26 Scientists Reveal Their Most Embarrassing Fieldwork Fails, And It’s Hilarious
When scientists step outside their safe laboratories, anything can happen. Of course, studying wild animals or digging out million-year-old fossils sounds exotic and exciting, but that's only one side of the spectrum. The other side is sometimes gross and scary but mostly it's hilarious. In 2015 scientists started sharing their most embarrassing #Fieldworkfails, and recently French illustrator Jim Jourdane has decided to compile the most memorable ones and turn them into amusing whimsical drawings.
From gluing yourself to a crocodile to walking in a thunderstorm with a 10 feet (3 metre) aerial, these moments show us that science is full of hilarious trainwrecks, too. Jourdane interviewed all scientists whose stories were included in his book to get a better understanding of their fieldwork and its details. "I talked to [them] I realized that there's a lot of problems of communication with the general public about how they work, what they do," he told Gizmodo. Thus, he tried to make his visual anecdotes available to everyone: "Eleven year old children, my grandmother, friends, scientists."
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I hope you had the good sense to anesthetize the fellow BEFORE applying the glue. :D
Actually Agata explains the whole process in the book :) These illustrations are part of a book, that will be available in a few weeks (I'm the illustrator) Capture-de...f0-png.jpg
I glue myself to everything I glue. But I have to admit, there were very few crocodiles among.
Also, there's the cool band from Australia called Sticky Fingers. And one of the great tour by Rolling Stones was Sticky Fingers. Sorry for my comment (but I'm so into music) :D
Load More Replies...I'm curious Angela, how did you manage to mark the jaguar's territory sign? And then stick around his territory for three weeks. Perhaps the big cat was trying to mate with you? ;D
Be honest, Angela, you're not really here for the research, are you? #notjudging
Load More Replies...Jaguar: "I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for a toilet, I can tell you I don't have it. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I've acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my tree alone, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you. I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you. I will find you……and I will kill you."
EXACTLY , THE WORST THING, THAT YOU COULD DO, TO P!SS OFF A BIG MALE CAT, OR ANY MALE CAT!
Unfortunately, "survival of the fittest" is not always kind. RIP, Mr. Flappy!
I have this mental image of a group of baboons nearly falling out of the tree laughing!!
She answers your question in the book, actually :D
Load More Replies...You should've played it out in the open ocean. I once saw a documentary on TV where they played AC/DC under water and it attracted sharks. Great White ones. https://www.prosieben.de/tv/galileo/videos/4293-heavy-metal-haie-clip (sorry, it's in German. But the cause for it attracting sharks is due to the bass in their songs)
Maybe the zebras will become fans of AC/DC - and they will live forever lionfree.
"I got nine lives Cat's eyes Abusin' every one of them and running wild...."
Next time I go hiking in a lion infested velt I'm packing A.C. D. C. and a boombox.
In case anyone ever wondered if AC/DC sounds like wounded buffalo .... apparently not.
aww they love you ^_^ no wonder the scientist job is so hard and sometimes dangerous.
I'm curious...................how long is the gestation period after mating with a Tanner beetle? Is it possible there may be twins....to the power of 100 !!
This cartoon does not represent the circumstances. The vials exploded because the suitcase was stored in a non-pressurized compartment. Passenger compartments are always pressurized, and this would not have happened.
You're right John ! (I'm the illustrator) I exagerated a little bit in the illustration, in the book I explain more in detail that the scientist discovered the mess only when she opened her suitcase at home :)
Load More Replies...That's unfortunately the grossest thing I have ever seen that poor woman and then trying to explain herself after. " it's okay people it's just elephant blood everything is fine."
The samples were in the cargo hold, and were sealed, but some were obviously not sealed well enough to deal with the pressure change (NB most made it, but there were enough that popped their seals to make this...interesting). Jim illustrated this in a funnier way than what actually happened - don't worry! Also, everything was permitted, including all the hands on work with the elephants. And everything was done with several wildlife veterinarians (including myself) involved.
I've had a fountain pen explode in the so-called-pressurized passenger compartment of an airplane, in my handbag, so why couldn't vials of elephant blood explode?
I played with the vial, there's blood on the plane, Oh Baby, Baby.......
Load More Replies...did airline sue you for the mess, am sure blood on carpet and seat covers cannot be cleaned
Blood can be cleaned. Crime scene steam and clean guys do that all the time.
Load More Replies...OMG! LOL!!! I just laughed so hard and nearly fell off my ball at work. Had to explain to coworkers. Laughed just as hard.
Load More Replies...This would make a great opening episode to Narcos season 4
Load More Replies...He did! But went back after five minutes to take photos with all other students :D
Load More Replies...Honestly, without this image I would've not get the idea. Thanks artist.
Hi I would like to apologise for my random texts above. Believe it or not I did them in my sleep. Some people sleepwalk I sleep text. I am a very weird person. I wish I could say alcohol was involved but I am steadfastly teetotal.
There is a fun fact that birds prefer red cars which I think is true as my mum has a red car that the local bird population love to
Very easily, it's behind you. If someone focuses on something as a danger and clears it, in their mind it forms an association that makes them think the danger is past, so they stop looking for it. This is the reason why bombs sometimes have two or more triggers.
Load More Replies...Someone else was staring through another binoculars for invasive hoomans
Don't worry, you'll get it back.... in about a day or two.... Just don't lick it afterwards! :D
You'll get the pure joy of having to dig it out and clean it off again. No dust this time. Yay!
Load More Replies...The simplest, quickest, cheapest and most accurate method.
Load More Replies...Lick the object? If you dont eat food off the floor how do u get the courage to put your tongue on someting with old dust on it
Because that’s literally the best way to know if it’s fossil or not.
Load More Replies...Hahaha! I don't know, but he's alive now. Maybe that answers your question :D
Load More Replies...That's impressive. I can't even write elvish when I'm sober.
There was a bridge over a river you thought you could jump across?? Either youre VERY optimistic or the bridge is very short
Or the river was narrower at the point where she tried to jump across it.
Load More Replies...Those bees should have tiny question marks over their heads in the picture.
That was a good idea! Too late, the book is printed!
Load More Replies...Dance like you've got ants in your pants! ...Wait, you actually have ants in those? This may be a problem...
This sounds like something that would happen to my husband the entomologist! He just did his first fieldwork with Africanized bees in Peru a couple of months ago. It was quite the learning experience!
to find out that the chicken was already eaten.. yes such a dissapointment
Load More Replies...A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap; from early Scandinavian; Danish: mødding, Swedish regional: mödding)[1] is an old dump for domestic waste[2] which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, sherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation
Hey, it might still have been a midden. Just a much more recent one than what you were expecting.
Yes, sorry ! The illustration was more dynamic with the inversion
Load More Replies...Ppl are taking these way too seriously. They're cartoons, accuracy isn't paramount.
And even if you grab it's tail - nope! That a*****e can drop it off like it's not a big deal!
Load More Replies...So those lights that have "part time signal"...the rest of the time they're bats? I always wondered - thanks, science. :-)
Don't be so hard on yourself... who hasn't done that at least once?
I can't believe this one is real. Seems more like cartoon. How can you not see a damn elephant? xD
well, from the right side when all coverd in dried up mud and lying still they may look like rocks, right?
Load More Replies...Parked a good distance from the herd? of seals, in the little carpark surrounded by boulders. Exit car. Boulder beside car turns to growl at me. Its all about context.
If you've ever driven through the Kruger Park in South Africa you will know that an elephant can hide very, very well in the bush, and be surprisingly quiet. They can emerge from pretty much nowhere.
This story is part of the book :) http://fieldworkfail.com/book Capture-de...03-png.jpg
Or the question should be Did you have to shrink your feet?
Load More Replies...I've done the boot melt thing in Hawai'i Volcano Park. Not the water thing, only rusty grommets from salt water.
Had the reverse of this in Wales. Had on old shoes with holes in the soles which trapped small, irritating, rattly pebbles. Accidentally walked through peat bog. Problem solved!
So I'm guessing - you went through the water 8 seconds after your shoes started melting? Like - a kilometre away?
Actually they're incredibly good shoes.. he stepped into something that's usually about 1400F (that's 700C) and it didn't just turn into a gummy muck around his foot. Didn't catch fire either.
Load More Replies...I wonder if the rhino was really tracking them or just going through his normal territory marking routine. If it thought they were a real threat it would have done more than just "tracked" them and peed on them.
I want a more accurate drawing. They were BEHIND the tree when it sprayed. Euuwww!
That'd be a sure way for me to achieve cheetah speed towards the nearest shower/water pond/whatever handy to take that off.
Cheetah poop is fast, very fast! It can jump, too. Clearly it loved you very much.
Honestly, I read cheetah as cheetos, first thought , already in bag, second wait a minute , cheeto poop???????
Yeah....that orange sh*t they leave on your fingers.....lol.
Load More Replies...I don't quite understand how someone who works so closely with animals would even give this a second thought. It's just poop. Every farmer, veterinarian, and even dog groomers have lived through it.
The cartoons were cute but it seems some people expected them to be exact representations. It was kind of a bummer reading so many critical comments, BP is usually better than that.
Especially as the drawings are supposed to make us laugh
Load More Replies...There are much more illustrations on the book! http://fieldworkfail.com/book/
Load More Replies...Hi! I'm the illustrator. Don't hesitate to ask me questions or comments, here or on my page (link on the article) :)
I enjoyed your work very much! I'm sorry that you had to put up with the negative pseudo experts. You are very patient!
Load More Replies...I was fasinated with science when I was young. Mostly biology and geology. When I was about 5, I found a few big crystals that were flat green, one or two light brown spots. At first I thought it was rare amazonite, so I dug for about 3 hours and found two more samples. I looked in my mineral pricing book, and they were work around $5000 total! ...turns out my dad was being a jerk and spray painted quartz flat green to fool be... But, yeah. Whatever.
The cartoons were cute but it seems some people expected them to be exact representations. It was kind of a bummer reading so many critical comments, BP is usually better than that.
Especially as the drawings are supposed to make us laugh
Load More Replies...There are much more illustrations on the book! http://fieldworkfail.com/book/
Load More Replies...Hi! I'm the illustrator. Don't hesitate to ask me questions or comments, here or on my page (link on the article) :)
I enjoyed your work very much! I'm sorry that you had to put up with the negative pseudo experts. You are very patient!
Load More Replies...I was fasinated with science when I was young. Mostly biology and geology. When I was about 5, I found a few big crystals that were flat green, one or two light brown spots. At first I thought it was rare amazonite, so I dug for about 3 hours and found two more samples. I looked in my mineral pricing book, and they were work around $5000 total! ...turns out my dad was being a jerk and spray painted quartz flat green to fool be... But, yeah. Whatever.
