Editing 1904: Research Risks

This is a comparison of the possibility of the subjects of various sciences being a threat to humanity. It can either be an autonomous threat to the local population (i.e. by escape from a lab), or as part of a supervillain's scheme to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBkT19uH2RQ rule the world].

 

 

 

See the chart below for detailed explanations of each scatter point.

The title text is related to the Molasses Storage entry at the bottom left of the chart, and references the {{w|Great Molasses Flood}}, also known as the Great Boston Molasses Flood. It occurred on January 15, 1919 in the North End neighborhood of {{w|Boston}}, {{w|Massachusetts}} (the state in which [[Randall]] lives). A large {{w|molasses}} storage tank burst and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150. The joke in the title text is that in 2031 (14 years after the release of this comic) the {{w|Canadian Space Agency}} has an even more serious disaster, which will be known as the orbital {{w|maple syrup}} delivery disaster. The title text claims that this disaster then became the deadliest {{w|confectionery}} containment accident, thus killing more than 21 people.

| 21% || 83% || Neuroscience || Mind Control || Neuroscience is the study of the human brain. While the greatest risk in this field is the danger that mad scientists will adapt its findings for nefarious purposes, {{w|Fiend Without a Face|horror movies}} will attest that there is always a chance that brains will break out of their labs and perpetrate violence of their own accord.

| 36% || 77% || Pharmacology || Poisons, drug dealing || Pharmacology studies the effects of medicines and drugs. There are scores of instances where supervillains attempt to use some sort of drug to incapacitate the hero or the general populace, or may use drug trade as a method of generating revenue. It's possible that a laboratory accident may also result in a new or altered creature which can proceed to go on a rampage.

| 19% || 69% || Materials Science || Villains: New materials used for villainous purposes. Escape: new materials turning out to be alive and also evil ||  Adamantium, Vibranium, Kryptonite, etc. Alternatively, {{w|Life (2017 film)|soil samples may contain predatory life form}}.

| 24% || 62% || Sociology || Tyranny, manipulation. || Sociology studies the development and interactive patterns of human societies. While it's unlikely ({{w|American Revolution|though}} {{w|French Revolution|hardly}} {{w|Greek War of Independence|impossible}}) that societies will "escape" and wreak havoc and destruction, this field is very useful to the supervillain that seeks to ingratiate him/herself with people, or otherwise establish their power via Machiavellian means.

| 5% || 57% || History || Supplemental research, {{w|historical negationism}} || History mostly consists of artifacts, data and records, which are unlikely to break free.{{citation needed}} A particular ''subject'' of history, however, can be of use to a supervillain--for example, one might adapt the methods of previous successful dictators and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9aYrURLHh0  learn from the errors of unsuccessful dictators] to fulfill one's goals. Alternatively, after achieving dictatorial rule, a villain might {{w|Ministries of Nineteen Eighty-Four#Ministry of Truth|alter history in order to consolidate their power}}.

| 73% || 95% || Robotics || Villains: Robot minions. Escape: evil robots, nanobots || Robots are minions of villains in many occasions, and research on it could be used to further power them up. Apart from supervillains, popular tropes include robots gaining sentience and killing everything, or nanobots going rogue and [[865: Nanobots|devouring]] everything in their path.

| 9% || 31% || Linguistics || {{w|Newspeak|1984 Newspeak}} || Aside from the possibility that people in general or supervillains in particular will create deliberately misleading/manipulative language to achieve their purposes, linguistics doesn't pose too much of a threat.

| 16% || 22% || Paleontology || Reviving dinosaurs and other such prehistoric creatures. || Study of fossils. Reviving dinosaurs {{w|Jurassic Park|isn't exactly good for human survival}}. Aside from this possibility, though, [[1211: Birds and Dinosaurs|the majority]] of dinosaurs aren't terribly dangerous, being very dead.

| 6% || 12% || Astronomy || Asteroid impact || A villain could divert an asteroid towards Earth. Randall also rates them as unlikely to "break free"; this is likely because asteroids are already "free" in space, because the risk of them "threatening the local population" is very real.

| 33% || 12% || Molasses Storage || Flood || Breaking free chance is medium low as molasses did "escape" at least once in history. See {{w|Great Molasses Flood}}, as referenced in the title text.

| 7% || 4% || Dentistry || Biting as an attack method || Teeth are neither likely to escape on their own, nor terribly useful to villains.

| 70% || 43% || Botany || Man-eating plants, invasive species || Plants are [http://littleshop.wikia.com/wiki/Audrey_II commonly used] in [http://triffids.guidesite.co.uk/triffids horror films] where they mutate and eat everything.  

| 93% || 41% || Entomology || Disease, famine, flesh-eating bugs || Entomology is the study of insects. Insects are small and can often escape through even small cracks, and are known for carrying diseases or destroying crops. They could also mutate into terrifying threats - see for example the movie ''{{w|Empire of the Ants (film)|Empire of the Ants}}''. Entomology is also referenced in [[1012: Wrong Superhero]].

| 60% || 33% || Mycology || Disease, famine, mind-control || {{w|Mycology}} is the study of {{w|fungi}}. Fungi cannot move very far on their own, but their spores could easily spread, therefore, escape probability has been deemed medium high.

| 91% || 26% || Marine Biology || Sharknado, Jaws, {{w|Cthulhu}} || Villains may keep [[1326: Sharks|a tank of sharks]] in order to dispose of opposition; however, as the linked comic implies, it is difficult to control what sharks will do (they might simply swim away). Randall implies that it's more likely that marine creatures will escape on their own and threaten local swimmers.

| 79% || 16% || Ornithology || Escape: predatory birds; pesky invasive species. Villains may sometimes keep a bird of prey as a pet || Ornithology is the study of birds. The ability to fly makes escape easier for birds than, say, rocks, and it's possible that certain escaped species of birds may {{w|The Birds (film)|threaten the local population directly}} (by pecking/diving at them) or indirectly (perhaps they're an invasive species, capable of outcompeting native birds and unbalancing the local ecosystem).