Editing 1503: Squirrel Plan

{{comic
| number    = 1503
| date      = March 25, 2015
| title     = Squirrel Plan
| image     = squirrel plan.png
| titletext = [Halfway to the Sun ...] Heyyyy ... what if this BALLOON is full of acorns?!
}}

==Explanation==

===Squirrel cosmology===
The joke is that these particular squirrels are ambitious but misguided, like the characters in the myth of {{w|Icarus}} and {{w|Daedalus}}, or the {{w|Tower of Babel}}.  The squirrels' understanding of astrophysics is lacking, regarding the distance to the sun and appropriate transportation to reach it (in addition to the need to resist the sun's heat and exist in the vacuum of space). It can be seen as a joke about how limited the knowledge of humans still is regarding many advanced topics of science. The idea of taking a balloon to the moon or the sun might not have been immediately rejected even a few hundred years ago. And the fanciful notion of a sun filled with acorns (the ultimate object in a squirrel's reality) is reminiscent of many early human ideas about heaven and celestial objects, even the common old myth that the moon might be made out of cheese. 

The title text reveals that "halfway to the sun," 75 million kilometers from all known acorns in our universe, the airborne squirrel jeopardizes the entire mission because he wants to test if the balloon itself is full of acorns.  But it follows the logic stated by the squirrels:  If the sun, being so magnificent, must be full of acorns, then a balloon powerful enough to take a squirrel to the sun must also be powered by something amazing, like acorns. This also reflects on the implied impulsiveness of squirrels, that the squirrel's curiosity would cause him to take an action that would leave him stuck in outer space  (presuming he has made it that far already). 

Basic observational skills will tell anyone that acorns do not float, and in fact have noticeable weight to them. Elementary logic then dictates that the balloon lifting the squirrel should not contain objects that contribute only weight, and therefore the balloon must not contain acorns. Again, this is probably a comment on how what seem to be obvious conclusions can be missed if the squirrels or humans in question don't have the knowledge necessary to reach them. It is only after conquering the initial ignorance that something becomes "obvious".

In the real world [http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=1020.0 helium balloons cannot escape the stratosphere.]  Perhaps the squirrel only ''thinks'' he's halfway to the sun.  Or maybe the acorns in the balloon are pushing on the [[1404:_Quantum_Vacuum_Virtual_Plasma|quantum vacuum virtual plasma]].

Alternate hypothesis: this scene is almost identical to a scene found in the recent movie Kingsman: TSS.

===Squirrels in xkcd===
Squirrels are often used in xkcd and ''What if?'' comics as a way of avoiding reality. Maybe [[Randall]] is going through a tough time this week.

'''Comics:'''
*[[635: Locke and Demosthenes]]
*[[776: Still No Sleep]]
*[[1156: Conditioning]]

'''What if?:'''
*[http://what-if.xkcd.com/21/ Machine Gun Jetpack]
*[http://what-if.xkcd.com/98/ Blood Alcohol]
*[http://what-if.xkcd.com/102/ Keyboard Power]
*[http://what-if.xkcd.com/105/ Cannibalism]

'''Blag:'''
*[http://blog.xkcd.com/2008/02/15/the-laser-elevator/ The Laser Elevator]

==Trivia==

It is commonly believed that real squirrels use their ''tails'' as parachutes, although as yet [http://io9.com/5946627/squirrel-hurls-itself-through-a-fourth-story-window-scampers-off-unscathed "there have been no observational studies on the aerodynamics of free-falling squirrels."]

==Transcript==
:[There are three squirrels.  One is suspended from a balloon. The other two are sitting on the ground, looking up at it.]

:Squirrel to the right: Once you've chewed a hole in the sun, shoot the balloon to fall back to earth, then pull the parachute ripcord to land.

:Squirrel tied to balloon: Are you '''''sure''''' it's full of acorns?

:Squirrel to the right: Look how bright and magnificent it is! What ''else'' could be in there?
{{comic discussion}}

<!-- Include any categories below this line. -->

[[Category:Animals]]