this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2025
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Science Memes

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top 37 comments
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[–] AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works 40 points 1 day ago (2 children)

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

[–] Zozano@aussie.zone 47 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)
[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 25 points 1 day ago

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

[–] 0ops@piefed.zip 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

[–] msage@programming.dev 1 points 2 hours ago

Russian snowblowers can't melt steel beams!!1!

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

Some places have heated sidewalks for this lol

[–] DioramaOfShit@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Some places.... like where rich folks live

[–] FundMECFS@anarchist.nexus 6 points 1 day ago

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

[–] affenlehrer@feddit.org 18 points 1 day ago (3 children)
[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] affenlehrer@feddit.org 25 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 43 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.

[–] affenlehrer@feddit.org 2 points 21 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.

[–] artifactsofchina@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day 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 17 points 1 day 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

Carthago delenda est!

[–] BartyDeCanter@lemmy.sdf.org 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day 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 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day 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 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] alternategait@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

It also changes the osmolarity of the water in the soil, changing how water can move into their root system.

[–] marcos@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

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

[–] Aquila@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 day ago

Monsanto did some fucked up shit

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 20 hours ago

salting the earth, prevents plants from growing.

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

Vinegar works faster

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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...

[–] Randelung@lemmy.world 5 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

I've always wondered about the whole "you are the salt of the earth" thing. Did they mean it in a positive or negative way?

[–] baka@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 hour ago

I didn't realize until you said that

[–] Cethin@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 hour ago

I'm pretty sure it's positive. Salt is (was, but still is to a lesser extent) extremely valuable. It's literally where the word "salary" comes from. Every person, and animal, needs salt to survive, and it used to be much harder to obtain than today. It's only bad in extremely high amounts in a field you're planning to grow crops.

[–] friend_of_satan@lemmy.world 3 points 4 hours ago

But Brawndo has electrolytes! It's what plants crave!

[–] sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 14 hours ago

Brimstone. Girls would never take him home,

[–] Shayeta@feddit.org 1 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

A fitting fate for Carthage I say! Right after we destroy it!

[–] humanspiral@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

glycophosate

is that supposed to be glycophosphate? If not what is that?

edit: nvm... I may have been saying it wrong all these years.