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| | ==Explanation== | | ==Explanation== |
| − | For objects at a great distance one can achieve a better view by using a {{w|telescope}} as it is the typical method in {{w|Astronomy}}. Looking through a lens or a {{w|microscope}} in {{w|biology}} and other disciplines does magnify short distant objects. And a {{w|magnifying glass}} works more like a microscope when your eye lense is close to the {{w|focus}} of the magnifying glass, but when looking at distant objects you have to increase the distance between the glass and your eye where the {{w|focal length}} of your magnifying glass must be increased to meters instead of centimeters or less on a close view. But in general a {{w|Galilean Telescope}} works at the same principle as a magnifying glass together with your eye lens, the magnifying glass only has to have a long focal length which is optimized for far distances.
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| − | In the comic, the objects being viewed by Megan could be {{w|stars}}, {{w|galaxies}} and the {{w|planets}} of our {{w|Solar System}}. [[Megan]] is using a telescope. [[Beret Guy]] attempts to view them using a step-ladder to get closer to the stars, and then looking at them through his simple hand-held magnifying glass. This approach could be successful only if the stars were a few meters away, so that the ladder would take him within a few centimeters of the study object. In fact the visible stars are several {{w|light years}} away (typically 18-20 orders of magnitude further away) and getting two meters up on a ladder won't make any perceivable difference.{{Citation needed}} (Unless, of course, you are Beret Guy.)
| + | For many ordinary objects, one can achieve a better view in two ways: (#1) by looking at the object from a distance through a telescope, or (#2) by approaching the object and looking at it through a magnifying glass. Magnifying glasses typically have a very short resolving distance, usually on the order of a tenth of a meter, so approach #2 is effective only in the case where you can get very close to the object in question. |
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| − | The title text assumes (for comic effect) that the only thing wrong with Beret Guy's strategy is the instability of the ladder endangering the expensive microscopes used by biologists for {{w|Astrobiology}}. Astrobiology is the study of life (or the possibility thereof) elsewhere in the universe, and here it would be either the planets and moons in our Solar System or {{w|exoplanets}} they needed to look at. This is the second comic related to studying exoplanets in two weeks, the first being [[1517: Spectroscopy]] (see more references there).
| + | In the comic, the objects being viewed are celestial bodies. Megan takes approach #1, looking at them through a telescope. Beret Guy attempts approach #2, using a step-ladder to try to get close to the celestial bodies, and then looking through a magnifying glass. This approach could be successful only if the celestial bodies were within a few meters of us. In fact they are many orders of magnitude further away than that, and Beret Guy's use of the ladder would yield no appreciable improvement in his view of celestial bodies through a magnifying glass. The history of astronomy is filled with drastic underestimates of distances to celestial bodies, but none quite so comical as Beret Guy's very extreme underestimate. The comic is funny because although Beret Guy's approach is absurd, it still works. |
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| − | Since we cannot go there, they do, of course, not use any microscopes in the direct studies. However, one typical magnifier in biology is the {{w|electron microscope}}, used to study {{w|microbiology}}, and they cost a lot and are very heavy. It is therefore inadvisable to carry one up a ladder, and it could possibly become very expensive if you did try it anyway.
| + | Although Beret Guy's approach to astronomy seems ill-informed, previous comics such as [[1486: Vacuum]] and [[1490: Atoms]] show that his unusual understanding of science actually works. |
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| | + | The title text assumes (for comic effect) that the only thing wrong with Beret Guy's strategy is that the ladder would be unstable, when in fact his approach would be quite obviously bound to fail for the reasons described above. |
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| | + | In the title text, the word "astrobiology" is the joining of the prefix astro- and biology and refers to the study of life (or possibility thereof) elsewhere in the universe. |
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| | + | It might be interesting to note that a lot of developments in "terrestrial" biology were made by the use of a simple microscope (a.k.a. a magnifying lens), so Beret Guy's approach might be an attempt to build on that. |
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| | ==Transcript== | | ==Transcript== |
| − | :[In front of a starry black sky, Megan looks at the stars through a telescope about twice her size, touching it at the base. She remains in the exact same position through all four panels.]
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| − | :[Beret Guy enters the panel holding a ladder and a magnifying glass.]
| + | [Megan looks at the stars through a telescope about twice her size, touching it at the base] |
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| − | :[Beret Guy places the ladder next to Megan and her telescope. The ladder stands like a triangle, is slightly larger than Megan, but smaller than the telescope.]
| + | [Beret Guy enters the panel holding a ladder and a magnifying glass] |
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| − | :[Beret guy climbs to the top of the ladder, and looks at the stars through a magnifying glass.]
| + | [Beret Guy places the ladder next to Megan and her telescope. The ladder is stands like a triangle, is slightly larger than Megan, but smaller than the telescope] |
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| − | ==Trivia==
| + | [Beret guy climbs to the top of the ladder, and looks at the stars through a magnifying glass] |
| − | Usually, however, Beret Guy has [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers]], so it's quite possible that his method would yield similar or even better results than Megan's approach; see for instance [[1490: Atoms]]. Given his naivety, it's also possible he just doesn't realize they should look any different. His naivety of astronomy is demonstrated in [[811: Starlight]].
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| − | The history of astronomy is filled with drastic misunderstanding of distances to celestial bodies, even up to the present day like [[Randall]] has covered in [[1342: Ancient Stars]]. Thus, the comic could be in reference to the general overestimation of distances, albeit taken to the opposite extreme.
| + | {{comic discussion}} |
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| − | {{comic discussion}}
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| − | [[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
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| − | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
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| − | [[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
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| − | [[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]
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| − | [[Category:Telescopes]]
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| | [[Category:Science]] | | [[Category:Science]] |
| | [[Category:Astronomy]] | | [[Category:Astronomy]] |
| | [[Category:Biology]] | | [[Category:Biology]] |
| | + | [[Category:Portmanteau]] |
