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https://github.com/mszell/sciencememes

Science-inspired visual memes
https://github.com/mszell/sciencememes

memes science-communication

Last synced: 7 months ago
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Science-inspired visual memes

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# Science Memes

This is a collection of science-inspired visual memes I have created. All images were created or postprocessed via keynote: [sciencememes.key](sciencememes.key)



## 2024-02: Deaths from Wars & Cars

Visualization of the largest death tolls from human wars compared to cars, inspired by the great paper [Car harm: A global review of automobility's harm to people and the environment](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692324000267). War death tolls are taken from wikipedia, the bar chart reports midpoints of estimates (for example, WW2 has 70-85M deaths, so (70+85)/2 ≈ 78). Thanks to Anastassia Vybornova for feedback.



![Deaths from Wars & Cars](images/202402deathsfromwarscars.png "Deaths from Wars & Cars")



## 2023-08: Google maps "car-brained" routing

Comparison of Google maps' suggested routes for cycling.



Between the choices:  

A - Fastest (14 min), Shortest (4.0 km), 30% green, 50% next to cars  

B - Slowest (16 min), Longest (4.8 km), 5% green, 95% next to cars



Google maps ranks route B "best" (1st), while route A is ranked worst (3rd).



![Google maps car-brained routing](images/202308googlebikerouting.png "Comparison of Google maps' suggested routes for cycling.")



## 2023-03: Implementing Car-Free Cities: Information Cycle

Beautification of Fig.11.2 from the book chapter [Implementing Car-Free Cities: Rationale, Requirements, Barriers and Facilitators](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-74983-9_11) by Nieuwenhuijsen et al. The figure caption reads "Information cycle related to support for change towards car-free cities".



![Implementing Car-Free Cities: Information Cycle](images/202303carfreecitiesinfo.png "Information cycle related to support for change towards car-free cities. Adapted from Nieuwenhuijsen et al., Integrating Human Health into Urban and Transport Planning, Ch. 11 (2019).")



## 2023-01: Cyclist desire lines

A visualization of designed and actual paths for cyclists on a busy Danish intersection, following the paper [*Computational Desire Line Analysis of Cyclists on the Dybbølsbro Intersection in Copenhagen*](https://findingspress.org/article/56683-computational-desire-line-analysis-of-cyclists-on-the-dybbolsbro-intersection-in-copenhagen). Source: [https://github.com/SimonBreum/desirelines](https://github.com/SimonBreum/desirelines)



![Cyclist desire lines](images/202301cyclistdesirelines.png "Left: Title: Design. Photo of empty intersection with a white arrow of where cyclists are intended to travel. Right: Title: Reality. Photo of the same intersection, overlaid with hundreds of colorful cyclist trajectories going all over the place.")



## 2022-12: Urban speeds

A sketch depicting two different perspectives of speed in the city. Numerical values are in km/h.



![Urban speeds](images/202212urbanspeeds.png "Top human perspective showing scale: slow <5 km/h, medium 5-9 km/h, fast 10-19 km/h, deadly 20+ km/h. Bottom car perspective showing scale: slow <40 km/h, medium 40-59 km/h, fast 60+ km/h")



## 2022-10: PhD Calling

A popular visual meme created by manchildmanor.com, adapted to academia with the statement of an Ivy League Professor of how a PhD is not like real work with full pay but more of a calling.



![PhD Calling](images/202210phdcalling.png "Comic showing two men talking. Left man, with nice shirt and haircut: This is an underpaid PhD, but academia is a calling. Right man, looking worn down, folding hands and looking up: Oh that's perfect! My rent is actually 800 callings!")



## 2022-09: Alien test

A slide from a lecture on sustainable mobility, introducing the "alien test": If an alien visits earth and gets *completely* confused by your statement, then probably something is wrong with it.



![Alien test](images/202209alientest.png "A slide titled 'Denmark is a cycling nation', showing an alien getting confused by the distribution of budgets for cycling (3bn DKK) and new roads (64bn DKK). This is the alien test: If an alien visits earth and gets completely confused by your statement, then probably something is wrong with it.")



## 2022-01: Mobility report

Application of the popular Drake meme to my 2021 Google mobility report which shows a lot of cycling but also thousands of km of air travel, ending with the title of the paper [*Air Travel and Urbanity: The Role of Migration, Social Networks, Airport Accessibility, and ‘Rebound’*](https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/3983) which describes this phenomenon.



![Mobility report](images/202201mobilityreport.png "Applying the popular Drake meme to my 2021 Google mobility report which shows a lot of cycling but also thousands of km of air travel, ending with the title of the paper Air Travel and Urbanity: The Role of Migration, Social Networks, Airport Accessibility, and ‘Rebound’ which describes this phenomenon.")



## 2021-09: Cure the disease

A provocative sketch depicting one of the biggest problems in cities and how to cure it.



![Cure the disease](images/202109curedisease.png "A provocative sketch depicting one of the biggest problems in cities and how to cure it. A city icon surrounded by red car icons, vaccinated with a blue syringe that contains a pedestrian and bike icon. Text: Cure the Disease. Reduce speeds, remove parking, give space to cycling, give space to walking")



### Update 2024-05



![Cure the disease](images/202405curedisease.png "A provocative sketch depicting one of the biggest problems in cities and how to cure it. A city icon surrounded by red SUV icons, vaccinated with a blue syringe that contains a pedestrian and bike icon. Text: Cure the Disease. Reduce speeds, remove parking, give space to cycling, give space to walking")



## 2021-01: Bicycle network approaches

A visualization of the most distinct environments for cycling arriving from different approaches of urban planning, using real network data. Source: [https://github.com/mszell/taxonomybikenw](https://github.com/mszell/taxonomybikenw)



![Bicycle network approaches](images/202101bikenwapproaches.png "A visualization of the most distinct environments for cycling arriving from different approaches of urban planning, using real network data.")



## 2020-12: Data sets

A funny slide used in teaching *Introduction to Data Science and Programming*. Source: [https://github.com/mszell/introdatasci](https://github.com/mszell/introdatasci)



![Data sets](images/202012datasets.png "Left: Data sets in tutorials. Showing world's cutest puppy, perfectly groomed - aww. Right: Data sets in the wild. Showing ugliest dog, eyes and teeth protruding and distorted, ferocious look - nightmare material.")