Nature Can Be Cute, But It Still Wants to Kill You

Christopher Wahl

This 24-year-old biology grad is luring the meme generation to science. Her own obsession began when Jurassic Park's dinosaurs terrified and enthralled her at 5 years old. Now more than 15 million users follow Elise Andrew's Facebook page, I Fucking Love Science. Her posts grab readers' attention with a photo or an illustration accompanied by a funny, often dark caption. (Picture a smiling bee with the text, If we die, we're taking you with us.) Since she created the page in 2012, Andrew has expanded to other platforms, including a stand-alone news site and an upcoming Science Channel show starring Craig Ferguson. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll beg for more sloths.

Do you cover one topic more than others? I studied genetics, evolution, and biology, but I try to be as broad as possible. I do have to catch myself, because I get really excited about new findings in biology and I'll realize, oh crap, I just posted five new bio stories, I should probably post about physics.

Your TV show will be an hour of live action and animation. What else can you tell us? I won't be in front of the camera, just helping guide the content. The focus will be the same as the Facebook pageentertaining but informative. I really clicked with Craig when I met him.

Does science have to be light and funny to be appealing? I'm just trying to provide that first moment of interest, that spark. I do think that has to be light because it's supposed to grab you and drag you in. The posts are a gateway drug to science.

You've taken heat for posting art without attribution. Do you have a process now for crediting artists? I'm always careful now to give credit, and I fix problems when I see them. In the early days of the Facebook page, I wasn't as thorough, because for a long time it didn't cross my mind that IFLS was a big deal. It was just my hobby.

Your favorite post is one about sea otters that forcibly mate with baby seals, killing them. Why does that story stand out? People have a tendency to romanticize nature, and I think this post destroys that notion quite nicely. Nature is not your friend; nature is scary. Nature will fuck you up.

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Nature Can Be Cute, But It Still Wants to Kill You