1204: Detail

2013-05-02T07:22:10Z

108.231.76.142: /* Explanation */ +Like 605 ("Extrapolating"), it deals with unwarranted linear extrapolation.

{{comic
| number = 1204
| date = April 26, 2013
| title = Detail
| image = detail.png
| titletext = 2031: Google defends the swiveling roof-mounted scanning electron microscopes on its Street View cars, saying they 'don't reveal anything that couldn't be seen by any pedestrian scanning your house with an electron microscope.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Google Earth}} is mapping software provided by Google that allows people to view the Earth from above. If you zoom in close enough, you can see individual streets – or in this case, a neighborhood.

{{w|Optical resolution|Resolution}} is a term meaning the smallest length detectable in an image. In this context, this would correspond to the real-life size of a single pixel in a satellite image. Smaller resolutions are better. In this strip, Randall points out that the resolution of images available to Google Earth has been improving exponentially in the past few years. The images get finer as satellite imaging technology improves and betters ways of collecting the data are found. Each tick in the scale represents a resolution improvement by 1000x.

The {{w|Planck length}} is the shortest length possible in quantum mechanics, so it is the "resolution" of the universe. It is believed to be around 1.6×10<sup>-35</sup> meters, close to 10<sup>-20</sup> times the diameter of a proton. The comic shows how extrapolating the trend in Google Earth's resolution could hit or surpass the Planck length around the year 2100; although obviously this isn't possible (probably). Like [[605]] ("Extrapolating"), it deals with unwarranted linear extrapolation.

The title text refers to the fact that the trendline predicts an available resolution in the nanometer range by 2031, which would necessitate (using today's technology) the use of {{w|scanning electron microscope}}s to achieve. It also refers to some heat that Google received before about its vehicle mounted cameras being an invasion of privacy. Google came back saying that nothing the cameras pick up can't be seen by a pedestrian walking by.

==Transcript==
:My Neghborhood's Resolution in:
:[A chart showing the Resolution of Google Earth increasing on a logarithmic scale towards the Planck Length, with resolution on the y-axis and time in years on the x-axis.]

{{comic discussion}}
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1204: Detail