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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.

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.

#2

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

Diane Ohlzen Report

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Panda Kicki
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4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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#11

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

Steven Downs Report

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Doctor Strange
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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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.

#13

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IFLScience Report

#15

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

Makenzee Jade Report

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Crybabyartist
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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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.

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#17

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

Aleksandra Bilewicz Report

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Andy Cran
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

being a Brit myself and it not of any real use to me I really like this

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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.

#20

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg Report

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Did I say that out loud? (he/him)cis/het
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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#21

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg Report

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Multa Nocte
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love it when a 4 year old is so much more intelligent than a grown person.

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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. 

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#22

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

greenisneon Report

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BrownTabby
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Me, a Japanese speaker who has heard a love song that mentioned being “only 10cm apart”: sounds like a you problem

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#29

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Alanna Marie Fresquez-Apodaca Report

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Bookworm
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5 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

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#31

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

Christine Nicole Bagley Report

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Bec
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unlike most Internet trolls, most scientists are open to new ideas and possibilities

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Flora Porter
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But they're easy to wind up. My biochemist ex could be instantly distracted as needed by asking him if a vegetable was organic. 'It's not f-ing INorganic, is it?'

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Anyone-for-tea?
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ha ha ha. Or maybe this random YouTube video with 20 views will blow this one wide open!

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me McG
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Facebook is like a black hole ... where truth and time go to die.

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beautiful plumage
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i like how he had to lower his mask so that we could hear him. even though it's a comic so all we really could've done is read what he could've said with the mask on.

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Sonja
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4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you look at the strange propositions some scientists have exploded, you know that a true scientist will not care where the idea comes from, only that it's interesting. Scientists know perfectly well that expert blindness is a thing and some of the most important discoveries came from scientists watching children play or the 'layman's test' where you talk with someone outside of your echo bubble about your work to get a fresh point of view. Real scientists are very open to all kinds of questions and I when I was at uni we got explicitly told not to behave as if science was gospel. Science is supposed to explain and explore things, not to risk 'organizational blindness' and groupthink. Many important discoveries have been made by people we would call laymen nowadays. Examples are Gregor Mendel, Benjamin Franklin, Otto Lilienthal and the brothers Wright. All self educated workers who never got a formal degree.

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Dana Seilhan
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There actually are people on the internet with interesting ideas and far too many scientists on industry payrolls. Something's gotta give.

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#39

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg Report

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Crybabyartist
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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!!

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#41

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Diane Ohlzen Report

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Fat Harry
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4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Entirely numeric passwords are a terrible idea because they're so easily brute-forced.

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#42

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S Dharma Teg Report

#44

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

Gowtham Prithvi Report

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Jack Burton
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5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

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#50

Humorous-Light-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg Report

Note: this post originally had 70 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.