Don't believe us? Just take an (extremely close-up) look at ...

The world is full of magic, it's just that a lot of it isn't visible without special tools. Fortunately, microscopes exist. Because when you take normal, everyday things and magnify them by a factor of about a bajillion, it's like you're suddenly in a whole new world where the rivers run with LSD and every crop is magic mushrooms.

9 Sand

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Also known as the most boring freaking landscape possible. But throw a few grains under a microscope and ...

Via A Grain of Sand, Dr. Gary Greenberg

That's right, your beach thong is encrusted with valuable gems.

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Holy shit. Just look at that translucent little guy in the center, with its perfect little swirl. And the one at the bottom with its microscopic tiger stripes, never to be beheld except maybe by some unappreciative dick of a sand crab.

See, that's the thing about sand -- it's not just a bunch of tiny little rocks, it's a bunch of tiny little everything. In that picture, you're seeing little bits that have scraped off of the shells of sea creatures, some dried up plankton, coral, bits of minerals and who knows what else. Here's some sand from a lake in Minnesota:

Via A Grain of Sand, Dr. Gary Greenberg

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And here's what you'll have stuck between your toes if you walked around a beach in Namibia (the pink and red stuff is garnet):