Who doesn't love learning new things? Our brain floods our body with dopamine when we see, to quote the American rock band Semisonic, an F. N. T. That stands for "fascinating new thing". And although the group was singing about a girl, the reference still stands, right? A spiky tiny mushroom or a transparent octopus can be a fascinating new thing too.
The subreddit r/fascinating then is heaven for those who want to satisfy their curiosity and get a dopamine rush. It's a Reddit community with over 40k members where people post interesting pictures and facts. Check out our selection from the subreddit below!
Bored Panda also got some thoughts from an insider. One of the moderators from r/fascinating, WeirdPineapple, was kind enough to answer some questions. Check out our short interview with him below!
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Ronald Mcnair, The Boy Who Refused To Leave The Library
The r/fascinating subreddit is not the only community that Weird Pineapple is a mod on. There are 9 communities in total under his wing. r/fascinating is the third on the list in terms of member count.
Nevertheless, it still ranks in the top 5% percent of the largest communities on Reddit. And it's not only facts and pictures we can find there. Community members don't shy away from posting videos with interesting facts as well.
Perspective
The Puffer Fish Skeleton And The Way It Works Is Simply A Marvel Of Nature
We asked WeirdPineapple how he became one of the moderators for this community. "I originally became involved as I was working on a handful of projects, and /r/fascinating happened to be one of them."
The mod tells Bored Panda that the subreddit wasn't in the best state when he came on board. "It was a bit dilapidated when we originally got there, but we managed to promote some growth and better content. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s been a long process that is not done yet."
The Lesser Known 1st Starry Night Painting By Vincent Van Gogh
After some research, it seems he repainted it because he wasn't satisfied with the colors and overall mood of this one, as he felt he didn't capture the true beauty and majesty of the night sky. In fact, he didn't even like the famous repainting we all know, because he felt it was too abstract. Reminder that your art and everything you put into this world is probably much more beautiful than you think. 💙
What A Wonderful Time To Be Alive!
Rare Octopus With Completely Transparent Head
The Redditor tells us why he holds this particular community dear to his heart. "This subreddit was a passion project I had alongside a tremendous team, who also helped build some of the biggest communities you still see on Reddit today. It had a solid foundation and just needed a push and some cleaning up.
The Moon During A Total Solar Eclipse Revealing A Vast Solar Corona
Chinese Explorer Zheng He's Ship Compared To Christopher Columbus's Santa Maria. Both Lived And Sailed At The Same Time (Repost /R/Pics)
This Is How Mt. Fuji Cuts Through The Clouds
This mod has extensive experience, yet the beginning of the subreddit was still a challenge. He says he used to spend a lot of time moderating the community. "But communities become more established and you incorporate a decent auto-mod system, you end up with a mostly autonomous community," WeirdPineapple explains. "Manual spam-removal is still essential, however," he adds.
This Couple Met In Wwii, Then Got Married In Germany. The Wife Traded A Soldier Two Cartons Of Cigarettes For A Parachute To Make Her Wedding Dress
The Canadian Rockies By Dan Schyk
As some who has only ever lived in flats lands, this is haunting in a way I don't have words for.
Fairy Pools, The Isle Of Skye, Scotland By Nikola Niki
The Redditor says the most challenging part is monitoring trolls. "It’s mainly a battle of fighting paid spam and misinformation posts, as with many subreddits with any traction. I understand making a name for yourself or your community, it just needs to be done within the proper channels."
Oldest Living Thing On Earth. Methuselah, A Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, Is 4,853 Years Old
Well, not quite. It's the oldest known living, non-clonal tree. There are a number of things older though. Expessially if you count clonal colonies, which can be in the 10s of thousands, and doubly so if you get into microorganisms that are potentially revivable, with at least one successful revival of a million year old organism and candidates for revival over 100 million years old.
This Tiny Mushroom (Possibly Mycena Subcyanocephala)
Big Old Snail
There's a somewhat fascinating fact about WeirdPineapple himself. He says working as a Reddit mod led to him starting a career as a professional racer. In fact, one of the communities he oversees, r/capps, is a place where he can document his achievements.
What Lightning Does To Sand
This is after polishing. Straight after the lightning strike it looks like opaque branching coral because it's coated in sand grains that have stuck to the surface.
Monument Valley, Arizona By Paul B. Moore
"I never expected where I’d end up when I started working with/on Reddit over a decade ago," the mod confesses. "But professional racing was not in the top five that I saw coming if I even had a top-five back then."
Gerrymandering Explained: How Elections Are Stolen By Redistricting
i didn’t really realize this was a thing in the US until i read an article a while ago about it and it really made me wonder how you guys consider this to be “fair”, like i’m genuinely really curious.
Inside The Mouth Of A Leatherback Turtle
Allegheny National Forest By Zack Frank
The Reddit user also feels a lot of gratitude towards the platform and its other users. "I’m extremely thankful for what Reddit has been able to do for both me and the communities I oversee," WeirdPineapple says.
Researchers Studied The Effects Of A 20-Minute Walk On The Cognitive Performance Of A Group Of Children. This Is Fascinating
Need more info. For example, the measurement you're taking is probably blood flow, in which case obviously exercise increases blood flow. Also, without further information we don't know if this extra activity is due to damage repair, cleaning out the lactic acid toxins produced by the exercise.
This Is A Human Nervous System That Took Over 4000 Hours To Dissect. There Is Only 4 In The World
Mt. St Helens The 17th Of May, 1980 vs. 4 Months Later
We throw the word 'fascinating' around quite a bit here on this post. Oxford Learner's Dictionary describes it as being 'very interested.' But that doesn't really do it justice, does it? When we say that we're fascinated, it's not just that we find it very interesting. There's something stronger – it captivates our attention.
A 3300 Year Old Wig
Yes you read that right! This is the wig of Merit, wife of Kha, found in the tomb of the couple (TT8) in Thebes, present-day Luxor, Egypt. The wig was beautifully constructed of human hair. The wig can now be seen in the Museo Egizio, Torino, Italy.
This Is My Left Hand, I Was Born With It And I Can Still Do Plenty Of Stuff
I saw an old lady the other day who had just one finger and a thumb on each hand, and she was *amazingly* dextrous with them. Us humans are so adaptable!
This Is What All The Nerves For Your Teeth Look Like
Simone Redaelli Ph.D. links fascination to mystery. "Fascination occurs when our attention is involuntarily captured by a given environment. Being a potential source of unprecedented knowledge, a mysterious setting easily attracts us and it is therefore a source of fascination."
Taughannock Falls In Upstate New York By Paul Massie Photography
Two Baby Geese Touching Beaks
Comparison Of Actual Distances On The Mercator Projection Map
i can’t remember the name of the map that is more accurately projected, but y’all, africa is HUGE. the whole continent can fit an insane amount of other countries in it (i think it’s like six chinas or something?) and this is coming from a russian. WE NEED MORE ACCURATE MAPS
We can say something similar about the entries on this list from /fascinating. The creators of the subreddit chose the name very aptly. Let us know which pictures captured your attention involuntarily. Upvote your favorites and let us know what you liked in the comments!
Mathematical Analysis Of The Electrical Signals Fungi Seemingly Send To One Another Has Identified Patterns That Bear A Striking Structural Similarity To Human Speech
A Man Standing In The Lumberyard Of Seattle Cedar Lumber Manufacturing. 1939
Crystal River - The Most Beautiful River On Earth
Detailed Color Theory Infographic
Baby Pacific Pomfret Hitching A Ride On A Baby Jellyfish (Three Angles)
Donut Graph Visualizing Composition Of Earth's Surface
Lifespan Of Animals
The human animal is on the phone, calling for the local animal control officer.
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Cat and dog are in the wrong order. The overall average lifespan of different dog breeds vary but the general average ranges between 10-13 years. The world record for the oldest dog is 29 years. A modern cat's lifespan is much more dependent on circumstances and treatment then breed, they have a general average range of 13-15 years and the oldest recorded cat lived to be 38 years old. It was held by a cat named Creme Puff, who lived from 1967 to 2005. Dogs don't even get close to that. The average lifespan of a neutered, healthy, well kept indoor cat is 15-20 years. But even dogs with a more healthy breed rarely live to 20.
The oldest dog passed away last month at 31 years of age.
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was about to say the same.....also possibly"fungi" as a living organism could be considered an "animal" 🤔....it's life Jim but not as we know it
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I wish someone could please extend dogs' lives. The love is too intense to lose them this quickly. I have a large breed that's now 8 😪
As long as they still have good quality of life in those later years. Watching a dog deal with arthritis is heartbreaking.
Load More Replies... The insect one is wrong. It only shows the lifespan of adult insects, whereas insect larvae live much longer. For example 2 to 3 years for mayfly, 13 to 17 years for cicadas in the USA. For other animals it becomes necessary to distinguish between zoo animals and those in the wild. Zoo animals live longer.
Thank you! I was a bit confused as they have found a great many wild (not zoo) ones here in Oz that are looking at octogenarians thinking "kids these days don't taste like they used to"
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Where did they get that whale silhouette? It's squirting water out of its blowhole like a cartoon character.
Incidentally, if a whale gets an allergy, does it sneeze out of its blowhole?
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Some whales only make 45-70 years, one species has been found to live well over 200. Alligators have a life expectancy of 30-50 years...in the wild, though in captivity can last upwards of 70, which is what seems to be have been confused with crocodiles, which actually have lifespans of 50-70 years. Asian elephants make it to 48, while Africans varieties make it to 60-70. Which is to say this list is high suspicious.
What happened to the Greenland shark? - estimated to live up to 500 years
It turns out that all animals live for roughly a billion heartbeats. With a heartbeat clock, our lifetimes would all be roughly the same.
Where is the Greenland shark (272 to 500 yrs)? The Bowhead whale (up to 200yrs)?
Where is the whale shark? Estimated to live between 80-130 years.
You could move the parrot up too. Those little guys can live up to 80yrs old.
Scientists estimate the Greenland shark lives at least 250 years. They may live over 500 years (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/greenland-shark.html#:~:text=Scientists%20estimate%20the%20Greenland%20shark,of%20the%20Admiralty%20Inlet%2C%20Nunavut.)
definitely missing the Greenland shark, which can live up to 400 years old. There's also the Bowhead whale which have been found to have 200 year old spear-heads stuck inside them while alive.
They forgot the Greenland Shark which can live for about 400 years. As far as we know. Could be longer.
So a lion doesn't live much longer than an earthworm?!
This is also for animals in the Wild, not actual lifespan. Grey Squirrels can live 20+ years in captivity.
Eh? I thought the whale shark gets to be over 400 years old??! Even 450 if I remember correctly?
When was the last time a chicken actually reached 19yrs. They're luck if they get 19 months before the end up in me belly!
Sperm whales can live up to 200 years. And most mammals (with a few exceptions, like dolphins and humans) have a lifespan equivalent to the same number of heartbeats.
Glacier National Park, Montana By Galyna Andrushko
The Canadian side (Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park) is beautiful too!
Chart Showing Mouth Locations Used For Phonetics In The International Phonetic Alphabet (Ipa) Along With English Examples
You can physically feel the words move front to back as you say them!
Picture Of Comet 67p/Churyumov–gerasimenko With A City For Scale
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore In Wisconsin By Bryan Neuswanger
Alexander The Great, Based On His Busts And Ancient Accounts Of Him
But how did they know what color his eyes were? Edit: kind of looks like Gerard Butler when he was younger.
Fascinating Facts
I assumed this was one of us Americans. It's sad that I'm actually pleasantly surprised it wasn't us this time.
Wendy The Whippet With Myostatin Gene Mutation
The Way You Can See The Truck Through These Pipes
Stereoscopy - The Optical Illusion Of Seeing A Picture In 3D Without Equipment. Cross Your Eyes Until The Images Overlap To See The Effect
Age Of Bands!
Theodore Roosevelt National Park In North Dakota By Zak Zeinert
Thank you Theodore Roosevelt for the establishment of the concept of National Parks.
This Was The Scene When Driving Through Paradise, California During The Fires On The 8th November.... Photo; Oakland Firefighters Local 55
Full Contact National Lightsaber League And Tournament
Note: this post originally had 60 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Why is the stupid video ad at the top of the screen not going away? Even tho I keep touching the X! So f#*king annoying.
Also, the share icon covers the bottom right of the text/photo. How do i get rid of it? 🤷♀️
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This was the wrong post to scroll through right before going to sleep
The other evening I ran my finger through my crotch and then my finger smelled like lasagna. I was baking lasagna at the time! Fascinating!
I make over $100 an hour shoplifting bras at plus size stores.
Load More Replies... Why is the stupid video ad at the top of the screen not going away? Even tho I keep touching the X! So f#*king annoying.
Also, the share icon covers the bottom right of the text/photo. How do i get rid of it? 🤷♀️
Load More Replies... This was the wrong post to scroll through right before going to sleep
The other evening I ran my finger through my crotch and then my finger smelled like lasagna. I was baking lasagna at the time! Fascinating!
I make over $100 an hour shoplifting bras at plus size stores.
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