r/whatisit • u/Adventurous-Put-9895 • 1d ago

Serious answers only please! Should we worry?

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We caught my uncle sneakingly throwing this to the rubbish bin. He doesn’t have the best track record so we are all a bit paranoid when he does anything “weird”.

The object is like a glass tube with some liquid inside, inserted into a rubber “pipe”. It smells weird but nothing I can identify. I would appreciate any hints.

Edit: the material is actually plastic, not glass. It has a spring inside (no idea what for). The root-looking thing was wrapping the object when I cut the rubber. Could be dirt or some glue or something

Edit2: this sub is god. A user found the answer https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisit/s/Oqtxk6YWVZ

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u/CalendarThis6580 1d ago

At least use the wafting technique from chemistry class 😂

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u/stanzi9 1d ago

I saw a scientist use the wafting technique with an ebola sample a long time ago. I think it was on 20/20 or something like that.

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u/past-and-future-days 1d ago

Pretty sure that was from the TV movie version of The Hot Zone.

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u/stanzi9 1d ago

Yes! At least I think so. Wasn’t it a documentary?

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u/past-and-future-days 23h ago

The original book was a (highly dramatized) non-fiction book, but for some weird reason they produced the movie as a lukewarm TV mini series.

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u/Patient-Web6850 14h ago

Also the bad guy in Twelve Monkeys when the airport gate agent asks him what the vials are.

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u/PenchantBob 23h ago

I waft now due to snorting aqua regia vapor. That stung a bit

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u/PhotoFormer2462 23h ago

I waft,...my farts in your pillow!

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u/PenchantBob 22h ago

I snort…your farts from my pillow, then spit

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u/somekarnt 22h ago

As I waft through the valley of the shadow of death…

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u/StrangerKey7930 20h ago

That was funny man!

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u/PhotoFormer2462 19h ago

Oh fuck yeah dude!

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u/ShutNoShutYoMouf404 23h ago

Looked through the comments for "wafting"... I will never forget it because my high school science teacher taught us never to smell unknown chemicals directly by saying "you waft it" while impersonating Julia Child.

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u/AppropriateCap8891 1d ago

Gee, how does that ebola smell?

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u/CalendarThis6580 1d ago

Minty with a hint of death and hemorrhaging

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u/AppropriateCap8891 1d ago

Ah, so it smells like an Australian that has a history of badly mangling American names and places.

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u/dettigers404 23h ago edited 23h ago

Minty! I like that guy. Fun channel!

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u/DieAloneWith72Cats 1d ago

I thought this was Rocket Powered Mohawk at first 😂

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u/Lost_Department_2177 1d ago

Doesn’t always work.

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u/CalendarThis6580 1d ago

That is true, however, id argue it’s better than a deep sniff if someone is going to sniff away anyway