this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] logicbomb@lemmy.world 79 points 14 hours ago (4 children)

If I'm to believe that second person didn't misspeak, they had "mental breakdowns" with an "s", so multiple breakdowns, over the thought that their eating lettuce could cause a nuclear apocalypse.

They must really like lettuce. If I had a mental breakdown over the fear that my eating a specific food would cause untold human death and suffering, including my own, I would likely not eat that food again until I could convince myself it was safe.

[–] lime@feddit.nl 86 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

(While chewing lettuce) “Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”

[–] SanctimoniousApe@lemmings.world 15 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Would you mind doing that more over towards Washington DC, please? TIA.

[–] lime@feddit.nl 13 points 11 hours ago

Tactical salad, lol.

[–] pigup@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Maybe after the first few mental breakdowns, they could have maybe just gone on the internet may be kind of like, I don't know, learned more. So they were saying they were just so sure that they could accidentally split atoms and they didn't question why there weren't nuclear explosions going off at every restaurant hundreds of thousands of times per day.

Edit: /s for the simplitons below 👇

[–] SharkyAttack@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

You understand that there are a lot of people alive before the internet existed, right? And if this person is relating a story from their childhood, and they’re anywhere over like 35 years old, us old people couldn’t just “go on the internet”.

[–] TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub 4 points 9 hours ago

How dare you add common sense to our imaginary and greatly embellished struggles!

The audacity of this guy, I almost died of Asperger!

[–] Anivia@feddit.org 1 points 2 hours ago

I would likely not eat that food again until I could convince myself it was safe

I guess you did not grow up with parents that forced you to clean up your plate before leaving the dinner table

[–] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 42 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Sometimes all kids need is a scientifically literate adult to explain precisely why their fear isn't possible.

[–] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 22 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Yea, just tell them they and the surrounding half mile would be instantly vaporized and wouldn't even know they were dead.

[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 14 points 9 hours ago

"It hasn't happened yet and you damn sure aren't special enough to be the one to do it"

[–] riskable@programming.dev 15 points 12 hours ago

Atoms lettuce break the iceberg.

[–] EvilBit@lemmy.world 15 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Reminds me of a profoundly stupid movie I saw as a child called Young Einstein starring Yahoo Serious and no that’s not aphasia talking. He takes an atom out to the shed and splits it with a chisel. An explosion ensues, complete with charred face and smoking hair standing on end.

[–] Steamymoomilk@sh.itjust.works 8 points 8 hours ago

NOO BILLL

WHYYY

EVAPORATES INTO ASH

[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 9 hours ago

Yep was super paranoid and anxious over misunderstandings now just super paranoid and anxious over worst case unlikely scenarios.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

A single atom wouldn't even be worse than, like, a pop rock anyway. You need a whole mess of them motherfuckers to make a big boom.

[–] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

If you did manage to do this by random chance would you even notice? A single atom is pretty small. If you somehow split a random carbon atom in lettuce wouldn't you get less than a Joule as long as it doesn't somehow chain?

[–] Bubs@lemmy.zip 8 points 8 hours ago

This is just what I've heard a long time ago so don't quote me lol. But no, splitting a single atom shouldn't do anything of note. I believe it's the same general reason that a nuke doesn't set the entire atmosphere on fire - you need a lot of energy to split atoms. That's why nukes need enriched materials.

I also believe that even a nuclear explosion won't be triggered by a single split atom in a bomb. For example, the Manhattan Project bomb was triggered by shaped explosives that surrounded the nuclear core. The blast of the charges "compressed" the nuclear material to the point it reached a critical mass that allowed a runaway fission reaction.

[–] bdonvr@thelemmy.club 6 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Yeah it would be small to the point of not being perceptible. A single atom has an insane amount of energy for its size, but its still not enough to move a grain of sand any amount that would be perceptible to the naked eye

[–] AquaTofana@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago

I remember being told "Atoms are always moving", so I would cut reeeeaaaalllllyyyy fucking slow for a bit thinking that the atoms would "move out of the way."

I also just read my husband this meme and he was like "Oh yeah. I remember thinking I was risking my area for arts and crafts."

[–] Skyrmir@lemmy.world 3 points 3 hours ago

Just be glad no one showed you crunching life savers in the dark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcgRGo4wj2w

[–] Cossty@lemmy.world 1 points 11 minutes ago* (last edited 11 minutes ago)

When I was a kid, I was playing one day outside and then later I realized there is an ant nest nearby and I saw that I killed some ants by walking near it.
After that, I didn't want to kill any more bugs etc, so whenever I was walking on grass, I would always check the grass before me to see if there are any bugs in it, and only then I would make a step.

Yeah, it was very slow and inefficient, but it wasn't that bad because I was actively avoiding grass and this whole experiment didn't last very long either, maybe a couple of months.

Then I went back to stepping on the bugs.

[–] edgesmash@lemmy.world -2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

What kid wants to eat salad?

[–] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 11 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

A kid whose parents actually gave a shit about parenting?

[–] edgesmash@lemmy.world 5 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

Come on, man. I have my kids eating their veggies, but they don't like it. The older one knows they are healthy and eats them reluctantly, the younger never chooses veggies unless we attach consequences for not eating (e.g., no dessert unless you eat your veggies).

But neither wants to eat them.

[–] DomeGuy@lemmy.world 9 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

But neither wants to eat them.

Respectfully, if neither of your children have a vegetable* dish they will eat as a snack you haven't exposed them to a wide enough array of vegetables and vegetables preparation methods.

Don't be afraid to add salt, roast instead of boil, or just experiment with things you haven't tried.

(*: And "vegetable" here is strictly in a culinary context, excluding grains and near-grains like potatoes and including savory sead-bearing plant-parts like cucumbers. But if they don't even like a form of potato or a grain, you may have a eating disorder on your hand...)

[–] edgesmash@lemmy.world 5 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Hey man, I honestly appreciate your insight and ideas. You're spot on for what to do for how to cook and prepare veggies for kids (and adults too). My parents raised me on the most bland American cuisine imagination (they rarely even added salt), but when I left home, I discovered the greater world of veggie preparation.

But, with all due respect, you haven't met my kids. My partner and I are not perfect parents, but we've tried many different ways to prepare and serve veggies, including salted, roasted, sautéd with oil and seasoning, boiled, raw with/without dip/sauce... It doesn't help that my partner is nearly as picky as my kids (to be fair, I can be quite picky with respect to texture). But, at least we're making sure they understand that a balanced diet is vital to health. And, hey, both of my kids are healthy and in the lower percentile for height-weight ratio, so we haven't failed them yet.

Regarding my original downvoted comment, it was just an old Gen x dude trying to make a dumb old joke.

[–] DomeGuy@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I'm glad you took it in the spirit it was intended. (Slightly chiding, but well-meaning.)

I think it can be really hard to not pass on our bad habits to our kids. Mine have a room just as messy as mine ever was, and they're at least as bad at doing their homework as I ever was.

Good job so far!

[–] edgesmash@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

I'm glad you shared! Life is hard, parenting is doubly hard, and we're all just trying to make it through and do at least a little better than our parents did.

I'm just glad my kids didn't inherit my messy room... I had literal layers of stuff on the floor, like it was some sort of strata. I can't believe my parents let me get away with it. That said, I knew where everything was.

Anyway, good job to you as well!

[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 8 points 9 hours ago

My nephew's favorite food is broccoli, not all kids hate veggies

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 4 points 9 hours ago

My favorite food as a kid was cauliflower and my family didn’t even make it nicely, just steamed with a little butter. I still love vegetables, but I don’t think I’ve ever steamed anything but fiddleheads and dumplings.