Outdated Memes

Posts tagged with Outdated

Le Grand K: The Retired Weight Champion
Physics Science Scientists Research
1 month ago 4.2K views 0 shares
Le Grand K: The Retired Weight Champion
Finding an outdated physics textbook that still defines the kilogram using Le Grand K is like discovering someone using a flip phone in 2024! For the uninitiated, Le Grand K was a literal platinum-iridium cylinder kept in a vault in France that defined THE EXACT MASS of one kilogram for over 130 years. In 2019, scientists finally replaced this physical object with a definition based on Planck's constant. Talk about a weight being lifted off that cylinder's shoulders! Now it can retire in peace while modern physics textbooks catch up... eventually... maybe... hopefully?

The Prehistoric Periodic Table
Chemistry Academia Science
2 months ago 7.3K views 0 shares
The Prehistoric Periodic Table
Textbook publishers apparently think the periodic table is just a suggestion. "Published half an hour after the Big Bang" is the most accurate description of every chemistry textbook I've ever been assigned. Nothing like paying $300 for a book that's missing elements discovered during the Mesozoic era. Fun fact: since 1995, we've added 15 new elements to the table, and somehow my professor's lecture notes haven't noticed.

It's Joever For Your Math Book Investment
Math Research Science Tech
3 months ago 7.4K views 0 shares
It's Joever For Your Math Book Investment
The ultimate mathematical tragedy: buying a book about "The Largest Known Prime Number" only to have it immediately rendered obsolete by a new discovery. This poor soul just purchased what's essentially a mathematical history book now! The new Mersenne prime (2 13627984 -1) took six years to discover using specialized GIMPS software and GPUs, making this book buyer's timing spectacularly unfortunate. Nothing says "money well spent" like owning documentation of the second-largest known prime number.

How To Spot An Outdated Textbook
Chemistry Science Academia
4 months ago 7.1K views 0 shares
How To Spot An Outdated Textbook
Nothing dates a chemistry textbook faster than an incomplete periodic table. This one's showing just hydrogen, helium, lithium, and beryllium—making it about as current as a stone tablet with "fire = hot" scribbled on it. The modern periodic table has 118 elements, but apparently this book went to press when the universe was still in beta testing. The joke about being published "half an hour after the Big Bang" is particularly brilliant because the first elements actually did form within minutes after the universe began. So technically, this textbook is only missing... *checks notes*... 114 elements and about 13.8 billion years of scientific progress. No big deal.