this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2026
639 points (99.1% liked)

Science Memes

21018 readers
1557 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.


Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Etterra@discuss.online 27 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

That sounds like parthenogenesis to me.

[–] VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 19 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

And a surprisingly large number of species can do it.

[–] Newhere@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 hours ago

I wish women could do...

[–] NewSocialWhoDis@lemmy.zip 8 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

We just went snorkeling with stingrays in the Bahamas, and they had the same thing happen. The enclosure was only females, and yet one of them has gotten pregnant.

I assumed she was pregnant when the put them in the enclosure and they didn't know it? Or that they weren't as good at distinguishing male/female as they thought they were.

But you know, maybe there are some cool optional hermaphroditic traits in sting rays that biologists are just currently unaware of.

[–] LadyButterfly@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Polisheocket@lemmy.zip 1 points 6 hours ago

OG Jurassic Park famous Quote

[–] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 21 points 17 hours ago (4 children)

Sting Jesus, while obviously a joke, doesn't really make sense does it? Wouldn't it be Sting Mary? Or Sting Jesus's Mom? I'm not a Bibleologist of course, I only play one in the internet.

Big wheel keep on turnin'. Sting Mary keep on burnin'.

I'm extremely surprised '''''they''''' would think there's any species of shark could father babies with a ray, though but then maybe I'm just a big ole dumby for thinking they would be in reference to the keepers and support staff who cared for and/or studied Sting Mary.

[–] zbyte64@awful.systems 3 points 8 hours ago

Before Sting there was Police. So it's Police Mary

[–] diaphragmwp@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Okay, but the baby would be?

[–] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 5 points 16 hours ago (2 children)
[–] Nouvellalia@lemmy.world 7 points 16 hours ago

This is the kind of early morning espresso/kratom talk I can get behind!

Rollin' on the river!

Sting Mary's womb was indeed empty, but the shape of her uterine void was mapped and used to build a functional replica of the salty messiah. When he was found floating down the Nile on a congealed foam of textile factory chemicals, the prophecy was fulfilled.

[–] diaphragmwp@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Would be, not is. Just trying to be pedantic over someone trying to be funny, don't mind me.

[–] mirshafie@europe.pub 6 points 14 hours ago

Sting Jesus is the bebe.

[–] Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 172 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

How slow is a stingrays metabolism and ovulation cycle?

Can it hold onto a fertilized egg for a long while?

I checked and looks like they may be able to hold onto sperm for a few years.

Painted turtles can hold sperms for up to 3 years and fertilize eggs from multiple clutches with saved sperm.

[–] Slab_Bulkhead@lemmy.world 116 points 1 day ago (5 children)

yeah thats what i was thinking hell look at cuddlefish they literally mate with a bunch of males, save their sperm separately in packets and then pick the 'best' to optimize the genetic quality. nature is wack. would be wild to learn another creature unlocked Parthenogenesis tho.

[–] Grail@multiverse.soulism.net 65 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Cuddlefish are a fictional species from the game Subnautica. I think you mean cuttlefish.

[–] Slab_Bulkhead@lemmy.world 47 points 1 day ago (1 children)

well thats just ducking great. (obviously my autocorrect is attention seeking)

[–] NoPanko@feddit.uk 20 points 22 hours ago

Poor touch starved autocorrect :(

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

they literally mate with a bunch of males, save their sperm separately in packets and then pick the 'best' to optimize the genetic quality

Sounds like they've perfected the process and us humans could learn a thing or two from them 😄

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 12 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

Eugenics has been pretty problematic for humans in the past.

[–] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 1 points 30 minutes ago

The problem with eugenics is other people having control over your reproduction. This is more control in the loins of the reproducers.

That's how human pregnancy works in the SF novel Ilium

[–] Dojan@pawb.social 28 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I just kind of assumed that stingrays were capable of parthenogenesis.

Did a cursory search and this was the first result which put a dampener on the whole situation unfortunately.

[–] Lyrl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 7 hours ago

What a roller coaster for the people caring for Charlotte. She has a lump that's probably a tumor, no it's eggs, no it's a baby, no it's a reproductive disease.

[–] Ajen@sh.itjust.works 2 points 14 hours ago

Honey bees are another good example of this.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 6 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Sounds like they don’t have time to cuddle.

[–] Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 21 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

What, you've never nutted in a stingray before?

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 15 points 17 hours ago

Me nutting in a stingray isn't the surprise. Her being pregnant is the surprise. This one isn't on me!

[–] I_am_10_squirrels@beehaw.org 4 points 17 hours ago

Afterwards, it stings when you pee

[–] nialv7@lemmy.world 79 points 1 day ago (4 children)
[–] Quokka@quokk.au 41 points 1 day ago
[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 10 points 22 hours ago

I was doing tasks! Teal is sus

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] qevlarr@lemmy.world 42 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] crimson_iris@piefed.social 41 points 22 hours ago (3 children)
[–] degen@midwest.social 5 points 15 hours ago

Now we just need Jim Carrey crawling out of his asshole

[–] smh@slrpnk.net 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

ELI5 WTF I'm looking at, please.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 12 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

two scenes from jurassic Park spliced together for comedic effect

edit for extra context: the smaller man - Dr Alan Grant portrayed by Sam Neill - is taken from a scene at the start of the movie where he meets a dinosaur for the first time - a sickly triceratops - and is listening to its breathing. The larger man - mathematician Ian Malcom portrayed by Jeff Goldblum - is taken from later in the movie where he was injured in a dinosaur attack and thus appears in dishelved clothing/a state of undress.

They have replaced the triceratops and the background from the Grant/Neill scene with Malcolm/Goldbloom and surrounds.

[–] smh@slrpnk.net 6 points 16 hours ago
[–] TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works 10 points 22 hours ago

thanks. i needed you outweird my coworker.

[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] Odo@lemmy.world 25 points 22 hours ago (2 children)
[–] Salvo@aussie.zone 3 points 7 hours ago

Poor Charlotte.

[–] KoalaUnknown@lemmy.world 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

It’s because they kept her instead of sending her to a larger aquarium or marine biology center that could support Charlotte.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 5 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Source? The provided link said she was sick which made it look like she was pregnant.

A larger aquarium might have saved her but it feels disingenuous to imply they kept her despite that when it sounds like they didn't even know there was even a problem requiring escalation until it was way too late.

[–] KoalaUnknown@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

They knew there was a problem months before she died, and even if they didn’t, they should have sent her somewhere with the proper resources. Instead, they kept her in a tiny “aquarium,” which is just a small room of fish tanks of aquatic animals that shouldn’t be there.

They kept her because she was making tons of money.

Had they sent her to a proper pacific research aquarium that is knowledgable about her species, she may not have died.

[–] mastod0n@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] unknown@piefed.social 5 points 16 hours ago

Put a fricken laser on it

load more comments
view more: next ›