nitrogen
Explanation
In this comic, a teacher (or professor) is lecturing a class. He tells the students: "And class, did you know that the nitrogen in your body was acquired via humanity gaining access to unlimited nitrogen to fertilize the soil, and the resulting population explosion means you exist as a direct consequence of the Haber process and its consequences."
A student asks: "Could you do a more uplifting version of that?" The teacher tries again: "Fritz Haber himself contributed to the design of chemical weapons during WWI, so..." which is even more depressing, not less.
The student then pleads: "A little bit of basic human empathy would go a long way here." The final response suggests the teacher continues to fail at making the story uplifting.
The comic is about the Haber-Bosch process, which is one of the most consequential inventions in human history. Fritz Haber developed a method for synthesizing ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen, enabling the mass production of fertilizers that now sustain roughly half the world's food production. However, Fritz Haber is also known as the "father of chemical warfare" for his role in developing poison gas weapons during World War I. The humor lies in the teacher's inability to find an uplifting angle on this story -- every attempt to reframe it leads to something darker. It is a classic SMBC joke about how scientific knowledge, when examined honestly, often resists feel-good narratives. The comic highlights the genuine moral complexity of the Haber process: a discovery that feeds billions but was created by a man who also contributed to mass death.