this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2026
724 points (95.5% liked)

Science Memes

19058 readers
377 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

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. 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

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 19 points 4 days ago (4 children)

It smells so weird and strong. I'm surprised not everyone can smell this. I wonder how common this is?

[–] notthebees@reddthat.com 2 points 1 day ago

I'm not exactly sure. My sense of smell has been shot since I got covid. It feels so weird. Some smells don't exist, some are much stronger, some remained the same.

One good example is burning anything while cooking.

I can just feel it though. If I'm itchy while in my kitchen, 9/10 it's ants (ground floor old apartment)

[–] BlueEther@no.lastname.nz 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Now I need to know what I'm missing out on... I know the smell of formic acid, and can smell it if andts are really pissed off - but do they just smell?

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 16 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I usually only smell it after they are agitated. I assume that's what they meant? But usually when I'm smelling ants they are agitated.

[–] mrmisses@lemmy.world 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Can you smell other insects or is it just ants? Any type of ant?

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Most insects don't have a strong odor. It's all types of ants as far as I've noticed.

With ants I typically notice it on my hands after I've touched them. So it's strong enough to linger in that way.

[–] Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk 2 points 4 days ago

I don't think I've touched an ant since I was a kid.

[–] Shelena@feddit.nl 4 points 4 days ago

I don't know. This is the first time in my life I have ever heard about people smelling ants. I have a really good sense of smell normally, but I have never smelled ants. Never heard anybody say they could smell them either. So, I think it might be quite common.

[–] unemployedclaquer@sopuli.xyz 2 points 4 days ago

Omg the ants are so smelly