Stem Memes

Posts tagged with Stem

The Great Academic Notation Divide

The Great Academic Notation Divide
The kinetic energy equation (E = ½mv²) is literally the same in both booths, but the physics majors get the unnecessarily complicated version (E = 0.5*m*v^2). Meanwhile, the CS minor booth sits empty because they had the audacity to use a sensible notation. This is the perfect representation of academia's bizarre love affair with making simple things needlessly complex. Physics departments worldwide are feeling personally attacked right now. And they should.

The Engineering Prophecies

The Engineering Prophecies
That moment when calculus suddenly involves 17 Greek letters you've never seen before and your professor casually mentions "this is the easy part." The shell-shocked turtle face is engineering freshmen realizing those memes about all-nighters, caffeine addiction, and crying in the library weren't just internet humor—they were prophecies. Welcome to the next four years where your social life becomes as theoretical as the perfect frictionless surface!

The Only Bras Physics Majors Ever See

The Only Bras Physics Majors Ever See
The meme shows the Greek letter Psi (ψ) between two bracket symbols, with the caption "The only bras Physics majors ever see." This is a clever physics pun playing on two meanings: "bra" as undergarment versus "bra" in Dirac notation from quantum mechanics! In physics, the "bra-ket" notation (⟨ψ|) represents quantum states, where the left part ⟨ is called a "bra" and the right part | is a "ket." So physics students spend more time with these mathematical "bras" than the clothing kind—implying they're too busy studying to date. Self-deprecating physics humor at its finest!

Chemistry: The Crocodile-Dependent Science

Chemistry: The Crocodile-Dependent Science
Chemistry gets no love in the podcast world, and this reply absolutely nails why. While other sciences get to sound cool with their black holes and quantum computing, chemistry is over here with reaction conditions that read like a fever dream. "Mix these two substances, but only on a Tuesday during a waxing gibbous moon while standing on one foot." The absurdist crocodile example perfectly captures how chemistry feels like learning an alien language with arbitrary rules that make thermodynamics look straightforward. No wonder we chemists just silently mix our colorful liquids in the corner while physics gets all the Neil deGrasse Tyson love.

The Academic Typesetting Dilemma

The Academic Typesetting Dilemma
The eternal academic crossroads! On one path, you're wrestling with Google Docs' primitive equation editor like a caveman discovering fire. On the other, you're redrawing the same diagram multiple times because your hand cramped up on attempt #3. Meanwhile, LaTeX users are zooming past in their fancy typesetting sports cars, sipping coffee while their beautiful equations render perfectly on the first try. The dark storm clouds represent the looming deadline that doesn't care about your formatting struggles. It's basically the "learn to code" of academic writing - either suffer now learning LaTeX syntax or suffer forever with inferior alternatives!

When The Physics Textbook Author Witnesses Your Suffering

When The Physics Textbook Author Witnesses Your Suffering
Twitter asks "Last book that made you cry" and someone replies "University Physics with Modern Physics 14th Edition by Hugh D. Young, Roger A. Freedman" to which co-author Freedman himself responds "No doubt tears of joy." Let's be real—the only thing flowing more freely than those tears was probably the crushing despair of trying to understand angular momentum at 3 AM before the final. The author showing up to essentially say "you're welcome for the emotional damage" is peak academic schadenfreude.

I Am An Engineer Bro Trust Me

I Am An Engineer Bro Trust Me
The eternal engineering hierarchy debate in one Family Guy format! The top panel shows Meg (labeled "PROMPT ENGINEERS") having an existential crisis while screaming "ALL OF YOU THINK YOU ARE BETTER THAN ME!" Meanwhile, the bottom panel shows Peter, Lois, and Chris dressed formally as "ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS," "MECHANICAL ENGINEERS," and "CHEMICAL ENGINEERS" respectively, sitting smugly in silent judgment. This perfectly captures the engineering discipline pecking order where traditional engineering fields look down on newer digital-era specialties. Prompt engineering—the art of crafting inputs for AI systems—is the new kid on the block getting the classic Meg Griffin treatment. The traditional engineers don't even need to verbally respond; their silence and fancy outfits say everything about the perceived legitimacy hierarchy!

The International Math Olympics

The International Math Olympics
The eternal mathematical arms race! Post any remotely challenging equation online and witness the epic battle between Indian and Chinese students flexing their computational muscles. While the rest of us are still trying to remember the quadratic formula, these mathematical gladiators are already solving it in their heads, backwards, and probably in their sleep too. Next time you think you've mastered a difficult problem, remember there's a 16-year-old somewhere in Chennai or Beijing who solved it while simultaneously making breakfast and coding a side project.

The Organic Chemistry Betrayal

The Organic Chemistry Betrayal
Oh, the sweet summer child who thinks organic chemistry is "a piece of cake." That moment when reality crashes harder than a failed column chromatography! Organic chem starts with friendly-looking carbon chains and ends with you drawing reaction mechanisms at 3 AM while questioning your life choices. The betrayal hits when you realize those "simple" hexagons actually represent a labyrinth of stereochemistry, nucleophilic substitutions, and synthesis pathways that make Game of Thrones plot twists look predictable. Trust me, the only thing organic about this experience is the pure, organic suffering.

That's When You Know You're Done For

That's When You Know You're Done For
The universal language of panic! This meme perfectly captures that moment of existential dread when your field of expertise suddenly betrays you. For math students, it's that horrifying transition from nice, friendly numbers to the Greek alphabet invasion - suddenly your homework looks like it's summoning ancient deities rather than solving equations. The progression is brilliant - from military history (Vietnamese-speaking trees referencing jungle warfare) to geopolitical humor (Finnish-speaking snow during the Winter War) to the mathematical nightmare we've all experienced. That moment when α, β, γ, δ show up and your calculator can't save you anymore! Next panel: Physics students when the air starts speaking calculus.

You Were Supposed To Use G=9.81, Not Join The Engineers!

You Were Supposed To Use G=9.81, Not Join The Engineers!
The ultimate betrayal in physics academia! Physics purists insist on using the precise gravitational acceleration constant g=9.81 m/s², while engineers pragmatically round to g=10 m/s² for easier calculations. Finding a physics major using the engineer's approximation is like discovering your chosen one has gone to the dark side! The TA's anguish perfectly captures that moment when precision-obsessed physicists compromise their standards for computational convenience. The eternal struggle between theoretical purity and practical simplicity continues to tear the STEM world apart!

The Chemistry Major's Emotional Damage Scale

The Chemistry Major's Emotional Damage Scale
The chemistry student's emotional journey is TOO REAL! 😂 Biochemistry starts you off with the warm fuzzies of learning about life processes. Then inorganic chem teaches you "patience" (code for countless hours balancing equations while questioning your life choices). But organic chemistry? That's where dreams go to die with its 5,000 reaction mechanisms and impossible naming conventions. Physical chemistry isn't even mentioned because those survivors have developed selective amnesia from the trauma of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics! Every science major knows that emotional damage scale all too well!