Its Funny Because Its Poisonous Zoidberg
Futurama has developed a cult following partially due to the large number of in-jokes it contains, most of which are aimed at geeks. In commentary on the DVD releases, David X. Cohen sometimes explains the nerdiest jokes. Not all fans have listened to the DVD, so not all of them know the explanation. Of course, there's an old saying that if you have to explain a joke, then it's not funny. I'm going to buck that trend by doing just that.
1. Quantum Horseracing
Appearance: "The Luck of the Fryrish"
The Joke: At a racetrack, they use a "quantum finish" to declare the winner. Professor Farnsworth complains, "No fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!"
The Meaning: The "quantum finish" is about the observer effect. The observer effect means just watching something can change what's being watched. For example, in experiments, particles will literally change how they behave, depending on whether they're being watched. Farnsworth is protesting that watching the horse race changed the winner.
2. Schrödinger's Cat
Appearance: "Law and Oracle"
The Joke: Fry and the robot cop URL track down a traffic violator who turns out to be Erwin Schrödinger, the 20th century quantum physicist. On the front seat of the car is a box, and when questioned about the contents, Schrödinger replies, "A cat, some poison, and a Caesium atom." When Fry asks if the cat is alive or dead, Schrodinger answers, "It's a superposition of both states until you open the box and collapse the wave function."
The Meaning: Schrödinger is most famous for a thought experiment: a cat is placed in a sealed, soundproof box with some poison and radioactive material. If the material decays, it triggers the poison, which kills the cat. If it doesn't, the cat stays alive. Since we can't know which happened without opening the box, the cat is both alive and dead until we open the box. Immortality through uncertainty.
3. Error Message
Appearance: "Mars University"
The Joke: When Bender goes to Mars University, he runs into his old fraternity, Epsilon Rho Rho.
The Meaning: Epsilon Rho Rho is abbreviated as ERR, which is an abbreviation of "error," a reference to errors in programming. And the nerds at ERR certainly had their share of errors.
4. The P/NP Problem
Appearance: "Put Your Head on My Shoulders"
The Joke: In the closet where Amy and Fry are hiding, we can see there are two books in the closet; one labeled P and the other NP.
The Meaning: P and NP refer to a mathematical problem described by Wikipedia as asking "whether every problem whose solution can be quickly verified by a computer can also be quickly solved by a computer." A deeper explanation of that is beyond my pay grade, but basically all you need to know is that the problem is complex, and currently unsolved. There's a million dollar prize out there for anyone who can find the solution. The idea that it could be found in a couple of books, tucked away into a closet is kind of like the Mona Lisa in a broom closet. Then again, it is the future.
5. The Infinite Theater
Appearance: "Raging Bender"
The Joke: The crew of Futurama goes to their local theater, which is named "Loew's ℵ0-Plex"
The Meaning: The ℵ0 (pronounced "aleph-null") is a mathematical representation of the smallest infinite cardinal number. In other words, the theater has an infinite number of screens. Now that's convenience.
6. Condensed Milt
Appearance: "Put your Head On My Shoulder"
The Joke: When Fry and Amy are in a same closet, we also see in the background a bottle of "condensed milt."
The Meaning: Condensed milk is a common household good, just milk in a thicker form. Milt is the seminal fluid of aquatic animals (like mollusks) who reproduce by spraying it onto eggs. There are some countries that eat milt, but I don't know of any condensed cans of it.
7. BASIC Housekeeping
Appearance: "I, Roommate"
The Joke: Fry and Bender are moving into a new apartment, and hang a sign that reads, "10 Home," "20 Sweet," "30 GOTO 10."
The Meaning: The sign is written in an early computer language called BASIC. Each line in BASIC is numbered, and the term "GOTO" tells the program to go back to the line number that comes after it. In other words, if this were a BASIC program, it would read "Home Sweet Home" in an endless loop.
8. Binary Evil
Appearance: "The Honking"
The Joke: In a haunted house, blood forms "0101100101" on the wall. Bender pronounces it gibberish until he looks in the mirror and sees "1010011010." He runs off screaming.
The Meaning: In binary, "0101100101" translates to 357. However "1010011010" translates to 666, which is commonly referred to as the Number of the Beast and associated with Satan. That would spook me out, too.
9. Exclusionary Beer
Appearance: "The Route of All Evil"
The Joke: At one point, we see a beer labeled "St. Pauli Exclusion Principle Girl."
The Meaning: The name "St. Pauli Exclusion Principle Girl" is a combination of the popular beer St. Pauli Girl, and the Pauli Exclusion Principle. In case you were wondering, the Pauli Exclusion Principle states two electrons can't have the same four quantum numbers.
10. Groin Exercise
Appearance: "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love"
The Joke: At one point, the Futurama crew walks through a gym, passing various people on various exercise equipment. One woman is grimacing as a weight goes up and down on a machine labeled the "Kegelcizer."
The Meaning: David X Cohen called this "one of the dirtiest but subtlest jokes on Futurama ever." The muscles that form part of the pelvic floor are colloquially referred to as the "Kegel muscles." A Kegel exercise consists of repeatedly squeezing these muscles to treat sexual dysfunction. The implication is that the woman is working this muscle, and has the machine inserted in herself. And that's a lot of weight she's lifting with it.
11. Strong Glue
Appearance: "The 30% Iron Chef"
The Joke: When Zoidberg breaks Farnsworth's model ship, he tries to fix it with a bottle of Strong Force Krazy Glue.
The Meaning: The strong force (also known as the strong nuclear force, nuclear strong force or color force) is one of four basic forces of nature. The other three are electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, and gravity. As the name implies, strong force is the strongest of the four, responsible for holding together subatomic particles at the nuclei. So some glue using strong force would be pretty strong. But apparently, not that strong, since Zoidberg gets it all over himself, and manages to get it off. I'd demand a refund.
UPDATE: Fixed numbering, fixed P/NP description
Did you know all these nerdy jokes? What other nerdy jokes can you list from the show? Let us know in the comments.
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Source: http://www.thegeektwins.com/2013/08/11-nerdiest-jokes-on-futurama-and-what.html
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