Materials Memes

Posts tagged with Materials

Et Tu Michael? The Beryllium Betrayal
Astronomy Materials Engineering Physics Science
1 month ago 22.0K views 0 shares
Et Tu Michael? The Beryllium Betrayal
The ultimate scientific sacrifice play! Top panel shows a lab technician risking berylliosis (a nasty lung disease caused by beryllium dust inhalation) just to watch a metal ball oscillate at kilohertz frequencies. Meanwhile, bottom panel features James Webb Space Telescope engineer Michael Menzel who used beryllium for the telescope's mirrors—potentially exposing the team to the same health risks, but for arguably more noble reasons: creating humanity's most powerful eye into the cosmos. The perfect encapsulation of risk assessment in science—is your experiment worth potential lung damage? For JWST, history will say yes. For watching a bouncy ball? Maybe reconsider your experimental priorities!

Et Tu, Beryllium?
Astronomy Materials Engineering Science
1 month ago 19.3K views 0 shares
Et Tu, Beryllium?
The classic scientific trade-off: risking berylliosis (a nasty lung disease from beryllium exposure) for either watching metal balls vibrate at kilohertz frequencies or building the James Webb Space Telescope. Scientific progress marches on—through questionable safety protocols! The top researcher gets his kicks from a bouncy metal ball while the bottom one (who looks suspiciously like JWST scientist John Mather) built a $10 billion telescope using the same dangerous material. Different goals, same respiratory hazard. The things we do for science would make OSHA representatives weep.

Mozart: The Original Fiber-Reinforced Composer
Materials Engineering
1 month ago 16.2K views 0 shares
Mozart: The Original Fiber-Reinforced Composer
Engineering joke that hits all the right notes. FRC typically means Fiber-Reinforced Composite in materials science, but here they've turned Mozart into a literal interpretation - his hair is woven like carbon fiber while he "composes" music. The structural integrity of his symphonies is clearly off the charts. His hair probably has better tensile strength than most of my research samples.

Not So Young Modulus
Physics Engineering Materials Science
1 month ago 28.2K views 0 shares
Not So Young Modulus
The irony of calling something "Young" when it's over 200 years old is peak physics humor. That wide-eyed cat is all of us in engineering class when we realize the "Young" modulus was developed by Thomas Young in the early 1800s. Nothing like measuring material stiffness with a concept older than electricity! Engineers still using this ancient formula while typing on smartphones is basically the scientific equivalent of writing emails on a typewriter. The elasticity of materials hasn't changed, but our ability to make memes about them certainly has!

The Not-So-Young Modulus
Physics Engineering Materials
1 month ago 21.1K views 0 shares
The Not-So-Young Modulus
The irony of calling a 200+ year old concept "Young" modulus isn't lost on materials scientists. Named after Thomas Young in 1807, this measure of stiffness has been stretching our patience longer than most lab equipment warranties. The wide-eyed cat perfectly embodies every engineering student's face when they realize they've been calculating elastic deformations using principles older than their great-great-great grandparents.

The Room Temperature Superconductor Cycle Of Disappointment
Physics Materials Research Science Academia
1 month ago 22.1K views 0 shares
The Room Temperature Superconductor Cycle Of Disappointment
The physics community's collective trauma from room temperature superconductor claims is perfectly captured here. Every few months, some preprint drops claiming they've finally done it—achieved the holy grail of physics—only for hopes to be crushed when nobody can replicate it. Remember LK-99? That lasted about 72 hours before crumbling faster than my will to read another "groundbreaking" paper. The stern professor pointing to "Nothing Ever Happens" is basically every senior physicist who's seen this cycle repeat since the 80s. Meanwhile, grad students everywhere frantically check arXiv at 3AM wondering if their research just became obsolete.

Biologists Have A Lot To Explain To Us Chemists On This One
Chemistry Biology Materials Physics
2 months ago 23.9K views 0 shares
Biologists Have A Lot To Explain To Us Chemists On This One
The laws of thermodynamics are having an existential crisis right now. Steel, a metal alloy that chemists can precisely describe with equations and phase diagrams, melts at 1370°C as expected. Meanwhile, durian fruit—that infamously stinky biological nightmare—is somehow withstanding temperatures that would vaporize tungsten (3422°C). Clearly biology operates on some dark magic that chemistry textbooks never covered! The fruit's molecular structure must be reinforced with pure audacity and spite. Next time someone asks me about thermal decomposition limits, I'm just going to gesture wildly at this meme and walk away.

Transparent Magnets: The Impossible Dream
Physics Materials Science
2 months ago 21.3K views 0 shares
Transparent Magnets: The Impossible Dream
Transparent magnets?! *cackles maniacally* Someone skipped Physics 101! Magnetism comes from aligned electron spins in ferromagnetic materials—which are decidedly NOT transparent! It's like asking for dry water or cold fire! The laws of physics aren't just suggestions, my dear test subjects! Next they'll want invisible gravity or weightless elephants! *adjusts safety goggles* The real question is: why stop at transparent magnets when we could be working on time machines that only go backwards on Tuesdays?

The Perfect Substance's Fatal Flaw
Materials Engineering Chemistry Science
2 months ago 27.5K views 0 shares
The Perfect Substance's Fatal Flaw
The eternal struggle of materials science: finding the perfect substance that doesn't also try to murder you. For every revolutionary compound with incredible properties, there's a safety data sheet that reads like a horror novel. Asbestos insulates beautifully until your lungs revolt. Lead pipes lasted centuries, but at what neurological cost? Mercury's fascinating properties come with the small drawback of devastating toxicity. The universe seemingly programmed a cosmic trade-off: "Make it useful or make it safe—choose one." Materials engineers just sitting there with their coffee mugs, contemplating which carcinogen might revolutionize industry next.

Not Exactly What He Was Ordered To Do, But He Did It Anyway
Physics Materials Science
2 months ago 23.7K views 0 shares
Not Exactly What He Was Ordered To Do, But He Did It Anyway
The dark humor here plays on the historical fact that Nazi Germany's nuclear program failed while attempting to develop atomic weapons. The "low background radiation steel" refers to pre-1945 steel that's highly valuable in scientific equipment because it wasn't contaminated by atmospheric nuclear testing. So technically, their steel program was a success—just not in the way they intended! The irony is delicious: their military failure inadvertently created a scientific resource. History's most unexpected contribution to modern radiation detection equipment.

Geological Questions With Political Dimensions
Engineering Materials Geology Earth-science
3 months ago 28.7K views 0 shares
Geological Questions With Political Dimensions
Forget calculating the volume of granite needed—this is clearly a political engineering problem disguised as a geology question. Someone's built a detailed schematic for a massive border wall while pretending to ask about construction materials. The perfect cover story for when your structural engineering professor catches you designing controversial infrastructure during class. Next slide: "Hypothetical water displacement if wall extends into ocean?"

The Elastic Limits Of My Sanity
Engineering Physics Materials
3 months ago 23.8K views 0 shares
The Elastic Limits Of My Sanity
Engineering students having existential crises over elasticity constants! Young's modulus measures how much a material stretches under tension, while Euler's modulus deals with column buckling. The cat's wide-eyed panic perfectly captures that moment when you're cramming for finals and these equations start blurring together. The "look inside" prompt suggests peering into your soul (or textbook) only to find more confusing moduli staring back at you. Material science has never been so... stretchy and bendy!