Science Memes
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
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Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
If you are here asking: "Is this a science meme?"
Probably, yes. We use the Dawkins definition of meme: a replicating idea, not just an image macro with a fact on it. A good post here doesn't need to teach you something. It needs to make you ask something: who, what, where, when, and especially why or how.
Science isn't a filing cabinet of facts, it's a conversation. For example, a photo of an eel or other localized wildlife counts because most people never see one, and wonder is the first step of inquiry. A car meme counts if it makes you curious about what's under the bonnet. If you want to talk about something you noticed in the world, chances are someone else wants to talk about it too.
We moderate for vibe, not category. Pruning is light, especially where a post creates interesting discussion. Experimenting is encouraged.
See the pinned paper on Shitposting as Public Pedagogy if you want the academic case for why this works.
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Miscellaneous
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How much was the oxygen and where has it gone since then?
Currently oxygen is about 20% of the atmosphere. In the Carboniferous period, 60 million years ago, it's thought to have gotten as high as 30%.
Oxygen is highly reactive, and the O2 configuration is not particularly stable, so over time it gets locked up in other molecules, which are then burred or deposited at the bottom of bodies of water.
Oxygen has always been plentiful on earth, but for most of geologic history it was bound up in solid molecules in the crust. Nearly 2.5 billion years ago, bacteria began "unlocking" gaseous O2 as a byproduct of the nitrogen based chemical reaction they lived on.