Difference between revisions of "1736: Manhattan Project"

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(Transcript)
(Transcript)
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:[Both Seaking to a crowd. Ponytail gesticulating.]
 
:[Both Seaking to a crowd. Ponytail gesticulating.]
:[Banner: Research Institute]
+
:[Banner: Research Initiative]
  
 
:[Research from Cueball, Megan and Ponytail goes on. They are using Erlenmeyer flasks.]
 
:[Research from Cueball, Megan and Ponytail goes on. They are using Erlenmeyer flasks.]

Revision as of 13:57, 21 September 2016

[[]]
Manhattan Project
On the plus side, we definitely killed that cancer over there, even if we caused a bunch more everywhere else.
Title text: On the plus side, we definitely killed that cancer over there, even if we caused a bunch more everywhere else.

Explanation

The Manhattan Project was a big, expensive, secret research and development project that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War II. It is an example of getting all the top minds of a subject together to solve a massive problem, generally with massive government spending. The phrase We need a new Manhattan Project is sometimes used to suggest that the top minds should get together to solve another problem. In this comic the suggestion is implied that all the top minds for cancer research should get together to find a cure, but the idea is taken literally instead and the New Manhattan Project develops a nuclear bomb again.

The title text comments that the radiation from the blast will cause cancer in the survivors, but kills everything at the blast site.

Transcript

[Ponytail next to Cueball]
Ponytail: What we need to cure cancer is a new Manhattan Project
[Both Seaking to a crowd. Ponytail gesticulating.]
[Banner: Research Initiative]
[Research from Cueball, Megan and Ponytail goes on. They are using Erlenmeyer flasks.]
[They watch a mushroom cloud in the background while standing behind two low barriers in the foreground.]
[Ponytail wearing safety specs]
Ponytail: Wait.

Title Text: On the plus side we definitely killed that cancer over there, even if we caused a bit more everywhere else.


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Discussion

The Manhattan Project employed up to 139,000 people, so it were not only the top minds, but a huge logistical effort. Sebastian --162.158.85.183 16:58, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

But without the great minds, which also encompasses those who managed to get so many people working together on one project, but mainly the scientist, it would not have succeeded! --Kynde (talk) 19:18, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Maybe reference to "1217 - Cells" could be added. 162.158.93.159 19:09, 21 September 2016 (UTC)--Dancsa

Yes for sure, have added it - it is related to the title text --Kynde (talk) 19:18, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Seems like Randall has been looking at 1355: Airplane Message. The title text was also a fact in 1732 and this is the first cancer comic since that comic and also included text on a banner... ;-) Have added this on all three comics explanations --Kynde (talk) 19:38, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Is there a need for a new category for Nuclear weapons? And should it then just be called that? --Kynde (talk) 20:16, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

This comic today could have been inspired by an announcement by Microsoft on 20 September 2016 that it will "Cure Cancer by treating it like a computer virus" Stories: independent.co.uk, slashdot. Also, on 21 September (the same day the comic was released), the Chan Zuckerberg foundation announced a $3 billion initiative to "cure all diseases" Story: Slashdot. Either or both of these could be considered Manhattan-like projects. --Johnm4 (talk) 23:47, 21 September 2016 (UTC)

Thanks have included these news stories in the explanation. Feel free to do so another time :-) --Kynde (talk) 12:46, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

In my original google search link ([1]) my point was to show multiple hits for people talking about a new Manhattan Project, for multiple different purposes. It has been replaced with one single instance, which was not the intent. 108.162.242.132 12:21, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

We usually avoid google links as they can be different in different countries and will change over time. I have reverted again. If you think more of your Google hits are relevant then place a couple more as examples with direct links. --Kynde (talk) 12:46, 22 September 2016 (UTC)
Fair enough. I replaced with the direct links in my first page on google 108.162.242.132 13:08, 22 September 2016 (UTC)
Maybe a bit over the top, but I will leave it to others to decide if a few could be trimmed away ;-) --Kynde (talk) 13:14, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

The difference between the Manhattan project and cancer cure is that the principles of an atomic bomb were understood in general before the start of the project. All they needed to do was to figure out all the necessary detail and actually implement it in practice. A huge engineering effort but with the roadmap visible at the start of it. On the other hand nobody has a good understanding of the principles of how the cancer works (except maybe that there is more than one way in which it works, and some first glimpses into some of these ways). So there is not even a clear roadmap to the solution. 108.162.245.109 07:04, 28 September 2016 (UTC)