this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2025
774 points (100.0% liked)

Science Memes

15726 readers
2138 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

  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.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



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 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 8 points 17 hours ago

You know that old saying: If it's stupid but it works it's not stupid? This is the proof that it is incorrect.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 22 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 21 hours ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 15 points 19 hours ago

Chalk one up for the good old US of A. Gotta take our wins where we can get em.

I used to use a facial scrub with the plastic beads. I look back and it's like what the fuck, but at the time it was fine. Sorry world.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 21 hours ago

Chuckles, I am in danger

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

bordering on insanity

[–] [email protected] 5 points 20 hours ago

It's that bullshit when they take a vertically oriented picture/video, stretch it and blur it to a 4:3 ratio, and center the content over it.

Imo a waste of bandwidth and computer power for people who can't cope with the idea of vertical content on a horizontal screen, on a platform primarily accessed by phones anyway.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 day ago (3 children)

It's not what microplasitcs are! Does anyone knows what micro is at this point?

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Microbeads are manufactured solid plastic particles of less than one millimeter in their largest dimension.[1] They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. They are used in exfoliating personal care products, toothpastes, and in biomedical and health-science research.[2]

-Wikipedia

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 day ago

To add to this, the definition of microplastic is less than 5mm. So yes, 1mm microbeads are microplastics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microplastics

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 22 hours ago

Centibeads🐛

[–] [email protected] 14 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

If these aren't microplastics, what are?

"Micro" just means "small" in this case and doesn't mean "microscopic" or have anything to do with "micrometer".

The definition of "microplastic" according to NOAA: "Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long".

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago
[–] [email protected] 172 points 1 day ago (20 children)

I remember when I found out that shit was plastic. I always assumed they were organic material of some kind, like the body scrubs with the crushed up walnut shell in it (which probably has fucking microplastic in it, too). So disgusting.

This is why we need to change how shit works. It shouldn't go: company does some shit > fall out > government steps in. It should go: company has an idea > must get permission first from environmental agencies

[–] [email protected] 80 points 1 day ago (9 children)

Nah corporations really don't give a shit at all, like all chewing gum is literally just plastic too and sheds tons of microplastics into your mouth as you chew it.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/rethink-chewing-gum-habit-essentially-plastic/

Plastic is an organic material though, so your assumption was correct.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The difference is in the definition or organic. When the average person thinks organic, they mean something that is or used to be alive. When a scientist think organic, they're talking about carbon compounds.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 day ago

Plastic are made from fossil fuels which are from primordial plants. So still organic according to your definition. Just a few hundred million years since it was alive.

load more comments (8 replies)
load more comments (19 replies)
[–] [email protected] 97 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Plastic gotta be this age's lead/quicksilver.

[–] [email protected] 68 points 1 day ago (21 children)
load more comments (21 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Just mineral or ground rocks work just as well. I hate my wife’s soft face scrub, i need that shit that feels like I’m scrubbing my face with sandpaper, to exfoliate well. They sell one that has ground up lava rock, i love that shit, and it makes me wonder why anyone ever thought plastic bits was a good idea

[–] [email protected] 6 points 17 hours ago

I feel like it's just capitalism doing a capitalism. People are self-conscious about their skin, so you can sell them all kinds of crap.
Even a basic washcloth does a decent job with exfoliating, if you use it regularly. Rub your face dry with a scruffy towel, if you need more than that.

But of course, there's hardly any money to be made with reasonably priced products, so you won't see TV ads for them.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

My ex would use St. Ives "Apricot Exfoliant" or something, which has powdered apricot pits and walnut shells. Those are waste products that I wouldn't expect to cause problems but who knows.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 16 hours ago

I wouldn’t be surprised if they cause issues in pipes. I work in building maintenance and when sand collects in a horizontal drain it causes issues. Kitty litter is the worst because it turns to cement inside the pipes. But over time the beauty products add up im sure

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They probably had some extra plastic to offload lol.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

But lava rock grinds are not part of the industrial waste stream repurposed for profit. This is innovation!

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] [email protected] 81 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Don’t like thinking about how much of that probably made it to my brain, organs, and muscles :)

[–] [email protected] 84 points 1 day ago (8 children)

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03453-1

This study released last year based on samples from cadavers suggests there’s enough in your brain to make a plastic spoon

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 day ago

"this is not what we meant by brain plasticity"

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›