this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 111 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 26 points 1 month ago

I would have loved this in school.

[–] grranibal@lemmy.zip 23 points 1 month ago

I LOVE the “you are here”

[–] luthis@lemmy.nz 54 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Everything that isn't green should be 'definitely not' and several green ones are questionable

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 33 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The particular form the element is in also matters a lot.

Take helium, for example. Is it really possible to 'lick' a gas? I'd say it's not. You could lick liquid helium, though ... and you really shouldn't, unless you enjoy severe frostbite on your tongue.

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[–] neo2478@sh.itjust.works 41 points 1 month ago (3 children)

You can totally lick Sodium! Its natures poprocks!

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

In theory, if you dry enough your tongue, you can lick sodium, i wouldn't keep it on my tongue longer tha 0.5s tho

well, i wouldn't keep it on my tongue at all tbf

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[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 36 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's 100% accurate. But just in case, could you have the map on you when you go around licking things? The resultant news article will be way funnier that way.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Sure! I'll keep that in mind for my next lickpacking tour across Europe.

[–] binarytobis@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Gonna have to vet the Blarney Stone before I lick it. Could be made out of anything.

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[–] forbiddencherry@lemmy.today 31 points 1 month ago

Na: bad. Cl: bad. NaCl: amazing!

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 29 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Some of the purple ones have a time limit to lick them before you die that starts once you enter the room they are kept. You'll still die after licking them, but you would at least have licked it if you're quick.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 1 month ago

So those are "yes, but hurry"?

jots down in notebook

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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Pshh. You can lick any of them once.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

You really shouldn't, though.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 35 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 month ago

I can be, though, if you ask nicely..

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Oganesson has a half-life of about 0.7 ms and is excruciatingly difficult to synthesize in a way that even lasts on the order of milliseconds. The beam it's created in is sent to a semiconductor detector. You'd be stretching the definition of "lick" very heavily if you could even convolute a way to make it land on the human tongue.

[–] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Easy, just send the beam to their tongue instead of the duperwhatsit detector. Bam. Licked.

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[–] boolean_sledgehammer@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago

If you can get your tongue inside the machinery they use at Lawrence Livermore to create a split-second instance of some rare Earth actinide, you deserve to lick it.

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 16 points 1 month ago (11 children)

Okay if you think licking lead and uranium is maybe not a good idea then I think you need to reevaluate your decision making skills.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

I wouldn’t lick lead as a hobby, but a quick one wouldn’t be the end of things.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

So you're saying that it's a GREAT idea?

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[–] saltnotsugar@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The periodic table is surprisingly lickable.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 month ago

Coming from someone identifying as salt, that's high praise! 😁

[–] Juviz@lemmy.zip 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It’s really funny, yesterday I saw a dude walk around with a T-shirt with exactly this periodic table and thought it was hilarious and now I find this

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[–] BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Licking calcium is fine?

I guess if you're okay with the nasty burn...

[–] Bashnagdul@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Won't kill you is this tables version of fine.

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[–] Davel23@fedia.io 14 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Can you lick a gas? I would think it would need to be at least liquid, and once some of these are in a lickable state you probably wouldn't want to go ahead and do it.

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[–] spectrums_coherence@piefed.social 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I wouldn't advise licking calciums:

The chemistry of calcium is that of a typical heavy alkaline earth metal. For example, calcium spontaneously reacts with water more quickly than magnesium but less quickly than strontium to produce calcium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. It also reacts with the oxygen and nitrogen in air to form a mixture of calcium oxide and calcium nitride.[14] When finely divided, it spontaneously burns in air to produce the nitride. Bulk calcium is less reactive: it quickly forms a hydration coating in moist air, but below 30% relative humidity it may be stored indefinitely at room temperature.[15]

Because calcium reacts exothermically with water and acids, calcium metal coming into contact with bodily moisture results in severe corrosive irritation.[59] When swallowed, calcium metal has the same effect on the mouth, oesophagus, and stomach, and can be fatal.[46] However, long-term exposure is not known to have distinct adverse effects.[59]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium

Because of vigorous reaction of quicklime with water, quicklime causes severe irritation when inhaled or placed in contact with moist skin or eyes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_oxide

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 month ago

So.. I should lick it fast and then hide from the effects under a table?

[–] sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

why is it fine to lick calcium? wouldn't that cause sever burns?

[–] Liz@midwest.social 12 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

It would, don't do it. There's more than one questionable assignment on the table including magnesium right above it.

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[–] MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

I posted this a long time ago. Got sent Cody's Labs list, and it was very different. He has licked so many...

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[–] bryndos@fedia.io 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Can you lick a gas? Or do you have to cool it down until liquid?

[–] j5y7@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

My brother once farted so bad I could taste it.

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[–] zener_diode@feddit.org 10 points 1 month ago

Technetium really should be purple. The isotope that you'd be most likely to get some of (used for nuclear medicine) has a half-life of about 6 hours, and is appropriately radioactive.

[–] realitista@lemmus.org 10 points 1 month ago (3 children)

If lead is "maybe not a good idea", the rest of these must be really bad ideas. I like that there's still 2 more levels above lead. I assume the second level just explodes or vaporises you instantly or something.

[–] BitUnWise@programming.dev 7 points 1 month ago

Licking lead once is completely fine, just don't make a habit of it

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 6 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Some of these would explode on contact with your tongue, yes.

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[–] atx_aquarian@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

The good version of this says "see you on the other side".

[–] crimsonpoodle@pawb.social 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How many licks to get to the center of a sodium lollipop

[–] WiredBrain@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 month ago

If you have enough saliva, just one...

[–] SethTaylor@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

😏 Are you a green element on the periodic table? Cause I wanna lick you

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