this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2025
1154 points (99.1% liked)

Science Memes

15381 readers
1889 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.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



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 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

Google windshield effect or windscreen effect for real doomerism.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

i didnt need to be sad rn

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

But have you considered that instead of fireflies, we have HOAs that will fine you if you don't fact a perfect lawn?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

Hey folks, it's easy. Leave your leaves in the fall. It will take two years of this. The first year they'll nest there the next they'll hatch. I've been doing it for two years and have more. Especially my front yard where I've never seen them before.

Also, the other day I saw one in a spider web and it flashed back when I put my flashlight on it. (Which is really sad lol.) I did it a second time to check and it did it back a second time. Definitely wasn't coincidence. So all the talk about lights on in your house absolutely is true and it probably confuses them. To the best of your ability turn off lights or at least close curtains and blinds. Definitely turn off porch lights.

They're magical. The sounds and sights of a summer evening are truly an enchanting experience. Especially after dealing with a stupidly hot day lol.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Oddly this year they are really prevalent in my area. In prior years I haven't seen nearly as many.

I'm intentionally avoiding lawn treatments and insecticides this year. I love my yard, but I'm also thinking about switching to clover.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

GUYS GUYS I CAME BACK TO THIS POST BECAUSE THERE IS A FIREFLY IN MY BEDROOM!!(I rarely see it theese days but it's here now)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Man I feel lucky, there are a ton of lightning bugs in my yard

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

There's so many here at the Rustbolt homestead.

It's like Lampyridae Ft. Lauderdale.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 days ago

Over the weekend I saw an incredible display of the blue Ghost Firefly right up in my face while camping in Pisgah. What a thing. I have been reforming my entire yard to facilitate insects. This year I did have a significant amount of fireflies compared to years past. Things can change and get better. They might not, but we might as well try for good.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 days ago

I saw lightening bugs for the first time in years when I moved to the east coast. I was so excited, I caught some and brought them inside to show my cat (I let them back out of course). Next year, nada. So far this year? Also nada. I even made a point to leave the leaves. 😔

[–] [email protected] 28 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I moved to Minnesota in the early 2000s and was blown away by all of the fireflies. It was magical. I'll never forget snuggling up with someone and watching the fireflies during a thunder storm.

The decline was unbelievably rapid. The last 6 years I was there I'd maybe see one or two the whole summer. If that.

It's so sad because they're truly wondrous creatures.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago

They got Roundup

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 days ago

Well at least we’ll still have lightning bugs, right.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

This is kind of wild to me. This year we're seeing more fireflies in my yard than we have in a long time. My husband and I have been commenting on it. At night there's an awesome light show and it's kind of awesome. Whatever is happening in my neighborhood they definitely like!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

It's likely because of the recent storms causing damp leaf and damp vegetation clutter, which is what they like to hide in during the day, where they lay eggs, and where they live.

You clearing your yard of all the leaves into non-biodegradable plastic bags into the dumpster and having an ugly as fuck monoculture grass lawn isn't helping these insects recover from being at risk of going extinct.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 days ago (4 children)

I don't even see butterflies anymore. Sad.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I haven't seen a butterfly during most of my teenage years but have seen a resurgence last few years because gardening as a hobby became huge for mothers and young adults alike.

My mother used to have a small but lushful garden when I was a child but she wasn't able to maintain as many plants because busy and budget.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Now you remind me I haven't seen a ladybug in probably more than a decade

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

I have probably seen a total of three bees in person in the past 10 years.

Our planet is dying in front of our eyes.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

But it all isn't real because sometimes its still cold

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

How fucking depressing is it. Meanwhile, republicans are doing everything they can do fuck us over even more.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

What are you doing about this? All I see is people posting complaints like you are, and massive protests being completely ignored by everyone. Republicans only respect violence, and the left doesn't value violence so we are left looking like limp impotent bitches.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago

I saw more this year than previous years. I wonder what legislation passed locally

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Plant milkweed and don't touch your dead leaves!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I have no yard, so no can do.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Steal one, then turn it into a bug factory.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It was only a few, but, I did see some while camping this weekend.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

Same, been camping twice this summer and both times I was taken aback and both seeing them (it’s become so rare), and how few there were. Used to be swarms of them in my backyard, not I go camping just to see 3 of them.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago

One night in ft Gordon we were doing an FTX and we got out there late and set up the tents in the dark, n in a field of tall grass. No sooner than the tents were set up, an intense rainstorm came through and dumped a metric fuckton of rain in 15-20 minutes. And as quickly as it started, it was over. Afterwards there were so many fireflies it looked like a fantasy movie. I had never seen anything like that. I've been all over the world, hell I grew up in Boulder, on of the most beautiful places on earth, but I've never seen anything even close to that. It was absolutely magical. And my kid gets so excited to see 2 or 3 and it makes me want to cry.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Lanternfiles, on the other hand... Oh, wait, oh fuck.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago

The spotty yeety boi is so pretty but it can go fuck itself

[–] [email protected] 66 points 4 days ago

I have participated in No Mow May for three years now. I also have a spot in the yard I let be free (weeded it for invasives) for the same amount of time.

This summer, for the first time since I have lived here, exsists an abundance of fireflys in my yard. They are everywhere, in a way I've never seen since I was a child.

No Mow May, (even if just a part of your yard) gives insects a place. Bugs live in the leaves and natural debris, by keeping it undisturbed, from fall to winter is important for many bugs' survival.

If you like bugs, consider dedicating space in your yard for them to live. Don't keep grass in the typical american perfect lawn way. I suggest not to spray, and look at native grasses and plants first when seeking your landscaping needs.

I've noticed a real difference this year in my yard. Maybe its some coincidence, I don't know. Either way I'm happy to see lightning bugs again

load more comments
view more: next ›