Science is a lot of things. It’s a person in a lab coat experimenting with different materials as well as an astronaut bouncing around in zero gravity. It’s a geologist studying rocks and a mathematician perusing books. It’s an archeologist out on an expedition and a biologist monitoring different animal species.
That’s the great thing about science—it’s vast. It is also useful because of discoveries that allow us to advance in this world. It is exciting because it gives us new prospects to aspire to. It is ongoing, inspiring, devastating, beautiful and, also, funny.
The list below is all about the funny side of science. The jokes, the puns, the memes, and other ridiculousness that was collected and posted on The Lighter Side of Science Facebook group. Scroll down to see our favorites.
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Because science is so vast and multilayered, learning about it can be quite challenging. That’s partly because there’s so much to learn but also because it’s easy to get scared of how much there is to learn. That is where the science communication people come in. They are the ones that combine science and fun to make it appealing to all.
These are passionate people who make it their mission to spread the word of science to the common, non-science related folk. Sometimes they are researchers or medical professionals themselves and sometimes they are well-informed journalists that want the people around them to better understand the world. Either way, they are helping everyone to get excited about science.
Our whole attict is a bat sanctuary. They fly around the house at night, catching mosquitoes and we love the little buggers. Sometime they crash in the grass and I use welding gloves to gently put them back. When I grew up a tv tower was built nearby, the poor bats got disorientated and every morning I found dozens in tve grass
How often do you have to clean up the guano? That must get smelly fast.
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Bats eat the bugs that carry the diseases we get infected with but just imagine how many things could be solved if we would just leave them alone and stop destroying their homes. The Zika virus wouldn't have been a huge problem if we'd just let the bats eat the bugs that are spreading it.
Same with animals like opossums, which eat ticks like crazy. So many around here either get shot, killed by dogs, or run over. It's sad. Luckily quite a few like to stick near our house
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My grandfather used to keep pigeons. Pigeons are long gone, but dovecote is still standing and little bats use it as shelter. Bats flew into our house many times. I caught them into towels. They sometimes fell asleep before they could find way out. In that case, i used glove and carried bat to the dovecote, so my cat couldn't hurt them. I had to leave glove there, because bat grabbed it and didn't want to let go. They're adorable- little black furrballs with big ears.
soooo cute!! I love bats. We have them roosting in the roof of the house some years. so cool.
I love that myth about them flying into people's hair,bats have exceptional sonar and this will completely allow them to avoid flying into people's hair or anything else for that matter .....it's like the swan breaking a person's arm myth,it's about equivalent power
Right?? If they couldn't avoid flying into hair, they'd be permanently concussed from flying into random branches chasing bugs. That's just basic logic.
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I never understood why we sometimes instill such a hatred and fear of creepy crawlies and bats in children growing up. I was taught to respect insects, mice, and bats even though they may look “scary.” It’s okay to be afraid, but it just makes me sad when this fear ends of killing the poor creature for no reason. Bats play such a vital role in our ecosystem and help eat a lot of pest bugs. They are also essential pollinators.
I agree, and if you feel you *must* kill them, at least use humane means. I cannot believe how many people still use things like glue traps. They are at least slowly being banned in places
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I have bats hibernating under my roof. They are a protected species in Germany and as long as they do not damage anything, I do not care.
A grandaunt of me left a roof window tilted because she forgot. Went on vacation, came back to over 100 bats populating her place - hidden in literally everything. A guy from a bat-preservation-department of some sort of animal welfare club came by to collect them. Took a few hours, andi the final batcount ... a few over 100, I don't remember the exact number, and can't ask her anymore, because our alivery-status isn't identical anymore.
This is actually breaking my heart. I can't handle "the rainbow bridge" or whatever it is when a pet dies and now I can't handle tiny bat narratives. God help me...
That picture should be deleted! Please, do NOT catch it with your bare hands! A lot of bats have rabies.
Calm down evilnob the picture is likely taken from a bat sanctuary where they are vetted and tested for rabies and may be an ambassador animal. If you read the description with the picture is doesn't say to pick them up with your bare hands it's says use a blanket or towel or wait until dark and let it fly away.
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Had one stuck in our Sunday school room. Freaked everyone out. I sent them out and wanted patiently for the title one to quiet downhearted. He settled,I wrapped hi in a tshirt and took him outside. Sat him gently on a tree branch and left him there. Easy peasy
Bats are a major carrier of rabies and many other diseases. A bite or scratch from a bat may not even leave a noticeable mark, but be enough to kill you. Do NOT touch them, if you do contact a bat or find in one a room with a small child, a sleeping individual, or anyone who can't communicate if the bat touched them then contact your local public health department. If the bat can not be tested then you will likely need rabies shots. Remember if you wait until you start to experience symptoms of rabies you WILL die.
turn on all the lights. bat gets confused/blinded. it lands. you put a glass over it (glass so you can see thru it to make sure you aren't squishing a paw, tail, or wing. slide a piece of cardboard under it, carry outside into the dark and remove glass, throw cardboard into the air and bat is gone!
awww... not my favorite critter, but they're cute and I do value them as critters :)
Rescued one from a school room. Sent everyone out, then waited till he settled. Wrapped him in a tshirt and took him outside. I set him on a tree branch and left him there.
I swear half the reason my wife wants to go on tropical vacations is so she can see bats.
I had a little bat panic-flying in my 6th floor apartment hallway years ago when I got home from work. I opened the stairway fire doors and that smart sweet little critter followed me through each door downstairs until I got to the emergency door at the bottom, I held it open and he just sailed out. I was terrified someone would see it and scream for the super, who might have tried to kill it! I love bats!
10 years ago I helped Dad put up bat boxes on his barn, house, and some of the big trees on his property. The reason? He lives on the river and mosquitoes have raves in his yard. Well, used to. There's only one bat box empty now and we're moving it since the bats don't like the location I guess. But the 8 full ones do a number on the bugs.
Did tou know that in French, bats are called 'chauve-souris', which translates to 'bald mouse'.
Wrapping a little bat in a towel and placing it gently outside would heal me
If you have never seen a bat with a binky, go look that up now. Do it.
Don't follow the advice about the towel! You should never go near a bat that's in your house, not because they're terrifying vampires but because they're major carriers of rabies (and a lot of other very nasty stuff depending on your region of the world), and if you or your pets come into contact with it you'll have to get a course of rabies shots (plus the bat might be euthanized to test its brain tissue). The thing about the outside light is worth a try, but if it doesn't work, call licensed professionals to remove bats in your house.
UK bats only carry european version of rabies causing virus which transmits by bite or scratch only, if they don’t break your skin no need for shots. We have bats in the roof, they do find their way inside down the chimney once a year or so. I wait for them to land somewhere and do the usual spider catching method- cover with glass, slide a card under carefully, and carry them outside.
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Wonderful way to tell the story. Bats are great for us and it's nice to know how to help them.
So heartbreaking that 1) people are so stupid and cruel (to animals) and that 2) people are so stupid and cruel (to the natural environment. )
Former Californian. Many bats have flown down chimneys and been found to have rabies, so it's not a benign rescue if there are family pets that got up close and nosy with it if that happens.
Awww. Its a Microbat. That is sooo cute. Just don't c**p on the carpet, your poo is flammable :)
Oh! surely people don't go after bats with brooms and try to hurt them?! When it's so easy to just switch out the lights, keep silent, and wait till they reorient themselves - they soon fly outdoors again, and meanwhile it's such a privilege to encounter these charming little creatures...
We have Australian Bat Lyssavirus which can (and has) killed people from coming into contact with bat excrement or by being scratched.
To be clear, only 3%-4% of bats test positive for rabies. Whit that said, 6 of every 7 case of humans with rabies comes from bat bites. 60% of all corn would die from worms without bat presence & protection. Many other crops are bat-dependent. Most folks respond well to rabies PEP treatment. As is often, those older, younger or compromised immune systems don’t respond as well. Bats are wholly necessary, but carry a calculated risk to humans.
We used a hand held fishing net when one got in our house. That worked pretty well.
Several bats in my area have carried rabies. I think I'll call animal control if any get in my house. They get tested and if clean, released.
Oh God, how I love this. There aren't enough people who speak up for bats.
If you ever see a bat on the floor, stay the f*ck away from it! Bats are shy and usually avoid humans. If you see one just lying around on the floor, it might have rabies. Inform wildlife authorities or whomever!
Bats are not harmless. Had my attic infested was not a good thing. They also make tons of noise at night.
Opening a door and shutting all the lights off works for getting birds and other animals out of your house.
Bat's can't see. They are basically blind. They use sonar. So turning the lights off is not going to help. Need to turn all sound off. Open a door and by using sonar they can tell a opening is there and can fly outside.
Bats are not blind, that is a myth. They can see just as well as us. Many bat species use echolocation because they're active at night. But they can see. In fact, fruit bats (also called megabats or flying foxes) dont echolocate at all and have vision structures identical to humans. The rely entirely on vision to get around.
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While popularizing science has been a thing since the invention of media and the printing press, the most notable figures emerged in recent years. One of them is Carl Sagan.
Sagan was an astronomer and did a lot of research into the possibility of extraterrestrial lives. However, it wasn’t his discovery or any of his 600 papers that made him famous. It was his show Cosmos that was aired in 1980 that made him undoubtedly one of the most popular scientists back in the day.
Of course, he wasn’t a nobody before he landed the show. The science community appreciated him for his research and advocacy, though some were a little put off by his speculative approach to science. Still, he taught at Harvard and then earned his position as a full-time professor at Cornell. He was also working with NASA since the inception of the US space program in the '50s. He even briefed Apollo astronauts before going to the Moon.
Now if it were on a Perch.. Tastes like Chicken... Chicken of the sea.
He became better-known to the public after he published his best-selling science-fiction book The Dragons of Eden, which won him a Pulitzer Prize in 1977. Because of this, he was invited to write and narrate Cosmos. In it, he delved into various different topics related to space and the world around us. He told fascinating stories that got people excited about our universe.
Remember, if it bites you and you die, its venomous. If you bite it and you die, its poisonous. If it bites itself and you die, its voodoo. If you both bite each other and neither of you die, its kinky.
The 13-part series was well received by both the audience and the critics. It won an Emmy and a Peabody Award, and also became the most widely watched series in the history of American television and held that record for a whole decade after. As a result, Sagan became a cultural icon.
There is no point in having these. Unnecessary and messy... time to phase these out... I'm staying inside with all my doors shut tight... and a blow torch in case my chair turns into a spider.
In the show, he often said “billions and billions” referring to and emphasizing the innumerable amount of things in the universe. This became his catchphrase and a part of the cultural vocabulary in the '80s. Musicians were including it in their songs and comedians were incorporating it into their routines.
Furthermore, now “sagan” can be used as a unit of measurement that is equivalent to a very large number of anything (at least 4 billion or more). His name is also used when referring to the number of stars observable in the universe. This is called Sagan’s number and at the moment it’s estimated to be 300 sextillion.
When you put it like that, it makes you wonder what on earth they were doing? Also, what was going through the mind of the first person to milk a cow? I suppose we should just be thankful that they didn't do it to a bull first.
I love it when a 4 year old is so much more intelligent than a grown person.
To this day, Sagan is highly admired by many. He made many people curious about the world and even nudged some towards scientific careers. And sure, this list can never compare to the perfect knowledge and entertainment balance that he achieved in his masterpiece of a series, but, hey, it’s still pretty darn funny.
Me, a Japanese speaker who has heard a love song that mentioned being “only 10cm apart”: sounds like a you problem
Do you mind? I'm trying to do my job here.
In all seriousness, the regenerating teeth would be awesome but wouldn't be feasible, because permanent, non-replacing teeth were actually one of the great innovations in the evolution of mammals. If your teeth are always falling out and growing back, you never run out, but you also can't develop feeding strategies that rely on your teeth meeting up in a certain way, a.k.a chewing. Permanent teeth allowed the first mammals to start specializing teeth to do different jobs; if their teeth were all in different stages of development, it wouldn't work, because once you get beyond simple plant-tearing pegs or sharp points, your teeth have to make contact with each other the same way all the time to be useable. ('The Rise And Reign Of The Mammals' is a fascinating book if you have any interest in evolutionary history.) Edit: book title
Dont go sticking your hands in those pockets, there is no loose change and if you touch me afterwards I'm gonna puke on your shirt... mucus is gross!! ITS A MUCUS pocket!! worse than a sweaty pocket!!
That is actually a great answer but sadly they will tell you back how Youtube is free for people and not edited by pedo socialist satanists like the washington post
Note: this post originally had 70 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Okay, I’ve gotten to the bottom of this list, and my cat is still asleep on my shoulder, and never stays on me this long. I desperately need a shower and to get on with my day, but he’s softly purring in my ear. He also copies me if I take a deep breath in, it’s so cute! What do I do???
Okay, I’ve gotten to the bottom of this list, and my cat is still asleep on my shoulder, and never stays on me this long. I desperately need a shower and to get on with my day, but he’s softly purring in my ear. He also copies me if I take a deep breath in, it’s so cute! What do I do???
