this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2026
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Science Memes

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



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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.

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[–] Prontomomo@lemmy.world 16 points 4 hours ago (4 children)

These poor fellas are having a worse time than the big bunch

[–] sirimeow@lemmy.world 9 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

The ones with a small leaf boat in the bottom right corner are vibing though

[–] morto@piefed.social 2 points 36 minutes ago

the crickets at the top seem to be vibing too

[–] Egriaga@lemmy.ml 6 points 4 hours ago

On the bright side the river is lower than when I took this picture, so they might've lived!

[–] CuddlyCassowary@lemmy.world 8 points 4 hours ago

Hey guys… wait up!

[–] oce@jlai.lu 2 points 4 hours ago

It's une échappée from le peloton.

[–] Egriaga@lemmy.ml 32 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Wait shit this isn't a meme.... uhhhhh. Interesting anyways

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 19 points 5 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Egriaga@lemmy.ml 10 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

I got a stick to get them to land, and what do they do to repay me! THEY BITE MEE

[–] spinne@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 hours ago

They do two things: they float in rafts, and they chomp!

[–] gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org 8 points 4 hours ago

it is very appreciated whether meme or not.

[–] someguy3@lemmy.world 16 points 5 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Egriaga@lemmy.ml 9 points 4 hours ago

They actually take turns so they all get air

[–] folekaule@lemmy.world 12 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago) (4 children)

I remember hearing about this in reports from major hurricanes in the South. Sounds pretty horrifying to be stranded on a roof or floating around on your own makeshift raft and then happening upon one of these ant rafts of doom.

Edit: thanks for the nightmares everyone. That'll teach me to read Lemmy right before bedtime.

[–] Blooper@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Fun story - as a kid my backyard in-ground pool would occasionally get these grapefruit sized ant rafts. No idea why or how they would do it, but somehow they'd find themselves floating around in there. And if you don't look too closely it just looks like a dead leaf that landed in the pool.

Dove in one hot summer day. Came up for air. Facefull of ants. Never again.

[–] tipicaldik@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

middle school, 1970's NW Florida... our phys. ed. field would flood out pretty bad whenever it would rain a lot, so on those occasions we'd have a free period to just screw around and socialize. On this particular day, me, a scrawny little bug-eyed ginger kid who got picked on pretty regularly, was being chased by a group of other kids who really wanted to torture me some more. I decided to veer off through the knee-deep flooded PE grounds, which allowed me to escape my tormentors, but also gave me the opportunity to learn first hand that fire ants do indeed float in large masses, and are quite eager to swarm up on the first thing that gets within reach.

[–] nomy@lemmy.zip 11 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

My first thought was floating along and brushing up against it, absolutely terrifying.

[–] Egriaga@lemmy.ml 3 points 4 hours ago

They bit the T A R outta me

[–] huquad@lemmy.ml 7 points 4 hours ago

Can confirm, or if you have to walk in the water. Just one more thing to watch out for. Regular ants are bad enough, fire ants can all go to hell.

[–] snoons@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 hours ago

Someane save them, use your arm if you have to!