumping water through its body.
We always love when a good sign catches us by surprise and makes us laugh. That’s what happened at this community center. They shared a sage piece of advice on their billboard.
Here we have a “tiny figurine immortalized under 8 coats of paint on the side of a building”. The man is stuck there forever now. He has been painted on and changed colors so many times over the years.
The water started to freeze inside this water bottle overnight. However, it didn’t form into cubes like the ice that we are all used to. It randomly formed into long spikes like a frozen sea urchin.
These ferns didn’t take on their normal green color. They have no pigmentation in them. They likely have a problem with producing chlorophyll that causes them to take on their “albino” appearance.
This preschool has one door for the parents and teachers and another child-sized one for the kids. It’s absolutely adorable. It makes them all feel so special.
It’s rare enough to find one four-leafed clover. However, in this photo, there are two in the same clover patch. It’s extremely exciting, especially if you are a young kid!
The aviary in this zoo has a net covering the entire space so the birds don’t escape. In the winter, it creates an interesting effect. The snow forms a thin layer across the net, occasionally creating a ceiling of snow.
You’ve probably never had the courage or desire to crack open a sea urchin before. However, if you did, this is what you would find inside. There is a big hollow space and a little creature in the middle.
According to the shopper, the pink lady apples at the store came with a free cozy. It’s pretty much the last thing you would expect when buying an apple. It might not be necessary, but it is pretty adorable.
This family noticed one day that they had a mushroom growing out of their ceiling. Instead of removing it, they decided to let it grow. It became a fully-formed and healthy mushroom, even without any identifiable water source.
This house plant started growing one day and just kept on going. Since it was planted in the middle of the spiral staircase, there was nothing stopping it. It eventually grew to over four stories tall.
This plant didn’t have sunlight in the immediate vicinity. It had to find a different strategy to get light so it began growing towards the lamp instead. It looks like it worked out pretty well for the little vine.
The broccoli was fed to the family goldfish and this is how the fish ate it. It’s pretty goofy. The fish left all of the stalks and only took the green leafy parts off of the ends.
Here we have an ant’s face viewed under an electron microscope. We have never seen one so close before. We had no idea that ants have such distinct facial features.
There is nothing more relaxing than watching the clouds on a warm summer day. They are so cool to look at, and sometimes, they do crazy things. Just check out these clouds that formed in layers.
Where this road leads is anyone’s guess. However, we wouldn’t recommend driving on it now. The flooding from the storm looks pretty severe currently. It’s flooded for as far as the eye can see.
This giant piece of salt formed into square crystals. It was discovered by a tourist at the world’s largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. It’s a pretty wild find, and also, quite common.
Machines are generally very reliable. However, every once and a while, they make mistakes too. That’s what happened here. Somehow, one of the screws didn’t end up with threading on the edges of it.
The tree was cut to make a wooden pole. Later, a new sprout formed and began growing out of the center. It just goes to show that from devastation comes new life.
If you weren’t paying attention, you would never notice this wonder of nature. It’s a frog that is so tiny, it’s barely perceptible to the human eye. It is one of the smallest members of the animal world.
“This shirt that I own has a cloth stitched on the inside to clean your glasses with,” explains the man. The glasses cloth even has a little image of sunglasses on it to let you know what it’s for. It’s such a great idea.
Here we have a walnut that looks like an alien planet. It appears as though it is covered by a little green forest. However, it’s actually just moss that grew on the outside of the walnut when it fell off of the tree.
Marine life is so unique, yet, we don’t often take the time to stop and observe it. Just pick up a crab in a shell one day and look closely at it for yourself. It will stare right back at you with its tiny eyes and change your life.
At first, we thought it might be some sort of cream-filled cookie. However, it is actually a type of Korean ice cream. They make waffle cones in South Korea in the shape of chocolate bars. It looks really delicious and we would love to sample a bit.
The dandelions all grew where the heating system passes underneath the landscape. The warmth seeped up from underground and caused the flowers to blossom there. From up above, it looks like a yellow path.
This shower formed inside of the cave by chance. There is a perfect series of round holes in the stalactite where water pours out. It’s really useful if you need to wash off some dirt after spelunking.
If you don’t have a balcony in your apartment, you can always make your own. That’s what this inventive person did. We’re not sure how much we would trust it though.
There is something really beautiful about the idea of tulips blooming out of the snow. They are obviously a very hardy bunch. In the middle of the winter, it’s not often that we see flowers.
These shoes were found in an old tree when it was cut down. They had practically merged with nature by that point. They had been sitting in the tree for so long that they had become covered in green moss.
