Editing 3146: Fantastic Four

{{comic
| number    = 3146
| date      = September 24, 2025
| title     = Fantastic Four
| image     = fantastic_four_2x.png
| imagesize = 343x388px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = One perk of being born at 0.88c is that your birthday is over two days long.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Fix the citation needed.}}

The comic is a pun on the {{w|Oberth effect}}, which causes orbital maneuvers to be more efficient when deep into a gravitational well.
The movie referenced is ''{{w|The Fantastic_Four:_First_Steps|The Fantastic Four: First Steps}}'', released in 2025. The comic says that there is a boost because of the propulsion produced by the baby (a 'birth', rather than a 'berth'). In the movie, they do indeed go around a neutron star, and she does give birth to the baby, but doesn't do that to get a boost.{{Actual citation needed}}

This effect is probably zero, as the change in the centre of mass of the ship and crew would not constitute a form of effective reaction-based propulsion. {{cn}} <!-- Although, together with a combination of tidal and relativistic effects, it technically ''could'' mean all the difference, on top of actual spacecraft thrust at , in an ''extremely'' finely tuned attempt to escape a gravity well. -->

The title text states that being born at 88% the speed of light results in a birthday that's over two days long. This is due to {{w|time dilation|time dilation}}: from the perspective of Earth, at 0.88 c, the dilation factor γ is 2.1 . So one day is 2.1 days seen from Earth.

The Oberth effect was also mentioned as a key to escaping Origin in [[2765: Escape Speed]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is facing Cueball with one of her hands out, facing up and towards Cueball.]
:Ponytail: In the new ''Fantastic Four'' movie, their ship doesn't have enough fuel to get home and Sue Storm goes into labor, so they slingshot around a neutron star and fire their engines at periapsis — as Sue has her baby — to get a boost.
:Cueball: Ah yes, the Obirth effect.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

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