2011-10-05
Explanation
This comic imagines a press conference announcing the discovery of extraterrestrial life on Enceladus (one of Saturn'''s moons, which really does have a subsurface ocean that scientists consider a candidate for harboring life). A scientist announces they have landed a marine rover on Enceladus and found life. The audience asks a series of questions designed to find reasons to be upset or afraid: "Is the life scary?" (No, it'''s cute and friendly, there will probably be Disney movies about it.) "Does the life challenge any of my deeply held spiritual beliefs?" (Nope, in fact it proves them right.) "Is there an uncrossable gulf of understanding between our species that casts a shadow of pointlessness over the search for fellow sapients in a vast dark universe?" (We thought that might come up, so here'''s a video.)
The video shows the adorable green alien saying, "Hey everyone! My favorite things are sharing the secret to longevity and great big hugs! Come back soon!" In other words, the alien life is literally the best possible outcome imaginable -- cute, friendly, spiritually affirming, and eager to share the secret to long life. The final panel, set "Later," shows two people discussing whether there really is life on Enceladus, with one responding, "I don'''t know. But we'''ve got funding for a mission now!" -- implying the whole presentation may have been fabricated specifically to secure NASA funding.
The votey panel shows a note listing "Other Places with Cute Aliens" including Titan, Europa, Ganymede, and "Inside Big New Particle Accelerators" -- suggesting scientists will claim cute aliens exist anywhere they want funding to explore. The comic satirizes both the public'''s tendency to find reasons to reject good news and the lengths to which scientists might go to secure research funding.