periclinal
Explanation
The Joke
A character excitedly announces that "you can buy personal, commercial, racing, planting, garden, different colors" — enumerating an extensive variety of consumer drones available for purchase. The crowd responds with enthusiastic cheers ("YAYYYYYYYYY!").
Then a news update appears: "This artificial creature should not exist, you can love it." The crowd again cheers.
But then comes the twist: "With this mesoclinal wet impulse force of a periclinal crevice and the algebraic, dessert-like electoral cynicism..." — a string of absurd, technical-sounding but meaningless jargon. The crowd responds with horror and dismay ("NOOO").
The Humor
The comic satirizes the public's relationship with technology and science communication. People are thrilled by consumer products (drones in many varieties) and by feel-good science stories (a cute artificial creature). But the moment science is communicated in its actual technical language — even if it is gibberish — the public recoils in horror.
The key joke is that the "technical" language in the final panel is not real scientific terminology but rather a string of impressive-sounding nonsense words cobbled together ("mesoclinal wet impulse force of a periclinal crevice" and "algebraic, dessert-like electoral cynicism"). The title "periclinal" is itself an actual geological term (referring to a type of rock fold), lending the comic a veneer of real science. The humor is that the audience cannot tell the difference between real jargon and fake jargon — they just know they do not like it.
This is a commentary on science literacy and the gap between public enthusiasm for the products of science and public hostility toward the process and language of science. People want the drones and the cute creatures but have no patience for the knowledge that makes them possible.
Context
"Periclinal" is a real term used in geology and botany. In geology, a periclinal fold is a type of geological structure where rock layers dip in all directions from a central point. In botany, periclinal refers to cell division parallel to the surface. The comic uses this real but obscure term as its title while filling the dialogue with deliberately absurd pseudo-scientific language to satirize the public's selective engagement with science — eager for products and novelty, hostile toward complexity and jargon.