Editing 1519: Venus

{{comic
| number    = 1519
| date      = May 1, 2015
| title     = Venus
| image     = venus.png
| titletext = The sudden introduction of Venusian flowers led to an explosive growth of unusual Earth pollinators, which became known as the "butterfly effect."
}}

==Explanation==
[[Miss Lenhart]] is [[#Trivia|teaching]] a class on science about the planet {{w|Venus}}.

In the first panel, we see her teaching the history of Venus. Venus may have had water on its surface billions of years ago, but if that's true all hydrogen since then was eventually lost due to dissociation. However, there is no evidence that Venus ever had fields of flowers, or Venusians, or any other form of life.

The {{w|runaway greenhouse effect}} on the second panel is a play on words. While the term normally refers to a rapid rise in temperature caused by greenhouse gases, Miss Lenhart uses the term literally and claims the existence of sentient greenhouses that actually ran away. In reality, the effect caused Venus to develop a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide, which raised its temperature above to approx. 460&nbsp;°C (860&nbsp;°F), hotter than daytime on Mercury. This eventually destroyed all evidence of anything that had been on the surface of Venus billions of years ago.

The third panel ties the previous distortion of Miss Lenhart into the very real {{w|Tulip mania|historic reputation}} of the Netherlands as {{w|Netherlands#Agriculture|flower growers}} and as a further fabrication by Miss Lenhart the Dutch flower industry was in fact started by the Venusians.

In the final panel we learn that she is a month away from retirement and doesn't care about relaying accurate information anymore. She just wants to have a laugh at the expense of the naive school children. Although it is clear that [[Jill]] in the front row was not fooled.

The title text jokes about the {{w|butterfly effect}}, the idea that a butterfly flapping its wings in Japan can cause a Tornado in the U.S. In this case the {{w|Butterfly|butterflies}} would just help pollinate the flowers. The butterfly effect is a term coined by {{w|Edward Norton Lorenz}} who had the comic [[1350: Lorenz]] named after him due to its chaotic nature.

Although Miss Lenhart was supposed to retire a month after this comic, she seems to return a year later for a math course at university level, in [[1724: Proofs]], where she continues the trend from this class.  It is probable that she retired from a primary or secondary school teaching position, likely to collect a pension, before taking a side job at a university/college level.

==Transcript==
:[Miss Lenhart is standing in front of an image depicting a section of a temperate Venus' surface, with greenhouses, grass, flowers and a river flowing into a sea.]
:Miss Lenhart: Venus was once temperate. It had seas and rivers, and Venusians cultivated vast fields of beautiful flowers.

:[The image now shows the entirety of Venus, with continents and oceans. The greenhouses appear to be fleeing from Venus.]
:Miss Lenhart: Until their greenhouses fled the planet due to the runaway greenhouse effect.

:[Miss Lenhart is shown to be standing in front of a classroom. Jill is sitting in the front row.]
:Miss Lenhart: The Venusians pursued their greenhouses to Earth, settling in the Netherlands and kickstarting the Dutch floral industry. Any questions?

:Off-panel student (presumably Jill): Because you're retiring in a month, do you just not care what you say anymore?
:Miss Lenhart: ''What?!'' I '''''ride the skies''''' atop a screaming bird of truth! Also, yes, I do not.

==Trivia==
*It is not directly mentioned that it is Miss Lenhart teaching, but her looks and profession fits this character well enough to make this deduction.
*Similarly, the girl knowing she is being cheated fits the description of [[Jill]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Space]]