When I put together this post showing some awesome science photos, I expected to be amazed, but not to find myself becoming extremely cheerful. However, in the middle of digging for cool research image material, I went deep into Fermilab's Visual Media Services Photo Database and found a lot of visual treasure.


Fermilab has more than 4,000 stock science photos, mostly captured for journalistic illustrations—and a few of them are funny as hell. Here is a selection of their best.


Einstein learns that neutrinos faster than light

Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Astronomical toilet paper


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Scientist Mandy Rominsky


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Cardboard H Higgs


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

BaBar hunts for Dark Matter


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Decimal time (deci-time) clock


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Jellybean pie chart showing composition of the Universe


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Water wave


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Andrew Sonnenschein at the MINOS Underground Hall for data


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Cans of data on shelves for data storage


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

This happens all the time


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Styrofoam cups with bite marks


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Selda Esen and a CMS


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Physics in TV and Film


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Physics in TV and Film


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

String Theory written in string


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Universal Accord recipe


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

"Dark Matter" written in Braille


Image: Fred Ullrich/Fermilab

Foreign currencies in ziplock bags


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Jelly Bean Universe - representing the percentages of Dark Matter, Dark Energy and Normal Atomic Matter


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Bottle of wine won by Michael Witherell for solving a mathematical equation


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Ice Cream and Accelerating Cavity


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Wilson Hall night time reflection with Sloan star field image and CDF Top Quark image


Image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab

Top image: Reidar Hahn/Fermilab