explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:699: Trimester

2015-03-23T04:27:47Z

108.162.219.171:

You don't need to call up the Nobel committee, just check Wikipedia. Also, how did Cueball manage to infiltrate the hospital? [[User:Benjaminikuta|Benjaminikuta]] ([[User talk:Benjaminikuta|talk]]) 18:29, 7 October 2014 (UTC)
: Checking Wikipedia would be just that, checking. Going straight to the source (the Nobel committee) would be <i>double</i> checking... [[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 11:10, 17 October 2014 (UTC)
If he were simply pranking Megan as a doctor, he would be checking her patellar reflexes, or looking into her eyes with an ophthalmoscope, or having her say Ahhhh while he looked into her throat with a tongue depressor. The fact that he has chosen to pretend to be an Obstetrician/Gynecologist suggests some ulterior motives. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.171|108.162.219.171]] 04:27, 23 March 2015 (UTC)

1462: Blind Trials

2014-12-26T18:57:46Z

108.162.219.171: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1462
| date = December 19, 2014
| title = Blind Trials
| image = blind_trials.png
| titletext = Plus, you have to control for the fact that some people are into being blindfolded.
}}

==Explanation==
In research, a {{w|Blind Experiment|blind trial}} is an experiment where certain information about the test is concealed from the subjects and/or the testers, in order to reduce sources of bias in the results. A double-blind trial is one where neither the subject nor the testers know who has or has not received treatment (or for multiple treatments, which treatment).

A scientific approach also requires the use of {{w|control groups}} to determine the significance of observations in (clinical) trials. The members of the control group receive either no treatment or the "standard" treatment. However, to ensure "blindness" in the study, even if a control group is to recieve no treatment, they must be given a {{w|placebo}}: an ineffective treatment given to ensure the doctors and/or patients are unaware whether they are being given the treatment.

For example, in clinical drug trials, when a treatment being tested is administered in the form of a pill, a visually-identical inert pill is given to the control group so no one will know if a subject has been given the treatement or a placebo. In pop culture, placebos in pill-form are often made of sugar, which has negligable medical effects.

Controls and blinding are crucial to distinguish the actual effects of the treatment from the {{w|placebo effect}}, or the psychologically-induced effects of a subject's belief that a treatment will or will not help them, which may have real physiologic effects or influence the reporting of subjective measures such as pain level or the presence of side effects. It is vital that there are no clues available to distinguish between the different groups. Even subtle cues from the body language of the testers are sufficient to trigger placebo effect, making double-blind trials necessary.

Challenges exist in designing placebo alternatives to certain physical treatments that might be tested, such as acupuncture; in this case the best quality trials have typically used either special 'joke' retractable needles that only give the illusion of proper penetration or the practitioner/researcher deliberately and safely avoids the traditional {{w|Meridian_(Chinese_medicine)|meridians}} on the body for the treatment concerned so that the patient remains 'blind' to their role in the trial (the practitioner must otherwise be consistent in treatment between groups and not be involved in the medical assessment phase for properly double-blinded conditions), where the most reliable results still seem to only show a significant placebo effect at work.

There are, however, certain cases where it is almost impossible to make the experience of the control group identical to that of the test group. Making a real and fake pill appear the same is a relatively trivial task, and the ignorance of participants to the details of a given established practice or procedure can allow for a certain level of blinding. However, it would be challenging (to say the least) to make the control group in the described experiment think that they are having lots of sex, when in fact they are not. The description of the control group as taking sugar pills is a laughably poor placebo substitute.

Scientific research involving humans is extremely challenging to conduct because of the difficulty in finding appropriate control groups. This is one of the reasons animal experiments (for instance involving inbred strains of mice) are so common.

The title text adds another twist by taking “blind” literally, and noting that for some people, being blindfolded increases their enjoyment of sexual activity, thereby acting as a confounding variable.

Despite this, it should be noted that Cardiovascular health is typically measured in terms of objective data such as cholesterol levels, ejection fraction, and morbidity/mortality data like the frequency of myocardial infarctions, strokes, or sudden cardiac death. Even if unblinded, it would be difficult for either subjects or researchers to manipulate this kind of data.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is pointing at charts hanging on the wall.]
:Megan: We've designed a double-blind trial to test the effect of sexual activity on cardiovascular health.
:Both groups will ''think'' they're having lots of sex, but one group will actually be getting sugar pills.

:[Caption reads]
:The limitations of blind trials

{{comic discussion}}

1462: Blind Trials

2014-12-26T18:57:06Z

108.162.219.171: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1462
| date = December 19, 2014
| title = Blind Trials
| image = blind_trials.png
| titletext = Plus, you have to control for the fact that some people are into being blindfolded.
}}

==Explanation==
In research, a {{w|Blind Experiment|blind trial}} is an experiment where certain information about the test is concealed from the subjects and/or the testers, in order to reduce sources of bias in the results. A double-blind trial is one where neither the subject nor the testers know who has or has not received treatment (or for multiple treatments, which treatment).

A scientific approach also requires the use of {{w|control groups}} to determine the significance of observations in (clinical) trials. The members of the control group receive either no treatment or the "standard" treatment. However, to ensure "blindness" in the study, even if a control group is to recieve no treatment, they must be given a {{w|placebo}}: an ineffective treatment given to ensure the doctors and/or patients are unaware whether they are being given the treatment.

For example, in clinical drug trials, when a treatment being tested is administered in the form of a pill, a visually-identical inert pill is given to the control group so no one will know if a subject has been given the treatement or a placebo. In pop culture, placebos in pill-form are often made of sugar, which has negligable medical effects.

Controls and blinding are crucial to distinguish the actual effects of the treatment from the {{w|placebo effect}}, or the psychologically-induced effects of a subject's belief that a treatment will or will not help them, which may have real physiologic effects or influence the reporting of subjective measures such as pain level or the presence of side effects. It is vital that there are no clues available to distinguish between the different groups. Even subtle cues from the body language of the testers are sufficient to trigger placebo effect, making double-blind trials necessary.

Challenges exist in designing placebo alternatives to certain physical treatments that might be tested, such as acupuncture; in this case the best quality trials have typically used either special 'joke' retractable needles that only give the illusion of proper penetration or the practitioner/researcher deliberately and safely avoids the traditional {{w|Meridian_(Chinese_medicine)|meridians}} on the body for the treatment concerned so that the patient remains 'blind' to their role in the trial (the practitioner must otherwise be consistent in treatment between groups and not be involved in the medical assessment phase for properly double-blinded conditions), where the most reliable results still seem to only show a significant placebo effect at work.

There are, however, certain cases where it is almost impossible to make the experience of the control group identical to that of the test group. Making a real and fake pill appear the same is a relatively trivial task, and the ignorance of participants to the details of a given established practice or procedure can allow for a certain level of blinding. However, it would be challenging (to say the least) to make the control group in the described experiment think that they are having lots of sex, when in fact they are not. The description of the control group as taking sugar pills is a laughably poor placebo substitute.

Scientific research involving humans is extremely challenging to conduct because of the difficulty in finding appropriate control groups. This is one of the reasons animal experiments (for instance involving inbred strains of mice) are so common.

The title text adds another twist by taking “blind” literally, and noting that for some people, being blindfolded increases their enjoyment of sexual activity, thereby acting as a confounding variable.

Despite this, it should be noted that Cardiovascular health is typically measured in terms of objective data such as cholesterol levels, ejection fraction, and morbidity/mortality data like the frequency of myocardial infarctions, strokes, or sudden cardiac death. Even if unblinded, it would be difficult for either subjects or researches to manipulate this kind of data.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is pointing at charts hanging on the wall.]
:Megan: We've designed a double-blind trial to test the effect of sexual activity on cardiovascular health.
:Both groups will ''think'' they're having lots of sex, but one group will actually be getting sugar pills.

:[Caption reads]
:The limitations of blind trials

{{comic discussion}}

1462: Blind Trials

2014-12-26T18:53:09Z

108.162.219.171: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1462
| date = December 19, 2014
| title = Blind Trials
| image = blind_trials.png
| titletext = Plus, you have to control for the fact that some people are into being blindfolded.
}}

==Explanation==
In research, a {{w|Blind Experiment|blind trial}} is an experiment where certain information about the test is concealed from the subjects and/or the testers, in order to reduce sources of bias in the results. A double-blind trial is one where neither the subject nor the testers know who has or has not received treatment (or for multiple treatments, which treatment).

A scientific approach also requires the use of {{w|control groups}} to determine the significance of observations in (clinical) trials. The members of the control group receive either no treatment or the "standard" treatment. However, to ensure "blindness" in the study, even if a control group is to recieve no treatment, they must be given a {{w|placebo}}: an ineffective treatment given to ensure the doctors and/or patients are unaware whether they are being given the treatment.

For example, in clinical drug trials, when a treatment being tested is administered in the form of a pill, a visually-identical inert pill is given to the control group so no one will know if a subject has been given the treatement or a placebo. In pop culture, placebos in pill-form are often made of sugar, which has negligable medical effects.

Controls and blinding are crucial to distinguish the actual effects of the treatment from the {{w|placebo effect}}, or the psychologically-induced effects of a subject's belief that a treatment will or will not help them, which may have real physiologic effects or influence the reporting of subjective measures such as pain level or the presence of side effects. It is vital that there are no clues available to distinguish between the different groups. Even subtle cues from the body language of the testers are sufficient to trigger placebo effect, making double-blind trials necessary.

Challenges exist in designing placebo alternatives to certain physical treatments that might be tested, such as acupuncture; in this case the best quality trials have typically used either special 'joke' retractable needles that only give the illusion of proper penetration or the practitioner/researcher deliberately and safely avoids the traditional {{w|Meridian_(Chinese_medicine)|meridians}} on the body for the treatment concerned so that the patient remains 'blind' to their role in the trial (the practitioner must otherwise be consistent in treatment between groups and not be involved in the medical assessment phase for properly double-blinded conditions), where the most reliable results still seem to only show a significant placebo effect at work.

There are, however, certain cases where it is almost impossible to make the experience of the control group identical to that of the test group. Making a real and fake pill appear the same is a relatively trivial task, and the ignorance of participants to the details of a given established practice or procedure can allow for a certain level of blinding. However, it would be challenging (to say the least) to make the control group in the described experiment think that they are having lots of sex, when in fact they are not. The description of the control group as taking sugar pills is a laughably poor placebo substitute.

Scientific research involving humans is extremely challenging to conduct because of the difficulty in finding appropriate control groups. This is one of the reasons animal experiments (for instance involving inbred strains of mice) are so common.

The title text adds another twist by taking “blind” literally, and noting that for some people, being blindfolded increases their enjoyment of sexual activity, thereby acting as a confounding variable.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is pointing at charts hanging on the wall.]
:Megan: We've designed a double-blind trial to test the effect of sexual activity on cardiovascular health.
:Both groups will ''think'' they're having lots of sex, but one group will actually be getting sugar pills.

:[Caption reads]
:The limitations of blind trials

{{comic discussion}}

1463: Altitude

2014-12-26T18:41:47Z

108.162.219.171: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1463
| date = December 22, 2014
| title = Altitude
| image = altitude.png
| titletext = "TURN OFF THE LASER GUIDE STAR" "WHY" "STAR CATS"
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, Randall is making fun of how {{w|Altitude sickness|oxygen deprivation}} can lead to reduced mental acuity. In this case, the mental clarity of the researchers devolves as they approach the high altitude telescope, leading to juvenile and almost intoxicated behavior. Dizziness, lightheadedness, impaired judgment, and euphoria are symptoms of oxygen deprivation, or hypoxia. Those researchers would benefit from having a written list or plan developed while they were still functioning at peak mental acuity.

[http://exoplanets.astro.yale.edu/instrumentation/iodine_cells.php Iodine cells] are used for wavelength calibrations of high-resolution RV spectra between 501 and 610 nm.

Note that the phrase "low oxygen" refers to the lower partial pressure of oxygen at altitude. The proportion of oxygen at high elevations is still approximately 2/9ths of the atmosphere, the same as at sea level. The altitude sickness is caused by lowered atmospheric pressure which leads to smaller amount of oxygen actually delivered ("pushed") into bloodstream.

The title text refers to a {{w|laser guide star}} a device for focusing telescopes by making artificial reference points in the sky. The reference points are created by shooting a powerful laser into the sky. The concern of the astronomer in the comic is that an imagined "star cat" may be attracted to the laser in the same way that [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcjB2qN0TxM cats playfully chase laser beams] projected on surfaces. Cats' reactions to laser pointers was previously explored in [[729: Laser_Pointer]].

==Transcript==
:Commentary: Because of low oxygen, astronomers working at high altitude telescopes may need to write down their plans ahead of time while at sea level.

:[Some astronomers are inside a sea-level research facility]
:Astronomer #1: Ok, let's head up to the observatory.

:[The astronomers drive uphill]
:Astronomer #1: When we reach the summit, we'll check the iodine cell and do a general calibration.
:Astronomer #2: Sounds good.

:[The astronomers have reached the high-altitude observatory]
:Astronomer #1: My head feels funny.
:Astronomer #2: Look at those telescope domes. I hope they don't roll away.
:Astronomer #3: Maybe we should tape them down.

:[The astronomers are inside one of the domes]
:Astronomer #1: Haha, look at this mirror! My face is huge!
:Astronomer #2: I see your face in the telescope! I discovered you!
:Astronomer #3: Let's make out!

{{comic discussion}}

1464: Santa

2014-12-26T18:38:58Z

108.162.219.171: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1464
| date = December 24, 2014
| title = Santa
| image = santa.png
| titletext = He probably just poops over the side of the sleigh.
}}

==Explanation==
Broadly speaking, this comic follows a long list of issues raised about physical limitations {{w|Santa Claus}} faces, including the [http://www.daclarke.org/Humour/santa.html speed he has to travel] and other issues such as [http://www.articlesbase.com/holidays-articles/10-impossible-facts-about-santa-claus-1509493.html the omniscience he purportedly possesses and the mass of presents he has to carry]. This comic combines some basic {{w|physiology}} with the physical law of the {{w|conservation of mass}}.

More specifically, this comic refers to the common tradition of leaving milk and cookies out on Christmas Eve for Santa Claus. If one assumes that Santa eats even a small percentage of the sweets left out for him, the question comes up where all the cookies ''go''. Megan suggests that, since Santa isn't ''that'' large, he must poop them out somewhere, and wonders if he does so in our houses.

Cueball doubts that. Megan replies that mass cannot disappear completely; it has to go somewhere, to which Cueball comments that Santa has a magic bag in which he could poop. The magic bag referenced is the bag in which he carries all the Christmas presents he delivers on Christmas Eve. It is called 'magic' because a bag large enough to carry billions of presents would be much too heavy and unbalanced to carry on a sleigh pulled by only eight (or nine) reindeer. Thus, it must be magic somehow. Megan is disgusted at the thought of Santa pooping on peoples' presents. (An even more disgusting explanation is that the 'magic' bag might transform the poop into presents, in which case it would not need to carry many presents at a time.)

Cueball proposes a third theory: that only a few houses are pooped in, but those that are are pooped in in large quantities. Megan says that there may not be anyone that naughty in the world (referencing the myth that Santa will leave coal (or in this case, feces), instead of presents, for those who misbehave.) Cueball replies that it is randomly determined whose house is pooped in, burdening a smaller number of people. Specifically, Cueball quotes the beginning of {{w|Spock}}'s aphorism from ''{{w|Star Trek II}},'' "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." The quote is used to justify the sacrifice people make in "allowing" Santa to poop in their homes by citing the numerous other people who are spared his feces.

The title text puts forth yet another theory: that Santa doesn't poop in houses at all, but off the side of his sleigh. This may be equally disgusting to anyone or anything unlucky enough to abruptly receive a rain of poop from the sky. (This problem could be minimized by taking advantage of flights over water or uninhabited areas, rather than cities.)

According to [[1070: Words for Small Sets]], a few is referring to "anywhere from 2 to 5". Currently, there are 1.9 billion children in the world, so assuming on average that one cookie is left for Santa for each child and that Santa eats one in every 5 cookies, he consumes 380 million cookies in two 48 hour periods (due to the convenience of time zones, approximately 48 hours from when a day starts in Kiritimati until it ends in Hawaii; also, most western Christians [including Roman Catholics and protestants] observe Christmas almost two weeks before Eastern Orthodox Christians do). According to Google, a chocolate-chip cookie contains approximately 140 kilocalories, therefore Santa consumes 53.2 billion kilocalories in the period of 2 days, or 26.6 billion kilocalories per day. As the average human daily intake is 2500 kilocalories per day, Santa has eaten 10,640,000 times the amount of daily kilocalories required by one human over the period of two days, an amount otherwise sufficient to last for over 59,111 years for a human, and producing 20 million pounds of feces. However, if we consider the dietary requirements of both Santa and the flying reindeer, and the kilocalories that reindeer would burn flying around the world carrying 1.9 billion toys, the cookies might not be sufficient. If the 1 in 5 cookies are not sufficient energy intake, Santa could probably eat every cookie left for him, which amounts to 266 billion kilocalories in the period of 2 days.

On a side note, this amount of energy is enough to power several thousand homes for a year.

==Transcript==
:Megan: Say Santa eats a cookie at every few houses. That's hundreds of tons. By the end of the night, he should be a hulking seven-story behemoth.
:But he's not.

:Cueball: What are you...
:Megan: Does Santa poop in our houses?

:Cueball: No way.
:Megan: That mass must be going somewhere.
:Cueball: He has that magic bag...
:Megan: You think he poops in the bag of ''presents''?

:Cueball: Maybe instead of pooping in every few houses, he waits, and then in a few houses, he poops a ''lot''.
:Megan: What if no one's been ''that'' naughty?
:Cueball: He picks at random. The needs of the many...
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Christmas]]

1465: xkcd Phone 2

2014-12-26T18:33:10Z

108.162.219.171: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1465
| date = December 26, 2014
| title = xkcd Phone 2
| image = xkcd_phone_2.png
| titletext = Washable, though only once.
}}

==Explanation==

This is a followup to [[1363: xkcd Phone]], which debuted the original xkcd phone. Like xkcd Phone "1", this comic parodies modern smartphone advertising with a promotional image for a fictional phone. Like the previous xkcd phone, the comic touts a variety of features which are either pointless, misleading, or physically impossible. They are clockwise, from the top left:

*'''MaxHD: Over 350 pixels per screen''': 350 pixels is not very impressive: Each would be about 0.5×0.5 cm. Even if it implies 350 pixels along the edge this is still less than standard definition TV (PAL gives 576 lines of horizontal resolution). Likely a reference to HD+, FullHD, QuadHD and other marketing expressions for screen resolutions, by which common users are often confused. In [[732: HDTV]] Randall has observered that HD is not an especially high resolution, when compared with computer monitors.
: ''Note:'' Retina display (high pixel density display) for smartphones is 326 pixels per '''''inch''''', not per '''''screen'''''.
*'''Always on Speaker''': An always on microphone is a genuine feature. It allows speech control software such as "Okay Google" or "Siri" to respond without having to be turned on. An always on speaker would be less useful especially if it implies the phone is always making noise.
*'''Blood Pressure reliever''': This appears to be where a real phone would have its front facing camera. This could imply that it's a sharp part that you can cut yourself on, thus '''''relieving''''' your blood pressure, or else implying that the other features of the phone are so frustrating that a feature was required to relieve the users' blood pressure.
*'''Auto-Rotating Case:''' Phones often feature an "auto-rotating screen", meaning that the display switches between portrait and landscape mode depending on its orientation with respect to gravity. But the case is a physical part of the phone, so making a case that did '''not''' "auto-rotate" with the phone would be the real challenge.
*'''Ribbed:''' A reference to ribbed {{w|condom}}s, which are often advertised as superior to standard ones because the texture can be more physically stimulating to the genitalia. Some other objects can be advertised with the word ribbed as well, but mostly in the context where it allows a firmer grip on the device when wet. Since phones are usually not meant to be used wet it is still a fairly useless feature.
*'''Waterproof (inside only)''': Waterproofing is done to the outside to prevent water from getting in, not to prevent water from escaping.
*'''Googleable''': Another non-feature. Advertising as ...able is a way for marketing to add features, without adding features. This may be (for example) a recyclable paper bag: paper is normally recyclable. Any term may be 'googled' so being "googleable" is not an actual feature.
*'''Cheek toucher''': The screen will touch your cheek when making a hand-held phone call.
*'''Cries if lost:''' Actually useful function, for it would help the owner find the cellphone in case it was lost. It refers to people's habit of calling their own cellphones to help find it. It also resembles the first xkcd phone's functions of 'Screaming when falling' and 'Saying hi when lit'.
*'''Bug drawer:''' This is most likely the cover for other ports, though looks like a small drawer, capable of only holding bug-sized items. Possibly a joke on software bugs, which would, being virtual rather than physical, easily fit inside this area. One might also introduce bugs to your phone in this way. May also be a reference to "Phone may attract/trap insects; this is normal" from the original ''xkcd Phone'' comic.
*'''Coin slot:''' In most phones, this would be the charging port. Payphones have coin slots.
*'''Scroll lock:''' A computer key on most keyboards which is practically never used. (Despite [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/978 a previous xkcd strip] it was not invented by {{w|Steven Chu}}.)
*'''OS by Stackoverflow®:''' [http://stackoverflow.com/ Stackoverflow.com] is a very useful and popular question/answer forum for programmers, and many recent software products probably have benefited from advice given there, so Randall may be giving credit where credit really is due. Or it may be a reference to the rampant problem of code reuse, where programmers use the pre-written code on StackOverflow rather than writing their own, regardless of the fact that the code on StackOverflow may contain bugs or otherwise cause problems for their specific program.
*'''3D Materials:''' All real materials are three-dimensional, so this feature is not special.
*'''Dog Noticer''': Alerts the user to nearby dogs.
*'''FitBit® Fitness Evaluator''': {{w|FitBit}} make wristbands that measure heartrate, count user steps, and act as an aid to planning an exercise program. This comic is published on Boxing Day 2014 and is relevant as Fitbits are a popular Holiday Gift at this time.
*'''Volume and density control:''' A play on words between {{w|volume (disambiguation)|volume}} as in speaker loudness, and {{w|volume}} as in a physical property inversely related to {{w|density}}. Apparently this would allow the user to change the size of the phone (which would indeed be a very useful feature), thus changing the volume and the density. Note that some computer mice have a feature where the user can put weights inside the case to customise the weight and thus affect the density in a different way.
*'''It is washable but only once''' (the title text): The phone can physically be washed, however after the first time doing this the phone will cease to function.

==Transcript==
:[An image of a smartphone. Coming off from it are many labels. Clockwise, from the top left they are:]
:MaxHD: Over 350 pixels per screen
:Always-on speaker
:Blood pressure reliever
:Auto-rotating case
:Ribbed
:Waterproof (interior only)
:Googleable
:Cheek toucher
:Cries if lost
:Bug drawer
:Coin slot
:Scroll lock
:OS by Stackoverflow®
:3D materials
:Dog noticer
:FitBit® fitness evaluator
:Volume and density control

:[Below the phone:]
:Introducing
:'''The xkcd phone 2'''
:A phone for your other hand®

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:353: Python

2014-12-13T22:07:26Z

108.162.219.171: comment on actual antigravity,py in python.

It is necessary for both Cueballs to sample the medicine cabinet in order for this to be a hallucination. It was probably python.{{unsigned ip|122.161.29.247}}
:Or maybe there is just one Cueball - the one on the ground who is hallucinating - because he tried everything...? ;-) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:45, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

'I also sampled everything in the medicine cabinet for comparison' is a possible reference to George's Marvellous Medicine, the children's book written by Roald Dahl, wherein a combination of medicines and household materials produces fantastical effects. [[User:Quetzalcoatl|Quetzalcoatl]] ([[User talk:Quetzalcoatl|talk]]) 14:31, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Woah guys, antigravity is a real module in Python! I was looking around the lib folder, trying to figure out how to put a module into it, and there it was - antigravity.py . It just sends your browser to the comic. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.171|108.162.219.171]] 22:07, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1402: Harpoons

2014-08-01T22:54:14Z

108.162.219.171: Comment

I took the sentient space craft joke to be a reference to the movie "Dark Star".

Harpoon is a brand of rum. Did a bottle make it into space? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.196|108.162.219.196]] 12:55, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

: I tried to find who makes it but wasn't able to find a definitive source. I added http://www.harpoon-rum.eu/ for now but it would be nice to have the link to the canonical source. Any pointers? --[[User:Waldir|Waldir]] ([[User talk:Waldir|talk]]) 17:24, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

: It's only headcannon. (ref to xkcd #1401) A headcannon which fires a harpoon. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.80|108.162.216.80]] 17:52, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Did this comic upload quite late in the day for anyone else? Is anyone else experiencing or did anyone else experience that "Latest Comic" is still going to 1401 as ix XKCD.com and XKCD.com/#

"This is obviously a joke, as sentient spacecraft cannot be created with current technology." Yeah, will need a citation on that... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.148|108.162.229.148]] 13:23, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Definitely a joke. Appolo 12’s call sign was Yankee Clipper, and a clipper ship would not carry any harpoons.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.129|108.162.216.129]] 14:04, 1 August 2014 (UTC)
: I'd believe someone might have smuggled some Harpoon (or even any brand of) rum up there, then brought it back down with them, ingested or otherwise (thus the drop right after the mission). Alternately, "incident" could be something more along the lines of losing an empty bottle of rum during a spacewalk (farfetched as it may be) and it reentering the atmosphere(?) - probably no more than stories, though - nothing official probably exists about anything like that going up or down in any manner.

Moby Dick is, let's say, extremely far-fetched. It was not the ship that was hunting the whale and harpooning it by itself. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.143|141.101.104.143]] 17:27, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Could the Apollo 12 bump possibly be a reference to Futurama? "We're whalers on the moon, we carry a harpoon" [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.246|199.27.130.246]] 15:51, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Maybe it is a reference to a print ad by Bacardi-Martini, mentioned briefly in Buzz Aldrins book Magnificent Desolation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.82|141.101.104.82]] 22:10, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

While it is more likely that a harpoon (or bottle of harpoon rum) went to space and returned with the Apollo 11 mission, the caption makes it sound like the harpoon was only in space for the duration of the incident. Might it have been created and destroyed there?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.171|108.162.219.171]] 22:54, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

==Whale killing==
Saying "sailors would throw harpoons at a whale until it died" betrays a limited understanding of the process. Harpoons were barbed, and were meant to stick in the whale while it sounded (went deep.) A length of (about half-inch) rope kept the harpoon connected to the whaleboat. After the whale was exhausted (from towing the whaleboat while trying to shake off the harpoon? idk) the whaleboat could approach it, and the boatswain (''not'' the harpooner) would kill it with an unbarbed lance. Holling Clancy Holling's ''Seabird'' shows how it was done, with pictures and all. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 19:00, 1 August 2014 (UTC)
===Svend Foyn===
Norwegian whaler Svend Foyn revolutionarized whaling by inventing explosive harpoon to hunt whales. He made whaling much easier and quicker. This method saved Norway from the famine thread in 19th century.