What Is It? Blog

What Is It?

What Is It? is a place for engineers to test their knowledge (and sense of humor). Each week (or month, or...) the CR4 team will post an unidentified picture of an object, tool, animal, something. We're looking for your best (or funniest) guesses at what it might be in the comments.

Yes, we take [appropriate] submissions. Send them to cr4admin@ieeeglobalspec.com.
Previous in Blog: What Is It? for 12/25/11   Next in Blog: What Is It? for 1/8/12
Close

Comments Format:






Change Mode
Close

Subscribe to Discussion:

CR4 allows you to "subscribe" to a discussion
so that you can be notified of new comments to
the discussion via email.

Close

Rating Vote:







Add Vote
36 comments
Rate Comments: Nested

What Is It? 1/1/12

Posted January 01, 2012 12:00 AM
Pathfinder Tags: What is it?

This week's image:

Click here for the answer!

Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Good Answers:

These comments received enough positive votes to make them "good answers".

"Almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!
Tornado
Guru
Technical Fields - Technical Writing - New Member Engineering Fields - Piping Design Engineering - New Member

Join Date: May 2009
Location: Richland, WA, USA
Posts: 21017
Good Answers: 795
#1

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 12:04 AM

A Telemecanique pilot light, viewed straight on.

__________________
 In vino veritas; in cervisia carmen; in aqua E. coli.
Reply
Smoothy
Power-User

Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ground Zero of the Pompous and self important....Washington DC
Posts: 416
Good Answers: 8
#2

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 12:16 AM

A monochrome negative of the WW2 Japanese flag?
Reply
3
SolarEagle
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: by the beach in Florida
Posts: 33392
Good Answers: 1817
#3

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 12:47 AM

It's the light,,,,the light,,,,at the end of the tunnel.....omg am I ?

__________________
 All living things seek to control their own destiny....this is the purpose of life
Reply Good Answer (Score 3)
Go to Next Good Answer
Chankley
Power-User
United Kingdom - Member - New Member Engineering Fields - Transportation Engineering - New Member Technical Fields - Marketing/Advertising - New Member Hobbies - Target Shooting - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South coast of England
Posts: 411
Good Answers: 36
#19
In reply to #3

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/02/2012 5:20 AM

No, its the head light of the on-coming train!
Reply
tcmtech
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: South of Minot North Dakota
Posts: 8376
Good Answers: 775
#4

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 3:30 AM

It was the last thing I saw before getting run over at 2 AM on my way out of a new years eave antique car collectors party.

Reply
Tornado
Guru
Technical Fields - Technical Writing - New Member Engineering Fields - Piping Design Engineering - New Member

Join Date: May 2009
Location: Richland, WA, USA
Posts: 21017
Good Answers: 795
#5

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 3:38 AM

Isakower phenomenon.

__________________
 In vino veritas; in cervisia carmen; in aqua E. coli.
Reply
JohnDG
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Not a New Member Hobbies - Musician - New Member Hobbies - Fishing - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: Reading, Berkshire, UK. Going under cover.
Posts: 9684
Good Answers: 468
#6

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 8:57 AM

Lithium button cell.

__________________
 "Love justice, you who rule the world" - Dante Alighieri
Reply
3
lyn
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 42355
Good Answers: 1693
#7

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 9:20 AM

It's the inside of a paint can lid removed from a can of white paint.
Reply Good Answer (Score 3)
Go to Next Good Answer
Anonymous Hero
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 11119
Good Answers: 918
#8
In reply to #7

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 11:22 AM

Yeah, that's where my money is on.
Reply
lyn
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 42355
Good Answers: 1693
#9
In reply to #8

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 12:38 PM

Mine usually end up, "paint-side-down".
Reply
Lspraba
Commentator

Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: India
Posts: 91
Good Answers: 6
#10

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 3:19 PM

A headlight of night shift engineer
Reply
user-deleted-1105
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member United Kingdom - Member - New Member

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Harlow England
Posts: 16512
Good Answers: 670
#11

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 6:02 PM

I pressed it and a man with a tray appeared and asked what I'd like to drink.
Ish skeep preshing it and my jeyboas id wobning arounf now (hic)
Del

__________________
 health warning: These posts may contain traces of nut.
Reply
LG_Dave
Power-User
United States - Member - Member

Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: La Grande, Oregon U.S.A.
Posts: 468
Good Answers: 23
#12

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 7:40 PM

Chimney flashing

__________________
 Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft! - Theodore Roosevelt
Reply
redfred
Guru
Engineering Fields - Electrical Engineering - Been there, done that. Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 15601
Good Answers: 981
#13

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 9:58 PM

It's an X-Ray diffraction pattern result of Unobtanium.

__________________
 "Don't disturb my circles." translation of Archimedes last words
Reply
valkyrierider
Associate

Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 45
Good Answers: 4
#14

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 10:48 PM

It is the negative side of a Lithium battery.
Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
No more "Almost" Good Answers.
cwarner7_11
Guru
Panama - Member - New Member Hobbies - CNC - New Member Engineering Fields - Marine Engineering - New Member Engineering Fields - Retired Engineers / Mentors - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Panama
Posts: 4273
Good Answers: 213
#15

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 11:15 PM

My last beer going down someone else's throat...
Reply
pritam
Guru
Engineering Fields - Mechanical Engineering - New Member India - Member - New Member

Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: City of destiny, INDIA
Posts: 775
Good Answers: 67
#16

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/01/2012 11:50 PM

It looks like negative of a full luner eclipse.
Reply
rakesh_semwal
Guru
India - Member - New Member Engineering Fields - Electromechanical Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: India, 200 Km. North of Delhi.
Posts: 1393
Good Answers: 53
#18
In reply to #16

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/02/2012 1:31 AM

It has to be circular if that is the case.
Reply
rakesh_semwal
Guru
India - Member - New Member Engineering Fields - Electromechanical Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: India, 200 Km. North of Delhi.
Posts: 1393
Good Answers: 53
#17

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/02/2012 1:29 AM

Glass of milk viewed from top, that is kept on black table.Glass is made of oval shape to confuse us.
Reply
Yahlasit
Guru

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Posts: 1023
Good Answers: 69
#20

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/02/2012 9:02 AM

Boundary of surface tension between two liquids.

__________________
 No hay conocimiento ni herramienta que sustituya al sentido comun.
Reply
fourmdev
Active Contributor

Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: India
Posts: 10
#21

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/02/2012 9:43 AM

It is the moon viewed inside a special form of a earth cloud ( a very special cloud -not remembering now !)
Reply
Haajee
Guru

Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1758
Good Answers: 6
#22

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/02/2012 11:50 AM

A fry/ cooking pan.
Reply
BruceFlorida
Guru

Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 1688
Good Answers: 145
#23

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/02/2012 12:29 PM

High wattage light bulb in circular enclosure.

__________________
 Few things limit our potential as much as knowing answers and setting aside questions.
Reply
PWSlack
Guru
United Kingdom - Member - Indeterminate Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: In the bothy, 7 chains down the line from Dodman's Lane level crossing, in the nation formerly known as Great Britain. Kettle's on.
Posts: 32175
Good Answers: 839
#24

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 4:12 AM

"Nurse! Quick! The screens!"

__________________
 "Did you get my e-mail?" - "The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place" - George Bernard Shaw, 1856
Reply
Randall
Guru

Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Hemel Hempstead, UK
Posts: 5826
Good Answers: 322
#25

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 5:22 AM

An award winning piece of modern art.

__________________
 If you spend all your time looking for people and things to complain about: trust me, you will find plenty to complain about.
Reply
Tornado
Guru
Technical Fields - Technical Writing - New Member Engineering Fields - Piping Design Engineering - New Member

Join Date: May 2009
Location: Richland, WA, USA
Posts: 21017
Good Answers: 795
#26

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 6:21 AM

A backlit contraceptive diaphragm.

__________________
 In vino veritas; in cervisia carmen; in aqua E. coli.
Reply
Wal
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Phnom Penh
Posts: 4019
Good Answers: 102
#27

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 9:59 AM

The view from the bottom of a well.

__________________
 Difficulty is not an obstacle it is merely an attribute.
Reply
Wal
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Phnom Penh
Posts: 4019
Good Answers: 102
#28

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 10:27 AM

The Maco Light

__________________
 Difficulty is not an obstacle it is merely an attribute.
Reply
Spinco
Guru

Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 706
Good Answers: 32
#29

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 1:09 PM

The exit end of a Black Hole into the Milky Way.

__________________
 Spinco
Reply
Lspraba
Commentator

Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: India
Posts: 91
Good Answers: 6
#30

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 1:15 PM

Did you notice another circle near the edges of the picture.
Reply
cwarner7_11
Guru
Panama - Member - New Member Hobbies - CNC - New Member Engineering Fields - Marine Engineering - New Member Engineering Fields - Retired Engineers / Mentors - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Panama
Posts: 4273
Good Answers: 213
#31
In reply to #30

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 2:19 PM

That suggests this is an image through a microscope...

Obviously, not my last beer...
Reply
redfred
Guru
Engineering Fields - Electrical Engineering - Been there, done that. Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 15601
Good Answers: 981
#32

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 2:35 PM

It's the opening of the 2025 James Bond movie title sequence or gun barrel opening "James Bond is dead, again".

__________________
 "Don't disturb my circles." translation of Archimedes last words
Reply
3
ozzb
Guru
Hobbies - Fishing - Old Salt Hobbies - CNC - New Member United States - US - Statue of Liberty - New Member

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Rosedale, Maryland USA
Posts: 5197
Good Answers: 266
#33

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/03/2012 5:13 PM

Pantheon dome

__________________
 Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving in a pretty, pristine body but rather to come sliding in sideways, all used up and exclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!"
Reply Good Answer (Score 3)
No more Good Answers. Go to first "Almost" Good Answer
lyn
Guru

Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 42355
Good Answers: 1693
#36
In reply to #33

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/04/2012 7:58 AM

Nice job!
Reply
Munster
Power-User

Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 406
Good Answers: 3
#34

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/04/2012 6:14 AM

It is capacitor
Reply
SavvyExacta
Guru
United States - Member - Lifelong New Yorker Popular Science - Biology - Animal Science Technical Fields - Technical Writing - Technical Writer

Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: NY
Posts: 2313
Good Answers: 59
#35

Re: What Is It? 1/1/12

01/04/2012 7:27 AM

This one stumped a lot of people! ozzb got it right - it's the oculus of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy.
Reply
Reply to Blog Entry
Have a Different Question?
36 comments

Good Answers:

These comments received enough positive votes to make them "good answers".

"Almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, vote them!
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Anonymous Hero (1); BruceFlorida (1); Chankley (1); cwarner7_11 (2); fourmdev (1); Haajee (1); JohnDG (1); LG_Dave (1); Lspraba (2); lyn (3); Munster (1); ozzb (1); pritam (1); PWSlack (1); rakesh_semwal (2); Randall (1); redfred (2); SavvyExacta (1); Smoothy (1); SolarEagle (1); Spinco (1); tcmtech (1); Tornado (3); user-deleted-1105 (1); valkyrierider (1); Wal (2); Yahlasit (1)

Previous in Blog: What Is It? for 12/25/11   Next in Blog: What Is It? for 1/8/12

Advertisement

Got Something to Say?
Ask a Question
Start a Discussion

Search this Section
General Discussion:
Go

Search this Blog
What Is It?:
Go

Recent Blog Entries

Blog Links

CR4 Sections
Aerospace
BioMech & BioMed
Chemical & Material Science
Civil Engineering
Communications & Electronics
Education and Engineering Careers
Electrical Engineering
General Discussion
Instrumentation
Manufacturing
Mechanical Engineering
New Technologies & Research
Software & Programming
Sustainable Engineering
Transportation

Site Directories
Forum Directory
Blog Directory
User Group Directory
RSS Feeds

CR4 Rules of Conduct
CR4 FAQ
Site Glossary

Who's Online (37 right now)
Show Members
Advertisement