Spectrum Memes

The meme plays on Newton's famous prism experiment where he discovered white light contains all colors of the spectrum. In this historically inaccurate but hilarious twist, Newton appears to be creating a rainbow with his prism and immediately jumping to the most unscientific conclusion possible. Instead of his actual groundbreaking work on light dispersion, he's portrayed as discovering that "going outside is gay" because... rainbows. The absurd anachronism of applying modern slang to a 17th-century physicist is what makes this so ridiculously funny. Newton would be rolling in his grave fast enough to generate electricity if he knew his optics experiments were reduced to this.

Ever notice how magenta doesn't actually exist in the rainbow? Your brain is literally hallucinating that color right now. What you're seeing is your visual cortex throwing a neurological tantrum because it can't process the absence of green in the color spectrum. Magenta is just your brain's way of saying "I have no idea what's happening, so I'll invent something." The ultimate gaslighting isn't from your ex—it's from the electromagnetic spectrum.

The perfect visual representation of how prisms work! When sunlight hits a prism, it splits into a glorious rainbow—no magic required, just good ol' physics doing its thing. And bonus points for the "Alienstock" reference at the bottom. Nothing says "I understand light refraction" quite like explaining it at a festival where people were planning to raid Area 51. Because obviously, aliens are very interested in our understanding of the visible light spectrum!

When gaming meets physics in the most unexpected way! The top image shows a Minecraft iceberg biome, while the bottom shows a blackbody radiation curve that—surprise—actually resembles the jagged ice formation! Blackbody radiation describes how objects emit electromagnetic radiation based on their temperature, with hotter objects (like that 6000K curve) peaking at bluer wavelengths and cooler objects (4000K) showing more red. Minecraft's blocky ice formation accidentally mimics this fundamental physics concept that describes everything from stars to light bulbs. The universe really is built on blocks, just not usually this obvious!

The perfect scientific paradox doesn't exi— Oh wait. Blue light has the highest energy in the visible spectrum (around 3.0 eV), while simultaneously being perceived as "cool" in color psychology. Meanwhile, red flames hover at a measly 1.8 eV but get all the "hot" credit. It's like that one postdoc who wears a parka indoors while casually handling 10,000K plasma. Physics doesn't care about your temperature feelings.

While everyone else was busy dying from the plague, Newton was at home discovering that white light contains the entire spectrum of colors. Classic Newton move. Quarantined in his country house during the 1665-1666 Great Plague, he's just there with a prism going "rainbow go brrr" while society collapses. The man invented calculus as a side project during this time too, because apparently not even a pandemic can stop the relentless march of physics. Some people stress-bake during lockdowns; Newton revolutionized our understanding of light.