this post was submitted on 04 Jul 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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[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 2 points 16 hours ago

They are bottom of the food chain prey animals. Like mice, rabbits and deer. They evolved to run away from predators, and reproduce fast enough to make up for the loss. And, if one get taken down or falls while fleeing from predators, it should fail catastrophically. This way the predators stop chasing the others. If 3 horses get injured fleeing, that's 3 horses that will die. If one gets injured and fails immediately, the others are saved and the heard is better off.

Rabbits have a literal suicide mechanism. When a hawk grabs a rabbit their hearts explode before the hawk can even carry it off. Because a rabbit wriggling away only to die on the ground can mean another healthy rabbit gets nabbed to fulfill the same meal.

They are the glass cannons of running away.