913: Core

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Core

Title text: If you're a geologist or geophysicist and you don't introduce yourself by saying your name, then gesturing downward and saying "... and I study that", I don't know what you're doing with your life.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This comic reflects on the fact that below our feet, the earth's core is incredibly hot and under huge amounts of pressure. Yet most of the time, we ignore this completely (unless there is a volcanic eruption).

Transcript

[A cutaway diagram of the Earth, with colored layers including a labeled outer core and inner core.]

[A closeup of the stylized outer core, labeled "Turbulent molten metals at 30 million PSI" with turbulence lines, and of the inner core, labeled "moon-sized iron sphere."]

[Cueball reading a book pulls legs up tight under office chair, peering downwards.]

I freak out about fifteen minutes into reading anything about the Earth's core when I suddenly realize it's RIGHT UNDER ME.

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Discussion

And the crust is just thin enough that volcanoes and earthquakes are a thing. Safety! Davidy²²[talk] 01:30, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Isn't the glancing down and saying "I study that" a reference to something more inappropriate? ~ JFreund

I think that's the joke. NealCruco (talk) 17:27, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

No it isn't. That interpretation is not related to the comic in any way. Removed the last paragraph of the explanation as it is irrelevant to the comic. R3TRI8UTI0N (talk) 03:01, 24 March 2023 (UTC)

Are you more sure than the many people who would have read this over the years and not decided to remove the comment? Very admirable of you to be so impulsively certain. 172.70.86.148 03:43, 24 March 2023 (UTC)

I'll admit that it is a possible interpretation, but it is most definitely not Randall's intention while making this comic. If you want, go ahead and add it to the trivia section. I'm not doing it. R3TRI8UTI0N (talk) 03:32, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

I agree. If you stand with your arm at shoulder height and gesture downwards, saying "I study that", you will be pointing both toward the center of the earth and at your own genitals. That is the joke in the title text. 173.245.52.196 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Am I the only one who thinks that that interpretation is dumb? It's clearly just a non-joking comment about how awesome it is to study the planet billions of humans live on, or so I think. That's right, Jacky720 just signed this (talk | contribs) 17:28, 22 June 2019 (UTC)

No, I think you're right. The genital theory could be considered a humorous opening to a speech, but I believe it is a reference to the planet below everyone. 162.158.106.234 15:50, 17 December 2019 (UTC)

And if Carlos Saldanha,s documentary is correct, the earth will be filled - FILLED - with velociraptors. 173.245.56.191 15:25, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

FYI: It's not right under you. It's more like far, far, very far away from you. AND it's quite some time behind you, left of you, right of you, in front of you, and sometimes even above you. See also! 162.158.83.144 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)