Editing 2423: Project Orion
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{{comic | {{comic | ||
| number = 2423 | | number = 2423 | ||
− | | date = February | + | | date = February 11, 2021 |
| title = Project Orion | | title = Project Orion | ||
| image = project_orion.png | | image = project_orion.png | ||
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | + | {{incomplete|Created by a FADED PHYSICIST. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | |
− | + | White Hat and Cueball are having a conversation. In the first panel, Cueball is telling White Hat about his gardening experiences. White Hat tunes out for the middle two panels, and when he starts paying attention again, Cueball is discussing {{w|Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)|Project Orion}}. | |
− | + | Project Orion was an ambitious plan to launch enormous spaceships into orbit by detonating a series of nuclear bombs below them. The force from the explosions would be absorbed by a pusher plate on the bottom of the rocket, which is the detail Cueball is sharing when White Hat tunes back in. It was considered feasible for construction, but abandoned out of concerns for both cost and the idea of spaceships literally armed with atomic bombs. Its coolness and the fact that it involves physics and engineering may be why physicists' conversations tend to converge to it. | |
− | The | + | The fact that physicists' conversations tend to converge towards Project Orion is similar to how biologists' conversations tend to converge towards carcinization in [[2418: Metacarcinization]]. This may turn out to be part of a series, similarly to the scaled world series, that will show similar examples in other fields, such as meteorologists' conversations converging toward tornadogenesis, mathematicians' conversations converging toward the Riemann hypothesis, or Randall's conversations converging toward dinosaurs. |
− | Project Orion has been mentioned before, in [[786: Exoplanets]], where Beret Guy sums it up as "nuke-riding city ships" | + | Project Orion has been mentioned before, in [[786: Exoplanets]], where Beret Guy sums it up as "nuke-riding city ships." |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Cueball is | + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
− | :Cueball: Our garden grew really well last year, so we think we might put a second raised bed along the garage, if we can find a... | + | :[Cueball is explaining to White Hat.] |
+ | :Cueball: Our garden grew really well last year, so we think we might put a second raised bed along the garage, if we can find a... [text fades to white] | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Cueball looks around in confusion.] |
− | : | + | :Cueball: [text fades back in] ...thanks to X-ray [ablation?], the pusher plate would absorb the nuclear blast, recoil, and then return to position for the next bomb. Such a wild idea! Probably good that it was abandoned. |
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]] | [[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]] | ||
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