23 Reasons to Follow the #MyOneScienceTweet Hashtag on Twitter

Entomology grad student Dalton Ludwig started it. It’s great. Knowing that scientists are just as bugged — especially entymologists — about misconceptions as the rest of us, Ludwig asked a simple question on Twitter:

If you could have the entire world know just one thing about your field of study, then what would it be? #MyOneScienceTweet

— Dalton Ludwick (@EntoLudwick) October 27, 2017

The response has been amazing, and if you can't have fun reading what scientists of all sorts have posted, you don't like science. Here are 23 of our favorites.

1. So, obviously, some things should be said right away.

Microbiology student Patrick Kyle Taylor offers one such fact.

There's no debate about vaccines. They save lives and do not cause autism whatsoever. #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/YH6PyMClvK

— Patrick Kyle Taylor (@PaddyKTaylor) October 30, 2017

2. But then, University of Kentucky’s Vaillancourt Lab shares a juicy secret.

Some fungi have more than 20,000 sexes. But we can't tell them apart by how they look. Only the fungi know. #MyOneScienceTweet

— Vaillancourt Lab (@VaillancourtLab) October 30, 2017

3. “Anthropologist in biologist clothing” “S Holly” want to restate the terms of the debate here.

Darwin’s theory of evolution describes the origin of species, not the origin of life. #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/7kLQHfzK6X

— S Holly (@shollyg) October 29, 2017

4. While we’re at it, somebody at NYU Primatology would like people to stop — already — making evolution sound silly and insulting by repeating this.

Humans aren't descended from chimps, nor any living monkey, but share a common ancestor with them #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/3vzWOhYVfW

— NYU Primatology (@nyuprimatology) October 28, 2017

Insulted (HELEN BUCKLAND)

5. Oh, also, David Moscato must be as frustrated as we are when people say a an organism particular mutation so it can [fill in the blank]. It doesn’t have it for a reason. It just happens to be advantageous, and sometimes not even that.

6. OB/GYN Jennifer Gunter has no patience for GOOP-y pseudo-science. Also a way with a metaphor.

Vaginas are like self cleaning ovens so no soaps, cleansing, douches or anything GOOP is selling https://t.co/uhEv7JE5v0

— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) October 30, 2017

7. Weird that race is such a big deal, given that it’s not real, biological anthropologist Tina Lasisi reminds everyone. Relax people, it’s not a biological distinction; it’s cultural.

Anthropologists did not stop using biological “race” to be politically correct, they stopped because it is bad science #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/M9kLLxpbT8

— Tina Lasisi (@TinaLasisi) October 29, 2017

8. Ecologist, entomologist, and writer Terry McGlynn would like to point out that saving species is just for them.

Biodiversity is an insurance policy against many possible changes in the environment that can fuck over humankind. #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/ipuybtvYUi

— Terry McGlynn (@hormiga) October 28, 2017

9. We did not know this, Thomas Clements.

Octopus don't have any tentacles. 0. Not one. They have 8 arms.

Squid and cuttlefish have 8 arms AND 2 tentacles.#MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/fg7NB1ryrU

— Thomas Clements (@Thomas_Clements) October 30, 2017

10. Linguist “Lisa” has a reminder for those who get all upset about the way people talk these days.

Language is changing constantly. It's natural & there is nothing you can do about it. #linguistics #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/hmsotQyTpY

— Lisa (@ladida_lisa) October 29, 2017

11. Tweet, y’all. Thank yew very mush, Lydia Rocheleau.

Birds can have regional accents! #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/sRe38r0WTE

— Lydia Rocheleau (@LydiaRocheleau) October 29, 2017

12. Ben Britton “plays with metals,” and he wants us to know this.

Some steels now have strengths in excess of 1 GPa, due to innovations in materials science, which means a single clothing pin can carry my entire body weight #MyOneScienceTweet

— Dr Ben Britton (@BMatB) October 28, 2017

13. Let’s let frustrated ecologist Michelle LaRue vent.

Polar bears don’t live in Antarctica
Polar bears don’t live in Antarctica
Polar bears don’t live in Antarctica#MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/nbMfKyGbYS

— Michelle LaRue (@drmichellelarue) October 30, 2017

14. No excuse, people, says Nanette Johnson.

There is no such thing as a “math person” #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/98mrNaCJgt

— Nanette Johnson (@Math_m_Addicts) October 30, 2017

15. Paleontologist Dean R. Lomax has had enough with the swimming dinosaurs already…

Ichthyosaurs are not swimming dinosaurs. Just no. #MyOneScienceTweet

— Dean R. Lomax (@Dean_R_Lomax) October 30, 2017

16. Because…

Ichthyosaurs and Pterosaurs are NOT dinosaurs.

But this guy: [eagle] and [owl], and [duck], and [chick], and [turkey], and [dove] ARE all dinosaurs.#MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/fg7NB1ryrU

— Thomas Clements (@Thomas_Clements) October 30, 2017

17. Did “Kyle” try this himself? If so, you got lucky, friend.

There is a species of sea slug that smells like watermelon #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/2dCC4p1bOO

— Kyle (@phycofrenzy) October 29, 2017

This one, the melibe. (ROBIN AGARWAL)

18. I’m glad someone said this. Thanks, planetary astronomer Michael Busch.

No large asteroid will impact Earth in the next few hundred years. #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/43HPu8h1PN

— Michael Busch (@michael_w_busch) October 28, 2017

19. As close to TMI as we want to get. But still, interesting, Tom Price.

Ancestral sperm competition means men ejaculate ~350 million sperm. Enough to father the world’s population in 20 wanks! #MyOneScienceTweet

— Tom Price (@TomARPrice) October 30, 2017

20. James Pitt explains why you might let the human pick the restaurant.

Humans "traded guts for brains"; compared to chimps, we're worse at digesting but better at finding high-quality food. #MyOneScienceTweet https://t.co/saVPqOuSXu

— James Pitt (@Sahelanth) October 28, 2017

21. Whoah. This creepy plant fact is from biologist Daniel Torrico B.

Plants can hear caterpillar's bites vibrations and response chemically to them #MyOneScienceTweet

— Daniel Torrico B (@danitobaz) October 28, 2017

22. Molecular ecologist Sciencegurl has a garden tip.

Yes, it has a cute name but don’t plant baby’s breath in your garden!! #MyOneScienceTweet

— Sciencegurl (@sciencegurlz0) October 30, 2017

23. And finally:

THIS is what a Tasmanian devil looks like #MyOneScienceTweet pic.twitter.com/scyerx3jLd

— David Hamilton (@davidghamilton1) October 30, 2017

New gems are appearing on #MyOneScienceTweet all the time.