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What if I told you that there is a way to keep scrolling without having some loud-mouth influencer telling you to stop it because it rots your brain? You just gotta substitute whatever that you're scrolling with the big brain version of it.

Enter clever science memes as per The Lighter Side Of Science, a Facebook group that’s all about science memes to give you an educated giggle and hopefully not rot your brain.

So, there’s a Facebook group called The Lighter Side Of Science that prides itself in, predominantly, sharing memes that are lightly scientific and cool, all the while delivering a certain level of humor and relatability.

The group is actually a part of IFL Science and has roughly 741,000 members as of this listicle.

#4

Clever-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg , CryptoNature Report

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Robin Canfield
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Their tongue is long and wraps around it's brain to protect it during high speed pecking..

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For the record, it’s not all memes. There is community engagement going on in several ways, including IFL Science promoting its own articles and folks in the community themselves asking scientific questions and everyone else jumping on board and brainiacking this thing out.

Engaging to say the least.

#7

Clever-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg Report

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Jessica N
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My cat does weigh 300 kilos but only in one paw at a time while stepping on me at night

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#8

Clever-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg Report

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Now, we won’t dive into what memes are and why they are such a big deal. The tl;dr of it is it’s become a means of communication and connectivity among folks all the while they’re popular because they’re relatable.

What we haven’t yet discussed is the scientific side of it all: how can they be educational and why would that matter?

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Well, turns out, you can use memes that relate to the content at hand to teach folks something new.

Three main tactics are suggested for this, the first of which being dual coding. This one works when there is a visual and verbal component that ties in well with what you’re teaching and it ultimately strengthens student comprehension.

The other two are using concrete examples, i.e. memes are concrete examples of abstract and complicated ideas or concepts, and elaboration, which is using memes to connect students’ personal knowledge with real world observations.

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The former is used to support the students’ understanding of the material, while the latter helps them dive deeper into analysis and elaboration.

This in turn means that students can also engage with the material by explaining the memes that tie in with the topic and by creating them.

For the first one, students can be provided with appropriate memes or asked to source existing memes to explain how it connects to what they have learned in their own words.

#19

Clever-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg , AnnaGHughes Report

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Verena
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7 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well done. For those not familiar with champagne: The French are very protective of that word. Only sparkling wine from that exact region is allowed to carry the word "champagne" on the bottle. For every other wine with bubbles "sparkling wine" has to be used. Or Crémant. Edit: The Crémant part is incorrect, explanation see below. Reason for mistake: I was lazy.

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With the second, more hands-on one, students can be asked to create their own memes by finding pictures and coming up with captions that capture the idea of what they are studying.

The approaches to these can vary and it’s up to the teacher to find appropriate ways to deliver the material effectively.

#23

Clever-Science-Memes

Darren Ho Report

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UncleJohn3000
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The answer to this problem was to let us include publication cost in proposal budgets. Just now being added - clean up and disposal costs for the project. Next up - accepting the fact that grad students *are* part of the cost of conducting research. NSF and NIH continue to leave them off the budget template as if they are not.

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Now, there are risks involved. For starters, there has to be a bit of guidance with what prior knowledge is retrieved in the kids’ minds that would be associated with the study material.

Another huge no-no is using memes that are not as accessible as others, i.e. blind kids can’t see visual memes and kids with zero pop culture awareness might not get some of the more popular ones.

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But if you avoid inappropriate angles on memes, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Whatever the case, memes tend to stick with people because of their relatability and thus serves as a great way to approach learning new things. If anything, the kids should have a blast.

#28

Clever-Science-Memes

Tharuka Sampath Report

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Two_rolling_black_eyes
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worked with a paramedic in the 90s who always replied "dressed and vertical". There are many days in my life now where I use it because sometimes that's a major accomplishment.

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We’d love to hear from you, lovely Pandas, so why not share some of your witty science facts or memes in the comments!

And if you’re hungry for more science, then Bored Panda’s got that covered too.

#34

Clever-Science-Memes

Claudia Perelli Hentschel Report

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Angelshark
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I, a professionally trained military photographer, forgot the word 'shutter' and called it the camera's 'blinky eye.' Thankfully, it was in front of my father and he only laughs at me for it all the time.

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#35

Clever-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg Report

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Helena
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Screw that. Be an exel god and make them beg for your help. Bwahahaha

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#39

Clever-Science-Memes

Karine Roumache Report

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Freefall
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I want one that measures in small boulders as big as large boulders please! :)

Daniele Erickson
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

https://youtube.com/@CuttingEdgeEngineering?si=d8Qzs5t6a5y8GEJy YouTube. A viewer 3d printed it for them!

Gingy
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Finally: A scale for the width of the banana, (not the length)! 😀

Caroline Driver
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I googled banana caliper and got this. https://www.novanna.co.uk/Banana-sizer-caliper-fruit-measuring. For measuring bananas. Bananaception

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Ariel Lamothe
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One banana, two banana, three banana, four! Five banana, six banana, seven banana, more! Put them on the table, all in line, count from one to seven, and start the song again!

cerinamroth
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Going by the size of the hands, that scale look like it needs recalibrating!

v
Community Member
7 months ago

This comment has been deleted.

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#43

Clever-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg , jwPencilAndPad Report

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Solidhog
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You then find out that he stole it to examine it for clues that lead to a large cave filled with historical artifacts and treasure.

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#44

Clever-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg Report

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Adrian
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why don't polar bears eat penguins? They can't get the silver paper off...

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#46

Clever-Science-Memes

Deka A. Ali Report

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Di
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Originally there were many different tribes living in the current Germany: Teutonen (the "Teut'schen - Deutschen/Deutschland), Normannen, Alemannia, Sachsen, Germanen) in the differrnt countries different tribes are the reason why there are so different names

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#47

Clever-Science-Memes

Sudhansu Parida Report

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Ken Beattie
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To be fair there are a lot of really freaky mutations in real life too. They're just not usually fun ones like XMen style mutations.

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#50

Clever-Science-Memes

S Dharma Teg , eggshellfriend Report

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Multa Nocte
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Imagine being a farmer and some people came and trampled on your crop for a silly photo.

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Note: this post originally had 58 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.