ADS/CFT
we now return you to your regularly scheduled awful goblin scientist
Comments (85)
Oh thank god. I dreamed it was christmas and Jeph told us we'd have to wait 2 weeks to find out what happened next
this new character feels very Elonesque.
Ouch. She's not a complete shithead. Go easy on her.
Meeting Emily would utterly pulverize what little self-esteem yet remains within her
That would likely be unspeakably dangerous!
Oh look. Marten already has a job description. Maybe Liz is high from something that's been growing behind the cabinets down there in the sub-basement?
lmao, she has the goblin eyes in that last panel.
I wonder at what point Claire will realize that the interview ended a long time ago and now she's simply doing the job
Or she makes the flow chart for everyone to follow and is then promptly told she is not needed anymore because the have "The Chart".
But can she even get high when she's so short? :-D
My universe is best described as ADD/OCD correspondence.
There's a merch idea right there
T-minus fourteen strips until Elizabeth discovers she is a robot.
Claire will immediately ask Marten "Can you help me find a doctor... Apfelbaum? She hasn't been seen for a while and Moray is freaking out in case an orca ate her too."
[grin]
Goblin in a lab coat, I know, I know it's serious.
Do you really think she'll pull through?
Goblin Scientist's predicament reminds me way too much of me trying to write my these for 2 years during lockdown :')
I’m imagining that she has a quantum jumper setting that has her always high … it’s a glitch in her internal biome that has DMT leaking into places it shouldn’t be.
She's wearing a quantum jumper under the lab coat.
Wait. Panel 4. Was that a successful reverse psychology stunt by Marten on the Tiny Goblin Scientist? I am impressed.
Who’s Walt?
ok, so goblinchild gon' meet claire, this conclave will shatter reality, and then we loop right back around to QC #1.
Personally, I'm a fan of the theory that the universe is a hologram on the surface of a black hole. This black hole could be a part of a much larger universe, which in turn is also a hologram of yet another black hole. I like to think the multiverse is just black holes all the way down; a black hole fractal-verse if you will!
Nope, it's turtles.
Jeff you really have done a fantastic job of making such an awful character. not since early Sven have i felt so much consistent disdain for someone in this universe
BTW, I'm ABSO-F-ING-LUTELY loving all the AdS/CFT crap going on! Sabine? Are you here, Sabine? Please say SOMETHING, Sabine!
Shit, Jeph. Give the girl a spliff already!
A nicotine addiction would not improve her attitude.
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
I can't believe I just encountered a 100% legit AdS/CFT joke in the wild.
Despite a college education at the top of my class & lifelong scientific career & hobbyist interest in particle physics, I couldn't make it out of the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdS/CFT_correspondence
dang Marten does NOT get this pissed off... ever
Cubetown has used up all of his chill points.
Goblin in a lab coat made me think of "Fat Guy In A Little Coat" 🤔
I don't care if she's awful, I still love the goblin. I wanna keep her 😤
Are you prepared to adopt this goblin and take care of her?
Claire is going to call out Elizabeth on a number of things
She'll also tell you to call your parents/family!
I appreciate that the real name is Elizabeth, or Liz, but for now and forever this human will remain "Just Small".
She has to earn the title of "semi-decent humanoid" before she can upgrade to Elizabeth (or Liz).
I’m really happy with the current direction of QC. Maybe it’s because I’m in my 30s, but there’s so much interesting drama around opening up and allowing yourself to be seen, and being in a place where people listen and help. It’s so easy to uphold drama for drama’s sake, but this feels like real shit I could go through. In a world with AI, I mean.
As someone who is an anxious babbler who gets quiet and chill when high....I think she would benefit 😅
Ironically, a reasonable theory of cosmological time is one of the things AdS/CFT still doesn’t have.
I think we need to get science goblin high.
Science Goblin High is my new superhero TTRPG campaign.
I like the subtle background thing: the glass being smashed out of the mirror. Not symbolic at all. Notice that Marten's power of Super Chill just saved the day again. She cannot panic or upset him.
It's a superpower. It's one of those easily overlooked feats not possessed by ordinary people but "we all" assume everybody has it anyway. For example, I sometimes have the power to read my own mind. I mean, ok, it sounds funny when it's put that way, but that's basically what introspection is. A lot of people assume that others are capable of introspection, but introspection is hard enough that not even those people who assume others can do it actually do it. Of course, understanding exactly why one does a particular crazy behavior doesn't always allow one to change it. Being able to make real use of introspection is another one of those assumed superpowers, and it's one I rarely have.
Forget the whole Cubetown AI mecca thing, the most unrealistic part of today's strip is how Elizabeth recognizes she was a jerk, owns it, & apologizes for it, & Marten instantly accepts it & moves on, & no I'm not cynical at all why do you ask
I've been in Marten's position in this kind of interaction far too frequently. You accept it and move on because there's nothing else to do. Anything else you can think of will fail. Take backs are always on the table for these people. Also, in many cases, the recognizing they were a jerk and apologizing for it do not seem to be genuine - it's a learned behavior to pull out when someone calls them on their crap. There's no actual intention to change, and if they're genuinely sorry for anything, it's that you caught them at their game. ... no, I'm not at all cynical, why do you ask.
This shows that the whole "convince Claire not to take the job" was just a huge cry for help. The minute Marten suggested leaving her in the purgatory she made for herself, she changed her tune.
The present is an illusion Of incandescent fusion It's not simply the time right now, now, now now...
The sun is a mass Of incandescent gas
Under no circumstance do we let her get high.
Yes, but also I'm betting Jeph already has that outlined
Goblin is her last line of defense. It will take gentle persuasion or a ding around the earhole to get past it.
I vote for a gentle flick of a finger on her ear lobe. Administered by Sergeant Detritus of Ahnk Morpork. (Pratchett AGAIN, drat it!)
She's right in panel 2, you have to give her that.
And yet also horribly wrong.
I think we need to recalibrate the zero-chill-o-meter
Please, Yay. Help her out here. She needs to find out NOW that she's not the smartest thing in creation. It will be a terrible blow, but that's her only way forward. You don't even have to invade her mind. Just rifle her computer, tell her three places where she's missed something, wish her luck, and vanish.
Don't forget to smirk
Whoa!!! ADS/CFT!!! was not expecting that! (Juan Maldacena is my hero)
If she’s’ a right we may be able to create an effective theory describing the interior of her black hole of self-loathing. /bulky
Now I'm wondering if that really *is* the best coffee on Cubetown.
It is. This is why Dora must move here and pay for all her employees to relocate.
Just imagine what she can accomplish once she believes she can do it.
Great stuff as always. Meanwhile, if you want to learn what ADS/CFT is, PBS Spacetime has got you covered (not that I understood half of this episode) 😂 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klpDHn8viX8
I love our Irish Space Boyfriend.
if she were high, she might actually chill
That was actually rather well said. Did you have chatgpt come up with it? ;)
Jeph uses chatDORD.
A goblin in a lab coat 😂 Also, she's very emotive. I love that.
If they get high together, Claire and Elizabeth would make great progress.
Aurelia would have to be invited to, um, chaperone? Yes, to chaperone her daughter. :)
Oh I can't wait for Faye to get hold of this one...
I bet she is fun at parties.
I want to get her wasted and find out.
I'm sure she'll turn out to be adorable. ... Eventually.
Meh. My money is on her becoming another "Corpse Witch." :)
You cannot out bullshit a bullshitter, Liz.
Actually, you can. With most bullshitters, it's not hard, actually. You just have to bullshit them with something they believe to be at least somewhat true, rather than something that they happen to have expertise that indicates you are completely wrong. To be clear, there exist a number of bullshitters who are somewhat more resilient to it. A large part of the difference is how conscious they are of their bullshit and how they craft it. If they're very aware, they're going to be really hard to snow. If, like most bullshitters, they are completely oblivious to it, it's pretty easy. I know because my dad's in the more common group.
I feel like Evan’s squirt gun would be handy in this situation
She seems nice.
she's having an extremely normal one