this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2026
601 points (98.7% liked)

Science Memes

20630 readers
1875 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.

See the pinned paper on Shitposting as Public Pedagogy if you want the academic case for why this works.



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
[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, it's not the leg that's a finger, it's the hoof-part. The legs are legs, but instead of ending in 5 digits they end in 1.

[–] iocase@lemmy.zip 19 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Most of their leg is a finger look closely. Count the joints. The hand begins 3 joints up (one is hidden in the hoof so it's not as obvious. Count down from the shoulder works too.) The wrist is 4 joints up, elbow 5, shoulder is the last one at 6 total. They have the same number of joints in the same spots that we do, just like a giraffe has the same number of neck bones as a rat.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 day ago

At least 80% of the leg, by length, is arm/leg, not finger/toe.

Compare that to a bat wing, where the bones really are long fingers:

bat wing anatomy showing the fingers

[–] Redjard@reddthat.com 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The lower leg is the palm, not a finger.

[–] iocase@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

Wait, their "knee" is actually just as messed up as our wrists, with the little bones and everything ? I thought evolution would at least have fused them back into fewer moving parts.

... And people say human knees are badly designed