Editing 2478: Alien Visitors 2
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== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|Created by a 1920s ELIXIR. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
− | This is the second comic in a [[:Category:Alien Visitors|series]], following the previous comic [[2477: Alien Visitors]]. | + | This is the second comic in a [[:Category:Alien Visitors|new series]], following the previous comic [[2477: Alien Visitors]]. |
+ | The (currently two) comics in [[:Category: Alien Visitors|Alien Visitors]] series are: | ||
+ | *[[2477: Alien Visitors]] | ||
+ | *[[2478: Alien Visitors 2]] | ||
The aliens now return to show us even more "advanced" inventions. As with the previous strip, the only innovations they offer are not only things that humans know how to build, but things we figured out some time ago, and are now obsolete. As with the pyramids and Stonehenge, these inventions might have been impressive in their time, but now offer nothing to humanity. | The aliens now return to show us even more "advanced" inventions. As with the previous strip, the only innovations they offer are not only things that humans know how to build, but things we figured out some time ago, and are now obsolete. As with the pyramids and Stonehenge, these inventions might have been impressive in their time, but now offer nothing to humanity. | ||
Line 15: | Line 19: | ||
{{w|Biplane}}s are planes with two sets of wings, which provide more of the necessary lift at slow speed than a contemporaneous {{w|monoplane}}, but develop increased drag and aerodynamic and air-frame issues as higher air-speeds became possible/necessary. Biplanes have been obsolete for most purposes since the 1930s, though they remain in use for agriculture and aerial sports. | {{w|Biplane}}s are planes with two sets of wings, which provide more of the necessary lift at slow speed than a contemporaneous {{w|monoplane}}, but develop increased drag and aerodynamic and air-frame issues as higher air-speeds became possible/necessary. Biplanes have been obsolete for most purposes since the 1930s, though they remain in use for agriculture and aerial sports. | ||
− | A {{w|blimp}} is a lighter than air aircraft with no internal structure. These aircraft were traditionally filled with hydrogen gas to provide the needed buoyancy, | + | A {{w|blimp}} is a lighter than air aircraft with no internal structure. These aircraft were traditionally filled with hydrogen gas to provide the needed buoyancy, which presents a safety issue, as hydrogen is highly flammable. The famous explosion of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster ''The Hindenburg''] is widely seen as a reason hydrogen airships are unlikely to be widely accepted. Blimps are still used today, but only rarely, in niche applications, such as for advertising or for aerial photography/videography. Modern airships generally use helium as a lifting gas, which is more expensive, but non-flammable. |
− | {{w|Tetraethyllead}} ((CH<sub>3</sub> CH<sub>2</sub>)<sub>4</sub>Pb) is a chemical added to gasoline (mostly from the 1920s to the 1990s — although some countries [https://web.archive.org/web/20171115235249/http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/17542/MapWorldLead_March2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y still use it to this day]) to prevent {{w|engine knocking}}. Lead is toxic and bio-accumulative, and there's substantial evidence that its use in gasoline caused widespread lead exposure, impacting public health on a huge scale. The aliens seem surprised to learn of these toxic effects, and their concern implies that they may be using leaded gasoline themselves, but it's unclear whether they might think that their biology may by vulnerable to lead as well or whether they never considered that biologies alien to theirs would be. | + | {{w|Tetraethyllead}} ((CH<sub>3</sub> CH<sub>2</sub>)<sub>4</sub>Pb) is a chemical added to gasoline (mostly from the 1920s to the 1990s — although some countries [https://web.archive.org/web/20171115235249/http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/17542/MapWorldLead_March2017.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y still use it to this day]) to prevent {{w|engine knocking}}. Lead is toxic and bio-accumulative, and there's substantial evidence that its use in gasoline caused widespread lead exposure, impacting public health on a huge scale. The aliens seem surprised to learn of these toxic effects, and their concern implies that they may be using leaded gasoline themselves, but it's unclear whether they might think that their biology may by vulnerable to lead as well or whether they never considered that biologies alien to theirs would be. |
The final invention appears to be a reference to {{w|Juicero}}, a defunct and short-lived brand of juicer, which has become iconic of the absurdity of modern technology investment. The company produced a high-tech, internet-connected juicer which sold for $700, and only worked on the company's proprietary branded single-serving bags of pulped fruit, which were available by subscription for $5-$7 per serving. The company raised over $100 million in startup capital, but quickly went out of business because most consumers considered the expensive product to be nearly useless, coupled with a rather damning [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lutHF5HhVA video by Bloomberg] demonstrating said packets could easily be squeezed by hand. The title text singles this invention out, calling it one of the "mistakes of the past". | The final invention appears to be a reference to {{w|Juicero}}, a defunct and short-lived brand of juicer, which has become iconic of the absurdity of modern technology investment. The company produced a high-tech, internet-connected juicer which sold for $700, and only worked on the company's proprietary branded single-serving bags of pulped fruit, which were available by subscription for $5-$7 per serving. The company raised over $100 million in startup capital, but quickly went out of business because most consumers considered the expensive product to be nearly useless, coupled with a rather damning [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lutHF5HhVA video by Bloomberg] demonstrating said packets could easily be squeezed by hand. The title text singles this invention out, calling it one of the "mistakes of the past". | ||
− | After the latest showing of unimpressive "inventions", the humans start questioning how "advanced" the aliens really are. It's traditionally assumed that a species capable of | + | After the latest showing of unimpressive "inventions", the humans start questioning how "advanced" the aliens really are. It's traditionally assumed that a species capable of interplanetary travel would have a host of other advanced technologies, which is inconsistent with the unimpressive and not only obsolete, but also fatally-flawed inventions they're offering to humanity. The humans on the ground ask whether they actually built their own flying saucer. They also consider the wiseness of standing directly under the saucer, implying that, if the aliens did build it, it's likely to be unreliable, and may be at risk of crashing (though perhaps a bit ironically, the humans say this in response to the juicer, and while the actual device it is spoofing was a failure in many ways, one thing it was ''not'' was shoddily built - one critique of the Juicero was that it was needlessly over-engineered). |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
Line 56: | Line 60: | ||
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Aliens]] | [[Category:Aliens]] | ||
− |