Chris Madden Cartoons

A searchable archive for licensing

Cartoon about the threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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AI cartoon artificial intelligence doomer
artificial intelligence AI cartoon

AI cartoon (Artificial intelligence).

A cartoon about AI, or artificial intelligence. The cartoon shows concern for the fact that it may be impossible to programme safeguards into AI systems, as the AI system will become intelligent enough to find a loophole to overcome the programmed safeguards.
Concern about AI has existed ever since the conncept of AI was thought of – now that AI is becoming a practical possibility the concern is becoming more widely held. People who believe that AI is an existential threat to humanity are sometimes called doomers.

Drawn: 3rd April 2023
Cartoon reference number: a947

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The threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI): cartoon

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AI artificial intelligence cartoon
AI artificial intelligence cartoon

Artificial intelligence cartoon.

A cartoon about the possible dangers of AI, or artificial intelligence. The cartoon is based on the computer cliché that to fix a computer you need to turn it off and turn it on again. The cartoon coveys the message that AI may become so clever that it can thwart our attempts to control it. People who believe that AI is an existential threat to humanity are sometimes called doomers.

Drawn: 3rd April 2023
First published: Private Eye, issue 1596, April 2023
Cartoon reference number: a946

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Covid-19 vaccine illustration

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covid-19 vaccine cartoon illustration

Covid-19 vaccine illustration.

A cartoon or illustration showing the Covid-19 coronavirus being attacked by syringes of vaccines.

The illustration is drawn in a style to suggest that the Covid-19 virus is an alien form and the syringes of vaccine are rockets, planes or missiles that are attacking the virus.
A cartoon about the pandemic caused by the covid-19 virus.

 

Drawn: 20th November 2020
Cartoon reference number: a864

Bioplastics cartoon

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bioplastic packaging cartoon - bioplastic pea pods

Bioplastics cartoon

In this cartoon the cellulose of the pea pod has been modified to form plastic packaging.
Plastics produced from plants are known as bioplastics.

Bioplastics are in some ways a good substitute for plastics produced from oil, however they may have a downside in that if they were extensively used vast amounts of agricultural land may have to be set aside for the production of plastics instead of food.
Original version drawn: 1999
Cartoon reference: env116b

An artist’s vision cartoon

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Artist painting the moon cartoon

Cartoon about artistic vision

A cartoon showing an artist creating a painting of something that is not actually visible with the unaided eye.

The cartoon shows one artist painting a landscape while another artist does a painting of the moon, which is a tiny detail in the landscape.
A cartoon about art, the moon, eyesight, vision, insight.
Original version drawn: 1998
This version drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art009
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.
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Living organic material in contemporary art – cartoon

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contemporary art cartoon genetic sculpture

Cartoon of sculptures created using organic material.

The concept behind this cartoon is that there is a way of incorporating living genetic material or dna into contemporary artworks so that the material manifests itself in some bizarre and unsettling way.

Cartoon drawn: 2019
Cartoon reference number: art044
This cartoon features in my book of cartoons about art.
See the book here.
How to search for cartoons by subject

Anti-enlightenment cartoon – the Endarkenment

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Anti-enlightenment cartoon – the endarkenment

From the Enlightenment to the Endarkenment – cartoon.

When I drew this cartoon I was very pleased when the term “The Endarkenment” came into my head as an original thought. I looked it up later and found that it’s been thought of before, to describe the same phenomenon.
I use it as a term for the current trend towards anti-rational thought, which includes anti-scientific, anti-historical and anti-establishment thought (I like to think I’m a bit anti-establishment myself, but definitely not anti-scientific or anti-historical).

The statue that is being toppled in the Endarkenment frame of the cartoon is based on the current phenomenon of the iconoclastic toppling of statues of establishment figures who are possibly linked to the slave trade (Many of them are, but the action is largely motivated by emotion, with little regard for historical context).

Drawn: September 2020
Cartoon reference number: a851

Critical race theory and science in universities – cartoon

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culture wars cartoon universities race and science

Culture wars cartoon – race and science in universities.

Update:

I drew this cartoon in 2020. At the time I thought that the idea that CRT could be applied to scientific subjects such as mathematics or cosmology was so outlandish that a cartoon that suggested such a thing would be funny due to its sheer absurdity. It’s started to happen.

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Culture wars are raging in universities and academic institutions across the western world. They are raging elsewhere too, but the culture wars in, say, the Islamic world, are different to the ones in the west.
The west’s culture wars often circle around subjects such as race and gender and identity politics that exist within the ‘woke’ analysis of culture.

At the time of drawing this cartoon the subject of race is very much to the fore, with movements such as BLM (Black Lives Matter) having a very high profile.
In academia many subjects in the social sciences are currently analysed through the perspective of critical race theory (CRT).
This cartoon illustrates a tendency to apply critical race theory to subjects where it has no relevance or where its relevance is overstated.
Drawn: September 2020
Cartoon reference number: a849

Women in science

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women in science - cartoon

A cartoon about women in science and their relationship with the media.

A cartoon about one of the problems that confront women in the workplace.

This is an example of my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry, round 2014 – 2015.
Cartoon reference number: a724

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Genetic modification of food.

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genetic modification of food cartoon

A cartoon about scientific research into genetically modified food.

A cartoon about genetic modification.

This is an example of my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry, round 2014 – 2015.
Cartoon reference number: a720

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Memory-altering drugs – cartoon

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Chemistry cartoon - mind-altering drugs

A cartoon about drugs that alter the functioning of the memory.

A cartoon about research into drugs that enhance or inhibit brain function.

This is an example of my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry, round 2014 – 2015.
Cartoon reference number: a717

Scientific research funding

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Chemistry cartoon - scientific research funding

A cartoon about the funding of scientific research.

A cartoon about a clash between scientific research and the vested interests of the funder of the research.

It’s also a cartoon about alchemy and the quest to turn base metal into gold.
This is an example of my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry, round 2014 – 2015.

Here are more of my chemistry cartoons from Chemistry World magazine.

Cartoon reference number: a716

Invisible paint cartoon

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Chemistry cartoon - invisible paint

A cartoon about paint that makes things invisible.

A cartoon about scientific research into the properties of paint.

This is an example of my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry, round 2014 – 2015.

Here are more of my chemistry cartoons from Chemistry World magazine.

Cartoon reference number: a714

Kekule’s snake dream about molecular structure

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Chemistry cartoon - Kekule's snake dream about molecular structure

A cartoon about Kekule’s snake dream about the molecular structure of benzene.

Friedrich August Kekulé (1829 – 1896) was a German organic chemist.

He is reputed to have had a dream in which snakes held their own tails, giving him a clue to the molecular structure of benzene.
This is an example of my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Here are more of my chemistry cartoons from Chemistry World magazine.

Cartoon reference number: a713

Truth drugs – a cartoon from Chemistry World magazine

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chemistry cartoon - truth drug

A cartoon about the potential use of truth drugs by repressive political regimes.

In the cartoon the truth drugs are not designed to make people tell the truth, but to make them believe in lies.

An example from my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Here are more of my chemistry cartoons from Chemistry World magazine.

A cartoon about espionage, spying, subversion, secret police, state repression.

Cartoon reference number: a723

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Personality profiling for job applicants – cartoon from Chemistry World

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chemistry cartoon - rorschach test

A cartoon about the use of personality profiling in job interviews.

The use of Rorscharch tests for assessing people’s personalities.

The interviewee is interpreting an X-ray crystallography image that resembles a spider
An example from my cartoon strip published in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
A cartoon about espionage, spying, subversion, secret police, state repression.

Here are more of my chemistry cartoons from Chemistry World magazine.

Cartoon reference number: a722

How to obtain license to use cartoon

Super moons are not as super as the media make out

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Cartoon about the media coverage of supermoons

Cartoon about the media’s distortion of the visual impact of a super moon

Super moons were unheard of in the media until the last few years. Now every time the moon gets close to the earth in its orbit the press is full of it, with misleading photographs to make the moon look huge and spectacular (taken with telephoto lenses so that the moon looks large compared to objects such as people or buildings in the distance).

Cartoon reference number: a755

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Scientific discovery – reach for the stars – cartoon

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cartoon - studying the stars with a telescope

A cartoon showing an astronomer reaching for the stars by reaching up inside an astronomical telescope.
The astronomer’s hand is appearing out or the top of the telescope as though it is grasping for the stars.

An illustration concerning people’s urge to discover more about the universe through scientific exploration.

A cartoon about scientific exploration, inquiring minds, curiosity, curiousity, reaching for the stats.
In recent years telescopes in space such as the Hubble telescope and the James Webb telescope have pushed our understanding of the universe further.
Original version drawn: 1999
Cartoon reference number: a698

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Man’s relationship with cars

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car as a protective shell - cartoon

Cartoon – a car as a protective shell or carapace.

An image illustrating the psychology of motoring and the human relationship with cars
A cartoon about cars, car use, traffic, psychology.
Original version drawn: 1990
Cartoon reference number: a680

Genetically modified pigs will fly.

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pigs will fly gmo cartoon

A cartoon showing a genetically modified pig flying.

A cartoon about gmo food and genetics.
The cartoon strip shows people talking about ‘scare stories’ about ‘Frankenstein food’, with the final frame of the strip showing a flying pig.

A cartoon about gmo, genetically modified organisms, pigs will fly.
Original version created: 2008
Cartoon reference number: a695

Will increased gmo food yields cause human population increase?

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gmo food cartoon

A cartoon dealing with the issue of genetically modified crops increasing crop yield to feed more people

The cartoon shows scientists considering the consequences of increasing food yields and the possible resulting population increase.

A cartoon about gmo, genetically modified organisms, human population increase.
Original version created: 2012
Cartoon reference number: a677

From stone age to phone age

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Stone age man/phone age man cartoon

A joke about the evolution of technology

A stone age man using stones and a modern man using a phone

Part of the humor behind the cartoon is that people haven’t changed much, despite the advanced of technology
Cartoon drawn: 2013
Cartoon reference number: a651