explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2388: Viral Quiz Identity Theft

2020-11-21T12:08:05Z

108.162.219.248:

I was going to add in the old, old example of constructing your 'pornstar name' of first pet's name and (road you grew up on|mother's maiden name), but I see there's no real agreement which of the latter it is when I wanted to get it straight for editing in. MMN is probably better for "security question" purposes, but it predates The Eternal September anyway, before which it was more a party-thing rather than a security threat against BBS/Usenet/mailing-list users. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.132|162.158.159.132]] 00:57, 21 November 2020 (UTC) (a.k.a. Frazier Derwent)
: I briefly googled 'eternal september' and found it was a date when internet dialogue was swamped by new users. How did this relate to security questions? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.248|108.162.219.248]] 12:08, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

Hairy tries to do something only to find that Black Hat did it far more efficiently - https://xkcd.com/1027/

2387: Blair Witch

2020-11-21T12:03:40Z

108.162.219.248: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2387
| date = November 18, 2020
| title = Blair Witch
| image = blair_witch.png
| titletext = "Are you concerned the witches won't breed in captivity?" "Honestly, we're more concerned that they WILL. We don't know what it involves, but our biologists theorize that it's 'harrowing.'"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an INFANT BLAIR WITCH. Needs general cleanup/expansion..? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

''{{w|The Blair Witch Project}}'' is a {{w|found footage (film technique)|found footage}} horror film released in 1999. For the marketing campaign of the film, the producers created the legend of the Blair Witch, a supernatural being whose legend originates in {{w|Burkittsville}}, MD. As was common in Protestant societies in the {{w|colonial era}}, a woman was ostracized from the community after having been accused of {{w|witchcraft}}. This woman, who tends to conflict in name with various versions of the lore, would supposedly attempt to inflict revenge upon the community that exiled her, and these fearful people fled from the town.

The comic takes a humorous turn on the legend, suggesting a conservation program to save the Blair Witch. While the film was described by reliable sources as faked and misrepresented footage, the Blair Witch is postulated as separate species that is being tracked by the {{w|IUCN Red List}}. With the rise of camera-phones in the modern age, sightings of {{w|List of cryptids|beings that are most likely fictitious}} (such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster) are becoming rarer over time, due to [[1235: Settled|lack of credibility of a reported sighting without visual evidence]]. A species which has not been notably documented for a long time would indeed be moved to the "possibly {{w|extinct in the wild}}" category, as [[Megan]] notes.

In attempting to understand this in a way that does not involve refuting the existence of the Blair Witch, Megan cites {{w|habitat loss}} as the reason why encountering a Blair Witch might be more difficult. Habitat loss is in fact one of the most prominent and concerning reasons for extinction in recent years. Megan claims that suburban projects have fragmented the witch's "spooky forest" ecosystem, a reference to the many species that are dying off due to encroachment, logging, and similar human activities. Migration due to {{w|climate change}} is also an observable phenomenon in animal populations (and some plant populations, depending on their mode of travel while in seeds; those that rely on animals to germinate will migrate as well).

Megan then proposes a plan to catch and breed Blair Witches in an attempt to resurrect the species. This final panel is more obviously humorous, as even if the Blair Witch ''did'' exist separate from humans, there is only one,{{fact}} and thus any attempt to breed and repopulate would be futile. It may be possible that {{w|Parthenogenesis|this is not a problem}}, but if it is, it could also raise the objection that any pair of Blair Witch may both be female, and thus unable to reproduce. This could be resolved by (a) assuming that Witches can ({{w|Sequential hermaphroditism|sometimes?}}) be male as well, or (b) assuming that, much like Tremblay's salamander, where females can reproduce with a male of a related species (most likely human, in which case the project might have difficulty obtaining approval from an {{w|Institutional review board|ethics review board}}.) The phrase "Blair Witch Reintroduction Project" is a reference to ''The Blair Witch Project''.

The title-text suggests that the comic is a lecture, as Megan's whiteboard and pointer would suggest. A (presumed) student asks whether Megan is concerned that witches won't breed in captivity (a serious real-world concern to the IUCN). If this is a press conference, the question would be asked by a reporter instead. Megan replies that they are worried that there ''will'' be breeding, but biologists are unsure how the breeding occurs, calling it "harrowing" (presumably because they have captured the Blair Witch and it has set a curse on their laboratory as she supposedly did in Burkittsville). Historically, communities practicing witchcraft may have fled to the woods to engage in sometimes very sexual behaviors that others at the time were very frightened by.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is standing in front of a screen looking away from it at an audience off-panel. She is holding a stick, pointed at the chart behind her. The chart shows the stick figure from ''The Blair Witch Project''. Above is an unreadable line of text, and below are two smaller rectangles a smaller one above the other, the small seems to be empty, but there seems to be some kind of graph in the bottom one.]
:Megan: Other than the fake 1999 video, there have been no Blair Witch sightings in 30+ years.
:Megan: The IUCN redlist says the witch is "possibly extinct in the wild."

:[A close-up of Megan's face. The screen now shows a habitat map, with four separate shaded areas enclosed in a dotted line. The dotted line and one of the areas goes to the upper edge op the screen indicating they continue beyond the shown area. Beneath the dotted line and to the right there are three small squares, one of them clearly shaded the same way as the areas above. Next to each there is an unreadable label.]
:Megan: Development in the Maryland suburbs has fragmented the spooky forest habitat.
:Megan: Climate change will push any remnant populations north.

:[Back to the original setting, Megan is standing with the stick pointing downwards, and the chart is out of frame.]
:Megan: That's why we plan to capture any surviving witches and establish a breeding population.
:Megan: Then, in time, the Blair Witch Reintroduction Project can begin.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Biology]]

Talk:187: The Familiar

2015-10-10T21:41:25Z

108.162.219.248:

Cueball is an invention by this Wiki and other sites discussing about xkcd. But he is always an active person who likes the nature. The both persons should be switched.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:10, 25 June 2013 (UTC)
:It is not possible to say what Cueball likes the best, since he is not always the same from comic to comic. See the [[Cueball]] page. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:06, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

There is a [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals#Merge_Cueball_.26_Rob|community portal discussion]] of what to call Cueball and what to do in case with more than one Cueball. I have added this comic to the new Category:Multiple Cueballs. In this case there is no reason to call one Cueball and the other friend. It could easily be the other way. So I have changed to remove Cueball.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:06, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

I interpreted the 3rd panel with the unmotivated conversant alone, as indicating that his friend went without him. The addition of the 4th panel, with him still alone, implies the somewhat deflated feeling of having left behind and miss out on life because of lack of motivation. [[User:Danshoham|Mountain Hikes]] ([[User talk:Danshoham|talk]]) 01:00, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

The 4th panel actually indicates that the previous statment "im tired" is just a lazy excuse that always works, because in fact it is easy to stay awake for hours after the discussion.

Talk:180: Canada

2015-10-10T21:24:32Z

108.162.219.248:

Actually I suspect this comic may be referring to the propensity for video games in which you can create teams of characters which can be generally be respawned or come back to consciousness/life after levels/battles to have areas or levels where if someone is killed they die "for real"- that is they don't come back and you lose them for good. [[Special:Contributions/184.21.189.153|184.21.189.153]] 10:58, 21 September 2013 (UTC)

Couldn't this be a Matrix reference? 06:11, 1 December 2013 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.52}}

From the explanation: "Canada is arguably part of reality already." I would love to have that argument with someone. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.202}}
:Canadians don't have arguments. They would either apologize for confusing you by existing, or smack you in the head with a hockey stick. Americans tend to forget the second possibility. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.69|162.158.255.69]] 14:08, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

I feel like adding some "dubious-discuss" after the first sentence of the explanation[[User:Meneldal|Meneldal]] ([[User talk:Meneldal|talk]]) 06:54, 11 March 2015 (UTC)meneldal

Sorry for Ninja-editing/commenting, but I take it as a direct reference to the works of Philip K. Dick, especially Ubik (iirc, that is it could also be one of his other VR-related stories), where a scene that could be summarized with 'if you die in canada, you die in real life' actually takes place (in canada). Then again, this could be lucky coincidence, and xkcd might not be familiar with PKD at all. {{unsigned ip|141.101.92.37}}

Addendum to the above (↑) it most certainly is a PKD reference, also taking his biography into account. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.92.58|141.101.92.58]] 05:24, 14 April 2015 (UTC)

We might also want to mention that making fun of Canada is basically a national pasttime in the U.S. [[User:Bbruzzo|Bbruzzo]] ([[User talk:Bbruzzo|talk]]) 14:36, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

My take: "I'll move to Canada," threat has the sub-text of implying that I'm a contributing member of society (at least in my own mind) and thus the country will lose if I, and others like me, were to depart (a fitting punishment to all those wrong-headed voters on the other side who sought to harness my contributions while forcing me to play by their rules). The second panel, however, comically establishes that the complainer is, basically, a loser: no money, no job, couldn't even finish his college degrees, and choose Art for a major -- the stereotypical major for those who put personal fulfillment above financial prudence. The third panel nails it in harder by implying the complainer is a video games addict -- not clearly delineating real and virtual lives -- further accentuating that he is *not* a productive member of society. [[User:Danshoham|Mountain Hikes]] ([[User talk:Danshoham|talk]]) 17:32, 19 September 2015 (UTC)

It is actually quite common for students to be somewhat divorced from reality. This tends to be more exaggerated for students of more abstract majors, i.e. art. (the reason partially being that young poeple with good understanding of the world tend to choose majors that lead to material waelth, which is the socially more accepted form of progression). The second panel implies that clueless is actually still a student.
The first panel also implies that clueless has difficulties finishing his degree. In some countries, with cheap or free education, the "eternal student" is actually somewhat of an epidemic. (in Japan for example Ronin refers to students that have difficulties getting through the entry exams, sometimes for several years)
It is also "known" that Students actually spend less time learning and more time playing computer games or consoles.
I feel strongly that the whole scenario refers to the eternal student, without understanding of the real world, playing computer games all day long, making "strong" statements.
It is near impossible to explain this as it requires extensive real world context. The closest approximation to a proper response, that can be understood by such people, is then indeed "you die in real life".

Megan

2015-01-12T21:28:48Z

108.162.219.248: Incomplete description

{{Infobox character
| image = Megan.png‎
| caption = Megan, seen in [[973: MTV Generation]]
| first_appearance = [[15: Just Alerting You]]
}}
'''Megan''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]]. She is the second-most frequently appearing character, after [[Cueball]], and the most frequently appearing female character. She often appears with Cueball as a couple.

Megan does not necessarily always represent the same character from comic to comic. She is essentially the female equivalent of Cueball, representing the everywoman to his {{w|everyman}}. On the other hand, Megan does sometimes appear to have slightly specific personality traits; she has quite odd habits, and is sometimes shown to be very focused and intent on a goal. She has also been referred to by name in comics from time to time.

Early comics often feature Megan-style characters who may or may not be identified as Megan. [[Randall]] appears not to have standardized his character lineup early in the comic's run, and as a result, early characters sometimes have similar hair to Megan, but some different features.

''Explain xkcd'' originally referred to this character as 'Cutie' (thereby complementing 'Cueball' with a matching first syllable) until it was pointed out that her name was given in [[159: Boombox]].

The name Megan may derive from a lost love of the author's, given that he wrote [[420: Jealousy|a passive-aggressive toast for Megan's wedding]] in an xkcd comic about how he was madly still in love with her, put across in a way that would generally ruin the day for everyone involved. We also see this earlier in [[215: Letting Go]].

In [[1409: Query]], we learn that she is 30 or less, that her annual income is less than or equal to $ 100 000, that she is afraid of flying, and that she is not a person.

==Characteristics==
Megan is distinguished by her black shoulder-length hair which generally appears to be parted in the middle in front, and is draped behind what are presumably her (undrawn) ears.

{{navbox-characters}}
[[Category:Characters]]

Talk:1461: Payloads

2014-12-19T04:32:22Z

108.162.219.248:

It's possible he's talking about [http://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/earth-and-moon/ this comic].
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.203|108.162.249.203]] 07:20, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

I think he used horses as a reference to the unit of work, horse power, but in this case instead of being the 550 foot pounds per second, it is the force required to put a horse at that altitude
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.195|199.27.128.195]] 08:10, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:The top one clearly says "Spacecraft mass" and the bottom says "Capacity" (which is normally either the mass or volume something can hold), so I don't think either refers to force. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.175|173.245.54.175]] 08:32, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Horses might also be used as a length unit... I am wondering if this is somehow related to the size of SRBs [http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.asp] ;-) {{unsigned|Ld75}}
:There is the famous tail (no pun intended) of how the width of the Space Shuttles SRBs are related to the width of a horses, er, um, butt -- which apparently is not true. However, similarly to the "Upgoer Five", Randall may just be trying to relate a very difficult to grasp concept (weight of a huge object) to something that with which a large number of people may be familiar. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:34, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

A few mass calculations: (All masses from wikipedia)

* ISS - 450,000 kg / 932 Horses = 483 kg/Horse
* Skylab - 77,088 kg / 171 Horses = 450 kg/Horse
* Mir - 129,700 kg / 286 Horses = 453 kg/Horse
* Shuttle Payload - 24,400 kg / 54 Horses = 452 kg/Horse
* Compton GRO - 17,000 kg / 38 Horses = 447 kg/Horse

It looks like Randall probably used 450kg as a standard horse, which seems like a fairly average weight for a {{w|Horse#Size and Measurement|horse}}. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:06, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Curious: the Atlas-Centaur rocket is listed as lifting Centaurs, not horses. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 09:11, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

:Plus the Pegasus rocket is labelled as lifting one (mythical, horse-sized?) Pegasus. I took this as synchronicity, but currently someone (who missed the Centaur reference in the part of the main text about "joke additions/deviations") who edited the the main text seems to think that it's purely a mythical reference. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.245|141.101.98.245]] 13:27, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

The Keyhole captions are wrong; assuming 450 kg/horse, 40 horses for the [[wikipedia:KH-7 Gambit|Keyhole 7]] would be around 18,000 kg. Documents declassified a couple of years ago give the mass as around 2,000 kg. The [[wikipedia:Corona (satellite)|Keyhole 3]] was even smaller. The mass and dates are about right for [[wikipedia:KH-11 Kennan|Keyhole 11]] satellites but I don't know where the 3 and 7 have come from (the dates are wrong for the third and seventh Keyhole 11s) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.85|141.101.99.85]] 09:43, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Initially I thought that the position of 'T Rex' along the X axis (approx 1985) may be a link to the band {{w|T. Rex (band)|T.Rex}}, but according to wiki that was 1967-1977. I guess it could be a random date, but thats not usually Randall's style... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 10:51, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:The T Rex "Sue" was discovered in August 1990. Not quite right, either. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.214|108.162.250.214]] 11:10, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
::Perhaps a reference to the date of 'Jurassic Park'? Not sure exactly when that came out but I think it's in the right range. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.189|108.162.238.189]] 14:55, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:::Hadn't thought of that.. Though after checking, {{w|Jurassic Park}} was released 1993, and I believe set in 1990. Still doesn't seem to tie up.. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:22, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
::::I never knew there was ever a space craft called "T-Rex". Learn something new everyday! ;) {{unsigned|Dangerkeith3000}}

The Oldsmobile is probably a reference to the movie ''{{w|Mom and Dad Save the World}}''. The title characters' station wagon was from around that era -- and it ''did'' go into space in the movie. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 11:47, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

'''Terrastar''' may be referring to [[wikipedia:TerreStar-1|TerreStar-1]], with a launch mass of 6,910 kg, divided by 15 horses is about 460 kg/Horse. This is consistent with the above calculations. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:23, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:Based on that and its accurate position on the X axis, I would agree with you. I've added it to the table, with a note below. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:38, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

'''Thor''' may be referring to the [[wikipedia:Thor-Able|Thor-Able]] launch vehicle. First flight of 1958 (good position on the graph), and payload of 120 kg is about 40 kg / dog -- that's a bit high for an average, but depending on the breed it could be accurate. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:58, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:Yes, I believe that is correct. Added to tables. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:22, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Based on horse payload, location on X-axis (time of first launch?), and some general wikipedia browsing, I believe the unlabeled launch vehicle on the bottom is a Delta IV Medium. According to Wikipedia, it was first launched on 11 March 2003, which fits the location on the timeline. It had an LEO payload capacity of 9,420 kg, which equates to 20.9333333 horses at the estimation of 450kg/horse. For reference, all my information was pulled from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_IV#Delta_IV_Medium. [[User:Screamsquad|Screamsquad]] ([[User talk:Screamsquad|talk]]) 16:20, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:Certainly seems a likely candidate..--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:08, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

;Title Text Calcs

I did some calculations on the title text, though I'm not sure how correct they are. We can use our standard horse at 450kg, and assuming 9.81m/s2 gravity (neglecting the slight drop in gravity as it moves up the space elevator), the formula I've used is:

<pre>1 Watt = 1 Newton raised 1 Metre in 1 Sec
Power[Watts] = (450[kg] * 9.81[m/s2]) * LEO[m] / Time[s]</pre>

A large power station is a pretty vague measure, but I would guess we are looking at around 1GW. I found a 30 acre solar farm (in the not-so-sunny UK) with an output of 5MW, scaled linearly (which may well not be valid) a 0.6 acre (2500m2 back yard could yield 93.5kW. Using these power guesstimates, we can calculate the altitude at which the 500 horses/year and 10 horses/minute converge. It works out at roughly 1350km. Depending on where you look, LEO is [https://www.google.com/search?q=Low+earth+orbit&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-gb%3AIE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&gws_rd=ssl&oq=&gs_l= classified as anything under 2000km].

Now I know there are a lot of assumptions in there, and really the whole formula is backwards, but hey... its a starting point! --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:05, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

I think Randall may have been talking to Andrew Hussie --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.89|141.101.106.89]] 21:50, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/
Getting to space is easy, staying in space is hard.

The energy required to get to 100km, briefly, is about 1 MJ/kg
The energy required to stay in low earth orbit is a bit over 30 MJ/kg

It's tricky to get to low earth orbit with a space elevator, you can go up 200km, but as soon as you let go of the elevator you come down. If you put enough mass at 200km the whole elevator comes down. Not sure which number to use, but I'd go with the 30 MJ/kg, or 15 GJ/horse. So the solar array is about 240kW (averaged over the whole year) and the power plant is 2.5GW. This looks a bit high so maybe the horses don't stay in orbit.

--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.248|108.162.219.248]] 15:49, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

It depends on what he means by launch I suppose. I had simply looked at getting to LEO altitude, but staying there once you let go of the cable is a whole different ball game. I believe the only way to get into orbit from a space elevator (lacking additional power) is to go right to geostationary height? Let go anywhere under that altitude and you go into orbital decay.

Out of interest, where did you get the 1MJ/kg and 30MJ/kg values? As far as power stations, the new generation twin reactor {{w|Hinkley Point C nuclear power station}} (only know that one because its local to me) is designed to output 3.2GW, so 2.5GW isn't over the top. I would say that 240kW for aback yard solar farm is pretty large, depending on your location and size of back yard. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:11, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

1MJ/kg comes from mgh for 1kg at 100km we get 9.81 * 100,000
30MJ/kg comes from 1/2 mv^2 I happen to know that orbital velocity is about 8km/s so 1/2*8000^2 = 32,000,000

Normally I'd say close enough for goverment work, but in this case NASA probably uses a bit more precision. If you want to be more precision, visit wikipedia "specific orbital energy" and "circular orbit".

If we release a horse from the space elevator at any altitude it will be in orbit, at least until it contacts the earth's atmosphere. It turns out that if we release it at 30,000km (from the earths center = 23,600km altitude) then at perigee the altitude is 100km. High enough that a horse would stay in orbit for a while. Releasing 750 km higher raises perigee to 1000km altitude. So we don't have to go all the way to geostationary orbit, just high enough. But still 23,000km is not LEO.

--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.248|108.162.219.248]] 04:32, 19 December 2014 (UTC)

I filled out the remaining fields. I thought about getting the interior capacities of all 1981 Oldsmobile models but doesn't seem worth it. It's clearly a joke so that kind of research doesn't seem necessary.{{unsigned ip|173.245.56.152}}

'''Arrow of Time'''
Did anyone else notice the special advert for Xmas gifts? It was up at the top of the main xkcd page yesterday 2014-December-17, but gone today (the 18th). In black, blue and red colored printing it said:
----
"The XKCD store Christmas shipping deadline is Friday!
Once it passes, there is no going back. The arrow of time drags us all
inexorably forward toward decay and disorder toward the end of all things.
Toward the empty silence of the grave. ORDER NOW!"
----
I thought it was amusing and saved a bitmap. Was kind of surprised that there was no other mention of this here, or on the fora either. {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.171}}

----
Actually, I find it strange that no explicit mention of Laika or Sputnik 2 is made. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.89|141.101.75.89]] 23:50, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with dimensional analysis. Who wrote that part? have you ever actually done dimensional analysis? He's just using a nonstandard unit of measure. Unit conversion is almost -but not entirely- unlike dimensional analysis. {{unsigned ip|108.162.241.5}}

Talk:1461: Payloads

2014-12-18T16:01:45Z

108.162.219.248:

Talk:1461: Payloads

2014-12-18T15:49:06Z

108.162.219.248:

It's possible he's talking about [http://poorlydrawnlines.com/comic/earth-and-moon/ this comic].
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.203|108.162.249.203]] 07:20, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

I think he used horses as a reference to the unit of work, horse power, but in this case instead of being the 550 foot pounds per second, it is the force required to put a horse at that altitude
[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.195|199.27.128.195]] 08:10, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:The top one clearly says "Spacecraft mass" and the bottom says "Capacity" (which is normally either the mass or volume something can hold), so I don't think either refers to force. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.175|173.245.54.175]] 08:32, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Horses might also be used as a length unit... I am wondering if this is somehow related to the size of SRBs [http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.asp] ;-) {{unsigned|Ld75}}
:There is the famous tail (no pun intended) of how the width of the Space Shuttles SRBs are related to the width of a horses, er, um, butt -- which apparently is not true. However, similarly to the "Upgoer Five", Randall may just be trying to relate a very difficult to grasp concept (weight of a huge object) to something that with which a large number of people may be familiar. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:34, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

A few mass calculations: (All masses from wikipedia)

* ISS - 450,000 kg / 932 Horses = 483 kg/Horse
* Skylab - 77,088 kg / 171 Horses = 450 kg/Horse
* Mir - 129,700 kg / 286 Horses = 453 kg/Horse
* Shuttle Payload - 24,400 kg / 54 Horses = 452 kg/Horse
* Compton GRO - 17,000 kg / 38 Horses = 447 kg/Horse

It looks like Randall probably used 450kg as a standard horse, which seems like a fairly average weight for a {{w|Horse#Size and Measurement|horse}}. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 09:06, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Curious: the Atlas-Centaur rocket is listed as lifting Centaurs, not horses. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.244|141.101.98.244]] 09:11, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

:Plus the Pegasus rocket is labelled as lifting one (mythical, horse-sized?) Pegasus. I took this as synchronicity, but currently someone (who missed the Centaur reference in the part of the main text about "joke additions/deviations") who edited the the main text seems to think that it's purely a mythical reference. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.245|141.101.98.245]] 13:27, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

The Keyhole captions are wrong; assuming 450 kg/horse, 40 horses for the [[wikipedia:KH-7 Gambit|Keyhole 7]] would be around 18,000 kg. Documents declassified a couple of years ago give the mass as around 2,000 kg. The [[wikipedia:Corona (satellite)|Keyhole 3]] was even smaller. The mass and dates are about right for [[wikipedia:KH-11 Kennan|Keyhole 11]] satellites but I don't know where the 3 and 7 have come from (the dates are wrong for the third and seventh Keyhole 11s) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.85|141.101.99.85]] 09:43, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Initially I thought that the position of 'T Rex' along the X axis (approx 1985) may be a link to the band {{w|T. Rex (band)|T.Rex}}, but according to wiki that was 1967-1977. I guess it could be a random date, but thats not usually Randall's style... --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 10:51, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:The T Rex "Sue" was discovered in August 1990. Not quite right, either. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.214|108.162.250.214]] 11:10, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
::Perhaps a reference to the date of 'Jurassic Park'? Not sure exactly when that came out but I think it's in the right range. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.189|108.162.238.189]] 14:55, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:::Hadn't thought of that.. Though after checking, {{w|Jurassic Park}} was released 1993, and I believe set in 1990. Still doesn't seem to tie up.. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:22, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
::::I never knew there was ever a space craft called "T-Rex". Learn something new everyday! ;) {{unsigned|Dangerkeith3000}}

The Oldsmobile is probably a reference to the movie ''{{w|Mom and Dad Save the World}}''. The title characters' station wagon was from around that era -- and it ''did'' go into space in the movie. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 11:47, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

'''Terrastar''' may be referring to [[wikipedia:TerreStar-1|TerreStar-1]], with a launch mass of 6,910 kg, divided by 15 horses is about 460 kg/Horse. This is consistent with the above calculations. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:23, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:Based on that and its accurate position on the X axis, I would agree with you. I've added it to the table, with a note below. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 14:38, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

'''Thor''' may be referring to the [[wikipedia:Thor-Able|Thor-Able]] launch vehicle. First flight of 1958 (good position on the graph), and payload of 120 kg is about 40 kg / dog -- that's a bit high for an average, but depending on the breed it could be accurate. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:58, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:Yes, I believe that is correct. Added to tables. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 15:22, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

Based on horse payload, location on X-axis (time of first launch?), and some general wikipedia browsing, I believe the unlabeled launch vehicle on the bottom is a Delta IV Medium. According to Wikipedia, it was first launched on 11 March 2003, which fits the location on the timeline. It had an LEO payload capacity of 9,420 kg, which equates to 20.9333333 horses at the estimation of 450kg/horse. For reference, all my information was pulled from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_IV#Delta_IV_Medium. [[User:Screamsquad|Screamsquad]] ([[User talk:Screamsquad|talk]]) 16:20, 17 December 2014 (UTC)
:Certainly seems a likely candidate..--[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:08, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

;Title Text Calcs

I did some calculations on the title text, though I'm not sure how correct they are. We can use our standard horse at 450kg, and assuming 9.81m/s2 gravity (neglecting the slight drop in gravity as it moves up the space elevator), the formula I've used is:

<pre>1 Watt = 1 Newton raised 1 Metre in 1 Sec
Power[Watts] = (450[kg] * 9.81[m/s2]) * LEO[m] / Time[s]</pre>

A large power station is a pretty vague measure, but I would guess we are looking at around 1GW. I found a 30 acre solar farm (in the not-so-sunny UK) with an output of 5MW, scaled linearly (which may well not be valid) a 0.6 acre (2500m2 back yard could yield 93.5kW. Using these power guesstimates, we can calculate the altitude at which the 500 horses/year and 10 horses/minute converge. It works out at roughly 1350km. Depending on where you look, LEO is [https://www.google.com/search?q=Low+earth+orbit&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-gb%3AIE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&gws_rd=ssl&oq=&gs_l= classified as anything under 2000km].

Now I know there are a lot of assumptions in there, and really the whole formula is backwards, but hey... its a starting point! --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 17:05, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

I think Randall may have been talking to Andrew Hussie --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.89|141.101.106.89]] 21:50, 17 December 2014 (UTC)

https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/
Getting to space is easy, staying in space is hard.

The energy required to get to get to 100km, briefly is about 1 MJ/kg
The energy required to stay in low earth orbit is a bit over 30 MJ/kg

It's tricky to get to low earth orbit with a space elevator, you can go up 200km, but as soon as you let go of the elevator you come down. If you put enough mass at 200km the whole elevator comes down. Not sure which number to use, but I'd go with the 30 MJ/kg

--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.248|108.162.219.248]] 15:49, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

701: Science Valentine

2014-12-11T03:20:27Z

108.162.219.248: Fixed grammar

{{comic
| number = 701
| date = February 12, 2010
| title = Science Valentine
| image = science_valentine.png
| titletext = You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Cueball]] is taking a scientific approach to creating a valentine card. Based on the first chart, the recipient may be his fiancée or spouse. However, his rigorous approach makes him realize that the happiness he derives from the relationship is declining, which presents him with a choice. Will he be a true scientist by accepting data that he doesn't like, or will he be romantic and just make a cute card? He decides that he is a scientist and so presents his significant other with a breakup valentine. The card has a heart on it crossed by a graph with a negative trend, forming the stereotypical torn heart and showing the decline of his feelings. The comic may be intended as a cautionary tale to new scientists; while the graph in the leftmost panel shows an apparent correlation between Cueball's love and his happiness, and it shows his happiness is lower than it might be expected to be without his partner, it fails to show that the falling love effects falling happiness-- it may be the case that falling happiness effects falling love, or that both happiness and love are affected by an unidentified factor. For example, temporary external crises may be weighing on Cueball's relationship as well as his happiness.

The title text seems to be him trying to console himself that he did the right thing.

==Transcript==
:I wanted to make you a science valentine
:with charts and graphs of my feelings for you.
:[A graph shows romance and happiness. Romance cuts off, indicating a breakup before the meeting of Cueball and his current significant other, and happiness dips accordingly.
:A line indicates where the couple first met; romance is jagged thereafter, initially upwards but later down.
:Happiness climbs slightly more steadily and then dips again.
:More lines indicate a period of dating and then one of engagement.]
:and the happiness you've brought me.

:But the more I analyzed
:[Cueball works at a computer.]
:r0 = 0.20
:r1 = -0.61
:r2 = -0.83
:the harder it became to defend my hypothesis.

:In science, you can't publish results you know are wrong
:and you can't withhold them because they're not the ones you wanted.

:So I was left with a question: do I make graphs because they're cute and funny,
:[Cueball sits, looking at a sheet of paper.]
:or am I a ''scientist?''

:Enclosed are my results.
:I hope you can find somebody else
:[A jagged, declining graph is superimposed over a red heart.]
:to be your valentine.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Valentines]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Science]]