https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=108.162.221.171 2026-04-15T14:35:22Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2505:_News_Story_Reaction&diff=216964 2021-08-21T14:45:26Z

<p>108.162.221.171: Sic.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2505<br /> | date = August 20, 2021<br /> | title = News Story Reaction<br /> | image = news_story_reaction.png<br /> | titletext = Unless the next line is, &quot;After we broke up, she blamed the painting and spent years planning her revenge, so my sorrow is mixed with relief that the dogs at least denied her that triumph.&quot;<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Created by MONA LISA(THE PAINTING)'S FIRST KISS. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> People tend to transfer their social habits inappropriately to new scenarios and repeat the habit until clearly criticized for it. Randall is likely expecting his readers to empathize with the depicted error, or referencing an error he has himself made.<br /> <br /> In this comic, [[Cueball]] is at his computer, likely typing a comment after reading a shocking news story where the ''{{w|Mona Lisa}}'' has been attacked and shredded by a pack of wild dogs. The ''Mona Lisa'' is one of the most famous paintings in human history. At the time of this comic, the ''Mona Lisa'' has not been attacked{{citation needed}} and is unlikely to be shredded in this circumstance at least by dogs as it is painted on wood, rather than canvas.&lt;ref&gt;&quot;Mona Lisa | Painting, Subject, Meaning, &amp; Facts.&quot; ''Britannica'', December 4, 2020. Accessed August 20, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mona-Lisa-painting&lt;/ref&gt;<br /> <br /> At the beginning of his comment, Cueball describes his reaction and disappointment about the event, describing the event as &quot;a loss for humanity.&quot; Cueball is then reminded of his first kiss, which occurred inside of a {{w|JCPenney}}, where a picture of the ''Mona Lisa'' hung on one of its walls. He adds this to his comment, explaining that this is why the news hits him hard. However, his story has almost no relation to the ''Mona Lisa'', other than that the picture was at the scene and is unnecessary.<br /> <br /> After posting the comment, Cueball reflects on this and mentions that not every news story is, or needs to be about himself.<br /> <br /> The title text describes an exception to this, where his experience IS directly related to the affected painting, as his ex seemingly planned to get revenge on the painting itself.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> :[Cueball is sitting at a desk, typing something on a laptop.]<br /> :Cueball: Devastated to hear that a pack of wild dogs got into the Louvre and shredded the Mona Lisa.<br /> :Cueball: What a loss for humanity.<br /> :Cueball: My first kiss was in the aisle of a J.C. Penny{{sic}} that had a poster of the Mona Lisa on the wall, so this is hitting me especially hard.<br /> <br /> :[Caption below the panel]<br /> :Sometimes I have to remind myself not to make every news story about me.<br /> <br /> ==References==<br /> &lt;references /&gt;<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1529:_Bracket&diff=93970 2015-05-25T08:20:39Z

<p>108.162.221.171: </p> <hr /> <div>Pretty sure Doctor Who is covered by &quot;The Doctor&quot;. He doesn't go by &quot;Who&quot; in the show. He's just the Doctor.<br /> <br /> I think the missing doctor is House.<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> Dr. Pepper, maybe? Does &quot;staring&quot; or &quot;forgotten&quot; have to do with it?<br /> <br /> ----<br /> Whatagainnow?<br /> ----<br /> Dr. Oz? Dr. Phil? Dr. Watson? Dr. Kavorkian? Dr. Seuss? Wasn't there a famous literary work, The Lost Island of Dr. Moreau? I agree that Dr. House and/or house calls could be a missing candidate for the bracket. But then, there are a ton of 'Sirs' that didn't make the list. GAKDragon 06:43, 25 May 2015 (UTC)GAKDragon<br /> ----<br /> Or is &quot;The Doctor&quot; http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/The_Doctor?<br /> ----<br /> It's Doctor House - definitely and finally!<br /> ----<br /> Definitely &quot;Doc&quot; Brown: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Brown<br /> ----<br /> What's the connection between Rip Torn and Natalie Imbruglia?<br /> Answer: Her song, Torn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV1XWJN3nJo</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1515:_Basketball_Earth&diff=90659 2015-04-22T14:09:43Z

<p>108.162.221.171: </p> <hr /> <div>Apologies to the first editor, who made a snappier version of what I wrote. For the record, whilst fighting a dodgy internet connection I eventually ended up replacing the following...<br /> Cueball is seen trying to explain the relative sizes of the earth and moon by comparing the earth to a basketball and the moon to what looks like a golf ball. This explanation is constantly thwarted by passerby interacting with the basketball while Cueball is explaining it.<br /> For the title text, the answer is zero, since it is against basketball rules.<br /> ...with what I tried to keep short during my own writing from scratch. I also ommited several other concepts of my own thought: The fact that Blackhat must have used a very light-touch to ''only'' generate a megatsunami (albeit already unimaginably large, at Earthball's scale); The possibility of recursion (including something like the Men In Black 'cat collar' allusion); and that in the universe of the comic strip there is only ''one'' actual basketball (the Earthball itsself), although I like how we ''both'' had the idea that the basketballs upon Earthball would not have counted in a game of basketball with an Earthball-scaled hoop, due to quite obvious interpretations of the sport's regulations. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.67|141.101.98.67]] 05:11, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> :Oh yeah, and reversion is invited, if deemed preferable. As is amalgamation, and refinement and re-replacement by something even better, of course. As per the standard Wiki creed. Much as I am cringing at having upset the original contributor, I'm quite happy to be gazumped in turn. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.67|141.101.98.67]] 05:14, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> If you look at the third frame of the Blackhat sequence and compare it to the frames underneath, you can see that he didn't just touch the Earth or an ocean--he actually rotated it 90 degrees.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.115|108.162.221.115]] 09:38, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> :Well spotted! Edit that in! (Do it quickly with a pre-prepared edit. I kept getting hit by edit-conflicts, which I set about to resolve amicably without reversing anybody else's input; only to get hit by further edit-conflicts by the next person to come along and improve overlapping pieces, whom I also strived not to disregard.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.67|141.101.98.67]] 09:57, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> ::No he didn't. the Earth always rotates from the first panel to the next. So that it is in a different position when Black Hat touches it, to where it was the panel before does not imply that he rotated the Earth. If anything he only rotated it a few degrees, as it had already rotated most of those 90 degree from panel 1 to panel 2 before Black Hat reaches the Earth. As far as I can see there has not been any change to include this yet. So that is good. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:41, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I really love this comic. It is great fun. Thanks Randall, happy Earth day. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:42, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ... a tennis ball an average 7.2 metres away, while the Sun would be 26 metres across and 2.8 km away. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.165|108.162.250.165]] 13:25, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> It's 13:23 right now, but the clock of explainxkcd.com says it's 13:37. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:37, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> If we assume 9,000,000 basketballs sold every year ([http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=82227 bbs.ClutchFans.net]), one basketball lasts about 10,000 bounces ([http://www.sotruefacts.com/rule/770 SoTrueFacts.com]), and there's between 2,500 and 3,000 bounces per game ([http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_average_lifespan_of_a_basketball_in_bounces_in_National_Basketball_Association_play Answers.com]) we can extrapolate that on average a basketball doesn't live for more than a year, and the number of basketballs sold replace those which have lifed-out. Let's build in a 10% slush factor and say there 10m basketballs produced in the world last year. Let's further say that there's an extra 1m basketballs sold every year which don't get regular use and are in some kid's room and those have been accumulating for about ten years (different kids get basketballs every year which end up in their bedrooms). Dunking a basketball gives two points, and at 20 million basketballs, that gives 40 million points – and a safe bet you're going to make it to the playoffs that year. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 13:51, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Is it possible that the megatsunami is actually caused by the gravity of the scale Moon (it being way too close to the scale Earth)? This is a major problem that most children's books (or adult's books or websites) have. They scale the planets/moons/stars but not the distance. As the comment above, to get normal tides, the tennis ball should be 7.2m away at this scale. --[[User:Gravitron|Gravitron]] ([[User talk:Gravitron|talk]]) 14:06, 22 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I find it interesting that Randall makes the same mistake a lot of people make reguarding the distance between the earth and moon at that scale. I was watching Veritasium (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz9D6xba9Og) on Youtube a while back and the guy there was asking people how far away a tennis ball sized moon would be from a basketball sized Earth. Most people made the distance way too small, very similar to how far away they appear in the comic. In reality they would be something like 10 times that distance. Usually Randall is more accurate than this. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.171|108.162.221.171]] 14:09, 22 April 2015 (UTC)Agent0013</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1511:_Spice_Girl&diff=89630 2015-04-13T14:39:23Z

<p>108.162.221.171: </p> <hr /> <div>Not being shouted (from without, at either cueball or his female companion) by a post-apocalyptic crowd, surely, but by Cueball (from within, at the post-apocalyptic person of whom he is currently trying to deny entry whilst possibly necessary weaponry is being loaded)... Or so I read it. If that makes sense. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 05:43, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> :It does look like that, but the caption states &quot;through a door&quot;. -- microslayer<br /> ::The little lines around the origin point of the speech &quot;bubble&quot; is usually used in XKCD to indicate that the sound is coming through the surface or offscreen (see Writers Strike (360) and Time Vulture (926)). -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] 06:52, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> :::Except that I read the ''caption'' as meaning &quot;through a door&quot; by our Cueball, i.e. what someone like him would be shouting ''out'', plosively. (It's &quot;through the wall&quot;, anyway, if that's a 'through something' speech-bubble-originator-indicator (like the &quot;THUMP&quot;s are) rather than 'rather loudly' emphasis that I'd expect to be associated with Cueball. They are shown differently, with the non-THUMP indicator not really having the same appearance as all the other ones otherwise mentioned. Even in the very same panel.) Anyway, just my POV. Needs an Official Transcript to be sure, I suppose. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.4|141.101.99.4]] 07:12, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> ::::The speak line clearly shows it is Cueball who shouts this quiz title through a door. No question is it like this, so I have corrected the transcript accordingly.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:54, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> :::::I disagree. It's not that clear. The marks around the end of the speech line indicate the question is being shouted from the other side of the wall, and I think - but can't be certain - that the line terminates near Cue Ball's head looks like to me like ambiguous drawing by the cartoonist. That, and the &quot;through the door&quot; make me think that Cue Ball is just silently holding the door shut against the rampaging hoards, who are doing all the shouting.<br /> ::::::I also find it to be confusing. I first thought it was Cueball that was doing the shouting but after reading this page I now see that the little marks around the speech line are usually used when the speaker is off panel or inside of something (car or coming from PC, etc). I went looking through back comics to see if any yelling was indicated differently and found one where the character was not yelling but the speech line has the same little marks (First panel of Fundamental Forces http://xkcd.com/1489/). In that case it looks like a small mistake, but in this comic it just leaves me unsure who is speaking. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.171|108.162.221.171]] 14:39, 13 April 2015 (UTC)Agent0013<br /> <br /> ::::::I agree that it is unclear. See comic [[1493]]. Randall has used those little &quot;blast&quot; lines USUALLY to denote off-screen speech, but in that comic (the first example I found going backwards), he uses it directly on Cueball. That said, most uses are for sound effects or off-screen/through wall speech. I expected to find it used for &quot;shouting&quot;, but Cueball isn't even shouting in that comic. Not sure why Randall used it. I initially read this comic as Cueball speaking, otherwise Randally would have drawn the line over Cueball's head to the door, but I don't think the other interpretation is necessarily wrong. I do think the third one had to go though. Cueball shouting to Megan doesn't line up with the caption of &quot;through the door&quot;. [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:28, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> :: [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.155|108.162.250.155]] and [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.123|108.162.229.123]] are correct, the shouting is coming from outside the room. Randall/Cueball imagines he is hearing quiz titles &quot;being shouted,&quot; he is not imagining shouting them himself. [[User:Pesthouse|Pesthouse]] ([[User talk:Pesthouse|talk]]) 11:56, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> ::: Furthermore, ''&quot;in order to make sure the one you '''let in''' is not some scary person but a merciful one&quot;'' makes no sense because the Spice Girl in question is clearly meant to be the girl loading the gun behind the box. She's already in the room.<br /> :::: Hmm, or maybe not. I thought the hair was too different from Megan's usual style, but it could be her. So now I'm about 50/50 on this one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.229.123|108.162.229.123]] 12:28, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> ::::There is no such character as Megan. Please see [[Megan]]. I quote &quot;&quot;Megan&quot; does not necessarily always represent the same character from comic to comic. She is essentially the female equivalent of Cueball, representing the every-woman to his everyman.&quot;. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:08, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> I don't know much about the Spice Girls, but the comic seems to be referring to two; Is there a &quot;merciful&quot; Spice Girl? Is there one likely to &quot;start a war&quot;? And is there a &quot;war&quot; that is specifically to do with the Spice Girls? -[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.95|141.101.106.95]] 08:01, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> What about Camp Spice??<br /> <br /> <br /> The comic is clearly inventing new Spice Girls: the original Spice Girls didn't have a merciful one, or an evil one. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 13:10, 13 April 2015 (UTC)<br /> :Disagree. In real life, there has not been a war started by ANY spice girl. This is clearly fantasy. It is just as likely that Randall is imagining the Spice Girls rise to power and in their newfound power, become associated with new traits (e.g. one is a merciful and one starts a war - in Cueball's fantasy scenario, there are only two spice girls left, or two who could possibly be at the door). There is no basis to assume this is a reference to invented new spice girls.<br /> <br /> : I also think that if Randall intended to have the quiz's answers make sense, it would have to be the latter, since the quiz won't have an &quot;evil&quot; or &quot;merciful&quot; spice. That said, given Randall's comment about needing to make the link titles less irritating, it's unlikely he would actually do the quiz. He just wants to be less annoyed while skimming his, Facebook feed (for example) [[User:TheHYPO|TheHYPO]] ([[User talk:TheHYPO|talk]]) 14:33, 13 April 2015 (UTC)</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=868:_Nolan_Chart&diff=88926 2015-04-07T14:51:58Z

<p>108.162.221.171: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 868<br /> | date = March 4, 2011<br /> | title = Nolan Chart<br /> | image = nolan chart.png<br /> | titletext = Also in the right quadrant are NFPA-compliant chemical manufacturers and Sir Charles Wheatstone. Sharing the top with the internet libertarians are Nate Silver and several politically-active kite designers.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> The [http://www.nolanchart.com Nolan Chart] is a visual representation of the political spectrum that measures not only liberal vs conservative tendencies but also libertarian and statist tendencies. In this comic, it is taken to a different end. One one side are both Democrats and Republicans and on the other side is baseball fans. In the typical Nolan Chart, Libertarians are in the top quadrant, but in this one &quot;Internet Libertarians&quot; take the spot because they love the Nolan Charts (that are found online) and have a lot of political opinions.<br /> <br /> Nolan may also refer to baseball hall of famer [http://baseballhall.org/hof/ryan-nolan Nolan Ryan].<br /> <br /> In the image text, the NFPA-compliant chemical manufacturers are mentioned because of [http://ehs.okstate.edu/modules/hazcom/nfpadia2.gif this diagram]. Sir Charles Wheatstone was the inventor of the Wheatstone bridge, which is also {{w|File:Wheatstonebridge.svg|diamond-shaped}}. Lastly, the image text references Nate Silver, who previously worked for Baseball Prospectus and now writes a data-driven political and sports blog called Five Thirty Eight for ESPN. He is both a lover of diamond-shaped diagrams and has political opinions.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Diamond-shaped four-panel diagram.]<br /> :[Top panel labeled &quot;internet libertarians&quot;.]<br /> :[Left panel labeled &quot;Democrats, Republicans&quot;.]<br /> :[Bottom panel labeled &quot;other&quot;.]<br /> :[Right panel labeled &quot;baseball fans&quot;.]<br /> :[Axis increasing in the upper-left direction labeled &quot;political opinions&quot;.]<br /> :[Axis increasing in the upper-right direction labeled &quot;love of diamond-shaped diagrams&quot;.]<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Charts]]<br /> [[Category:Politics]]</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1503:_Squirrel_Plan&diff=87056 2015-03-25T10:00:53Z

<p>108.162.221.171: /* Not all xckd comics are intended to be taken seriously explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1503<br /> | date = March 25, 2015<br /> | title = Squirrel Plan<br /> | image = squirrel plan.png<br /> | titletext = [Halfway to the Sun ...] Heyyyy ... what if this BALLOON is full of acorns?!<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> <br /> ===Not all xckd comics are intended to be taken seriously explanation===<br /> This comic is a light hearted story, drawing on the many theories and ideas people have had about the sun throughout history. It may also be an attempt at nerd-sniping xkcd readers who might take the comic too seriously and interpret it too literally, leading to bizarre conclusions (see '#Squirrels are stupid explanation' below, which itself is most likely an attempt at nerd-sniping explain xkcd readers #meta). <br /> <br /> The title text follows the logic stated by the squirrels that the sun, being so magnificent must be full of acorns. A balloon powerful enough to take a squirrel to the sun must be powered by something amazing i.e. acorns - what else could it be?<br /> <br /> The fact that the squirrels are talking supports the idea that the reader is not supposed to apply the normal rules of our universe to this comic.<br /> <br /> ===Squirrels are stupid explanation===<br /> The joke is that squirrels are stupid and have no business trying their paws at aeronautics.<br /> <br /> The title text further compounds this notion when the airborne squirrel jeopardizes the entire mission because he wants to test if the balloon itself is full of acorns. Basic observational skills will tell anyone that acorns do not float, and in fact have noticeable weight to them. Elementary logic then dictates that the balloon lifting the squirrel should not contain objects that contribute only weight, and therefore the balloon must not contain acorns. Yet perhaps this is for the best, since continuing on with the mission would (obviously, to us humans) end in death for the airborne squirrel, as well as inconclusive data for the ground team. Title text also suggests that the squirrel is &quot;Half way to the Sun&quot;, a distance of roughly 74&amp;thinsp;800&amp;thinsp;000&amp;thinsp;km. This provides a small amount of evidence that it was in fact a squirrel that authored the comic or at least its title text as the squirrel would be dead at that altitude without an appropriate space suit and the balloon would have popped long before due to the expansion of the acorns within.<br /> <br /> ===Squirrels in other comics===<br /> <br /> http://xkcd.com/776/<br /> <br /> https://xkcd.com/1156/<br /> <br /> https://what-if.xkcd.com/21/<br /> <br /> https://what-if.xkcd.com/98/<br /> <br /> https://what-if.xkcd.com/102/<br /> <br /> https://what-if.xkcd.com/105/<br /> <br /> Squirrels are often used in xkcd and what-if comics as a way of avoiding reality. Maybe Randall is going through a tough time this week.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> There are three squirrels. One is suspended from a balloon. The other two are sitting on the ground, looking up at it.<br /> <br /> Squirrel on right: Once you've chewed a hole in the sun, shoot the balloon to fall back to earth, then pull the parachute ripcord to land.<br /> <br /> Squirrel tied to balloon: Are you &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;sure&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; it's full of acorns?<br /> <br /> Squirrel on right: Look how bright and magnificent it is! What else could be in there?<br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> &lt;!-- Include any categories below this line. --&gt;</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1256:_Questions&diff=84130 2015-02-06T01:22:35Z

<p>108.162.221.171: /* Section Eleven */ Answered Ultrasound questions.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1256<br /> | date = August 26, 2013<br /> | title = Questions<br /> | image = questions.png<br /> | titletext = To whoever typed 'why is arwen dying': GOOD. FUCKING. QUESTION.<br /> }}<br /> A larger version of the picture can be found [http://xkcd.com/1256/large/ here]<br /> .<br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Many questions unanswered.}}<br /> {{w|Google}}, a rather popular internet search engine, has a feature known as [https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/106230?hl=en autocomplete] that guesses at search queries before they are fully typed out. These guesses are generally made based on popular searches by other people. From time to time, a particularly strange or hilarious one may be found, as is evidenced in this comic.<br /> <br /> The largest pictured questions are: &quot;Why are there slaves in the bible&quot; and &quot;Why are there ants in my laptop&quot;.<br /> <br /> All of the questions in the comic are &quot;why&quot; questions, so many of them are predicated on false assumptions, such as &quot;Why are there pyramids on the moon&quot;.<br /> <br /> Regarding the title text: in the Peter Jackson films of {{w|The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy}}, Arwen becomes sickly for unspecified reasons as the plot advances, apparently giving Aragorn a more personal reason to fight. The only explanation given is by Elrond, who says &quot;As Sauron's power grows, her [Arwen's] strength wanes.&quot; This subplot is entirely absent from the {{w|The Lord of the Rings|original novels}}.<br /> <br /> From [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/faq#.2.1.21 IMDB]: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;<br /> Arwen, like her father (and brothers) is considered to be a Half-Elf, the result of a union between an Elf and a mortal human. The Half-Elven of Middle-earth get a choice, to remain immortal and return to the West (Valinor) or to become mortal and to die as humans do. Elrond chose to remain an Elf. Arwen (like her uncle Elros) chooses to become mortal in order to wed and remain with Aragorn. Elrond senses this; this is what he means when he says that Arwen is dying. It is the same as in The Last Unicorn, when the unicorn is given the form of a human woman and can feel that she is no longer immortal (&quot;I can feel this body dying all around me&quot;). According to Tolkien, though, after Aragorn dies in the year 120 (Fourth Age), Arwen returns to Lórien, where she dies by choice the following winter. &lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Selected answers==<br /> The tables below have been created so as to split the comic into almost entirely arbitrary blocks, which have then been identified with similarly arbitrary numbers. As a general rule, section numbers work top to bottom, then right to left.<br /> ===Illustrated Panels===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't my arms growing?||Arms stop growing because longer arms would not be a very useful way to spend resources. Human DNA has programmed the body to gradually ossify the growing arms and legs, closing the epiphyseal plate, at which point these extremities stop growing.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there ghosts?||There is no hard evidence of ghosts.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there squirrels?||Squirrels exist because they fit their biological niche better than any other species.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is sex so important?||Sex is important because it is the primary method of reproduction in many different species.<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter? || In the {{w|Harry Potter}} universe, Muggle technology (human inventions) are often looked down on by wizards - the majority of half-blooded wizards like Harry won't touch one, let alone a wizard extremist like {{w|Voldemort}}. Not only does any Muggle device more complex than a wristwatch interfere with magical artifacts, but wands are usually more versatile than most guns; a revolver can't shoot lightning or summon items or teleport its user. Finally, while Harry himself may or may not consider using firearms due to his Muggle upbringing, ''Harry Potter'' is a series of children's books (which usually don't include guns) set in the United Kingdom (which has stricter gun laws than, say, the United States).<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section One===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why do whales jump? || To the whale, it's like going into outer space!<br /> |-<br /> |Why are witches green? || See {{w|Wizard of Oz}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mirrors above beds?|| Often, these are used by couples to view themselves during coitus.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do I say Uh?||See ''[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/06/the_odd_body_language_fillers/ Why do we say 'um', 'er', or 'ah' when we hesitate in speaking?]''.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is sea salt better? || The question likely refers to the difference between common {{w|Fortified table salt}} and usually more expensive sea salt. While the major part of both of these is sodium chloride (NaCl) the idea behind the claim is the different composition mostly in regards to trace elements of sea salt compared to &quot;normal&quot; salt. Table salt's composition is often influenced by a country's health department and thus addition of trace elements is regulated. While these regulations are based on scientific studies there remain to be debates concerning the additions, such as iodine.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there trees in the middle of fields? || Many images of fields contain singular trees in the middle of them. While there exist such trees it is likely an artistic choice to give a more pleasing or aesthetically satisfying image compared to just a field. In modern agriculture those would in fact be quite troublesome since they are a hindrance to large machines used and a new tree would be unlikely to grow in a constantly worked field.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there not a Pokémon MMO? || {{w|Pokémon}} is a popular franchise, spanning game consoles, anime series, a trading card game, and many other things. Among fans, it is a frequent topic of discussion why a Pokémon {{w|massively multiplayer online game}} has not been officially announced by the series' developers {{w|Game Freak}}, as they often [http://www.dorkly.com/comic/52546/be-careful-what-you-wish-for predict] that such a game would be extremely popular, and bring in massive revenue for the company. However, if Game Freak were to develop a Pokémon MMO the MMOs would be strong competition against the console games and therefore reducing the Pokémon demographic significantly.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there laughing in TV shows? || Sitcoms were once filmed with an audience, so the actors could respond to their reactions. That's the historical reason why there were laughs in TV shows. The tradition continues, with the difference that now the laughter mostly comes from recorded tapes. See {{w|Laugh track}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there doors on the freeway?|| Highway/freeway {{w|noise barrier|noise barriers}} sometimes have doors in them to allow workers access to both sides of the barrier.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there so many svchost.exe running?||See {{w|svchost.exe}}.<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there any countries in Antarctica? || {{w|Antarctica}} is the southern most continent and is by large covered in ice and in general pretty cold. While it is a regular target of tourists and researchers it also lacks native human inhabitants. At the moment, the territorial claims concerning Antarctica are mostly handled via the {{w|Antarctic Treaty System}}. In short there are a few countries who claim certain parts of the continent as their own in theory but so far it is considered neutral territory and most maps don't concern themselves with displaying the (in some regards disputed) territorial claims because they do not matter at this point in time. If there are ever any worthwhile resources discovered, this might change.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft?|| To add atmosphere and to give players hints when there is a dark cave nearby. See [http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Ambience Minecraft Wiki].<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there kicking in my stomach?||See ''[http://www.webmd.com/baby/fetal-movement-feeling-baby-kick Feeling Your Baby Kick]''. Here, ''stomach'' means ''abdomen''.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there two slashes after http?||See ''[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1220286/Sir-Tim-Berners-Lee-admits-forward-slashes-web-address-mistake.html Sir Tim Berners-Lee admits the forward slashes in every web address 'were a mistake']''.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there celebrities?||There are certain people who are more respected and well-known than other people, whether it be because of their acting career, major advancements to science, or a sex tape.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do snakes exist?|| The question is rather general and likely based on a widespread dislike for the reptilians. Be it due to their appearance, their spread, or the danger a few snakes pose to humans (often due to being venomous) many people have a dislike for snakes and would prefer them to not exist (similar to spiders).<br /> In regards to &quot;why do snakes exist on earth?&quot;: Because evolution. Snakes fill a gap in the ecosystem as predators and hunt different species, including vermin. Snakes are in that regard similar to many other predatory animals. The question on why snakes developed with their distinct streamlined shape is still debated but {{w|snakes|likely it either provided an advantage when burrowing or swimming}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do oysters have pearls?||{{w|Creation of a pearl|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;Pearls are formed inside the shell of certain mollusks as a defense mechanism against a potentially threatening irritant such as a parasite inside the shell, or an attack from outside, injuring the mantle tissue. The mollusk creates a pearl sac to seal off the irritation. Pearls are commonly viewed by scientists as a by-product of an adaptive immune system-like function.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why are ducks called ducks?||See {{w|Duck#Etymology}}. {{W|wikt:duck|According to Wiktionary}}, the noun ''duck'' can be traced back to the {{w|Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic}} word {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/dūkaną|''dūkaną''}} (&quot;to dive, bend down&quot;), and, in turn, the {{w|Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European}} {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Indo-European/dʰewb-|''dʰewb-''}} (&quot;deep, hollow&quot;), which is the origin of the verb ''to duck''. The link between the noun and the verb comes from ducks' tendency to dive under water for short periods of time.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do they call it the clap?||An old folk remedy for {{w|gonorrhea}} was to clap on the sides of the penis.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are Kyle and Cartman friends?|| The question relates to the TV show {{w|South Park}}. Both are children living in the small titular town in Colorado. Cartman is widely accepted to a be very bad person, one of his many character flaws being his antisemitism. Kyle on the other hand is a Jew. However, both, along with two other kids, Stan and Kenny, are the core focus of the show (or used to be) and to some extent are considered to be friends. While there are episodes which show Cartman being not entirely a horrible person and him holding Kyle in a position of at least a worthy adversary, most of the time the question should be &quot;Why is anyone friends with Cartman?&quot; However, they most likely remain &quot;friends&quot; because they are in the same class at school and are therefore &quot;forced&quot; to be around one another.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there an arrow on Aang's head?||{{w|Avatar: The Last Airbender#Characters|Aang}} is the main character of the TV series {{w|Avatar the last Airbender|Avatar - The last Airbender}} and features as part of a large body spanning tattoo an arrow on his head. These tattoos are made to replicate the markings of one of the shows fictional animals, the air bison which are regarded as the original air benders. They are given to human air benders once they attain the status of masters. Because Aang acquired this status very early in life he was already tattooed accordingly.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are text messages blue?||This likely refers to imessage chat being blue. These messages are blue when sending a message to another apple device.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches on clothes?||Because some people buy them. Mustaches, especially handlebar-style mustaches, were a popular fad at the time of this comic.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches on cars?||Fuzzy pink mustaches are used to designate cars in the {{w|Lyft}} service.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches everywhere?||See {{w|Movember}}<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there so many birds in Ohio?||There are an estimated [http://oh.audubon.org/bsc/SOTB.html 400 bird species] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Ohio Ohio], but there are [http://www.jstor.org/discover/2419997sid=21104910103541&amp;uid=4&amp;uid=3739776&amp;uid=2&amp;uid=3739256 2.74 nesting pairs per acre].<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there so much rain in Ohio?|| {{w|lake_effect|Lake-effect}} rain develops in the same manner as lake-effect snow.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is Ohio weather so weird?||See {{w|Lake-effect snow}}.<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Two===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there male and female bikes? || {{w|bicycle|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;Historically, women's bicycle frames had a top tube that connected in the middle of the seat tube instead of the top, resulting in a lower {{w|Frame geometry|standover height}} at the expense of compromised structural integrity, since this places a strong bending load in the seat tube, and bicycle frame members are typically weak in bending. This design, referred to as a '''''{{w|step-through frame}}''''' or as an ''open frame'', allows the rider to mount and dismount in a dignified way while wearing a skirt or dress.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there bridesmaids?||See {{w|Bridesmaid#Origin and history}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do dying people reach up?|| In many works of fiction dying people are regarded with an outstretched arm, grasping for unseen objects towards the sky. In all likelihood this originates in the idea of heaven as the place where (good) people go after death. People &quot;reach for the light&quot; which is seen when dying according to similar beliefs or possibly for already dead relatives or other associated people waiting for them. An alternative hypothesis is that they want to hug/touch their loved ones one last time.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't there varicose arteries?||Blood moves through veins due to irregular pressure from skeletal muscles combined with valves to control direction. In varicose veins these valves malfunction affecting blood flow. In arteries blood flow is produced directly from pressure caused by the heart.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are old Klingons different?|| {{w|Klingon Redesign|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;For {{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}} (1979), the Klingons were retconned and their appearance and behavior radically changed. To give the aliens a more sophisticated and threatening demeanor, the Klingons were depicted with ridged foreheads, snaggled and prominent teeth, and a defined language and alphabet. Lee Cole, a production designer, used red gels and primitive shapes in the design of Klingon consoles and ship interiors, which took on a dark and moody atmosphere. The alphabet was designed as angular, with sharp edges harkening to the Klingon's militaristic focus.[5] Costume designer Robert Fletcher created new uniforms for the Klingons, reminiscent of feudal Japanese armor.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why is programming so hard?||Programming is the art of writing instructions for a computer to do. Since the computer has a limited set of instructions for you to use it involves a new way of thinking for many. It is also hard because the computer itself is not smart or adaptable to unexpected problems. For instance when a human is told to sort books in a shelf, he or she can do that despite there might be things in the way (he or she will just move it to the side). A computer generally just crash if it doesn't have instructions on how to deal with the unexcepted problem.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there a 0 Ohm resistor?|| A resistor is usually designed to create a certain resistance, measured in {{w|Ohm}} in an electronic device. A 0 Ohm resistor seems pointless as it would only provide the same resistance as a normal cable. However, Wikipedia's {{w|Zero-ohm link}} article gives sufficient explanation.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do Americans hate soccer? || Soccer, or football in British English, is rather unpopular in the USA compared to most other regions of the world. Finding a particular reason behind the (dis)like for certain sports, apart from cultural spread, is difficult. One possible explanation is soccer's tendency to have far fewer points scored in an average game and a higher likelihood of draws compared to such things as American Football, basketball or baseball, which are far more popular. In how far this is a legitimate argument for regarding soccer as &quot;less interesting&quot; is up to debate.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do rhymes sound good?||The brain enjoys repetition especially in music.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do trees die?||Some common reasons include lack of water, lack of nitrogen in the soil and being chopped down.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there no sound on CNN?||Some stations broadcast a {{w|second audio program}}, an alternative sound track that your TV can be configured to use instead of the primary program. This is intended to be used for broadcasting in an alternate language, or for {{w|Descriptive Video Service}} to make a program accessible to the visually impaired. Many programs that don't actually use SAP will still broadcast an SAP that is identical to the primary program; however, this is not required. If your TV is configured to use SAP and a particular channel isn't broadcasting SAP at that time, there won't be any sound.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't Pokémon real?||Pokémon are fantasised creatures that were designed to produce an interesting battle mechanic in a game. Some of the pokémons abilities would be impossible on earth as we know it. For instance, Magcargo is hotter than the surface of the sun&lt;ref name=&quot;Bulbapedia Magcargo&quot;&gt; [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Magcargo#Trivia|Magcargo]]&lt;/ref&gt;.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't bullets sharp?||See {{w|Terminal ballistics}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do dreams seem so real?|| Most dreams occur during a stage known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement). During REM, your brain is highly active and its wave pattern is the same as the wave patterns in a person who is awake. It should be noted that dreams can occur during other stages of sleep but most dreams that are vivid occur during the REM stage.<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Three===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why do testicles move?|| The scrotum shrinks and expands to account for temperature changes. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there psychics?|| Psychics are humans who supposedly have supernatural abilities to know things. A better question would be to ask why do people suppose there are psychics.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are hats so expensive?|| Hats can be expensive depending on the quality of material, size, location, and demand. A probable answer is that hats are simply difficult to make, causing high prices. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there caffeine in my shampoo?|| Because the producers want you to believe that caffeine penetrates the hair roots and thereby somehow protects it from negative testosterone impacts and from premature hair loss. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do your boobs hurt?|| The most probable reason is that your bra doesn't fit correctly. It could also be a hormone imbalance or awkwardly shaped breasts.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Four===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't economists rich? || Economists study how laws of self-interest bring about an efficient allocation of resources. In order to become rich, one has to enter a market seeking profit by trading or producing goods or services.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do Americans call it soccer? || {{w|Association Football}} is called Soccer in the USA because {{w|American Football}} is the more popular version there.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are my ears ringing? || {{w|Tinnitus}}, or ringing of the ears, can result from stress, foreign objects in the ear, hearing damage, wax build up, or any other number of causes.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many Avengers? ||The number of Avengers has [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Avengers_members varied greatly] over the years and decades, each time with it's own justification for why they need to work together, but the simplest answer is money. Cross-branding and cross-merchandising is successful to the brand and brings in new readers, plus creates a new franchise to profit from. <br /> |-<br /> |Why are the Avengers fighting the X Men || {{w|Avengers vs. X-Men}} was a 2012 Marvel crossover event that, like many other recent comic book events, had heroes fight other heroes. In this case, the {{w|Avengers (comics)|Avengers}} and the {{w|X-Men}} fought over the {{w|Phoenix Force (comics)|Phoenix Force}}, a godlike power that often possesses {{w|Jean Grey}} or her descendants (in this case, her alternate universe daughter Hope Summers). The Avengers believed the Phoenix Force is too powerful for humanity to control and wanted to contain it, while the X-Men believed the Phoenix was the messiah for mutants and could fix all of the Earth's problems.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers || Wolverine ''has'' been an Avenger, in some circumstances. e.g. in the {{w|The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes}} cartoon series, the episode ''New Avengers'' had Wolverine (along with Spiderman, War Machine, The Thing and Luke Cage and Iron Fist) substitute while the 'original' Avengers were unavailable to deal with the current crisis (which of course included the fate of the 'proper' Avengers). However, in general his anti-authority personality makes him a difficult team-member to field, and he has frequently disassociated himself even from the X-Men. But, in Avengers vs. X-Men (see above) Wolverine ''sided'' with The Avengers, and more modern treatments have even included the character in about as much a permanent a membership of the group as Logan is ever likely to have.<br /> <br /> But if the question is about why Wolverine didn't appear in {{w|The Avengers (2012 film)|''The Avengers''}}, the answer is that ''The Avengers'' is being produced by Marvel/Disney, while Fox still has the rights to the X-Men and all Marvel mutants in general. Unless there is studio agreement, the two properties cannot cross, except through complicated machinations. For example, there are plans to bring Avengers mainstays Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch to both the ''Avengers'' and ''X-Men'' franchises, but only the Fox films have the right to call them the children of Magneto, and Marvel/Disney cannot even identify them on-screen as &quot;mutants&quot;.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Five===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there ants in my laptop? || Ants usually come in your laptop when there are little crumbs of food. It is advised to get screen protectors.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Earth tilted? || The Earth is not tilted. Axial tilt is just a result of conservation of momentum when the Earth was formed, because not everything orbits in the same way. It is pure happenstance that Earth's axis is not normal to its plane of orbit.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is space black? || What we call black is the absence of light. Space is mostly empty. Whe we look at a part of space where there is nothing that can reflect the stars' light, it consequently appears black to us.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is outer space so cold? || Space is not cold. There is no matter in space. However, most of space has very little radiation hitting it, so a person won't recieve any energy, but will still radiate some away, resulting in a net loss of energy, colloquially &quot;heat.&quot;<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there pyramids on the moon? || There are no pyramids on the moon.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is NASA shutting down? ||NASA isn't shutting down. This question might have something to do with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013 Government Shutdown of 2013] or perhaps due to the then-current shuttle program ending, but that is not the entirety of NASA.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section &lt;strike&gt;Spider&lt;/strike&gt; Six===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there tiny spiders in my house?<br /> |rowspan=&quot;6&quot;|During autumn in particular male spiders reaching maturing will set off to find a mate. By chance they may end up in your house. When encountering spiders in large numbers, it is more likely that they are young from the same female spider. Females lay {{w|Spider#Reproduction_and_life_cycle|up to 3,000}} eggs at a time.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do spiders come inside? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there huge spiders in my house? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there lots of spiders in my house? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there spiders in my room? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many spiders in my room? <br /> |-<br /> | Why do spider bites itch? ||This mostly happens as a immune response to [http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/why-do-mosquito-bites-itch histamines] under the skin which are injected through saliva.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is dying so scary? ||Part of human nature is the fear of the unknown, and death is the ultimate unknown because it is not knowable until it's experienced, and there is nobody to report what the result was. This leaves it open to speculation, and many major religions are based on preparing ones soul for death. Also, dying would leave loved ones families with the responsibility of taking care of their remains and finances. And finally, most people don't want to die, living for as long as possible, possibly because the unknown is too unbearable to cope with. Still though several people are not afraid of death and dying, and recognize life is short and to cherish each moment while we can. Death is inevitable, so we should not fear it. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there no GPS in laptops? ||It is not impossible for laptops to have a GPS, and some do. But there are [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/50907/are-there-gps-tracker-for-laptops design difficulties] that have to be overcome including battery draining, room within the crowded device to place a receiver, WiFi can give a location just as well, and the product casing could interfere with its ability to functional normally and receive the signals necessary to operate as intended. Some Dell computers have these, but the privacy one needs to give up to accept the terms and conditions makes it unfavorable. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do knees click? ||<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there E grades? ||E grades [http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/e-f-grading-scale/ actually exist] in some districts, but they are rare. In their long and bizarre history, E was originally used where F is today (E was the lowest grade), but in those systems, students often received E's for an &quot;Excellent&quot; grade, creating much confusion. F was used in place instead and E was eliminated from a standard grading scale. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is isolation bad? ||Isolation is when a person deliberately secludes themselves away from others, often far-removed from society. This can happen in locations as small as a city apartment and as large as the open woods. People evolved as social animals and it is generally held that those who isolate themselves suffer from depression or other forms of psychological imbalance. Of course society can trigger many of these imbalances causing an individual to isolate themselves. Isolation is often seen as therapeutic so people can spend time with themselves constructively, often finding peace within themselves and through mediation. Monks and hermits generally live in solitude as well. Many people view a decision to be isolated as noble, and others as healthy. While general interaction is largely healthy, in the crowded modern world, isolation is neither good or bad; it depends on the person and what that isolation does to them. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do boys like me? ||Attraction comes in many forms: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, among others. Many people will lie about what they like about you to get something else (money, sex, etc), but most are genuine. It is not possible to assert definitively why one person may like another person, and that is something that needs to be discussed openly and honestly with them and nobody else. <br /> |-<br /> | Why don't boys like me? ||Similar to the answer above about what makes one desirable to another, there are an equal number of factors that make one unappealing. This can include everything from physical appearance to how one treats others. If a person is rude and unfriendly, most people find that not-conducive to healthy relationship and avoid the person who is asking. Not being liked by someone you like however does not mean you're wrong or are a bad person and in most cases has to do with the person you are asking about. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there always a Java update? ||[https://www.java.com/en/download/faq/whatis_java.xml Java] is a software that runs on most computers and mobile devices that is crucial to its security and stability. The reason why it always updates is because it needs to stay current with the ever-upgrading fleet of browsers, operating systems and software that supports Java. Additionally Java updates itself so each version can run optimally. Software coding and debugging is a never-ending process towards perfectly stable releases. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there red dots on my thighs? ||<br /> |-<br /> | Why is lying good? ||Lying and other forms of dishonesty is typically seen as bad because it lowers one's credibility and makes them less likely to be trusted in the future. It is almost always advantageous to tell the truth, as lies have a way of escalating as you need to keep expanding on the lie to cover your tracks. There are instances however where lying may be used in more noble circumstances. For example, if a friend asks your opinion on something they have made (such as a poem or painting) that you do not like, it is okay to tell them you like it because protecting their feelings and your relationship is more important than how you feel. Often military personnel are trained to keep national security secrets at all costs and will lie about what they know to save themselves and the country.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Seven===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there slaves in the bible? ||Slavery was viewed differently in the early years of human civilization before the contemporary moral and ethical conversations began centuries later. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bible_and_slavery bible justified slavery] for a number of reasons, notably to pay off some sort of debt. Slaves were seen as property and their work provided value to the slave owner. Similarly slave owners rationalized their ownership through scripture, pointing out that it was in the Bible and therefore okay with God.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do twins have different fingerprints? || Fingerprints are not only from the DNA, but from the conditions in the womb which differ from child to child.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are Americans afraid of dragons? ||This question was the title of a [http://blogs.sfu.ca/courses/spring2012/engl387/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Why-are-Americans-Afraid-of-Dragons.docx 1974 essay] by Ursula K. LeGeuin in which she makes a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics semiotic] analysis of dragon mythology. She argues that our belief in dragons (and those outside of America as well) stems from childhood, much like other ferocious fictional creatures such as goblins and hobbits, but many hold onto these fears as a way of avoiding reality. In her closing argument, she writes, &quot;They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, all that is phony, unnecessary, and trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living. They are afraid of dragons, because they are afraid of freedom.&quot;<br /> |-<br /> | Why is HTTPS crossed out in red? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there a line through HTTPS? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook? || Facebook has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is HTTPS important? || For security reasons, as a site with HTTPS has encrypted traffic.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Eight===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there swarms of gnats? || The reason gnats (and other creatures) tend to swarm together is likely a safety-in-numbers protection, and as a big gathering to find a mate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there phlegm? ||{{w|Phlegm#Phlegm|Phlegm}} is a thick, viscous fluid produced by the mucus membranes as a way to clear the airway and aids in the release of bacteria, disease and debris in those passages. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN || From a Minnesota Paper, [http://www.startribune.com/local/138902104.html the Star Tribune], &quot;Laws prevent the city from poisoning the crows&quot;. &quot;Duffy [Steve Duffy, a co-owner of U.S. Bird Abatement Services, which has contracted with Rochester to get rid of the crows] isn't sure why Rochester has such a bad crow problem; probably a confluence of many bird-friendly conditions that has also made it a magnet for geese. He's seen worse cases, but called Rochester's situation 'hideous.'&quot; And best of all, &quot;The city has twice this winter hired experts to chase them off. They tried lasers and bullhorns — hey, get out of here, you crows — and even employed raptors to pick them off, one by one. That worked, for awhile.&quot; Unfortunately, they mean a {{w|bird of prey}}, not a {{w|velociraptor}}.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Psychic weak to Bug || In Pokémon, Pokémon of the psychic type like Mr. Mime are weak to three types of attacks: Ghost, Dark, and Bug. The general theory is that Psychic Pokémon, relying heavily on their thoughts for attacks, are weak to fears, which ghosts, darkness, and bugs can be classified as.<br /> |- <br /> | Why do children get cancer? ||{{w|Cancer}} is an aggressive and often fatal disease that has the potential to affect all humans as well as other organisms. There are multiple types of cancer, each with their own epidemiology, but children are not immune to succumbing to the horrific effects of the disease. Children are human beings and are subject to the same illnesses adults have, regardless of age, or their innocence. There is no divine or supernatural explanation for this. Simply put, life is a battle for all humans regardless of how small they are. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus? || {{w|Poseidon}} was the patron deity of the city of {{w|Troy}}, which after a 10 years siege by the Greeks fell due to {{w|Odysseus}}' list of the {{w|Trojan_Horse|Trojan horse}}. As the Greeks were returning home after the Trojan War, Oddyseus' ship accidentally landed on the island home of the cyclops Polyphemus, who imprisoned the crew and ate many of them. In order to escape, Odysseus blinded the cyclops. Poseidon, Polyphemus' father, was extremely angered by his son being blinded, so he cursed Odysseus' ship to prevent him from reaching his home in {{W|Ithaca}}. The adventures which Odysseus encountered during his quest for reaching Ithaca are the main theme of {{w|Homer|Homer's}} {{w|Odyssey}} The Odyssey also says that before sailing, the crew forgot to offer a sacrifice as was ordained.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there ice in space? || Space is {{w|Outer_space#Environment|Cold}}. The background radiation, which is used to measure the temperature of space's vacuum, is estimated at about 3K (−270 °C; −454 °F). Water freezes at 273.15 K (0ºC; 32ºF). Because the temperature in space is less than the freezing point of water, liquids freeze in space, turning into ice.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section &lt;strike&gt;Owl&lt;/strike&gt; Nine===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl in my back yard? || Owls can be seen all over the world, and live in a wide variety of habitats. They are mainly noctural, and spend a large portion of the night hunting. The owl in your back yard is likely looking for food.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl outside my window? || As with the question above, the owl is likely to be hunting for food. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl on the dollar bill? || On the front of a dollar bill, near the upper right '1' is a tiny section of the design which can be seen to represent an owl. Conspiracy theorists will note that owls were symbolically linked to the Masons, while others will instead see a spider.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do owls attack people? || While owls and human often live in close proximity without problems, as with other species, owls may attack if they feel threatened. When people irritate or otherwise make owls feel unsafe, they retaliate with violence to protect themselves.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are AK47s so expensive? || The market value of an AK47 varies depending on where in the world you live. With strict gun control laws, obtaining an AK47 in the UK is likely to be more expensive due to the risks involved for those supplying the weapon. In ex-soviet countries and the middle east, AK47s are more plentiful, and hence the price is likely to be lower.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there helicopters circling my house? ||This question is likely a joke because it is so incongruous to the others in this section. The joke is that people would be Googling about owls attacking people and assault rifle prices, which could, ostensibly alert authorities to come to your house to arrest you. If this is not the case, then the helicopter could be there for myriad reasons. <br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Ten===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there gods? ||All gods and goddesses man made and are part of ancient and fictional mythology and folklore that are used to give spiritual guidance and explanations for phenomenons that were yet unexplained by natural processes. Lightning for example was thought to be produced by Zeus, King of all Greek Gods. <br /> |-<br /> |Why are there two Spocks? || This is probably a reference to the {{w|Star_Trek_(film)|2009 Star Trek movie}} in which the franchise was given a {{w|Reboot_(fiction)|continuity reboot}}. The modified setting is explained in-universe by time travel, with both the villain Nero and the original-timeline Spock being brought back from the 24th century to the 23rd, creating a timeline in which both older Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) and the younger Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) coexist.<br /> <br /> Another possibility is that the question refers to the episode {{w|Mirror,_Mirror_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)|&quot;Mirror, Mirror&quot;}}, which mostly takes place in an alternate universe populated by ruthless versions of most of the characters (including Spock). <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Mt Vesuvius there? ||The simple answer is that volcanoes are created by interactions where the Earth's tectonic plates meet. These conditions only exist in a few places on Earth. &lt;p&gt;The question could also be asking, &quot;why is Mt Vesuvius near such a heavily populated area?&quot; Humans have lived near Vesuvius throughout history, due to its pleasant climate, rich soil, and proximity to other major cities. The Italian government [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jun/05/italy.sophiearie offers generous cash incentives] to move people away from the danger zone, but finds few takers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This question could also be a reference to mountaineer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory George Mallory]'s famous answer as to why he wanted to climb Mount Everest: &quot;Because it's there.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |-<br /> | Why do they say T minus? || Time before the launch of a spacecraft is denoted as T minus because the launch has not happened yet. Any time after the launched is stated without the minus, for example T 3 seconds, so time before the launch can be seen as &quot;minus&quot; time. The T stands for &quot;Test&quot; or &quot;Time&quot;.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there obelisks? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are wrestlers always wet? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are oceans becoming more acidic? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Arwen dying? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't my quail laying eggs? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't my quail eggs hatching? || <br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America? || ''Further information: {{w|United States military deployments}}''&lt;p&gt;This is a very interesting question, albeit one likely based on a regional misunderstanding. Presumably, this question is asked by Americans who assume that the existence of {{w|Category:Military facilities of the United States by country|U.S. military bases abroad}} is a general trend among countries, as opposed to being the rarity that it is. In fact, {{w|List of countries with overseas military bases|only a handful of other countries}} have military bases outside of their borders, and the three—{{w|France}}, the {{w|United Kingdom}}, and {{w|Russia}}—that have more than one or two are all countries that, like the United States, {{w|Allies of World War II|were on the winning side of World War II}}, have {{w|List of countries by military expenditures|massive military expenditures}}, and have {{w|United Nations Security Council veto power|UN Security Council vetoes}}. In other words, only the most militarily elite countries have bases overseas. The U.S. is unique, however, in that it has far more overseas bases than any other country (and, pretty much, far more of anything else than any other country, when it comes to the military), and in that {{w|List of United States military bases|it has bases in several other highly-industrialized nations}}, including {{w|List of United States Army installations in South Korea|South Korea}} and the United Kingdom, and, most notably, the World War II {{w|Axis powers}}: {{w|List of United States Army installations in Germany|Germany}}, {{w|United States Forces Japan|Japan}}, and {{w|List of United States Army installations in Italy|Italy}}. France, Russia, and the U.K.'s bases, on the other hand, are almost all within areas that they previously controlled.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These bases can be controversial in some countries, while in others they are a major source of economic and political stability. The U.S. traditionally justifies their presence as a necessary and crucial element in its efforts to promote peace domestically and worldwide. Despite their major role in {{w|U.S. foreign policy}}, and in the general political structure of the globe, the American public often largely ignores them, and they rarely become a major political issue (apart from an occasional mention by {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian presidential candidates}}).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, essentially, the absence of foreign military bases within the U.S. is primarily because there aren't really any other countries in a position to place bases there. Ironically, although no battles in the traditional sense have been fought within the U.S. since the {{w|U.S. Civil War}} and the U.S. mainland has seen {{w|Mainland invasion of the United States|almost no military action}}, foreign air force bases might have been useful on September 11, 2001. (The {{w|attack on Pearl Harbor}} in 1941 was 18 years before Hawaii became a U.S. state, but Hawaii was still a fundamental part of the United States as it was an incorporated territory.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are, however, foreign troops stationed at some continental US military bases. For example RAF (British Royal Air Force) 39 Sqn and 361 Sqn at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada flying Reaper and Predator drones. But this are not foreign military bases, they are just guests.&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Eleven===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are my boobs itchy? ||It could be anything from dry skin to a rare life-threatening disease. Could also be related to pregnancy, PMS, or puberty. [http://www.just-health.net/Itchy-Breast.html Here's a thorough list] of possible causes and remedies.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are cigarettes legal? ||Despite the obvious detrimental affects nicotine has on health, like caffeine and alcohol, it is easy to regulate. Substances like marijuana and other drugs are mainly illegal because the government and regulatory agencies have no control over their production and distribution and therefore cannot profit from it. Nicotine however, which is the key ingredient in tobacco can be regulated and taxed and is. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there ducks in my pool? ||Most likely, they're looking for a place to mate. Which means you'll soon have baby ducks in your pool. Most migratory birds are protected by wildlife laws, so you want to prevent them from moving into your pool in the first place. The [http://www.dfwwildlife.org/duck.html DFW Wildlife Coalition] has some tips.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Jesus white? ||This is an ethnocentric viewpoint that varies throughout cultures. In African cultures he is portrayed as black. In short, whatever culture he is introduced to, those inhabitants will have him fit their own image. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there liquid in my ear? ||[http://www.healthline.com/symptom/discharge-from-ear It's called otorrhea], and can be caused by infection, trauma, or changes in pressure. A common cause is [http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/swimmers-ear/basics/definition/con-20014723 Swimmer's ear], an infection of the outer ear canal.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do Q tips feel good? ||The inner ear contains [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erectile_tissue erectile tissue] (as does your inner nose which is why sneezing feels good) so you are massing tissue which gets aroused upon stimulation. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do good people die? ||Everybody dies, but loved ones and ones who were known to make memorable or valuable contributions are mourned and revered more than a person who has left much pain to others as their legacy; we remember the good ones and that's why it hurts more. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are ultrasounds important? ||Ultrasound scans provide a great deal of information about a fetus, thus increasing the chances of a healthy birth. They have many other medical uses.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are ultrasound machines expensive? ||As hospital equipment goes, ultrasound machines are actually a bargain. [http://www.costowl.com/healthcare/healthcare-ultrasound-machine-costs.html A new ultrasound machine] costs about $20,000-$75,000, depending on features. Comparable devices are much more expensive: The [http://info.blockimaging.com/bid/84432/CT-Scanner-Price-Guide CT scanner] runs $90,000-$250,000, while the [http://www.ehow.com/about_4731161_much-do-mri-machines-cost.html MRI machine] easily goes over a million.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is stealing wrong? ||Stealing is theft and it is illegal. Taking something that is not yours without permission or payment hurts the livelihood of other individuals as well as damages their trust in others. <br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Vertical Questions===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there hell if god forgives? ||There is not a single answer to this question. The answer varies based on the religion and that religion's sect mixed with personal interpretations of that religions scripture and how a person decides to follow it. However the idea of what Hell will be like also varies. There is no one answer to this question, but the easiest explanation is that the individual did not pray hard enough, correctly, was not part of the right religion, and their forgiveness was contingent on something that the person either did not do or know to do (or say or think) <br /> |-<br /> | Why do iguanas die? ||All living things die, but iguanas may suffer from [http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/kidneyfailure.html kidney failure].<br /> |-<br /> | Why is GPS free? || GPS was originally developed by the U.S. military for its own use, not for commercial purposes. Once the satellites were launched and service began, anyone could receive the signals. Because it is a one-way transmission, there is no incremental cost to provide service to more users, and no practical way to prevent use without payment.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are trees tall? ||Tall is a relative term, and Redwoods are famous for their height - among the tallest in the world. The reason for this is, in part [http://www.nps.gov/redw/faqs.htm climate, fog, rain, good soil, few predators, among others].<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there female Mr. Mimes? || {{w|Mr. Mime}} is a Pokémon introduced in the first generation of the games, and despite its name, it can be either of a male or female gender. As the Pokémon was introduced before the concept of [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gender gender in Pokémon games], it is likely that the people in charge of translating its Japanese name (Barrierd) did not take this into account during the process.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there lava? ||Lava is simply magma (molten rock) which has been ejected from volcanoes. Once it is flowing on land, it is called lava. Magma is heated by the earth's core to create a liquid surface under earth's crust that the land floats on. Sometimes it has to come out through faults and fissures (and volcanoes).<br /> |-<br /> | Why is YKK on a zippers? || YKK Group is the name of a large group of Japanese manufacturing companies, which among other things manufacture a lot of zippers.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is life so boring? ||It is up to an individual to find meaning and interest in life. Monotony, predictability and lack of physical and intellectual stimulation would lead to a feeling of boredom. <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts? ||Ghosts are a supernatural phenomenon that have not been empirically proven to exist. Those who believe in ghosts implicitly believe in a soul (of which a ghost is a materialization of), and it is a commonly held belief by religious institutions and ghost-hunters that animals do not have souls and thus dinosaurs would not have any either. <br /> |-<br /> |Why is there no king in England? || ''Note: For simplicity's sake, &quot;England&quot; here is being read as &quot;United Kingdom.&quot; The various name changes, mergers, and splits of kingdoms are complicated.''&lt;p&gt;The basis for this question is that for the past several hundred years, there has almost always been a queen in England, the sole exceptions being when the king has not had a wife. However, there is a distinction between being the queen of England (that is to say, {{w|List of British monarchs|a monarch}}) and being the {{w|queen consort|queen ''consort''}} of England: The former refers to a woman who {{w|Succession to the British throne|succeeded to the throne}} in her own right, becoming sovereign, while the latter refers to the wife of the king. Both roles, though, are commonly referred to as &quot;Queen of England,&quot; creating the impression that there is always such a person. The logical question, therefore, is why {{w|Elizabeth II}}'s husband, {{w|Prince Philip|Philip}}, is not considered the king of England. The answer lies in Britain's system of {{w|male-preference cognatic primogeniture}}, which causes the monarch of England to usually be a man, not a woman. As a result of this, British laws were generally built around the presumption that the monarch would be a man, and that said man would be married to a woman, [[223: Valentine's Day|comic 223]] be damned. Since the creation of the modern British throne in 1707, only two women have reigned as queen in their own right; it just so happens that these two women have been two of the most famous and longest-reigning monarchs in world history, {{w|Queen Victoria}} and Queen Elizabeth II. This fact may add to people's enhanced perception of the lack of a British king. Victoria and Elizabeth's respective consorts, {{w|Albert, Prince Consort|Albert}} and Philip, have been styled as princes&amp;mdash;Albert as {{w|Prince Consort}} and Philip as &quot;{{w|British prince|Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}}.&quot; Both were explicitly granted their titles by their wives, though Albert was already a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Philip had previously been a prince of Denmark and Greece, but had renounced both titles before marrying Elizabeth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The title {{w|king consort}} also exists, but has never been used in the United Kingdom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Notably, should {{w|Prince Charles}} succeed to his mother's throne, it has been announced that his wife, {{w|Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall|Camilla}}, will be styled as {{w|princess consort}}, ''not'' as queen consort, just as she has declined the title {{w|Princess of Wales}}, which is strongly associated with Charles's first wife, {{w|Princess Diana|Diana}}. Assuming that Charles succeeds, this means that Britain will not have anyone referred to as &quot;queen,&quot; after decades of not having anyone referred to as &quot;king.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |-<br /> | Why do I feel dizzy? ||Balance is achieved from fluids in the inner-ear, but [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizziness#Epidemiology dizziness] can have nearly a dozen causes.]<br /> |-<br /> | Why are dogs afraid of fireworks? ||Loud noises can trigger their flight or fight responses when they are [http://www.cesarsway.com/dogbehavior/hyperdog/How-to-Keep-Your-Dog-Safe-and-Calm-During-Fireworks nervous].<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there weeks? || Weeks were originally important for religious reasons, primarily the requirement to observe a sabbath (day of rest) every seventh day. Today it is used to evenly divide months into equal pieces, much like the months divide a year. Similarly, hours and minutes divide a day.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> &lt;references/&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[This strip is a rectangular word cloud, titled 'Questions found in Google autocomplete'. Embedded in the cloud are 5 single panels, with illustrated questions. These are described at the end. Questions are given in roughly columnar order. None of the questions have question marks.]<br /> <br /> :Questions found in Google Autocomplete<br /> <br /> :Why do whales jump<br /> :Why are witches green<br /> :Why are there mirrors above beds<br /> :Why do I say uh<br /> :Why is sea salt better<br /> :Why are there trees in the middle of fields<br /> :Why is there not a Pokemon MMO<br /> :Why is there laughing in TV shows<br /> :Why are there doors on the freeway<br /> :Why are there so many svchost.exe running<br /> :Why aren't there any countries in antarctica<br /> :Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft<br /> :Why is there kicking in my stomach<br /> :Why are there two slashes after HTTP<br /> :Why are there celebrities<br /> :Why do snakes exist<br /> :Why do oysters have pearls<br /> :Why are ducks called ducks<br /> :Why do they call it the clap<br /> :Why are Kyle and Cartman friends<br /> :Why is there an arraow on Aang's head<br /> :Why are text messages blue<br /> :Why are there mustaches on clothes<br /> :Why are there mustaches on cars<br /> :Why are there mustaches everywhere<br /> :Why are there so many birds in Ohio<br /> :Why is there so much rain in Ohio<br /> :Why is Ohio weather so weird<br /> :Why are there male and female bikes<br /> :Why are there bridesmaids<br /> :Why do dying people reach up<br /> :Why aren't there varicose arteries<br /> :Why are old Klingons different<br /> :Why is programming so hard<br /> :Why is there a 0 ohm resistor<br /> :Why do Americans hate soccer<br /> :Why do rhymes sound good<br /> :Why do trees die<br /> :Why is there no sound on CNN<br /> :Why aren't Pokemon real<br /> :Why aren't bullets sharp<br /> :Why do dreams seem so real<br /> :Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts<br /> :Why do iguanas die<br /> :Why do testicles move<br /> :Why are there psychics<br /> :Why are hats so expensive<br /> :Why is there caffeine in my shampoo<br /> :Why do your boobs hurt<br /> :Why aren't economists rich<br /> :Why do Americans call it soccer<br /> :Why are my ears ringing<br /> :Why are there so many Avengers<br /> :Why are the Avengers fighting the X men<br /> :Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers<br /> :Why are there ants in my laptop<br /> :Why is Earth tilted<br /> :Why is space black<br /> :Why is outer space so cold<br /> :Why are there pyramids on the moon<br /> :Why is NASA shutting down<br /> :Why is there Hell if God forgives<br /> :Why are there tiny spiders in my house<br /> :Why do spiders come inside<br /> :Why are there huge spiders in my house<br /> :Why are there lots of spiders in my house<br /> :Why are there spiders in my room<br /> :Why are there so many spiders in my room<br /> :Why do spider bites itch<br /> :Why is dying so scary<br /> :Why is there no GPS in laptops<br /> :Why do knees click<br /> :Why aren't there E grades<br /> :Why is isolation bad<br /> :Why do boys like me<br /> :Why don't boys like me<br /> :Why is there always a Java update<br /> :Why are there red dots on my thighs<br /> :Why is lying good<br /> :Why is GPS free<br /> :Why are trees tall<br /> :Why are there slaves in the Bible<br /> :Why do twins have different fingerprints<br /> :Why are Americans afraid of dragons<br /> :Why is there lava<br /> :Why are there swarms of gnats<br /> :Why is there phlegm<br /> :Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN<br /> :Why is psychic weak to bug<br /> :Why do children get cancer<br /> :Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus<br /> :Why is there ice in space<br /> :Why are there female Mr Mimes<br /> :Why is there an owl in my backyard<br /> :Why is there an owl outside my window<br /> :Why is there an owl on the dollar bill<br /> :Why do owls attack people<br /> :Why are AK47s so expensive<br /> :Why are there helicopters circling my house<br /> :Why are there gods<br /> :Why are there two Spocks<br /> :Why is Mt Vesuvius there<br /> :Why do they say T minus<br /> :Why are there obelisks<br /> :Why are wrestlers always wet<br /> :Why are oceans becoming more acidic<br /> :Why is Arwen dying<br /> :Why aren't my quail laying eggs<br /> :Why aren't my quail eggs hatching<br /> :Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America<br /> :Why is life so boring<br /> :Why are my boobs itchy<br /> :Why are cigarettes legal<br /> :Why are there ducks in my pool<br /> :Why is Jesus white<br /> :Why is there liquid in my ear<br /> :Why do Q tips feel good<br /> :Why do good people die<br /> :Why are ultrasounds important<br /> :Why are ultrasound machines expensive<br /> :Why is stealing wrong<br /> :Why is YKK on all zippers<br /> :Why is HTTPS crossed out in red<br /> :Why is there a line through HTTPS<br /> :Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook<br /> :Why is HTTPS important<br /> :Why are there weeks<br /> :Why do I feel dizzy<br /> :Why are dogs afraid of fireworks<br /> :Why is there no king in England<br /> <br /> :[We see Cueball from the torso up, with arms outstretched.]<br /> :Cueball: Why aren't my arms growing<br /> <br /> :[Megan stands with a grey ghost on either side of her.]<br /> :Megan: Why are there ghosts<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy stands, looking at a squirrel.]<br /> :Beret Guy: Why are there squirrels<br /> <br /> :[Cueball stands.]<br /> :Cueball: Why is sex so important.<br /> <br /> :[We see Ponytail from the torso up.]<br /> :Ponytail: Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br /> [[Category:Large drawings]]<br /> [[Category:LOTR]]<br /> [[Category:Pokémon]]<br /> [[Category:Google Search]]</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1256:_Questions&diff=84113 2015-02-05T04:09:04Z

<p>108.162.221.171: /* Section Eleven */ answered liquid ear question</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1256<br /> | date = August 26, 2013<br /> | title = Questions<br /> | image = questions.png<br /> | titletext = To whoever typed 'why is arwen dying': GOOD. FUCKING. QUESTION.<br /> }}<br /> A larger version of the picture can be found [http://xkcd.com/1256/large/ here]<br /> .<br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Many questions unanswered.}}<br /> {{w|Google}}, a rather popular internet search engine, has a feature known as [https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/106230?hl=en autocomplete] that guesses at search queries before they are fully typed out. These guesses are generally made based on popular searches by other people. From time to time, a particularly strange or hilarious one may be found, as is evidenced in this comic.<br /> <br /> The largest pictured questions are: &quot;Why are there slaves in the bible&quot; and &quot;Why are there ants in my laptop&quot;.<br /> <br /> All of the questions in the comic are &quot;why&quot; questions, so many of them are predicated on false assumptions, such as &quot;Why are there pyramids on the moon&quot;.<br /> <br /> Regarding the title text: in the Peter Jackson films of {{w|The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy}}, Arwen becomes sickly for unspecified reasons as the plot advances, apparently giving Aragorn a more personal reason to fight. The only explanation given is by Elrond, who says &quot;As Sauron's power grows, her [Arwen's] strength wanes.&quot; This subplot is entirely absent from the {{w|The Lord of the Rings|original novels}}.<br /> <br /> From [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/faq#.2.1.21 IMDB]: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;<br /> Arwen, like her father (and brothers) is considered to be a Half-Elf, the result of a union between an Elf and a mortal human. The Half-Elven of Middle-earth get a choice, to remain immortal and return to the West (Valinor) or to become mortal and to die as humans do. Elrond chose to remain an Elf. Arwen (like her uncle Elros) chooses to become mortal in order to wed and remain with Aragorn. Elrond senses this; this is what he means when he says that Arwen is dying. It is the same as in The Last Unicorn, when the unicorn is given the form of a human woman and can feel that she is no longer immortal (&quot;I can feel this body dying all around me&quot;). According to Tolkien, though, after Aragorn dies in the year 120 (Fourth Age), Arwen returns to Lórien, where she dies by choice the following winter. &lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Selected answers==<br /> The tables below have been created so as to split the comic into almost entirely arbitrary blocks, which have then been identified with similarly arbitrary numbers. As a general rule, section numbers work top to bottom, then right to left.<br /> ===Illustrated Panels===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't my arms growing?||Arms stop growing because longer arms would not be a very useful way to spend resources. Human DNA has programmed the body to gradually ossify the growing arms and legs, closing the epiphyseal plate, at which point these extremities stop growing.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there ghosts?||There is no hard evidence of ghosts.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there squirrels?||Squirrels exist because they fit their biological niche better than any other species.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is sex so important?||Sex is important because it is the primary method of reproduction in many different species.<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter? || In the {{w|Harry Potter}} universe, Muggle technology (human inventions) are often looked down on by wizards - the majority of half-blooded wizards like Harry won't touch one, let alone a wizard extremist like {{w|Voldemort}}. Not only does any Muggle device more complex than a wristwatch interfere with magical artifacts, but wands are usually more versatile than most guns; a revolver can't shoot lightning or summon items or teleport its user. Finally, while Harry himself may or may not consider using firearms due to his Muggle upbringing, ''Harry Potter'' is a series of children's books (which usually don't include guns) set in the United Kingdom (which has stricter gun laws than, say, the United States).<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section One===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why do whales jump? || To the whale, it's like going into outer space!<br /> |-<br /> |Why are witches green? || See {{w|Wizard of Oz}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mirrors above beds?|| Often, these are used by couples to view themselves during coitus.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do I say Uh?||See ''[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/06/the_odd_body_language_fillers/ Why do we say 'um', 'er', or 'ah' when we hesitate in speaking?]''.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is sea salt better? || The question likely refers to the difference between common {{w|Fortified table salt}} and usually more expensive sea salt. While the major part of both of these is sodium chloride (NaCl) the idea behind the claim is the different composition mostly in regards to trace elements of sea salt compared to &quot;normal&quot; salt. Table salt's composition is often influenced by a country's health department and thus addition of trace elements is regulated. While these regulations are based on scientific studies there remain to be debates concerning the additions, such as iodine.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there trees in the middle of fields? || Many images of fields contain singular trees in the middle of them. While there exist such trees it is likely an artistic choice to give a more pleasing or aesthetically satisfying image compared to just a field. In modern agriculture those would in fact be quite troublesome since they are a hindrance to large machines used and a new tree would be unlikely to grow in a constantly worked field.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there not a Pokémon MMO? || {{w|Pokémon}} is a popular franchise, spanning game consoles, anime series, a trading card game, and many other things. Among fans, it is a frequent topic of discussion why a Pokémon {{w|massively multiplayer online game}} has not been officially announced by the series' developers {{w|Game Freak}}, as they often [http://www.dorkly.com/comic/52546/be-careful-what-you-wish-for predict] that such a game would be extremely popular, and bring in massive revenue for the company. However, if Game Freak were to develop a Pokémon MMO the MMOs would be strong competition against the console games and therefore reducing the Pokémon demographic significantly.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there laughing in TV shows? || Sitcoms were once filmed with an audience, so the actors could respond to their reactions. That's the historical reason why there were laughs in TV shows. The tradition continues, with the difference that now the laughter mostly comes from recorded tapes. See {{w|Laugh track}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there doors on the freeway?|| Highway/freeway {{w|noise barrier|noise barriers}} sometimes have doors in them to allow workers access to both sides of the barrier.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there so many svchost.exe running?||See {{w|svchost.exe}}.<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there any countries in Antarctica? || {{w|Antarctica}} is the southern most continent and is by large covered in ice and in general pretty cold. While it is a regular target of tourists and researchers it also lacks native human inhabitants. At the moment, the territorial claims concerning Antarctica are mostly handled via the {{w|Antarctic Treaty System}}. In short there are a few countries who claim certain parts of the continent as their own in theory but so far it is considered neutral territory and most maps don't concern themselves with displaying the (in some regards disputed) territorial claims because they do not matter at this point in time. If there are ever any worthwhile resources discovered, this might change.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft?|| To add atmosphere and to give players hints when there is a dark cave nearby. See [http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Ambience Minecraft Wiki].<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there kicking in my stomach?||See ''[http://www.webmd.com/baby/fetal-movement-feeling-baby-kick Feeling Your Baby Kick]''. Here, ''stomach'' means ''abdomen''.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there two slashes after http?||See ''[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1220286/Sir-Tim-Berners-Lee-admits-forward-slashes-web-address-mistake.html Sir Tim Berners-Lee admits the forward slashes in every web address 'were a mistake']''.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there celebrities?||There are certain people who are more respected and well-known than other people, whether it be because of their acting career, major advancements to science, or a sex tape.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do snakes exist?|| The question is rather general and likely based on a widespread dislike for the reptilians. Be it due to their appearance, their spread, or the danger a few snakes pose to humans (often due to being venomous) many people have a dislike for snakes and would prefer them to not exist (similar to spiders).<br /> In regards to &quot;why do snakes exist on earth?&quot;: Because evolution. Snakes fill a gap in the ecosystem as predators and hunt different species, including vermin. Snakes are in that regard similar to many other predatory animals. The question on why snakes developed with their distinct streamlined shape is still debated but {{w|snakes|likely it either provided an advantage when burrowing or swimming}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do oysters have pearls?||{{w|Creation of a pearl|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;Pearls are formed inside the shell of certain mollusks as a defense mechanism against a potentially threatening irritant such as a parasite inside the shell, or an attack from outside, injuring the mantle tissue. The mollusk creates a pearl sac to seal off the irritation. Pearls are commonly viewed by scientists as a by-product of an adaptive immune system-like function.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why are ducks called ducks?||See {{w|Duck#Etymology}}. {{W|wikt:duck|According to Wiktionary}}, the noun ''duck'' can be traced back to the {{w|Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic}} word {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/dūkaną|''dūkaną''}} (&quot;to dive, bend down&quot;), and, in turn, the {{w|Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European}} {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Indo-European/dʰewb-|''dʰewb-''}} (&quot;deep, hollow&quot;), which is the origin of the verb ''to duck''. The link between the noun and the verb comes from ducks' tendency to dive under water for short periods of time.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do they call it the clap?||An old folk remedy for {{w|gonorrhea}} was to clap on the sides of the penis.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are Kyle and Cartman friends?|| The question relates to the TV show {{w|South Park}}. Both are children living in the small titular town in Colorado. Cartman is widely accepted to a be very bad person, one of his many character flaws being his antisemitism. Kyle on the other hand is a Jew. However, both, along with two other kids, Stan and Kenny, are the core focus of the show (or used to be) and to some extent are considered to be friends. While there are episodes which show Cartman being not entirely a horrible person and him holding Kyle in a position of at least a worthy adversary, most of the time the question should be &quot;Why is anyone friends with Cartman?&quot; However, they most likely remain &quot;friends&quot; because they are in the same class at school and are therefore &quot;forced&quot; to be around one another.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there an arrow on Aang's head?||{{w|Avatar: The Last Airbender#Characters|Aang}} is the main character of the TV series {{w|Avatar the last Airbender|Avatar - The last Airbender}} and features as part of a large body spanning tattoo an arrow on his head. These tattoos are made to replicate the markings of one of the shows fictional animals, the air bison which are regarded as the original air benders. They are given to human air benders once they attain the status of masters. Because Aang acquired this status very early in life he was already tattooed accordingly.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are text messages blue?||This likely refers to imessage chat being blue. These messages are blue when sending a message to another apple device.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches on clothes?||Because some people buy them. Mustaches, especially handlebar-style mustaches, were a popular fad at the time of this comic.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches on cars?||Fuzzy pink mustaches are used to designate cars in the {{w|Lyft}} service.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches everywhere?||See {{w|Movember}}<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there so many birds in Ohio?||There are an estimated [http://oh.audubon.org/bsc/SOTB.html 400 bird species] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Ohio Ohio], but there are [http://www.jstor.org/discover/2419997sid=21104910103541&amp;uid=4&amp;uid=3739776&amp;uid=2&amp;uid=3739256 2.74 nesting pairs per acre].<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there so much rain in Ohio?|| {{w|lake_effect|Lake-effect}} rain develops in the same manner as lake-effect snow.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is Ohio weather so weird?||See {{w|Lake-effect snow}}.<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Two===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there male and female bikes? || {{w|bicycle|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;Historically, women's bicycle frames had a top tube that connected in the middle of the seat tube instead of the top, resulting in a lower {{w|Frame geometry|standover height}} at the expense of compromised structural integrity, since this places a strong bending load in the seat tube, and bicycle frame members are typically weak in bending. This design, referred to as a '''''{{w|step-through frame}}''''' or as an ''open frame'', allows the rider to mount and dismount in a dignified way while wearing a skirt or dress.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there bridesmaids?||See {{w|Bridesmaid#Origin and history}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do dying people reach up?|| In many works of fiction dying people are regarded with an outstretched arm, grasping for unseen objects towards the sky. In all likelihood this originates in the idea of heaven as the place where (good) people go after death. People &quot;reach for the light&quot; which is seen when dying according to similar beliefs or possibly for already dead relatives or other associated people waiting for them. An alternative hypothesis is that they want to hug/touch their loved ones one last time.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't there varicose arteries?||Blood moves through veins due to irregular pressure from skeletal muscles combined with valves to control direction. In varicose veins these valves malfunction affecting blood flow. In arteries blood flow is produced directly from pressure caused by the heart.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are old Klingons different?|| {{w|Klingon Redesign|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;For {{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}} (1979), the Klingons were retconned and their appearance and behavior radically changed. To give the aliens a more sophisticated and threatening demeanor, the Klingons were depicted with ridged foreheads, snaggled and prominent teeth, and a defined language and alphabet. Lee Cole, a production designer, used red gels and primitive shapes in the design of Klingon consoles and ship interiors, which took on a dark and moody atmosphere. The alphabet was designed as angular, with sharp edges harkening to the Klingon's militaristic focus.[5] Costume designer Robert Fletcher created new uniforms for the Klingons, reminiscent of feudal Japanese armor.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why is programming so hard?||Programming is the art of writing instructions for a computer to do. Since the computer has a limited set of instructions for you to use it involves a new way of thinking for many. It is also hard because the computer itself is not smart or adaptable to unexpected problems. For instance when a human is told to sort books in a shelf, he or she can do that despite there might be things in the way (he or she will just move it to the side). A computer generally just crash if it doesn't have instructions on how to deal with the unexcepted problem.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there a 0 Ohm resistor?|| A resistor is usually designed to create a certain resistance, measured in {{w|Ohm}} in an electronic device. A 0 Ohm resistor seems pointless as it would only provide the same resistance as a normal cable. However, Wikipedia's {{w|Zero-ohm link}} article gives sufficient explanation.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do Americans hate soccer? || Soccer, or football in British English, is rather unpopular in the USA compared to most other regions of the world. Finding a particular reason behind the (dis)like for certain sports, apart from cultural spread, is difficult. One possible explanation is soccer's tendency to have far fewer points scored in an average game and a higher likelihood of draws compared to such things as American Football, basketball or baseball, which are far more popular. In how far this is a legitimate argument for regarding soccer as &quot;less interesting&quot; is up to debate.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do rhymes sound good?||The brain enjoys repetition especially in music.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do trees die?||Some common reasons include lack of water, lack of nitrogen in the soil and being chopped down.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there no sound on CNN?||Some stations broadcast a {{w|second audio program}}, an alternative sound track that your TV can be configured to use instead of the primary program. This is intended to be used for broadcasting in an alternate language, or for {{w|Descriptive Video Service}} to make a program accessible to the visually impaired. Many programs that don't actually use SAP will still broadcast an SAP that is identical to the primary program; however, this is not required. If your TV is configured to use SAP and a particular channel isn't broadcasting SAP at that time, there won't be any sound.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't Pokémon real?||Pokémon are fantasised creatures that were designed to produce an interesting battle mechanic in a game. Some of the pokémons abilities would be impossible on earth as we know it. For instance, Magcargo is hotter than the surface of the sun&lt;ref name=&quot;Bulbapedia Magcargo&quot;&gt; [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Magcargo#Trivia|Magcargo]]&lt;/ref&gt;.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't bullets sharp?||See {{w|Terminal ballistics}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do dreams seem so real?|| Most dreams occur during a stage known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement). During REM, your brain is highly active and its wave pattern is the same as the wave patterns in a person who is awake. It should be noted that dreams can occur during other stages of sleep but most dreams that are vivid occur during the REM stage.<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Three===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why do testicles move?|| The scrotum shrinks and expands to account for temperature changes. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there psychics?|| Psychics are humans who supposedly have supernatural abilities to know things. A better question would be to ask why do people suppose there are psychics.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are hats so expensive?|| Hats can be expensive depending on the quality of material, size, location, and demand. A probable answer is that hats are simply difficult to make, causing high prices. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there caffeine in my shampoo?|| Because the producers want you to believe that caffeine penetrates the hair roots and thereby somehow protects it from negative testosterone impacts and from premature hair loss. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do your boobs hurt?|| The most probable reason is that your bra doesn't fit correctly. It could also be a hormone imbalance or awkwardly shaped breasts.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Four===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't economists rich? || Economists study how laws of self-interest bring about an efficient allocation of resources. In order to become rich, one has to enter a market seeking profit by trading or producing goods or services.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do Americans call it soccer? || {{w|Association Football}} is called Soccer in the USA because {{w|American Football}} is the more popular version there.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are my ears ringing? || {{w|Tinnitus}}, or ringing of the ears, can result from stress, foreign objects in the ear, hearing damage, wax build up, or any other number of causes.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many Avengers? ||The number of Avengers has [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Avengers_members varied greatly] over the years and decades, each time with it's own justification for why they need to work together, but the simplest answer is money. Cross-branding and cross-merchandising is successful to the brand and brings in new readers, plus creates a new franchise to profit from. <br /> |-<br /> |Why are the Avengers fighting the X Men || {{w|Avengers vs. X-Men}} was a 2012 Marvel crossover event that, like many other recent comic book events, had heroes fight other heroes. In this case, the {{w|Avengers (comics)|Avengers}} and the {{w|X-Men}} fought over the {{w|Phoenix Force (comics)|Phoenix Force}}, a godlike power that often possesses {{w|Jean Grey}} or her descendants (in this case, her alternate universe daughter Hope Summers). The Avengers believed the Phoenix Force is too powerful for humanity to control and wanted to contain it, while the X-Men believed the Phoenix was the messiah for mutants and could fix all of the Earth's problems.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers || Wolverine ''has'' been an Avenger, in some circumstances. e.g. in the {{w|The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes}} cartoon series, the episode ''New Avengers'' had Wolverine (along with Spiderman, War Machine, The Thing and Luke Cage and Iron Fist) substitute while the 'original' Avengers were unavailable to deal with the current crisis (which of course included the fate of the 'proper' Avengers). However, in general his anti-authority personality makes him a difficult team-member to field, and he has frequently disassociated himself even from the X-Men. But, in Avengers vs. X-Men (see above) Wolverine ''sided'' with The Avengers, and more modern treatments have even included the character in about as much a permanent a membership of the group as Logan is ever likely to have.<br /> <br /> But if the question is about why Wolverine didn't appear in {{w|The Avengers (2012 film)|''The Avengers''}}, the answer is that ''The Avengers'' is being produced by Marvel/Disney, while Fox still has the rights to the X-Men and all Marvel mutants in general. Unless there is studio agreement, the two properties cannot cross, except through complicated machinations. For example, there are plans to bring Avengers mainstays Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch to both the ''Avengers'' and ''X-Men'' franchises, but only the Fox films have the right to call them the children of Magneto, and Marvel/Disney cannot even identify them on-screen as &quot;mutants&quot;.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Five===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there ants in my laptop? || Ants usually come in your laptop when there are little crumbs of food. It is advised to get screen protectors.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Earth tilted? || The Earth is not tilted. Axial tilt is just a result of conservation of momentum when the Earth was formed, because not everything orbits in the same way. It is pure happenstance that Earth's axis is not normal to its plane of orbit.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is space black? || What we call black is the absence of light. Space is mostly empty. Whe we look at a part of space where there is nothing that can reflect the stars' light, it consequently appears black to us.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is outer space so cold? || Space is not cold. There is no matter in space. However, most of space has very little radiation hitting it, so a person won't recieve any energy, but will still radiate some away, resulting in a net loss of energy, colloquially &quot;heat.&quot;<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there pyramids on the moon? || There are no pyramids on the moon.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is NASA shutting down? ||NASA isn't shutting down. This question might have something to do with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013 Government Shutdown of 2013] or perhaps due to the then-current shuttle program ending, but that is not the entirety of NASA.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section &lt;strike&gt;Spider&lt;/strike&gt; Six===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there tiny spiders in my house?<br /> |rowspan=&quot;6&quot;|During autumn in particular male spiders reaching maturing will set off to find a mate. By chance they may end up in your house. When encountering spiders in large numbers, it is more likely that they are young from the same female spider. Females lay {{w|Spider#Reproduction_and_life_cycle|up to 3,000}} eggs at a time.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do spiders come inside? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there huge spiders in my house? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there lots of spiders in my house? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there spiders in my room? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many spiders in my room? <br /> |-<br /> | Why do spider bites itch? ||This mostly happens as a immune response to [http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/why-do-mosquito-bites-itch histamines] under the skin which are injected through saliva.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is dying so scary? ||Part of human nature is the fear of the unknown, and death is the ultimate unknown because it is not knowable until it's experienced, and there is nobody to report what the result was. This leaves it open to speculation, and many major religions are based on preparing ones soul for death. Also, dying would leave loved ones families with the responsibility of taking care of their remains and finances. And finally, most people don't want to die, living for as long as possible, possibly because the unknown is too unbearable to cope with. Still though several people are not afraid of death and dying, and recognize life is short and to cherish each moment while we can. Death is inevitable, so we should not fear it. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there no GPS in laptops? ||It is not impossible for laptops to have a GPS, and some do. But there are [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/50907/are-there-gps-tracker-for-laptops design difficulties] that have to be overcome including battery draining, room within the crowded device to place a receiver, WiFi can give a location just as well, and the product casing could interfere with its ability to functional normally and receive the signals necessary to operate as intended. Some Dell computers have these, but the privacy one needs to give up to accept the terms and conditions makes it unfavorable. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do knees click? ||<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there E grades? ||E grades [http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/e-f-grading-scale/ actually exist] in some districts, but they are rare. In their long and bizarre history, E was originally used where F is today (E was the lowest grade), but in those systems, students often received E's for an &quot;Excellent&quot; grade, creating much confusion. F was used in place instead and E was eliminated from a standard grading scale. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is isolation bad? ||Isolation is when a person deliberately secludes themselves away from others, often far-removed from society. This can happen in locations as small as a city apartment and as large as the open woods. People evolved as social animals and it is generally held that those who isolate themselves suffer from depression or other forms of psychological imbalance. Of course society can trigger many of these imbalances causing an individual to isolate themselves. Isolation is often seen as therapeutic so people can spend time with themselves constructively, often finding peace within themselves and through mediation. Monks and hermits generally live in solitude as well. Many people view a decision to be isolated as noble, and others as healthy. While general interaction is largely healthy, in the crowded modern world, isolation is neither good or bad; it depends on the person and what that isolation does to them. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do boys like me? ||Attraction comes in many forms: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, among others. Many people will lie about what they like about you to get something else (money, sex, etc), but most are genuine. It is not possible to assert definitively why one person may like another person, and that is something that needs to be discussed openly and honestly with them and nobody else. <br /> |-<br /> | Why don't boys like me? ||Similar to the answer above about what makes one desirable to another, there are an equal number of factors that make one unappealing. This can include everything from physical appearance to how one treats others. If a person is rude and unfriendly, most people find that not-conducive to healthy relationship and avoid the person who is asking. Not being liked by someone you like however does not mean you're wrong or are a bad person and in most cases has to do with the person you are asking about. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there always a Java update? ||[https://www.java.com/en/download/faq/whatis_java.xml Java] is a software that runs on most computers and mobile devices that is crucial to its security and stability. The reason why it always updates is because it needs to stay current with the ever-upgrading fleet of browsers, operating systems and software that supports Java. Additionally Java updates itself so each version can run optimally. Software coding and debugging is a never-ending process towards perfectly stable releases. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there red dots on my thighs? ||<br /> |-<br /> | Why is lying good? ||Lying and other forms of dishonesty is typically seen as bad because it lowers one's credibility and makes them less likely to be trusted in the future. It is almost always advantageous to tell the truth, as lies have a way of escalating as you need to keep expanding on the lie to cover your tracks. There are instances however where lying may be used in more noble circumstances. For example, if a friend asks your opinion on something they have made (such as a poem or painting) that you do not like, it is okay to tell them you like it because protecting their feelings and your relationship is more important than how you feel. Often military personnel are trained to keep national security secrets at all costs and will lie about what they know to save themselves and the country.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Seven===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there slaves in the bible? ||Slavery was viewed differently in the early years of human civilization before the contemporary moral and ethical conversations began centuries later. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bible_and_slavery bible justified slavery] for a number of reasons, notably to pay off some sort of debt. Slaves were seen as property and their work provided value to the slave owner. Similarly slave owners rationalized their ownership through scripture, pointing out that it was in the Bible and therefore okay with God.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do twins have different fingerprints? || Fingerprints are not only from the DNA, but from the conditions in the womb which differ from child to child.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are Americans afraid of dragons? ||This question was the title of a [http://blogs.sfu.ca/courses/spring2012/engl387/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Why-are-Americans-Afraid-of-Dragons.docx 1974 essay] by Ursula K. LeGeuin in which she makes a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics semiotic] analysis of dragon mythology. She argues that our belief in dragons (and those outside of America as well) stems from childhood, much like other ferocious fictional creatures such as goblins and hobbits, but many hold onto these fears as a way of avoiding reality. In her closing argument, she writes, &quot;They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, all that is phony, unnecessary, and trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living. They are afraid of dragons, because they are afraid of freedom.&quot;<br /> |-<br /> | Why is HTTPS crossed out in red? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there a line through HTTPS? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook? || Facebook has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is HTTPS important? || For security reasons, as a site with HTTPS has encrypted traffic.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Eight===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there swarms of gnats? || The reason gnats (and other creatures) tend to swarm together is likely a safety-in-numbers protection, and as a big gathering to find a mate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there phlegm? ||{{w|Phlegm#Phlegm|Phlegm}} is a thick, viscous fluid produced by the mucus membranes as a way to clear the airway and aids in the release of bacteria, disease and debris in those passages. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN || From a Minnesota Paper, [http://www.startribune.com/local/138902104.html the Star Tribune], &quot;Laws prevent the city from poisoning the crows&quot;. &quot;Duffy [Steve Duffy, a co-owner of U.S. Bird Abatement Services, which has contracted with Rochester to get rid of the crows] isn't sure why Rochester has such a bad crow problem; probably a confluence of many bird-friendly conditions that has also made it a magnet for geese. He's seen worse cases, but called Rochester's situation 'hideous.'&quot; And best of all, &quot;The city has twice this winter hired experts to chase them off. They tried lasers and bullhorns — hey, get out of here, you crows — and even employed raptors to pick them off, one by one. That worked, for awhile.&quot; Unfortunately, they mean a {{w|bird of prey}}, not a {{w|velociraptor}}.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Psychic weak to Bug || In Pokémon, Pokémon of the psychic type like Mr. Mime are weak to three types of attacks: Ghost, Dark, and Bug. The general theory is that Psychic Pokémon, relying heavily on their thoughts for attacks, are weak to fears, which ghosts, darkness, and bugs can be classified as.<br /> |- <br /> | Why do children get cancer? ||{{w|Cancer}} is an aggressive and often fatal disease that has the potential to affect all humans as well as other organisms. There are multiple types of cancer, each with their own epidemiology, but children are not immune to succumbing to the horrific effects of the disease. Children are human beings and are subject to the same illnesses adults have, regardless of age, or their innocence. There is no divine or supernatural explanation for this. Simply put, life is a battle for all humans regardless of how small they are. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus? || {{w|Poseidon}} was the patron deity of the city of {{w|Troy}}, which after a 10 years siege by the Greeks fell due to {{w|Odysseus}}' list of the {{w|Trojan_Horse|Trojan horse}}. As the Greeks were returning home after the Trojan War, Oddyseus' ship accidentally landed on the island home of the cyclops Polyphemus, who imprisoned the crew and ate many of them. In order to escape, Odysseus blinded the cyclops. Poseidon, Polyphemus' father, was extremely angered by his son being blinded, so he cursed Odysseus' ship to prevent him from reaching his home in {{W|Ithaca}}. The adventures which Odysseus encountered during his quest for reaching Ithaca are the main theme of {{w|Homer|Homer's}} {{w|Odyssey}} The Odyssey also says that before sailing, the crew forgot to offer a sacrifice as was ordained.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there ice in space? || Space is {{w|Outer_space#Environment|Cold}}. The background radiation, which is used to measure the temperature of space's vacuum, is estimated at about 3K (−270 °C; −454 °F). Water freezes at 273.15 K (0ºC; 32ºF). Because the temperature in space is less than the freezing point of water, liquids freeze in space, turning into ice.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section &lt;strike&gt;Owl&lt;/strike&gt; Nine===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl in my back yard? || Owls can be seen all over the world, and live in a wide variety of habitats. They are mainly noctural, and spend a large portion of the night hunting. The owl in your back yard is likely looking for food.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl outside my window? || As with the question above, the owl is likely to be hunting for food. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl on the dollar bill? || On the front of a dollar bill, near the upper right '1' is a tiny section of the design which can be seen to represent an owl. Conspiracy theorists will note that owls were symbolically linked to the Masons, while others will instead see a spider.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do owls attack people? || While owls and human often live in close proximity without problems, as with other species, owls may attack if they feel threatened. When people irritate or otherwise make owls feel unsafe, they retaliate with violence to protect themselves.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are AK47s so expensive? || The market value of an AK47 varies depending on where in the world you live. With strict gun control laws, obtaining an AK47 in the UK is likely to be more expensive due to the risks involved for those supplying the weapon. In ex-soviet countries and the middle east, AK47s are more plentiful, and hence the price is likely to be lower.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there helicopters circling my house? ||This question is likely a joke because it is so incongruous to the others in this section. The joke is that people would be Googling about owls attacking people and assault rifle prices, which could, ostensibly alert authorities to come to your house to arrest you. If this is not the case, then the helicopter could be there for myriad reasons. <br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Ten===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there gods? ||All gods and goddesses man made and are part of ancient and fictional mythology and folklore that are used to give spiritual guidance and explanations for phenomenons that were yet unexplained by natural processes. Lightning for example was thought to be produced by Zeus, King of all Greek Gods. <br /> |-<br /> |Why are there two Spocks? || This is probably a reference to the {{w|Star_Trek_(film)|2009 Star Trek movie}} in which the franchise was given a {{w|Reboot_(fiction)|continuity reboot}}. The modified setting is explained in-universe by time travel, with both the villain Nero and the original-timeline Spock being brought back from the 24th century to the 23rd, creating a timeline in which both older Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) and the younger Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) coexist.<br /> <br /> Another possibility is that the question refers to the episode {{w|Mirror,_Mirror_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)|&quot;Mirror, Mirror&quot;}}, which mostly takes place in an alternate universe populated by ruthless versions of most of the characters (including Spock). <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Mt Vesuvius there? ||The simple answer is that volcanoes are created by interactions where the Earth's tectonic plates meet. These conditions only exist in a few places on Earth. &lt;p&gt;The question could also be asking, &quot;why is Mt Vesuvius near such a heavily populated area?&quot; Humans have lived near Vesuvius throughout history, due to its pleasant climate, rich soil, and proximity to other major cities. The Italian government [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jun/05/italy.sophiearie offers generous cash incentives] to move people away from the danger zone, but finds few takers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This question could also be a reference to mountaineer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory George Mallory]'s famous answer as to why he wanted to climb Mount Everest: &quot;Because it's there.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |-<br /> | Why do they say T minus? || Time before the launch of a spacecraft is denoted as T minus because the launch has not happened yet. Any time after the launched is stated without the minus, for example T 3 seconds, so time before the launch can be seen as &quot;minus&quot; time. The T stands for &quot;Test&quot; or &quot;Time&quot;.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there obelisks? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are wrestlers always wet? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are oceans becoming more acidic? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Arwen dying? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't my quail laying eggs? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't my quail eggs hatching? || <br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America? || ''Further information: {{w|United States military deployments}}''&lt;p&gt;This is a very interesting question, albeit one likely based on a regional misunderstanding. Presumably, this question is asked by Americans who assume that the existence of {{w|Category:Military facilities of the United States by country|U.S. military bases abroad}} is a general trend among countries, as opposed to being the rarity that it is. In fact, {{w|List of countries with overseas military bases|only a handful of other countries}} have military bases outside of their borders, and the three—{{w|France}}, the {{w|United Kingdom}}, and {{w|Russia}}—that have more than one or two are all countries that, like the United States, {{w|Allies of World War II|were on the winning side of World War II}}, have {{w|List of countries by military expenditures|massive military expenditures}}, and have {{w|United Nations Security Council veto power|UN Security Council vetoes}}. In other words, only the most militarily elite countries have bases overseas. The U.S. is unique, however, in that it has far more overseas bases than any other country (and, pretty much, far more of anything else than any other country, when it comes to the military), and in that {{w|List of United States military bases|it has bases in several other highly-industrialized nations}}, including {{w|List of United States Army installations in South Korea|South Korea}} and the United Kingdom, and, most notably, the World War II {{w|Axis powers}}: {{w|List of United States Army installations in Germany|Germany}}, {{w|United States Forces Japan|Japan}}, and {{w|List of United States Army installations in Italy|Italy}}. France, Russia, and the U.K.'s bases, on the other hand, are almost all within areas that they previously controlled.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These bases can be controversial in some countries, while in others they are a major source of economic and political stability. The U.S. traditionally justifies their presence as a necessary and crucial element in its efforts to promote peace domestically and worldwide. Despite their major role in {{w|U.S. foreign policy}}, and in the general political structure of the globe, the American public often largely ignores them, and they rarely become a major political issue (apart from an occasional mention by {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian presidential candidates}}).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, essentially, the absence of foreign military bases within the U.S. is primarily because there aren't really any other countries in a position to place bases there. Ironically, although no battles in the traditional sense have been fought within the U.S. since the {{w|U.S. Civil War}} and the U.S. mainland has seen {{w|Mainland invasion of the United States|almost no military action}}, foreign air force bases might have been useful on September 11, 2001. (The {{w|attack on Pearl Harbor}} in 1941 was 18 years before Hawaii became a U.S. state, but Hawaii was still a fundamental part of the United States as it was an incorporated territory.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are, however, foreign troops stationed at some continental US military bases. For example RAF (British Royal Air Force) 39 Sqn and 361 Sqn at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada flying Reaper and Predator drones. But this are not foreign military bases, they are just guests.&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Eleven===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are my boobs itchy? ||It could be anything from dry skin to a rare life-threatening disease. Could also be related to pregnancy, PMS, or puberty. [http://www.just-health.net/Itchy-Breast.html Here's a thorough list] of possible causes and remedies.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are cigarettes legal? ||Despite the obvious detrimental affects nicotine has on health, like caffeine and alcohol, it is easy to regulate. Substances like marijuana and other drugs are mainly illegal because the government and regulatory agencies have no control over their production and distribution and therefore cannot profit from it. Nicotine however, which is the key ingredient in tobacco can be regulated and taxed and is. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there ducks in my pool? ||Most likely, they're looking for a place to mate. Which means you'll soon have baby ducks in your pool. Most migratory birds are protected by wildlife laws, so you want to prevent them from moving into your pool in the first place. The [http://www.dfwwildlife.org/duck.html DFW Wildlife Coalition] has some tips.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Jesus white? ||This is an ethnocentric viewpoint that varies throughout cultures. In African cultures he is portrayed as black. In short, whatever culture he is introduced to, those inhabitants will have him fit their own image. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there liquid in my ear? ||[http://www.healthline.com/symptom/discharge-from-ear It's called otorrhea], and can be caused by infection, trauma, or changes in pressure. A common cause is [http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/swimmers-ear/basics/definition/con-20014723 Swimmer's ear], an infection of the outer ear canal.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do Q tips feel good? ||The inner ear contains [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erectile_tissue erectile tissue] (as does your inner nose which is why sneezing feels good) so you are massing tissue which gets aroused upon stimulation. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do good people die? ||Everybody dies, but loved ones and ones who were known to make memorable or valuable contributions are mourned and revered more than a person who has left much pain to others as their legacy; we remember the good ones and that's why it hurts more. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are ultrasounds important? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are ultrasound machines expensive? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why is stealing wrong? ||Stealing is theft and it is illegal. Taking something that is not yours without permission or payment hurts the livelihood of other individuals as well as damages their trust in others. <br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Vertical Questions===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there hell if god forgives? ||There is not a single answer to this question. The answer varies based on the religion and that religion's sect mixed with personal interpretations of that religions scripture and how a person decides to follow it. However the idea of what Hell will be like also varies. There is no one answer to this question, but the easiest explanation is that the individual did not pray hard enough, correctly, was not part of the right religion, and their forgiveness was contingent on something that the person either did not do or know to do (or say or think) <br /> |-<br /> | Why do iguanas die? ||All living things die, but iguanas may suffer from [http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/kidneyfailure.html kidney failure].<br /> |-<br /> | Why is GPS free? || GPS was originally developed by the U.S. military for its own use, not for commercial purposes. Once the satellites were launched and service began, anyone could receive the signals. Because it is a one-way transmission, there is no incremental cost to provide service to more users, and no practical way to prevent use without payment.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are trees tall? ||Tall is a relative term, and Redwoods are famous for their height - among the tallest in the world. The reason for this is, in part [http://www.nps.gov/redw/faqs.htm climate, fog, rain, good soil, few predators, among others].<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there female Mr. Mimes? || {{w|Mr. Mime}} is a Pokémon introduced in the first generation of the games, and despite its name, it can be either of a male or female gender. As the Pokémon was introduced before the concept of [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gender gender in Pokémon games], it is likely that the people in charge of translating its Japanese name (Barrierd) did not take this into account during the process.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there lava? ||Lava is simply magma (molten rock) which has been ejected from volcanoes. Once it is flowing on land, it is called lava. Magma is heated by the earth's core to create a liquid surface under earth's crust that the land floats on. Sometimes it has to come out through faults and fissures (and volcanoes).<br /> |-<br /> | Why is YKK on a zippers? || YKK Group is the name of a large group of Japanese manufacturing companies, which among other things manufacture a lot of zippers.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is life so boring? ||It is up to an individual to find meaning and interest in life. Monotony, predictability and lack of physical and intellectual stimulation would lead to a feeling of boredom. <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts? ||Ghosts are a supernatural phenomenon that have not been empirically proven to exist. Those who believe in ghosts implicitly believe in a soul (of which a ghost is a materialization of), and it is a commonly held belief by religious institutions and ghost-hunters that animals do not have souls and thus dinosaurs would not have any either. <br /> |-<br /> |Why is there no king in England? || ''Note: For simplicity's sake, &quot;England&quot; here is being read as &quot;United Kingdom.&quot; The various name changes, mergers, and splits of kingdoms are complicated.''&lt;p&gt;The basis for this question is that for the past several hundred years, there has almost always been a queen in England, the sole exceptions being when the king has not had a wife. However, there is a distinction between being the queen of England (that is to say, {{w|List of British monarchs|a monarch}}) and being the {{w|queen consort|queen ''consort''}} of England: The former refers to a woman who {{w|Succession to the British throne|succeeded to the throne}} in her own right, becoming sovereign, while the latter refers to the wife of the king. Both roles, though, are commonly referred to as &quot;Queen of England,&quot; creating the impression that there is always such a person. The logical question, therefore, is why {{w|Elizabeth II}}'s husband, {{w|Prince Philip|Philip}}, is not considered the king of England. The answer lies in Britain's system of {{w|male-preference cognatic primogeniture}}, which causes the monarch of England to usually be a man, not a woman. As a result of this, British laws were generally built around the presumption that the monarch would be a man, and that said man would be married to a woman, [[223: Valentine's Day|comic 223]] be damned. Since the creation of the modern British throne in 1707, only two women have reigned as queen in their own right; it just so happens that these two women have been two of the most famous and longest-reigning monarchs in world history, {{w|Queen Victoria}} and Queen Elizabeth II. This fact may add to people's enhanced perception of the lack of a British king. Victoria and Elizabeth's respective consorts, {{w|Albert, Prince Consort|Albert}} and Philip, have been styled as princes&amp;mdash;Albert as {{w|Prince Consort}} and Philip as &quot;{{w|British prince|Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}}.&quot; Both were explicitly granted their titles by their wives, though Albert was already a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Philip had previously been a prince of Denmark and Greece, but had renounced both titles before marrying Elizabeth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The title {{w|king consort}} also exists, but has never been used in the United Kingdom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Notably, should {{w|Prince Charles}} succeed to his mother's throne, it has been announced that his wife, {{w|Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall|Camilla}}, will be styled as {{w|princess consort}}, ''not'' as queen consort, just as she has declined the title {{w|Princess of Wales}}, which is strongly associated with Charles's first wife, {{w|Princess Diana|Diana}}. Assuming that Charles succeeds, this means that Britain will not have anyone referred to as &quot;queen,&quot; after decades of not having anyone referred to as &quot;king.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |-<br /> | Why do I feel dizzy? ||Balance is achieved from fluids in the inner-ear, but [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizziness#Epidemiology dizziness] can have nearly a dozen causes.]<br /> |-<br /> | Why are dogs afraid of fireworks? ||Loud noises can trigger their flight or fight responses when they are [http://www.cesarsway.com/dogbehavior/hyperdog/How-to-Keep-Your-Dog-Safe-and-Calm-During-Fireworks nervous].<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there weeks? || Weeks were originally important for religious reasons, primarily the requirement to observe a sabbath (day of rest) every seventh day. Today it is used to evenly divide months into equal pieces, much like the months divide a year. Similarly, hours and minutes divide a day.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> &lt;references/&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[This strip is a rectangular word cloud, titled 'Questions found in Google autocomplete'. Embedded in the cloud are 5 single panels, with illustrated questions. These are described at the end. Questions are given in roughly columnar order. None of the questions have question marks.]<br /> <br /> :Questions found in Google Autocomplete<br /> <br /> :Why do whales jump<br /> :Why are witches green<br /> :Why are there mirrors above beds<br /> :Why do I say uh<br /> :Why is sea salt better<br /> :Why are there trees in the middle of fields<br /> :Why is there not a Pokemon MMO<br /> :Why is there laughing in TV shows<br /> :Why are there doors on the freeway<br /> :Why are there so many svchost.exe running<br /> :Why aren't there any countries in antarctica<br /> :Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft<br /> :Why is there kicking in my stomach<br /> :Why are there two slashes after HTTP<br /> :Why are there celebrities<br /> :Why do snakes exist<br /> :Why do oysters have pearls<br /> :Why are ducks called ducks<br /> :Why do they call it the clap<br /> :Why are Kyle and Cartman friends<br /> :Why is there an arraow on Aang's head<br /> :Why are text messages blue<br /> :Why are there mustaches on clothes<br /> :Why are there mustaches on cars<br /> :Why are there mustaches everywhere<br /> :Why are there so many birds in Ohio<br /> :Why is there so much rain in Ohio<br /> :Why is Ohio weather so weird<br /> :Why are there male and female bikes<br /> :Why are there bridesmaids<br /> :Why do dying people reach up<br /> :Why aren't there varicose arteries<br /> :Why are old Klingons different<br /> :Why is programming so hard<br /> :Why is there a 0 ohm resistor<br /> :Why do Americans hate soccer<br /> :Why do rhymes sound good<br /> :Why do trees die<br /> :Why is there no sound on CNN<br /> :Why aren't Pokemon real<br /> :Why aren't bullets sharp<br /> :Why do dreams seem so real<br /> :Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts<br /> :Why do iguanas die<br /> :Why do testicles move<br /> :Why are there psychics<br /> :Why are hats so expensive<br /> :Why is there caffeine in my shampoo<br /> :Why do your boobs hurt<br /> :Why aren't economists rich<br /> :Why do Americans call it soccer<br /> :Why are my ears ringing<br /> :Why are there so many Avengers<br /> :Why are the Avengers fighting the X men<br /> :Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers<br /> :Why are there ants in my laptop<br /> :Why is Earth tilted<br /> :Why is space black<br /> :Why is outer space so cold<br /> :Why are there pyramids on the moon<br /> :Why is NASA shutting down<br /> :Why is there Hell if God forgives<br /> :Why are there tiny spiders in my house<br /> :Why do spiders come inside<br /> :Why are there huge spiders in my house<br /> :Why are there lots of spiders in my house<br /> :Why are there spiders in my room<br /> :Why are there so many spiders in my room<br /> :Why do spider bites itch<br /> :Why is dying so scary<br /> :Why is there no GPS in laptops<br /> :Why do knees click<br /> :Why aren't there E grades<br /> :Why is isolation bad<br /> :Why do boys like me<br /> :Why don't boys like me<br /> :Why is there always a Java update<br /> :Why are there red dots on my thighs<br /> :Why is lying good<br /> :Why is GPS free<br /> :Why are trees tall<br /> :Why are there slaves in the Bible<br /> :Why do twins have different fingerprints<br /> :Why are Americans afraid of dragons<br /> :Why is there lava<br /> :Why are there swarms of gnats<br /> :Why is there phlegm<br /> :Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN<br /> :Why is psychic weak to bug<br /> :Why do children get cancer<br /> :Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus<br /> :Why is there ice in space<br /> :Why are there female Mr Mimes<br /> :Why is there an owl in my backyard<br /> :Why is there an owl outside my window<br /> :Why is there an owl on the dollar bill<br /> :Why do owls attack people<br /> :Why are AK47s so expensive<br /> :Why are there helicopters circling my house<br /> :Why are there gods<br /> :Why are there two Spocks<br /> :Why is Mt Vesuvius there<br /> :Why do they say T minus<br /> :Why are there obelisks<br /> :Why are wrestlers always wet<br /> :Why are oceans becoming more acidic<br /> :Why is Arwen dying<br /> :Why aren't my quail laying eggs<br /> :Why aren't my quail eggs hatching<br /> :Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America<br /> :Why is life so boring<br /> :Why are my boobs itchy<br /> :Why are cigarettes legal<br /> :Why are there ducks in my pool<br /> :Why is Jesus white<br /> :Why is there liquid in my ear<br /> :Why do Q tips feel good<br /> :Why do good people die<br /> :Why are ultrasounds important<br /> :Why are ultrasound machines expensive<br /> :Why is stealing wrong<br /> :Why is YKK on all zippers<br /> :Why is HTTPS crossed out in red<br /> :Why is there a line through HTTPS<br /> :Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook<br /> :Why is HTTPS important<br /> :Why are there weeks<br /> :Why do I feel dizzy<br /> :Why are dogs afraid of fireworks<br /> :Why is there no king in England<br /> <br /> :[We see Cueball from the torso up, with arms outstretched.]<br /> :Cueball: Why aren't my arms growing<br /> <br /> :[Megan stands with a grey ghost on either side of her.]<br /> :Megan: Why are there ghosts<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy stands, looking at a squirrel.]<br /> :Beret Guy: Why are there squirrels<br /> <br /> :[Cueball stands.]<br /> :Cueball: Why is sex so important.<br /> <br /> :[We see Ponytail from the torso up.]<br /> :Ponytail: Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br /> [[Category:Large drawings]]<br /> [[Category:LOTR]]<br /> [[Category:Pokémon]]<br /> [[Category:Google Search]]</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1256:_Questions&diff=84112 2015-02-05T03:58:20Z

<p>108.162.221.171: /* Section Ten */ Answered Vesuvius question</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1256<br /> | date = August 26, 2013<br /> | title = Questions<br /> | image = questions.png<br /> | titletext = To whoever typed 'why is arwen dying': GOOD. FUCKING. QUESTION.<br /> }}<br /> A larger version of the picture can be found [http://xkcd.com/1256/large/ here]<br /> .<br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Many questions unanswered.}}<br /> {{w|Google}}, a rather popular internet search engine, has a feature known as [https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/106230?hl=en autocomplete] that guesses at search queries before they are fully typed out. These guesses are generally made based on popular searches by other people. From time to time, a particularly strange or hilarious one may be found, as is evidenced in this comic.<br /> <br /> The largest pictured questions are: &quot;Why are there slaves in the bible&quot; and &quot;Why are there ants in my laptop&quot;.<br /> <br /> All of the questions in the comic are &quot;why&quot; questions, so many of them are predicated on false assumptions, such as &quot;Why are there pyramids on the moon&quot;.<br /> <br /> Regarding the title text: in the Peter Jackson films of {{w|The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy}}, Arwen becomes sickly for unspecified reasons as the plot advances, apparently giving Aragorn a more personal reason to fight. The only explanation given is by Elrond, who says &quot;As Sauron's power grows, her [Arwen's] strength wanes.&quot; This subplot is entirely absent from the {{w|The Lord of the Rings|original novels}}.<br /> <br /> From [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/faq#.2.1.21 IMDB]: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;<br /> Arwen, like her father (and brothers) is considered to be a Half-Elf, the result of a union between an Elf and a mortal human. The Half-Elven of Middle-earth get a choice, to remain immortal and return to the West (Valinor) or to become mortal and to die as humans do. Elrond chose to remain an Elf. Arwen (like her uncle Elros) chooses to become mortal in order to wed and remain with Aragorn. Elrond senses this; this is what he means when he says that Arwen is dying. It is the same as in The Last Unicorn, when the unicorn is given the form of a human woman and can feel that she is no longer immortal (&quot;I can feel this body dying all around me&quot;). According to Tolkien, though, after Aragorn dies in the year 120 (Fourth Age), Arwen returns to Lórien, where she dies by choice the following winter. &lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Selected answers==<br /> The tables below have been created so as to split the comic into almost entirely arbitrary blocks, which have then been identified with similarly arbitrary numbers. As a general rule, section numbers work top to bottom, then right to left.<br /> ===Illustrated Panels===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't my arms growing?||Arms stop growing because longer arms would not be a very useful way to spend resources. Human DNA has programmed the body to gradually ossify the growing arms and legs, closing the epiphyseal plate, at which point these extremities stop growing.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there ghosts?||There is no hard evidence of ghosts.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there squirrels?||Squirrels exist because they fit their biological niche better than any other species.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is sex so important?||Sex is important because it is the primary method of reproduction in many different species.<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter? || In the {{w|Harry Potter}} universe, Muggle technology (human inventions) are often looked down on by wizards - the majority of half-blooded wizards like Harry won't touch one, let alone a wizard extremist like {{w|Voldemort}}. Not only does any Muggle device more complex than a wristwatch interfere with magical artifacts, but wands are usually more versatile than most guns; a revolver can't shoot lightning or summon items or teleport its user. Finally, while Harry himself may or may not consider using firearms due to his Muggle upbringing, ''Harry Potter'' is a series of children's books (which usually don't include guns) set in the United Kingdom (which has stricter gun laws than, say, the United States).<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section One===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why do whales jump? || To the whale, it's like going into outer space!<br /> |-<br /> |Why are witches green? || See {{w|Wizard of Oz}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mirrors above beds?|| Often, these are used by couples to view themselves during coitus.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do I say Uh?||See ''[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/06/the_odd_body_language_fillers/ Why do we say 'um', 'er', or 'ah' when we hesitate in speaking?]''.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is sea salt better? || The question likely refers to the difference between common {{w|Fortified table salt}} and usually more expensive sea salt. While the major part of both of these is sodium chloride (NaCl) the idea behind the claim is the different composition mostly in regards to trace elements of sea salt compared to &quot;normal&quot; salt. Table salt's composition is often influenced by a country's health department and thus addition of trace elements is regulated. While these regulations are based on scientific studies there remain to be debates concerning the additions, such as iodine.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there trees in the middle of fields? || Many images of fields contain singular trees in the middle of them. While there exist such trees it is likely an artistic choice to give a more pleasing or aesthetically satisfying image compared to just a field. In modern agriculture those would in fact be quite troublesome since they are a hindrance to large machines used and a new tree would be unlikely to grow in a constantly worked field.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there not a Pokémon MMO? || {{w|Pokémon}} is a popular franchise, spanning game consoles, anime series, a trading card game, and many other things. Among fans, it is a frequent topic of discussion why a Pokémon {{w|massively multiplayer online game}} has not been officially announced by the series' developers {{w|Game Freak}}, as they often [http://www.dorkly.com/comic/52546/be-careful-what-you-wish-for predict] that such a game would be extremely popular, and bring in massive revenue for the company. However, if Game Freak were to develop a Pokémon MMO the MMOs would be strong competition against the console games and therefore reducing the Pokémon demographic significantly.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there laughing in TV shows? || Sitcoms were once filmed with an audience, so the actors could respond to their reactions. That's the historical reason why there were laughs in TV shows. The tradition continues, with the difference that now the laughter mostly comes from recorded tapes. See {{w|Laugh track}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there doors on the freeway?|| Highway/freeway {{w|noise barrier|noise barriers}} sometimes have doors in them to allow workers access to both sides of the barrier.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there so many svchost.exe running?||See {{w|svchost.exe}}.<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there any countries in Antarctica? || {{w|Antarctica}} is the southern most continent and is by large covered in ice and in general pretty cold. While it is a regular target of tourists and researchers it also lacks native human inhabitants. At the moment, the territorial claims concerning Antarctica are mostly handled via the {{w|Antarctic Treaty System}}. In short there are a few countries who claim certain parts of the continent as their own in theory but so far it is considered neutral territory and most maps don't concern themselves with displaying the (in some regards disputed) territorial claims because they do not matter at this point in time. If there are ever any worthwhile resources discovered, this might change.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft?|| To add atmosphere and to give players hints when there is a dark cave nearby. See [http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Ambience Minecraft Wiki].<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there kicking in my stomach?||See ''[http://www.webmd.com/baby/fetal-movement-feeling-baby-kick Feeling Your Baby Kick]''. Here, ''stomach'' means ''abdomen''.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there two slashes after http?||See ''[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1220286/Sir-Tim-Berners-Lee-admits-forward-slashes-web-address-mistake.html Sir Tim Berners-Lee admits the forward slashes in every web address 'were a mistake']''.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there celebrities?||There are certain people who are more respected and well-known than other people, whether it be because of their acting career, major advancements to science, or a sex tape.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do snakes exist?|| The question is rather general and likely based on a widespread dislike for the reptilians. Be it due to their appearance, their spread, or the danger a few snakes pose to humans (often due to being venomous) many people have a dislike for snakes and would prefer them to not exist (similar to spiders).<br /> In regards to &quot;why do snakes exist on earth?&quot;: Because evolution. Snakes fill a gap in the ecosystem as predators and hunt different species, including vermin. Snakes are in that regard similar to many other predatory animals. The question on why snakes developed with their distinct streamlined shape is still debated but {{w|snakes|likely it either provided an advantage when burrowing or swimming}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do oysters have pearls?||{{w|Creation of a pearl|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;Pearls are formed inside the shell of certain mollusks as a defense mechanism against a potentially threatening irritant such as a parasite inside the shell, or an attack from outside, injuring the mantle tissue. The mollusk creates a pearl sac to seal off the irritation. Pearls are commonly viewed by scientists as a by-product of an adaptive immune system-like function.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why are ducks called ducks?||See {{w|Duck#Etymology}}. {{W|wikt:duck|According to Wiktionary}}, the noun ''duck'' can be traced back to the {{w|Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic}} word {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/dūkaną|''dūkaną''}} (&quot;to dive, bend down&quot;), and, in turn, the {{w|Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European}} {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Indo-European/dʰewb-|''dʰewb-''}} (&quot;deep, hollow&quot;), which is the origin of the verb ''to duck''. The link between the noun and the verb comes from ducks' tendency to dive under water for short periods of time.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do they call it the clap?||An old folk remedy for {{w|gonorrhea}} was to clap on the sides of the penis.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are Kyle and Cartman friends?|| The question relates to the TV show {{w|South Park}}. Both are children living in the small titular town in Colorado. Cartman is widely accepted to a be very bad person, one of his many character flaws being his antisemitism. Kyle on the other hand is a Jew. However, both, along with two other kids, Stan and Kenny, are the core focus of the show (or used to be) and to some extent are considered to be friends. While there are episodes which show Cartman being not entirely a horrible person and him holding Kyle in a position of at least a worthy adversary, most of the time the question should be &quot;Why is anyone friends with Cartman?&quot; However, they most likely remain &quot;friends&quot; because they are in the same class at school and are therefore &quot;forced&quot; to be around one another.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there an arrow on Aang's head?||{{w|Avatar: The Last Airbender#Characters|Aang}} is the main character of the TV series {{w|Avatar the last Airbender|Avatar - The last Airbender}} and features as part of a large body spanning tattoo an arrow on his head. These tattoos are made to replicate the markings of one of the shows fictional animals, the air bison which are regarded as the original air benders. They are given to human air benders once they attain the status of masters. Because Aang acquired this status very early in life he was already tattooed accordingly.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are text messages blue?||This likely refers to imessage chat being blue. These messages are blue when sending a message to another apple device.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches on clothes?||Because some people buy them. Mustaches, especially handlebar-style mustaches, were a popular fad at the time of this comic.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches on cars?||Fuzzy pink mustaches are used to designate cars in the {{w|Lyft}} service.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches everywhere?||See {{w|Movember}}<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there so many birds in Ohio?||There are an estimated [http://oh.audubon.org/bsc/SOTB.html 400 bird species] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Ohio Ohio], but there are [http://www.jstor.org/discover/2419997sid=21104910103541&amp;uid=4&amp;uid=3739776&amp;uid=2&amp;uid=3739256 2.74 nesting pairs per acre].<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there so much rain in Ohio?|| {{w|lake_effect|Lake-effect}} rain develops in the same manner as lake-effect snow.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is Ohio weather so weird?||See {{w|Lake-effect snow}}.<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Two===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there male and female bikes? || {{w|bicycle|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;Historically, women's bicycle frames had a top tube that connected in the middle of the seat tube instead of the top, resulting in a lower {{w|Frame geometry|standover height}} at the expense of compromised structural integrity, since this places a strong bending load in the seat tube, and bicycle frame members are typically weak in bending. This design, referred to as a '''''{{w|step-through frame}}''''' or as an ''open frame'', allows the rider to mount and dismount in a dignified way while wearing a skirt or dress.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there bridesmaids?||See {{w|Bridesmaid#Origin and history}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do dying people reach up?|| In many works of fiction dying people are regarded with an outstretched arm, grasping for unseen objects towards the sky. In all likelihood this originates in the idea of heaven as the place where (good) people go after death. People &quot;reach for the light&quot; which is seen when dying according to similar beliefs or possibly for already dead relatives or other associated people waiting for them. An alternative hypothesis is that they want to hug/touch their loved ones one last time.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't there varicose arteries?||Blood moves through veins due to irregular pressure from skeletal muscles combined with valves to control direction. In varicose veins these valves malfunction affecting blood flow. In arteries blood flow is produced directly from pressure caused by the heart.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are old Klingons different?|| {{w|Klingon Redesign|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;For {{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}} (1979), the Klingons were retconned and their appearance and behavior radically changed. To give the aliens a more sophisticated and threatening demeanor, the Klingons were depicted with ridged foreheads, snaggled and prominent teeth, and a defined language and alphabet. Lee Cole, a production designer, used red gels and primitive shapes in the design of Klingon consoles and ship interiors, which took on a dark and moody atmosphere. The alphabet was designed as angular, with sharp edges harkening to the Klingon's militaristic focus.[5] Costume designer Robert Fletcher created new uniforms for the Klingons, reminiscent of feudal Japanese armor.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why is programming so hard?||Programming is the art of writing instructions for a computer to do. Since the computer has a limited set of instructions for you to use it involves a new way of thinking for many. It is also hard because the computer itself is not smart or adaptable to unexpected problems. For instance when a human is told to sort books in a shelf, he or she can do that despite there might be things in the way (he or she will just move it to the side). A computer generally just crash if it doesn't have instructions on how to deal with the unexcepted problem.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there a 0 Ohm resistor?|| A resistor is usually designed to create a certain resistance, measured in {{w|Ohm}} in an electronic device. A 0 Ohm resistor seems pointless as it would only provide the same resistance as a normal cable. However, Wikipedia's {{w|Zero-ohm link}} article gives sufficient explanation.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do Americans hate soccer? || Soccer, or football in British English, is rather unpopular in the USA compared to most other regions of the world. Finding a particular reason behind the (dis)like for certain sports, apart from cultural spread, is difficult. One possible explanation is soccer's tendency to have far fewer points scored in an average game and a higher likelihood of draws compared to such things as American Football, basketball or baseball, which are far more popular. In how far this is a legitimate argument for regarding soccer as &quot;less interesting&quot; is up to debate.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do rhymes sound good?||The brain enjoys repetition especially in music.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do trees die?||Some common reasons include lack of water, lack of nitrogen in the soil and being chopped down.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there no sound on CNN?||Some stations broadcast a {{w|second audio program}}, an alternative sound track that your TV can be configured to use instead of the primary program. This is intended to be used for broadcasting in an alternate language, or for {{w|Descriptive Video Service}} to make a program accessible to the visually impaired. Many programs that don't actually use SAP will still broadcast an SAP that is identical to the primary program; however, this is not required. If your TV is configured to use SAP and a particular channel isn't broadcasting SAP at that time, there won't be any sound.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't Pokémon real?||Pokémon are fantasised creatures that were designed to produce an interesting battle mechanic in a game. Some of the pokémons abilities would be impossible on earth as we know it. For instance, Magcargo is hotter than the surface of the sun&lt;ref name=&quot;Bulbapedia Magcargo&quot;&gt; [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Magcargo#Trivia|Magcargo]]&lt;/ref&gt;.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't bullets sharp?||See {{w|Terminal ballistics}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do dreams seem so real?|| Most dreams occur during a stage known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement). During REM, your brain is highly active and its wave pattern is the same as the wave patterns in a person who is awake. It should be noted that dreams can occur during other stages of sleep but most dreams that are vivid occur during the REM stage.<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Three===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why do testicles move?|| The scrotum shrinks and expands to account for temperature changes. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there psychics?|| Psychics are humans who supposedly have supernatural abilities to know things. A better question would be to ask why do people suppose there are psychics.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are hats so expensive?|| Hats can be expensive depending on the quality of material, size, location, and demand. A probable answer is that hats are simply difficult to make, causing high prices. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there caffeine in my shampoo?|| Because the producers want you to believe that caffeine penetrates the hair roots and thereby somehow protects it from negative testosterone impacts and from premature hair loss. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do your boobs hurt?|| The most probable reason is that your bra doesn't fit correctly. It could also be a hormone imbalance or awkwardly shaped breasts.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Four===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't economists rich? || Economists study how laws of self-interest bring about an efficient allocation of resources. In order to become rich, one has to enter a market seeking profit by trading or producing goods or services.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do Americans call it soccer? || {{w|Association Football}} is called Soccer in the USA because {{w|American Football}} is the more popular version there.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are my ears ringing? || {{w|Tinnitus}}, or ringing of the ears, can result from stress, foreign objects in the ear, hearing damage, wax build up, or any other number of causes.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many Avengers? ||The number of Avengers has [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Avengers_members varied greatly] over the years and decades, each time with it's own justification for why they need to work together, but the simplest answer is money. Cross-branding and cross-merchandising is successful to the brand and brings in new readers, plus creates a new franchise to profit from. <br /> |-<br /> |Why are the Avengers fighting the X Men || {{w|Avengers vs. X-Men}} was a 2012 Marvel crossover event that, like many other recent comic book events, had heroes fight other heroes. In this case, the {{w|Avengers (comics)|Avengers}} and the {{w|X-Men}} fought over the {{w|Phoenix Force (comics)|Phoenix Force}}, a godlike power that often possesses {{w|Jean Grey}} or her descendants (in this case, her alternate universe daughter Hope Summers). The Avengers believed the Phoenix Force is too powerful for humanity to control and wanted to contain it, while the X-Men believed the Phoenix was the messiah for mutants and could fix all of the Earth's problems.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers || Wolverine ''has'' been an Avenger, in some circumstances. e.g. in the {{w|The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes}} cartoon series, the episode ''New Avengers'' had Wolverine (along with Spiderman, War Machine, The Thing and Luke Cage and Iron Fist) substitute while the 'original' Avengers were unavailable to deal with the current crisis (which of course included the fate of the 'proper' Avengers). However, in general his anti-authority personality makes him a difficult team-member to field, and he has frequently disassociated himself even from the X-Men. But, in Avengers vs. X-Men (see above) Wolverine ''sided'' with The Avengers, and more modern treatments have even included the character in about as much a permanent a membership of the group as Logan is ever likely to have.<br /> <br /> But if the question is about why Wolverine didn't appear in {{w|The Avengers (2012 film)|''The Avengers''}}, the answer is that ''The Avengers'' is being produced by Marvel/Disney, while Fox still has the rights to the X-Men and all Marvel mutants in general. Unless there is studio agreement, the two properties cannot cross, except through complicated machinations. For example, there are plans to bring Avengers mainstays Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch to both the ''Avengers'' and ''X-Men'' franchises, but only the Fox films have the right to call them the children of Magneto, and Marvel/Disney cannot even identify them on-screen as &quot;mutants&quot;.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Five===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there ants in my laptop? || Ants usually come in your laptop when there are little crumbs of food. It is advised to get screen protectors.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Earth tilted? || The Earth is not tilted. Axial tilt is just a result of conservation of momentum when the Earth was formed, because not everything orbits in the same way. It is pure happenstance that Earth's axis is not normal to its plane of orbit.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is space black? || What we call black is the absence of light. Space is mostly empty. Whe we look at a part of space where there is nothing that can reflect the stars' light, it consequently appears black to us.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is outer space so cold? || Space is not cold. There is no matter in space. However, most of space has very little radiation hitting it, so a person won't recieve any energy, but will still radiate some away, resulting in a net loss of energy, colloquially &quot;heat.&quot;<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there pyramids on the moon? || There are no pyramids on the moon.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is NASA shutting down? ||NASA isn't shutting down. This question might have something to do with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013 Government Shutdown of 2013] or perhaps due to the then-current shuttle program ending, but that is not the entirety of NASA.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section &lt;strike&gt;Spider&lt;/strike&gt; Six===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there tiny spiders in my house?<br /> |rowspan=&quot;6&quot;|During autumn in particular male spiders reaching maturing will set off to find a mate. By chance they may end up in your house. When encountering spiders in large numbers, it is more likely that they are young from the same female spider. Females lay {{w|Spider#Reproduction_and_life_cycle|up to 3,000}} eggs at a time.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do spiders come inside? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there huge spiders in my house? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there lots of spiders in my house? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there spiders in my room? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many spiders in my room? <br /> |-<br /> | Why do spider bites itch? ||This mostly happens as a immune response to [http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/why-do-mosquito-bites-itch histamines] under the skin which are injected through saliva.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is dying so scary? ||Part of human nature is the fear of the unknown, and death is the ultimate unknown because it is not knowable until it's experienced, and there is nobody to report what the result was. This leaves it open to speculation, and many major religions are based on preparing ones soul for death. Also, dying would leave loved ones families with the responsibility of taking care of their remains and finances. And finally, most people don't want to die, living for as long as possible, possibly because the unknown is too unbearable to cope with. Still though several people are not afraid of death and dying, and recognize life is short and to cherish each moment while we can. Death is inevitable, so we should not fear it. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there no GPS in laptops? ||It is not impossible for laptops to have a GPS, and some do. But there are [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/50907/are-there-gps-tracker-for-laptops design difficulties] that have to be overcome including battery draining, room within the crowded device to place a receiver, WiFi can give a location just as well, and the product casing could interfere with its ability to functional normally and receive the signals necessary to operate as intended. Some Dell computers have these, but the privacy one needs to give up to accept the terms and conditions makes it unfavorable. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do knees click? ||<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there E grades? ||E grades [http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/e-f-grading-scale/ actually exist] in some districts, but they are rare. In their long and bizarre history, E was originally used where F is today (E was the lowest grade), but in those systems, students often received E's for an &quot;Excellent&quot; grade, creating much confusion. F was used in place instead and E was eliminated from a standard grading scale. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is isolation bad? ||Isolation is when a person deliberately secludes themselves away from others, often far-removed from society. This can happen in locations as small as a city apartment and as large as the open woods. People evolved as social animals and it is generally held that those who isolate themselves suffer from depression or other forms of psychological imbalance. Of course society can trigger many of these imbalances causing an individual to isolate themselves. Isolation is often seen as therapeutic so people can spend time with themselves constructively, often finding peace within themselves and through mediation. Monks and hermits generally live in solitude as well. Many people view a decision to be isolated as noble, and others as healthy. While general interaction is largely healthy, in the crowded modern world, isolation is neither good or bad; it depends on the person and what that isolation does to them. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do boys like me? ||Attraction comes in many forms: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, among others. Many people will lie about what they like about you to get something else (money, sex, etc), but most are genuine. It is not possible to assert definitively why one person may like another person, and that is something that needs to be discussed openly and honestly with them and nobody else. <br /> |-<br /> | Why don't boys like me? ||Similar to the answer above about what makes one desirable to another, there are an equal number of factors that make one unappealing. This can include everything from physical appearance to how one treats others. If a person is rude and unfriendly, most people find that not-conducive to healthy relationship and avoid the person who is asking. Not being liked by someone you like however does not mean you're wrong or are a bad person and in most cases has to do with the person you are asking about. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there always a Java update? ||[https://www.java.com/en/download/faq/whatis_java.xml Java] is a software that runs on most computers and mobile devices that is crucial to its security and stability. The reason why it always updates is because it needs to stay current with the ever-upgrading fleet of browsers, operating systems and software that supports Java. Additionally Java updates itself so each version can run optimally. Software coding and debugging is a never-ending process towards perfectly stable releases. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there red dots on my thighs? ||<br /> |-<br /> | Why is lying good? ||Lying and other forms of dishonesty is typically seen as bad because it lowers one's credibility and makes them less likely to be trusted in the future. It is almost always advantageous to tell the truth, as lies have a way of escalating as you need to keep expanding on the lie to cover your tracks. There are instances however where lying may be used in more noble circumstances. For example, if a friend asks your opinion on something they have made (such as a poem or painting) that you do not like, it is okay to tell them you like it because protecting their feelings and your relationship is more important than how you feel. Often military personnel are trained to keep national security secrets at all costs and will lie about what they know to save themselves and the country.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Seven===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there slaves in the bible? ||Slavery was viewed differently in the early years of human civilization before the contemporary moral and ethical conversations began centuries later. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bible_and_slavery bible justified slavery] for a number of reasons, notably to pay off some sort of debt. Slaves were seen as property and their work provided value to the slave owner. Similarly slave owners rationalized their ownership through scripture, pointing out that it was in the Bible and therefore okay with God.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do twins have different fingerprints? || Fingerprints are not only from the DNA, but from the conditions in the womb which differ from child to child.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are Americans afraid of dragons? ||This question was the title of a [http://blogs.sfu.ca/courses/spring2012/engl387/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Why-are-Americans-Afraid-of-Dragons.docx 1974 essay] by Ursula K. LeGeuin in which she makes a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics semiotic] analysis of dragon mythology. She argues that our belief in dragons (and those outside of America as well) stems from childhood, much like other ferocious fictional creatures such as goblins and hobbits, but many hold onto these fears as a way of avoiding reality. In her closing argument, she writes, &quot;They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, all that is phony, unnecessary, and trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living. They are afraid of dragons, because they are afraid of freedom.&quot;<br /> |-<br /> | Why is HTTPS crossed out in red? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there a line through HTTPS? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook? || Facebook has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is HTTPS important? || For security reasons, as a site with HTTPS has encrypted traffic.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Eight===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there swarms of gnats? || The reason gnats (and other creatures) tend to swarm together is likely a safety-in-numbers protection, and as a big gathering to find a mate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there phlegm? ||{{w|Phlegm#Phlegm|Phlegm}} is a thick, viscous fluid produced by the mucus membranes as a way to clear the airway and aids in the release of bacteria, disease and debris in those passages. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN || From a Minnesota Paper, [http://www.startribune.com/local/138902104.html the Star Tribune], &quot;Laws prevent the city from poisoning the crows&quot;. &quot;Duffy [Steve Duffy, a co-owner of U.S. Bird Abatement Services, which has contracted with Rochester to get rid of the crows] isn't sure why Rochester has such a bad crow problem; probably a confluence of many bird-friendly conditions that has also made it a magnet for geese. He's seen worse cases, but called Rochester's situation 'hideous.'&quot; And best of all, &quot;The city has twice this winter hired experts to chase them off. They tried lasers and bullhorns — hey, get out of here, you crows — and even employed raptors to pick them off, one by one. That worked, for awhile.&quot; Unfortunately, they mean a {{w|bird of prey}}, not a {{w|velociraptor}}.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Psychic weak to Bug || In Pokémon, Pokémon of the psychic type like Mr. Mime are weak to three types of attacks: Ghost, Dark, and Bug. The general theory is that Psychic Pokémon, relying heavily on their thoughts for attacks, are weak to fears, which ghosts, darkness, and bugs can be classified as.<br /> |- <br /> | Why do children get cancer? ||{{w|Cancer}} is an aggressive and often fatal disease that has the potential to affect all humans as well as other organisms. There are multiple types of cancer, each with their own epidemiology, but children are not immune to succumbing to the horrific effects of the disease. Children are human beings and are subject to the same illnesses adults have, regardless of age, or their innocence. There is no divine or supernatural explanation for this. Simply put, life is a battle for all humans regardless of how small they are. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus? || {{w|Poseidon}} was the patron deity of the city of {{w|Troy}}, which after a 10 years siege by the Greeks fell due to {{w|Odysseus}}' list of the {{w|Trojan_Horse|Trojan horse}}. As the Greeks were returning home after the Trojan War, Oddyseus' ship accidentally landed on the island home of the cyclops Polyphemus, who imprisoned the crew and ate many of them. In order to escape, Odysseus blinded the cyclops. Poseidon, Polyphemus' father, was extremely angered by his son being blinded, so he cursed Odysseus' ship to prevent him from reaching his home in {{W|Ithaca}}. The adventures which Odysseus encountered during his quest for reaching Ithaca are the main theme of {{w|Homer|Homer's}} {{w|Odyssey}} The Odyssey also says that before sailing, the crew forgot to offer a sacrifice as was ordained.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there ice in space? || Space is {{w|Outer_space#Environment|Cold}}. The background radiation, which is used to measure the temperature of space's vacuum, is estimated at about 3K (−270 °C; −454 °F). Water freezes at 273.15 K (0ºC; 32ºF). Because the temperature in space is less than the freezing point of water, liquids freeze in space, turning into ice.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section &lt;strike&gt;Owl&lt;/strike&gt; Nine===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl in my back yard? || Owls can be seen all over the world, and live in a wide variety of habitats. They are mainly noctural, and spend a large portion of the night hunting. The owl in your back yard is likely looking for food.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl outside my window? || As with the question above, the owl is likely to be hunting for food. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl on the dollar bill? || On the front of a dollar bill, near the upper right '1' is a tiny section of the design which can be seen to represent an owl. Conspiracy theorists will note that owls were symbolically linked to the Masons, while others will instead see a spider.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do owls attack people? || While owls and human often live in close proximity without problems, as with other species, owls may attack if they feel threatened. When people irritate or otherwise make owls feel unsafe, they retaliate with violence to protect themselves.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are AK47s so expensive? || The market value of an AK47 varies depending on where in the world you live. With strict gun control laws, obtaining an AK47 in the UK is likely to be more expensive due to the risks involved for those supplying the weapon. In ex-soviet countries and the middle east, AK47s are more plentiful, and hence the price is likely to be lower.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there helicopters circling my house? ||This question is likely a joke because it is so incongruous to the others in this section. The joke is that people would be Googling about owls attacking people and assault rifle prices, which could, ostensibly alert authorities to come to your house to arrest you. If this is not the case, then the helicopter could be there for myriad reasons. <br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Ten===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there gods? ||All gods and goddesses man made and are part of ancient and fictional mythology and folklore that are used to give spiritual guidance and explanations for phenomenons that were yet unexplained by natural processes. Lightning for example was thought to be produced by Zeus, King of all Greek Gods. <br /> |-<br /> |Why are there two Spocks? || This is probably a reference to the {{w|Star_Trek_(film)|2009 Star Trek movie}} in which the franchise was given a {{w|Reboot_(fiction)|continuity reboot}}. The modified setting is explained in-universe by time travel, with both the villain Nero and the original-timeline Spock being brought back from the 24th century to the 23rd, creating a timeline in which both older Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) and the younger Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) coexist.<br /> <br /> Another possibility is that the question refers to the episode {{w|Mirror,_Mirror_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)|&quot;Mirror, Mirror&quot;}}, which mostly takes place in an alternate universe populated by ruthless versions of most of the characters (including Spock). <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Mt Vesuvius there? ||The simple answer is that volcanoes are created by interactions where the Earth's tectonic plates meet. These conditions only exist in a few places on Earth. &lt;p&gt;The question could also be asking, &quot;why is Mt Vesuvius near such a heavily populated area?&quot; Humans have lived near Vesuvius throughout history, due to its pleasant climate, rich soil, and proximity to other major cities. The Italian government [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jun/05/italy.sophiearie offers generous cash incentives] to move people away from the danger zone, but finds few takers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This question could also be a reference to mountaineer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory George Mallory]'s famous answer as to why he wanted to climb Mount Everest: &quot;Because it's there.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |-<br /> | Why do they say T minus? || Time before the launch of a spacecraft is denoted as T minus because the launch has not happened yet. Any time after the launched is stated without the minus, for example T 3 seconds, so time before the launch can be seen as &quot;minus&quot; time. The T stands for &quot;Test&quot; or &quot;Time&quot;.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there obelisks? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are wrestlers always wet? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are oceans becoming more acidic? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Arwen dying? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't my quail laying eggs? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't my quail eggs hatching? || <br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America? || ''Further information: {{w|United States military deployments}}''&lt;p&gt;This is a very interesting question, albeit one likely based on a regional misunderstanding. Presumably, this question is asked by Americans who assume that the existence of {{w|Category:Military facilities of the United States by country|U.S. military bases abroad}} is a general trend among countries, as opposed to being the rarity that it is. In fact, {{w|List of countries with overseas military bases|only a handful of other countries}} have military bases outside of their borders, and the three—{{w|France}}, the {{w|United Kingdom}}, and {{w|Russia}}—that have more than one or two are all countries that, like the United States, {{w|Allies of World War II|were on the winning side of World War II}}, have {{w|List of countries by military expenditures|massive military expenditures}}, and have {{w|United Nations Security Council veto power|UN Security Council vetoes}}. In other words, only the most militarily elite countries have bases overseas. The U.S. is unique, however, in that it has far more overseas bases than any other country (and, pretty much, far more of anything else than any other country, when it comes to the military), and in that {{w|List of United States military bases|it has bases in several other highly-industrialized nations}}, including {{w|List of United States Army installations in South Korea|South Korea}} and the United Kingdom, and, most notably, the World War II {{w|Axis powers}}: {{w|List of United States Army installations in Germany|Germany}}, {{w|United States Forces Japan|Japan}}, and {{w|List of United States Army installations in Italy|Italy}}. France, Russia, and the U.K.'s bases, on the other hand, are almost all within areas that they previously controlled.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These bases can be controversial in some countries, while in others they are a major source of economic and political stability. The U.S. traditionally justifies their presence as a necessary and crucial element in its efforts to promote peace domestically and worldwide. Despite their major role in {{w|U.S. foreign policy}}, and in the general political structure of the globe, the American public often largely ignores them, and they rarely become a major political issue (apart from an occasional mention by {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian presidential candidates}}).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, essentially, the absence of foreign military bases within the U.S. is primarily because there aren't really any other countries in a position to place bases there. Ironically, although no battles in the traditional sense have been fought within the U.S. since the {{w|U.S. Civil War}} and the U.S. mainland has seen {{w|Mainland invasion of the United States|almost no military action}}, foreign air force bases might have been useful on September 11, 2001. (The {{w|attack on Pearl Harbor}} in 1941 was 18 years before Hawaii became a U.S. state, but Hawaii was still a fundamental part of the United States as it was an incorporated territory.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are, however, foreign troops stationed at some continental US military bases. For example RAF (British Royal Air Force) 39 Sqn and 361 Sqn at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada flying Reaper and Predator drones. But this are not foreign military bases, they are just guests.&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Eleven===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are my boobs itchy? ||It could be anything from dry skin to a rare life-threatening disease. Could also be related to pregnancy, PMS, or puberty. [http://www.just-health.net/Itchy-Breast.html Here's a thorough list] of possible causes and remedies.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are cigarettes legal? ||Despite the obvious detrimental affects nicotine has on health, like caffeine and alcohol, it is easy to regulate. Substances like marijuana and other drugs are mainly illegal because the government and regulatory agencies have no control over their production and distribution and therefore cannot profit from it. Nicotine however, which is the key ingredient in tobacco can be regulated and taxed and is. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there ducks in my pool? ||Most likely, they're looking for a place to mate. Which means you'll soon have baby ducks in your pool. Most migratory birds are protected by wildlife laws, so you want to prevent them from moving into your pool in the first place. The [http://www.dfwwildlife.org/duck.html DFW Wildlife Coalition] has some tips.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Jesus white? ||This is an ethnocentric viewpoint that varies throughout cultures. In African cultures he is portrayed as black. In short, whatever culture he is introduced to, those inhabitants will have him fit their own image. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there liquid in my ear? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why do Q tips feel good? ||The inner ear contains [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erectile_tissue erectile tissue] (as does your inner nose which is why sneezing feels good) so you are massing tissue which gets aroused upon stimulation. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do good people die? ||Everybody dies, but loved ones and ones who were known to make memorable or valuable contributions are mourned and revered more than a person who has left much pain to others as their legacy; we remember the good ones and that's why it hurts more. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are ultrasounds important? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are ultrasound machines expensive? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why is stealing wrong? ||Stealing is theft and it is illegal. Taking something that is not yours without permission or payment hurts the livelihood of other individuals as well as damages their trust in others. <br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Vertical Questions===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there hell if god forgives? ||There is not a single answer to this question. The answer varies based on the religion and that religion's sect mixed with personal interpretations of that religions scripture and how a person decides to follow it. However the idea of what Hell will be like also varies. There is no one answer to this question, but the easiest explanation is that the individual did not pray hard enough, correctly, was not part of the right religion, and their forgiveness was contingent on something that the person either did not do or know to do (or say or think) <br /> |-<br /> | Why do iguanas die? ||All living things die, but iguanas may suffer from [http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/kidneyfailure.html kidney failure].<br /> |-<br /> | Why is GPS free? || GPS was originally developed by the U.S. military for its own use, not for commercial purposes. Once the satellites were launched and service began, anyone could receive the signals. Because it is a one-way transmission, there is no incremental cost to provide service to more users, and no practical way to prevent use without payment.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are trees tall? ||Tall is a relative term, and Redwoods are famous for their height - among the tallest in the world. The reason for this is, in part [http://www.nps.gov/redw/faqs.htm climate, fog, rain, good soil, few predators, among others].<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there female Mr. Mimes? || {{w|Mr. Mime}} is a Pokémon introduced in the first generation of the games, and despite its name, it can be either of a male or female gender. As the Pokémon was introduced before the concept of [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gender gender in Pokémon games], it is likely that the people in charge of translating its Japanese name (Barrierd) did not take this into account during the process.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there lava? ||Lava is simply magma (molten rock) which has been ejected from volcanoes. Once it is flowing on land, it is called lava. Magma is heated by the earth's core to create a liquid surface under earth's crust that the land floats on. Sometimes it has to come out through faults and fissures (and volcanoes).<br /> |-<br /> | Why is YKK on a zippers? || YKK Group is the name of a large group of Japanese manufacturing companies, which among other things manufacture a lot of zippers.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is life so boring? ||It is up to an individual to find meaning and interest in life. Monotony, predictability and lack of physical and intellectual stimulation would lead to a feeling of boredom. <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts? ||Ghosts are a supernatural phenomenon that have not been empirically proven to exist. Those who believe in ghosts implicitly believe in a soul (of which a ghost is a materialization of), and it is a commonly held belief by religious institutions and ghost-hunters that animals do not have souls and thus dinosaurs would not have any either. <br /> |-<br /> |Why is there no king in England? || ''Note: For simplicity's sake, &quot;England&quot; here is being read as &quot;United Kingdom.&quot; The various name changes, mergers, and splits of kingdoms are complicated.''&lt;p&gt;The basis for this question is that for the past several hundred years, there has almost always been a queen in England, the sole exceptions being when the king has not had a wife. However, there is a distinction between being the queen of England (that is to say, {{w|List of British monarchs|a monarch}}) and being the {{w|queen consort|queen ''consort''}} of England: The former refers to a woman who {{w|Succession to the British throne|succeeded to the throne}} in her own right, becoming sovereign, while the latter refers to the wife of the king. Both roles, though, are commonly referred to as &quot;Queen of England,&quot; creating the impression that there is always such a person. The logical question, therefore, is why {{w|Elizabeth II}}'s husband, {{w|Prince Philip|Philip}}, is not considered the king of England. The answer lies in Britain's system of {{w|male-preference cognatic primogeniture}}, which causes the monarch of England to usually be a man, not a woman. As a result of this, British laws were generally built around the presumption that the monarch would be a man, and that said man would be married to a woman, [[223: Valentine's Day|comic 223]] be damned. Since the creation of the modern British throne in 1707, only two women have reigned as queen in their own right; it just so happens that these two women have been two of the most famous and longest-reigning monarchs in world history, {{w|Queen Victoria}} and Queen Elizabeth II. This fact may add to people's enhanced perception of the lack of a British king. Victoria and Elizabeth's respective consorts, {{w|Albert, Prince Consort|Albert}} and Philip, have been styled as princes&amp;mdash;Albert as {{w|Prince Consort}} and Philip as &quot;{{w|British prince|Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}}.&quot; Both were explicitly granted their titles by their wives, though Albert was already a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Philip had previously been a prince of Denmark and Greece, but had renounced both titles before marrying Elizabeth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The title {{w|king consort}} also exists, but has never been used in the United Kingdom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Notably, should {{w|Prince Charles}} succeed to his mother's throne, it has been announced that his wife, {{w|Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall|Camilla}}, will be styled as {{w|princess consort}}, ''not'' as queen consort, just as she has declined the title {{w|Princess of Wales}}, which is strongly associated with Charles's first wife, {{w|Princess Diana|Diana}}. Assuming that Charles succeeds, this means that Britain will not have anyone referred to as &quot;queen,&quot; after decades of not having anyone referred to as &quot;king.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |-<br /> | Why do I feel dizzy? ||Balance is achieved from fluids in the inner-ear, but [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizziness#Epidemiology dizziness] can have nearly a dozen causes.]<br /> |-<br /> | Why are dogs afraid of fireworks? ||Loud noises can trigger their flight or fight responses when they are [http://www.cesarsway.com/dogbehavior/hyperdog/How-to-Keep-Your-Dog-Safe-and-Calm-During-Fireworks nervous].<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there weeks? || Weeks were originally important for religious reasons, primarily the requirement to observe a sabbath (day of rest) every seventh day. Today it is used to evenly divide months into equal pieces, much like the months divide a year. Similarly, hours and minutes divide a day.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> &lt;references/&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[This strip is a rectangular word cloud, titled 'Questions found in Google autocomplete'. Embedded in the cloud are 5 single panels, with illustrated questions. These are described at the end. Questions are given in roughly columnar order. None of the questions have question marks.]<br /> <br /> :Questions found in Google Autocomplete<br /> <br /> :Why do whales jump<br /> :Why are witches green<br /> :Why are there mirrors above beds<br /> :Why do I say uh<br /> :Why is sea salt better<br /> :Why are there trees in the middle of fields<br /> :Why is there not a Pokemon MMO<br /> :Why is there laughing in TV shows<br /> :Why are there doors on the freeway<br /> :Why are there so many svchost.exe running<br /> :Why aren't there any countries in antarctica<br /> :Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft<br /> :Why is there kicking in my stomach<br /> :Why are there two slashes after HTTP<br /> :Why are there celebrities<br /> :Why do snakes exist<br /> :Why do oysters have pearls<br /> :Why are ducks called ducks<br /> :Why do they call it the clap<br /> :Why are Kyle and Cartman friends<br /> :Why is there an arraow on Aang's head<br /> :Why are text messages blue<br /> :Why are there mustaches on clothes<br /> :Why are there mustaches on cars<br /> :Why are there mustaches everywhere<br /> :Why are there so many birds in Ohio<br /> :Why is there so much rain in Ohio<br /> :Why is Ohio weather so weird<br /> :Why are there male and female bikes<br /> :Why are there bridesmaids<br /> :Why do dying people reach up<br /> :Why aren't there varicose arteries<br /> :Why are old Klingons different<br /> :Why is programming so hard<br /> :Why is there a 0 ohm resistor<br /> :Why do Americans hate soccer<br /> :Why do rhymes sound good<br /> :Why do trees die<br /> :Why is there no sound on CNN<br /> :Why aren't Pokemon real<br /> :Why aren't bullets sharp<br /> :Why do dreams seem so real<br /> :Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts<br /> :Why do iguanas die<br /> :Why do testicles move<br /> :Why are there psychics<br /> :Why are hats so expensive<br /> :Why is there caffeine in my shampoo<br /> :Why do your boobs hurt<br /> :Why aren't economists rich<br /> :Why do Americans call it soccer<br /> :Why are my ears ringing<br /> :Why are there so many Avengers<br /> :Why are the Avengers fighting the X men<br /> :Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers<br /> :Why are there ants in my laptop<br /> :Why is Earth tilted<br /> :Why is space black<br /> :Why is outer space so cold<br /> :Why are there pyramids on the moon<br /> :Why is NASA shutting down<br /> :Why is there Hell if God forgives<br /> :Why are there tiny spiders in my house<br /> :Why do spiders come inside<br /> :Why are there huge spiders in my house<br /> :Why are there lots of spiders in my house<br /> :Why are there spiders in my room<br /> :Why are there so many spiders in my room<br /> :Why do spider bites itch<br /> :Why is dying so scary<br /> :Why is there no GPS in laptops<br /> :Why do knees click<br /> :Why aren't there E grades<br /> :Why is isolation bad<br /> :Why do boys like me<br /> :Why don't boys like me<br /> :Why is there always a Java update<br /> :Why are there red dots on my thighs<br /> :Why is lying good<br /> :Why is GPS free<br /> :Why are trees tall<br /> :Why are there slaves in the Bible<br /> :Why do twins have different fingerprints<br /> :Why are Americans afraid of dragons<br /> :Why is there lava<br /> :Why are there swarms of gnats<br /> :Why is there phlegm<br /> :Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN<br /> :Why is psychic weak to bug<br /> :Why do children get cancer<br /> :Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus<br /> :Why is there ice in space<br /> :Why are there female Mr Mimes<br /> :Why is there an owl in my backyard<br /> :Why is there an owl outside my window<br /> :Why is there an owl on the dollar bill<br /> :Why do owls attack people<br /> :Why are AK47s so expensive<br /> :Why are there helicopters circling my house<br /> :Why are there gods<br /> :Why are there two Spocks<br /> :Why is Mt Vesuvius there<br /> :Why do they say T minus<br /> :Why are there obelisks<br /> :Why are wrestlers always wet<br /> :Why are oceans becoming more acidic<br /> :Why is Arwen dying<br /> :Why aren't my quail laying eggs<br /> :Why aren't my quail eggs hatching<br /> :Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America<br /> :Why is life so boring<br /> :Why are my boobs itchy<br /> :Why are cigarettes legal<br /> :Why are there ducks in my pool<br /> :Why is Jesus white<br /> :Why is there liquid in my ear<br /> :Why do Q tips feel good<br /> :Why do good people die<br /> :Why are ultrasounds important<br /> :Why are ultrasound machines expensive<br /> :Why is stealing wrong<br /> :Why is YKK on all zippers<br /> :Why is HTTPS crossed out in red<br /> :Why is there a line through HTTPS<br /> :Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook<br /> :Why is HTTPS important<br /> :Why are there weeks<br /> :Why do I feel dizzy<br /> :Why are dogs afraid of fireworks<br /> :Why is there no king in England<br /> <br /> :[We see Cueball from the torso up, with arms outstretched.]<br /> :Cueball: Why aren't my arms growing<br /> <br /> :[Megan stands with a grey ghost on either side of her.]<br /> :Megan: Why are there ghosts<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy stands, looking at a squirrel.]<br /> :Beret Guy: Why are there squirrels<br /> <br /> :[Cueball stands.]<br /> :Cueball: Why is sex so important.<br /> <br /> :[We see Ponytail from the torso up.]<br /> :Ponytail: Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br /> [[Category:Large drawings]]<br /> [[Category:LOTR]]<br /> [[Category:Pokémon]]<br /> [[Category:Google Search]]</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1256:_Questions&diff=84111 2015-02-05T03:21:43Z

<p>108.162.221.171: /* Section Eleven */ Answered two blank questions.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1256<br /> | date = August 26, 2013<br /> | title = Questions<br /> | image = questions.png<br /> | titletext = To whoever typed 'why is arwen dying': GOOD. FUCKING. QUESTION.<br /> }}<br /> A larger version of the picture can be found [http://xkcd.com/1256/large/ here]<br /> .<br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Many questions unanswered.}}<br /> {{w|Google}}, a rather popular internet search engine, has a feature known as [https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/106230?hl=en autocomplete] that guesses at search queries before they are fully typed out. These guesses are generally made based on popular searches by other people. From time to time, a particularly strange or hilarious one may be found, as is evidenced in this comic.<br /> <br /> The largest pictured questions are: &quot;Why are there slaves in the bible&quot; and &quot;Why are there ants in my laptop&quot;.<br /> <br /> All of the questions in the comic are &quot;why&quot; questions, so many of them are predicated on false assumptions, such as &quot;Why are there pyramids on the moon&quot;.<br /> <br /> Regarding the title text: in the Peter Jackson films of {{w|The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy}}, Arwen becomes sickly for unspecified reasons as the plot advances, apparently giving Aragorn a more personal reason to fight. The only explanation given is by Elrond, who says &quot;As Sauron's power grows, her [Arwen's] strength wanes.&quot; This subplot is entirely absent from the {{w|The Lord of the Rings|original novels}}.<br /> <br /> From [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167260/faq#.2.1.21 IMDB]: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;<br /> Arwen, like her father (and brothers) is considered to be a Half-Elf, the result of a union between an Elf and a mortal human. The Half-Elven of Middle-earth get a choice, to remain immortal and return to the West (Valinor) or to become mortal and to die as humans do. Elrond chose to remain an Elf. Arwen (like her uncle Elros) chooses to become mortal in order to wed and remain with Aragorn. Elrond senses this; this is what he means when he says that Arwen is dying. It is the same as in The Last Unicorn, when the unicorn is given the form of a human woman and can feel that she is no longer immortal (&quot;I can feel this body dying all around me&quot;). According to Tolkien, though, after Aragorn dies in the year 120 (Fourth Age), Arwen returns to Lórien, where she dies by choice the following winter. &lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Selected answers==<br /> The tables below have been created so as to split the comic into almost entirely arbitrary blocks, which have then been identified with similarly arbitrary numbers. As a general rule, section numbers work top to bottom, then right to left.<br /> ===Illustrated Panels===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't my arms growing?||Arms stop growing because longer arms would not be a very useful way to spend resources. Human DNA has programmed the body to gradually ossify the growing arms and legs, closing the epiphyseal plate, at which point these extremities stop growing.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there ghosts?||There is no hard evidence of ghosts.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there squirrels?||Squirrels exist because they fit their biological niche better than any other species.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is sex so important?||Sex is important because it is the primary method of reproduction in many different species.<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter? || In the {{w|Harry Potter}} universe, Muggle technology (human inventions) are often looked down on by wizards - the majority of half-blooded wizards like Harry won't touch one, let alone a wizard extremist like {{w|Voldemort}}. Not only does any Muggle device more complex than a wristwatch interfere with magical artifacts, but wands are usually more versatile than most guns; a revolver can't shoot lightning or summon items or teleport its user. Finally, while Harry himself may or may not consider using firearms due to his Muggle upbringing, ''Harry Potter'' is a series of children's books (which usually don't include guns) set in the United Kingdom (which has stricter gun laws than, say, the United States).<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section One===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why do whales jump? || To the whale, it's like going into outer space!<br /> |-<br /> |Why are witches green? || See {{w|Wizard of Oz}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mirrors above beds?|| Often, these are used by couples to view themselves during coitus.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do I say Uh?||See ''[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05/06/the_odd_body_language_fillers/ Why do we say 'um', 'er', or 'ah' when we hesitate in speaking?]''.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is sea salt better? || The question likely refers to the difference between common {{w|Fortified table salt}} and usually more expensive sea salt. While the major part of both of these is sodium chloride (NaCl) the idea behind the claim is the different composition mostly in regards to trace elements of sea salt compared to &quot;normal&quot; salt. Table salt's composition is often influenced by a country's health department and thus addition of trace elements is regulated. While these regulations are based on scientific studies there remain to be debates concerning the additions, such as iodine.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there trees in the middle of fields? || Many images of fields contain singular trees in the middle of them. While there exist such trees it is likely an artistic choice to give a more pleasing or aesthetically satisfying image compared to just a field. In modern agriculture those would in fact be quite troublesome since they are a hindrance to large machines used and a new tree would be unlikely to grow in a constantly worked field.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there not a Pokémon MMO? || {{w|Pokémon}} is a popular franchise, spanning game consoles, anime series, a trading card game, and many other things. Among fans, it is a frequent topic of discussion why a Pokémon {{w|massively multiplayer online game}} has not been officially announced by the series' developers {{w|Game Freak}}, as they often [http://www.dorkly.com/comic/52546/be-careful-what-you-wish-for predict] that such a game would be extremely popular, and bring in massive revenue for the company. However, if Game Freak were to develop a Pokémon MMO the MMOs would be strong competition against the console games and therefore reducing the Pokémon demographic significantly.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there laughing in TV shows? || Sitcoms were once filmed with an audience, so the actors could respond to their reactions. That's the historical reason why there were laughs in TV shows. The tradition continues, with the difference that now the laughter mostly comes from recorded tapes. See {{w|Laugh track}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there doors on the freeway?|| Highway/freeway {{w|noise barrier|noise barriers}} sometimes have doors in them to allow workers access to both sides of the barrier.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there so many svchost.exe running?||See {{w|svchost.exe}}.<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there any countries in Antarctica? || {{w|Antarctica}} is the southern most continent and is by large covered in ice and in general pretty cold. While it is a regular target of tourists and researchers it also lacks native human inhabitants. At the moment, the territorial claims concerning Antarctica are mostly handled via the {{w|Antarctic Treaty System}}. In short there are a few countries who claim certain parts of the continent as their own in theory but so far it is considered neutral territory and most maps don't concern themselves with displaying the (in some regards disputed) territorial claims because they do not matter at this point in time. If there are ever any worthwhile resources discovered, this might change.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft?|| To add atmosphere and to give players hints when there is a dark cave nearby. See [http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Ambience Minecraft Wiki].<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there kicking in my stomach?||See ''[http://www.webmd.com/baby/fetal-movement-feeling-baby-kick Feeling Your Baby Kick]''. Here, ''stomach'' means ''abdomen''.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there two slashes after http?||See ''[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1220286/Sir-Tim-Berners-Lee-admits-forward-slashes-web-address-mistake.html Sir Tim Berners-Lee admits the forward slashes in every web address 'were a mistake']''.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there celebrities?||There are certain people who are more respected and well-known than other people, whether it be because of their acting career, major advancements to science, or a sex tape.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do snakes exist?|| The question is rather general and likely based on a widespread dislike for the reptilians. Be it due to their appearance, their spread, or the danger a few snakes pose to humans (often due to being venomous) many people have a dislike for snakes and would prefer them to not exist (similar to spiders).<br /> In regards to &quot;why do snakes exist on earth?&quot;: Because evolution. Snakes fill a gap in the ecosystem as predators and hunt different species, including vermin. Snakes are in that regard similar to many other predatory animals. The question on why snakes developed with their distinct streamlined shape is still debated but {{w|snakes|likely it either provided an advantage when burrowing or swimming}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do oysters have pearls?||{{w|Creation of a pearl|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;Pearls are formed inside the shell of certain mollusks as a defense mechanism against a potentially threatening irritant such as a parasite inside the shell, or an attack from outside, injuring the mantle tissue. The mollusk creates a pearl sac to seal off the irritation. Pearls are commonly viewed by scientists as a by-product of an adaptive immune system-like function.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why are ducks called ducks?||See {{w|Duck#Etymology}}. {{W|wikt:duck|According to Wiktionary}}, the noun ''duck'' can be traced back to the {{w|Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic}} word {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/dūkaną|''dūkaną''}} (&quot;to dive, bend down&quot;), and, in turn, the {{w|Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European}} {{w|wikt:Appendix:Proto-Indo-European/dʰewb-|''dʰewb-''}} (&quot;deep, hollow&quot;), which is the origin of the verb ''to duck''. The link between the noun and the verb comes from ducks' tendency to dive under water for short periods of time.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do they call it the clap?||An old folk remedy for {{w|gonorrhea}} was to clap on the sides of the penis.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are Kyle and Cartman friends?|| The question relates to the TV show {{w|South Park}}. Both are children living in the small titular town in Colorado. Cartman is widely accepted to a be very bad person, one of his many character flaws being his antisemitism. Kyle on the other hand is a Jew. However, both, along with two other kids, Stan and Kenny, are the core focus of the show (or used to be) and to some extent are considered to be friends. While there are episodes which show Cartman being not entirely a horrible person and him holding Kyle in a position of at least a worthy adversary, most of the time the question should be &quot;Why is anyone friends with Cartman?&quot; However, they most likely remain &quot;friends&quot; because they are in the same class at school and are therefore &quot;forced&quot; to be around one another.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there an arrow on Aang's head?||{{w|Avatar: The Last Airbender#Characters|Aang}} is the main character of the TV series {{w|Avatar the last Airbender|Avatar - The last Airbender}} and features as part of a large body spanning tattoo an arrow on his head. These tattoos are made to replicate the markings of one of the shows fictional animals, the air bison which are regarded as the original air benders. They are given to human air benders once they attain the status of masters. Because Aang acquired this status very early in life he was already tattooed accordingly.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are text messages blue?||This likely refers to imessage chat being blue. These messages are blue when sending a message to another apple device.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches on clothes?||Because some people buy them. Mustaches, especially handlebar-style mustaches, were a popular fad at the time of this comic.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches on cars?||Fuzzy pink mustaches are used to designate cars in the {{w|Lyft}} service.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there mustaches everywhere?||See {{w|Movember}}<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there so many birds in Ohio?||There are an estimated [http://oh.audubon.org/bsc/SOTB.html 400 bird species] in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Ohio Ohio], but there are [http://www.jstor.org/discover/2419997sid=21104910103541&amp;uid=4&amp;uid=3739776&amp;uid=2&amp;uid=3739256 2.74 nesting pairs per acre].<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there so much rain in Ohio?|| {{w|lake_effect|Lake-effect}} rain develops in the same manner as lake-effect snow.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is Ohio weather so weird?||See {{w|Lake-effect snow}}.<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Two===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there male and female bikes? || {{w|bicycle|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;Historically, women's bicycle frames had a top tube that connected in the middle of the seat tube instead of the top, resulting in a lower {{w|Frame geometry|standover height}} at the expense of compromised structural integrity, since this places a strong bending load in the seat tube, and bicycle frame members are typically weak in bending. This design, referred to as a '''''{{w|step-through frame}}''''' or as an ''open frame'', allows the rider to mount and dismount in a dignified way while wearing a skirt or dress.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there bridesmaids?||See {{w|Bridesmaid#Origin and history}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do dying people reach up?|| In many works of fiction dying people are regarded with an outstretched arm, grasping for unseen objects towards the sky. In all likelihood this originates in the idea of heaven as the place where (good) people go after death. People &quot;reach for the light&quot; which is seen when dying according to similar beliefs or possibly for already dead relatives or other associated people waiting for them. An alternative hypothesis is that they want to hug/touch their loved ones one last time.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't there varicose arteries?||Blood moves through veins due to irregular pressure from skeletal muscles combined with valves to control direction. In varicose veins these valves malfunction affecting blood flow. In arteries blood flow is produced directly from pressure caused by the heart.<br /> |-<br /> |Why are old Klingons different?|| {{w|Klingon Redesign|From Wikipedia}}: &lt;blockquote&gt;For {{w|Star Trek: The Motion Picture}} (1979), the Klingons were retconned and their appearance and behavior radically changed. To give the aliens a more sophisticated and threatening demeanor, the Klingons were depicted with ridged foreheads, snaggled and prominent teeth, and a defined language and alphabet. Lee Cole, a production designer, used red gels and primitive shapes in the design of Klingon consoles and ship interiors, which took on a dark and moody atmosphere. The alphabet was designed as angular, with sharp edges harkening to the Klingon's militaristic focus.[5] Costume designer Robert Fletcher created new uniforms for the Klingons, reminiscent of feudal Japanese armor.&lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> |-<br /> |Why is programming so hard?||Programming is the art of writing instructions for a computer to do. Since the computer has a limited set of instructions for you to use it involves a new way of thinking for many. It is also hard because the computer itself is not smart or adaptable to unexpected problems. For instance when a human is told to sort books in a shelf, he or she can do that despite there might be things in the way (he or she will just move it to the side). A computer generally just crash if it doesn't have instructions on how to deal with the unexcepted problem.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there a 0 Ohm resistor?|| A resistor is usually designed to create a certain resistance, measured in {{w|Ohm}} in an electronic device. A 0 Ohm resistor seems pointless as it would only provide the same resistance as a normal cable. However, Wikipedia's {{w|Zero-ohm link}} article gives sufficient explanation.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do Americans hate soccer? || Soccer, or football in British English, is rather unpopular in the USA compared to most other regions of the world. Finding a particular reason behind the (dis)like for certain sports, apart from cultural spread, is difficult. One possible explanation is soccer's tendency to have far fewer points scored in an average game and a higher likelihood of draws compared to such things as American Football, basketball or baseball, which are far more popular. In how far this is a legitimate argument for regarding soccer as &quot;less interesting&quot; is up to debate.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do rhymes sound good?||The brain enjoys repetition especially in music.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do trees die?||Some common reasons include lack of water, lack of nitrogen in the soil and being chopped down.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is there no sound on CNN?||Some stations broadcast a {{w|second audio program}}, an alternative sound track that your TV can be configured to use instead of the primary program. This is intended to be used for broadcasting in an alternate language, or for {{w|Descriptive Video Service}} to make a program accessible to the visually impaired. Many programs that don't actually use SAP will still broadcast an SAP that is identical to the primary program; however, this is not required. If your TV is configured to use SAP and a particular channel isn't broadcasting SAP at that time, there won't be any sound.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't Pokémon real?||Pokémon are fantasised creatures that were designed to produce an interesting battle mechanic in a game. Some of the pokémons abilities would be impossible on earth as we know it. For instance, Magcargo is hotter than the surface of the sun&lt;ref name=&quot;Bulbapedia Magcargo&quot;&gt; [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Magcargo#Trivia|Magcargo]]&lt;/ref&gt;.<br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't bullets sharp?||See {{w|Terminal ballistics}}.<br /> |-<br /> |Why do dreams seem so real?|| Most dreams occur during a stage known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement). During REM, your brain is highly active and its wave pattern is the same as the wave patterns in a person who is awake. It should be noted that dreams can occur during other stages of sleep but most dreams that are vivid occur during the REM stage.<br /> |-<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Three===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why do testicles move?|| The scrotum shrinks and expands to account for temperature changes. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there psychics?|| Psychics are humans who supposedly have supernatural abilities to know things. A better question would be to ask why do people suppose there are psychics.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are hats so expensive?|| Hats can be expensive depending on the quality of material, size, location, and demand. A probable answer is that hats are simply difficult to make, causing high prices. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there caffeine in my shampoo?|| Because the producers want you to believe that caffeine penetrates the hair roots and thereby somehow protects it from negative testosterone impacts and from premature hair loss. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do your boobs hurt?|| The most probable reason is that your bra doesn't fit correctly. It could also be a hormone imbalance or awkwardly shaped breasts.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Four===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't economists rich? || Economists study how laws of self-interest bring about an efficient allocation of resources. In order to become rich, one has to enter a market seeking profit by trading or producing goods or services.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do Americans call it soccer? || {{w|Association Football}} is called Soccer in the USA because {{w|American Football}} is the more popular version there.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are my ears ringing? || {{w|Tinnitus}}, or ringing of the ears, can result from stress, foreign objects in the ear, hearing damage, wax build up, or any other number of causes.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many Avengers? ||The number of Avengers has [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Avengers_members varied greatly] over the years and decades, each time with it's own justification for why they need to work together, but the simplest answer is money. Cross-branding and cross-merchandising is successful to the brand and brings in new readers, plus creates a new franchise to profit from. <br /> |-<br /> |Why are the Avengers fighting the X Men || {{w|Avengers vs. X-Men}} was a 2012 Marvel crossover event that, like many other recent comic book events, had heroes fight other heroes. In this case, the {{w|Avengers (comics)|Avengers}} and the {{w|X-Men}} fought over the {{w|Phoenix Force (comics)|Phoenix Force}}, a godlike power that often possesses {{w|Jean Grey}} or her descendants (in this case, her alternate universe daughter Hope Summers). The Avengers believed the Phoenix Force is too powerful for humanity to control and wanted to contain it, while the X-Men believed the Phoenix was the messiah for mutants and could fix all of the Earth's problems.<br /> |-<br /> |Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers || Wolverine ''has'' been an Avenger, in some circumstances. e.g. in the {{w|The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes}} cartoon series, the episode ''New Avengers'' had Wolverine (along with Spiderman, War Machine, The Thing and Luke Cage and Iron Fist) substitute while the 'original' Avengers were unavailable to deal with the current crisis (which of course included the fate of the 'proper' Avengers). However, in general his anti-authority personality makes him a difficult team-member to field, and he has frequently disassociated himself even from the X-Men. But, in Avengers vs. X-Men (see above) Wolverine ''sided'' with The Avengers, and more modern treatments have even included the character in about as much a permanent a membership of the group as Logan is ever likely to have.<br /> <br /> But if the question is about why Wolverine didn't appear in {{w|The Avengers (2012 film)|''The Avengers''}}, the answer is that ''The Avengers'' is being produced by Marvel/Disney, while Fox still has the rights to the X-Men and all Marvel mutants in general. Unless there is studio agreement, the two properties cannot cross, except through complicated machinations. For example, there are plans to bring Avengers mainstays Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch to both the ''Avengers'' and ''X-Men'' franchises, but only the Fox films have the right to call them the children of Magneto, and Marvel/Disney cannot even identify them on-screen as &quot;mutants&quot;.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Five===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there ants in my laptop? || Ants usually come in your laptop when there are little crumbs of food. It is advised to get screen protectors.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Earth tilted? || The Earth is not tilted. Axial tilt is just a result of conservation of momentum when the Earth was formed, because not everything orbits in the same way. It is pure happenstance that Earth's axis is not normal to its plane of orbit.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is space black? || What we call black is the absence of light. Space is mostly empty. Whe we look at a part of space where there is nothing that can reflect the stars' light, it consequently appears black to us.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is outer space so cold? || Space is not cold. There is no matter in space. However, most of space has very little radiation hitting it, so a person won't recieve any energy, but will still radiate some away, resulting in a net loss of energy, colloquially &quot;heat.&quot;<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there pyramids on the moon? || There are no pyramids on the moon.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is NASA shutting down? ||NASA isn't shutting down. This question might have something to do with the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_shutdown_of_2013 Government Shutdown of 2013] or perhaps due to the then-current shuttle program ending, but that is not the entirety of NASA.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section &lt;strike&gt;Spider&lt;/strike&gt; Six===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there tiny spiders in my house?<br /> |rowspan=&quot;6&quot;|During autumn in particular male spiders reaching maturing will set off to find a mate. By chance they may end up in your house. When encountering spiders in large numbers, it is more likely that they are young from the same female spider. Females lay {{w|Spider#Reproduction_and_life_cycle|up to 3,000}} eggs at a time.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do spiders come inside? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there huge spiders in my house? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there lots of spiders in my house? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there spiders in my room? <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many spiders in my room? <br /> |-<br /> | Why do spider bites itch? ||This mostly happens as a immune response to [http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/why-do-mosquito-bites-itch histamines] under the skin which are injected through saliva.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is dying so scary? ||Part of human nature is the fear of the unknown, and death is the ultimate unknown because it is not knowable until it's experienced, and there is nobody to report what the result was. This leaves it open to speculation, and many major religions are based on preparing ones soul for death. Also, dying would leave loved ones families with the responsibility of taking care of their remains and finances. And finally, most people don't want to die, living for as long as possible, possibly because the unknown is too unbearable to cope with. Still though several people are not afraid of death and dying, and recognize life is short and to cherish each moment while we can. Death is inevitable, so we should not fear it. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there no GPS in laptops? ||It is not impossible for laptops to have a GPS, and some do. But there are [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/50907/are-there-gps-tracker-for-laptops design difficulties] that have to be overcome including battery draining, room within the crowded device to place a receiver, WiFi can give a location just as well, and the product casing could interfere with its ability to functional normally and receive the signals necessary to operate as intended. Some Dell computers have these, but the privacy one needs to give up to accept the terms and conditions makes it unfavorable. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do knees click? ||<br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there E grades? ||E grades [http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/02/e-f-grading-scale/ actually exist] in some districts, but they are rare. In their long and bizarre history, E was originally used where F is today (E was the lowest grade), but in those systems, students often received E's for an &quot;Excellent&quot; grade, creating much confusion. F was used in place instead and E was eliminated from a standard grading scale. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is isolation bad? ||Isolation is when a person deliberately secludes themselves away from others, often far-removed from society. This can happen in locations as small as a city apartment and as large as the open woods. People evolved as social animals and it is generally held that those who isolate themselves suffer from depression or other forms of psychological imbalance. Of course society can trigger many of these imbalances causing an individual to isolate themselves. Isolation is often seen as therapeutic so people can spend time with themselves constructively, often finding peace within themselves and through mediation. Monks and hermits generally live in solitude as well. Many people view a decision to be isolated as noble, and others as healthy. While general interaction is largely healthy, in the crowded modern world, isolation is neither good or bad; it depends on the person and what that isolation does to them. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do boys like me? ||Attraction comes in many forms: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, among others. Many people will lie about what they like about you to get something else (money, sex, etc), but most are genuine. It is not possible to assert definitively why one person may like another person, and that is something that needs to be discussed openly and honestly with them and nobody else. <br /> |-<br /> | Why don't boys like me? ||Similar to the answer above about what makes one desirable to another, there are an equal number of factors that make one unappealing. This can include everything from physical appearance to how one treats others. If a person is rude and unfriendly, most people find that not-conducive to healthy relationship and avoid the person who is asking. Not being liked by someone you like however does not mean you're wrong or are a bad person and in most cases has to do with the person you are asking about. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there always a Java update? ||[https://www.java.com/en/download/faq/whatis_java.xml Java] is a software that runs on most computers and mobile devices that is crucial to its security and stability. The reason why it always updates is because it needs to stay current with the ever-upgrading fleet of browsers, operating systems and software that supports Java. Additionally Java updates itself so each version can run optimally. Software coding and debugging is a never-ending process towards perfectly stable releases. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there red dots on my thighs? ||<br /> |-<br /> | Why is lying good? ||Lying and other forms of dishonesty is typically seen as bad because it lowers one's credibility and makes them less likely to be trusted in the future. It is almost always advantageous to tell the truth, as lies have a way of escalating as you need to keep expanding on the lie to cover your tracks. There are instances however where lying may be used in more noble circumstances. For example, if a friend asks your opinion on something they have made (such as a poem or painting) that you do not like, it is okay to tell them you like it because protecting their feelings and your relationship is more important than how you feel. Often military personnel are trained to keep national security secrets at all costs and will lie about what they know to save themselves and the country.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Seven===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there slaves in the bible? ||Slavery was viewed differently in the early years of human civilization before the contemporary moral and ethical conversations began centuries later. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bible_and_slavery bible justified slavery] for a number of reasons, notably to pay off some sort of debt. Slaves were seen as property and their work provided value to the slave owner. Similarly slave owners rationalized their ownership through scripture, pointing out that it was in the Bible and therefore okay with God.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do twins have different fingerprints? || Fingerprints are not only from the DNA, but from the conditions in the womb which differ from child to child.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are Americans afraid of dragons? ||This question was the title of a [http://blogs.sfu.ca/courses/spring2012/engl387/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Why-are-Americans-Afraid-of-Dragons.docx 1974 essay] by Ursula K. LeGeuin in which she makes a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics semiotic] analysis of dragon mythology. She argues that our belief in dragons (and those outside of America as well) stems from childhood, much like other ferocious fictional creatures such as goblins and hobbits, but many hold onto these fears as a way of avoiding reality. In her closing argument, she writes, &quot;They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, all that is phony, unnecessary, and trivial in the life they have let themselves be forced into living. They are afraid of dragons, because they are afraid of freedom.&quot;<br /> |-<br /> | Why is HTTPS crossed out in red? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there a line through HTTPS? || The site accessed has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook? || Facebook has an invalid SSL certificate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is HTTPS important? || For security reasons, as a site with HTTPS has encrypted traffic.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Eight===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there swarms of gnats? || The reason gnats (and other creatures) tend to swarm together is likely a safety-in-numbers protection, and as a big gathering to find a mate.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there phlegm? ||{{w|Phlegm#Phlegm|Phlegm}} is a thick, viscous fluid produced by the mucus membranes as a way to clear the airway and aids in the release of bacteria, disease and debris in those passages. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN || From a Minnesota Paper, [http://www.startribune.com/local/138902104.html the Star Tribune], &quot;Laws prevent the city from poisoning the crows&quot;. &quot;Duffy [Steve Duffy, a co-owner of U.S. Bird Abatement Services, which has contracted with Rochester to get rid of the crows] isn't sure why Rochester has such a bad crow problem; probably a confluence of many bird-friendly conditions that has also made it a magnet for geese. He's seen worse cases, but called Rochester's situation 'hideous.'&quot; And best of all, &quot;The city has twice this winter hired experts to chase them off. They tried lasers and bullhorns — hey, get out of here, you crows — and even employed raptors to pick them off, one by one. That worked, for awhile.&quot; Unfortunately, they mean a {{w|bird of prey}}, not a {{w|velociraptor}}.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Psychic weak to Bug || In Pokémon, Pokémon of the psychic type like Mr. Mime are weak to three types of attacks: Ghost, Dark, and Bug. The general theory is that Psychic Pokémon, relying heavily on their thoughts for attacks, are weak to fears, which ghosts, darkness, and bugs can be classified as.<br /> |- <br /> | Why do children get cancer? ||{{w|Cancer}} is an aggressive and often fatal disease that has the potential to affect all humans as well as other organisms. There are multiple types of cancer, each with their own epidemiology, but children are not immune to succumbing to the horrific effects of the disease. Children are human beings and are subject to the same illnesses adults have, regardless of age, or their innocence. There is no divine or supernatural explanation for this. Simply put, life is a battle for all humans regardless of how small they are. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus? || {{w|Poseidon}} was the patron deity of the city of {{w|Troy}}, which after a 10 years siege by the Greeks fell due to {{w|Odysseus}}' list of the {{w|Trojan_Horse|Trojan horse}}. As the Greeks were returning home after the Trojan War, Oddyseus' ship accidentally landed on the island home of the cyclops Polyphemus, who imprisoned the crew and ate many of them. In order to escape, Odysseus blinded the cyclops. Poseidon, Polyphemus' father, was extremely angered by his son being blinded, so he cursed Odysseus' ship to prevent him from reaching his home in {{W|Ithaca}}. The adventures which Odysseus encountered during his quest for reaching Ithaca are the main theme of {{w|Homer|Homer's}} {{w|Odyssey}} The Odyssey also says that before sailing, the crew forgot to offer a sacrifice as was ordained.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there ice in space? || Space is {{w|Outer_space#Environment|Cold}}. The background radiation, which is used to measure the temperature of space's vacuum, is estimated at about 3K (−270 °C; −454 °F). Water freezes at 273.15 K (0ºC; 32ºF). Because the temperature in space is less than the freezing point of water, liquids freeze in space, turning into ice.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section &lt;strike&gt;Owl&lt;/strike&gt; Nine===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl in my back yard? || Owls can be seen all over the world, and live in a wide variety of habitats. They are mainly noctural, and spend a large portion of the night hunting. The owl in your back yard is likely looking for food.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl outside my window? || As with the question above, the owl is likely to be hunting for food. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there an owl on the dollar bill? || On the front of a dollar bill, near the upper right '1' is a tiny section of the design which can be seen to represent an owl. Conspiracy theorists will note that owls were symbolically linked to the Masons, while others will instead see a spider.<br /> |-<br /> | Why do owls attack people? || While owls and human often live in close proximity without problems, as with other species, owls may attack if they feel threatened. When people irritate or otherwise make owls feel unsafe, they retaliate with violence to protect themselves.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are AK47s so expensive? || The market value of an AK47 varies depending on where in the world you live. With strict gun control laws, obtaining an AK47 in the UK is likely to be more expensive due to the risks involved for those supplying the weapon. In ex-soviet countries and the middle east, AK47s are more plentiful, and hence the price is likely to be lower.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there helicopters circling my house? ||This question is likely a joke because it is so incongruous to the others in this section. The joke is that people would be Googling about owls attacking people and assault rifle prices, which could, ostensibly alert authorities to come to your house to arrest you. If this is not the case, then the helicopter could be there for myriad reasons. <br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Ten===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there gods? ||All gods and goddesses man made and are part of ancient and fictional mythology and folklore that are used to give spiritual guidance and explanations for phenomenons that were yet unexplained by natural processes. Lightning for example was thought to be produced by Zeus, King of all Greek Gods. <br /> |-<br /> |Why are there two Spocks? || This is probably a reference to the {{w|Star_Trek_(film)|2009 Star Trek movie}} in which the franchise was given a {{w|Reboot_(fiction)|continuity reboot}}. The modified setting is explained in-universe by time travel, with both the villain Nero and the original-timeline Spock being brought back from the 24th century to the 23rd, creating a timeline in which both older Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) and the younger Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) coexist.<br /> <br /> Another possibility is that the question refers to the episode {{w|Mirror,_Mirror_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)|&quot;Mirror, Mirror&quot;}}, which mostly takes place in an alternate universe populated by ruthless versions of most of the characters (including Spock). <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Mt Vesuvius there? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why do they say T minus? || Time before the launch of a spacecraft is denoted as T minus because the launch has not happened yet. Any time after the launched is stated without the minus, for example T 3 seconds, so time before the launch can be seen as &quot;minus&quot; time. The T stands for &quot;Test&quot; or &quot;Time&quot;.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there obelisks? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are wrestlers always wet? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are oceans becoming more acidic? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why is Arwen dying? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't my quail laying eggs? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't my quail eggs hatching? || <br /> |-<br /> |Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America? || ''Further information: {{w|United States military deployments}}''&lt;p&gt;This is a very interesting question, albeit one likely based on a regional misunderstanding. Presumably, this question is asked by Americans who assume that the existence of {{w|Category:Military facilities of the United States by country|U.S. military bases abroad}} is a general trend among countries, as opposed to being the rarity that it is. In fact, {{w|List of countries with overseas military bases|only a handful of other countries}} have military bases outside of their borders, and the three—{{w|France}}, the {{w|United Kingdom}}, and {{w|Russia}}—that have more than one or two are all countries that, like the United States, {{w|Allies of World War II|were on the winning side of World War II}}, have {{w|List of countries by military expenditures|massive military expenditures}}, and have {{w|United Nations Security Council veto power|UN Security Council vetoes}}. In other words, only the most militarily elite countries have bases overseas. The U.S. is unique, however, in that it has far more overseas bases than any other country (and, pretty much, far more of anything else than any other country, when it comes to the military), and in that {{w|List of United States military bases|it has bases in several other highly-industrialized nations}}, including {{w|List of United States Army installations in South Korea|South Korea}} and the United Kingdom, and, most notably, the World War II {{w|Axis powers}}: {{w|List of United States Army installations in Germany|Germany}}, {{w|United States Forces Japan|Japan}}, and {{w|List of United States Army installations in Italy|Italy}}. France, Russia, and the U.K.'s bases, on the other hand, are almost all within areas that they previously controlled.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;These bases can be controversial in some countries, while in others they are a major source of economic and political stability. The U.S. traditionally justifies their presence as a necessary and crucial element in its efforts to promote peace domestically and worldwide. Despite their major role in {{w|U.S. foreign policy}}, and in the general political structure of the globe, the American public often largely ignores them, and they rarely become a major political issue (apart from an occasional mention by {{w|Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian presidential candidates}}).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, essentially, the absence of foreign military bases within the U.S. is primarily because there aren't really any other countries in a position to place bases there. Ironically, although no battles in the traditional sense have been fought within the U.S. since the {{w|U.S. Civil War}} and the U.S. mainland has seen {{w|Mainland invasion of the United States|almost no military action}}, foreign air force bases might have been useful on September 11, 2001. (The {{w|attack on Pearl Harbor}} in 1941 was 18 years before Hawaii became a U.S. state, but Hawaii was still a fundamental part of the United States as it was an incorporated territory.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are, however, foreign troops stationed at some continental US military bases. For example RAF (British Royal Air Force) 39 Sqn and 361 Sqn at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada flying Reaper and Predator drones. But this are not foreign military bases, they are just guests.&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Section Eleven===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why are my boobs itchy? ||It could be anything from dry skin to a rare life-threatening disease. Could also be related to pregnancy, PMS, or puberty. [http://www.just-health.net/Itchy-Breast.html Here's a thorough list] of possible causes and remedies.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are cigarettes legal? ||Despite the obvious detrimental affects nicotine has on health, like caffeine and alcohol, it is easy to regulate. Substances like marijuana and other drugs are mainly illegal because the government and regulatory agencies have no control over their production and distribution and therefore cannot profit from it. Nicotine however, which is the key ingredient in tobacco can be regulated and taxed and is. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are there ducks in my pool? ||Most likely, they're looking for a place to mate. Which means you'll soon have baby ducks in your pool. Most migratory birds are protected by wildlife laws, so you want to prevent them from moving into your pool in the first place. The [http://www.dfwwildlife.org/duck.html DFW Wildlife Coalition] has some tips.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is Jesus white? ||This is an ethnocentric viewpoint that varies throughout cultures. In African cultures he is portrayed as black. In short, whatever culture he is introduced to, those inhabitants will have him fit their own image. <br /> |-<br /> | Why is there liquid in my ear? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why do Q tips feel good? ||The inner ear contains [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erectile_tissue erectile tissue] (as does your inner nose which is why sneezing feels good) so you are massing tissue which gets aroused upon stimulation. <br /> |-<br /> | Why do good people die? ||Everybody dies, but loved ones and ones who were known to make memorable or valuable contributions are mourned and revered more than a person who has left much pain to others as their legacy; we remember the good ones and that's why it hurts more. <br /> |-<br /> | Why are ultrasounds important? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why are ultrasound machines expensive? || <br /> |-<br /> | Why is stealing wrong? ||Stealing is theft and it is illegal. Taking something that is not yours without permission or payment hurts the livelihood of other individuals as well as damages their trust in others. <br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Vertical Questions===<br /> {| class =&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> |-<br /> !style=&quot;width:20%;&quot;|Question !! Possible answer<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there hell if god forgives? ||There is not a single answer to this question. The answer varies based on the religion and that religion's sect mixed with personal interpretations of that religions scripture and how a person decides to follow it. However the idea of what Hell will be like also varies. There is no one answer to this question, but the easiest explanation is that the individual did not pray hard enough, correctly, was not part of the right religion, and their forgiveness was contingent on something that the person either did not do or know to do (or say or think) <br /> |-<br /> | Why do iguanas die? ||All living things die, but iguanas may suffer from [http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/kidneyfailure.html kidney failure].<br /> |-<br /> | Why is GPS free? || GPS was originally developed by the U.S. military for its own use, not for commercial purposes. Once the satellites were launched and service began, anyone could receive the signals. Because it is a one-way transmission, there is no incremental cost to provide service to more users, and no practical way to prevent use without payment.<br /> |-<br /> | Why are trees tall? ||Tall is a relative term, and Redwoods are famous for their height - among the tallest in the world. The reason for this is, in part [http://www.nps.gov/redw/faqs.htm climate, fog, rain, good soil, few predators, among others].<br /> |-<br /> |Why are there female Mr. Mimes? || {{w|Mr. Mime}} is a Pokémon introduced in the first generation of the games, and despite its name, it can be either of a male or female gender. As the Pokémon was introduced before the concept of [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gender gender in Pokémon games], it is likely that the people in charge of translating its Japanese name (Barrierd) did not take this into account during the process.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is there lava? ||Lava is simply magma (molten rock) which has been ejected from volcanoes. Once it is flowing on land, it is called lava. Magma is heated by the earth's core to create a liquid surface under earth's crust that the land floats on. Sometimes it has to come out through faults and fissures (and volcanoes).<br /> |-<br /> | Why is YKK on a zippers? || YKK Group is the name of a large group of Japanese manufacturing companies, which among other things manufacture a lot of zippers.<br /> |-<br /> | Why is life so boring? ||It is up to an individual to find meaning and interest in life. Monotony, predictability and lack of physical and intellectual stimulation would lead to a feeling of boredom. <br /> |-<br /> | Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts? ||Ghosts are a supernatural phenomenon that have not been empirically proven to exist. Those who believe in ghosts implicitly believe in a soul (of which a ghost is a materialization of), and it is a commonly held belief by religious institutions and ghost-hunters that animals do not have souls and thus dinosaurs would not have any either. <br /> |-<br /> |Why is there no king in England? || ''Note: For simplicity's sake, &quot;England&quot; here is being read as &quot;United Kingdom.&quot; The various name changes, mergers, and splits of kingdoms are complicated.''&lt;p&gt;The basis for this question is that for the past several hundred years, there has almost always been a queen in England, the sole exceptions being when the king has not had a wife. However, there is a distinction between being the queen of England (that is to say, {{w|List of British monarchs|a monarch}}) and being the {{w|queen consort|queen ''consort''}} of England: The former refers to a woman who {{w|Succession to the British throne|succeeded to the throne}} in her own right, becoming sovereign, while the latter refers to the wife of the king. Both roles, though, are commonly referred to as &quot;Queen of England,&quot; creating the impression that there is always such a person. The logical question, therefore, is why {{w|Elizabeth II}}'s husband, {{w|Prince Philip|Philip}}, is not considered the king of England. The answer lies in Britain's system of {{w|male-preference cognatic primogeniture}}, which causes the monarch of England to usually be a man, not a woman. As a result of this, British laws were generally built around the presumption that the monarch would be a man, and that said man would be married to a woman, [[223: Valentine's Day|comic 223]] be damned. Since the creation of the modern British throne in 1707, only two women have reigned as queen in their own right; it just so happens that these two women have been two of the most famous and longest-reigning monarchs in world history, {{w|Queen Victoria}} and Queen Elizabeth II. This fact may add to people's enhanced perception of the lack of a British king. Victoria and Elizabeth's respective consorts, {{w|Albert, Prince Consort|Albert}} and Philip, have been styled as princes&amp;mdash;Albert as {{w|Prince Consort}} and Philip as &quot;{{w|British prince|Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland}}.&quot; Both were explicitly granted their titles by their wives, though Albert was already a prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Philip had previously been a prince of Denmark and Greece, but had renounced both titles before marrying Elizabeth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The title {{w|king consort}} also exists, but has never been used in the United Kingdom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Notably, should {{w|Prince Charles}} succeed to his mother's throne, it has been announced that his wife, {{w|Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall|Camilla}}, will be styled as {{w|princess consort}}, ''not'' as queen consort, just as she has declined the title {{w|Princess of Wales}}, which is strongly associated with Charles's first wife, {{w|Princess Diana|Diana}}. Assuming that Charles succeeds, this means that Britain will not have anyone referred to as &quot;queen,&quot; after decades of not having anyone referred to as &quot;king.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;<br /> |-<br /> | Why do I feel dizzy? ||Balance is achieved from fluids in the inner-ear, but [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dizziness#Epidemiology dizziness] can have nearly a dozen causes.]<br /> |-<br /> | Why are dogs afraid of fireworks? ||Loud noises can trigger their flight or fight responses when they are [http://www.cesarsway.com/dogbehavior/hyperdog/How-to-Keep-Your-Dog-Safe-and-Calm-During-Fireworks nervous].<br /> |-<br /> | Why are there weeks? || Weeks were originally important for religious reasons, primarily the requirement to observe a sabbath (day of rest) every seventh day. Today it is used to evenly divide months into equal pieces, much like the months divide a year. Similarly, hours and minutes divide a day.<br /> |}<br /> <br /> &lt;references/&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[This strip is a rectangular word cloud, titled 'Questions found in Google autocomplete'. Embedded in the cloud are 5 single panels, with illustrated questions. These are described at the end. Questions are given in roughly columnar order. None of the questions have question marks.]<br /> <br /> :Questions found in Google Autocomplete<br /> <br /> :Why do whales jump<br /> :Why are witches green<br /> :Why are there mirrors above beds<br /> :Why do I say uh<br /> :Why is sea salt better<br /> :Why are there trees in the middle of fields<br /> :Why is there not a Pokemon MMO<br /> :Why is there laughing in TV shows<br /> :Why are there doors on the freeway<br /> :Why are there so many svchost.exe running<br /> :Why aren't there any countries in antarctica<br /> :Why are there scary sounds in Minecraft<br /> :Why is there kicking in my stomach<br /> :Why are there two slashes after HTTP<br /> :Why are there celebrities<br /> :Why do snakes exist<br /> :Why do oysters have pearls<br /> :Why are ducks called ducks<br /> :Why do they call it the clap<br /> :Why are Kyle and Cartman friends<br /> :Why is there an arraow on Aang's head<br /> :Why are text messages blue<br /> :Why are there mustaches on clothes<br /> :Why are there mustaches on cars<br /> :Why are there mustaches everywhere<br /> :Why are there so many birds in Ohio<br /> :Why is there so much rain in Ohio<br /> :Why is Ohio weather so weird<br /> :Why are there male and female bikes<br /> :Why are there bridesmaids<br /> :Why do dying people reach up<br /> :Why aren't there varicose arteries<br /> :Why are old Klingons different<br /> :Why is programming so hard<br /> :Why is there a 0 ohm resistor<br /> :Why do Americans hate soccer<br /> :Why do rhymes sound good<br /> :Why do trees die<br /> :Why is there no sound on CNN<br /> :Why aren't Pokemon real<br /> :Why aren't bullets sharp<br /> :Why do dreams seem so real<br /> :Why aren't there dinosaur ghosts<br /> :Why do iguanas die<br /> :Why do testicles move<br /> :Why are there psychics<br /> :Why are hats so expensive<br /> :Why is there caffeine in my shampoo<br /> :Why do your boobs hurt<br /> :Why aren't economists rich<br /> :Why do Americans call it soccer<br /> :Why are my ears ringing<br /> :Why are there so many Avengers<br /> :Why are the Avengers fighting the X men<br /> :Why is Wolverine not in the Avengers<br /> :Why are there ants in my laptop<br /> :Why is Earth tilted<br /> :Why is space black<br /> :Why is outer space so cold<br /> :Why are there pyramids on the moon<br /> :Why is NASA shutting down<br /> :Why is there Hell if God forgives<br /> :Why are there tiny spiders in my house<br /> :Why do spiders come inside<br /> :Why are there huge spiders in my house<br /> :Why are there lots of spiders in my house<br /> :Why are there spiders in my room<br /> :Why are there so many spiders in my room<br /> :Why do spider bites itch<br /> :Why is dying so scary<br /> :Why is there no GPS in laptops<br /> :Why do knees click<br /> :Why aren't there E grades<br /> :Why is isolation bad<br /> :Why do boys like me<br /> :Why don't boys like me<br /> :Why is there always a Java update<br /> :Why are there red dots on my thighs<br /> :Why is lying good<br /> :Why is GPS free<br /> :Why are trees tall<br /> :Why are there slaves in the Bible<br /> :Why do twins have different fingerprints<br /> :Why are Americans afraid of dragons<br /> :Why is there lava<br /> :Why are there swarms of gnats<br /> :Why is there phlegm<br /> :Why are there so many crows in Rochester, MN<br /> :Why is psychic weak to bug<br /> :Why do children get cancer<br /> :Why is Poseidon angry with Odysseus<br /> :Why is there ice in space<br /> :Why are there female Mr Mimes<br /> :Why is there an owl in my backyard<br /> :Why is there an owl outside my window<br /> :Why is there an owl on the dollar bill<br /> :Why do owls attack people<br /> :Why are AK47s so expensive<br /> :Why are there helicopters circling my house<br /> :Why are there gods<br /> :Why are there two Spocks<br /> :Why is Mt Vesuvius there<br /> :Why do they say T minus<br /> :Why are there obelisks<br /> :Why are wrestlers always wet<br /> :Why are oceans becoming more acidic<br /> :Why is Arwen dying<br /> :Why aren't my quail laying eggs<br /> :Why aren't my quail eggs hatching<br /> :Why aren't there any foreign military bases in America<br /> :Why is life so boring<br /> :Why are my boobs itchy<br /> :Why are cigarettes legal<br /> :Why are there ducks in my pool<br /> :Why is Jesus white<br /> :Why is there liquid in my ear<br /> :Why do Q tips feel good<br /> :Why do good people die<br /> :Why are ultrasounds important<br /> :Why are ultrasound machines expensive<br /> :Why is stealing wrong<br /> :Why is YKK on all zippers<br /> :Why is HTTPS crossed out in red<br /> :Why is there a line through HTTPS<br /> :Why is there a red line through HTTPS on Facebook<br /> :Why is HTTPS important<br /> :Why are there weeks<br /> :Why do I feel dizzy<br /> :Why are dogs afraid of fireworks<br /> :Why is there no king in England<br /> <br /> :[We see Cueball from the torso up, with arms outstretched.]<br /> :Cueball: Why aren't my arms growing<br /> <br /> :[Megan stands with a grey ghost on either side of her.]<br /> :Megan: Why are there ghosts<br /> <br /> :[Beret Guy stands, looking at a squirrel.]<br /> :Beret Guy: Why are there squirrels<br /> <br /> :[Cueball stands.]<br /> :Cueball: Why is sex so important.<br /> <br /> :[We see Ponytail from the torso up.]<br /> :Ponytail: Why aren't there guns in Harry Potter<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br /> [[Category:Large drawings]]<br /> [[Category:LOTR]]<br /> [[Category:Pokémon]]<br /> [[Category:Google Search]]</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1392:_Dominant_Players&diff=82937 2015-01-17T19:11:42Z

<p>108.162.221.171: /* Chess (women) */ Updated Kira Zvoryinka to reflect her death in Sep 2014.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1392<br /> | date = July 9, 2014<br /> | title = Dominant Players<br /> | image = dominant_players.png<br /> | titletext = When Vera Menchik entered a 1929 tournament, a male competitor mocked her by suggesting that a special 'Vera Menchik Club' would be created for any player who lost to her. When the tournament began, he promptly became the first member of said club, and over the years it accumulated a large and illustrious roster.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> A [http://xkcd.com/1392/large larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> The comic shows the rise and fall of players' strengths in two games, {{w|basketball}} and {{w|chess}}. For chess, there is an overall chart, and a women's chart.<br /> <br /> For basketball, it uses the {{w|player efficiency rating}} (PER), the [http://knickerblogger.net/a-laymans-guide-to-advanced-nba-statistics/ most commonly used player statistic]. Note that that player efficiency ratings and similar &quot;aggregate scores&quot; are the subject of much discussion in basketball due to {{w|Player_efficiency_rating#Problems_with_PER|known deficiencies}}.<br /> <br /> For chess, it uses the {{w|Elo rating}}. Elo was adopted by the World Chess Federation, FIDE, in 1970, so the rating is extrapolated backwards in time (amongst other using [https://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Kenneth+Wingate+Regan Kenneth Regan's] computer analysis - as written in the Chess panel) and are thus shown as dashed lines prior to 1970. Interestingly Elo ratings {{w|Elo_rating#Elo_ratings_beyond_chess|have been adapted to basketball}}, but the PER is more commonly used to rank basketball players.<br /> <br /> The charts show the players career paths as a function of time with the rating on the y-axis. There is no [[#Scales of the axis|scale on the y-axis]].<br /> <br /> [[#Player inclusion criteria|Included]] are mainly players that could be said to have been among the dominating players at some time in their career. If a player has been the best player over a longer time period (a seriously dominating player) then their career path will be drawn in red, the rest are in gray. There can be more than one red path at a time, but only because the dominating player has played before or after they became dominating. It seems like it has to be at least five years, as there are at least two players that have been no. 1 for four years, without being upgraded to a red curve. The only ones that have managed this with three years or less (on the chart) are those that begin the chart, and thus could have been no. 1 a few years before. This can all be seen in the '''[[#Data tables|data tables]]''' below.<br /> <br /> ==Basketball vs chess==<br /> Basketball is one of the fastest sports in the world, with some of the tallest people in the world among the players. Chess, on the other hand, will by many not even be considered a sport. Although a general good condition of the body may help you think clearly, you by no means need to be an athlete to do well in chess. You do, however, expect a rather high IQ among the best performers. This is not necessary to become a great basketball player (although here it is not in the way either). Another very important difference is that basketball is a team sport, whereas chess is one of the most individual sports you can imagine.<br /> <br /> So why compare to so different sports? And why the [[#References on the career paths|funny remarks]] for the basketball players against the more serious for the chess players? Maybe [[Randall]] wish to make fun at basketball and the fact that several of the best of these at some time during their career choses to be in a movie or documentary. Or that they return after they retired. The remarks for the chess players is more about who loses and wins matches.<br /> <br /> It could also be to show how different the players career paths are. Basketball players peak early in their career, then have at most a decade at the top of their game (and as the best), and if they are lucky they get close to a career of two decades. Chess players can dominate for two decades, and have careers that last more than three decades. Also they often continue to improve a long time after they became no 1.<br /> <br /> For the reason mentioned here there are 7 red basketball players from 1950-2014, whereas there are only 5 male and 3 female red players for the two chess panels. (And then one extra each for the Chess panels from before 1950). See the [[#Data tables|data tables]] below.<br /> <br /> Except for women's chess between 1944 till 1957 and for chess until 1947 there are always at least two players career path at any given time. So at least no. 1 and no. 2 are shown. But at some point in time there can be as many as 7 basketball players, 8 chess players and 8 women chess players career paths for a given year.<br /> <br /> ===Chess vs chess (women)===<br /> Why is chess divided in an overall (with only one woman included) and basketball not? First of all, there is very little focus on women's basketball (as for most women's sport). This may be the same for chess, but at least here the physical strength advantage for men is no direct advantage. Thus a great woman chess player may play just as interesting chess as a man. Whereas women would typically have no chance if playing on a basketball team with men. But why are women then not represented better on the overall chess ranking? This is explained and may be another reason it is included. In the ''Chess (women)'' panel it says: ''For a long time, sexism, a lack of role models, and institutional hostility largely kept women from pursuing serious chess careers. With the expansion of women’s tournaments and prizes starting in the 1970s, this has begun to change''. So now at least one woman has shown that her skills is enough to compete with the best men. With the long careers chess players usually have, then maternity leave can destroy a womans chance at reaching the ultimate top. This could be the case for the number one woman who now has two children.<br /> <br /> ==References on the career paths==<br /> *There are several references at given times of a career path. These can either be noted with:<br /> **A node on the path. An arrow will point to the note and state a fact.<br /> **Dashed path, not including chess player paths from before 1970 where they were all dashed as explained above. For basketball, an arrow will point to the dashed part and state a fact.<br /> **The {{w|Starburst (symbol)|starbursts}} at the beginning or end of a path. A fact will be stated next to the node. These are references to a player disappearing (or reappearing) in unusual circumstances in either Chess panel.<br /> *Some of these are intended to provide context (such as &quot;Loses to Deep Blue&quot;), while others are tangents or jokes.<br /> *These references are listed below in order of appearance. If it is a dashed line or a starburst it will be mentioned:<br /> <br /> ===Basketball===<br /> *{{W|Wilt Chamberlain}} - &quot;Becomes the first and so far only player to score {{w|Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game|100 points in a game}}&quot;. (In 1962)<br /> *{{w|Jerry West}} - &quot;The Guy in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NBALogo.svg The NBA logo]&quot; from 1969: read 5th paragraph in this {{w|National_Basketball_Association#Celtics.27_dominance.2C_league_expansion.2C_and_competition|wiki section}}<br /> *{{w|Kareem Abdul-Jabbar}} - &quot;{{w|Airplane (film)|Airplane}}&quot;: A comedy film from 1980 where he played the co-pilot Roger Murdock.<br /> *{{w|Magic Johnson}} - &quot;{{w|Magic_Johnson#HIV_announcement_and_Olympics_.281991.E2.80.9392.29|HIV announcement}}&quot;. This part of his path is dashed. The line is dashed from 1991 to 1995 - where the fear of Aids forced him to retire.<br /> **He {{w|Magic_Johnson#Return_to_the_Lakers_as_coach_and_player_.281994.2C_1996.29|returned to play once more}} in the season from 1995-1996<br /> *{{w|Michael Jordan}} - &quot;{{w|Michael_Jordan#First_retirement_and_baseball_career_.281993.E2.80.931994.29|Baseball career}}&quot;. This part of his path is dashed. From 1993-1994 he played Baseball - i.e. his first retirement.<br /> *Michael Jordan - &quot;{{w|Space Jam}}&quot;. (An animated comedy film from 1996 starring {{w|Bugs Bunny}} and Jordan - who was the only live character during most of the movie)<br /> *Michael Jordan - &quot;{{w|Michael_Jordan#Second_retirement_.281999.E2.80.932001.29|Second retirement}}&quot;. This part of his path is dashed. (He retired again from 1999–2001)<br /> **He then {{w|Michael_Jordan#Washington_Wizards_comeback_.282001.E2.80.932003.29|came back}} to play two more years from 2001-2003.<br /> *{{w|LeBron James}} - &quot;{{w|The Decision (TV special)|The Decision}},&quot; a television special from 2010 about a heavily hyped decision as to which team he would play for the next season.<br /> <br /> ===Chess===<br /> *{{w|José Raúl Capablanca|José Capablanca}} - &quot;Terrifying chess God&quot;. An arrow points to the left of the panel with his name and the note beneath it. He was considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. As he died in 1942 this lies just outside of the chart. Anyway he had his best years all the way back in 1921-1927 where he was world chess champion<br /> *{{w|Alexander Alekhine}} - This is the first starburst. There is no text except his name. He {{w|Alexander_Alekhine#His_final_year|died in 1946}} in Portugal) <br /> *{{w|Bobby Fischer}} - &quot;Vanished...&quot; The second Starburst. (He did not actually vanish, but he did {{w|Bobby_Fischer#Sudden_obscurity|stop playing competitively}} for about 20 years starting in 1972. This is probably a reference to the 1993 film {{w|Searching for Bobby Fischer}}, which is not actually about Fischer, but about a player who partly models his career on Fischer's. The name ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'' may lead people to believe Fischer literally vanished, but that is not the case.<br /> *Bobby Fischer - &quot;...Reappeared then vanished again. He had problems.&quot; This is written below a double starburst with a short line between. This is another reference to Fischer - there is no name or clear correlation, except the text that relates to the first reference. He {{w|Bobby_Fischer#1992_Spassky_rematch|resumed playing competitively}} in 1992 for a match. ''{{w|Bobby_Fischer#Life_as_an_.C3.A9migr.C3.A9|He had problems}}'' is a simplistic description of issues and controversies in Fischer's later life, including an arrest warrant because he violated a U.S. embargo against Yugoslavia, unpaid taxes, controversy about his statements on {{w|Antisemitism|anti-semitism}}, and mental problems. The U.S. eventually revoked his passport, and he was jailed for eight months in Japan. He then received Icelandic citizenship, and lived out the rest of his life there.<br /> *{{w|Garry Kasparov}} - &quot;Loses to {{w|Deep Blue (chess computer)|Deep Blue}}&quot;. In 1997 Deep Blue became the first computer to {{w|Deep_Blue_versus_Garry_Kasparov#1997_rematch|beat the current chess world champion}}<br /> *{{w|Judit Polgar}} - &quot;(see below)&quot;. The text in the brackets is written beneath her name. She is the strongest woman chess player ever and can be seen rising from the gender-defined ranks of women's chess (below). She is the only women shown on this part of the chart. Below in the womans chart, there are several notes - see below.<br /> <br /> ===Chess (women)===<br /> *{{w|Vera Menchik}} - &quot;Died in a missile attack on London&quot;. This is the Last starburst. She was killed in 1944 by an early guided missile - a {{w|V-1 flying bomb}} - launched by the Germans in {{w|World War II}}. For some reason her path does not seems to be dashed, as it should have been before 1970.<br /> *{{w|Sonja Graf}} - &quot;Rating particularly uncertain&quot;. This is written above her name, with an arrow pointing there. As a matter of fact, she was clearly the second best woman and her path should be parallel to Menchik's from 1930's. The path is already dashed indicating that it is a rough estimate, but there were probably very few data for woman chess players before 1960 explaining the note.<br /> *{{w|Kira Zvorykina}} - &quot;Kira Zvorykina (born 1919) continued playing in tournaments into the 21st century&quot;. Zvorykina was never very high on the list, but can be seen twice centered on 1960 and 1980. She played her [http://ratings.fide.com/individual_calculations.phtml?idnumber=13500392&amp;rating_period=2008-01-01&amp;t=0 last game] rated by the {{w|World Chess Federation}} in October 2007 aged 88. She was still alive when this comic was released. Zvoryinka passed away in September 2014.<br /> **She is the only player in all three panels whose path falls below the panel only to enter again later. This second entry is labeled with her last name - Zvorykina - on top of the path <br /> *Judit Polgar, {{w|Susan Polgar}} and {{w|Sofia Polgar}} - &quot;Sisters&quot;. These three chess playing sisters are linked by a thin dashed line, snaking between their names on the chart. Judit is the youngest, Susan the oldest. Judit has now overtaken her sisters, Sofia never reaching the other two sisters level.<br /> *Judit Polgar - &quot;{{w|Judit_Polgar#Making_history|Wins a game against Kasparov}}, making her the first woman to beat the world #1&quot;. It took some attempts and some {{w|Judit_Polgar#Kasparov_touch-move_controversy|controversy}} before she managed to beat Kasparov in 2002, in a tournament that was played under rapid rules with 25 minutes per game and a 10 second bonus per move.<br /> *Judit Polgar - &quot;Becomes first woman to rank in the overall top 10&quot;. She is so far the only woman to break into the top 10 in the {{w|FIDE World Rankings}}. She ranked as high as {{w|Judit_Polgar#Combining_family_and_chess|eighth in the world}} in 2005.<br /> <br /> ==Scales of the axis==<br /> The '''x-axis''' is divided in decades from 1950 until 2010. In the Basketball section the curves begins to appear right after 1950. For both chess panels there are curves further back than 1950 (with even a reference to a player from before 1940). For all three panels the paths continue up till present day (2014).<br /> <br /> In all cases there is no scale on the '''y-axis''' with the rating, thus it is difficult to find the absolute scale. It is also difficult to compare between the two chess panels. The scale on the two chess panels are, however, the same, as can be seen by comparing the curve of Judit Polgar on each chart. This curve is exactly the same, with the same elevation between the point where her curve enters the Chess panel up to the top point. This also means that any women player whose curve rises above this entry point (around 1989) should also be visible in the Chess chart. See below for inclusion criteria.<br /> <br /> ==Player inclusion criteria==<br /> In general not all possible players are included in these charts. For instance it is mentioned that Judit Polgar was the first woman ranked in the over all top 10. But only six players are shown on the over all chart around 2005, where she was ranked 8th. So some male players, better than her at that time, have not been included. This is a general trend for all three charts.<br /> <br /> From the Woman's panel below it is also clear that some of the other women would be ranked high enough to be visible on the upper chart as mentioned in the [[#Scales of the axis|Scales]] section above. But still only Judit is shown there. 9 out of 12 of the women that are on the chart after 1989 would be visible if included in the overall chart. However, none of them could be called dominant when comparing to the best men in the same time period. And thus they are not included. Maybe the same could be said about Judth, but then she is included for scale, and because she is so good that she can compete with, and sometimes beat, the best.<br /> <br /> Some NBA players (like {{w|Tim Duncan}}, {{w|Charles Barkley}}, {{w|Oscar Robertson}}, {{w|Kobe Bryant}}, and {{w|Chris Paul}}) have been left out of the chart in favor of players with lower career and yearly efficiency ratings.<br /> <br /> Similarly can be mentioned for instance the no. 1 ranked chess player {{w|Veselin Topalov}} from Bulgaria, who was ranked first both in 20062007 and in 2008-2010 for a total of less than two years. And there are likely several others ([[#Where is Viswanathan Anand|see below]]).<br /> <br /> An example of the above for Basketball would be the 2008–2009 season which was unique in that it was the only season in which more than one player posted an efficiency ratings of over 30.0 on the Player efficiency rating (see at the bottom of {{w|Player_efficiency_rating#Reference_guide|this section}} on Wikipedia). In that season three players broke this barrier: LeBron James (31.76), {{w|Dwyane Wade}} (30.46), and Chris Paul (30.04). LeBron is shown to top that season, But Dwayne is far below (thus the scale does not fit?) and Chris is not on the list at all (i.e. he was not deemed to be a dominant player).<br /> <br /> So is this [[Randall|Randall's]] subjective list of players that he has deemed to be ''Dominant Players'' and not a full list of the best ranked players during the time period? Of course it is his choice which players he put into the list, but missing players (when worse has been included earlier) can be explained if the missing players never were among the most dominant player over a length of time. It is not a list of the best players of all time, or of a single season, but a chart of the dominant players over a longer time period.<br /> <br /> If a player only has had a very short time where their careers peaked - they should not be included. Also if there most of the time where at least two others that were more dominant than they ever where - they should not be included. To tell if this explains all the excluded players mentioned/referenced above, that would take some investigation. An investigation we can assume Randall has taken upon himself before posting this comic. This of course will still make it his subjective list.<br /> <br /> For basketball any given player will at least have been the 2nd best (of those included) at some (longer) period of their career. And to become selected for a red curve, they need to be the best for at least five years - the first players curve is no. 1 less than five year, but he could have been no. 1 also before 1951.<br /> <br /> The same is valid for the Chess players (again the first players curve is red, but stops just as it enters the panel). Only exception is Judit Polgar. She is never better than 3rd of those selected. And she was never better than 8th in the world. So her inclusion is a mentioned probably only to compare her with the men.<br /> <br /> For the woman chess players there are the same criteria for red, except that Sonja Graf is not red although she is the only chess player on the list for more than a decade. Maybe you need to be better than someone else to become red? There are also included several women who never reaches 2nd place on the chart. Three of these reaches 3rd place and two only 4th. One of these, Anna Muzychuk, is still on the rise, so she might be on the chart, because she could possibly become first or second if she can continue to improve. The other, Sofia Polgar, is included to show that all three Polgar sisters are chess masters.<br /> <br /> ===Where is Viswanathan Anand===<br /> None of the above can explain why former World Champion Chess Grandmaster {{w|Viswanathan Anand}} has not been included in the Chess Chart. Anand is one of six players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list. He occupied the number one position in several rating lists between 2007 and 2011. The reason could possible be because Randall may be a huge fan of {{w|Magnus Carlsen}}, and thus biased against Anand - there is some evidence for this in [[1287: Puzzle]]. In the title text of that comic it seems that Randall makes fun of Anand in a match against Magnus. The interpretation of the comic and its comment, however, appear to be a double-edged matter of debate.<br /> <br /> Anand can for instance be found in the {{w|Chessmetrics}} devised by statistician {{w|Jeff Sonas}}. In the [http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Summary.asp graph from 1995-2005] of Sonas famous research from 2005, Anand becomes the best during 2004. It can, however, also be seen that Randall does not agree with Sonas - this is very clear in this [http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Summary.asp?Params=194020SSSSS3S000000000000111000000000000010100 graph from 1940-1960]. Here Mikhail Botvinnik clearly plays way better than Alexander Alekhine in 1946, where Alexander dies. This is not shown like this in the comic. Maybe the death of Alexander becomes the more interesting in the comic, if you believed he was the best at the time. Note that all nine (male) names listed in the comics chart between the lines at 1950 and 2000 are included in this [http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/Summary.asp?Params=195050SSSSS3S000000000000111000000000000010100 graph from 1950-2000]. In this chart it is clear that Bobby Fischer was by far the best in the years before he disappeared. However, he was caught by {{w|Anatoly Karpov}} just before which is not shown in the comic. On the other hand, he seems to have reached a significant higher rating than Kasparov ever did, which is also not the case in the comic.<br /> <br /> ==Entwined career paths==<br /> Chess players {{w|Vladimir Kramnik}} and {{w|Levon Aronian}}, who have faced each other on multiple occasions in the 2010s, are shown as having their career paths entwined. It is a general trend observed every time two players paths cross each other more than once. The one on top the first time, will be below the second time and so forth. It is just more clear with these two than anywhere else. In two cases these crossing path occurs with so long time between the first appearance, that the names is written twice on the path. In the Chess panel it is {{w|Mikhail Tal}} and {{w|Boris Spassky}} and for the Chess (women) panel it is {{w|Pia Cramling}} and {{w|Xie Jun}}. This can make it difficult to get an overview of how few chess players there are compared to basketball players.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :'''Dominant players '''<br /> :over time<br /> :[Below this heading there are three panels with charts showing different players career paths - that is their rating a function of the year. Most of the paths are grey, but some are red (there will be a note for these). Some parts of several paths are dashed. Somewhere on each path the players name will be written curving along so it follows the path. Several places an event or some information is noted and points to a given time on the path. If it is not clear where it belongs an arrow will point to the correct place. Each chart has a heading and for the two last charts there is an explanation. There is no scale on the y-axis (rating) but the x-axis (time) has the years given in ten years interval. A thin line indicates these decades. The years are all written at the top, except the first for the first chart, which is written below, and this year is missing in the bottom chart.]<br /> :[Below the transcript for each chart will follow this order: Heading/sub heading, explanation, time scale, player names with any information for this player, in the order their name appear on the time scale.]<br /> :[Basketball chart:]<br /> :'''Basketball (NBA/ABA)'''<br /> :Player Efficiency Rating<br /> :1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010<br /> :[Red] George Mikan<br /> :[Red] Bob Pettit<br /> :Neal Johnston [Neil misspelled.]<br /> :Elgin Baylor<br /> :[Red] Wilt Chamberlain<br /> ::Becomes the first and so far only player to score 100 points in a game<br /> :Jerry West<br /> ::The Guy in the NBA logo<br /> :[Red] Kareem Abdul Jabbar [Missing hyphen between the two last names.]<br /> ::Airplane<br /> :Bob Mcadoo<br /> :Julius Irving [Erving misspelled.]<br /> :Moses Malone<br /> :Magic Johnson<br /> ::HIV announcement [A part of the path is dashed after this.]<br /> :[Red] Michael Jordan<br /> ::Baseball career [A part of the path is dashed after this.]<br /> ::Space Jam<br /> ::Second retirement [A part of the path is dashed after this.]<br /> :Larry Bird<br /> :Karl Malone<br /> :David Robinson<br /> :[Red] Shaquille O'Neal<br /> :Kevin Gariett<br /> :[Red] LeBron James<br /> ::The Decision<br /> :Dwyane Wade<br /> :Kevin Durant<br /> <br /> :[Chess chart.]<br /> :'''Chess'''<br /> :Elo Rating<br /> :The modern Elo rating system dates back to about 1970.<br /> :Computer analysis (like Kenneth Regan’s) lets us rate historical players, but this has only been done rigorously for a few tournaments.<br /> :Dashed lines are rough estimates only.<br /> :[All paths are dashed up until the late nineteen sixties:]<br /> :1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010<br /> :[The first player has no path, as his time was before 1940. An arrow points toward the left to these earlier times:]<br /> :José Capablanca<br /> ::Terrifying chess God<br /> :[Red] Alexander Alekhine [His path ends in a starburst.]<br /> :[Red] Mikhail Botvinnik<br /> :Tigran Petrosian<br /> :David Bronstein<br /> :Mikhail Tal<br /> ::Mikhail Tal [his name is written twice on the path, the second time above Boris Spassky when their paths intertwine.]<br /> :[Red] Bobby Fischer<br /> ::Vanished… [Text under a starburst.]<br /> ::Reappeared then vanished again. He had problems. [Text under two starbursts connected with a path. This appears much later than the first starburst.]<br /> :Boris Spassky<br /> ::Boris Spassky [his name is written twice on the path, the second time below Mikhail Tal when their paths intertwine.]<br /> :Victor Korchnoi<br /> :[Red] Anatoly Karpov<br /> :[Red] Garry Kasparov<br /> ::Loses to Deep Blue<br /> :Judit Polgar<br /> ::(See below) [The text is written beneath her name.]<br /> :Vladimir Kramnik<br /> :Levon Aronian<br /> :[Red] Magnus Carlsen<br /> <br /> :[Chess (women) chart:]<br /> :'''Chess (women)'''<br /> :Elo Rating<br /> :For a long time, sexism, a lack of role models, and institutional hostility largely kept women from pursuing serious chess careers.<br /> :With the expansion of women’s tournaments and prizes starting in the 1970s, this has begun to change.<br /> :[All paths are dashed up until the late nineteen sixties.]<br /> :1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010<br /> :[Red] Vera Menchik<br /> ::Died in a missile attack on London [next to a starburst.]<br /> :Sonja Graf<br /> ::Rating particularly uncertain<br /> :Olga Rubtsova<br /> :Elisaveta Bykova<br /> :Kira Zvorykina<br /> ::Kira Zvorykina (born 1919) continued playing in tournaments into the 21st century [Text above Elisvetas path, no arrows.]<br /> ::Zvorykina [Written on top of the path when her path reappears much later.]<br /> :Alexander Nicolau<br /> :[Red] Nona Gaprindashvili<br /> :Alla Kushnir<br /> :[Red] Maia Chiburdanidze<br /> :Pia Cramling<br /> ::Pia Cramling [her name is written twice on the path, the second time below the path of Xie Jun after their paths have intertwined.]<br /> :Xie Jun<br /> ::Xie Jun [her name is written twice on the path, the second time above the path of Pia Cramling after their paths have intertwined.]<br /> :Susan Polgar<br /> :Sofia Polgar<br /> :[Red] Judit Polgar<br /> ::Sisters [The three Polgars are linked by a thin dashed line, snaking between their names.]<br /> ::Wins a game against Kasparov, making her the first woman to beat the world #1<br /> ::Becomes first woman to rank in the overall top 10<br /> :Antoaneta Stefanova<br /> :Anna Muzychuk<br /> :Koneru Humpy [In western style the name should be Humpy Koneru, but the comics version is the native form.]<br /> :Hou Yifan<br /> <br /> ==Trivia==<br /> *The [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/4/45/20140710201235!dominant_players.png original comic] said about Kira Zvorykina &quot;Continued playing in tournaments into the 20th century&quot;. The 20th century is the 1900's in which Zvorkina was born (on September 29, 1919 according to Wikipedia). Randall has corrected the notation to say &quot;into the 21st century.&quot;<br /> *The names of three NBA players have been misspelled: {{w|Neil Johnston}} (misspelled as &quot;Neal&quot;), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (missing hyphen), and {{w|Julius Erving}} (misspelled &quot;Irving&quot;.)<br /> *The order of the names of an Indian chess playing woman has been given in the native version in the comic, where the western version would use the reverse as here: {{w|Humpy Koneru}}.<br /> ===Data tables===<br /> *Below are three sortable tables, with the original order as the players name appear in the transcript i.e. chronological.<br /> *One of the objectives of the tables is to make it clear what is the criteria for a player obtaining a red path. Thus there is an x for red path and an x for being no. 1 on the charts. Also the number if years a player has been no. 1 is given.<br /> *All data in these tables are taken from the comic - except the names - they are taken from Wikipedia. See trivia items above.<br /> *The total years as no. 1 is not the same in each table, as those players entering the panels from outside (before 1942), do not get a length of time as being no. 1. For basketball the chart first begins in 1951 (together with the rating system?)<br /> **Since the years as no. 1 has been roughly estimated from the charts (with a ruler) the sum total can also not be expected to fit with the first entry and today (and they miss with at least a couple of years each), as all years have been rounded to the nearest whole year.<br /> *In the comments column, there is references to the relevant section in the explanation if there are any notes/references in the comic for the player. Also references are made to the trivia section for errors etc. Other comments are for special observations regarding said player.<br /> **So use the comments if you have any interesting but short note to add for a given player.<br /> **In case of longer info: If they are regarding the table, write them in bullets below the relevant table (and make a note on the players comments), or add it to the trivia section above.<br /> **More general things or info on [[#Player inclusion criteria|players missing from the comic]] should be added to the explanation above.<br /> <br /> {| class=&quot;wikitable sortable&quot;<br /> |+Dominant players in Basketball (NBA/ABA)<br /> !Player name<br /> !x if Red<br /> !x if no. 1<br /> !Years as no. 1<br /> !Best placement<br /> !Comments<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|George Mikan}}||x||x||3||1||His path begins in 1951 where the chart begins<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Bob Pettit}}||x||x||5||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Neil Johnston }}||||||0||2||His path begins in 1951 where the chart begins. [[#Trivia|Name misspelled]] in comic<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Elgin Baylor}}||||||0||2||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w| Wilt Chamberlain}}||x||x||11||1||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Jerry West}}||||||0||2||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Kareem Abdul-Jabbar}}||x||x||10||1||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]. Also the [[#Trivia|hyphen has been left out]] in the comic<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Bob McAdoo}}||||||0||2||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Julius Erving}}||||x||1||1||[[#Trivia|Name misspelled]] in comic<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Moses Malone}}||||x||3||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Magic Johnson}}||||||0||2||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Michael Jordan}}||x||x||8||1||[[#Basketball|There are three notes]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Larry Bird}}||||x||2||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Karl Malone}}||||||0||2||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|David Robinson (basketball)|David Robinson}}||||x||4||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Shaquille O'Neal}}||x||x||6||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Kevin Garnett}}||||x||2||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|LeBron James}}||x||x||8||1||[[#Basketball|There is a note]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Dwyane Wade}}||||x||1||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Kevin Durant}}||||x||1||1||He became no 1 in 2013 and still is<br /> |-<br /> |20 players - Total: ||7||14||65||1-2||<br /> |}<br /> <br /> {| class=&quot;wikitable sortable&quot;<br /> |+ Chess<br /> !Player name<br /> !x if Red<br /> !x if no. 1<br /> !Years as no. 1<br /> !Best placement<br /> !Comments<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|José Capablanca}}||||x||||1||[[#Chess|There is a note]]. He is outside the panel<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Alexander Alekhine}}||x||x||||1||Path begins outside panel and ends in a starburst<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Mikhail Botvinnik}}||x||x||17||1||No 1 over two separate periods<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Tigran Petrosian}}||||||0||2||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|David Bronstein}}||||x||2||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Mikhail Tal}}||||x||4||1||Name written twice on the path<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Bobby Fischer}}||x||x||8||1||[[#Chess|There are two notes]] in connection with three starbursts<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Boris Spassky}}||||||0||2||Name written twice on the path<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Victor Korchnoi}}||||||0||2||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Anatoly Karpov}}||x||x||11||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Garry Kasparov}}||x||x||23||1||[[#Chess|There is a note]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Judit Polgar}}||||||0||3||[[#Chess|There is a note]]. Only woman in this chart.<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Vladimir Kramnik}}||||x||2||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Levon Aronian}}||||||0||2||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Magnus Carlsen}}||x||x||6||1||He became no 1 in 2008 and still is<br /> |-<br /> |15 players - Total: ||6||10||73||1-3||Only with a 3rd place as the best is Judit from the womens chart<br /> |}<br /> <br /> {| class=&quot;wikitable sortable&quot;<br /> |+ Chess (women)<br /> !Player name<br /> !x if Red<br /> !x if no. 1<br /> !Years as no. 1<br /> !Best placement<br /> !Comments<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Vera Menchik}}||x||x||||1||[[#Chess (women)|There is a note]]. Path begins outside panel and ends in a starburst<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Sonja Graf}}||||x||13||1||[[#Chess (women)|There is a note]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Olga Rubtsova}}||||x||1||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Elisaveta Bykova}}||||||0||2||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Kira Zvorykina}}||||||0||3||[[#Chess (women)|There are two notes]], see also [[#Trivia|Trivia]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Alexandra Nicolau}}||||||0||3||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Nona Gaprindashvili}}||x||x||19||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Alla Kushnir}}||||||0||2||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Maia Chiburdanidze}}||x||x||9||1||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Pia Cramling}}||||||0||2||Name written twice on the path<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Xie Jun}}||||||0||2||Name written twice on the path<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Susan Polgar}}||||||0||2||[[#Chess (women)|There is a note]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Sofia Polgar}}||||||0||4||[[#Chess (women)|There is a note]]<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Judit Polgar}}||x||x||26||1||[[#Chess (women)|There are three notes]]. She became no 1 in 1989 and still is<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Antoaneta Stefanova}}||||||0||3||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Anna Muzychuk}}||||||0||4||<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Humpy Koneru}}||||||0||2||[[#Trivia|Alternate version of name]] used in comic<br /> |-<br /> |{{w|Hou Yifan}}||||||0||2||<br /> |-<br /> |18 players - Total: ||4||6||68||1-4||One no. 4 is a sister the other is still active<br /> |}<br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Large drawings]]<br /> [[Category:Comics with color]]<br /> [[Category:Charts]]<br /> [[Category:Chess]]</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1418:_Horse&diff=75903 2014-09-16T04:03:10Z

<p>108.162.221.171: </p> <hr /> <div>*May the horse be with you Luke.<br /> *The horse is strong with this one.<br /> *I felt a tremor in the horse.<br /> Why did he forget SW. That is not like Randall ;) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:50, 8 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> : I gotta think maybe Randall's making a subtle statement that Star Wars just ain't so relevant these days... [[User:KieferSkunk|KieferSkunk]] ([[User talk:KieferSkunk|talk]]) 21:50, 15 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> Following up on the title text... &quot;Why was he suspended?&quot; &quot;Due to allegations of excessive horse.&quot;<br /> <br /> [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.201|173.245.56.201]] 09:01, 8 September 2014 (UTC) Siuntio<br /> <br /> So I linked it to the old substitutions page - gjgfuj [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.219|108.162.250.219]] 10:05, 8 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Like the &quot;Clouds-to-butts&quot; plugin for Chrome. {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.231}}<br /> :More information in Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/24odjt/cloud_to_butts_extension/]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.201|108.162.221.201]] 14:16, 8 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> Would it be funny the other way?<br /> *The force population has been in decline sine the industrial revolution<br /> *Rules of polo: You need a force.<br /> *People do not like it when there is force in their beef.<br /> I do ;) —[[User:Artyer|Artyer]] ([[User talk:Artyer|talk]]) 18:33, 8 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> Correctforcebatterystaple [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.163|173.245.56.163]] 22:18, 8 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> I originally (earlier today) read it as &quot;Iraqi Air [FH]orse grow'''l'''ing&quot;... Which made less sense than I'd have expected, but I couldn't unread it until just now. Still surreal, but at least not outright Dada[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.233|141.101.98.233]] 00:21, 9 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> &quot;A police horse is a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enhorse the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder. (...) Law enhorsement, however, constitutes only part of policing activity.&quot; --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.161|141.101.104.161]] 07:21, 9 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> maybe the officer suspended from horse was a reference to the police officer who shot a black person? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.254.106|108.162.254.106]] 07:39, 9 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Aqua teen hunger horse. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.226|108.162.246.226]] 00:54, 10 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> <br /> I had previously posted a grumpy comment here (now removed) --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 07:38, 11 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> :Sorry, but that's totally wrong. The discussion section is meant to replace what used to be the old blog's comments section, and is for any discussion relevant to the comic. If you're new here, there's a section on the main page titled &quot;New Here?&quot; which explains the basics of explainxkcd, and it's worth checking out. It also lists the handful of rules we have, including the fact that the discussion page is for talking about the comic. [[User:Az|Az]] ([[User talk:Az|talk]]) 06:59, 11 September 2014 (UTC) <br /> ::Sorry about that, and thanks for the pointer. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 07:38, 11 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> Explanation Quarks:<br /> Sorry, could not resist... [[User:Tier666|Tier666]] ([[User talk:Tier666|talk]]) 11:39, 10 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> How about the portion of the Police Horse who are on forceback? {{unsigned ip|173.245.52.170}}<br /> <br /> Last time XKCD featured one of these text replacements, people started posting scripts for implementing the text replacement automatically in browsers. I'm surprised this hasn't happened yet. [[User:Diszy|Diszy]] ([[User talk:Diszy|talk]]) 22:03, 11 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> http://bitcoinshell.mooo.com/users/noiob/dev/horse.user.js Here you go. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.179|141.101.104.179]] 16:26, 13 September 2014 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ----<br /> Interestingly, a sound change from an initial /f/ to /h/ happened in the evolution of Spanish. Examples: fornax --&gt; horno, ferrum --&gt; hierro, factus --&gt; hecho. Of course, all h's subsequently went silent.</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1416:_Pixels&diff=75173 2014-09-05T04:58:08Z

<p>108.162.221.171: /* Atom etc */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1416<br /> | date = September 3, 2014<br /> | title = Pixels<br /> | image = pixels.png<br /> | titletext = It's turtles all the way down.<br /> }}<br /> '''NOTE: The above is only a zoomed out version of the this interactive comic.''' For a collection of images that appear when zooming in on this comic, see [[1416: Pixels/Images]].<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Individual panels need explanations}}<br /> This interactive comic begins with a panel where [[Cueball]] is stacking turtles. This is a reference to the idiom &quot;turtles all the way down,&quot; which refers to the problem of infinite recursion: if everything in the universe is &quot;on top of&quot; something else, so to speak, there must be a &quot;bottom.&quot; A joking solution to the paradoxical nature of such a bottom is the proposition that {{w|Turtles_all_the_way_down|the world rests on a semi-infinite stack of turtles}}.<br /> <br /> As can be read you should &quot;scroll to zoom&quot;. This can be done by placing the cursor inside the panel of the comic. When scrolling up (using the mouse wheel) the picture zooms in until the pixels are visible. When you continue to scroll on each pixel then resolves into another comic picture, with black-on-white comic panels making up the white pixels and white-on-black panels making up the black pixels. Scrolling on until you can see the pixels of the comic picture you are now zooming into the process is repeated again and will be so for all subsequent sets of comic panels. Not all white and all black panels are the same; some sets involve more than two different panels, but all involve repetitive tiling.<br /> <br /> ==Themes==<br /> *Below are all the themes relevant to cover all the images found when zooming in. <br /> *They are sorted in the same order as in the gallery: [[1416: Pixels/Images]].<br /> **Open the gallery in another window - zoom out and then you can see the pictures in this window as you read about them here below:<br /> <br /> ===Turtles===<br /> Apart from the first image there are two more with a single turtle in them. In one of these the turtle thinks &quot;I am a turtle&quot;.<br /> It may say so to the Cueball that is seen standing all alone in another picture.<br /> <br /> ===What if?===<br /> There is a picture of the book, as it looks and big enough that all text is visible on the front cover. But there is also another version where the authors name is crossed out and replaced with Stephen King and also the word Spooky has been added above the title and below the word xkcd has been crossed and replaced with being afraid.<br /> <br /> ===Book Launch===<br /> This comic was released on September 3rd, 2014, the day after [[Randall|Randall's]] book ''[http://whatif.xkcd.com/book/ What If]'' was launched. The book is shown and referred to in a number of frames, for example it is [[:File:pixels-upgoer.png|'''literally''' launched]] as a part of an &lt;strike&gt;rocket&lt;/strike&gt; [[1133:_Up_Goer_Five|''up goer'']] built by Cueball. There are also a picture with Cueball holding &quot;his book&quot; and telling he is exited about book the launch.<br /> <br /> The model ''up goer'' is [[:File:pixels-assembly-1.png|made of Rocket Parts from KSP]]. KSP is the {{w|Kerbal Space Program}}, a spaceflight simulator which was also [[1350: Lorenz#Themes|part]] of the latest interactive comic [[1350: Lorenz]]. Perhaps xkcd's 'parts' refers to KSP's large community of mod developers who contribute 'parts' to the game, although it was likely intended as nothing more than the humorous supposition that one could purchase physical rocket parts from a simulator. The frames showing the book launch use URLs that include the text &quot;upgoer&quot; in reference to the [[Up Goer Five]] comic.<br /> <br /> In the end the upgoer leaves the Earth after one orbit and then flies through space.<br /> <br /> ===Needs More Struts===<br /> {{w|Strut|Struts}} are structural members in engineering, and are are one of the components used in Kerbal Space Program to construct rockets. 'Needs More Struts' seems to be a meme amongst players of Kerbal Space Program, along the lines of 'When in doubt, overengineer'. Megan deems Cueball's rocket to be insufficiently structurally sound, and declares that it &quot;[[:File:pixels-assembly-4.png|Needs More Struts]]&quot;<br /> <br /> ===The Only Copy===<br /> Cueball &amp; Megan turn to each other having just launched the What-If book rocket into space (construction and launch are seen in other panels). perhaps Megan realises they may have misunderstood the term 'book launch' and that they may have just lost ''[[:File:pixels-upgoer-6.png|the only copy]]'' of the book.<br /> <br /> ===Space objects===<br /> There are both the Moon, the Sun, Saturn and two images just with stars.<br /> <br /> ===Sky===<br /> In four pictures Cueball and Megan is sitting below the stars. In the second the following conversation takes place:<br /> :Cueball: Someone once told me the great kings of the past look down on us...<br /> :Megan: From the stars?<br /> :Cueball: Just in general.<br /> The second panel is a reference to Disney's [http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/The_Great_Kings_of_the_Past The Lion King]. Early in the film, Mufasa tells Simba that the great kings of the past look down on them from the stars. Later on, Simba recalls this to his companions, Timon and Pumba (who don't take him seriously). In the film, the kings of the past literally look down on--and watch over--the characters, which is how Megan interprets Cueball's initial statement. Cueball's reply that they just look down on us in general shows that he means the kings of the past figuratively look down on us (they view us as inferior or beneath them).<br /> <br /> In the next image a shooting star is seen above them. The final picture looks to identical to the first?<br /> <br /> ===Mario===<br /> A series of 8 images are called ''Mario''. One is also called ''entry'' has a picture only of a PC. The next four has Megan in front of the PC (Maybe she is Mario? Or she is playing Mario Brothers? She has a control in her hand so probably the last...) She sits on her knees in the first picture, then she sits on the floor. In the third picture she is lying down in front of the PC. Then there is one picture which is an inverse of the sitting picture. The last three pictures all have a view of the starlit night sky with the same two clouds in place. During the night (and these three pictures) a giant galaxy rises above the horizon. It does not look like the Milky Way would look anywhere from Earth (also it does not much look like a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way). There is something square protruding into the picture - this could be a brick wall hanging in the air. Mario can be seen standing in the bottom left corner. Or it could be part of the roof hanging out from the building Megan is inside. Maybe the rise of the galaxy shows how long Megan plays her game. Maybe this is why Cueball wishes to [[#Shut Down the Server|throw water on the server]].<br /> <br /> ===Shut Down the Server===<br /> Cueball tells an offscreen character that he is going to [[:File:pixels-server-1.png|shut down the server]], while carrying a bucket of water.<br /> <br /> Usually shutting down a {{w|Server (computing)|server}} is done via the operating system or software, or (not recommended) turning it off or pulling the power plug. But in this case it appears that cueball is simply going to douse it with water, likely resulting in serious water damage to the hardware.<br /> <br /> ===Clouds===<br /> In five pictures Megan is floating in the clouds. Only two pictures with Megan, two only with clouds and one only with birds as seen from a distance.<br /> <br /> ===Cantor Set===<br /> [[:File:pixels-cantor.png|One panel]] contains a number of lines and dots, which are in fact a depiction of the first 5 steps of a {{w|Cantor set|Cantor Ternary Set}}, mirrored about the horizontal centreline. The Cantor ternary set is constructed by repeatedly deleting the open middle thirds of a set of line segments. The Cantor Set is one of the canonical examples of a fractal, a shape whose individual parts resemble the whole. The use of the Cantor Set in this comic is self-referential, in that the comic, itself, is composed of parts of the same shape as the whole.<br /> <br /> ===Walking===<br /> In two images Cueball and Megan is seen walking. One normal black on white close up, and one inverse seen from afar. These may be relevant to the two next ([[#Time Turners]] and [[#Stockholm Syndrome]]) where they are seen talking while walking.<br /> <br /> ===Time Turners===<br /> The time turner is a device from the {{w|Harry Potter}} series of novels by {{w|JK Rowling}}. It allows the user to re-live a period of time over again. In the third novel Hermione is given the time-turner to allow her to take extra classes, however it is eventually used to spare Buckbeak the hippogryph from execution. This prompted many questions regarding why time-turners weren’t used on other occasions to save people's lives (among other things). <br /> <br /> While J.K Rowling has “[http://pottermore.wikia.com/wiki/Time-Turner solved the problem to her own satisfaction]” she admits that she entered into the subject of time-travel too lightly.<br /> <br /> [[:File:pixels-time-turner.png|This panel]] jokes that if the real life JK Rowling had a fictional time-turner which worked, she would have gone back and removed the time-turner plotline from the book, saving her all the hassle of dealing with the resulting time-travel questions. This act would result in a time-travel paradox.<br /> <br /> ===Stockholm Syndrome===<br /> {{w|Stockholm syndrome}} is the name for a psychological phenomenon, in which hostages develop sympathy, empathy and/or positive feelings towards their captors. These feelings are usually seen as irrational, seeing as the hostage is held against their wishes, usually with the threat of physical harm or death.<br /> <br /> [[:File:pixels-stockholm.png|This panel]] asks &quot;How do we know anyone really ''wants'' to live in Stockholm?&quot;, questioning whether everyone who lives in the city of Stockholm is in fact held hostage there and only stays because they have developed to like life there (due to Stockholm Syndrome).<br /> <br /> ===Fire Hydrant===<br /> [[Black Hat]] is talking to a fireman, with a fire engine on fire in the background, he asks &quot;To be fair, what else would you expect to come out of a &quot;[[:File:pixels-fire-hydrant.png|fire hydrant]]&quot;?&quot;<br /> <br /> Black Hat appears to have managed to replace the usual water supply to the {{w|fire hydrant}} with actual fire. Thus when the hydrant is used, the result is, quite literally, fire. In Black Hat's logic, a hydrant which delivers water should be called a water hydrant.<br /> <br /> ===Eeee===<br /> Megan hears a very long stretched ''EEEEEEEEEEEEE'' sound which goes over 6 images. It turns out it is a large letter '''E''' that shouts ''EEEEEEE!!!''. In total there are 64 small E emanating from the big one. There is also a picture with two big white E on black background. Those E are larger than the E that shouts. <br /> <br /> ===Evolution===<br /> The {{w|March of Progress}} image is a famous and instantly recognisable image showing the stages of human evolution by way of a series of primate figures as if marching in a line. The panel parodies the March of Progress image, with [[:File:pixels-evolution.png|5 ducklings following an adult duck]]. In this case, rather than portraying selected individuals millions of years apart, the March shows evolution in action on a human timescale, the mother taking care of her ducklings. The comic has some resemblance to [[537: Ducklings]].<br /> <br /> ===Rope===<br /> Four ropes cross diagonally across this black picture. Looks good when there are many of them in the same place.<br /> <br /> ===Chess===<br /> There are two chess boards on black and white background with smaller chessboards drawn upon them<br /> <br /> ===Atom etc===<br /> There is a picture of a Bohr Model atom--point electrons surrounding a nucleus of protons and neutrons. There is also a picture of what is probably a vibrating string from theory string. Despite the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, getting down to the string does not mean that the cartoon viewer has reached the &quot;bottom&quot; of zooming in on pixels.<br /> <br /> ===Holism, Reductionism, Mu===<br /> These three words refer to &quot;A MU offering&quot;, an essay by {{w|Douglas Hofstatder}} in his book {{w|Godel, Escher, Bach}} (which was referenced by Randall in [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey ]]). It includes a similar multiple level drawing: {{w|Mu (negative)|the word MU}} is composed of copies of the words [[:File:pixels-holism.png|HOLISM]] and [[:File:pixels-reductionism.png|REDUCTIONISM]], each of which are in turn made of smaller copies of the other, which are in turn made of [http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/two-more-letters/ tiny copies] of the word [[:File:pixels-mu.png|MU]].<br /> <br /> ===du===<br /> &quot;[[:File:pixels-du.png|du]]&quot; is a {{w|Linux}} command to indicate the &quot;disk usage&quot; of a file or directory.<br /> <br /> ~$ du -s video/<br /> 4170882256<br /> <br /> This is a command that shows how large all the files are in this user's &quot;video&quot; directory - presumably where they store their personal videos. The units of the result is probably kilobytes (depending on settings)<br /> <br /> This number is clearly large and difficult to parse, and the units are not clear. More appropriate units would be gigabytes rather than bytes. The du command offers an option to display units in &quot;human readable format&quot;, which will adapt to use kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, etc. as appropriate. The next command purports to request the same result in more human-readable form.<br /> <br /> ~$ du -hs video/<br /> A lot.<br /> ~$<br /> <br /> It seems that the computer, rather than giving a specific answer, simply says that the size of the video directory is &quot;A lot.&quot;<br /> <br /> The final line indicates the computer is now ready to accept a new command.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Cueball is stacking turtles, and is about to put the fourth turtle on his pile. At the bottom right there is a small panel. Inside this is written:]<br /> :Scroll to zoom<br /> <br /> :[When zooming in there will be several panels with text. The transcript of these may not be possible to complete - but add the transcript of these panels here: [[1416: Pixels/Transcript|interactive transcript]]]<br /> <br /> ==Trivia==<br /> ===Gallery===<br /> [[1416: Pixels/Images|This gallery]] contains the [http://azttm.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/xkcd-com-1416-pixels/ 79 images used in this comic]. The images are related in a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/37/1416_Pixels_layout.png directed graph].<br /> <br /> ===Images Database===<br /> This google sheet describes all possible images, their associated codes, and what possible images can be used as sub-images for each zoom level: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nldKAkeVcK606CY12KI9bah9rDmK9E7CZOyinsEj2Lo/edit?usp=sharing<br /> <br /> ===Image scraping script===<br /> This gist recursively downloads all possible images:<br /> https://gist.github.com/Aaron1011/d3b56325881cd639506a<br /> <br /> ===Bugs===<br /> *Doesn't seem to work properly in all browsers (e.g. Firefox and Safari on MacOSX), giving &quot;TypeError: this.data is null&quot; in line 173 of zoom.js: &quot;var item = this.data.get(dims)&quot;<br /> *Doesn't seem to work in IE8, comic is blank, but title text works.<br /> *Does not work on xkcd.org neither www.xkcd.org in Firefox and Chrome. Currently you should visit http://xkcd.com for this comic to work properly.<br /> *Also, it doesn't work on HTTPS.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Interactive comics]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]</div>

108.162.221.171 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1416:_Pixels&diff=75166 2014-09-05T04:38:08Z

<p>108.162.221.171: /* Mario */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1416<br /> | date = September 3, 2014<br /> | title = Pixels<br /> | image = pixels.png<br /> | titletext = It's turtles all the way down.<br /> }}<br /> '''NOTE: The above is only a zoomed out version of the this interactive comic.''' For a collection of images that appear when zooming in on this comic, see [[1416: Pixels/Images]].<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Individual panels need explanations}}<br /> This interactive comic begins with a panel where [[Cueball]] is stacking turtles. This is a reference to the idiom &quot;turtles all the way down,&quot; which refers to the problem of infinite recursion: if everything in the universe is &quot;on top of&quot; something else, so to speak, there must be a &quot;bottom.&quot; A joking solution to the paradoxical nature of such a bottom is the proposition that {{w|Turtles_all_the_way_down|the world rests on a semi-infinite stack of turtles}}.<br /> <br /> As can be read you should &quot;scroll to zoom&quot;. This can be done by placing the cursor inside the panel of the comic. When scrolling up (using the mouse wheel) the picture zooms in until the pixels are visible. When you continue to scroll on each pixel then resolves into another comic picture, with black-on-white comic panels making up the white pixels and white-on-black panels making up the black pixels. Scrolling on until you can see the pixels of the comic picture you are now zooming into the process is repeated again and will be so for all subsequent sets of comic panels. Not all white and all black panels are the same; some sets involve more than two different panels, but all involve repetitive tiling.<br /> <br /> ==Themes==<br /> *Below are all the themes relevant to cover all the images found when zooming in. <br /> *They are sorted in the same order as in the gallery: [[1416: Pixels/Images]].<br /> **Open the gallery in another window - zoom out and then you can see the pictures in this window as you read about them here below:<br /> <br /> ===Turtles===<br /> Apart from the first image there are two more with a single turtle in them. In one of these the turtle thinks &quot;I am a turtle&quot;.<br /> It may say so to the Cueball that is seen standing all alone in another picture.<br /> <br /> ===What if?===<br /> There is a picture of the book, as it looks and big enough that all text is visible on the front cover. But there is also another version where the authors name is crossed out and replaced with Stephen King and also the word Spooky has been added above the title and below the word xkcd has been crossed and replaced with being afraid.<br /> <br /> ===Book Launch===<br /> This comic was released on September 3rd, 2014, the day after [[Randall|Randall's]] book ''[http://whatif.xkcd.com/book/ What If]'' was launched. The book is shown and referred to in a number of frames, for example it is [[:File:pixels-upgoer.png|'''literally''' launched]] as a part of an &lt;strike&gt;rocket&lt;/strike&gt; [[1133:_Up_Goer_Five|''up goer'']] built by Cueball. There are also a picture with Cueball holding &quot;his book&quot; and telling he is exited about book the launch.<br /> <br /> The model ''up goer'' is [[:File:pixels-assembly-1.png|made of Rocket Parts from KSP]]. KSP is the {{w|Kerbal Space Program}}, a spaceflight simulator which was also [[1350: Lorenz#Themes|part]] of the latest interactive comic [[1350: Lorenz]]. Perhaps xkcd's 'parts' refers to KSP's large community of mod developers who contribute 'parts' to the game, although it was likely intended as nothing more than the humorous supposition that one could purchase physical rocket parts from a simulator. The frames showing the book launch use URLs that include the text &quot;upgoer&quot; in reference to the [[Up Goer Five]] comic.<br /> <br /> In the end the upgoer leaves the Earth after one orbit and then flies through space.<br /> <br /> ===Needs More Struts===<br /> {{w|Strut|Struts}} are structural members in engineering, and are are one of the components used in Kerbal Space Program to construct rockets. 'Needs More Struts' seems to be a meme amongst players of Kerbal Space Program, along the lines of 'When in doubt, overengineer'. Megan deems Cueball's rocket to be insufficiently structurally sound, and declares that it &quot;[[:File:pixels-assembly-4.png|Needs More Struts]]&quot;<br /> <br /> ===The Only Copy===<br /> Cueball &amp; Megan turn to each other having just launched the What-If book rocket into space (construction and launch are seen in other panels). perhaps Megan realises they may have misunderstood the term 'book launch' and that they may have just lost ''[[:File:pixels-upgoer-6.png|the only copy]]'' of the book.<br /> <br /> ===Space objects===<br /> There are both the Moon, the Sun, Saturn and two images just with stars.<br /> <br /> ===Sky===<br /> In four pictures Cueball and Megan is sitting below the stars. In the second the following conversation takes place:<br /> :Cueball: Someone once told me the great kings of the past look down on us...<br /> :Megan: From the stars?<br /> :Cueball: Just in general.<br /> The second panel is a reference to Disney's [http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/The_Great_Kings_of_the_Past The Lion King]. Early in the film, Mufasa tells Simba that the great kings of the past look down on them from the stars. Later on, Simba recalls this to his companions, Timon and Pumba (who don't take him seriously). In the film, the kings of the past literally look down on--and watch over--the characters, which is how Megan interprets Cueball's initial statement. Cueball's reply that they just look down on us in general shows that he means the kings of the past figuratively look down on us (they view us as inferior or beneath them).<br /> <br /> In the next image a shooting star is seen above them. The final picture looks to identical to the first?<br /> <br /> ===Mario===<br /> A series of 8 images are called ''Mario''. One is also called ''entry'' has a picture only of a PC. The next four has Megan in front of the PC (Maybe she is Mario? Or she is playing Mario Brothers? She has a control in her hand so probably the last...) She sits on her knees in the first picture, then she sits on the floor. In the third picture she is lying down in front of the PC. Then there is one picture which is an inverse of the sitting picture. The last three pictures all have a view of the starlit night sky with the same two clouds in place. During the night (and these three pictures) a giant galaxy rises above the horizon. It does not look like the Milky Way would look anywhere from Earth (also it does not much look like a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way). There is something square protruding into the picture - this could be a brick wall hanging in the air. Mario can be seen standing in the bottom left corner. Or it could be part of the roof hanging out from the building Megan is inside. Maybe the rise of the galaxy shows how long Megan plays her game. Maybe this is why Cueball wishes to [[#Shut Down the Server|throw water on the server]].<br /> <br /> ===Shut Down the Server===<br /> Cueball tells an offscreen character that he is going to [[:File:pixels-server-1.png|shut down the server]], while carrying a bucket of water.<br /> <br /> Usually shutting down a {{w|Server (computing)|server}} is done via the operating system or software, or (not recommended) turning it off or pulling the power plug. But in this case it appears that cueball is simply going to douse it with water, likely resulting in serious water damage to the hardware.<br /> <br /> ===Clouds===<br /> In five pictures Megan is floating in the clouds. Only two pictures with Megan, two only with clouds and one only with birds as seen from a distance.<br /> <br /> ===Cantor Set===<br /> [[:File:pixels-cantor.png|One panel]] contains a number of lines and dots, which are in fact a depiction of the first 5 steps of a {{w|Cantor set|Cantor Ternary Set}}, mirrored about the horizontal centreline. The Cantor ternary set is constructed by repeatedly deleting the open middle thirds of a set of line segments. The Cantor Set is one of the canonical examples of a fractal, a shape whose individual parts resemble the whole. The use of the Cantor Set in this comic is self-referential, in that the comic, itself, is composed of parts of the same shape as the whole.<br /> <br /> ===Walking===<br /> In two images Cueball and Megan is seen walking. One normal black on white close up, and one inverse seen from afar. These may be relevant to the two next ([[#Time Turners]] and [[#Stockholm Syndrome]]) where they are seen talking while walking.<br /> <br /> ===Time Turners===<br /> The time turner is a device from the {{w|Harry Potter}} series of novels by {{w|JK Rowling}}. It allows the user to re-live a period of time over again. In the third novel Hermione is given the time-turner to allow her to take extra classes, however it is eventually used to spare Buckbeak the hippogryph from execution. This prompted many questions regarding why time-turners weren’t used on other occasions to save people's lives (among other things). <br /> <br /> While J.K Rowling has “[http://pottermore.wikia.com/wiki/Time-Turner solved the problem to her own satisfaction]” she admits that she entered into the subject of time-travel too lightly.<br /> <br /> [[:File:pixels-time-turner.png|This panel]] jokes that if the real life JK Rowling had a fictional time-turner which worked, she would have gone back and removed the time-turner plotline from the book, saving her all the hassle of dealing with the resulting time-travel questions. This act would result in a time-travel paradox.<br /> <br /> ===Stockholm Syndrome===<br /> {{w|Stockholm syndrome}} is the name for a psychological phenomenon, in which hostages develop sympathy, empathy and/or positive feelings towards their captors. These feelings are usually seen as irrational, seeing as the hostage is held against their wishes, usually with the threat of physical harm or death.<br /> <br /> [[:File:pixels-stockholm.png|This panel]] asks &quot;How do we know anyone really ''wants'' to live in Stockholm?&quot;, questioning whether everyone who lives in the city of Stockholm is in fact held hostage there and only stays because they have developed to like life there (due to Stockholm Syndrome).<br /> <br /> ===Fire Hydrant===<br /> [[Black Hat]] is talking to a fireman, with a fire engine on fire in the background, he asks &quot;To be fair, what else would you expect to come out of a &quot;[[:File:pixels-fire-hydrant.png|fire hydrant]]&quot;?&quot;<br /> <br /> Black Hat appears to have managed to replace the usual water supply to the {{w|fire hydrant}} with actual fire. Thus when the hydrant is used, the result is, quite literally, fire. In Black Hat's logic, a hydrant which delivers water should be called a water hydrant.<br /> <br /> ===Eeee===<br /> Megan hears a very long stretched ''EEEEEEEEEEEEE'' sound which goes over 6 images. It turns out it is a large letter '''E''' that shouts ''EEEEEEE!!!''. In total there are 64 small E emanating from the big one. There is also a picture with two big white E on black background. Those E are larger than the E that shouts. <br /> <br /> ===Evolution===<br /> The {{w|March of Progress}} image is a famous and instantly recognisable image showing the stages of human evolution by way of a series of primate figures as if marching in a line. The panel parodies the March of Progress image, with [[:File:pixels-evolution.png|5 ducklings following an adult duck]]. In this case, rather than portraying selected individuals millions of years apart, the March shows evolution in action on a human timescale, the mother taking care of her ducklings. The comic has some resemblance to [[537: Ducklings]].<br /> <br /> ===Rope===<br /> Four ropes cross diagonally across this black picture. Looks good when there are many of them in the same place.<br /> <br /> ===Chess===<br /> There are two chess boards on black and white background with smaller chessboards drawn upon them<br /> <br /> ===Atom etc===<br /> There is both particles, and atom and a string.<br /> <br /> ===Holism, Reductionism, Mu===<br /> These three words refer to &quot;A MU offering&quot;, an essay by {{w|Douglas Hofstatder}} in his book {{w|Godel, Escher, Bach}} (which was referenced by Randall in [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey ]]). It includes a similar multiple level drawing: {{w|Mu (negative)|the word MU}} is composed of copies of the words [[:File:pixels-holism.png|HOLISM]] and [[:File:pixels-reductionism.png|REDUCTIONISM]], each of which are in turn made of smaller copies of the other, which are in turn made of [http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/two-more-letters/ tiny copies] of the word [[:File:pixels-mu.png|MU]].<br /> <br /> ===du===<br /> &quot;[[:File:pixels-du.png|du]]&quot; is a {{w|Linux}} command to indicate the &quot;disk usage&quot; of a file or directory.<br /> <br /> ~$ du -s video/<br /> 4170882256<br /> <br /> This is a command that shows how large all the files are in this user's &quot;video&quot; directory - presumably where they store their personal videos. The units of the result is probably kilobytes (depending on settings)<br /> <br /> This number is clearly large and difficult to parse, and the units are not clear. More appropriate units would be gigabytes rather than bytes. The du command offers an option to display units in &quot;human readable format&quot;, which will adapt to use kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, etc. as appropriate. The next command purports to request the same result in more human-readable form.<br /> <br /> ~$ du -hs video/<br /> A lot.<br /> ~$<br /> <br /> It seems that the computer, rather than giving a specific answer, simply says that the size of the video directory is &quot;A lot.&quot;<br /> <br /> The final line indicates the computer is now ready to accept a new command.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Cueball is stacking turtles, and is about to put the fourth turtle on his pile. At the bottom right there is a small panel. Inside this is written:]<br /> :Scroll to zoom<br /> <br /> :[When zooming in there will be several panels with text. The transcript of these may not be possible to complete - but add the transcript of these panels here: [[1416: Pixels/Transcript|interactive transcript]]]<br /> <br /> ==Trivia==<br /> ===Gallery===<br /> [[1416: Pixels/Images|This gallery]] contains the [http://azttm.wordpress.com/2014/09/03/xkcd-com-1416-pixels/ 79 images used in this comic]. The images are related in a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/37/1416_Pixels_layout.png directed graph].<br /> <br /> ===Images Database===<br /> This google sheet describes all possible images, their associated codes, and what possible images can be used as sub-images for each zoom level: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nldKAkeVcK606CY12KI9bah9rDmK9E7CZOyinsEj2Lo/edit?usp=sharing<br /> <br /> ===Image scraping script===<br /> This gist recursively downloads all possible images:<br /> https://gist.github.com/Aaron1011/d3b56325881cd639506a<br /> <br /> ===Bugs===<br /> *Doesn't seem to work properly in all browsers (e.g. Firefox and Safari on MacOSX), giving &quot;TypeError: this.data is null&quot; in line 173 of zoom.js: &quot;var item = this.data.get(dims)&quot;<br /> *Doesn't seem to work in IE8, comic is blank, but title text works.<br /> *Does not work on xkcd.org neither www.xkcd.org in Firefox and Chrome. Currently you should visit http://xkcd.com for this comic to work properly.<br /> *Also, it doesn't work on HTTPS.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Interactive comics]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]</div>

108.162.221.171