“Quarantine Day 20: Today, I melted an ice cube with my mind by just staring at it”

“I’ve melted an ice cube just by staring at it!!! Took a little longer than I thought it would” is a joke that was posted on Twitter by Jodge Ledesma (and others) on March 13, 2012. The staring did nothing—the ice cube would have melted anyway.
 
The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic turned this into a joke about boredom. “Day 1 of self isolation. I melted an ice cube by staring at it. Took a bit longer than I thought it would, though. #coronavirus” was posted on Twitter by Ged on March 16, 2020. “Quarantine Day 20: Today I melted an ice cube with my mind by just staring at it. It took a lot longer than I thought” was posted on Twitter by sin v/cos v = tan v on April 5, 2020.
 
 
Wikipedia: 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, and was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020.
       
Twitter
Jodge Ledesma
@jodgeledesma
WOW!!!  I’ve melted an ice cube just by staring at it!!!  Took a little longer than I thought it would.
Me and the ice… lonely planet!
5:14 AM · Mar 13, 2012·TweetDeck
   
Twitter
Michael Angelo
@mickdev2000
I just melted an ice cube by staring at it.  Took a bit longer than I thought it would though.
12:17 PM · Mar 13, 2012·Twitter for Android
   
Twitter
The Souls That Said No
@Snikoggs
I just melted an ice cube by staring at it.  Took a bit longer than I thought it would though.
12:18 PM · Mar 13, 2012·Twitter for BlackBerry®
 
Google Books
The Herald Diary:
Beyond Compare
By Ken Smith
Edinburgh, Scotland: Black & White Publishing Ltd
2012
Pg. ?:
A BEARSDEN dad says his son came rushing in from the kitchen and declared: “I just melted an ice cube by staring at it.” He then added: “Took a bit longer than I thought it would, though.”
   
Twitter
Bob Kostic
@causticbob
I just melted an ice cube by staring at it.
Took a bit longer than I thought it would, though.
1:43 PM · Nov 27, 2015·Twitter Web Client
   
Facebook
Viz Letters and Top Tips
March 14, 2020 at 2:33 PM ·
I just melted an ice cube just by staring at it.
Took a bit longer than I thought it would though.
 
Twitter
Ged
@mynameisged
Day 1 of self isolation. I melted an ice cube by staring at it. Took a bit longer than I thought it would, though. #coronavirus
6:07 PM · Mar 16, 2020 from Sale, England·Twitter for iPhone
 
Twitter
sin v/cos v = tan v
@nevgi_tanvi
Quarantine Day 20: Today I melted an ice cube with my mind by just staring at it. It took a lot longer than I thought.
1:52 AM · Apr 5, 2020 from San Diego, CA·Twitter for iPhone
 
Twitter
Wes “Sideliner” Beal
@wesbeal
Quarantine, Day 17:
Today I melted an ice cube with my mind, just by staring at it.
It took a lot longer than I thought it would.
9:48 AM · Apr 5, 2020·Twitter for Android
 
Twitter
Marc Tiamzon
@marcedward_
Quarantine day 19.. I melted an ice cube with my mind just by staring at it.. it took longer than I thought but.. Man shrugging
1:13 PM · Apr 5, 2020·Twitter for Android