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It’s no secret that science has accelerated the progress of humanity. Without the curious minds that seek to explore our surroundings, we wouldn’t have the breakthroughs and discoveries that created the world we live in today. But while our fascination with biology, physics, chemistry, and other captivating fields shows no signs of fading, not every practice is worth celebrating.

Some scientific advancements shock us with their mysterious and uncanny nature. But if we take a deeper look, they can be plenty entertaining too! So let us introduce you to a Facebook group called 'The Darker Side Of Science.' This online community is all about discussing the lesser-known methods that may not sit so well today, and sharing some science-related laughs along the way. "Bad experiments, worse scientists, studies you wish to god you could unsee, and much, much more," the admins write in the description, providing space for the interestingly weird and equally hilarious.

Our science-loving team has gone through their feed and collected some of the geekiest memes and jokes to share with you all. Enjoy scrolling through this hilarious compilation and be sure to hit upvote on your favorite ones. Keep reading to also find our in-depth interview about our fascination with mysterious things with licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Jesse Matthews. And if you’re in the mood for some lighter scientific content, check out our previous publication filled with science memes right over here.

Even though 'The Darker Side Of Science' group over on Facebook has only recently celebrated its first birthday, it has gained a strong foothold on the platform. More than 424k members swiftly share or eagerly wait for new shocking and humorous posts to grace their feeds. But the whopping number of people fascinated with bizarre scientific practices begs the question, why are we so engaged with uncanny things in life? Dr. Jesse Matthews, a licensed clinical psychologist based in Chester Springs, PA, explained that we humans are simply drawn to the dark and mysterious.

"We find human nature to be fascinating, particularly things we don’t understand like organized crime, cults, or conspiracies. And of course, this applies to things other than humans, like Bigfoot, aliens, ghosts, demon possession, or the Bermuda Triangle," he told Bored Panda.

The psychologist pointed out that anything that's challenging for us to understand seems to capture our interest. "This certainly explains the popularity of the true crime genre of TV, books, podcasts, and movies. This is a great outlet for many people to look at the darker side of life or to think about things we don’t easily understand," he added.

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One reason we pay attention to the abnormal and seek to understand mysterious things is that we are hardwired to observe and try to make sense of our surroundings, Dr. Matthews said. "This is certainly true in our environment, as it is important to take notice of potential threats, even though survival isn’t something most people need to be concerned about."

"This explains anxiety, though, which relates to us worrying about potential threats or perceiving things as threatening that may not be," he continued. "Not everyone has an issue with anxiety, of course, but we all pay attention to our surroundings and make some effort to make sense of them. This may also apply to things we find to be mysterious, as we have an innate desire to want to understand." Dr. Matthews added that when it comes to rarer or less common things in life, our interest could jump to a whole new level.

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Of course, life isn’t only black and white. What may seem dark and dangerous to one person could be totally captivating to another. We were curious to learn more about our tendency to label things to certain categories and see them as binary opposites. "It is 100% true that we should try not to see life in a simple, binary fashion," Dr. Matthews told us. "I would argue that seeing things this way is a large part of many of our problems today."

The psychologist stressed that life is full of gray areas, and we oversimplify things by seeing them as black and white. "Whether we’re talking about people, places, situations, or even ourselves, seeing the positives and the negatives helps us to see the fuller picture and gives us a better perspective than making quick and likely unfair judgments. Failing to see the gray in ourselves and our own lives is problematic and can lead to issues like perfectionism, unrealistic expectations, anxiety, or depression. In fact, helping people to think in less black and white terms is probably one of the main things I do as a therapist," he revealed.

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Shawna Martinez Wyrick Report

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Emmydearest
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fun fact: italian bats don't sing "country roads", they in fact yell "MARCOOO!" to which their pray responds with "POLOOOO!".

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"Seeing the gray areas can be helpful as well for helping us to deal with life," Dr. Matthews said. "This allows us to see the bigger picture and to have more information to go off of when making decisions, but can also help us to have a healthier perspective."

As an example, he mentioned that being able to see good things in difficult situations, as well as finding humor in the face of unfortunate problems can help us cope. "It’s also healthy and positive to be able to laugh at ourselves. It helps us to accept ourselves as imperfect and to take ourselves less seriously."

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MagicalUnicorn
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it just shows that George Clooney would do anything not to date women hiss own age :D

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The Facebook group in question is a perfect example of just how brightly light can shine in the darkness. The members of this community share opinions and participate in discussions about crooked scientists, dire experiments, and questionable studies and add a fun twist while they’re at it. And as we all know, laughter is the best medicine, and the best way to take is to chuckle at things we can easily relate to.

"Finding or seeking out humor is actually a great coping skill," Dr. Matthews added. "Whether it’s noticing or pointing out something funny about a current or past situation or whether it’s watching a funny TV show or movie, standup comedy, or funny videos or memes, I think it’s very healthy." The psychologist also mentioned that for many people, humor played a big part in helping them get through the pandemic and the political and social issues of the last few years.

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When people are dealing with particular situations in their lives, Dr. Matthews always encourages them to think about different perspectives and look at these incidents in different ways. Moreover, he suggested that writing them out in a notebook or on your laptop helps people see them more clearly.

"For example, thinking about whether there is any humor to be found in the situation or anything positive. I might ask them to list three potential positives, or even just one if they’re hard to find. This can be a helpful exercise for seeing the gray areas more often, which is an important skill to have in life," he concluded.

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Sasha Kuleshov
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Metal Dinosaurs playing tiny guitars with their tiny claws? Disney, I have a pitch to you :D

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Gul Dukat
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Glad to see Harry Potter finally managed to master that spell to fix his eyesight.

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Charles 222
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why would he be killed anyways? Creature is in the yard minding his own business amd someone wants to brag they didn't kill it ? Such stupidity

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Walter Brameld
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Danger, Will Robinson! Our records indicate that your vehicle currently does not have a coverage plan!

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Claudia Perelli Hentschel Report

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Roxy Eastland
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is a tortoise!! A tortoise!! Why do Americans insist on calling them turtles????? Turtles live in water. Drives me bonkers.

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Marlowe Fitzpatrik
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dude, in German, they're all "Schildkröte" no matter where they live. It doesn't have anythign to do with the "evil Americans", it could just as well be another language than English that doesn#T make the difference and just translates it from there.

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Bored Retsuko
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To think that until not long ago, it was common (where I live at least) to drill a hole into pet turtles' "shells" to keep them on a rope ... 🙁

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Keller22
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They've figured it all out. And the huge ones grunt loudly as they do the deed.Scared my young daughter when she heard it!

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Al Padilla
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually not an exoskeleton. It has a covering of modified "skin" cells, so technically, the calcified shell is inside, made mostly of fused ribs.

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Vicki Perizzolo
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

exactly - do NOT hit them with your car, truck, bicycle OR skateboard. they are amazing creatures and harm no one

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Celtic Pirate Queen
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A couple in San Diego saw a tortoise so they threw it in the water, thinking it was out of its element. TURTLES live in the water, TORTOISES are LAND animals, you f*cking morons. Yeah, it drowned. They were charged - thank God.

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Deep One
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also their shells have nerves and damage to them causes pain.

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commie pinkofag
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now try to convince a religious person that they are not "inside" their body.

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Krishna Vasanth
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Getting major palpatine vibes. I am the senate. They are their shells

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