Editing 585: Outreach

Jump to: navigation, search

Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision Your text
Line 8: Line 8:
  
 
==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
−
Scientific animal tracking is commonly used to learn more about other species, particularly endangered ones, as a way of better understanding their physiology, behavior, and what risks they face in the wild. It's used in a wide variety of sciences, including wildlife biology, conservation, wildlife management and zoology. The scientists in this comic are working on a rather limited budget as [[Ponytail]] explains, say that they can't afford the (relatively minuscule) cost of hiring someone to retrieve a tracking tag from the water. Hence, they devise a plan that would actually cost far more: create one that will pop free, float to the surface, and inflate a giant helium balloon, causing it to gradually drift over land. Eventually, the balloon will slowly deflate and soft-land, and with any luck someone will find it and mail it back to the scientists. The shark is depicted much larger than the humans, and the quantity of helium necessary to lift it (as the later panels show) would be extremely expensive.
+
Scientific animal tracking is commonly used to learn more about other species, particularly endangered ones, as a way of better understanding their physiology, behavior, and what risks they face in the wild. It's used in a wide variety of sciences, including wildlife biology, conservation, wildlife management and zoology.
  
−
It goes horribly, hilariously wrong. The tag fails to pop free from the shark and proceeds to inflate the balloon while the shark is still attached. Although the balloon is shown too small to lift the shark (a helium balloon can only lift approximately one gram per liter in air), but the shark miraculously rises right along with the tracker tag, drifts back over land, and goes right after the scientists that had been tracking it. When [[Jill]] (in her first appearance) sees the two scientists running frantically from a flying shark, she figures that if such excitement is a daily part of a scientist's job, ''that's'' the job for her, as she tells her daddy [[Cueball]]. The title of the comic, '''Outreach''', refers to the type of activities that scientists do in order to motivate kids to become scientists when they grow up, and it clearly worked for Jill who displays keen interest and great knowledge on many subjects in her next appearances.
+
The scientists in this comic are working on a rather limited budget and can't afford the cost of hiring someone to retrieve a tracking tag from the water. So they create one that will pop free, float to the surface, and inflate a giant helium balloon, causing it to gradually drift over land. Eventually the balloon will slowly deflate, soft-land, and with any luck someone will find it and mail it back to the scientists.
  
−
The title text suggests keeping shark repellent by one's bed to account for the quite-unlikely event of something like this happening. Because you never know. It may be a reference to the {{w|Batman (1966 film)|Adam West Batman film}} where Batman just happens to have some in his helicopter. In reality, a balloon meant for lifting a tracker tag would be much too small to lift the shark, which is portrayed as being larger than person, so there is no danger. In addition, since sharks are fish, and fish cannot survive above water, the shark would die even if this could happen in real life. This doesn't stop movies like {{w|Sharknado}} (which was filmed after this comic) to portray sharks floating in the air.
+
But it goes horribly, hilariously wrong. The tag can't quite pop free from the shark, and proceeds to inflate the balloon ''while the shark is still attached''. The shark rises right along with the tracker tag, drifts back over land, and goes right after the scientists that had been tracking it.
−
The title text of [[1910: Sky Spotters]] seems to be a reference to this comic.
+
 
 +
The young girl, seeing two scientists running frantically from a flying shark, no doubt has never seen anything more awesome in her whole life, and figures that if such excitement is a daily part of a scientist's job, ''that's'' the job for her!  The title of the comic, outreach, refers to the type of activities that scientists do in order to motivate kids to become scientists when they grow up.
 +
 
 +
The title text suggests keeping shark repellent by one's bed to account for the quite-unlikely event of something like this happening. Because you never know. It may be a reference to the Adam West Batman film where Batman just happened to have some.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
−
:[Ponytail faces two Cueball-like guys. All three are wearing goggles and lab-coats. Between them on a shelf stands a microscope and a beaker.]
+
:[A group of scientists with goggles and labcoats stand around a pair of beakers.]
 
:Ponytail: The tracking tag will record the shark's movement and habits.
 
:Ponytail: The tracking tag will record the shark's movement and habits.
  
−
:[The capsule is shown to float upward towards a water surface.]
+
:[The capsule floats upward.]
−
:Ponytail (narrating): Then, it will pop free and float to the surface.
+
:Ponytail (narrated): Then, it will pop free and float to the surface.
  
−
:[A coast is shown, with arrows directed from water to land. A small white circle on one of the arrows indicate the balloon.]
+
:[A coast is shown, with arrows directed from water to land.]
−
:Ponytail (narrating): We can't afford a recovery program, so the capsules will inflate helium balloons, drift over land,
+
:Ponytail (narrated): We can't afford a recovery program, so the capsules will inflate helium balloons, drift over land,
  
−
:[The capsule is shown in close up. It has a caption on it.]
+
:Ponytail (narrated): And hopefully be found and mailed to us. Any questions?
−
:Ponytail (narrating): And hopefully be found and mailed to us. Any questions?
+
:[The capsule has a caption on it.]
−
:Caption: If found please call
+
:If found please call
  
−
:[Ponytail is standing over a groggy shark on a boat, with water behind her and a coastline in the background. She attaches the tracking tag to the shark.]
+
:[The scientist is standing over a groggy shark.]
 
:''Chunk''
 
:''Chunk''
  
−
:[The shark is dropped headfirst off the boat, into the water with a large splash.]
+
:[The shark is dropped off a boat, into the water.]
 
:''Sploosh''
 
:''Sploosh''
 
:Shark: !!!
 
:Shark: !!!
Line 38: Line 41:
 
:[The course of the shark is shown, weaving around islands.]
 
:[The course of the shark is shown, weaving around islands.]
  
−
:[The capsule is shown sticking out of the shark at the moment it is ready to pop free.]
+
:[The capsule is shown sticking out of the shark.]
 
:''Click''
 
:''Click''
  
Line 51: Line 54:
 
:[The balloon breaks the surface, pulling the shark with it.]
 
:[The balloon breaks the surface, pulling the shark with it.]
  
−
:[Jill, eating an ice cream cone is standing together with Cueball to the right in an otherwise empty frame.]
+
:[A man and a child are standing together.]
  
−
:[Two screaming scientists (A Cueball-like guy and Ponytail) runs past the two, who turns to look after them. The guy is holding the microscope and Ponytail the beaker from the first frame.]
+
:[Two scientists run past, screaming. One is holding a microscope.]
−
:Scientists: Aaaaaaaa
+
:Scientists: AAAAAAAA
  
−
:[A shark attached to a huge balloon floats past the girl and Cueball, it follows the scientists while snapping its jaws.]
+
:[A shark attached to a huge balloon floats past following the scientists.]
 
:Shark: ''Chomp chomp''
 
:Shark: ''Chomp chomp''
  
−
:[After the shark is gone, Jill turns to Cueball.]
+
:Child: Daddy?
−
:Jill: Daddy?
+
:Father: Yes?
−
:Cueball: Yes?
+
:Child: I want to be a scientist.
−
:Jill: I want to be a scientist.
 
−
 
 
−
==Trivia==
 
−
* This is the first xkcd comic featuring [[Jill]].
 
−
* This comic used to be [https://web.archive.org/web/20220125021918/https://store.xkcd.com/products/shark available as a T-shirt] in the xkcd store before it was [[Store|shut down]].
 
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
−
 
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
−
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
 
−
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
 
 
[[Category:Biology]]
 
[[Category:Biology]]
−
[[Category:Science]]
 
−
[[Category:Sharks]]
 
−
[[Category:Comics with xkcd store products]]
 
−
[[Category:Kids]]
 

Please note that all contributions to explain xkcd may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see explain xkcd:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To protect the wiki against automated edit spam, we kindly ask you to solve the following CAPTCHA:

Cancel | Editing help (opens in new window)

Templates used on this page:

Retrieved from "https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/585:_Outreach"