Editing 419: Forks and Spoons

They show that their new technology allows them to cross a {{w|spork}} (an even mix{{Citation needed}} between a spoon and a fork) with a spoon to make a new implement that is three quarters spoon and one quarter fork. By blending these new fork-spork hybrids and their results together, the scientists could create any mix between a spoon and a fork. (Obviously, regular genetics cannot apply to non-living items such as metal cutlery).{{Citation needed}}

In the second panel, the amounts of spoon and fork are shown with fractions, the number on the left representing the amount of fork and the right the amount of spoon. The numbers for the cross product below is arrived at by summing each side and dividing by two: (0+1/2)/2 = 1/4 and (1+1/2)/2 = 3/4.

The {{W|binary}} "fork-spoon spectrum" in between the third and fourth panels shows the complete spectrum of sporks from fork to spoon with some of the intermediate steps labeled, the numbers representing how much fork each contains. Since it is a binary spectrum only fractions with a denominator that is a power of 2 will be possible i.e. 2^n with n any integer. So in the middle is a spork with 1/2 fork, in between the spork and the spoon there is only 1/4 fork and in between that and the spoon only 1/8 fork and so on. Also 3/4 fork is marked, whereas 3/8, 5/8 and 7/8 fork is only indicated on the ruler by a small marks. For instance they could breed a 3/8 fork-spork by mixing a 1/4 fork-spork with a spork.

The comic begins like standard sci-fi fare, where amoral scientists request funding from mysterious benefactors. The dialogue of "You're toying with powerful forces here" and "We know what we're doing" is a [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow classic trope], foreshadowing that things will soon [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoneHorriblyWrong go horribly wrong]. It inevitably leads to the humorous incongruity of a sentient spork on a murderous rampage.

{{w|Rachael Ray}} and {{w|Emeril}}, mentioned in the title text, are celebrity chefs, and {{w|Steven Spielberg}} is a famous movie director. The joke seems to be that if the laboratory hadn't hired the two renowned chefs, Spielberg wouldn't have heard about the project and would not have made a movie about it - in which the two scientists are killed off horribly (it is probably the scientist from the first panel, [[Megan]], and her friend, [[Cueball]], or the actors hired to portray them in the film). The plot in the comic is very similar to the story in Spielberg's {{W|Jurassic_Park_(film)|Jurassic Park}}.

:[Picture of a destroyed lab, with scientific poster and lab equipment.Two dead bodies, blood everywhere and a spoon-fork hybrid hopping away can be seen.]