The Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell meme originates from the popular YouTube channel of the same name, known for its distinctive flat-design animation style and adorable bird mascots. While the channel provides high-quality educational content, the memes focus on the jarring contrast between the cheerful, vibrant visuals and the dark, existential, or world-ending topics they often explore. Whether it's a duck being vaporized by a black hole or a happy bird explaining the heat death of the universe, the template is a favorite for expressing 'existential dread but make it cute.' It is widely used to humorously present terrifying scientific facts or the crushing weight of reality through a colorful, minimalist lens.