meissner
Explanation
This comic jokes about the tendency of engineers to build absurdly over-engineered solutions to problems that have already been solved.
The comic opens with a statement framed as a law: "Law of the Universe: For every problem that is already solved, there is some engineer building an incredibly expensive, innovative solution." It then provides an example: "And so, via the Meissner Effect, the superconducting substance expels its magnetic fields, allowing us to levitate the magnet and thus curing erectile dysfunction forever!"
The Meissner Effect is a real phenomenon in physics: when a material becomes superconducting (typically at extremely low temperatures), it expels all magnetic fields from its interior, which can cause magnets to levitate above the superconductor. This is a genuine and impressive physical effect, but using it to address erectile dysfunction is a comically disproportionate application of cutting-edge physics to a problem that already has well-established pharmaceutical solutions.
The comic satirizes the Silicon Valley mindset of applying advanced technology to problems that don't need technological solutions, or that already have simple ones. The juxtaposition of a Nobel Prize-worthy physics phenomenon with a mundane medical issue is the core of the joke.