2010-03-22
Original: 2010-03-22 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (caption): A PION DECAYS INTO A POSITRON AND AN ELECTRON WHOSE QUANTUM STATES ARE ENTANGLED.
Diagram: A purple particle labeled π⁰ (pi-zero) with two arrows pointing down to a blue particle labeled e⁻ (electron) and a red particle labeled e⁺ (positron).
Panel 2 (caption): BY OBSERVING ONE, WE CHANGE THE OTHER, REGARDLESS OF THEIR DISTANCE OF SEPARATION.
Diagram: A red dot connected by a long wavy line stretching across the panel.
Panel 3 (caption): BY THIS MEANS, INFORMATION IS TRANSFERRED FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT.
Image: A man in a spacesuit in space, with Earth visible in the distance. A small screen on his suit reads "I ♥ U".
Panel 4 (caption): WHICH PROVES A FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF REALITY.
Three labeled images: an ELECTRIC MOTOR, a LASER, and a QUANTUM COMMUNICATER (a magnifying glass).
Panel 5 (caption): ANY SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WILL EVENTUALLY BE USED AS A CAT TOY.
Image: A person sits at a table holding a device. An orange cat stands on its hind legs against furniture, reaching for glowing green mouse-shaped points of light darting around it.
Person: "YOU CAN'T CATCH THE MOUSEY! THE MOUSEY IS SUPERLUMINAL!"
Votey:
Handwritten note: "Dear ultrageeks, Before you complain, here's the gamma I left out: γ Enjoy!"
Diagram: A purple particle labeled π⁰ (pi-zero) with two arrows pointing down to a blue particle labeled e⁻ (electron) and a red particle labeled e⁺ (positron).
Panel 2 (caption): BY OBSERVING ONE, WE CHANGE THE OTHER, REGARDLESS OF THEIR DISTANCE OF SEPARATION.
Diagram: A red dot connected by a long wavy line stretching across the panel.
Panel 3 (caption): BY THIS MEANS, INFORMATION IS TRANSFERRED FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT.
Image: A man in a spacesuit in space, with Earth visible in the distance. A small screen on his suit reads "I ♥ U".
Panel 4 (caption): WHICH PROVES A FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF REALITY.
Three labeled images: an ELECTRIC MOTOR, a LASER, and a QUANTUM COMMUNICATER (a magnifying glass).
Panel 5 (caption): ANY SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WILL EVENTUALLY BE USED AS A CAT TOY.
Image: A person sits at a table holding a device. An orange cat stands on its hind legs against furniture, reaching for glowing green mouse-shaped points of light darting around it.
Person: "YOU CAN'T CATCH THE MOUSEY! THE MOUSEY IS SUPERLUMINAL!"
Votey:
Handwritten note: "Dear ultrageeks, Before you complain, here's the gamma I left out: γ Enjoy!"
Alt text
A five-panel SMBC comic mixing real physics with a joke. Panel 1, captioned "A pion decays into a positron and an electron whose quantum states are entangled," shows a diagram of a purple pi-zero particle splitting via two arrows into a blue electron (e-) and a red positron (e+). Panel 2, captioned "By observing one, we change the other, regardless of their distance of separation," shows a dot trailing a long wavy line. Panel 3, captioned "By this means, information is transferred faster than the speed of light," shows an astronaut in space near a distant Earth, a small screen on his suit reading "I love U." Panel 4, captioned "Which proves a fundamental law of reality," shows three labeled icons: an electric motor, a laser, and a magnifying glass labeled "Quantum Communicater." Panel 5, captioned "Any sufficiently advanced technology will eventually be used as a cat toy," shows a person holding a device making glowing green light-mice that an orange cat lunges at, while the person says "You can't catch the mousey! The mousey is superluminal!" The votey is a handwritten note: "Dear ultrageeks, Before you complain, here's the gamma I left out: γ Enjoy!" — a nod that the pion's decay also emits a gamma photon.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.