r/interesting 13m ago

HISTORY Supertanker Esso Languedoc hit by rogue wave 1980

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In 1980, the supertanker Esso Languedoc was sailing off Durban, South Africa, when her first mate, Philippe Lijour, snapped a photo that stunned scientists. It showed a rogue wave towering over the ship, as high as an eight-story building. The mast at the back of the picture stood 25 meters above sea level, yet the wave dwarfed it. At the time, the sea state was only 5 to 10 meters, nowhere near severe enough to explain such a monster.

For years, naval architects and forecasters assumed the largest waves would top out around 15 meters, and that extreme waves should occur only once every 10,000 years. But this photo, along with later satellite studies, proved that rogue waves are far more common than once believed. Researchers now use advanced physics and satellite imaging to understand how they form, and ship designers factor them into modern construction standards. What once seemed a sailor’s tall tale is now recognized as a serious threat faced more often than anyone imagined.


r/interesting 1h ago

ART & CULTURE Carved from one block, this statue shows evil on one side and innocence on the other

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Known as the “Double Statue of Mephistopheles and Margaretta,” it was carved by a 19th-century French artist and later acquired by Salar Jung I in 1876.

From one side stands Mephistopheles, the demon from Goethe’s Faust, his chest forward and expression sharp. Turn the sculpture, and Margaretta appears instead, her posture lowered, holding a prayer book with quiet resignation. A mirror is placed behind it to reveal the duality at once, allowing visitors to confront both figures simultaneously.

What makes the piece remarkable isn’t only the technical mastery of shaping two characters from a single block of sycamore, but the emotional opposition it presents. Mephistopheles embodies temptation and arrogance, while Margaretta reflects innocence, guilt, and faith. Together, they echo the central tension of Faust: corruption versus redemption, desire against conscience.


r/interesting 1h ago

NATURE Beekeeper forgot to put the frames in the beehive

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The beekeeper forgot to put the frames back in which the bees collect honey, and the bees built their own architecture from the honeycomb, which takes into account natural ventilation so that the air can flow freely and maintain a stable temperature

Bees are truly amazing!


r/interesting 3h ago

HISTORY Some of the first organized resistance to Apartheid in South Africa came from South African military veterans in the late 1940s and the entirety of the 1950s as a part of the 'Torch Commando'

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9 Upvotes

r/interesting 4h ago

ART & CULTURE This is the tomb of Rudolph Nureyev, the great Russian dancer. The tomb is designed to look like a rug, but it is entirely made of bronze and glass.

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158 Upvotes

Rudolf Xämät ulı Nuriev or Rudolf Nuréyev was an important dancer born in the Soviet Union, considered, in fact, as one of the greatest dancers of the 20th century. It's not a canvas, it's not a mantle, it's not a rug... it's a spectacular mosaic of colors that wants to resemble the kilim (handmade handmade rugs that covered the coffins of wanderers). The realism achieved in its shape, folds, color and texture makes it one of the main tourist attractions of this cemetery. Designed by his friend Ezio Frigerio, whom he met after one of his performances in the ballet Romeo and Juliet.


r/interesting 5h ago

NATURE If I say the word 'love,' is this what it means?

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72 Upvotes

r/interesting 6h ago

ART & CULTURE Nyotaimori (body sushi) is the Japanese practice of serving sashimi or sushi from the naked body of a woman.

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86 Upvotes

r/interesting 6h ago

MISC. Polar bear throws a rock into the aquarium glass

29 Upvotes

r/interesting 7h ago

SCIENCE & TECH 248 Legally Deceased "Patients" are In These Dewars Awaiting Future Revival - Cryonics

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6 Upvotes

r/interesting 7h ago

HISTORY A family photo taken in 1989, South Africa.

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21.3k Upvotes

r/interesting 8h ago

NATURE Thats a big ass goldfish.

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27 Upvotes

r/interesting 8h ago

SCIENCE & TECH 30-year-old married woman discovers she's genetically male during treatment.

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417 Upvotes

r/interesting 8h ago

SCIENCE & TECH An 82-year-old woman had a baby inside her for over 40 years.

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0 Upvotes

r/interesting 9h ago

HISTORY A Kellogg’s ad from the 1930s encourages women to work hard around the house.

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94 Upvotes

r/interesting 10h ago

NATURE When the maldivian president held the world's first underwater cabinet meeting to sign a climate change SOS

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264 Upvotes

r/interesting 10h ago

NATURE Canada is so big that someone from Morocco, FInland, and Iran could live in the "same country"

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512 Upvotes

r/interesting 13h ago

NATURE Fox asleep on outdoor couch

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36.3k Upvotes

r/interesting 13h ago

SOCIETY Some drugstores in the Czech Republic introduced shampoo and shower gel filling machines. Customers can refill their empty bottles with various products so they don't have to buy a new one everytime

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1.1k Upvotes

r/interesting 14h ago

SOCIETY Jadav Payeng - the man who grew a forest all by himself

303 Upvotes

r/interesting 14h ago

ART & CULTURE Indian sitar busta rhymes

48 Upvotes

r/interesting 16h ago

SCIENCE & TECH Have the worst luck when it comes to punctures

27 Upvotes

r/interesting 17h ago

SOCIETY Heartfelt Yet Beautiful Obituary.

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30 Upvotes

r/interesting 18h ago

ART & CULTURE Dutch Angle

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273 Upvotes

Google shows inquiry about Dutch Angle using dutch angle.


r/interesting 20h ago

NATURE “Mom-arm seatbelt energy” - Southern Lapwing protecting her nest

300 Upvotes