Reminds me of this:
this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2025
417 points (98.6% liked)
Science Memes
20129 readers
2580 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.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
I don't believe in dowsing, I have seen it done exactly once, and then a farm dam was dug with an underground spring directly in the centre of it, so my observations show it to have a 100% success rate from a sample size of 1, which is a bit awkward.
Wikipedia agrees with you. Commonly viewed as a psuodoscience. The equipment is very good at amplifying subtle hand movements.
I can see a little grain of truth in finding depressions and soft ground as the dowser shifts their body to stand level, which may indicate geological features associated with ground water.
Humans also have a really good sense of smell for petrichor, which might also be related to ground water, with dowsing just being useful to focus on suble things like smell.
Anyone who thinks dowsing can detect water directly is clueless or lying though, and dowsing has absolutely been used as a grift before.
i have a much more expedient method called "stick a very long hygrometer into the dirt every hundred meters in a grid, and move towards increasing moisture"
Uhhh is xkcd comics a geotechnical engineer??? Or a geologist?? This feels like an illegal loredrop
EDIT: fixed xbcd to xkcd
He's a professional geek
Randall does have a lot of geology humor specifically. I wouldn't be surprised if he knows a few geologist.
The /// parts are carrying a lot of weight in this one.
I'm irrationality angry about the term 'bottom soil' and that it's below granite
Bottom soil: Is in the middle of the soils
Top soil #2: on the bottom
The earth is round, so bottom is actually top. Middle is deep inside the earth ("bottom")
*Diorite*: Wait, is that a Mi
*Netherrack*: Ah.
While I appreciate the Nutty Putty Cave Incident callback, at what layer is the shark eating fiber optic cable?
The one where the first several hundred metres is just water.
Isn't water divining pseudoscience? I get that isn't the point of the post, but I always thought it was bullshit.
Edit: should have responded to the comment about water divining, whoops.
Was waiting for Saddam.
It's not 9/11!
I read Andalite and it activated a part of my brain that hasn't seen the light of day since I was 13