2014-06-14
Explanation
The Joke
In the top panel, a couple is in bed and the man is describing sex in the driest, most clinical terms possible: "Let's have sex slowly and haltingly, and only after getting permission from a small group of elders. After that, we will slightly misrepresent how good the sex was, in the hopes of more sex later." A caption reads "Earlier..." and in the bottom panel, the same man tells a woman, "Hey baby. I've made a science of sex."
The Humor
The comic satirizes what happens when you try to apply the scientific method to sex. The "earlier" panel shows the man proudly claiming to have made sex into a science. The top panel shows the result: sex conducted like a scientific study, complete with peer review ("getting permission from a small group of elders" mimics an ethics board or peer review committee), slow and methodical execution, and publishing slightly exaggerated results afterward ("misrepresent how good the sex was" is a jab at p-hacking and publication bias in science). The joke is that making sex "scientific" strips it of all passion and spontaneity, replacing it with bureaucracy and dishonesty -- which is also a pointed commentary on the flaws of academic science itself.
References
The comic references several aspects of the academic scientific process: institutional review boards (the "small group of elders" granting permission), the slow pace of research, and the replication crisis and publication bias in science (slightly misrepresenting results to get further funding or publications).