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Everyone has their favorite brand of humor. For those who love science, the posts you’re about to see are likely right up your alley. 

We’ve collected posts from the Darker Side of Science Facebook group. While it does feature some shocking facts, we focused on the lighthearted memes about the anatomy of a giraffe, chemistry puns, and astronomy jokes worth a punchline drumroll (ba dum tss!).

Browse through this list and have a few chuckles with like-minded peers.

The public group currently has a little over 893,000 members. According to its About page, topics mainly revolve around “bad experiments, worse scientists, studies you wish to god you could unsee, and much, much, more.” 

In addition to these photos and memes, the page also shares articles from IFLScience. This website delivers information in an entertaining yet educational way. 

#4

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Dakotah SkýWalker Report

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Chihuahua Mama
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow, the government really fooled you into thinking there's a moon, or even outer space. It's just a big wall paper in the sky that they move around

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#5

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Natasha Storm Figueroa Husted Report

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Zephyr
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Calls for another doctor -yes I'm a doctor -whats your specialty -web design...I can save him......as a pdf

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Since the group combines the concepts of science and humor, let’s get into what makes things funny, according to research. 

University of Colorado professor Dr. Peter McGraw and his colleagues developed the benign violation theory. Simply put, it states that a comedic element exists in a tragic event only after a significant amount of time has passed.

#7

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

@myafropuff Report

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Luis Hernandez Dauajare
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good thing happened with a molecule and not an atom. Things could blow out of proportion...

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#8

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Ryan Wellner Report

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Luis Hernandez Dauajare
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Of course we are better! It took a rock from space to wipe out the dinosaurs. But we can wipe *ourselves* out!

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Dr. McGraw and his team conducted an experiment where participants unanimously saw humor in getting hit by a car if it happened five years ago. 

“There needs to be something wrong,” McGraw said in an interview with ZME Science. “That’s what’s sort of the counterintuitive part of humor. It’s generally this good, beneficial thing, but it has its roots in potentially negative experiences.”

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#11

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Robert Fletcher Report

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Sava Hax
Community Member
4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's no way we are. this is something I choose to believe, maybe somewhere there's a civilisation that already colonised their neighbouring planet. And formed two entirely different cultures and they visit each other and are peaceful. After the war for independence obviously

BoredPossum
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fully agree. There has to be intelligent life somewhere in this universe and it sure isn't here on Earth.

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Pandroid Rebellion
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The arrogance to think that in the vastness of everything we are the only living planet is weird to me.

Phero
Community Member
4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For me it is simple math. If something can happen once (life), it can happen again. If the universe is "infinite", with a "infinite" number of suns, planets and so on, of course there are lifeforms out there somewhere. I wound not be surprised if we find life within our own solar system. Not intelligent life, but simple lifeforms, bacteria and so on

Floeckchen
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Somple math is that we don't know the propability of life beeing formed on a habitable planet. By now we have an exact sample size of one

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ElfVibratorGlitter
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually I think we exist in infinite realities, so there's not just other life, there's a copy of me dancing with a dinosaur somewhere.

LauraDragonWench
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not a copy - in every variation of every reality, you are the original. (According to "Space Dandy" anyway. 😁) I like to think there's a reality where I'm a pretty pink unicorn with an otter sidekick. And I'm fairly sure it's not this reality... I think...

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Corella Fleabane
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But we share a planet with 60 gazillion other life forms (that we act like don't matter) Humans carry microbes around inside us, we are literally never alone Lol the microbes are prob writing this right now

keyboardtek
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And regarding those crucial internal gut bacteria we have, has anyone considered the diet needed to keep that good bacteria healthy while traveling years to get to Mars? It requires fresh vegetables. We may be able to make a spacecraft that can travel long distances though space. But to solve the food supply problem probably will never happen.

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Jess Smith
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We're almost certainly not alone. Life formed fairly quickly. If we're alone in being *self-conscious*, *intelligent* life is the real debate, IMO.

Kurt Schilling
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And some more intelligent species posted warning signs that say "Here be dragons and idiots: run away!"

Panda'sMom
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Bible says "For God so loved the world ...." . But, it doesn't say WHAT world.

cogadh
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The universe is so incredibly vast and old that it is statistically impossible for intelligent life to NOT have formed somewhere else. However, it also extremely likely that life formed, evolved, and went extinct on other worlds long before life ever formed on Earth. Timing is everything, and on the time scale of the universe, our species entire existence is a barely detectible blip. That same blip could have happened billions of times on billions of other worlds and we would never know.

MinervaLavender2371
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe we are definitely not alone in the universe, and I'll take it a step further and say that I think we're one of the more primitive species of lifeforms.

El Dee
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We are not alone even in this solar system. There is a planet colonised entirely by robots..

Roy Phillips
Community Member
4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If we refers to the naked apes on this planet, we have never been alone. There are innumerable other life forms here with us.

Lynn Morello
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Universe is an awfully big place for us to be the only idiots here.

Sabrina
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Do you know that bees are from another planet, that is according to 10th Doctor.

Jane W.
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a pretty vast universe for there to be NO other life.

ohlordylordy
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Humour and science? Where's the humour? Oh, was i supposed to bring that with me?

Hiram's Friend
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Finagle's Law: The perversity of the Universe tends towards a maximum

Ace
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I never understood why anyone finds the idea f "we are alone in the universe" in the least bit scary. It's tantamount to feeling a need for some supreme being in order to justify our own existence. I'm as much an Alien-Atheist as much as I am a God-Atheist.

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Many people find a reason to laugh at supposedly inappropriate scenarios. According to Dr. McGraw, dark humor works because of psychological distance. He used the story about the Indonesian baby who smoked 40 cigarettes a day as an example. 

“When I was first told about that, I laughed, because it seems unreal — what parent would let their kids smoke cigarettes?” McGraw said. “The fact that the situation seemed unbelievable made it benign. Then when I saw the video of this kid smoking, it was no longer possible to laugh about it.”

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Humor has been deemed an effective method of delivering scientific information. A 2013 study featured a stand-up comedy project in Portugal that involved a group of scientists. 

Researchers said tackling serious matters like climate change became easier because “laughter disarms people.”

#16

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Alex Hanna Report

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John Mosley
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Apparantly that's what the sanitation companies are already doing with all our trash. What am I even sorting for!?

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The entertainment industry has also successfully blended science and humor through content dedicated to kids. 

A research paper published by science education consultant Dr. Sai Pathmanathan mentioned popular cartoons like Spongebob SquarePants and Phineas and Ferb as examples of how they helped U.K. children learn general knowledge.

#20

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Willow Annastasia Report

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Penguin Panda Pop
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Almost certainly multiple people tried to domesticate bears. This is how natural selection works.

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#21

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Pete Felix Report

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Chihuahua Mama
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hey, at least you can stare directly at the apocalypse all you want. It won't matter if you fry your retinas

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Neuroscientist, comedian, and former columnist Dean Burnett advocates for learning science through humor. Here’s his explanation in an interview with From the Lab Bench

“If people can laugh with/about science, then they won’t be as intimidated by it, and will perceive that science is a very human endeavor,” he said. “Not some monolithic process hiding behind the walls of academia and curated by emotionless intellectuals.”

However, Burnett is against forcing people to create humor, especially if it doesn’t come naturally. 

“Humor being so subjective and emotive, a person to whom it isn’t ‘natural’ trying to do funny in a half-assed way can be much more grating or off-putting than them just presenting their info straight,” he said. “[It] should be seen as a useful tool, rather than a requirement.”

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Burnett offers one piece of advice on using humor effectively to deliver scientific information: make it relatable. 

“Assume the audience is at least as smart as you are, but doesn’t know what you know. This is a useful rule for making sure you are informative but not preachy, and not condescending.”

#28

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

@MarciRobin Report

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troufaki13
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You should be glad they didn't make you choose the pictures that show red traffic lights. IN BLACK AND WHITE!

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#30

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Andrew Kissinger Report

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Colin Matthews
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I like to think they just keep walking and then look around and go…woohhh how did I get up here???

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#31

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Jay Irvine Report

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troufaki13
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Try putting the accent on "u", or say "Ouranόs" which is the greek pronunciation

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#36

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Jenna Edwards Report

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ElfVibratorGlitter
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Doesn't believe in laser pointers? Nah, I think he's just part cat and can't deal with the red dot without losing his mind.

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#38

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Holly L. Swider Report

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Korthias
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fun Fact: The vikings used to put the bones of their enemies into the smelting pot for crafting their weapons, believing their souls would make the weapons stronger. In reality, the minerals in the bones would mix with the iron to create....steel so did indeed make their weapons stronger, just not in the way they thought

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#47

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Jon Keith Report

#48

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Walter Daniels Report

#49

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Randy Poulis Report

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Owen
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Today I realised giraffes are just horses that have been stretched. It took 36yrs for me to realise this. 😑

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#51

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Lea Cox Report

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Justin Tyme
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The X and Y graphics are switched in this meme. The “Xmas Tree” is actually centered at the Y=0 position. And the “Ymas Tree” is actually centered at the X=0 position.

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#52

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Robert Fletcher Report

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Sava Hax
Community Member
4 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A milk company in the Netherlands sued, and WON a case against (I believe) Alpro for calling soy milk "milk". Now it has to be called soy bean extract. 👍🏻 The company who sued was Campina I believe

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#53

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

Blair Houlton Report

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#59

Dark-Side-Science-Memes

IFLScience Report

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Regina Holt
Community Member
4 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Everyone in the universe loves cats! Except those 267 people who don't.

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