Science Humor: A Wide Selection

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The discussion centers around a variety of science-related humor, showcasing anecdotes, jokes, and humorous theories. A notable story involves a NASA team during the Apollo mission who encountered a Navajo sheep herder, leading to a humorous mistranslation of a message intended for the moon. Another highlight is Chuck Yeager's playful exaggeration about a design flaw in the Bell X-1 aircraft, which he humorously attributed to complex aerodynamics rather than a simple cable routing issue. The thread also features the "Dark Sucker Theory," humorously positing that light bulbs "suck dark" instead of emitting light, and a fictitious element called "administratium," which humorously critiques bureaucracy in science. Various jokes illustrate the intersection of humor and science, such as the classic question about the nature of hell, which leads to a clever thermodynamic analysis. Overall, the content blends clever scientific concepts with humor, appealing to those with an interest in both science and comedy.
  • #251
humanino said:
Wanted

$10,000 reward.

Schroedinger's Cat.

Dead or Alive
:smile: :smile: :smile:


and it's schrödinger
 
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  • #252
A Chemical Analysis Of An Element Called Woman:
Element: woman

Symbol: Wo

Discoverer: Adam

Atomic Weight: Accepted as 118lbs but is known to vary from 100 to 160 lbs

Occurrence: Surplus quantities in all urban areas.

Physical Properties:
1] surface usually covered in painted film,
2] boil at nothing, freeze without reason,
3] melt if given proper treatment,
4] bitter if used incorrectly,
5] found in various states, ranging from virgin metal, to common ore.

Chemical Properties:
1] poses great affinity for gold, silver, platinum, and precious stone,
2] able to absorb great quantities of expensive substances,
3] may explode spontaneously if left alone with an opposite species most of them any way,
4] insoluble in liquid but activity greatly increased by saturation in alcohol,
5] yields to pressure applied to correct points.

Uses:
1] highly ornamental, especially in sports cars,
2] MOST POWERFUL MONEY-REDUCING AGENT known,
3] can be a great aid to relaxation.

Test:
1] pure specimen turns a rosy tint if discovered in a natural state,
2] turns green if placed beside a better specimen,
3] leave the reactants horny for a while,

Caution:
1] highly dangerous except in experienced hand,
2] illegal to possesses more than one except in certain area (Utah,etc)
:cool:
 
  • #253
Some "You know you're a physicist when..." lines that I can relate to:

If you've actually used every single function on your graphing calculator. (almost)
If it is sunny and 70 degrees outside, and you are working on a computer. (like right now)
If you always do homework on Friday nights. (all assignments within last 2 days)
If you laugh at jokes about mathematicians.
If you can translate English into binary. (ive sent messages coded in hex, binary, octal, and base-26)
If you are completely addicted to caffeine. (not yet, but going there...)
If you consider ANY non-science course as easy. (except economics)
If you understood more than five of these indicators.
If you make a hard copy of this list, and post it on your door. (been there, done that)
 
  • #254
5] found in various states, ranging from virgin metal, to common ore.

:smile: :smile:
 
  • #255
:smile::smile:
common ore
:smile::smile:
 
  • #256
Two hydrogen atoms bumped into each other recently.
One said: "Why do you look so sad?"
The other responded: "I lost an electron."
Concerned, One asked "Are you sure?"
The other replied "I'm positive."
 
  • #257
(I don't know if someone posted before, so I post it anyway)




Break-ups: by college major:

PSYCHOLOGY
Girl accuses guy of just using her as a substitute for his Mother.

SOCIOLOGY
Each claims to have been oppressed in the relationship.

ARCHAEOLOGY
One tried to bury the past, and accuses the other of trying to dig it up.

THEATER
"OH! Life is... ENDED... as we KNOW it!"

BIOLOGY
"You just wanted to get in my genes!"

PHYSICS
Both resign themselves to the fact that what goes up must come down.


JOURNALISM
"Today was the end of an era. Jack, 19, and Jill, 18, called an end to their relatonship of 2 weeks..."

WOMAN'S STUDIES
"HE did it!"


BUSINESS
Both decide that they're spending way too much money together, and that it's simply cheaper to be single.

HISTORY
Each party argues the breakup was caused by something the other party did in the past.

GEOGRAPHY
Both people decide to simply move far away to avoid each other.

ANATOMY
"I never liked your bdy anyway."

ECONOMICS
One party demands more than the other can supply.
 
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  • #258
In spite of claims made by paleontologists, physicists insist that mass extinctions would violate the laws of physics.
 
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  • #259
I just saw on the History channel that during WWII the Japanese "recruited" college students to serve as Kamikaze pilots. However, science students were considered to be too valuable to lose, so they were allowed to stay in school.

Once again we see that if you wish to avoid serving as a Kamikaze, you must study science.
 
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  • #260
Physics on the farm

This is a rather OLD one, but in case someone here hasn't seen it, here it is:

http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/8381/muon4wt.jpg

If you have to ask, it's no longer funny.

:)

Zz.
 
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  • #261
Understanding scientific articles:

"IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN..." = I haven't bothered to look up the original reference

"...OF GREAT THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE" = Interesting to me

"WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS..." = The experiments didn't work out, but I figure I could get publicity out of it

"THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY" = The results of others didn't make any sense and were ignored

"ACCIDENTALLY STAINED DURING MOUNTING" = accidentally dropped on floor

"HANDLES WITH EXTREME CARE DURING EXPERIMENTS" = not dropped on floor

"TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN" = the best results are shown

"PRESUMABLY AT LONGER TIMES " = I didn't take the time to find out

"THE MOST RELIABLE VALUES ARE THOSE OF JONES" = he was a student of mine

"IT IS BELIEVED THAT..." = I think.

"IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT..." = a couple of other guys think so too.

"IT MIGHT BE ARGUED THAT..." = I have such a good answer for this objection and thus shall now present it

"IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRES BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING..." = I don't understand it.

"CORRECT WITTHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE" = wrong.

"THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE GLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENTS AND TO JOHN DOE FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS" = Glotz did the experiments and John explained it to me.
 
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  • #262
ZapperZ said:
This is a rather OLD one, but in case someone here hasn't seen it, here it is:
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/8381/muon4wt.jpg
If you have to ask, it's no longer funny.
:)
Zz.

I don't get it.
 
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  • #263
yourdadonapogostick said:
flipacoin.jpg
:smile::smile::smile:
 
  • #264
This isn't a joke, but it is funney. Instead of doing my english HW I read all 18 pages of these jokes! And now it is 12:25. DIE FUNNEY PEOPLE
 
  • #265
A psychologist wanted to test the difference in logical thinking between engineering and mathematics majors, and for this purpose he set up an experiment in which the subjects were respectively a male Mathematics and a randy male Engineering undergraduate. He showed them into the lab. At the far end of the long, narrow room was a luscious semi-clad bimbo. His instructions were like so: "Fellas, I have in my hands a buzzer that I will sound every minute. Everytime I do that, you can walk half the distance that remains between yourself and the lady. Should you ever reach her, you will find her most accommodating. Do you wish to participate in the experimemt?"
Math major: "You don't fool me. This is the equivalent of the Zeno Paradox, so I am not wasting my time. I am going home, 'Bye." [Exeunt]

Engineering major: "Hee, hee! I am staying. I estimate that in 10 minutes, I will be close enough for all practical purposes."
 
  • #266
Cosmo16 said:
This isn't a joke, but it is funney. Instead of doing my english HW I read all 18 pages of these jokes! And now it is 12:25. DIE FUNNEY PEOPLE
haha lol 7 pages 4 me
 
  • #267
recon said:
A psychologist wanted to test the difference in logical thinking between engineering and mathematics majors, and for this purpose he set up an experiment in which the subjects were respectively a male Mathematics and a randy male Engineering undergraduate. He showed them into the lab. At the far end of the long, narrow room was a luscious semi-clad bimbo. His instructions were like so: "Fellas, I have in my hands a buzzer that I will sound every minute. Everytime I do that, you can walk half the distance that remains between yourself and the lady. Should you ever reach her, you will find her most accommodating. Do you wish to participate in the experimemt?"
Math major: "You don't fool me. This is the equivalent of the Zeno Paradox, so I am not wasting my time. I am going home, 'Bye." [Exeunt]
Engineering major: "Hee, hee! I am staying. I estimate that in 10 minutes, I will be close enough for all practical purposes."
Is this a joke or a puzzler?

Okay, I'll say the room was about 1000 feet (300 meters) long? (Assuming 10 minutes is the minimum amount of time needed, since I would think the desired distance would be a little subjective.)
 
  • #268
BobG- I'm 99.9% sure its a joke. It's basicly the same idea as the Balloon Joke as earlier. That Pure math majors are useless.

P.S. yomamma- I have passed that quote that is in your sig around to all my friends, and put it in my profile for AIM. I LOVE IT!
 
  • #269
it's quite funny ^_^

╔──╗╔═─╕╔─╗╭─═╮╔═─╗  ╒╗
│╒─╛|╒╗|╚─╛│╓═╯|╔╕|╔─╝|
|╚─╗│|╘╜╔─╗|╚─╗│|││|+ │
|╔─╛||  │ ││╭═╛|│||│  |
╘╛  ╘╛  ╚─╛╘╰═╯╘╛╘╜╚─═╛
 
  • #270
Not exactly a joke, but a real discussion in a Physics class:

The problem was a 250 lb weight suspended from two cables that hang at an angle 40 degrees above the horizontal. What's the tension on each cable?

Student: 10,443 slugs (or there abouts - very bizarre answer)

Professor (dryly): I think you're just a bit high.

Student: Well, we learned about drugs in Psych class today.
 
  • #271
A group of engineering students and a group of mathematics students were on the same train heading towards a conference. Each of the mathematicians had his own ticket, while the engineers had just one for all of them. The mathematicians, of course, made fun of the stupid engineers, most of whom would be thrown off the train.

One of the engineers kept watch at the end of the compartment. When he called out that the conductor was coming, all of the engineers crowded into the bathroom. As the conductor came by, he knocked on the door and called out "Ticket, please." A single ticket came under the bathroom door. The conductor took it and proceeded to collect the tickets from the mathematicians. After the conductor left, the engineers left the bathroom and took their seats.

The mathematicians were quite impressed.

On the way back from the conference, the mathematicians purchased only a single ticket. They were quite amused by the engineers, who hadn't bothered to do even that much. One engineer and one mathematician took up watch and notified the others when the conductor was coming. The mathematicians crowded into one bathroom and the engineers into another. Just before the conductor arrived, one engineer crept out of their bathroom, knocked on the door of the other bathroom and said "Ticket, please."
 
  • #272
OK - and since I'm a mathematician and need to get a little back:

A mathematician, a physicist and an engineer are presented with the proposition that all odd numbers are prime and asked to verify or refute it.

The mathematician starts: Let's see, one is prime, three is prime, five is prime, seven is prime, nine... Nine's not prime. The proposition is obviously false.

The physicist tries it next: Let's see, one is prime, three is prime, five is prime, seven is prime, nine... Well, nine's not prime, but that could be experimental error. Let's go on. Eleven is prime, thirteen is prime - hmm. That's an awful lot of data. The proposition is probably true.

Then the engineer tries it: Let's see, one is prime, three is prime, five is prime, seven is prime, nine is prime, eleven is prime...
 
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  • #273
Sephiroth 1976 said:
it's quite funny ^_^
╔──╗╔═─╕╔─╗╭─═╮╔═─╗  ╒╗
│╒─╛|╒╗|╚─╛│╓═╯|╔╕|╔─╝|
|╚─╗│|╘╜╔─╗|╚─╗│|││|+ │
|╔─╛||  │ ││╭═╛|│||│  |
╘╛  ╘╛  ╚─╛╘╰═╯╘╛╘╜╚─═╛
I don't get it
 
  • #274
This insn't really a joke but it's my favorit Einstein quote
"The Most confussing thing in the world is Income taxes"-Albert Einstein
I guess the guy how came up with the General theory of realtivty had nothing elese confussed about :smile:
 
  • #275
yomamma said:
I don't get it

lets just say that we can't explain it on this site.
 
  • #276
Diane_ said:
the proposition that all odd numbers are prime.
Here are a few more.

The liberal: Don't say 'odd', say 'even challenged'. We feel that all numbers are equally prime.

The optimist: 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 11 is prime. Yes, all the odd numbers are prime.

The bigot: 3 is prime. Yes, all the odd numbers are prime.

The computer programmer: 3 is prime, 5 is prime, 7 is prime, 7 is prime, 7 is prime, 7 is prime, ...

The Zen buddhist: 4 is not prime, 6 is not prime, 8 is not prime, 10 is not prime. Yes, all the odd numbers are prime.

The theologian: Yes, all the odd numbers are prime.
 
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  • #277
the conservative: one is mine three is mine five is mine, yes all the primes are mine
the President: one is prime, two is company three is a crowd, four he's a jolly good fellow. yes I like pudding.
 
  • #278
Al-Queda: three is prime, two is prime, one is prime, boom
Foghorn Leghorn: one, Ah say one, one is pri..are you listning to me boy, I say one is prime
 
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  • #279
What would a frustrated Physics student say?
A: I wish Newton had sat under a coconut tree instead of an Apple tree.
 
  • #280
Cosmo16 said:
lets just say that we can't explain it on this site.
now that I'm using a different browser, I can see it. ;)
 
  • #281
You people have no sense of humor. I could not chuckle at just one.
 
  • #282
A student in a very large auditorium-class didn't stop working on his exam when the professor called "time". When he went up to turn it in, the professor said he needen't bother, he'd already failed. The student looked at the large stack of exams on the desk and asked angrily and defiantly, "Do you know who I am?" The professor replied that he didn't. The student stuck his exam in the middle of the stack and said, "Good."
 
  • #284
Maybe this is more humour, or just a question with an interesting answer...

Q: How many stars are there in the universe?
A: One mole.
 
  • #285
Are you an Engineer?
If these remind you of yourself, it's a good bet you are an engineer.

- At Christmas, it goes without saying that you will be the one to find the burnt-out bulb in the string.

- In college you thought Spring Break was a metal fatigue failure.

- The salespeople at Circuit City can't answer any of your questions.

- You are at an air show and know how fast the skydivers are falling.

- You bought your wife a new CD ROM for her birthday.

- You can quote scenes from any Monty Python movie.

- You can't write unless the paper has both horizontal and vertical lines.

- You comment to your wife that her straight hair is nice and parallel.

- You forgot to get a haircut ... for 6 months.

- You have Dilbert comics displayed anywhere in your work area.

- You have ever saved the power cord from a broken appliance.

- You have more friends on the Internet than in real life.

- You have used coat hangers and duct tape for something other than hanging coats and taping ducts.

- You know what http:// actually stands for.

- You own one or more white short-sleeve dress shirts.

- You see a good design and still have to change it.

- You still own a slide rule and you know how to work it.

- You wear black socks with white tennis shoes (or vice versa).

- You're in the back seat of your car, she's looking wistfully at the moon, and you're trying to locate a geosynchronous satellite.

- You know what the geosynchronous satellite's function is.

- Your laptop computer costs more than your car.

- You've already calculated how much you make per second.

- You've ever tried to repair a $5 radio.
 
  • #286
:cry: I hit on about half of those!

I'm scared.
 
  • #287
These ones? They're my matches.
- You can quote scenes from any Monty Python movie.
- You forgot to get a haircut ... for 6 months.
- You have ever saved the power cord from a broken appliance.
- You have more friends on the Internet than in real life.
- You have used coat hangers and duct tape for something other than hanging coats and taping ducts.
- You know what http:// actually stands for.
- You see a good design and still have to change it.
- You know what the geosynchronous satellite's function is.
- Your laptop computer costs more than your car.
- You've already calculated how much you make per second.
- You've ever tried to repair a $5 radio.
 
  • #288
- At Christmas, it goes without saying that you will be the one to find the burnt-out bulb in the string.
- You are at an air show and know how fast the skydivers are falling.
- You have more friends on the Internet than in real life.
- You have used coat hangers and duct tape for something other than hanging coats and taping ducts.
- You know what http:// actually stands for.
- You know what the geosynchronous satellite's function is.
Well, these go without saying. Who wouldn't these apply to?


- You wear black socks with white tennis shoes (or vice versa).
What's wrong with white socks and black tennis shoes? :confused:

- You have ever saved the power cord from a broken appliance.

- You've ever tried to repair a $5 radio.
Not only do these apply, but I still have a Commodore 64 in the garage that's awaiting repairs to the disk drive. (I'm pretty bad at procrastination sometimes).

- You're in the back seat of your car, she's looking wistfully at the moon, and you're trying to locate a geosynchronous satellite.
There's a real problem with this scenario. You would have to have memorized every star along the zodiac constellations (including the stars in between that don't belong to any of the zodiac constellations) to locate a geosynchronous satellite with the naked eye (it would be the star that doesn't belong). The normal way to locate a geosynchronous satellite is to attach a camera with a prolonged exposure to a telescope. The streaks are stars - the stars that appear stationary are geosynchronous satellites. Hmmm. Actually, if you memorized just one portion of the sky while you were looking at it, after a while you probably would notice that one of the stars in the 'constellation' you memorized has changed places. It would work better on a night with no moon.

- You still own a slide rule and you know how to work it.

Well, of course I know how to use a slide rule - I own over a dozen of them!

Good ones, too. I have the first slide rule I ever used - my dad's Post Versalog made of Hemmi bamboo; I have my trusty 6" pocket Pickett (a portion of which makes up my avatar); my Albert Nestler 23R - the model preferred by Albert Einstein and Werner Von Braun; my Post 1491 Chemists slide rule with its various temperature and pressure scales, plus 'constants' for the atomic mass of common elements and substances; my Faber Castell 83N Novo Duplex slide rule (complete with instructions, but they're written in German). I even have a slide rule for computing look angles for various geosynchronous communications satellites! (Okay, so I can locate a few geosynchronous satellites in the night sky, but not very many.)
 
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  • #289
And the award for geekiest reponse goes to...envelope please...BobG! :biggrin:

BobG, you're hysterical. :-p
 
  • #290
Not really a joke but a bit funny... I was about to throw away an old computer when I realized that the hard drive hadn't been destroyed. But the joke is on me: Where is the hard drive? ...oh yes, this one was made before PCs had hard drives. :rolleyes:
 
  • #291
What do you call the part-time leader of an orchestra?
... a semiconductor.
 
  • #292
And on that note, remember that old songwriters never die... they just decompose.
 
  • #293
yomamma said:
now that I'm using a different browser, I can see it. ;)

What browser allowed you to see it?
 
  • #294
Danger said:
And on that note, remember that old songwriters never die... they just decompose.

Mathematicians never die; they just lose some of their functions.
 
  • #295
On March 24, 1993, Carolyn Shoemaker discovered what look like a smashed comet on a photograph. And it was a comet. Not long after when Eugene Shoemaker announced that this newly discovered comet was going to impact Jupiter
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/
- a spectacular and fortuitous event that was dubbed the opportunity of a lifetime for astonomers, an event that would help to reshape our understanding of the potential threat to humanity posed by comets - Carolyn responded, "not my comet!"

According to Eugene Shoemaker
 
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  • #296
from my novel

From Robert J. Sawyer's latest book: Mindscan. (not that he takes credit for the jokes or anything...)

A cop pulls over Werner Heisenberg on the freeway. The cop says: "Mister, do you know how fast you were going?" Heisenberg responds: "No. But I know where I am!"


A passenger on a train walks up to Einstein and says "Excuse me sir, but does New York stop at this train?"


Rene Descartes walks into a bar and orders a drink. As he finishes it, the bartender asks "Say, Rene, would you like another?" Rene says "I think not." - and disappears.
 
  • #297
Mathematicians never die; they just lose some of their functions.
I lost all my functions quite awhile back.
 
  • #298
This one's from my science textbook:

A neutron walked into a bar and asked the bartender how much for a drink.

The bartender replied, "For you, no charge."
 
  • #299
Found in a glossary of astrophysics definitions. :smile:

Because. Here's a word best avoided in physics. :smile: Whenever it appears one can be almost certain that it's a filler word in a sentence which says nothing worth saying, or a word used when one can't think of a good or specific reason. While the use of the word because as a link in a chain of logical steps is benign, one should still replace it with words more specifically indicative of the type of link which is meant. See: why.

Illustrative fable: The seeker after truth sought wisdom from a Guru who lived as a hermit on top of a Himalayan mountain. After a long and arduous climb to the mountain-top the seeker was granted an audience. Sitting at the feet of the great Guru, the seeker humbly said: 'Please, answer for me the eternal question: Why?' The Guru raised his eyes to the sky, meditated for a bit, then looked the seeker straight in the eye and answered, with an air of sagacious profundity, 'Because!'
 
  • #300
Here is one translated from swedish (it still works i think)

Q: Why can't philosophers derivate

A: They have no function
 

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