Scientists Have Reconstructed This 3D Model

About

Scientists Have Reconstructed This 3D Model refers to a series of parodies and memes in which people claim that Stanford University scientists have used technology to craft a 3D sculpture of a famous historical figure. However, the sculptures are clearly of well-known celebrities and not the historical figure described. These parodies also share similarities to an earlier trend consisting of a joke about a 3D-rendering of Britney Spears that claimed it was how Harvard scientists thought Cleopatra looked like.

Origin

On October 25th, 2022, Twitter user @brotaminz^[1] posted, "Scientists at Stanford University have reconstructed this 3D model of how Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ might have looked." Attached, he posted an image of a 3D sculpture that clearly resembles Lady Gaga. The tweet gained over 12,000 retweets, 14,000 quote tweets and 149,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Precursor

The meme is extremely similar to a 2018 trend in which Twitter user @lovemedown posted a similar joke using a 3D-rendered depiction of pop star Britney Spears from the 2002 video game Britney's Dance Beat, claiming it was what Harvard University scientists thought Cleopatra looked like.

Spread

Following @brotaminz's tweet, many other Twitter users posted similar parodies. One of the highest engagement examples was posted on October 26th, 2022, by user @ColossusNick,^[2] who claimed a 3D-rendering of wrestler Andre the Giant was "how Joseph, the husband of Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ might have looked." The tweet gained over 4,800 retweets, 6,800 quote tweets and 61,000 likes in one day (shown below).

Other prominent examples of the meme include an October 27th tweet by @captainjimipie^[3] that claimed a rendering of actor David Tennant was "how the lost husband of Elizabeth 1st, the virgin queen, might have looked," gaining over 200 retweets and 1,800 likes in eight hours (shown below, left). On the 26th, Twitter user @formullana^[4] posted the joke using a rendering of Formula One driver George Russell, claiming it was a "3D model of how Judas, disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, might have looked." The post gained over 580 retweets, 700 quote-tweets and 9,200 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References