this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2025
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Science Memes

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top 28 comments
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[–] AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 33 points 1 day ago (2 children)

How else am I supposed to remove the ice from my sidewalk???

[–] Zozano@aussie.zone 39 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (2 children)
[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 18 points 13 hours ago

But it’s my fault for global warming because I left a light on that one time.

[–] 0ops@piefed.zip 10 points 15 hours ago

Just don't get too close to any load-bearing steel beams

[–] FundMECFS@anarchist.nexus 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Some places have heated sidewalks for this lol

[–] DioramaOfShit@lemmy.world 5 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Some places.... like where rich folks live

[–] FundMECFS@anarchist.nexus 4 points 11 hours ago

Or places where there is critical infrastructure like Train platforms in some european countries

[–] affenlehrer@feddit.org 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 19 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] affenlehrer@feddit.org 23 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Sorry, I still don't get the part about "salting the earth". Is that something people do to get rid of weeds?

[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 40 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Yep. Did this recently actually lol.

But also commonly known as a war thing, done to render the enemy's land infertile. Can't grow food for a while and stuff.

Neither of these things really make much sense in context, though.

[–] artifactsofchina@lemmy.world 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I remember hearing that the Sahara desert was created by Romans salting the earth.

That can't possibly be true?

Also I wonder how it is connected to Jesus saying 'you are the salt of the earth'. That seems like am entirely different thing, but then again maybe not?

I feel like the most modern equivalent is Vietnam.

[–] Saapas@piefed.zip 15 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

No, Romans didn't make the Sahara. The myth is usually that they salted the earth when they destroyed Carthage but that isn't true either

[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 hours ago

Carthago delenda est!

[–] affenlehrer@feddit.org 1 points 4 hours ago

We (in Germany) use salt in winter to defrost the pavement and streets but it doesn't have a big effect on the weeds. They still appear from any crack they can find.

[–] BartyDeCanter@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago)

“Salting the Earth” is an idiom that references possibly apocryphal stories of ancient warfare where an invading army would literally put large amounts of salt or salt water in the enemy’s fields so that they wouldn’t be able to grow crops. This was done to make sure that the population couldn’t rebuild and become a threat in the future. Nowadays it is used to mean that someone is making really, really sure that something is destroyed and not coming back.

Edit: Part of the meaning is going out of your way in a big way to do it, because enough salt to actually have an effect, or digging a trench to get the ocean to fill the fields would have been astoundingly expensive.

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] affenlehrer@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

And it's just as bad / good as glyphosate?

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

No, salt is not toxic. But makes it hard for most things to grow until the sodium washes up.

[–] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

The handy men did manage to kill one of our roses by salting our sidewalk against weeds.

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

Salt (sodium) messes with the ability of plants to absorb certain nutrients from the soil, so if that soil wasn't very rich to begin with it can easily starve whatever is nearby.

I personally tried to kill weeds with salt in certain spots of my backyard and failed because it has plenty of nutrients and good drainage, salt doesn't last long after a couple rains.

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 3 points 12 hours ago

It's way worse than glyphosate. Nothing grows until it washes up, what can take many years.

[–] lobut@lemmy.ca 2 points 15 hours ago
[–] Aquila@sh.itjust.works 13 points 19 hours ago

Monsanto did some fucked up shit

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 3 hours ago

salting the earth, prevents plants from growing.

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Vinegar works faster

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 4 points 11 hours ago (1 children)
[–] MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca 1 points 9 hours ago

Maybe they mean they're at the brimstone till to buy some brimstone.

Or, maybe they're a brimstone farmer and need to till the land specifically for brimstone.

We'll just never know...