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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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This is another comic on [[:Category:How to annoy|How to annoy]] people. Here [[Cueball]] annoys [[Ponytail]], an entomologist who studies ant navigation, by telling her "So, I hear you're really into chemtrails?"
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{{incomplete|Created by a REVERSE AIRPLANE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
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Ants leave trails of {{w|pheromones}}, natural chemicals that they emit, along the trails that they travel, which act as markers of what they experienced, such as food sources. These guide the activity of other ants in the colony to respond appropriately, such as following the trail to the food. These are, in the strictest sense, chemical trails, shortened to Chemtrails.
  
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Two similar comics have been released, [[2036: Edgelord]] and [[2744: Fanservice]], with the same settings but different text, both with [[White Hat]] being annoyed.
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[[Cueball]] is intentionally conflating these with {{w|chemtrails}} - the subject of a conspiracy theory that the government controls the population by spraying toxic or mind-/body-transformative chemicals from high-flying aircraft.  
  
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{{w|Entomologist}}s study insects. {{w|Ant}}s are social insects that leave chemical trails between locations such as newly discovered food sources and the nest. These chemical trails can guide other ants in their colony to the food, for example.  Biologists call such signaling chemicals {{w|pheromones}}.  This comic uses the word chemtrail as a shortening of chemical trail. [[Cueball]] is intentionally conflating ant chemical trails with {{w|chemtrails}}, the subject of a fallacious conspiracy theory that the government controls the population by spraying toxic or mind-/body-transformative chemicals from high altitude aircraft.
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Cueball knows that the {{w|Entomology|entomologist}} (one who studies insects) [[Ponytail]] specifically studies ant navigation, and  that she will be annoyed when he tells her "So, I hear you're really into chemtrails?" He gets the reaction he hoped for when she objects strongly and rejects this with a loud '''No!!'''
  
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That conspiracy theory may be partly based on the practice of {{w|cloud seeding}}, which uses chemical flares containing silver nitrate to attempt to increase precipitation [https://www.vox.com/videos/23290459/cloud-seeding-manmade-rain-future-perfect]. Despite [[1677: Contrails|occasional conflation]], chemtrails are distinct from "contrails," short for "condensation trails," which are cloud-like lines in the sky created by {{w|Contrails|airplane engines or airfoils}}. There is very little evidence that sophisticated mind control posited by chemtrail conspiracists is possible, even after extensive research.[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Poisoner_in_Chief/U6iDDwAAQBAJ]
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The title text contrasts that with the actual ants, where the individuals (instinctively) decide how the whole colony behaves by releasing chemicals which modify the behaviour of other individuals around them, such as influencing them to follow routes to food, or to react to dangers experienced by the individual. This is the reverse of the human fear about personal independence being regulated by an otherwise disconnected ruling 'elite'.
  
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[[Ponytail]] is an entomologist, studying chemically mediated cooperative ant navigation. [[Cueball]] knows she will be annoyed when he tells her, "So, I hear you're really into chemtrails?" Indeed, he gets the reaction he hoped for when she objects strongly and rejects this with a loud, "'''No!!'''" The choice of terminology is often a sore spot for those who study a particular field in depth. [[Randall]] writes in the caption that such misuse is how to annoy people like Ponytail.
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This comic seems to be a spiritual sequel to [[2036: Edgelord]], using an identical format: a simple one-panel interaction consisting of a (likely deliberate) misuse of a term in regards to a professional's work, followed immediately by the professional's upset outburst, and Randall's caption spelling out "How to annoy" the professional. Both of these seem to be related to Randall's [[:Category:My Hobby|hobbies]], as this is something he seems to think about a lot - how to annoy specific people.
  
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The title text humorously notes that ants' "chemtrails" have the opposite effect from the chemtrails of the conspiracy theory.
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Ants is a recurring theme, as well as those that study them, see for instance [[1610: Fire Ants]]. Chemtrails was also the subject of [[966: Jet Fuel]] and [[1677: Contrails]] and was mentioned in [[1803: Location Reviews]].
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Ants are a recurring theme, as are those who study them. See for instance [[638: The Search]] which specifically deals with ants' pheromone trails or [[1610: Fire Ants]]. Chemtrails were also the subject of [[966: Jet Fuel]], [[1677: Contrails]], and were mentioned in [[1803: Location Reviews]].
 
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:[Cueball stands talking to Ponytail, who has her arms raised and has small lines above her head to indicate annoyance.]
 
:[Cueball stands talking to Ponytail, who has her arms raised and has small lines above her head to indicate annoyance.]
 
:Cueball: So, I hear you're really into chemtrails?
 
:Cueball: So, I hear you're really into chemtrails?
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:[Caption below the panel:]
 
:[Caption below the panel:]
 
:How to annoy entomologists who study ant navigation
 
:How to annoy entomologists who study ant navigation
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==Trivia==
 
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*Whether ant gland secretion signalling is {{w|Turing completeness|Turing-equivalent}} is explored in Douglas Hofstadter's ''{{w|Gödel, Escher, Bach|Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid}}''.
 
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*Ponytail may conceivably be a professional entomologist who once worked with an editor who inserted the word "chemtrails" in one of her [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00359-019-01363-z comparative physiology] or [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-020-01354-7 ''Animal Cognition''] drafts competing before a peer review panel with papers by [https://bio.kuleuven.be/ento/pdfs/billen_procnev_2006_signal_variety.pdf Johan Bilen] of the Leuven University Zoological Institute and Harvard's [https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674045880 Rüdiger Wehner].
 
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
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[[Category:Ants]]
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[[Category:Animals]]
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[[Category:Chemistry]]
 
 
[[Category:Biology]]
 
[[Category:Biology]]
 
[[Category:Puns]]
 
[[Category:Puns]]
 
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]
 
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]
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[[Category:Aviation]]
 
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[[Category:How to annoy]]
 

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