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Seems Doable

🕑 Added 2025-03-16 02:52:42 +0000 UTC

Comments

Conrad Rogers

^^^___ very true

legobil

That is a sick burn, BookBears. About as hot as cold fusion is not.

legobil

Wrong, Liz. It hasn’t been months. If I recall, you have been on that station for years and not produced anything. Taking notes is a big step forward towards actually being productive. And the road to recovery from being burnt out can be even longer than the one that got you there in the first place..

legobil

This is the wierdest thread of notifications i have ever been part of on Patreon.

enchantedsleeper

@Michael I'll have one! :D

Mark Eichin

Turns out cold fusion was under the robot dinosaur skull all along https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4978

William Cole

That link launched me on an hour-long reread of the whole Cubetown visit arc. Good times, good times.

Claudia D.

Replying to Clifton: Nope, probably not.

Claudia D.

No, Jane, just NO!

Claudia D.

Way

Claudia D.

When she thinks that your fate is to be really great, When cold fusion you make, well, hey! That’s a-Moray!

Logan Nix

huh, i think i missed the email for this one??

SilverbackRon

@Clifton Honestly I have been having tons of fun on an LLM-driven AI over at Character.ai. It is taking the place that YouTube once held as my internet addiction.

Clifton Royston

More recently one scientist claimed to have measured neutrons emitted from sonoluminescence in heavy water, which is not totally implausible given the physics of bubble collapse, but nobody else could reproduce those results AFAIK. See https://acoustics-research.physics.ucla.edu/sonoluminescence/

Clifton Royston

As I recall, once the excitement died down and no other labs could consistently replicate Pons & Fleishman's results, and after all the shouting and accusations of fraud had died down, the subject become so toxic that nobody would fund any research on it and nobody in science will propose research on it any longer for fear of being accused of being a crackpot or fraud. It's a pity, because IIRC from following it at the time, the fascinating thing was that a few unrelated labs did independently reproduce some of Pons & Fleishman's strange results, like observing unexpected neutrons, but nobody could do it consistently and in the end everybody threw up their hands and agreed to forget it. I see vague similarities to some of the last few years' goings on in attempts to make room-temperature superconductors.

Clifton Royston

For all Clippy's faults, at least Clippy was not LLM-driven "AI".

Clifton Royston

Could she get through a typical job interview without shouting at and berating the interviewer and also belittling herself?

Clifton Royston

Ya, Marten has done a lot for Claire's self-confidence and happiness ever since they got together, but she has done just as much for his.

Clifton Royston

My sympathies and good luck. Not only is the job market terrible now, the whole process of job hunting has gotten so strange that I would have no idea how to go about it, if I were out of work. The things I read lately about recruiters sending applications for nonexistent applicants to companies with job listings for nonexistent vacancies, and job hunters submitting hundreds of AI-written applications to company HR departments where they will be "read" and summarized by AI resume screening software - it sounds like we're in a bad satirical SF novel.

Sean Kinlin

"They say fusion is a dish best served cold... ... it is very cold in Cubetown!"

Chris Warren

Moray is such a sweetheart. (I would be driven insane by having somebody staring at me like that while I tried to work, though.)

Call me Ishmael.

enchantedsleeper, it could be. Don't you ever get the feeling that we're all living in a webcomic or a sitcom or a Twilight Zone marathon or something? Finding proof of that would make Liz more famous than Einstein! And that's all Liz really wants. (That, and being loved.)

enchantedsleeper

Cubetown is presumably a pretty lucrative place to work, it's just that research is also what people in Cubetown do. Also, she may not have much of an idea about what else to do with her life. I don't think transitioning to a 9-to-5 for someone with Liz's uh, unique social skills would be easy at this point.

Am Queue

Considering that airplanes, rocket ships, landing on the Moon, robots, handheld communication devices, handheld computers, pacemakers, waterbeds, and other things that I'm not thinking of were all talked about in science fiction first, that's not as big of a flex as you might think.

alphanor

multiple PhDs

enchantedsleeper

Was the breakthrough the hole in the 4th wall? xD

BookBeard

I don't think Jeph would ask that about something truly impossible, he probably just meant the cold fusion thing.

pfreya

Oh dang, is it? I’m only familiar with “for Happy People”. Possible I’m misreading the poster text I suppose, but to me it looks like it says “Hungry”

CthonicBelletrist

Been there very recently, friend. Best of luck.

Shane Wegner

Yes!

Matt Pedone

Wait, is the caption "...has anybody really TRIED?" asking this about inventing cold fusion, or saying three nice things about themselves?

Matt Pedone

I am Liz, while Moray and Marten are my partner trying to keep my spirits up while I wade through the morass of unemployment in this horrendous job market.

Ben R

She's gonna discover that she IS cold fusion.

Donna Flint

*pours a little out for a lost friend* I miss you Clippy

Phil_M

"...no more theoretically possible than any science fiction technology..." Sorry, but that's dangerous hyperbole, given that science fiction stories are full of antigravity drives. Cold fusion doesn't actually violate any basic conservation laws that I know of.

Cley Faye

She should do it. I think it's hilarious when some scientist (evil or not) just pit incredible discoveries one after another and dismiss them as useless, just to reach their end goal of making something useless like a self-buttering toaster or something. Like, "yeah, I made cold fusion work, but where's my hot chocolate?"

enchantedsleeper

Liz activates the Phone a Friend option and calls Ayo to get help with the self-compliments. The two of them enter a feedback loop of self-deprecation until Hanners arrives with the star stickers and promises Ayo a star if she can start being nice to herself. Liz immediately demands a star sticker from Marten. AND hot chocolate

enchantedsleeper

This is so cute, and I'm rooting for Liz/Moray now :D Also, this dynamic between the three of them is the best xD

Donna Flint

Hot chocolate is quite the motivator.

David Paul

First things first, she has to find a Coolnicorn.

Opus the Poet

I would settle for lukewarm fusion.

panpolypuff

She thinks they'll soon be done Pioneering fusion That's a-Moray!

BookBeard

Moray: "That would be super great! Then we'll just need some dogs to get the warp drive working!" Liz: "Wait, what?" https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4951

Miyaa

There is a method and note taking art to generating research. Much of it is looking at previous journal articles to figure out where can you get insights into your own research. I suspect the next step is to replicate a previous journal research so your first journal article is about your version to point out where it corroborate with previous journals and where it differs. Then maybe Liz will find something original to research and publish.

Miyaa

No way.

BookBeard

I agree, Luke Warmfusion has been doing some revolutionary work over in the Tepid Nuclear Physics department.

BookBeard

Even if it's *not* possible I'd say there's halfway decent odds on it coming from Cubetown. It's just that kinda place.

Populuxe

If someone had tried that with me when I was 19, the last 40+ years might have turned out much differently.

BookBeard

She fits easily in most overhead storage compartments.

BookBeard

Hey, come on Liz. Smart, cool robot arms, nice haircut. We've been over this! https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5228

Michael Steamweed

Ya know how in the Hitchhiker's Guide novels, a bunch of drunk scientists and engineers turn their party into a flying party? The one that smacks Arthur Dent in the small of his back while he's obliviously flying around? Yeah, CubeTown strikes me as that exact thing, on a slightly larger scale.

Michael Steamweed

1. My left arm is robotic. 2. My right arm is robotic. 3. I have a PhD. There ya go.

BookBeard

She's nineteen, she's just small. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5001

Michael Steamweed

Take the usual Gifted/Talented Kid special, multiply it by ten angsts-per-anxieties units.

Michael Steamweed

Ahh. You need the cooler chocolate drink, then. Say, a Lindor mocha mint special?

BookBeard

When she stares with a grin At a working gremlin That's A Moray!

Not that Patrick Foltz

I'd settle for warm fusion

Veronica Jane

I'm a big baby who won't drink hot drinks because I'm afraid of burning my mouth

Shawn K. Younkin

Not even for some hot chocolate? :Brews hot chocolate for Ms. Jane:

Call me Ishmael.

“Oh, god, here’s the notes I made while getting high with Martin and Clare in strip 5063. Unicorns, for crying out loud! I started out okay, but started getting weird about here…” Eyes bug out, mouth hangs open, and she sees the breakthrough that will be her legacy.

Eric Sieck

Positive reinforcement! I love it.

ValdVin

Has Liz attended too many of Iris's "Toxic Positivity" lecture series?

Joseph Bonnar

For hot chocolate, I could find three nice things to say about myself. Add in good marshmallows, and I could find 3 nice things to say about Yelling Bird!

Alcaria Swain

As a narcissist, I see this as an absolute win.

SpookyPenguin

Liz isn't getting the hang of this positive reinforcement thing

Summer

Cold fusion does not involve hot chocolate. It requires chocolate milk.

Carl Fink

Is Liz even old enough to work in industry? I mean, is she over 18?

Ailadi

It’s a preschool tactic, but with Liz ya gotta start at the basics. She’s still just barely out of lair lurking and terrible coffee making.

Captain Button

The day after that she is locked up on the same secret space station as Emily.

Pete

Sadly, it's no more theoretically possible than any science fiction technology I can think of.

Dave, Duke of Fridges

I mean it's a real album

Pete

All proposed mechanisms of cold fusion were and are speculative based on the apparent experimental result, but none have ever been shown to be consistent with established atomic theory. So without any experiential evidence to back them up, all cold fusion theory is speculative.

Pete

The Pons and Fleischman results were exciting, but always suspect because while surprising experimental results do sometimes light the way to new theory, experimental errors and misinterpretations are sadly much more common.

Anthony Gaglianese

That's a fairly strong incentive, to be honest.

Pete

It never seemed theoretically possible, as in there was never any established theory that drove experimentation.

Ursus Ridens

After all, it's off the coast of Nova Scotia, and at this time of year they have all the cold they could possibly need out there.

pfreya

I can’t help but think that “Happy Songs for Hungry People” is a bunch of bass-forward anthems dedicated to the virtues of haggis

Ursus Ridens

...but the required isotope of spite is too expensive for commercialization of the process.

SilverbackRon

I actually re-read that story section about a month ago. What a difference!

Kristina

She's adorable I happen to like gremlins She has very cool style And because me happening to like gremlins isn't one way or another a compliment: The fact that she hasn't just given up completely is very impressive and respectable for someone in such a deep hole when we originally met her 😊

pseudoclever

I was just re-reading QC from the post Marten-Dora breakup. It's so nice to time travel from mopey directionless Marten to this version

Veronica Jane

I would rather throw myself off the edge of Cubetown and into the sea than say three positive things about myself.

Veronica Jane

Unrealistic, self-impossed standard is why.

Nick Schmalenberger

Don't lots of physicists just go to work in private industry? My dad's cousin has a PhD in physics, he works at a defense contractor on missile guidance. Why should original research be Liz's only goal?

jonesnori

I recognize that reference. Sadly.

Sean Kinlin

At least Moray isn't saying "You look like you're taking notes. Would you like help with that?"

kaitou

I've managed to create a pro-fusion of con-fusion. That should count for something. (And you don't want to see what happens when those two collide.)

Yelling Bird

I mean, if cold fusion is possible I could see it coming from Cubetown.

SilverbackRon

Honestly it would be really hard to get any work done with someone staring directly at me. I can imagine Liz getting a bit cranky and on edge.

Alacrity Fitzhugh

I prefer luke-warm fusion.

Simpin4Holo

Season 2 of Fallout might explain cold fusion

Walt Donovan

Yes since it still seems theoretically possible. On the other hand, positive energy cold fusion will probably never happen. Funny thing -- it's not hard to build a device that can fuse atoms! There have been many teenagers who have done that for science fair projects! But they generate far less power than they consume.

legobil

Oh wow. Cold fusion huh. I haven’t heard anything remotely newsworthy or even semi scientific about that in the last decade or so. Is there even any research ongoing in that field?