If you are the type of person who enjoyed volcano eruptions and potato battery experiments in high school, chances are you still love science even if you aren't working in the field.
But whether you read the magazine Scientific American or watch the YouTube channel Veritasium, we at Bored Panda have something else you'll probably enjoy. The “Science Memes” Facebook group.
Brought to the internet and managed by a collective known online as LabRule, this community unites 936K members who constantly share the best science memes they find.
This post may include affiliate links.
The Best Word
Flat Earthers
Interestingly, science memes can be just what the world needs right now. According to wildlife biologist Michael Barnes, much of science has lost its curiosity.
As a result, Barnes thinks that the scientific community has created an exclusive club where your entry into it is a publication, and to stay in it, you must continue to do so at the expense of integrity, new and exciting knowledge, and trust from the public.
This exclusivity, he believes, has created a rift.
He Had A Pen
Let Me Hear
That's Right Tho
“By being overly technical, esoteric, and pedantic, the scientific community has made it virtually impossible for the layperson to understand the information being presented to them, resulting in animosity and divisiveness that has led us to this current anti-science movement,” Barnes writes.
“We look down on and condescend those who don't understand the process and then act surprised when people reject the knowledge gained from hard, credible science. For example, the current environment of climate change denial is one of the larger issues of our time.”
Poor Referee
True Af
My Blanket At 3 Am
About to go suffer this, wish me luck EDIT: thank you for wishing me luck, it helped some!
Science Lab In A Movie
Therefore, Barnes thinks that it's time for a change, and that includes funny science memes. “It's not enough to throw complicated jargon at the public. There needs to be better and more meaningful communication,” he says.
“We've come to the apex of an 'us vs. them' dichotomy where it doesn't matter what is said. 'We' are right and 'they' are wrong, and that's final. Communication needs to be more open and transparent. Both for the sake of those conducting research and those it's being communicated to, i.e., the public.”
Big Sad
6 Fries Per Serving
Adorable
Guardian Of The Galaxy
While Barnes believes that researchers need to be more precise and transparent in their research, I'll try to argue that science memes can actually facilitate all sorts of dialogues about the sciences.
After all, as writer Helen Brown pointed out, they aren't just entertainment but also have a serious side. According to researchers looking at modern forms of communication, these funniest science memes are a language in themselves, with a capacity to transcend cultures and construct collective identities between people. Not to mention that memes can also be powerful tools for self-expression, connection, social influence, and even political subversion.
Trying To Prank
Harmacist
They Misunderstood
Venn Diagrams
Why is there a cat with only one ear and only roughly 2/3 of its head? A bit abnormal but 10/10 would still give pets and pspspspspspspspspss
Paolo Gerbaudo, a reader in digital politics and director of the Centre for Digital Culture at King's College London, describes funny science memes as a “sort of a ready-made language with many kinds of stereotypes, symbols, situations. A palette that people can use, much like emojis, in a way, to convey content.”
Interior Designer
Very Angry
Please Help
Soup Too Salty
Researchers at Facebook, for example, showed in a 2014 study just how widely science memes posted on the social media site can spread and evolve. In one example, they found 121,605 different variants of one particular meme posted across 1.14 million status updates.
Accurate Af
What Dream?
I wish you could like… see your brain’s search history but with dreams
You Pick The Name
Holographic Meatloaf
Memes tap into our collective consciousness and have been referred to as digital folklore – or “Netlore.” “We can see not just the new ways people do things or the new ways people express themselves in public but also some of the themes, some of the anxieties or desires people have. All of these complex issues are reflected in things like memes,” says Gerbaudo.
So if the scientific community really is stagnant in the way it communicates, isn't an intuitive and quick-spreading format of science memes exactly what could remedy the problem?
If you agree with us, continue checking out the awesome “Science Memes” Facebook group finds we still have on this list!
Real
He Is Cheating On Potassium
When You're A Teacher
Blowing My Mind
Uranus In Front Of A New Generation
If people would just pronounce it correctly it wouldn't be a problem! Say it with me, Yur-a-nus.
When You Got A Geography Test
I’m neurodivergent (according to the recent literature and evaluations) and I have a weird thing of being able to recreate entire maps, geospatial areas, and the globe in my imagination. But the freaky (deaky) bit is that I can follow entire historical narratives across the maps like I’m watching a film. And then focus on specific groups of people or individuals to follow them. It’s interesting but extremely intense. Sometimes I have to try to turn it off when it gets too much. Especially as I’m a war historian. Unfortunately, my condition includes being ultra-empathetic which means I have the tendency to take on others’ pain. Not great in my profession.
He Has Been Waiting
Thank U
Just 50 Years
Getting Into Science
Cats Are Liquid
Cats are jello! They’re solids that also take the shape of whatever container they’re in! Cats are jello!
We Do It At 7am
Biochemist And Gym Bro
It Was By Us In Another Paper
Writing In Heartbeats
Run As Administrator
We Walk Today
Talk Dirty
The Enjoyment Of Childhood Humor
Detect Photoshop
NASA is always upfront about the colorizing it does, so I'm guessing this is a "moon landing was faked" conspiracy theory reference?
So Basically I Just Passed A Science Scholarship Exam And I'm Still Single So
Maybe I'm Quantum Physics
Find GF
Real
in our paper classes there is a specific time period where hands go up and try to remember whether it is the right hand rule or left hand rule and wondering why the f**k do we have 2 of them
The Math Is Hard
@40, Kids.....@40
Onion Fights Back
Please Fix It
Black-Torsoed Yellowbird
Everyone Else On The Submarine
First Law Of Motion
Hahajahhaha basically how i only wake up after my morning medicine and a bit of time here on BP
Math Jokes
I Totally Relate
Something Of A Scientist
Extremely Sorry
I See The Sun
Carboniferous Flora
This Might Work
123123
True Or False
Agagaga
Always Waiting
They warp space time too and it leads to very interesting results
Best Way To Test A Battery
What About The Other Planets?
It's A Painting
The What
Ed Sheeran Albums
It's Ariel
It Keeps Improving You
Potato
Wormholes
Very basic way of explaining such a complicated and amazing thing
Digestive System.jpeg
Oops
Online Learning
Why Are There Still Monkeys?
Because we're not "descended from monkeys". We share a common ancestor with monkeys and apes. We're cousins, basically.
Your Kids Deserve
I'm Going To Tell Mom
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3D10
Straight From Chatgpt (Stolen'tn't)
Teacher Trying To Explain
Everyone Has Done This Before
Looking At My Friends
Solving Math Problem
Once the age i got for a mom was like 1986- which only now do i realize must have been the birth year
Is This The Case With Other Physics Postgrads?
Professor After Reading My Answers
Well I just finished my exams... This is probably happening rn
When You Don't Have A Enough Money
In Michigan they put ACs at floor level, which is great if you're a toddler.
Chemist
I'll Change Him
Hahahshahha
I Will Never Look Again
Happy Anniversary
any amazing math peoples out there who can figure this out??? lol
Innate Immunity
I find that analogy lacking... Innate immunity is usually efficient, while studying the night before an exam, well...
Why!
A long time ago, the foundation of science was asking questions: "What is that?" "Why is it there?" "Why does it do that?" Then came "guided" science, originally envisioned as a kind of short cut, but used by corporate science to hurry things along. People would make a hypothesis and then tried to find evidence to support the hypothesis, frequently discarding contradictory evidence. Now we've reached the end of science, the stage I like to call "You can't question this! It's SCIENCE!!!"
H - 0 = H
I Put My Hand In The Toaster
While it would be empirically impossible to test for absolute certainty, I do contend that the data at hand point toward one conclusion in particular with regard to this case study. That being said, I must however remain open to the unlikely but undeniable statistical probability that the results of this experiment could potentially be inconclusive or misleading.
First Guy To Eat A Carrot
Blame On Your University
The First Chatgpt User
If You Don't Love Me
Her BF Doesn't Know
It Was Easy
My son is a university student in America, and having grown up in Japan, he sometimes has trouble with some of the academic language. He sent me a scientific paper last years that totally blew my mind and changed the way I see a particular thing. You're never too old to learn science.
My son is a university student in America, and having grown up in Japan, he sometimes has trouble with some of the academic language. He sent me a scientific paper last years that totally blew my mind and changed the way I see a particular thing. You're never too old to learn science.