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Bar science: go to the pub, grab a beer, and have a scientist come around and explain their research to you — while you get inebriated enough to say things like, “If I shout really loudly, will they hear me on the moon?”

Life as a grad student is a uniquely chaotic and stressful experience. Then one day, if you’re like me, you stumble upon a comic strip that gets it.

When scientists are asked to justify research based solely on the outcome, grad student Chantal Mustoe wonders, “Since when did the value of fundamental knowledge disappear? Why must I promise a grand discovery ... before I can pay my rent?”

I am weary and wary of grand scientific agendas. Promises of curing neurodegenerative diseases, abating international poverty or engineering a completely disaster-proof building make me squirm with skepticism.