the-puppy-test
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Explanation
The Joke
A father tells his child: "Okay, no more arguing about it. I'll buy you a puppy IF you can take care of this little puppy statue over night. He's made of solid metal, so it should be pretty easy as long as you cuddle him tight!" The father hands the child a small metallic dog figurine with a knowing smirk. Below the comic panel, a caption reads: "The melting point of gallium is 85.58 degrees Fahrenheit."
The joke is that gallium is a metal that melts just below human body temperature (about 29.76 degrees Celsius / 85.58 degrees Fahrenheit). If the child cuddles the "solid metal" statue overnight, their body heat will melt it into a puddle of liquid metal by morning. The father has set up an impossible test -- the child cannot simultaneously "take care of" the statue and cuddle it, because cuddling it will destroy it.
The Humor
The humor works on multiple levels. On the surface, it is a classic dad trick -- setting an impossible condition to avoid buying a pet. But the specific mechanism of the trick requires scientific knowledge that most readers will not have until they read the caption, creating a satisfying "aha" moment. The father's smug expression becomes much funnier once you understand that he knows exactly what will happen. There is also dark comedic energy in imagining the child waking up covered in liquid metal, bewildered at what happened to their statue. Weiner loves jokes that hinge on obscure scientific facts, and gallium's unusually low melting point is a perfect example of a real property that sounds made up.
References
Gallium is a chemical element (atomic number 31) that is notable for its unusually low melting point of 29.76 degrees Celsius (85.58 degrees Fahrenheit). This means it will literally melt in your hand. Gallium metal is commonly sold as a novelty item, and videos of gallium spoons melting in hot tea are popular on the internet.