Overwhelmed by questions? Bedeviled by doubts? Don’t know where to turn in the search for truth? How can you know? Whom do you call? Well, here’s whom! Call the Claim Testers! Register to explore the whole course here: https://school.bighistoryproject.com/bhplive?WT.mc_id=Slideshare12202017

1. overwhelmed by questions? bedeviled by doubts? don’t know where to turn
in the search for truth? how can you know? whom do you call? well, here’s
whom ! call the
Episode 4
FUELING the FUTURE
created and drawn
for the big
history project by
larry gonick
our heroes are face to face with orx-30
and his army of licensed cygnusians!
their weapons!

2. their authorities
in high hats!
and there’s the
dictator orx-30
himself!
what is
that?
I thought, maybe if we give
them a present, they might
be willing to talk to us!
now if you’ll excuse
me, i’m going to make
an offering to orx-
30, the high guardian
of cygnus epsilon!
look at
’em all!
don’t you know
uni­vex? they
deliver anywhere in
the virgo
supercluster!
Episode 4
FUELING the FUTURE
our heroes are face to face with orx-30
and his army of licensed cygnusians!
how did
you reach
them? on my mobile!
don’t you get
a signal here?
what is it,
brianna?
I have an idea...
hello? univex?
their weapons!
what are we
going to do?
package for
brianna!
sign
here...
up in
the sky!
wow! that
was quick!their
organization!
!
BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 4: FUELING THE FUTURE 2

3. BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 4: FUELING THE FUTURE 3
ahem... cough! may a simple
earth­ling offer a humble
gift to the mighty high
guardian orx-30?
very well... approach.
what is it?
in my language,
high guardian, we
call it a potato.
i’ll do anything for
someone who gives such
adorable presents!
what would you like?¿
to begin with, could you please
explain your food-licensing
program? why do cygnusians
need a license to eat?
but it’s so cute! ooo! it reminds
me of... of... myself as a baby!!
“even making ferti­
lizer for our food
crops consumes huge
loads of slork!”
“on earth it’s the same! we burn
billions of liters of natural gas
to get nitrogen from the air, and
still more fuel to convert that
nitro­­gen into plant food...”
who cares about earth? on my planet,
one barrel of slork makes the ferti­
lizer needed to grow one basket of
cyg-napples... so you see, there’s a
limit on the food we can produce!
so you limit the
number of cygnu­
sians who are
allowed to eat?
oh, that! clever,
isn’t it? well... it
all boils down to
one thing: slork!
one barrel,
one basket! one barrel,
one basket!
“you don’t know slork? it’s our only fuel! everything
here runs on slork: rockets, factories, heating, air
con­ditioning, electric lights, dishwashers, tanks,
trucks... everything burns slork!”
slork?

4. BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 4: FUELING THE FUTURE 4
but, high guardian, zyx is my
friend! please let her speak! how awkward!
well... ehrmmm...
except the
unlicensed,
that is...
you’re right, vera! just check
out the high guar­dian’s per­
sonal inter­est in slork!
everything the high guardian says
is true: the whole Cygnus Epsilon
system runs on slork...
“but that’s exactly the problem! slork is pumped from
wells and dug from mines! what are we supposed to
do when the slork runs out? even our food
supply depends on slork!”
sounds
a lot
like
earth!
so why can’t
they stop using
slork here?
exactly! I manage
the slork to keep my
planet happy, well-
fed, and prosperous!
what? do I see zyx-27?
why is that criminal
still on the loose?
arrest her!!!
he sure makes
himself sound
good, though...
oh, all right...
only one reason: orx-30 owns the
slork mines! his bank account grows
with every unit of slork that’s
pumped, refined, shipped, and burned!
which will
be used up
one day!
outrageous! you
can’t prove this!
actually,
we can.
yes, we power nearly every­
thing with oil, coal, and
natural gas!
shouldn’t both
planets start
using alterna­
tive sources
of energy?“good”? I
don’t think
so! there must
be more to
this than orx-
30 admits...
pretty
logical,
brianna!

5. BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 4: FUELING THE FUTURE 5
evy and I have the records of the energy
company slorko... it turns out slorko
owns all the other energy companies, and
slorko is owned by... none other than orx-
30!
zyx had video cameras hidden
around her lab, uploading every­
thing to the cloud... you can see
the whole thing right here!
I went on the run... and
eventually landed on earth,
where I met my new friends...
oh, pffff!
this is silly!
he’s managing slork
for his own benefit,
not the planet’s!!
not so long ago, I was a scientist working on alter­
native fuels: batteries charged by light from our
star... motors powered by the wind... biochemical energy
sources. these will last forever, instead of burning
away like slork!
finally, you’ll be
able to understand
my story...
is it? show them
the evidence, jesse!
“we had just made some key breakthroughs in con­vert­ing
moonlight to hamburgers, when I had a visit from some
agents of the high guardian...”
“when I refused, they smashed half my lab and tried to
arrest me...”
“orx-30, they said, doesn’t like competition... they
ordered me to stop working.”
otherwise,
you’ll be
sorry!

6. we will confer with intuition,
evidence, authority, and logic
to find a sustainable energy
course for cygnus epsilon. er—and you won’t
forget i’m available?
and, as of today, we put an end
to digestion licenses! from now
on, all cygnusians can eat!
um... ahem?
well?
oh... hahaha! this is all an innocent mistake!
when I heard that zyx-27 was studying “alter­
natives,” I thought it meant alter­natives to
me! you can imagine how upset I felt!
but of course zyx is right... we absolutely
need to research alternative fuels to sustain
our civili­zation in the long term... yes, we do!
well, no... not
after the way he
treated zyx!
can you
believe this
guy?
I will happily grant
a license for zyx-27
to continue this very
important research—
ehm... what?!
sorry, high guardian, no more
licenses from you... we, the
authorities of cygnus epsilon,
have decided it’s time for you
to step down as guardian!
psst! if you need a new
high guardian, I can step
in! I had lots of experi­
ence as grain keeper to
the unlicensed!
you
can’t do
this to
me! i’m—
i’m—
you’re taking a
little vacation
while we sort
things out!
BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 4: FUELING THE FUTURE 6

7. and so the cygnus epsilon system put itself on a path
to long-term survival.
our goals: sustainable energy
sources, efficient conversion,
recycling, wise consumption,
conservation of resources, and
an end to slork dependency!
jesse and brianna said good-bye to zyx-27 and cygnus
epsilon...
the cygnusians abolished the office of high guardian...
sorry,
jesse!
it’s not fair!
dad, will I ever rule an alien
planet single-handed?
what game is
that, son?
brianna, why is there a
3 million dollar roaming
charge on your cell bill?
um... sorry! i’ll
cut down on my
texting!
... and returned to earth.
and the claim testers? they’re still available whenever
you need help testing claims: intuition, evidence,
authority, and logic!
orx-30 retired to a remote planetesimal,
where he lives on a steady diet of potatoes.
so
cute!
(choff
choff)
say, did
that trip
to cygnus
epsilon
really
happen?
well, you
saw it in
black and
white...
you call
that
evidence?
well, if it didn’t
happen, someone
must have been
very clever to
make it all up!
THE END
BIG HISTORY PROJECT CLAIM TESTERS: EPISODE 4: FUELING THE FUTURE 7