The world is full of wondrous things, but sometimes it's easy to forget this because we’re always so busy and stressed out.
Well, as luck would have it, there are some beautiful secrets hidden in plain sight and inside of things that most of us would never think to look at twice. So here’s a collection of the hidden side of things that you’ve totally missed.
This is a Shuttle Leaving Earth
This photo was taken by NASA of one of their space shuttles leaving Earth’s atmosphere. But to the untrained eye, it looks more like a hot needle poking through wool. It also looks like the shuttle is dragging some of the clouds up into space.
A Tiger Has Stripes Underneath Its Fur
Most people assume that a tiger’s stripe is produced by patterns in their fur. But it turns out that their skin is also patterned. The darkness of the pigmentation of the skin is directly linked to the fur’s darkness.
A Dead Cactus Decomposed
Most people know what cacti look like, so it’s so surprising that this photo has any connections to one but it does. This is actually what remains of a dead cactus after it decomposes. All that’s left are thorny spines that are sharp as knives.
This is Actually an Elephant’s Tail
This is what an elephant tail looks like up close and personal. Elephants use it to communicate with other elephants by wagging or swishing their tail. They also use their tail as a flyswatter to keep mosquitoes and flies from biting them.
An Agate Shell’s Mineral Inner Workings
What you’re seeing is an agate shell that’s been cut in half. Over time, minerals grew into the empty crevices and they eventually replaced the shell, too. So basically, it underwent a beautiful mineral metamorphosis.
This Is the Inside of a Boeing 787
Believe it or not, this isn’t some futuristic set from a Sci-Fi movie or the interior of an alien spaceship docked in Area 51. It’s an empty Boeing 787. The only difference here is that all of the seats have been removed from the cabin.
Meet an Albino Raccoon
When we hear the word raccoon, most of us imagine that black and white look that reminds us of a burglar. But this raccoon suffers from a congenital disorder called Albinism, which has caused a complete loss of pigmentation. And since these creatures don’t have their natural camouflage, they’re more vulnerable to attacks from predators.
What’s Under a Reporter’s Back
Reporters out on the field always look so fabulous, but no one really shows you what’s going on behind the scenes, or in this case, their backs. In reality, journalists have to wear transmitters, cables, and clip-on microphones that make them look like cyborgs.
Behind the Lanes at a Bowling Alley
If you’ve ever wondered if you could hit someone behind the bowling lanes with your ball if you throw it with too much force, worry not. Each lane is protected from the other side, but still allows enough room for maintenance to take place.
The Surface of a Strawberry
The small, hard pieces on the skin of a strawberry are actually seeds that can grow a new strawberry plant if placed in the ground. With all of the seeds on just one berry, you could grow dozens of new plants!
Inside of a Telephone Wire
Even this wire, filled with about 100 pairs of 25 gauge wire, is considered a relatively small telephone wire. Some larger ones can hold as many as 1200 pairs of wire inside!
A Completely Empty Walmart
When buildings are repurposed for new uses, everything must go. But it sure is eerie to see what is obviously a Walmart totally abandoned, complete with a shopping cart with nothing in it.
How a Trailer is Unloaded
This trailer truck full of potatoes was unloaded into the Frito-Lay factory the quickest and easiest way possible, by tipping it into the factory itself! This method works well for other industries too, for coal shipments and other food manufacturers.
The Hidden Workings of a Gas Station
When you go to a gas station, you might not always be thinking about how the gas you will be buying is actually stored right beneath your feet in massive containers. This also makes it a pain in the butt to build other structures on top of out of business gas stations later.
How a Heated Floor is Installed
If you have heated floors in your house, you’re one of the lucky ones. But did you know that this array of heating tubes is contained under the floorboards to achieve that toasty feeling on your toes?
Cross Section of a Camera Lens
Camera lenses are delicate pieces of machinery that are made up of materials such as glass or plexiglass and plastics, such as acrylic. Today, most lenses are multi-coated to minimize lens flare.
Freshly Cut Cinnamon
Most people are familiar with seeing cinnamon in its powder form, but this spice is made up of the bark of a tree. Cinnamon sticks, which are actual pieces of cinnamon tree bark, can also be easily found and used for cooking.
The Inside of Golf Balls
Don’t be fooled into thinking these are some delicious jaw breakers, they’re actually the cross sections of many golf balls. A golf ball typically has a core made out of rubber which is then coated in plastic.
A Newly Installed Fire Hydrant
Fire hydrants are actually just the tip of a long pipeline that connects to a large source of water. And the bright color of a hydrant isn’t only for standing out on a sidewalk, it can also let a firefighter know how many gallons per minute the hydrant is able to deliver.
A Runner’s Legs After Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual cycling race held in France. The race includes 21 day-long courses and is considered the most difficult bike race in the world, which is why this man’s legs look so tired after the event.
What a Tumbleweed Looks Like Before it Dries
There are a few different plants that can form tumbleweeds when they dry up and detach from the ground, and all of them at some point look like green, thriving shrubs!
The Inside of a Firework Shell
Fireworks contain chemicals inside of a flammable shell to produce their huge displays of light and color. These chemicals usually include an oxidizing agent, a fuel, a metal-containing colorant and a binder to keep the pieces in place before the fuse is ignited.
Artichokes Are Actually Flowers That Haven’t Bloomed
When you eat an artichoke, you’re actually eating the inside of a flower that hasn’t yet bloomed. Chefs have also discovered that giant sunflowers can also be eaten before they have bloomed.
The Inside of the Tower of Pisa is Empty
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is actually a bell tower without any structures on the inside. Engineers believe that the tower is currently stable enough to withstand at least another 200 years without renovations.
The Installation of a Power Line Tower
If you’ve ever wondered what kind of manpower it takes to move an incredibly huge structure, just know that it usually isn’t a person moving it at all! Many power lines are precisely installed using helicopters like this.
This is How Big Asparagus Can Grow If Not Harvested
We’re all used to seeing asparagus at its edible size, but not many people realize that if the vegetable is not harvested while it’s small, it will continue to grow. And its full-grown size can rival many trees!
An Old Hedge Cut in Half
This hedge had been growing for many years, which resulted in a thick and sturdy trunk. But the new growth is regularly chopped off, so no one can tell from the outside just how old this hedge really is.
The Light Inside of a Lighthouse
This beautiful piece of machinery is called a fresnel lens, which is covering the light of the lighthouse. The concentric circles of the lens concentrate the light into a narrow beam that can be seen from very far away.
The Inside of a Bungee Cord
Don’t worry about a bungee cord snapping if you ever go bungee jumping. Thankfully it would take hundreds of snapping cords to break your rope and lead to a dangerous fall.
Space Mountain With the Lights On
Space Mountain in Disneyland is one of the park’s few thrill rides that leads you on a bright and colorful journey. But with the ride’s lights on it looks just like any other simple rollercoaster. Turning the lights on is how park employees find any items that you might have dropped during your ride.
What the Interior of a Pool Table Looks Like
This is where the holes in a pool table lead and why a ball will probably never get stuck in the interior of the table. But if it does, it’s easy enough to lift off the top and view the inner workings for yourself to retrieve it.
A Traffic Control Room in Beijing
Over 20 million people live in China’s capital of Beijing, so there is a lot of traffic to monitor there. It must be difficult to get used to reading this huge map on a daily basis.
What a Furby Looks Like Without Its Fur
If you thought normal Furbys were scary, just check this out. Without their fur, Furbys are just a pair of eyes and a mouth on some simple machinery. And yes, they can still talk without their fur, so good luck sleeping tonight.
A Visa Credit Card Split in Half
What, there’s no money inside? Obviously a credit card is made up of a few simple mechanisms that communicate with your bank instantly to use your hard earned cash. Who knew how powerful a small piece of plastic could be?
A Cross Section of a Cactus
Cactuses don’t look much like trees from the inside. Instead they are very dense with an inner core that can hold water for long periods of time, keeping these plants alive in dry climates.
A Molding Cast of Ronald McDonald
If you’ve been to a McDonald’s restaurant and seen a statue of their mascot Ronald, you probably didn’t know that it was produced in a mold that looks like this. Who knew that Ronald McDonald could get even more terrifying?
The Inside of a Frag Grenade
Fragmentation grenades are explosive weapons that are made up of an explosive charge, a detonating mechanism and a firing pin that sets an explosion in motion. The outer shell then fragments into many pieces to cause a lot of damage.
The Inside of an Air Mattress in Night Vision
Air mattresses are made up of many sealed compartments filled with air so if one compartment gets a hole the entire mattress isn’t ruined. This is what these compartments look like inside when viewed with night vision.
The Inside of a Tube of Toothpaste
If you’ve ever wondered how you get the perfect swirl of color every time you use your toothpaste, this should answer your question. This method of storing the toothpaste keeps the colors from blending together into a big mess.
Inside of a Bank Vault Door From the 1800s
This vault door was made in a time when beauty was still a very important part of craftsmanship. It’s obvious that the team who made these doors cared a lot about the details and symmetry of this door.
The Transportation of an Offshore Wind Turbine Blade
If you’ve ever seen a wind energy converter, you’ve probably seen it from pretty far away. From a distance, these turbines can look deceptively small, so seeing one up close really gives you the perspective of just how large these machines are.
An Escalator While It’s Being Built
Before the stairs are added to an escalator, this is what they look like. Obviously there’s a lot of machinery in place to make an escalator do what it’s supposed to do, as opposed to stairs which are pretty straightforward.
The Inside of a Redbox Machine
Getting DVDs is easier than ever with machines like this. Just tap the electronic screen on the front of the machine to pick a movie, and like any other vending machine, it will find your choice and deposit it below.
What Facebook Looks Like When Accessed from a 10-Year-Old Phone
We all remember the early days of smartphones, when just accessing the internet from your phone in any form was practically a miracle. Now, it would be too much of a hassle to write a status from the small buttons of an early cell phone’s number pad.
The Inside of a Fuel Dispenser at a Gas Station
If you take off the covering of the fuel dispenser that has screens to display information, you’ll end up with a chaotic mix of wires and cords that are seemingly random until they are connected to machines that make sense of the information.
What Google Fiber Looks Like When it is Stripped Down
Google Fiber is an internet service provider that uses fiber optic cables to deliver high speed internet and cable. These fiber optic cables are made of flexible glass that uses light pulses to transmit information faster than normal electric wires.
What a Movie Theatre Auditorium Looks Like Without a Screen or Seats
The manager of a movie theatre that was being shut down took this photo after the screen and seats were removed from the theatre. It’s pretty strange that the cup holders are bolted into the ground and not actually connected to the seats.
What a Salt Mine Looks Like Inside
Salt mining is a dangerous job that requires many technical tools. These salt caves can sometimes reach hundreds of feet tall and wide, making them look like ancient cathedrals made entirely of salt.
How M&M Dispensers Are Refilled
If you’ve ever wondered how every M&M dispenser in the store is always perfectly full, wonder no longer. The containers are actually located behind the display of candy, so don’t act surprised if the store is out of your favorite color but they still have a ton of them displayed.
What a Supermarket in Israel Looks like During Passover
During Passover, Jewish people refrain from eating Hametz, or baked wheat, so everything that contains this ingredient is hidden during Passover in supermarkets in Isreal that tend to mostly Jewish customers.
This is How Big Gasoline Containers Are
The gasoline that is hidden underneath the gas stations that people frequent are held by these massive containers. You can see a few people in this photo, showing just how massive this container is.
The Inside of a Bomb
The inside of large military bombs are actually made up of many smaller bombs that will all go off at once. It’s kind of crazy that something that looks like an innocent ball pit can be so destructive.
How Coal is Unloaded from Freight Cars
Once they are detached from the rest of the train, freight cars are then rotated by this piece of machinery to remove the coal inside of them, so the resource is never actually unloaded by human hands.
A Globe for the Blind
In 1830, Stephen Preston Ruggles created the first map for blind people, which marked streets with wooden divots. Seven years later in 1837, Samuel Gridley Howe partnered with Ruggles to create the first Atlas of the United States for the blind to utilize.
A Photo of an Actual Virus Taken by an Electron Microscope
This processed image depicts an actual virus as it would appear in the body. This particular virus comes from the bacteriophage family, which was first discovered by Frederick Twort in 1915.
What The Plastic That Legos Are Made of Looks Like
Plastic granules typically look like these small pebbles, which are later heated and pressed into a mold to create the Lego shapes that you know. These plastic pebbles are dyed the color that the final product will be before they are shaped as pebbles.
What a Gas Pump Hose Looks like Underneath the Rubber
Don’t worry about spilling gas at the gas station by puncturing a hole in the hose. These hoses are made with a layer of woven metal that prevents leaks and keeps the hose secure even when the rubber breaks down.
The Inside of a Can of Shaving Cream
Shaving cream cans have a pump at the bottom of them that raises up to release every last drop of shaving cream left at the bottom of the can. So, once you’re out, there’s no squeezing the can like a tube of toothpaste to get out the last drop.
The Sensors In an Electronic Dartboard
If you own one of these games, you might wonder just exactly how the board knows how many points you have gotten. These sensors can feel the weight of each dart and calculate points based on where on the board the dart hit.
Snow-Covered Net Root of an Aviary
If you’re wondering how this black and white photo is also inundated with color, here’s your explanation. This is actually a photo taken underneath a net, which has snow piled on top of it, leaving this zoo’s aviary almost completely consumed with darkness.
The Inside of Deadmau5’s Helmet
The electronic music DJ Deadmau5 always wears his iconic mouse-eared helmet while performing, but looking at the inside of it kind of makes you feel sorry for him. It must be awfully hot and sweaty inside this helmet, and it must make seeing your surroundings very difficult.
A Massive Amethyst Geode
Geodes are hollow rocks that contain crystals, like these gorgeous purple Amethyst crystals. This geode in currently located in the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Natural History in China and it weights about 28,660 pounds and measures an impressive seven feet tall.
The Inside of a Traffic Controller
This is the machinery that controls traffic lights in a city. This system automatically stops traffic lights from flashing the same color at the same time. Extra features can be added like vehicle detectors, which utilize sensors underneath pavement.
The Dark Side of the Moon Passing in Front of the Earth
This image was shot by the Deep Space Climate Observatory from a million miles away from the Earth and it shows what it looks like when the dark side of the moon passes in from of the Earth. It really looks like something right out of a Sci-fi movie, but it’s totally real.
The Top of Mount Everest
Many people from around the world have reached the high summit of Mount Everest, but not many people know that there is typically a line of hundreds of people on the mountain waiting in freezing temperatures to take a selfie at the peak.
The Inside of a Pearl
Pearls are naturally formed when an irritant gets stuck in an oyster. This irritant will then get coated in a liquid called nacre. Pearl farmers jumpstart this process by placing an irritant into the oyster themselves.
The View of a Theatre from Backstage
The backstage area of a stage behind its thick red curtains typically looks like a massive warehouse. This is so props and sets can be put into place and stored easily.
What a Water Bottle Looks Like Before It’s Filled
Water bottles actually get their shape while they are being filled because the water that goes into them moves at high speeds with a lot of force into a mold that is shaped as the final product.
The Inside of a Zippo Lighter
Lighters typically contain a flammable liquid and a cloth wick that will absorb the liquid and light when metal strikes against a flint. This gold vintage lighter is no different.
This is How Driving Scenes Are Filmed
If you’ve ever wondered if actors are actually driving during scenes that take place in a car, wonder no more! Sometimes the actual driver of the car is seated on top of the vehicle, like in this picture, or the entire vehicle is on the back of a tow truck.
The Inside of a NASA Spacesuit
In order to keep astronauts safe and healthy while in space, there are many precautions that need to take place. These suits can regulate their air pressure, circulate oxygen and regulate the humidity inside of the suit, so an astronaut’s vision is never obstructed by a foggy headpiece.
The Blood Vessels in a Hand
Our bodies are intricate and delicate systems made up of many different systems working together. And isolating just one of these systems can be absolutely fascinating. For example, this is what your hand would look like if it was made up of only blood vessels.
The Inside of a Bowling Ball
To regulate their weight, bowling balls have a heavy weight, much like a dumbbell, inside of them. This weight is later coated in tough plastic and smooth resin, then molded to a specific size.
This Is a Ghost Heart
A ghost heart is created when doctors wash away all the donor cells. What you see here is a protein scaffold. This means the ghost heart is ready to receive a transplant of the recipient’s stem cells so that a new non-rejecting heart can be grown.
This is the Inside of a Tire
It might look like a bunch of fiber-optic cables, but this isn’t the inside of a computer or a vast computer network. It’s actually the inside of a tire and those cables are actually tire spokes.
The Easter Island Heads Have Bodies
The Easter Island Heads were carved from stone by ancient Polynesians somewhere between 1100 AD and 1500 AD. Most people only get to see these giant heads. However, they also have bodies that are buried underneath the surface.
This is What a Baby Flamingo Looks Like
Most people assume that flamingos are tall and pink their entire lives, but that’s not the case. A flamingo’s parent feeds them a bright red milk developed from their digestive tracts. As the baby continues to grow, it starts to develop pink feathers. And as adults, flamingos feed on a red and blue-green algae filled with beta carotene and an organic chemical with a reddish-orange pigment. Their digestive tracts extract the pigment which dissolve into fat. This fat is then deposited into new feathers, hence their pink color.
This is the Underside of a Lilly Pad
Have you ever wondered what the underside of a Lilly Pad looks like? Well it looks an awful lot like a placenta or a really veiny bathroom mat. Actually, it does function a bit like a placenta, taking nutrients to where they are needed.
This is an Actual Human Nervous System
This intricate network is a real human nervous system. In 1926, two medical students named M.A. Schalck and L.P. Ramsdell from Kirksville, Missouri, dissected a cadaver’s nervous system. The entire process took over 1,500 hours.
Turtles Have Very Unusual Skeletons
Most people assume that a turtle’s shell is just a shell. But it turns out that it’s a huge part of their skeletal structure. In fact, you might say it’s almost like an exo-skeleton and there’s plenty of room for organs on the inside.
Grain of Salt Under an Electron Microscope
This is what salt crystals look like under an electron microscope. Some grains appear to be cubical while others are made up of overlapping cubes. The ionic compound of these salt crystals is composed of sodium and chloride atoms. When these molecules come together to form a crystal, they often arrange themselves in a cubical pattern.
This is How The Netherlands Lay Bricks
If you thought brick streets were laid on the ground a brick at a time by underpaid laborers, guess again. In this photo, workers use a machine to lay an entire layer of bricks on this street in the Netherlands.
Check Out This Ice Crystal From Switzerland
This ice crystal was found in Switzerland and it turns out that these crystals vary in intensity, shape and size. Scientists believe that these ice crystals grow to precipitation size because of a culmination of smaller ice crystals.
This is the Inside of a Guitar
At a glance, this looks like the interior cabin of a boat or a really fancy apartment that most of us could never afford. But what you’re really looking at is the inside of a really nice guitar that most of us probably couldn’t afford either.
Microbes From an 8-Year-Old Boy
You know how everyone’s always telling you to wash your hands? You should listen to them. These are microbes left behind from an 8-year-old boy’s handprint after playing outside. Fortunately, your immune system will fight off most infectious agents.
Every Planet Has Its Own Aura
Aurora’s are cosmic lights that can be seen from different planets in our solar system. They occur when the sun emits a stream of charged particles into the solar system. When the solar winds hit a planet, they interact with the surrounding magnetic field and compress the field into a teardrop type shape. This collision between nitrogen and oxygen molecules releases an energy that looks a lot like light ribbons across the sky.
An Eye After a Cornea Transplant
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris and pupil. It’s also a very powerful piece of your eye which can unfortunately be scratched very easily, leading to the need for a transplant.
The Inner Workings of a CT Scanner
A computerized tomography scan or CT scan uses rotating X-ray machines to create images of the body that can give more information than a normal X-ray. But these machines need a lot of power, which is why they are so massive.
Water System Activated At an Airplane Hangar
This photo was taken of the fire suppression system in a hangar in Toronto Pearson International Airport. If there’s a fire danger these water jets will go off immediately, flooding the hangar and extinguishing any possible fires.
The Inside of a 9 Volt Battery Looks Like 6 AAA Batteries
You may be surprised to see 6 AAA batteries taped together in a 9 volt battery, but that’s not exactly what is happening here. Each battery is made up of a group of cells, and these cells just happen to look like AAA batteries.
What the Backside of a Movie Theatre Screen Looks Like
Besides being equipped with sound equipment, the backside of a movie theatre screen is pretty boring to look at. There’s also plenty of open space for technicians to fix whatever may go wrong that could impair your viewing experience.
The Ball In a Paint Can
We’ve all heard the ball rattling around inside of a paint can, but have you ever actually seen it before? Behold, the mysterious source of one of the most recognizable sounds in the world is pretty much just a normal marble.