Grrl Power #783 – Cosmic cameo
NdGT isn’t a patron of the comic, but I couldn’t help but think that if someone had traveled to deep space, met aliens and then returned, every goddamned scientist in the world would want to hear all about it. The science community brought out the big guns for this and gambled that Sydney would know who he is and be a fan. He was probably already in town for Dabbler and Cora’s press conference already.
Honestly she should have known who he was the moment he spoke. He’s got this patient cadence to his voice that’s pretty distinct.
Sydney isn’t blabbing anything actually classified here. The stuff she’s not allowed to divulge is how she got into deep space in the first place, that time travel was involved, and that there was a planet killing alien force there. The general news has said that the Alari that were already on Earth were chased off their planet by a hostile force, but haven’t really been able to learn or divulge anything more than that. She is allowed to talk about Fracture Station and her return trip on Cora’s ship, so… she’s in the clear here.
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Never heard of Neil deGrasse Tyson/this guy until today…
But then I’m English not American so I doubt I ever would have.
I’m Norwegian, but I’ve certainly heard of him. You didn’t watch the “Cosmos” series a few years ago? A revival of the old show by Carl Sagan?
…..
You’ve…..never heard…..of NDT?
…. ….
Ok, you can hand in your nerd card right over there.
I’m an american and I don’t know him at all from his name one bit. *boop*
I’m British and I have known about him for many years. Carl Sagan was even a mentor of him. NdGT is awesome. Check out some of his many series, chats and seminars on YouTube.
If I had a pic like that on my phone I’d show it off to literally everyone.
There’s some amount of plausible deniability built in too, because someone could certainly be convinced it’s just an exceptional photoshop. She’s not showing off classified secrets, general, she’s… a huge computer nerd
I’d just like to mention… DaveB did a REALLY good likeness of NdGT. Especially the first and third images.
Even the second is accurately photo-realistic (… if the photo has been put through one of them comic-filter app thingies)
Oh all of them are. But the first and third are spot-on perfect.
Also I’m pretty sure she knows that touching the orbs won’t immolate or disintegrate the people, since Mathias has already touched one and he’s still around. Also technically speaking, Sciona also ‘touched’ one when Sydney broke her arm with two of the orbs, and Dabbler ‘touched’ one when Sydney konked her on the head with one, and Shadow Boxer ‘touched’ a couple of them when Sydney hit him in the crotch then in the jaw with two of them.
To be fair, Shadow Boxer might now be impotent as a result, but Dabbler sure isn’t.
Sydney probably just doesn’t want people to be grabbing for them.
Even with the sign, I bet there’s probably upwards of 5 people who’ve managed to get their mitts on them. They survived, of course, or it would’ve been at least one panel in the comic to depict it. But Sydney’s had enough of it. They’re getting up in her personal space, for the explicit purpose of attempting to steal from Sydney because they think it’d be cool, or the end would justify the means. It’s not cool. I do have to admit this is one of the few cases when the ends justify the means argument could possibly be valid, as the means don’t clearly preclude the end desired. Although I’m not sure that it would definitely be a possible argument, as the end would still need to be possible via that means for it to be workable.
No, don’t believe they were attempting to steal from Sydney, they just wanted to be able to claim they handled Sydney’s balls, just like when a celebrity (or actors) walk through a crowd, the fans reach out for them not to steal butt simply to be able to say they managed to touch them (and maybe be lucky enough to be touched in turn)
As for Sydney hitting others with her balls, that might be the exception to the safety feature: if Sydney intends to hit them, then they are safe, if not, then the security override kicks in and an ashy smear is left behind
Math touched the red or burgundy-colored ball (either the PPO or the unknown) with his finger testingly – he wasn’t hit by it though :) So your theory (otherwise quite plausible) fails there.
Poke is not the same thing as touch, grab or handle
You can poke a hot stove element and not receive damage
I’d just go with the basic fact that attempting to grab the Orbs does have a chance to end up hurting someone, and as such it’s just a good basic move from a legal standpoint to put it out there immediately that attempting to grab to Orbs can be dangerous and Sidney is in no way responsible for any bodily harm that may occur from such direct actions because she warned people it was a bad idea and their own actions are their responsibility, not hers.
At a minimum trying to grab them could be dangerous, simply because their motion is controlled by Sydney, and they’re capable of applying considerable force to things that get in their way. Considerable as in, Maxima trying to move them *and failing*. And her using them to strike Sciona hard enough to break bones.
Wouldn’t be too hard to get into a position while grabbing them where, if Sydney didn’t notice and stop their orbiting, you’d dislocate your wrist, or get a broken arm.
instead of Neil Degrasse Tyson I would’ve chosen the Mythbusters ; either Adam Savage or Jamie Hienineman ;
they *BOTH* live and work in California and bounce around the state events frequently and often.
it’s *FAR* more likely she would know & love that show than Mr Tyson’s shows.
I’m not so sure of that. Mr. Tyson is an astrophysicist, which is far more relevant here. And he’s had a number of cameo appearances as versions of “himself” in various shows and movies. He was even in “Batman v Superman.”
While you do make a number of valid points, I would think that Mr Savage and Mr Hyneman would be (slightly) less interested in Sydney’s adventures in space and (slightly) more interested in the PPO related explosions they could film on high-speed.
Sydney -is- someone who does watch Mythbusters. She already said so when talking to the fabric-kinetic guy about Ooblek (or however it was spelled).
Except, Archon HQ ain’t in California…
Have we actually been told yet where Archon HQ is located? If so, where are they located and when was it stated? I’m asking because I’m genuinely curious. Plus it would be useful in the future if I have legal arguments :).
I think they’re in the Dallas Metro Area; AKA where Dave lives. It’s relatively central, and they are supposed to be a national quick-response defense force.
That actually makes a lot of sense but I’m wondering if its actually been mentioned either in the comic or in DaveB’s commentary.
It’s like Springfield in the Simpsons. We’re not supposed to know where it is, but it’s based on a real location and the clues are there. In fact, DaveB has acknowledged that it ought to be somewhere near the middle of the country rather than on either coast, for the sake of travel time since they might need to respond to emergencies anywhere in the U.S.
he said they will eventually need to have two other branches for each coast but archon HQ is probably located near the center of the country for ease of access
We’ve been told in Dave’s comments below at least one and I think several of the comics that their location has not been fixed yet, but it’s somewhere in the “center” of the country. It’s roughly half an hour from Archon’s headquarters to anywhere in the country at mach 4.
I’m thinking that Hawaii and Alaska were not considered in that assertion, because if I’m not mistaken, from the furthest point in Hawaii to the furthest point in Maine is over an hour at mach 4. Same for furthest point in Alaska to furthest point in Florida.
I believe that part of the reason for not having the base be specifically located is to reduce the incidence rate of people having issues with the artwork and legal claims made in the comic.
The Mythbusters are nerd royalty, but they very much are NOT scientists. If either or both of them were talking to Sydney it would be with a camera nearby and the aim would be entertainment rather than actually learning anything. Ok, that’s not entirely accurate. The primary aim would be entertainment and the secondary aim would be edutainment, so learning something would be somewhere on the list of priorities, but not at the top.
And also, while Jamie and Adam respect each other, they certainly don’t like each other and REALLY don’t like working together.
Neil is cool. I’m more a fan of Dr. Michio Kaku myself.
How About Brian Greene?
On Sydney’s sign, you forgot incontinence…
The sign doesn’t say those things will be the direct result of touching them…
More what Halo could/would/will do to a person attempting to do so without express permission.
https://i.imgur.com/TuIoZWY.png
sometimes I wonder if this done on purpose…..
If what’s done on purpose?
Yeah, If I”m a superhero, you might want to get NDT read in because I’m gonna fanboy the first time I meet him.
If I was unexpectedly face-to-face with Neil deGrasse Tyson, I’d probably react much the same way.
I have to ask, though, where is the comic shop, and does NDT live anywhere near it? And I’m also wondering if this is actually how a “public intellectual” would go about trying to learn more about Sydney’s travails in space. I imagine he’s also there for her autograph, but either way, surely he’d know someone who could hook him up through a more official route?
Btw Dave, anyway we could get an better view angle on Sydney’s poster?
Good luck trying to keep something only the ADHD brain saw fully classified.