mittening

A five-panel SMBC comic. A man in a suit talks earnestly to a skeptical woman. He says nobody wants to fund a $25 billion scientific megaproject, even though it costs less than a quarter of what it would take to put mittens on every cephalopod. The woman reacts: "wait what?" He keeps going, calculating: 1 billion cephalopods at $10 per set of 'hands,' with economies of scale in mitten production. She asks why this is relevant. He explains that scientists usually justify projects by saying they cost less than the most recent stupid war, so he figured "it'll cost less than that dumb thing" was a valid funding argument. In the final dark panels, shown as white head-and-shoulder silhouettes, she says his point feels both correct and stupid, and he clarifies that he IS in favor of the mittening project. Votey (bonus panel): a crudely hand-drawn octopus with a speech bubble saying "JOIN US."