Overview

A stylized comic with a limited color palette: black, white and vivid blue that together give the comic a distinctly sci-fi energy. All text in this comic is narration, transcribed in quotes as it appears in the comic. Image descriptions are provided by panel or by page depending on the type of page. Many pages have full-page splash images.

There are several instances where the author accidentally writes “defuser” or “detonator” instead of “detector.” On the final page the author writes “proton” instead of “photon.” These errors are corrected in the transcript.

Cover

Medusa’s Shadow

Radio Plantenberg

Professor Ben McMorran

The University of Oregon Science Comic Fellowship program

ID: Stylized blue fog spews from the lower left. The fog has two foxlike eyes. Between the eyes a small white dot emits its own trail, cutting through the center of the fog. The title text is stylized block letters, reminiscent of the Star Trek logo.

Page 1

“In the centuries predating the Contact age, the human race was lonely.”

The entire page is black, dotted with tiny stars. In the center of the page is Earth, a small white and blue planet surrounded by clouds.

Page 2

Panel 1: “So unbearable was their isolation that they spent centuries channeling a signal to sweep through the galaxy, wishing desperately for proof that they were not alone.” The same view of space, Earth in the middle of the black panel amid tiny stars.

Panel 2: the rest of the page is completely white. The large foxlike eyes from the cover stare at the reader. Between the eyes is Earth, now drawn in black and blue instead of blue and white. “And eventually, their wish for contact was granted.”

Page 3

“An alien species emerged from the dark recesses of space, heeding their call. They set their sights upon humanity. Bright, piercing.”

An alien with large foxlike eyes dominates the page. It wears a helmet with a single eyepiece and lots of tubes extending from its head like snakes, and a space suit with a puffy neckpiece and bulbous shoulders. Earth, a speck in contrast to its huge form, is suspended between the thumb and forefinger of its gloved claw-like hands.

Page 4

“And without a second glance, they snuffed out humanity’s birthplace between thumb and forefinger.”

A giant white claw pinches closed, shattering Earth.

Page 5

“As Earth crumbled away into the recesses of space, there were numerous attempts made to escape total annihilation, to look upon our doom.”

Panels 1-3: “Shuttles, Satellites, Space Stations.” A space shuttle lifts off into blue background, a small satellite orbits on blue, and a larger space station floats in blue.

“Most failed.”

“Whatever the alien force could see, it would immediately destroy. If you saw it, it had already seen you.”

The alien’s gaze is represented by coloring typically black space bright blue.

Panel 4: the space shuttle that took off into the alien’s gaze from panel 1 is covered in a white splotch explosion, like a bug on a windshield.

Panel 5: the satellite within the alien’s gaze is covered in a small white explosion.

Panel 6: the space station within the alien’s gaze is broken apart by a white explosion.

“However, a crumb of humanity went unnoticed, un-devoured.”

Page 6

Panel 1: three concentric rings surround a circle with four blobs. Each ring has small white dots of varying sizes on it.

“The final vestiges of humanity are now contained within a fleet of nomadic satellites, desperate to evade complete annihilation. In a last ditch effort to escape detection and subsequent destruction, our argonauts have been altered on a molecular scale, imbuing them with the same properties of a singular photon.”

Panels 2 and 3 are in the same row, and there is black space between them where the above text is written. In panel 2 a man in profile faces right, wearing a skin tight body suit that covers his head, leaving his face exposed. In panel 3 is the same man, still in profile, now wearing a bulky space suit. A beam of light shines across the page bisecting both panels, running through the man’s eyes.

“After undergoing these alterations, our fleets are now capable of executing a near flawless evasion through the utilization of the procedure known colloquially as:”

Page 7

“Elitzur-Vaidman Protocol”

“The Elitzure-Vaidman protocol is a large-scale replication of its namesake, the Elitzur-Vaidman effect: a quantum mechanics thought experiment that uses interaction-free measurements to verify the presence of an object.”

The page is dominated by the circuit diagram. The circuit diagram is a square. Short 45-degree diagonal lines pointing towards the bottom right of the page sit on each corner of the square; these are mirrors. At the upper left corner a line extends vertically up from the left side of the square; there is a circle on the end of the line.  On the horizontal side of the corner an arrow with a 90-degree bend points towards the right; on the vertical side of the corner a straight arrow points down. At the upper right corner an arrow with a 90-degree bend starts from the left and turns to point down towards the lower right corner. The bottom left corner has a mirrored 90-degree arrow pointing towards the lower right corner. The lower right corner has lines with circles on them that extend from both sides of the square and two 90-degree arrows on the outside of the square following the external corners formed by the sides of the square and the lines that extend from the opposite sides. A large blue splotch spills across the page, overlapping the furthest right circle on the edge of the diagram.

“In essence, this allows our fleets to verify the alien force without ever actually detecting it, as falling within the blue range of her gaze would signal imminent destruction. In this way, we can safely identify which routes would grant us safe passage through space, charting our way to new planetary candidates for humanity’s new home.”

Page 8

“The execution of the Elitzur-Vaidman Protocol is simple: A singular bomb detector (now equivalent to a singular light photon) is sent through a beam splitter. When they reach the beam splitter, they will simultaneously do two things: be reflected off of its surface, and pass through it.”

Panel 1: a diagram shows a beam entering a square beam splitter split diagonally down the center. Two beams exit the square on adjacent sides.

Panel 2: this is a bleed that dominates the page. In the center of the page is a three-dimensional square with a diagonal pane down the center. Identical argonauts are reflected on each side of the pane.

“This results in a temporary state of quantum superposition, in which the photon is capable of remaining in multiple states until it is measured.”

Page 9

“When the bomb detectors meet at the secondary beam splitter, they will affect each other through a process known as interference. “

Panel 1: The heads of two argonauts overlap. The area where they overlap is highlighted.
They will either recombine into a singular bomb detector through constructive interference,”

Panel 2: the same overlapping argonauts, but the area where they overlapped is now gone/greyed out.

“or overwrite each other, weakening through a case of destructive interference.”

“If the detectors interfere with one another, the presence of the secondary detector indicates that there is no alien presence, and it is safe to proceed down either route.”

Panel 3: Two argonauts stand next to each other smiling and giving thumbs up. They are labeled with two highlights Xs.
“If only one detector makes it to the mirror, it indicates that the alien force is indeed present.”

Panel 4: One wan argonauts, looking sad, gives a thumbs up. They are labeled with a check mark.

Page 10

“Before they interfere with one another, both “upper” and “lower” route detectors will reach an ordinary mirror, which redirects them into intersection at a secondary half silvered mirror. It is upon one of these paths to an interference point that the alien force will be present. For sake of convenience, the route that intersects with the alien force will be labeled the “lower” route. In the hypothetical where the alien force is present there are three possible outcomes:”

The circuit diagram is drawn again, this time in perspective. In the distance, an argonaut walks away from the reader. The other argonaut walks towards the reader, a single alert eye visible behind their space helmet. The alien’s gaze overlaps with the right side of the circuit diagram; the argonaut is about to intersect with it.

Page 11

There are two vertical columns of panels.

“There is a 25% chance that the detectors will simultaneously re-enter the second mirror, signifying that the alien force is absent.”

Column 1 panel 1: in a black panel an argonaut walks forward

Column 2 panel 1: in a half black, half white panel, a mirrored argonaut walks forward.

“There is another 25% chance that only one detector will return from quantum superposition and activate sensor D, signifying that the alien force is present without alerting it.”

Column 1 panel 2: the argonaut takes a step forward

Column 2 panel 2: the argonaut takes a step forward, into the white side of the panel.

“There is a 50% chance that detector will intersect with the force, subsequently leading to their death and the destruction of the human fleet.”

Column 1 panel 3: a blue explosion starts to consume the argonaut

Column 2 panel 3: the argonaut takes another step into the white side of the panel

“With a 25% chance of a safe detection and a 50% chance of a deadly encounter, these odds are not considered favorable.”

Column 1 panel 4: the entire panel is covered in blue explosion

Column 2 panel 4: the argonaut continues safely into the white.

Page 12

“Thankfully, probability of the alien force being alerted can be lowered through a process known as the Quantum Zeno Effect. If the “photon” goes the alternate route to the alien each time it passes through the beam splitter, it does not go through further superposition. Therefore, the bomb detector now has a heightened probability of reaching the end unchanged.”

An argonaut climbs stairs. We see the argonaut repeated at five points along the stairs. The stairs are mirrored and in the reflection the argonaut gets darker as they climb the stairs.

“If the alien is absent on the lower path, there is no measurement to kickstart the Zeno Effect. The “photon’s” state will evolve as it goes through the beam splitters until it is transmitted and measured at the end.”

Page 13

“And once that photon is measured, once the remainders of humanity pieces together a path devoid of medusa’s shadow, we will weave through that path like a shooting star, until it now longer stretches over us.”

A shooting star with a long tail streams across the page.