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What Is This? Discover's Server Room?

08.10.2010 Hint: First it flopped. Then it megaflopped.

by Andrew Grant

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What is This? A Glowing, Cave-Dwelling Organism?

Hint: It's actually a lot closer to home than some exotic cave. 02.18.2010

What Is This? Abstract Expressionism?

Hint: These plates cover a creature that's flat and round—hence its name. 12.08.2009

What Is This... A Hi-Tech Pin Cushion?

Hint: There are a lot fewer of them now than there were a few years ago. 11.18.2009

What is This? A Bioluminescent Mushroom?

Hint: It's actually not on the ground, nor in the oceans, but up in the sky—way up in the sky. 10.21.2009

What Is This? Seashells in a Tar Pit?

Hint: It's hard as granite, strong as steel, and has been used for sword grips and shoe soles. 10.05.2009

What is This? Spirograph 2.0?

Hint: It represents a best-selling piece of literature. 08.24.2009

What Is This? A Close Look at Pocket Lint?

Hint: It dates back to 6th-century China but never really caught on until the mid-1800s, when it was introduced in its packaged, modern form. 06.19.2009

What Is This? A Stony, Bloody Battlefield?

Hint: It's related to the rose and can put the "white" back in your pearly whites. 05.06.2009

What Is This? A Piece of Rainbow Rock?

Hint: To forensic technicians it's a valuable timer; to medical doctors it's a defense against infection. 04.25.2009

What Is This? A Dirty Sheep?

Stay away: these poofy blobs are actually quite deadly. 03.09.2009

What is This? A Windshield's Worst Nightmare Come True?

It may look like a worthless rock, but it can be encrusted with diamonds or used to find black gold. 02.05.2009

What is This? A Psychedelic Place Mat?

Actually, you'd be more likely to see this pattern in your wine glass. 01.14.2009

What is This? The Innards of a Daisy?

It's not a flower, but it does get its nice looks from photosynthesis. 12.23.2008

What Is This? A Papier-Maché Piñata?

There's no candy hidden in these, but they do hold other secrets. 11.05.2008

What Is This? A Psychedelic Peacock?

10.07.2008

What is This? The Surface of Mars?

Not quite—but some people pretend it is. 09.03.2008

What Is This? The World's Tiniest Pickup Sticks?

Hint: It was originally developed to treat hypertension and angina. 08.01.2008

What is This? Video Game Soccer Balls?

Not quite, but you will find plenty in a locker room. 07.03.2008

What Is This? A Diseased Reptile?

Here's a hint: You probably ate some at breakfast. 06.02.2008

What Is This? A Toy Set for a Microscopic Child?

Here's a hint: It's part animal, part vegetable, and a smidge mineral. 05.05.2008

What Is This? An Extra from Yellow Submarine?

The "devil's darning needle" hunts by sight. 04.02.2008

What Is This? A Field of Micro-Volcanoes?

These growths may look like little volcanoes, but they are are nothing of the sort. 03.02.2008