what is this
Science

What Is This?

This bright, bobbly surface looks like something from another planet — but it’s actually a photograph of something that’s quite common on Earth. Can you work out what it is?

22 January 2013

Science

What Are These?

These objects seems to vary from shapeless blob to chaotic scribble — but they are in fact short-lived structures that have been captured in fine 3D detail for the first time. Can you work out what they are?

11 January 2013

Science

What Is This?

This ragged cloud of colour looks messy and unstructured — but in fact it’s a rare and unusual view of one of the most fundamental things in science. Can you work out what it is?

9 October 2012

Gadgets

Can You Work Out What This Thing Was Used For?

This thing looks like a cross between a gun, some weird cooking utensil and an elaborate medical instrument. It is of course none of those things: but can you work out what it was used for?

4 October 2012

Geek Out

What Is This?

The grain gives away that it’s obviously made of wood, but what is this tshirt-shaped slab of lumber supposed to be? The latest in eco-friendly fashion? An alternative to undershirts that’s easy to clean with a sanding block? Not even close.

15 May 2012

Geek Out

What Is This?

Garth Britzman‘s “Pop Culture” is an environmentally green art project, comprised of 1,500 recycled plastic beverage bottles. Each bottle is filled with coloured water and hands from a string of varied length.

18 April 2012

Geek Out

What Is This?

The British artist David Marsh has devised a clever way to combine his two favourite things — Adobe design software Pantone colour swatches and album cover art — with a nod to Pointillism. Each finished piece uses 1369 Pantone swatches to recreate a pixelated version of some of the most famous album artwork of the past half-century.

17 April 2012

Geek Out

What Is This?

Is this scorched protrusion a robot genital wart? A satellite fragment? A melting CPU? Keep guessing!

12 April 2012

Cameras

What Is This?

Are these geodes? Is that a view from inside Hef’s grotto? Kate Bush’s brainmap? Nope! None of the above.

7 February 2012

Geek Out

What Is This?

Is that a stained glass window dedicated to man’s excess? Nope. A MoMA exhibit capturing our disposable lifestyles? Sorry. A corporate logo treatment for a recycling facility? Not exactly, but it is related to turning trash into something beautiful.

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