20 Photos That Explain Science Even Better Than Textbooks

To know our world better, you don’t have to read textbooks or watch documentaries. Some photos can tell more about science than a thousand words.

At CHEERY, we’ve found photos shared by Internet users that can change our perception of the seemingly familiar world.

1. “Valonia ventricosa, the largest single-celled organism on Earth. Yep, this is a single living cell.”

2. The rare natural phenomenon called “fallstreak hole”.

“These holes are formed when the water temperature in the clouds is below freezing, but the water, in a supercooled state, has not frozen yet due to the lack of ice nucleation.”

3. “I found this on the beach. Any ideas? What is this?”

It’s an egg case from a skate, also known as a mermaid’s purse. This is one difference between stingrays and skates, stingrays do not lay eggs, but skates do. © gforcewinds13 / Reddit

4. “My scar doesn’t get dirty when I’m at work.”

Sweat glands do not form in scar tissue which may assist in capturing the dirt. © TooShiftyForYou / Reddit

5. “Separating strawberry DNA in the science club.”

6. “I saw some weird neon mold in the milk bag, it glows!”

Pretty much any liquid containing organic compounds will glow under UV light. If you want a real shocker, aim the lamp with lights off at the wall behind the stove. © McUsername621 / Reddit

7. “A very staticky little munchkin after rubbing herself all over the new couch!”

8. “My Sea-Monkeys”

9. “This giant dandelion I found on my walk today.”

It’s probably a Tragopogon pratensis. © did_you_read_it / Reddit

10. “I found this guy today on a beach in South Texas. What is it?”

This is a blue button, Porpita porpita. It is a marine organism consisting of a colony of hydroids. © octocoral / Reddit

11. “The photo was taken from the Golden Gate Bridge. It shows a solar glory and a Brocken specter.”

“A Brocken specter, also called Brocken bow, is the magnified (and apparently enormous) shadow of an observer cast upon clouds opposite the Sun’s direction.”

12. “Does anyone know what these little guys are doing?”

They do this to look bigger to predators while they’re going to a tree. © CasualCandice / Reddit
Also, some caterpillars do this for speed. They run over each other in one big pile, making them faster. © Toaster_GmbH / Reddit

13. “Another day at the SEM. This is testate amoebae.”

14. “This cluster of fossilized creatures look like they came from another planet! For those wondering, the species is an ancient Australian Crinoid.”

“Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. The earliest known unequivocal crinoid groups date back to 480 million years ago.”

15. “Pretty bacillus growth on a BCYE plate”

16. “I found this on the beach. We just had a big storm. It’s very firm and breaks apart smoothly. It seems organic.”

17. “I found this on the beach, not sure what it is.”

“It is an egg case of Syrinx aruanus. The female cements an egg case to a substrate (rock, dead coral, etc.) and little snails hatch out and crawl away.”