this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 113 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 28 points 1 week ago

I would have loved this in school.

[–] grranibal@lemmy.zip 24 points 1 week ago

I LOVE the “you are here”

[–] luthis 55 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Everything that isn't green should be 'definitely not' and several green ones are questionable

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 35 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The particular form the element is in also matters a lot.

Take helium, for example. Is it really possible to 'lick' a gas? I'd say it's not. You could lick liquid helium, though ... and you really shouldn't, unless you enjoy severe frostbite on your tongue.

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[–] neo2478@sh.itjust.works 40 points 1 week ago (3 children)

You can totally lick Sodium! Its natures poprocks!

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

In theory, if you dry enough your tongue, you can lick sodium, i wouldn't keep it on my tongue longer tha 0.5s tho

well, i wouldn't keep it on my tongue at all tbf

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[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 36 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's 100% accurate. But just in case, could you have the map on you when you go around licking things? The resultant news article will be way funnier that way.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Sure! I'll keep that in mind for my next lickpacking tour across Europe.

[–] binarytobis@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

Gonna have to vet the Blarney Stone before I lick it. Could be made out of anything.

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[–] forbiddencherry@lemmy.today 31 points 1 week ago

Na: bad. Cl: bad. NaCl: amazing!

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 29 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Some of the purple ones have a time limit to lick them before you die that starts once you enter the room they are kept. You'll still die after licking them, but you would at least have licked it if you're quick.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 29 points 1 week ago

So those are "yes, but hurry"?

jots down in notebook

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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Pshh. You can lick any of them once.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

You really shouldn't, though.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 35 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I can be, though, if you ask nicely..

[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Oganesson has a half-life of about 0.7 ms and is excruciatingly difficult to synthesize in a way that even lasts on the order of milliseconds. The beam it's created in is sent to a semiconductor detector. You'd be stretching the definition of "lick" very heavily if you could even convolute a way to make it land on the human tongue.

[–] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Easy, just send the beam to their tongue instead of the duperwhatsit detector. Bam. Licked.

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If you can get your tongue inside the machinery they use at Lawrence Livermore to create a split-second instance of some rare Earth actinide, you deserve to lick it.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Every element can be licked. Some just once.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

... How exactly would you lick hydrogen? Or helium for yhsy matter...

[–] RobertoOberto@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 week ago (8 children)
  1. Fill a balloon with the gas
  2. Stick your tongue in the balloon sphincter
  3. Wiggle your tongue
  4. Reconsider the decisions you've made that led your life to this point
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[–] Etterra@discuss.online 17 points 1 week ago (11 children)

Okay if you think licking lead and uranium is maybe not a good idea then I think you need to reevaluate your decision making skills.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago

I wouldn’t lick lead as a hobby, but a quick one wouldn’t be the end of things.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So you're saying that it's a GREAT idea?

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[–] Juviz@lemmy.zip 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It’s really funny, yesterday I saw a dude walk around with a T-shirt with exactly this periodic table and thought it was hilarious and now I find this

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[–] saltnotsugar@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The periodic table is surprisingly lickable.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 week ago

Coming from someone identifying as salt, that's high praise! 😁

[–] Zerush@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 week ago (4 children)

You can lick everything, but some only one time

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[–] BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Licking calcium is fine?

I guess if you're okay with the nasty burn...

[–] Bashnagdul@lemmy.world 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Won't kill you is this tables version of fine.

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[–] Davel23@fedia.io 14 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Can you lick a gas? I would think it would need to be at least liquid, and once some of these are in a lickable state you probably wouldn't want to go ahead and do it.

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[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 week ago

If you find enough oganesson to lick, you should get to do it

[–] sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

why is it fine to lick calcium? wouldn't that cause sever burns?

[–] Liz@midwest.social 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

It would, don't do it. There's more than one questionable assignment on the table including magnesium right above it.

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[–] spectrums_coherence@piefed.social 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

I wouldn't advise licking calciums:

The chemistry of calcium is that of a typical heavy alkaline earth metal. For example, calcium spontaneously reacts with water more quickly than magnesium but less quickly than strontium to produce calcium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. It also reacts with the oxygen and nitrogen in air to form a mixture of calcium oxide and calcium nitride.[14] When finely divided, it spontaneously burns in air to produce the nitride. Bulk calcium is less reactive: it quickly forms a hydration coating in moist air, but below 30% relative humidity it may be stored indefinitely at room temperature.[15]

Because calcium reacts exothermically with water and acids, calcium metal coming into contact with bodily moisture results in severe corrosive irritation.[59] When swallowed, calcium metal has the same effect on the mouth, oesophagus, and stomach, and can be fatal.[46] However, long-term exposure is not known to have distinct adverse effects.[59]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium

Because of vigorous reaction of quicklime with water, quicklime causes severe irritation when inhaled or placed in contact with moist skin or eyes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_oxide

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So.. I should lick it fast and then hide from the effects under a table?

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[–] MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I posted this a long time ago. Got sent Cody's Labs list, and it was very different. He has licked so many...

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[–] realitista@lemmus.org 10 points 1 week ago (3 children)

If lead is "maybe not a good idea", the rest of these must be really bad ideas. I like that there's still 2 more levels above lead. I assume the second level just explodes or vaporises you instantly or something.

[–] BitUnWise@programming.dev 7 points 1 week ago

Licking lead once is completely fine, just don't make a habit of it

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 6 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Some of these would explode on contact with your tongue, yes.

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[–] zener_diode@feddit.org 10 points 1 week ago

Technetium really should be purple. The isotope that you'd be most likely to get some of (used for nuclear medicine) has a half-life of about 6 hours, and is appropriately radioactive.

[–] bryndos@fedia.io 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Can you lick a gas? Or do you have to cool it down until liquid?

[–] j5y7@sh.itjust.works 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My brother once farted so bad I could taste it.

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[–] atx_aquarian@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

The good version of this says "see you on the other side".

[–] crimsonpoodle@pawb.social 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

How many licks to get to the center of a sodium lollipop

[–] WiredBrain@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 week ago

If you have enough saliva, just one...

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