this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 87 points 3 months ago (1 children)

PIcking up platypi is, per my experience, right up there with quicksand as far as frequency of encounters is concerned. I'm not saying it won't happen, but if I do have to pick up a platypus, and there's some quicksand around then I'm gonna go buy a lottery ticket, if you see what I mean.

[–] tpihkal@lemmy.world 29 points 3 months ago (4 children)
[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 28 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] svcg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Unironically correct, but also very funny.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago (1 children)

what no i'm not allowed to be correct fuck

[–] lime@feddit.nu 11 points 3 months ago

platypodes nuts

[–] Texas_Hangover@lemmy.radio 5 points 3 months ago

Platypusii.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 15 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Do you also say, "octopussies"?

[–] miked@sh.itjust.works 23 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 8 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Not to be confused with the elusive cocktopus

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 months ago

not to be confused with the extremely dangerous glocktopus

[–] Kellenved@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago

One day we’ll find this mythical being, there are top men on the case, and also bottom men

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Oh, a Roger Moore fan?

[–] tpihkal@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

The correct spelling is "platypuses", you degenerates.

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 44 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Also makes a handy melee weapon in a pinch

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 25 points 3 months ago (1 children)

1d4 bludgeoning with 1d6 poison on a crit.

[–] ook@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 3 months ago

Also psychological damage, at least 1d10. I mean, could you imagine someone attacking you with a live platypus?

[–] oleorun@lemmy.fan 10 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I've been reading a military sci-fi book series about soldiers who can be resurrected, essentially infinitely. Being military sci-fi, many of the books are about battles that start with either traveling or fighting in space but are resolved on the ground. It's not explicitly said, but the resources seem to be essentially endless.

As such, when transitioning from ship-based to ground-based combat, the troops follow an unreliable process that involves jumping into a shell that is then fired at the ground like a bullet. Since they can be resurrected, not much care is put into making the launch process terribly consistently survivable.

People who don't survive their launch, especially recruits, are called "splats."

edit: Spelling.

[–] Zoot@reddthat.com 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What is this book series called??

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Undying Mercenaries by BV Larson

Be warned: while I am enjoying the stories, the books could have used quite a bit more proofreading.

[–] Zoot@reddthat.com 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Right on, appreciate it! Honestly from what you were saying it just sounds like helldivers to me lol

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

There are definitely comparable elements of the premises.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago
[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 30 points 3 months ago
[–] svcg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 3 months ago

This will surely come in handy next time I have to do this.

[–] TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 3 months ago (1 children)

encounters with wild animals should always happen on their terms not yours!

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 29 points 3 months ago

That sounds a lot like something a seagull would say.

[–] cybervseas@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago (2 children)
[–] i_love_FFT@jlai.lu 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)

As per the Wikipedia page on platipuses vebom:

Crocodiles, Tasmanian devils and raptors are known local predators to the platypus, all of which can be impacted by the venom.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 27 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Silly predators don't know to hold the platypus up by the end of the tail!

[–] FerretyFever0@fedia.io 9 points 3 months ago

Idiots, no wonder the platypus is still around!

[–] Manifish_Destiny@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

On they feet

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 17 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Is this true? Can someone confirm? I wouldn't like to grab a platypus this way only to find out it was a troll and get spurred.

[–] hansolo@lemmy.today 11 points 3 months ago

Kind of confirmed! Might only apply to wild ones or pissed off males - anything else I can find on YT is both from this same woman, and a full on love-fest with them like some sort of goofy water puppykittyducky.

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 14 points 3 months ago

I'll remember that the next time I need to pickup a platypus!

[–] artifex@piefed.social 9 points 3 months ago

I hope to have to use this information someday.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

TIL a platypus makes venom.

[–] shittydwarf@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 22 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Non-necrotizing, non-fatal. There’s waaaaay worse out there, and much more commonly found too. Pain sucks, no doubt about that, but you’ll survive and not lose a limb.

Interestingly there’s a D-amino acid in their genome which is the only D-amino acid found thus far in mammals.

[–] TrousersMcPants@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

Yeah but it's very long lasting venom and doesn't respond well to pain medication iirc, so it's still pretty high on the list of nasty venoms I think

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

What effect does platypus venom have on a human, anyway? Is it super deadly or just like a minor spider bite? πŸ€”

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 23 points 3 months ago

Painful but not deadly. Wikipedia mentions someone complaining about the pain a month after.

[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 5 points 3 months ago

On the pain scale.

[–] Zink@programming.dev 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I don't know if this is correct about platypuses, but this IS generally how you handle snapping turtles and you are much more likely to deal with one of those.

Their dangerous trick has nothing to do with their legs though. It's their neck. It is very long, very flexible, and fast. If you hold them the wrong way, they can hit you with a reach-around that is very much not the friendly sex move.

Stay tuned for more wildlife handling tips from me, your local halfway engineer-turned-farmer!

Edit to add a photo I found on an informational website about these longbois:

https://www.chelydra.org/neck.jpg

[–] llii@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 3 months ago

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

[–] AntiOutsideAktion@hexbear.net 0 points 3 months ago

stealing this for my ttrpg character sheet