I was surprised when I collided with a firefly one night. the sudden mixing of those bioluminescent chemicals left a glowing green smudge for several seconds.
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I hit three at once years ago, going about 70mph; they left glowing green streaks that were very distracting!
(I slowed down fast.)
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UmâŚI am going to need help âŚI know carbon usually has only four bonds, and this is methanium (I looked it upâhighly unstable), but what is the joke? Thanks.
Methanium - Wikipedia)%2C%20bearing%20a%20%2B1
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- From Chat GPT
The joke in this framed image comes from the combination of a chemical structure and a political or social commentary slogan.
The structure depicted is methane (CHâ), which consists of one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms. Methane is one of the simplest organic molecules and is chemically neutral and non-reactive under normal conditions.
The text below reads:
âIf you arenât outraged, then you arenât paying attention.â
This phrase is a common activist slogan used to highlight issues that should provoke strong reactions. The joke arises because methane (CHâ) is literally non-reactive, meaning it doesnât easily get âoutragedâ (i.e., it doesnât react with other substances). This plays on the dual meaning of âreactivityââboth in a chemical sense and in an emotional/societal sense.
In short, it humorously implies that methane is not paying attention because it remains unreactive!
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Thanks for looking it up. Iâm a bit confused yet, because this is actually not methane, but has one extra bond to hydrogen, methanium, which is I know highly reactive so maybe thatâs what itâs meaning?
Thanks. I think that helped me!
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- You sent me back to Chat GPT.
Problem: The image shows CH(subscript 5).
ChatGPT said:
Ah! That makes the joke even funnierâbecause CHâ doesnât exist in stable form!
The structural diagram incorrectly shows carbon bonded to five hydrogen atoms, which violates the basic rules of valency in chemistry. Carbon can form only four bonds because it has four valence electrons.
So now the joke has two layers:
- The usual joke about methane being ânon-reactiveâ and ânot paying attention.â
- The fact that the molecule itself is scientifically impossible, meaning whoever made this diagram wasnât paying attention!
Itâs a clever mix of science humor and wordplayâperfect for chemistry nerds! 
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Thank you! That is a good one!
I think it is only transient because of its instability, according to the Wikipedia, so that makes good sense!
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Going to Lauraâs post, I just re-read it and while at first found it mildly amusing as people really like their caffeine (another exception to i before e except after c), and would be ticked off to just have decaf, just got the de-caf âŚthe calf pun. In my defense, have not had my full cup of coffee this morning.
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LOL. I hadnât considered the second level to the joke, but yeah, makes it even better. I think the maker of the diagram recognized the drawing was impossible, but maybe didnât get the extra irony.
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This is even funnier â ChatGPT doesnât even see the joke!
CH_5 is pretty much âoutragedâ by definition since is is a transitional molecule only, i.e. it only occurs briefly as a stage in a chemical reaction and not on its own.
And while it may be technically non-reactive, keep in mind that it makes a nice fuel for stoves and rockets.
Then ChatGPT gets it wrong again . . .
Which is incorrect â it occurs naturally as a transition form, but is at best metastable when created via the wonders of chemistry . . . which is too bad, because if it could be kept stable it would also make a nice rocket fuel.
The moral of this story is that ChatGPT is bad at science. And at reading diagrams.
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Itâs a great learning example!