Pictures That Taught Us Lessons They Don’t Teach In School – Surprising Truths About The World Caught On Film

Emily Izsak | November 30, 2024 7:00 am

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but these photos might be worth a little more than that. These photos do more than show us the world. They teach us about the world around us. You will definitely learn something that you didn't know before just by looking at the photos on this list.

Just how big is Michelangelo's David actually, why are walls built in wave patterns in England, and what happens when you pour hot grease in a red solo cup? Keep reading to learn more.

Someone's Been Busy

acorns tapped into a tree
Photo Credit: nohopefortheliving / Reddit
Photo Credit: nohopefortheliving / Reddit

It looks like a woodpecker has been hard at work filling this tree with acorns for the winter.

First, they'll tap a little hole into the tree, then they'll pick up an acorn and tap it into the hole.

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A Wavy Wall

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desk image (21)
Photo Credit: Nat Bocking / Wikimedia Commons
Photo Credit: Nat Bocking / Wikimedia Commons
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Reddit user smell1s posted this photo online along with the caption, "In England you sometimes see these 'wavy' brick fences. And curious as it may seem, this shape uses FEWER bricks than a straight wall."

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"A straight wall needs at least two layers of bricks to make it sturdy, but the wavy wall is fine thanks to the arch support provided by the waves."

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A Hidden Mosaic

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mosaic floor found under dirt
Photo Credit: Ordner / Reddit
Photo Credit: Ordner / Reddit
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This person was digging up their yard when they found the buried remains of a mosaic floor from an old vineyard underneath the dirt.

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This photo was taken in Italy.

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Popcorn On The Cob

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popcorn on the cob
Photo Credit: RAtheRuggedMeg / Reddit
Photo Credit: RAtheRuggedMeg / Reddit
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Did you know that you can pop corn kernels while they're still on the cob?

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These popcorn cobs very much exist and you can find them at a lot of farmers markets across the country.

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A Human For Scale

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An art restorer works on cleaning Michelangelo's David, one of the world's most famous statues, on February 29, 2016 at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence
Photo Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images
Photo Credit: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images
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Did you know that Michelangelo's David was actually this big? Unless you've seen it in person, it's hard to imagine its scale.

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This sculpture is absolutely massive. Its size is what makes it so impressive.

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A Whole Bunch Of Puppies

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xray of puppies inside of dog
Photo Credit: GoodGriefWhatsNext / Reddit
Photo Credit: GoodGriefWhatsNext / Reddit
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This is an X-ray film that was taken of a pregnant dog.

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If you look closely, you can see a whole bunch of puppy skeletons inside the mother dog's uterus.

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Look Into His Fake Eyes

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Himalayan Griffon
Photo Credit: HAK1US / Reddit
Photo Credit: HAK1US / Reddit
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This is a photo of a Himalayan Griffon showing off his fake eyes.

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At first glance, it does look like the two bald splotches by his shoulders are big scary eyeballs.

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A Real Snake

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snake with eyes on top of head
Photo Credit: GallowBoob / Reddit
Photo Credit: GallowBoob / Reddit
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This snake might look like a strange cartoon creature, but it's actually a real snake that exists in real life.

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This is the Arabian sand boa and we are in love with it.

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A Frosty Spider Web

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spider web with frost on it
Photo Credit: Wolfdijon / Reddit
Photo Credit: Wolfdijon / Reddit
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It looks like someone knit a spider web with yarn between these strands of barbed wire, but this is just what happens on really cold and really humid mornings.

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Check out all of those ice crystals!

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A Massive Squid Egg

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squid egg
Photo Credit: Deep Blue Discovery / YouTube
Photo Credit: Deep Blue Discovery / YouTube
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Apparently, this is what the egg of a giant squid looks like. It's totally transparent and you can see the baby squid being formed inside.

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These divers were thrilled to see such an unusual sight.

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We Love You Too, Amethyst

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heart-shaped geode
Photo Credit: UruguayMinerals.com
Photo Credit: UruguayMinerals.com
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These two geologists found a piece of amethyst that was shaped like a perfect heart.

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When they discovered it, they cracked it perfectly in half. Now they each have half a heart.

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Making Sawdust Out Of An Almond

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ants eating the middle out of an almond
Photo Credit: Buford-T-Justis / Reddit
Photo Credit: Buford-T-Justis / Reddit
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These ants are making short work of this almond. They're eating it from the inside out and creating a whole pile of almond dust in their wake.

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Then they're going to carry all of that dust back to their nest.

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Bigger Than I Thought

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man holding a kiwi bird
Photo Credit: cferrios / Reddit
Photo Credit: cferrios / Reddit
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Did you know that kiwi birds were this big? For some reason, I thought that they could fit in the palm of your hand.

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This guy is much bigger than a kiwi fruit.

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Ancient Jewelry

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ancient greek gold snake armbands
Photo Credit: __Katsu_ / Reddit
Photo Credit: __Katsu_ / Reddit
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These armbands were worn by the ancient Greeks over 2000 years ago. Apparently, they had really good taste in jewelry back then.

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These are absolutely stunning. It's amazing how well they've held up over the years.

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Bone Cancer In A Snake

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snake skeleton with a mass in it
Photo Credit: GrumpiestSnail / Reddit
Photo Credit: GrumpiestSnail / Reddit
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This is what bone cancer looks like in a snake skeleton.

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You can see that the bone cells have started growing abnormally right in the middle of the snake's body.

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Artist Ants

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leaf with quadrilateral shapes eaten out of it
Photo Credit: --ch3rry-- / Reddit
Photo Credit: --ch3rry-- / Reddit
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There is a particular breed of ant that eats leaves in strange geometric patterns.

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This ant seems to be partial to quadrilaterals. Maybe he's trying to give us a geometry lesson.

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A Melted Cup

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melted red solo cup full of grease
Photo Credit: ColonelAengus / Reddit
Photo Credit: ColonelAengus / Reddit
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Apparently, this is what happens when you pour very hot grease into a red solo cup.

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The whole cup shrunk down and we aren't really sure where all of that extra plastic went.

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Another Planet

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trees covered in snow
Photo Credit: FurryPopcorn / Reddit
Photo Credit: FurryPopcorn / Reddit
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This looks like a picture that was taken on another plane.

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However, this photo was taken right here on Earth, in Finland to be exact, where it gets so cold that tall trees accumulate a ton of snow and frost.

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The Always Blossoming Sunflower

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giant sunflower beside woman
Photo Credit: Verryfastdoggo / Reddit
Photo Credit: Verryfastdoggo / Reddit
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The real question would be to know how long it took for that sunflower to gain so much height.

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This is further proof that nature will simply reclaim the planet one day.

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Even Birds Keep Their Childish Spirit

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half blue half grey bird feathers
Photo Credit: CanadianGrown / Reddit
Photo Credit: CanadianGrown / Reddit
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This blue jay still has half of its baby feathers, which is the reason why half of it is gray and the other half is made of beautiful shades of blue.

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It's like the bird equivalent of awkward teen years, except prettier.

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The See-Through Fish

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see through fish held over the sea
Photo Credit: Subtle_Omega / Reddit
Photo Credit: Subtle_Omega / Reddit
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Apparently, this is sea animal is called a "sea salp." They're tiny barrel-shaped organisms that pump water through their gelatinous bodies to move.

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They're interesting because they form long, stringy colonies underwater, but they can also exist as individuals.

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The Trajectory Of Bees

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bees moving from beehouse
Photo Credit: King_Toad / Reddit
Photo Credit: King_Toad / Reddit
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This is a time-lapse photo of a beehive. It's crazy to notice how uniform and aligned each line of motion looks like.

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You'd think it was a trained military march.

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The Smallest Frog That Was

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frog sits on penny on pavement
Photo Credit: look-a-lurker / Reddit
Photo Credit: look-a-lurker / Reddit
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This frog is smaller than a penny.

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It's crazy to think that it still has a full skeletal system, full arteries, veins, and internal organs, all in that little body.

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Lucid Dreaming

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inside looks like suburb front porches
Photo Credit: BunyipPouch / Reddit
Photo Credit: BunyipPouch / Reddit
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This assisted living facility was made to look like a small 1940s American town.

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It offers its residents the opportunity to constantly live in a lucid dream of their own little perfect world.

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The Effects Of A Blizzard

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frozen home is covered in ice
Photo Credit: insanezane777 / Reddit
Photo Credit: insanezane777 / Reddit
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This house was covered in ice after a blizzard in Ohio, right on the shore of Lake Erie. This home belongs to the ice queen now.

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You're either stuck inside forever or you need to come prepared with a flamethrower.

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No Seasonal Limitations

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tulips  growing in the snow
Photo Credit: starstufft / Reddit
Photo Credit: starstufft / Reddit
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These tulips blooming in the snow look so out of place—but in a beautiful way.

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It's almost a metaphorical way of saying that if you put in the work, you can blossom in any environment, even cold harsh ones that seem to be working against you.

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Ready To Be Colored In

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transparent butterfly on hand
Photo Credit: neighma / Reddit
Photo Credit: neighma / Reddit
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This little transparent butterfly landed directly on someone in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

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Because its wings are transparent, it takes on the colors of whatever is behind it, making it either the most or the least colorful butterfly, depending on how you look at it.

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This Blind Cat

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blind cat with blue and green eyes
Photo Credit: DemonreachDaycare / Reddit
Photo Credit: DemonreachDaycare / Reddit
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This blind cat has amazing eyes.

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They say eyes are the windows to the soul. If its eyes are that magically blue and green, imagine how beautiful its soul is.

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Crystal Clear

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crystal clear snail shell on door
Photo Credit: ilovesIuts / Reddit
Photo Credit: ilovesIuts / Reddit
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This snail was found outside, yet its shell was still crystal clear.

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Of course, it stays clean, but you leave a clear vase inside your home and within three days it's covered in a layer of dust. Unfair.

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The Golden Bee

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golden bee lands on car window
Photo Credit: EliteDangerous72 / Reddit
Photo Credit: EliteDangerous72 / Reddit
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This purely golden bee landed on a man's window just to say hello, so he tried to ask the internet what breed it was. People couldn't agree without genetic analysis, but figured it was likely a Cordovan or a mix of other lightly colored honeybees.

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They agreed however that it's unique in its brighter color.