What is it? - again

[Evo]

I have a friend that is getting into photography and sees the remakable in the mundane. He sees the world differently from "normal" people. :biggrin: Thankfully, it's actually starting to rub off on me and I'm beginning to see things from an entirely new perspective.

I'd like to see pictures here that are from a different perspective. Extreme close-ups, crops from a larger picture, odd angles, anything that gives the ordinary new meaning.

I'll start with one of his last photos.

What is it?

I'll give you a hint, it's something you see all the time, it's ordinary, but we probably let it slip by unprocessed because we are focusing on other things.

http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/9945/corner1ajf6.jpg

[franznietzsche]

Asphalt ?

[Evo]

Good guess, nope. But you get 50 GOOBF points for being the first.

I have other views I might post.

[franznietzsche]

Good guess, nope.

I have other views I might post.


Well, it looks like a thin layer of fluid over a rough surface. Lack of diffraction suggests that its not oily.

Was it taken at sunset? From the color variation ins the reflection it looks like that is possible.

[Evo]

Well, it looks like a thin layer of fluid over a rough surface. Lack of diffraction suggests that its not oily.

Was it taken at sunset? From the color variation ins the reflection it looks like that is possible.Ooooooh, damn you ARE good. Yes, you are getting very close.

[franznietzsche]

Ooooooh, damn you ARE good.

Well, everyone knows that :wink:

Yes, you are getting very close.

Yeah, but close is only good in horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons.

Hmm.....


Not sure, exactly what it is.

PS:

How many GOOBF points per banning?

[Evo]

PS:

How many GOOBF points per banning?Depends on my mood. :tongue2:

In the mean time, others ar welcome to post their photos and ask "what is it?

[moose]

Im going out on a limb to say that it might be some part of a wet tree....

Either that or a closeup of a piece of dark glass...

EDIT: I just wanted to take a few wild guesses :)

EDIT2: I just saw your hint, nevermind :(

[rcgldr]

Since a woman posted this thread, is chocolate involved, something like an Eskimo Pie (chococlate covered ice cream)?

[franznietzsche]

Im going out on a limb to say that it might be some part of a wet tree....

Either that or a closeup of a piece of dark glass...

EDIT: I just wanted to take a few wild guesses :)

EDIT2: I just saw your hint, nevermind :(


Hmm, I don't think a wet tree would be that reflective. Further, the angle would have to be really weird for the reflection of the sunset to make sense.

Its the black color thats really throwing me off. If the liquid is water, then the black color makes me think fresh asphalt with water running along it. I wonder what the white light in the lower corner is. Something in the foreground of the reflection, since its infront of the cloud....still not sure.

[franznietzsche]

Since a woman posted this thread, is chocolate involved, something like an Eskimo Pie (chococlate covered ice cream)?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Evo]

Since a woman posted this thread, is chocolate involved, something like an Eskimo Pie (chococlate covered ice cream)?:rofl: mmmmm, that crispy chocolate covering, with nuts?????

[Evo]

Im going out on a limb to say that it might be some part of a wet tree....

Either that or a closeup of a piece of dark glass...(Moose!!! Go with that, you're getting even closer!!

[marlon]

Is it like the glass of a vase or something ? Or one of them little windows with different colours like in church ?

marlon

[marlon]

Or a glass filled with coca cola ?

:rofl:

marlon

[Evo]

Is it like the glass of a vase or something ? Or one of them little windows with different colours like in church ?

marlonYour earlier post was getting warmer.

[moose]

now it looks kind of like an ice cube....

EDIT: Rotating it and changing the contrast makes it look kinda weird
http://www.twilightus.net/adam/weird.jpg

[GeoMike]

Wet obsidian?
(doesn't really fit the clue though...hmm)

-GeoMike-

[franznietzsche]

Ice cube in cola?

edit:

Wet wooden door?

[Evo]

Ok, here's another picture in the series, this might give it away though.

http://img430.imageshack.us/img430/8284/what1qj5.jpg

[GeoMike]

Candle wax?

-GeoMike-

[marlon]

If i replace the coke by wine, am i any closer ???

marlon

[Evo]

Since you guys have been so awesome at guessing so far, I'll give you these hints...water, glass, dark.

When I first saw these, my thoughts were of something molten.

[franznietzsche]

Now it almost looks like rainfall.

Hmmm, the water is flowing....rough glass....

[Evo]

Now it almost looks like rainfall.ooooh, mix that with my last post

[twisting_edge]

I know exactly what it is.

Here's an even bigger hint for you all: think "hurricane".

[Evo]

I know exactly what it is.

Here's an even bigger hint for you all: think "hurricane".:grumpy: These pictures were taken by twisting_edge, btw. :grumpy:

[turbo]

Is it a sunset shot through a windshield in the rain?

[Evo]

Is it a sunset shot through a windshield in the rain?That's about as close as we can get!!!!

The shots are of his windshield at night of the car in front. He noticed the patterns the rain was making between wiper strokes and took pictures. The red is from the tailights of the car in front.

I'm amazed that you guys were able to figure out the water/glass thing, I didn't. Of course as soon as I got them I demanded to know what I was looking at. :redface:

[Evo]

It will be easier to guess what this one is of, but you will not be able to correctly guess why (what caused it), it's just too simple. :devil: If you do, we'll talk about a settlement.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/9140/ss112dk5.jpg

[franznietzsche]

Waves in a pond or lake....

water bugs zipping around in the center?

[Evo]

Waves in a pond or lake....

water bugs zipping around in the center?Damn, yes, it's just sunlight relecting off waves, no oil or other surface products.

I'll post the whole picture later so you can see what it is. I'll also post some of the other strange effects captured.

Ok, who else has pictures?

[franznietzsche]

Damn, yes, it's just sunlight relecting off waves, no oil or other surface products.

I'll post the whole picture later so you can see what it is. I'll also post some of the other strange effects captured.

Ok, who else has pictures?


Well, it couldn't be oil, oil diffracts light. You'd see colors, not just distortion.

edit: Oil interface with water diffracts light. I believe thats more correct.

[Gokul43201]

Ok, who else has pictures?Got a pic that might work, but it's not a commonly seen thing.

[Gokul43201]

Until something else comes up...

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/3838/img2624us4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Blahness]

Just looking at details here, possibly different due to the picture quality...

There's a shadow from the bottom to the right of the object, which indicates that there's a steady, definite source of light to the top-left, and due to the likely cause of such a shadow type, it's a thin(but not paper thin, think ceramic plate) object near, perhaps, a lightbulb?

Might just be an optical illusion, but can you see sort of under the bottom-right side? Perhaps it's like a bowl.

No waviness or uneven reflection shows that it's all a solid, or, a really smooth, nonreflective liquid.

The outside of the white ring looks almost "depressed", like the white-edged object is pushing it down...

Hmm, I can't take any honest guesses.

[Astronuc]

Until something else comes up...

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/3838/img2624us4.jpg (http://imageshack.us) Looks like a sink drain with discolored water draining very slowly.

[Evo]

Looks like a sink drain with discolored water draining very slowly.My guess was my disposal, except without a bottom. :bugeye:

[Gokul43201]

Hint: the tiny, white speck inside the "ring" is a reflection of the camera flash.

[twisting_edge]

This one should be pretty easy for anyone with an interest in abstract geometry. You have to get the precise figure, though.
http://www.verdomde.net/xfr/solo.jpg
Obviously, it's a construct sitting on top of my computer.

[GeoMike]

#1
http://www.mcschell.com/guess.jpg


#2:
http://www.mcschell.com/guess2.jpg

#3:
http://www.mcschell.com/guess3.jpg

#4:
http://www.mcschell.com/guess4.jpg

#5:
http://www.mcschell.com/guess5.jpg
-GeoMike-

[moose]

#1: end of a hand rail?

[turbo]

Until something else comes up...

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/3838/img2624us4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Are we looking at embyos?

[franznietzsche]

#2 Icicles.

#3 Rock

#4 Frogskin

[Mk]

1) End of a banister
2) Calcite or salt crystals (can't be ice?)
3) Reminds me of the inside of a lava tube
4) What freaky bug is that?
5) Looks like rocks to me.

[GeoMike]

#1: end of a hand rail?
Nope, but it was within a few feet of a handrail!

#2 Icicles.

#3 Rock

#4 Frogskin
#2: VERY close. It is ice but not quite an icile.
#3: Yes. Want to make a guess about the coloring?
#4: No, but it is alive, and it is found in/near water.


1) End of a banister
2) Calcite or salt crystals (can't be ice?)
3) Reminds me of the inside of a lava tube
4) What freaky bug is that?
5) Looks like rocks to me.
1) Nope, but it was within a few feet of a banister.
2) Nope (yes, it is an ice form)
3) It is rock. (not from a lava tube though).
4) It is freaky looking, but it isn't a bug.
5) Yes.

I thought the rock ones would be harder... :(
-GeoMike-

[twisting_edge]

#1 probably the top of a blown glass candy dish or something similar, the outside is perfectly smooth (note the curve towards the lower right), but the inside of the glass is rippled. Otherwise it might be a beaten brass doorknob.

#2 is almost certainly frost built up inside an air conditioner. Nothing else I am aware of has those super-fine radiating fins (40 years ago, they still used them in cars, I think).

#3 Rust, at a guess.

#4 is something under a deep layer of clear slime. That's why the reflection looks superimposed like that.

[GeoMike]

#1 probably the top of a blown glass candy dish ot something similar, the outside is perfectly smooth (note the curve towards the lower right), but the inside of the glas it rippled. Otherwise it might be a beaten brass doorknob.

#2 is almost certainly frost built up inside an airconditioner. Nothing else I am aware of has those super-fine radiating fins (40 years ago, they still used them in cars, I think).

#3 Rust, at a guess.

#4 is something under a deep layer of clear slime. That's why the reflection looks superimposed like that.

#1 Close. It is glass. And there is something inside of it. But the glass isn't a bowl/dish.
#2 It is an ice/frost build up, but in this case it is natural. Any guesses about what material the ice build up is on?
#3 Yes, rust build up on a rock (you, franz, and Mk nailed that one)
#4 It is a bit slimy.

-GeoMike-

[twisting_edge]

#1 Here's a somewhat similar shot I took of a candy dish. I had another one straight down from the top but can't seem to find it.
http://www.verdomde.net/xfr/DSC00632.JPG
In this case, most (but not all) of the reflections the plastic gasket inside the dish. It doesn't have the same odd rippling effect, but I've seen that in other glasswork.

#2 Those are clearly radiator fins at the bottom. I have no idea what the ice itself is on. It looks like concrete to me.

[DaveC426913]

Hint: the tiny, white speck inside the "ring" is a reflection of the camera flash.
I was gonig to say it's a pic down into a drinking glass, but if that's a reflection of the flash, thast would suggest it is much farther away and much larger.

[Evo]

I was gonig to say it's a pic down into a drinking glass, but if that's a reflection of the flash, thast would suggest it is much farther away and much larger.Yep, that's what I was thinking. Gokul, is that something that a normal human would encounter on a daily basis? :wink:

[Astronuc]

My guess was my disposal, except without a bottom. :bugeye: I do plumbing. :biggrin:

Hint: the tiny, white speck inside the "ring" is a reflection of the camera flash. Shower drain? Or it's a cup of tea/coffee or chocolate/cocoa sitting in a drain.

It is an ice/frost build up, but in this case it is natural. Any guesses about what material the ice build up is on? Metal or wood. The lines look a little like radiator fins or wood shingles.

[Astronuc]

Yep, that's what I was thinking. Gokul, is that something that a normal human would encounter on a daily basis? :wink: If he drinks in the sink or shower. :biggrin:

[Ouabache]

This is pretty cool!! I remember they used to do this on TV,
where they showed you a closeup photo of a common object and have
folks guess what it was.

I don't recall which show it was on though. Perhaps some of you
may remember. :rolleyes:

[DaveC426913]

http://www.davesbrain.ca/miscpix/PF060908mystery.jpg

[GeoMike]

Metal or wood. The lines look a little like radiator fins or wood shingles.
Yes, it's wood!

Ok, here are the larger images for the ones that were correctly guessed:
#2 Rime Ice on a trail sign: http://www.mcschell.com/guess2_full.jpg
#3 Rusted rock surface: http://www.mcschell.com/guess3_full.jpg
#5 Eroded rock near the ocean: http://www.mcschell.com/guess5_full.jpg

-GeoMike-

[Gokul43201]

Normal humans work in physics labs everyday, right? The fuzzy white thing inside the ring is a common enough substance, but the specific arrangement it appears in is probably uncommon. No, it's not a pic down a drinking glass. And no, I do not drink in the depths of my In-Sink-erator!
I'll post another view when I get home in a little bit.

Geo: #3 is some kind of ferritic rock, #4 is something organic (frogskin's a good guess), #5 is igneous

Dave: that sure as hell looks like artificial color; damned if it isn't; and since I'm almost certain you're going to say it isn't, I guess "damned" I shall be.

EDIT: Oops! Didn't read Geo's last post

[big man]

I would have thought #1 of Geo's picture was a picture of a brass doorknob, but then he said it was brown glass so I don't know.

#4
Well my original thought was the same as Franznietsche's. But since you said it wasn't a frog or a toad I've been struggling with it. The only other things I know live in water are water snakes, eels and fish and they wouldn't look like that. My only other guess is that it is a baby crocodile or something (because of those sharp looking edges in the top right-hand corner). I also have my doubts about that guess because I doub;t you'd be able to get that close to a baby crocodile and I don't think that they have those sorts of patterns on their skin.

[TuviaDaCat]

http://www.davesbrain.ca/miscpix/PF060908mystery.jpg

a shallow river filled with flat stones?

[Astronuc]

#2 Rime Ice on a trail sign: http://www.mcschell.com/guess2_full.jpg
#3 Rusted rock surface: http://www.mcschell.com/guess3_full.jpg
#5 Eroded rock near the ocean: [url]http://www.mcschell.com/guess #2 is very cool. It highlights the flow patterns around the board.

#3 - I have rocks like that in my back yard. We sit a top a huge iron and manganese deposit - so we have to filter heavy metals from our water. Our area used to have foundries more than 100 years ago. The industries moved south and west.

[Astronuc]

Normal humans work in physics labs everyday, right? What makes you say that? :biggrin: The fuzzy white thing inside the ring is a common enough substance, but the specific arrangement it appears in is probably uncommon. No, it's not a pic down a drinking glass. And no, I do not drink in the depths of my In-Sink-erator! So it is a sink drain?

I don't quite get - "The fuzzy white thing inside the ring is a common enough substance" - there is a brown liquid surrounded by a white ring. The white speck is a reflection of the flash.

[turbo]

#1 looks like a glass doorknob (I see a moulding seam)
#4 looks like the carapace of a crustacean

[turbo]

http://www.davesbrain.ca/miscpix/PF060908mystery.jpg
This looks like you took a picture through a window of a vehicle that has been shrink-wrapped for storage.

[Astronuc]

DaveC426913's picture looks like some kind of plastic which melted away from little holes, but I think it is ice on a window.

[DaveC426913]

This looks like you took a picture through a window of a vehicle that has been shrink-wrapped for storage.
Excellent guess! About as close as you'll come.

I won't torture y'all with this one too long since this isn't a "natural" phenom.

It's a vinyl sign stuck to a window (badly, I would say) but viewed from the other side.
http://www.davesbrain.ca/miscpix/PF060908mystery2.jpg

[Gokul43201]

Follow up pic#1:

http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/2474/img2626sw6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Mk]

Pressurized gas chamber.

[GeoMike]

#1 looks like a glass doorknob (I see a moulding seam)
#4 looks like the carapace of a crustacean

#1 Nope. Another hint. It is glass, it's hollow, and there is something inside of it (which is also hollow, and also glass).

#2 Yes! A crab.
large image: http://www.mcschell.com/guess4_full.jpg

-GeoMike-

[Ouabache]

I guess nobody else remembers this on TV. Perhaps it was on a local station. Lots of fun trying to guess the objects.. :tongue:

This is pretty cool!! I remember they used to do this on TV,
where they showed you a closeup photo of a common object and have
folks guess what it was.

I don't recall which show it was on though. Perhaps some of you
may remember. :rolleyes:

[turbo]

I think Gokul is showing us what a Dewar of liquid nitrogen looks like.

[turbo]

GeoMike's #1 looks like the bottom of a thermos liner (minus the metal outer shell).

[GeoMike]

GeoMike's #1 looks like the bottom of a thermos liner (minus the metal outer shell).

Nope.

I cropped the original photo because there was a big clue on the section I cropped out.
So, here is the uncropped photo:
http://www.mcschell.com/guess1_full.jpg

-GeoMike-

[Gokul43201]

I think Gokul is showing us what a Dewar of liquid nitrogen looks like.Zigackly! What a coincidence that Mk would start a thread on exactly the same thing!

The mouth of the LN2 dewar (with the stuff inside), allows a very pretty ball of water vapor to "crystallize" in it. You can just barely see the white, puffy cloud in those pics, the real thing is way prettier. And the neatest thing about it is that the ball, given a little time without disturbance, will develop this beautiful lattice structure. If you look hard, you can sort of tell this from the pic.

Here's a time-series of pictures taken in roughly 30 second intervals after disturbing a dewar:

1. Cloud of vapor just beginning to form:
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/1961/img2637cx5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

2. Cloud getting denser:
http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/620/img2638th4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

3. Ball-shaped cloud developing "crystal" structure:
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3082/img2641hk1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Gokul43201]

There's now some text "...L(?) I(?) F E S(?)" visible in Geo's picture, and the text is NOT reflected (laterally inverted)!

[turbo]

Nope.

I cropped the original photo because there was a big clue on the section I cropped out.
So, here is the uncropped photo:

-GeoMike-Ah yes, it looks like a lightbulb in an explosion-proof housing. Operating room?

[GeoMike]

Ah yes, it looks like a lightbulb in an explosion-proof housing. Operating room?

Close enough! It's a shot of the glass globe that covered the light bulb above the stairs in our old home. The picture was taken under the globe while looking straight up.
I'm not sure if it was explosion-proof (it came with the house).

-GeoMike-

[Mk]

I'm not sure if it was explosion-proof (it came with the house).
:rofl: Ha ha, :rofl:

[tribdog]

Until something else comes up...

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/3838/img2624us4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
is it the lens to your camera on your cell phone?

[Evo]

No one has guessed this yet. Although Gokul was very close.

This one should be pretty easy for anyone with an interest in abstract geometry. You have to get the precise figure, though.
http://www.verdomde.net/xfr/solo.jpg
Obviously, it's a construct sitting on top of my computer.

[tribdog]

Is it the trajectory of the "magic" bullet? that killed kennedy?

[zoobyshoe]

The child that resulted from a mating of M.C. Escher and R. Buckminster Fuller?

[DaveC426913]

No one has guessed this yet. Although Gokul was very close.


http://www.verdomde.net/xfr/solo.jpg
I got it! It's a dodecahedron extended into a star.

How I figured it out: Count the struts in each vertex: each has five. That means each vertex has a pentagonal cross-section. If you cut off the tips, you get all pentagons.

(And now that I know that, I can see that it also has 12 points, which is how many faces a ddh'n has.)

Been trying to find a proper name for it. Would that be a "stellated" dodecahedron?

[Evo]

I got it! It's a dodecahedron extended into a star.

Every vertex has five struts. Thus, if you trace the 5 of each vertex back to a face, you get one face of a dodecahedron.

(And now that I know that, I can see that it also has 12 points, which is how many faces a ddh'n has)Yes!!, it is a dodecahedron!!!! Dave, you're awesome. :approve:

It's actually a lesser stellated dodechahedron

[zoobyshoe]

Been trying to find a proper name for it. Would that be a "stellated" dodecahedron?
According to the wikipedia this is probably correct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecahedron

[Evo]

Here is his e-mail to me.

The icosahedron is one of the Platonic solids. It is almost identical
to
the lesser stellated dodecahedron (the figure I posted, which is NOT a
Platonic solid), because they both have the same number of vertices,
and
the same number of edges.

Basically, if you look at the icosahedron, you see a pentagon under
each of
the points. Beyond that is another pentagon in a parallel plane, then
the
last of the 12 points. If you take each edge leading from the central
point
to the second pentagon, not the first, and do that for all the points,
you
get the lesser stellated dodecahedron. Of course, once you've done
that to
all the points, each of the pentagons becomes a pentacle. The lesser
stellated dodecahedron is to the icosahedron exactly as a pentacle is
to a
pentagon.

I have other photos showing that aspect of the lesser stellated
duodecahedron much more clearly. Clarity was not the goal in this case.

Platonic solids are cool. They are very limited (there's only five),
but
they are very neat things.

[DaveC426913]

I was trying to figure out how to describe regular polyhedrons without getting long-winded and I've managed to find it in Wiki. It's the "vertex configuration". It is the number of polygons around each vertex and what polygon they are.

There are five known:
3.3.3 (tetrahedron)
4.4.4 (cube)
3.3.3.3 (octohedron)
5.5.5 (dodecahedron)
3.3.3.3.3 (icosahedron)
There can't be any less than 3 polygons per vertex because you get degenerate objects, eg.: 3.3 (a 2D flat triangle)
And most configurations have an upper limit or you get a tiled plane: 4.4.4.4 (4x90degrees=360 - a flat plane)

So there are very clear bounds on the regular solids. Ah what what about interpolation??? Has every combination of polygons vs. sides been represented? No! There's one left.

4.4.4.4.4

It is neither degenerate nor a tiled plane. And it does form a closed shape (eventually). But it bends just one platonic solid rule: it's not convex.

Sorry, I'm hijacking this thread.

[tribdog]

I haven't had 5 platonic relationships in my life. are you sure you added right?

[DaveC426913]

I haven't had 5 platonic relationships in my life. are you sure you added right?Ba DUM bum!

[franznietzsche]

I haven't had 5 platonic relationships in my life. are you sure you added right?


Its ok, I'm sure the lurkers thought it was funny.

Are you campaigning all of a sudden for that ribbon?

[Evo]

Aha, tribdog might be eligible if he hangs around long enough.

[tribdog]

If you're asking I'm always eligible, baby.