2010-09-25
Explanation
This comic ranks the sciences by their romantic potential. Astronomy is declared "the most romantic science," illustrated by a man telling a woman "I love you in more ways than there are stars in the heavens" -- a classic, sweeping romantic statement. Biology is then declared "the least romantic science," with the same man saying "I love you in more ways than there are sperm in a cup of semen." The final panel adds a twist: "Well, unless you count astrobiology..." at which point the man combines both, saying "I love you in more ways than there are sperm in the heavens."
The humor comes from taking the common romantic trope of using vast astronomical quantities as metaphors for love and contrasting it with the decidedly unromantic biological equivalent. While comparing love to the number of stars is poetic, comparing it to the number of sperm is hilariously clinical and off-putting, despite being a similarly large number. The astrobiology punchline merges both sciences into an even more absurd declaration, imagining sperm scattered across the cosmos -- a phrase that is simultaneously grandiose and grotesque.