Life Scientists' Top Science Jokes
In our Interviews with Scientists series, we like to include a little light-heartedness and have some fun, alongside showcasing the incredible and important work our customers and community do.
That’s why, as you might have spotted, we ask all our interviewees if they have a favourite science-related joke. We’ve got to admit, as cheesy as some of them are, they never fail to raise a smile (OK, sometimes a groan!) from the team.
And so, in celebration of April Fool’s Day, here’s a run-down of the best science jokes you’ve shared with us since we started our blog.
Science memes
We do appreciate a good science meme, and we love it when you share them with us! A couple of our interviewees shared their favourites…
“I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“I am a big fan of this meme,” says postdoc Rebecca San Gil, “it touches on the imposter syndrome that many of us have in the field of research!”
What you know vs how much you know about it...
Harry Potter, our first ever scientist to be interviewed shared this meme and said: “I’ve always loved this graph (typical scientist) … we really do start to become experts in our own (very) narrow niche – a lifetime of people being bored when you talk about your PhD ensues!”
Samuel-L-Jackson / Samuel-D-Jackson
Image credit: www.chemscrapes.net
This one is from our Marketing Director, Sam Roome: “I can't help it, I really love this. My background was working in a company that did a lot of work with glutamate ligands, so although I am not a chemist, I am pretty familiar with D and L stereochemistry. I saw this meme and it made me chuckle out loud. Pretty geeky I know!”
Science 'fiction' jokes
The old ‘shaggy dog story’ format can also apply to science jokes, we found out. Physics fans, this one’s for you:
Heisenberg and Schrödinger get pulled over for speeding
The cop asks Heisenberg: "Do you know how fast you were going?"
Heisenberg replies: "No, but we know exactly where we are!"
The officer looks at him, confused, and says: "You were going 108 miles per hour!"
Heisenberg throws his arms up and cries: "Great! Now we're lost!"
The officer looks over to the car and asks Schrödinger if the two men have anything in the trunk.
"A cat", Schrödinger replies.
The cop opens the trunk and yells: "Hey! This cat is dead."
Schrödinger angrily replies: "Well, he is now!"
Thanks to PhD student Rene Jezewski for sharing!
Short but funny
A lot of the best science jokes are short and simple... but effective! Here’s the best of the ‘quick fire’ one-liners we’ve had shared with us.
“I could tell you a science joke but all the good ones Argon.”
Ahhh, a classic there from PhD student Shivani Sachdev.
“I was going to tell a joke about sodium, but Na.”
Seems like Shivani and our CEO Steve share the same sense of humour!
“I may look like I’m not doing anything, but at a cellular level I am quite busy.”
Thanks to our Lab Heroes 2018 winner Dr Enitome Bafor for giving us the perfect, science-based comeback for every time we’re accused of being lazy or procrastinating.
“I think I’ve lost an electron. In fact, I’m positive.”
Another classic one-liner from PhD student Lucy Lewis!
“Ah! The element of surprise.”
Thanks to Catriona Cunningham for this one.
“I have a new theory on inertia but it doesn’t seem to be gaining momentum.”
“I’m all for puns, so I’m pretty fond of things like this,'' said PhD student Lizzie Mann when she shared this one with us!
Questions & Answers
While we’ve yet to hear any science “Knock Knock” jokes (there must be some out there though, right?) here are a couple of great question-and-answer quips for you.
“What does a subatomic duck say? ...Quark!”
“There’s so many which tickle me, but this is a classic… I’m easily pleased,” says Maz from Have You Ever Wondered?
“What are Cations afraid of? ...Dogions!”
Excellent punning from our Commercial Director, Dr Huw Davies
“What does a brain do when it sees a friend across the street? ...It gives a brain wave!”
Don’t worry, we told our Head of Product Development James not to give up his day job…
Science pick up lines
There’s nothing like a cheesy science pick up line to make you unsure whether to laugh or cringe… or so we’ve learned. Here are a few you’ve used on us (OK, they worked, we love you).
“Are you a carbon sample? Because I want to date you.”
And if that doesn’t work out...
You must be a neuron, because you got some action potential.”
Three times the charm...?
I want to be adenine just so I can be paired with U.”
You have PhD student Natalie Guthrie to thank for all of the above: “I am very much a fan of a good cheesy science pick up line or pun, so I think they are all wonderful. These are a couple of my favourites.”
“If I had to choose between DNA and RNA, I would choose RNA because it has U in it.”
Thank you Dr Samantha Murray for helping us find the way to every geneticists’ heart.
Thought this was fun? Check out our favourite science memes!
Got a joke to share with us? Share it on Twitter @hello_bio
____________________________________________
If you enjoyed reading this article, why not check out the other resources available on our blog. One of the things we’re most passionate about is supporting early career life scientists and PhD students. We know how tough it is - so we hope you find these helpful!
Advice & guidance for life scientists
Click below to view our of essential guides and articles includes to support life scientists, PhD students & early career life scientists:
Travel grants
Every month we give away $500 to PhD students and Postdocs so that they can attend a scientific conference - click below to find out more:
Wellbeing for scientists
Click below for our resources to help improve your wellbeing:
Technical resources
Try our Molarity Calculator: a quick and easy way to calculate the mass, volume or concentration required for making a solution.
Try our Dilution Calculator: an easy way to work out how to dilute stock solutions of known concentrations
Click below to see our Mini-reviews, Pathway Posters & Product Guides: a set of technical resources to answer your questions on a wide range of topics and to help you get started quickly.
And - when you get to the stage of planning your experiments, don't forget that we offer a range of agonists, antagonists, inhibitors, activators, antibodies and fluorescent tools at up to half the price of other suppliers - click below to see how we compare with other suppliers:
Advice from your fellow scientists
Click below to read advice from other scientists:
