2010-07-06
Explanation
This three-panel comic depicts a debate between two scientists about which field of science is the coolest. A woman (representing fields like biology and chemistry) tries to list impressive achievements: "We have DNA, nano-medicine, synthetic life..." and later "We have femto-chemistry, synthetic elements, acid that eats anything..." and finally "We have particle accelerators, quantum teleportation, supersy-" But each time she is cut off by a man (representing astronomy) who becomes increasingly agitated and emphatic about one single fact: "There is a hexagon on the north pole of Saturn!"
With each panel, his language escalates from a straightforward statement to profanity-laden shouting: "There is a f---king hexagon on Saturn!" and finally "There is a motherf---king hexagon on motherf---king Saturn!" The background shifts from neutral to bright red as his intensity grows. The caption reads: "Astronomers have a bit of an edge in coolest science arguments."
The comic references Saturn's hexagonal storm, a real and genuinely bizarre atmospheric phenomenon at Saturn's north pole that was discovered by the Voyager missions. The hexagonal cloud pattern is roughly 30,000 kilometers across and has persisted for decades. The joke is that while other sciences can list many impressive accomplishments, astronomy can win any "coolest science" argument with a single mind-blowing fact that sounds too absurd to be real. The astronomer does not need a list; he just needs one impossibly cool thing.
The votey panel shows a newspaper or pamphlet with the headline "Here they are!" and three images labeled "UC" (likely photos of the hexagon from different angles or missions), playing on the astronomer's obsessive enthusiasm about sharing evidence of this phenomenon with everyone.