221
xkcd #3095: Archaea (imgs.xkcd.com)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

xkcd #3095: Archaea

Title text:

Under the two-domain system, anyone who punches you is technically an Archaean pathogen.

Transcript:

[Cueball, Megan, and White Hat are standing in a lab in front of a root-like phylogeny diagram, looking at it. Behind them is a desk with a microscope on it. There is a pile of items behind it and one item in front. From the plate on the microscope where the sample is, there is a star burst and a line going up to the text said by the sample.]
Cueball: It's weird how, despite being one of the main branches of the tree of life, no Archaea species are known to cause disease in humans.
Megan: Personally, I think it's because those gross methane breathers are too weird and incompetent to figure out how to hurt us even if they wanted to.
Archaea sample: Hey!

[Caption below the panel:]
Bad news: After overhearing a conversation in our lab, Archaea has finally started harming humans.

Source: https://xkcd.com/3095/

explainxkcd for #3095

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

they probably dont produce toxins that harm humans in our gut, or skin, or nasal biomes like bacteria. also furhtermore bacteria have other ways to infiltrate cells

this post was submitted on 28 May 2025
221 points (98.3% liked)

xkcd

11250 readers
115 users here now

A community for a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS