this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2025
930 points (98.4% liked)

Science Memes

20696 readers
1207 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Meta Post Tags



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.


If you are here asking: "Is this a science meme?"

Probably, yes. We use the Dawkins definition of meme: a replicating idea, not just an image macro with a fact on it. A good post here doesn't need to teach you something. It needs to make you ask something: who, what, where, when, and especially why or how.

Science isn't a filing cabinet of facts, it's a conversation. For example, a photo of an eel or other localized wildlife counts because most people never see one, and wonder is the first step of inquiry. A car meme counts if it makes you curious about what's under the bonnet. If you want to talk about something you noticed in the world, chances are someone else wants to talk about it too.

We moderate for vibe, not category. Pruning is light, especially where a post creates interesting discussion. Experimenting is encouraged, but keep it in good faith and never punch down.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone 20 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I've found makerspaces to be a secular alternative. The makerspace has to specifically foster community, though. There's quite a few that are just techbros with a clique that you ain't in.

Covid also killed a lot of the social aspects of my makerspace, and it's been hard to build it back.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I've found that there are often two bicycle scenes: gear nerd which is expensive, and the people who think it's all the cooler that your ride is a fixed up junker or bought 2nd+ hand. The latter are a great source of cheap community, especially if you're interested in volunteering fixing up bicycles

ETA: The second community also wants to teach you how to repair your bike even if you don't want to hang out with them. Look for bicycle co-ops in your area. Often they'll have a pay what you can for stand time and they'll charge for parts, but they're happy to teach you to fix up your bike. They'll also sell you an affordable bike they've fixed up and they're likely to be flexible in accordance with needs.

[–] RedstoneValley@sh.itjust.works 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I tried that with a local makerspace and it didn't work out for me, sadly. I wanted a sense of community, contact with likeminded people to do stuff together. They just offered lots of machinery to be used in solitude. It went like this: "So, you wanna 3d print something? Sure, just go to person X, they will show you how to operate the thing. You don't know how all of this works? We have some resources on our discord to get you started." Okayyyy

[–] frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 11 months ago

FWIW, the major makerspace in my area--or what was the major makerspace--was a lot like that. A couple of people didn't like that and started a new one, with myself and my wife coming on board almost right away. It took a long time and I'm not sure our story can be easily replicated, but we're now the bigger of the two in terms of space and membership size.

But like I said, Covid was a brick wall for our social aspects.