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This week’s somewhat obscure subject was “prismatic cleavage” as it relates to mineralogy. Contrary to initial assumptions, it’s not a reference to early Lara Croft games!

It's obviously not about graffitis, so it's about charts, like this 😌 nces.ed.gov/nceskids/gra... (I'm joking, please don't kill me 😆)

Parasitoid wasps are possibly the best evidence that if there is a god, they not merciful.

I'd say yes. Many haven't even heard of the difference between Ichneumonidae and Braconidae! (What are schools teaching nowadays etc grumble mumble 😎) More seriously, I find most people haven't really heard of them, let alone be familiar with the concept.

*laughs in non-archimedean Teichmüller-Iwasawa theory* (not really me)

Where's the part about "math that might actually be scientists gaslighting other fields?"

I am thinking neutrinoless double beta decay.

I tried simplifying things by telling people I studied mechanosensative ion channels, which in retrospect was not a sufficient simplification.

My thoughts. Parasitoid wasps are real scary. You know parasitoid wasps that target humans would make a great horror antagonist. Oh... I just reinvented the aliens franchise.

Title text: "Conveniently for everyone, it turns out that dark energy is produced by subterranean parasitoid wasps." Alt text: https://explainxkcd.com/2986#Transcript