Random Memes

The right-hand rule strikes again! Physics students everywhere know the struggle of trying to figure out electromagnetic relationships using their hands. Professor Ampère's solution? Just give a thumbs up and call it a day! For the uninitiated, the right-hand rule is that awkward hand contortion physicists use to determine the direction of magnetic fields around current-carrying wires. Your thumb points in the current direction, and your curled fingers show the magnetic field lines. Elegant in theory, but in practice? Just another reason physicists look ridiculous in public. Every physics student has done the mental gymnastics of "wait, which finger goes where again?" only to get it wrong on the exam anyway. Thirty years teaching this stuff and I still occasionally do it backward.

The existential crisis every physics student experiences when they realize that the universe is just one giant math problem. First year: "I'm studying the fundamental laws of nature!" Fourth year: "I'm solving partial differential equations until my brain leaks out my ears." The gun is just a formality at this point.

Physics: observable, measurable, follows clear rules. Metaphysics: *gestures vaguely at duck plushie* just vibes and contemplates existence. This is basically the entire philosophy of science curriculum condensed into four panels. The duck understands both equally well, which is to say, not at all.

The classic physicist's paradox: capable of condensing the fundamental laws of electromagnetism into tensor notation but completely incapable of explaining what they actually mean to another human being. Those beautiful Maxwell equations—the mathematical poetry that describes how electricity and magnetism dance together—reduced to elegant tensor form that would make Einstein proud. Yet ask the same physicist to explain it in plain English, and suddenly they're as confused as a cat in a bathtub. This is why physicists make terrible dinner party guests unless you enjoy conversations that start with "it's actually quite simple" and end with everyone staring blankly at napkin equations.

This proposal for lunar energy harvesting is peak engineering hubris! Just casually suggesting we slow Earth's rotation, harpoon the Moon, and use its orbit for power... with math that looks legit until you notice it would produce 67 TIMES our global energy needs while only destroying tides, lengthening our day 30x, and leaving half the world moonless. The casual "don't worry about it being 5.6 times the kinetic energy" is chef's kiss! Engineering ambition meets astronomical disaster in one beautifully calculated catastrophe.