this post was submitted on 24 May 2025
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Science Memes

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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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  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
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  4. 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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[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 47 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Weren't there like, several millions of years where trees evolved but nothing had come yet to break down wood, so like, generations of dead forest just fell on top of each other until some fungus was like "that looks yummy"?

[–] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 47 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The molecule is called lignin. And yes, there was a good 60 million years before that particular problem was cracked.

[–] OrganicMustard@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] meyotch@slrpnk.net 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

First, we bio-engineer bacteria and fungi to prefer plastic as food.

Second, these bacteria become a serious endopathogen in the human body while scavenging our precious bodily microplastics.

Third, we engineer a bacteriophage to attack the bacteria in our brains.

Fourth…

The whole human comedy just keeps going and going

[–] OrganicMustard@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The beautiful part is that when wintertime rolls around the gorillas simply freeze to death

[–] jaded_genie@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Exactly the reference I thought of reading this

[–] TwentySeven@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

I know an old woman who swallowed a fly...

[–] Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, that is how we got coal.