Curiosity is a powerful force that drives humans to explore the world around us. It's the reason why we ask questions and venture into the unknown. And sometimes, it leads us to break or open things just to see what's inside, too.
In this list, Bored Panda gathered some of the most surprising and intriguing cross-sections that we could find. From the inside of a bowling ball to the inner workings of a cactus, these pictures are sure to stir up your interest. We've even "cut up" a mechanical calculator to show its complex mechanisms!
So sit back, relax, and continue scrolling to enjoy this fascinating journey through the unexpected contents of everyday objects.
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Picked Up An Old Clam Beside A Lake In South Australia And Found A Small Colony Of Plants Inside, Living Off Of The Nutrients
My Dog Finally Finished Her Favorite Toy Tonight, Only To Find There Was A Smaller, Even More Squeaky Toy Inside
The process of taking something apart to understand how it works is called reverse engineering, and there are many reasons why someone (or a company) might do it.
You can reverse engineer consumer products, software, mechanical parts, pieces of technology, or even architectural structures.
When companies employ this practice, engineers usually do it without the original blueprints. While there are many ways to reverse engineer a product, a popular method is to take apart a smaller part of a product and analyze it until you get a thorough understanding of it.
Cross-Section Of Several Different Cables
My Firewood Had A Pine Cone Inside The Tree
The cone is likely older then the tree. And the tree grew around it more then likely due to the sap causing it to stick
The Squeaker From Inside Her Dog Toy Has Declared Her The Winner
It would be amazing to have a collection of these over the years
You can deconstruct (and reconstruct) things in many different areas. Jazz musicians can take apart a song and put the ideas together in a new improvisation of the original. Writers might look at a well-known story and retell it in a new, fresh way.
The musical West Side Story, for example, was based on the storyline from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and James Joyce’s Ulysses is a modern-day retelling of The Odyssey by Homer.
The Inside Of This Guitar Looks Like A Really Fancy Apartment
The Wine I Ordered Online Came With A Tiny Set Of Dice Packaged Inside A Hollow Cork
Had To Cut A Sunflower In Half Today At Work, Thought It Might Be Appreciated Here
The Inside Of A Cactus
If I'm not wrong, these vessels are used to store and transport water. It's called xylem and it's present in every plant, but it's stronger and larger in cacti because of dry climate.
These are actually the ribs. It is also known as the "secondary xylem," but its main purpose is to give support to the cactus. The primary xylem is closer to the surface and is responsible for transporting almost all of the water the cactus needs to survive. During a rainy season, like the one we just had here in the Sonoran Desert, the pleats allow the saguaros to expand like an accordion. Come see these fat guys while you have a chance!
Load More Replies...This is the Skeleton of the Saguaro Cactus, when the Cactus dies it falls over and rots away over time. A natural process, many of the people saw this off and use them for walking sticks. Incredibly strong and very lightweight. I have several.
When a saguaro falls over new cacti spring up from the carcus. It's illegal to move any part of a saguaro, live or dead. There are no walking sticks made of them.
Load More Replies...People use those to make rainsticks! Remember when they were all the rage?
Naw, rainsticks are made from cholla, totally different cacti
Load More Replies...That damage was done by morons who think that shooting cacti šµ that can't move makes them all big and bad. It's almost miraculous that this one is still alive, but may not survive long-term due to this injury.
It's a Saguarro cactus and despite there being millions of them in Arizona, they are protected. These ones you see are around 200 years old.
I thought it was going to be a well-disguised cell phone tower or the new way Comcast hides their cables.
the inside of cacti differ from kind to kind but they're all very interesting.
Well-insulated Xylem, I suspect the interior of each strand has multiples of fine-bore axial tubes...amazing!
Wow, I feel so dumb thinking the inside would be hollow or something lol
Looks like all those movies where someone tears the 'skin' on the robot's arm, and you get to see the actuators inside.
In business, updating older products for current use is also one of the main reasons why people turn to reverse engineering. It could include rebuilding:
- An old or outdated product;
- An expensive product using cheaper or more readily available materials;
- A product that uses mechanical parts that no longer exist;
- Another company's product to learn about it;
- Reverse engineering helps engineers understand the product's function, which they can use to create an effective updated version that still meets user requirements.
A Cross-Section Of A Professional Painter's Palette (6 Months Deep)
Inside Of A Mechanical Calculator
It's such a wonder humans could think about creating beauties like this and actually make it function
The Tigers On These Socks Look Like House Cats When Turned Inside Out
The Inside Of A Pine Cone
Reverse engineering can also help repair products that are already on the market. This process can be especially helpful if nobody is sure what's causing the issue. Engineers may also take these products apart to see if there are any ways to fix them or improve functionality with new technology or smarter design. For example, a company may learn that newly available technology can help improve glitching issues within a software application. Through the reverse engineering process, they may also learn that there's a more efficient way to create the product.
Cross-Section Of Our Painterās 1-Year-Old Stir Stick
The Inside Of An HDMI Cable
My Sister Found This Tiny Egg Inside Her Hard-Boiled Egg
I usually like hard boiled eggs, but for this one I'll make an eggception.
Bit Into A Wonderful Surprise Today And Learned About The Delicious Lucy Glo Apple. The Best Apple I Have Ever Had
As writer Eric Braun pointed out, deconstruction also plays a part in teaching something to someone else. In order to pass down the knowledge, you need to understand its components and how they fit together. This comes from focused learning on each aspect of the topic. If a student does not understand something and has a question, the teacher will not be able to convey the topic if they cannot answer it.
The Inside Of My Red Onion Looks Like A Lotus Flower
Black lotus 0 Mono artifact adds three mana of one color of your choice to your mana pool, then is discarded. tapping this artifact can be played as an interrupt.
This Is A Tree Burning From The Inside In Oregon, USA. Donāt Let The Rain Fool You
The Inside Of My Inflatable Air Mattress
Elephant's Foot
As you can see, you can learn a great deal by taking things apart. However, if you decide to do it, don't forget to take pics and share them with the rest of us!
For more similar "lessons", fire up Bored Panda's earlier publications 30 Photos Of Objects Cut In Half That Reveal The Unseen Side Of Things and 30 Times People Broke Or Opened Things And Were Surprised By What They Found Inside.
I Cut Into A Cantaloupe And The Inside Was Square
This Cedar Wood That I Was Cutting Had Purple Inside
Cross-Section Of A Banana Tree Trunk
Cut In Half Cables Used In The Golden Gate Bridge
There Was A Billiard Ball Inside Of My Bocce Ball
Inside Of A CT Scanner Undergoing Maintenance
Inside Of This Tomato Looks Like A Perfect Strawberry
Opened Up A Lighter And There Was Just Another Lighter Inside
Steel Core Inside A "Rubber" Bullet
Cross-Section Of A Poppy Flower Before Blooming
Cross-Section Of A Whale Rib
There Was A Bag Of Tiny Dice Inside My Bar Of Soap
One Of Our Chickens Just Laid A Jumbo Egg With Another Egg Inside
Manual Focus Camera Lens
The Stacked Layers Of Anodes And Cathodes Inside Of A Duracell Battery
A Bowling Ball With Its Inside Exposed. I Found In The Woods
Repurposed. Kid's Halloween Snap-On Bracelet Cut Opened, Is Actually A Tape Measure
This type were banned years ago because they're so dangerous. That metal tape measure can slash right through a child's delicate wrist with catastrophic results.
The Insides Of A Movie Theater Screen
The Inside Of A Fire Alarm Is Just A Simple Switch
I think the point here is to be consistent - older alarm switches would have pulled a heavier or more complex mechanism, the alarm switch has to remain easily identifiable however so while the technology got simpler the switch itself needs to stay the same.
Pulled A Paper Wasp Nest From The Corner Of My Shed And It Left A Perfect Cross-Section
Inside Of A Hose Looks Like A Water Balloon
The Die From The Inside Of A Magic 8-Ball
What's Inside The Breast Implant?
The Inside Of A Bomb
The Other Side Of A Fast Food Soda Fountain
The Inside Of This Golf Ball Looks Like A Boiled Egg
Accidentally Cut Open A Cheap Kid's Baseball With My Lawn Mower
The Inside Of An IKEA Desk Top
Fun fact: this structure allows almost the same strength if the desk was fully filled and uses a lot less material! It's used in most cardboards.
Inside Of The Dinosaur's Bone
Note: this post originally had 127 images. Itās been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
These were all very interesting. We need more content like these on bored panda.
15 minutes ago there were 127 of these, now there's 50. I don't like that
you can just click on the '127' button at the end of the shortened list, Bored P. does that a lot... can't figure out why sometimes when they cut a list from 53 to 50. AND they never cut the AITA wedding stories!!!
Load More Replies...i read the title as times people got opened and found things inside ššš i need more coffee
Can't believe a negative pointed submission can still make it onto top 50.
Sorry you feel this way... I loved most of the entries.
Load More Replies...These were all very interesting. We need more content like these on bored panda.
15 minutes ago there were 127 of these, now there's 50. I don't like that
you can just click on the '127' button at the end of the shortened list, Bored P. does that a lot... can't figure out why sometimes when they cut a list from 53 to 50. AND they never cut the AITA wedding stories!!!
Load More Replies...i read the title as times people got opened and found things inside ššš i need more coffee
Can't believe a negative pointed submission can still make it onto top 50.
Sorry you feel this way... I loved most of the entries.
Load More Replies...