951
morphology-based phylogeny
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
One of our bioinformatics has a sign at his desk that says "taxonomy is a social construct".
Conservatives hate this one trick!
(The trick: literally everything in all aspects of reality, from the larges to smallest scales to every branch of life and consciousness is a motherfucking SPECTRUM. No hard lines. Nothing is solid. Not even the matter you're standing or sitting on.)
"Yah but nuance is so hard! It's so much easier to just hate everything I don't understand"
A paper I quite enjoy is "Queer Theory for Lichens" which argued that queer theory is genuinely a useful framework for studying lichens; Lichens resist categorisation in a manner that feels like they're actively mocking our taxonomic efforts.
“taxonomy is a social construct”
i mean for bacteria it actually is because bacteria can exchange genes across "species" so it's not really a species... at least not in the sense of eukaryotes (where species are defined such that different species cannot exchange genes with each other)
Even for anything else, it actually is. Taxonomy is our construct that we came up with as a society to classify life. We cannot ever be "right" about it, it can just be more or less useful for us to understand life.
in that case we cannot ever be "right" about anything, as any thought we have is just a model that helps us get through life?
Yes and it is very important to constantly remind ourselves that all our abstractions and classifications are just that. Helpful tools for us to view and understand the world. People tend to forget that and over time see their categorization as essential and natural. For example, sex and gender are both socially constructed but people forget that and then create a whole set of rules around it to reinforce that categorization including social stigmatization and infant mutilation.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(10 replies)
I wonder how many people think that this;
is what a coconut actually looks like.
EDIT:
Coconut as it looks on the palm tree
That coconut is clearly not on a palm tree, mate. /s
To be honest, I've noticed that with lots of foods. I know what the thing looks like in stores, but I have no idea what it's like in nature.
Cashews were another recent one, where I never would have guessed what they look like:
I got to travel Southeast Asia for a time, it's atrocious how much we're missing out on in the USA.
Even the really fresh coconuts here just don't compare to the ones you get fresh off a tree. It's unreal. Don't get me started on my Mango Rant.
I lived in the US Virgin Islands as a kid. Our back yard had a seemingly endless supply of mangoes, bananas, avocado, lime, oranges (the real stuff, not the engineered shit we eat in the mainland), grapefruit, bread fruit, acerola, plantains, and pigeon peas. It wasn't even that big a yard. Shit just grows.
load more comments
(2 replies)
that looks underripe to me
(from researchgate), Maturity stages of coconut: a) young; b) early ripening; c) ripe
From experience: all stages of a coconut are distinct, edible and used for different dishes, treats, condiments and ingredients. It's truly a wonderous plant and sad that most Americans are only familiar with the overripe, hard kind with hard flesh.
i think they're only familiar with it (edit: the overripe stuff) because they don't pay attention to their thai food. that has exploded in popularity over the last few decades and fuck yeah.
Underripe is when it's nice and full of water. Best when thirsty. Dry and ripe, best when hungry.
On related news, the salmon fish is not salmon color... And beef comes in larger packages on nature.
the salmon fish is not salmon color...
Why, sure it is! 😬
Maybe we just disagree on what color "salmon" is, but the meat is what I would call that color. They're like flamingos in that they take on pigment from their diet. For this reason, farmed salmon will not be "salmon" color unless their diet has been supplemented with the pigment.
Ok, but chickens produce milk too, just like coconuts:
wiki/Crop_milk
Also dis:
Some spiders also produce milk.
So they are coconuts.
Hmm... I am a quack, therefore I duck?
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2025
951 points (100.0% liked)
Science Memes
17182 readers
3421 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
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- 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
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS