See what's inside the tin

June 27, 2014 9:46 AM

Things Cut in Half
posted by gwint (39 comments total)

Fascinating! I was going to write, "the toothpaste wins," until I got the hand.

OGM, the hand.
posted by MoxieProxy at 9:49 AM on June 27, 2014

I'm ok with seeing human-parts whole.
posted by mazola at 9:51 AM on June 27, 2014

I'd buy that one with the cables.
posted by Runes at 9:54 AM on June 27, 2014 [2 favorites]

The hand was the one that made me lean in and go "ooh!". I also spent a lot of time trying to figure out the wooden paint stirrer.

Full disclosure -- I cross-section chunks of electronics for a living, so this was right in my wheelhouse. Thanks!
posted by blurker at 9:59 AM on June 27, 2014

I strenuously object to this! Because many of these things are clearly not cut in half!

"I'll take the bigger half." Sheesh.
posted by newdaddy at 10:02 AM on June 27, 2014 [4 favorites]

Came across this recently.
posted by peripathetic at 10:02 AM on June 27, 2014 [4 favorites]

For some reason, I'm really only grossed out by the mechanical ones. (Well, with the obvious exception of the pregnant beetle.)
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:02 AM on June 27, 2014

All I could think of was this.

(guess who's been on an Under the Dome binge the past two weeks....)
posted by HuronBob at 10:04 AM on June 27, 2014

How long before Lady Gaga wears some of these?
posted by Solomon at 10:04 AM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

So cars, bullets, and body parts are the big three.
posted by Curious Artificer at 10:04 AM on June 27, 2014

Reminds me of this Gaston Lagaffe cartoon.
posted by yoink at 10:04 AM on June 27, 2014 [2 favorites]

How do you cut something as delicate as a pregnant beetle or spider nest in half so cleanly?
posted by SharkParty at 10:08 AM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

I mean I guess I also wonder how you cut a photocopier or tank just as well.
posted by SharkParty at 10:10 AM on June 27, 2014

I wasn't grossed out until I saw ketchup on the corndog.
posted by bondcliff at 10:18 AM on June 27, 2014

I was expecting this to be another Hannibal thread.
posted by maxsparber at 10:19 AM on June 27, 2014

Cyclops

Please--that's obviously a Wolverine job.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:20 AM on June 27, 2014

I strenuously object to this! Because many of these things are clearly not cut in half!


I have to admit to the same thought, especially for the iPhone, which is merely opened up, but oooh, that hand!
posted by blurker at 10:21 AM on June 27, 2014

"The Atom" was pretty clever. Gotta follow this one.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:21 AM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

Cool pics.*

I was, however, quite curious at the accompanying phrase on the Tank pic stating:

"Here's a Leopard Tank I cut in half."

I mean, it reads like someone happened to have both a Leopard Tank and a bajillion megawatt cutting laser in their garage, and just got bored on some rainy weekend.

I mean... it's a freaking TANK and it's in CUT in HALF.

(*I thought the sandwich was a cop out, and that iPhone is just opened up, not cut in half... among others... just sayin')
posted by Debaser626 at 10:22 AM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

It's a Leopard 1 Tank cut in half (I had a double take when I read that too)
posted by Ned G at 10:26 AM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

I was expecting this to be another Hannibal thread.

Well, the first picture of 'human cut in half' is a still from Hannibal.
posted by Flashman at 10:28 AM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

Whoa, this is awesome.

I guess I'm an idiot because I had no idea there was an actual rope wick inside a zippo?
posted by Lutoslawski at 10:34 AM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

Well, the first picture of 'human cut in half' is a still from Hannibal.

Which may as well be from Body Worlds.
posted by mkb at 10:36 AM on June 27, 2014

'human cut in half'

why
posted by supermassive at 10:37 AM on June 27, 2014 [2 favorites]

Sandwich cut in half lacks a certain something.
posted by jeather at 10:39 AM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

More at http://www.reddit.com/r/thingscutinhalfporn (Which, in classic Reddit tradition, has nothing to do with real porn, and just means "cool things cut in half")
posted by ymgve at 10:40 AM on June 27, 2014

This is cool, but... Is Twitter REALLY the best medium for this project?

Also, BEVERLY NO
posted by Gordafarin at 10:59 AM on June 27, 2014

The cables image looks like millefiori.
posted by ellieBOA at 11:00 AM on June 27, 2014 [3 favorites]

How do you cut something as delicate as a pregnant beetle or spider nest in half so cleanly?

Yon infuse the tissues with a hard or semi-hard medium that you can cut but that preserves the original spatial relationship of the internal bits. It used to be various resins, paraffin or cellulose based gels decades ago when I was in college but I'm sure they have something better these days. Then you cut it with a dissecting scope and a special wafering saw that allows you to cut stupidly thin sections of things and leaves virtually no distortion on the cut surface. 200 microns is a pretty common thickness to section for things that are fixed to slides so getting a clean cut on a whole beetle is no problem.

Anyone who does this for too many years goes mad. True story.
posted by fshgrl at 11:12 AM on June 27, 2014 [13 favorites]

Human being followed by Chipotle burrito had an affect on me.
posted by jjwiseman at 11:27 AM on June 27, 2014 [2 favorites]

so getting a clean cut on a whole beetle is no problem.

My resume is feeling decidedly second class.

Also, it looks like the twitter page is mostly copying from the Reddit link above, and of course totally leaving off any attribution (unless I'm missing where to look, which wouldn't be the first time). The pictures are cool, but is it really all that hard to say "I found this photo here, and the original source appears to be..."?
posted by Dip Flash at 11:34 AM on June 27, 2014

I was all, like, waiting for the same ol' blah basic golf ball cut in half, and they gave me a half a golf ball in a tree!
posted by BlueHorse at 1:17 PM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

I got the cut in half blues.
posted by breakin' the law at 1:28 PM on June 27, 2014

I think the thing they list as a "spider nest" may actually be a mud dauber nest. They build little cells out of mud and then paralyze spiders and take them home for their young to eat.

As I discovered once day while scraping mud dauber nests off of some outdoor furniture.

In a word, spidersplosion.
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:30 PM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

I like this take on it.
posted by zoetrope at 1:44 PM on June 27, 2014

Human being followed by Chipotle burrito had an affect on me.

I'm just going to assume this comment is referring to an occurrence on twitter, in which case, agreed.
posted by gwint at 2:12 PM on June 27, 2014 [1 favorite]

peripathetic: "Came across this recently."

That takes Brighton Rock to a whole new level!
posted by chavenet at 2:35 PM on June 27, 2014

I recognize way too many of those candy bars. Is it a thing when you take a bite, and look at it, like you expect the contents to be a surprise? Can we not trust any more?
posted by datawrangler at 2:38 PM on June 27, 2014

Whoooaaaa
posted by gwint at 10:33 AM on July 8, 2014