MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

You lot are getting far too good at this! But I shall try......



What is it?

[Gloria]

Is it one of those sticks sign writers use to steady their arm?

[Stanley]

I can see why you thought that Gloria but sorry, no.

[Big Kev]

A swagger stick?

[Cathy]

I can see you Kev with a swagger stick.
It looks like it has been knocked about.

[Big Kev]

I can see you Kev with a swagger stick.
It looks like it has been knocked about.

[Stanley]

Again I can see why you thought that but sorry, no.

[Big Kev]

Is it a weapon? A club?

[Steeplejerk]

I remember it from last time it's Salmon priest

[Stanley]

You were getting there Kev but Tom has it, it's a priest. (Used to kill salmon by striking them on the head.... Calling it a priest has always seemed to me to be black humour.)
Next object anyone?

[Stanley]

What is it?

[Big Kev]

Seed pods?

[Tizer]

Fruit of the nipa palm (Nypa fruticans), the only palm adapted to growth in mangrove areas. Millions of years ago it was spread worldwide but is now only found on the coastlines of South-East Asia and the extreme north coast of Australia. Can be used to make an alcoholic drink which can be distilled to make an arrack type drink. A good mystery Stanley, it took me a long time hunting it down without resorting to reverse image help!

[Stanley]

You did a good job Peter, that's it exactly. (You were right of course Kev, they are the seeds....) I had never seen them but then saw a video on YouTube showing how to extract the soft centre of the pod.....
How about the next object?

[Tizer]

As an undergraduate I was fortunate to have an Indian Hindu visiting lecturer give a course on economic botany. It made a change from the usual English lecturer. He brought in a lot of unusual fruits to demonstrate what was available elsewhere in the world - and allowed us to eat the edible ones!

Now then, what's this?...

[Stanley]

At first sight it looks like glass but I suspect it's some form of ceramic that withstands very high temperatures..... Beyond that I am lost.
(Is the gauze below it to protect the tube from direct heat?)

[Steeplejerk]

Looks like a circular piece of plastic rolled up like a protective cover for a watch face??

[Tizer]

`A circular piece of plastic rolled up' is correct, Tom. The black surface below is nothing to do with the object, it's the back of my mouse pad simply used to make the transparent object visible, Stanley. But there's still more to the object than just Tom's description. I'll give you a clue - it wasn't rolled up when performing its original function.

[Cathy]

It looks like the plastic that covers a ‘TV Dinner’ , pre cooking.

[Tizer]

You're getting warm, Cathy. But do you mean something like cling film that stretches or something else?

[Cathy]

Something else, thicker than cling film. Sometimes thick enough to be pierced.

[Steeplejerk]

Did it have a sticker or transfer on it ?

[Stanley]

Are we looking at the lid of a container for frozen food after it has been peeled off the base and rolled itself up?

[Tizer]

You've all worked your way close enough to the final identity which Stanley has `topped off' (pun intended) with `the base rolled itself up' (although it's actually the lid). I put it on here because it was a mystery to me at first. I was sorting our recycling when a tiny roll of plastic fell out, as shown in the original photo. I tried to flatten it out as a circle of transparent plastic about 8cm diameter and it immediately rolled up again. After some detective work and close inspection we realised that it had been the lid of a small plastic pot of some kind of garnish. After use I'd cleaned it during the usual washing up because it would be handy for storing small things. The photo below shows a similar pot. The main pot had come out of the wash as it went in but clean. We wash up using very hot water and the lid had lost its original shape completely and become a flat disc of plastic. It had also lost the `moulded in' text which you can see below and was now quite smooth. I've not seen this happen before but the pot is not made of the usual plastics - you can see the letters `PLA' stamped into the lid and `Commercially Compostable'. It's polylactic acid which is made from plant materials instead of the usual petroleum-derived oils. PLA

[Stanley]

I stand on the shoulders of giants.... (well almost.... )



What is it?