science

Save Bernd

Save Bernd is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Save Bernd rather than just read about it. In short: Bernd is a humor website. The premise of the site is that the website's webmaster Chris Krohm, will eat Bernd, a pet rabbit, unless he receives €1,000,000 in donations to care for it.

Key takeaways

Save Bernd belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Save Bernd to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Save Bernd from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Bernd is a humor website. The premise of the site is that the website's webmaster Chris Krohm, will eat Bernd, a pet rabbit, unless he receives €1,000,000 in donations to care for it.

Save Bernd! The website was created in July 2004 in German language as "Rettet Bernd!" and the first link to it was posted on the supporters' messageboard of a German soccer club. An English version of this website was then released in early August 2004. The website claimed that the owner found Bernd underneath a banana box next to a bottle bank. The webmaster also stated that, unless he received €1,000,000 in Euros to pay for its care, he would eat the rabbit. The money could be either donated directly, or through purchasing "Save Bernd" merchandise. The webmaster never attempted to remain anonymous. The main URL on the webmaster's website stated a mobile phone number as well as details of the webmaster's bank account with Lloyds TSB, UK. Krohm also stated that 80% of the donations will be given to charity. The website had its own merchandise webshop and a sponsoring link to earn €3,500 monthly through a sperm bank. The original deadline for receiving the money was December 31, 2004. When the deadline passed, it was extended to March 27, 2005, claiming that it was due to the extensive pressure from the public. Krohm claims that the final balance on donations and merchandise was €71,466. A donation list was published by Krohm, too.

Public response & legitimacy The website received media attention especially throughout Europe as well as in Australia i.e. Bernd also featured on Mondo Thingo. The Austrian Press Agency was first by publishing reports about "Rettet Bernd!" on July 28, 2004 and several radio stations and newspapers reported about it. The German TV channel RTL Television broadcast an interview with Krohm in August 2008. The webmaster decided to release an English version of the webpage as he received several requests from English speaking internet users. The Irish radio station FM 104 aired a telephone interview with Krohm on August 30, 2008 in its The Strawberry Alarm Clock and the number of the website's hits rose quickly to around 2 million page loads by November 2004. The website caused an upset with many animal rights activists but the webmaster stated that Bernd would be given to a professional butcher in order to avoid any problems with animal welfare organizations. RSPCA however did contact Lloyds TSB in order to determine if it could refuse payments but Lloyds declined to comment due to the customer's confidentiality. The public prosecutor's office of Vienna confirmed that Krohm's planned action was within the law. There were attempts by a group to do a protest march just before the end of the original deadline in December 2004 as well as threats of a German, militant group. There has also been questions about whether or not the site was legitimate. Krohm, when asked in radio interviews, claimed that the site was completely serious and he would eat the rabbit and that he actually did receive a number of recipes. The site today claims that "Bernd is gone", but not that he was eaten. Small letters at the bottom of the page make it clear that "It's a joke", although there is no such message in the German version.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Save Bernd

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Save Bernd claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Save Bernd before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Save Bernd ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Save Bernd

In research: Save Bernd appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Save Bernd in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Save Bernd is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics German comedy websites, Individual rabbits, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Save Bernd outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Save Bernd in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Save Bernd means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Save Bernd out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Save Bernd in simple terms?

Bernd is a humor website. The premise of the site is that the website's webmaster Chris Krohm, will eat Bernd, a pet rabbit, unless he receives €1,000,000 in donations to care for it.

Why does Save Bernd matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Save Bernd?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Save Bernd.