this post was submitted on 05 May 2026
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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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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.

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See the pinned paper on Shitposting as Public Pedagogy if you want the academic case for why this works.



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[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 71 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

Planes don't have to be in perfect working order to be safe you can lose ~1,500,000 of those 2,000,000 parts and be fine. The redundancy is what makes it safe.

[–] Cypher@aussie.zone 29 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I’ve always wondered where the redundant wings are hidden

[–] 18107@aussie.zone 33 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They've got 2 extra small ones at the back.

https://xkcd.com/3241/

[–] Starfighter@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 months ago

Randall's timing is impeccable sometimes

[–] LodeMike@lemmy.today 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The wing itself is not redundant, just like the body. It has tens of thousands of rivets though.

[–] psud@aussie.zone 4 points 2 months ago

Redundancy helps, but high precision engineering and massive testing means we hardly ever see a plane landing with only one of its two engines working