this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] DaGeek247@fedia.io 131 points 1 week ago (2 children)

It's a little misleading in that the last photo is zoomed in a lot more than the previous ones. This one has that without the extra zoom in.

[–] bluesheep@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago

Comparing the pictures it looks like the exact same set of photos except like you said, more zoomed in.

[–] jaybone@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Could they be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol or an autoclave?

[–] CXORA@aussie.zone 49 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's less about the dirt than the tip deforming.

When the needle is less pointy, it'll hurt more.

[–] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 20 points 6 days ago

Not only that but look how it forms a freaking fishing hook on the end like a barb. Yikes!!!

[–] reddit_sux@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Autoclave will deform the needle even more. The edge of the tip is made from softer steel so that it is sharper while at the same time more deformable.

[–] Natanox@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 6 days ago

Assumably also for manufacturing and safety reasons. You don't want the tip of a needle to shatter inside you, softer steel won't do that. And it's a little bit easier to manufacture with softer steel as well.

[–] emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Needles were autoclaved and re-used once upon a time, so it should be possible. But disposable needles are probably made of softer material than reusable ones.

[–] reddit_sux@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

Those were made up harder steel which can't be sharpened to the degree softer steel can be. Harder steel shatters if sharpened since harder it is brittle it becomes.

So reusable needle are blunt, so injections are painful. And as mentioned by @Natanox@discuss.tchncs.de they used to shatter inside the body after a few cycles of autoclaving.