explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1729: Migrating Geese

2016-09-05T14:55:33Z

141.101.104.156:

{{comic
| number = 1729
| date = September 5, 2016
| title = Migrating Geese
| image = migrating_geese.png
| titletext = "Hey guys! I have a great idea for a migration!" "Dammit, Kevin."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete| Only a rough draft.}}
Migrating refers the changing a habitat, like it happens every year with geese traveling long distances as to not experience cold seasons. When geese fly to their new habitat they tend to fly in a very clear shape or formation which resembles a flipped V. This formation is shown and explained here like a military formation with different roles:
{| class="wikitable"
!Name
!Explanation
|-
|Head Goose
(4th in line to the British throne)
|This goose may become the newest monarch of the UK, assuming the three who are further in line from him die.
|-
|Quarterback
|A quarterback is a position in American Football.
|-
|Comptroller
|
|-
|Migration abort goose
|This might be a reference to launch abort capsules used in rockets to safely land astronauts in the case of a critical stage failure
|-
|Twin-Engine Model
|This goose has two tails, which makes it look like a Twin-Engine aircraft which has two motors on either wing instead of one in the nose.
|-
|Kevin
|Might be a reference to the Kevin of reddit fame: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/219w2o/whos_the_dumbest_person_youve_ever_met/cgbhkwp
|-
|CIA Informant
|
|-
|Backups
|These are geese that are not used in the formation so they can replace other geese in their positions in case they have problems performing their task.
|-
|Missing Valence Geese
|In Chemistry, Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost "layer" which change places when chemical reactions happen. As there is an optimal number of electrons in a layer, if there are missing valence electrons, elements which can fill in these gaps tend to react with the elements having the missing electrons.
|-
|Shock Front
|
|-
|Stealth cargo being escorted
|The formation is forming a protective surrounding around an empty space in the middle which in a military formation could contain protected cargo. As there is no cargo visible in the goose formation, it is titled "stealth".
|}

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the panel:]
:Understanding Migration of Geese

:[20 geese are shown flying in a typical migratory V-formation. As they are shown in silhouette it is not possible to determine if they are seen from above or from below. They are flying toward the top of the image with the first goose close to the top in the middle of the image. There is one head goose, and then there are 7 geese in the left arms and 9 geese in the right arm. Behind the left arm there are two stragglers that are not in line with the others, but closer to the middle than those above and not as close to each other as the rest but still flying in the same direction. Finally there is one goose at the bottom right corner flying at a 45 degree angle away from the other to the right. The first goose is flapping its wing, which is also the case with six other geese, no. 4 and 6 in the left and 3, 5 and 6 in the right arm as well as the middle of the two in the rear towards the middle. The rest are soaring with straight wings and all of these look the same except no. 7 in the right arm which has two tails, which both goes ahead of the wings, making it look like a plane with two engines. The head goose and 5 of the 9 geese in the right arm as well as the one bottom right are labeled with and arrow pointing to them from the label. The front goose has the label in front to the left, the other have it in front to the right, except the second last in the arm which has the label inside the V and one flying away which has the label right above it. The two behind and right of the left arm have one label behind them with two arrows from the label pointing at both geese. There is a thick curvy line in front of geese no. 3 to 5 in the left arm. In front of that line is a thinner broken line. In front of this is a label written with the same curviness. There are two areas surrounded by dotted lines. The first one is behind the last of the left arms geese, extending in the same direction for a distance of about two geese. It has a label above and left with and arrow pointing to it. The other area is in the middle of the V forming a loose triangular structure with a label inside.]
:Head goose: Head goose (4th in line to the British throne)
:Right no. 1: Quaterback
:Right no. 3: Comptroller
:Right no. 5: Migration abort goose
:Right no. 7: Twin-enige model
:Right no. 8: CIA informant
:Bottom right corner: Kevin
:Behind center: Backups
:In front of left no. 3-5: Shock front
:Behind left arm: Missing valence geese
:In center area: Stealth cargo being escorted

{{comic discussion}}

Jill

2016-08-24T18:53:38Z

141.101.104.156: OMG - Here of all places :-(

{{Infobox character
| image = Science_Girl.png
| imagesize =
| caption = Science Girl as seen in [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]]
| first_appearance = [[585: Outreach]]
}}
'''Science Girl''' is a [[stick figure]] character in [[xkcd]].

She became the first child to have its own character category. She is distinguished by being clearly a girl (compared to adults around her or her behavior), her hair is typically set in a hair bun but compared to [[Hairbun]] it is more loose, she may have more curly hair and typically there is a string of hair hanging down her back from the hair bun. As she is also clearly a girl she cannot be confused with Hairbun under normal conditions.

She can have several different hair styles though with [[1058: Old-Timers|two buns]] or no buns but a [[585: Outreach|ponytail]]. The best way to recognize her is from her behavior, where she is very interested in science, and typically more knowledgeable about the subject at hand than the adults around her, which may either results in embarrassment, enlightenment or even dangerous situations depending on how obtuse or condescending the adults around her behaves...

==Characteristics==
Science Girl is a minor character in xkcd. But she has had several comics where she is the main protagonist (or antagonist depending on who troubles her...)

She is not necessarily the same character from comic to comic, but can be used to represent the general kid interested in science. She seems, however, to be more of a character like [[Black Hat]], with her ability to make other people feel uncomfortable, than an every woman like [[Hairbun]]. But she is not generic evil, and thus in no way would she represent a young version of [[Danish]].

One of her largest parts is in [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]] (see her character image), which is one of those that becomes dangerous for the obtuse adults. She is also ready to commit crime, even though she knows about environmental issues in [[1659: Tire Swing]] (the only comic with her so far where there are no adults, but it is clear that she is a girl), where she, along with another girl, steal the tires off a man's car, and then fight him. But she may also just induce new interest for science in [[Megan]] as in [[1104: Feathers]], or just display general interest in science as in [[1352: Cosmologist on a Tire Swing]] or the first comic (found so far) with her [[585: Outreach]] (where she only had a ponytail). It was also in this first esperance we learn why she wants to become a scientist.

In one case she is depicted as a young '''adult woman'''. That is in [[1520: Degree-Off]] where the hair and behavior fits perfectly with a grown up Science Girl.
*There are other comics with women looking like this, but in those instances there is no scientific context that could relate to science girls to they have been listed as Hairbun for now:
**[[703: Honor Societies]]
**[[708: Sex Dice]]
**[[1601: Isolation]]
**[[1608: Hoverboard]] in every instance.
*Maybe this will be changed later, when the community has had a chance to look into this new character.

==Gallery==
Since Science Girl is depicted in different ways so here is a gallery of some of these different appearances, her first appearance, her standard appearance, two buns and adult:

[[File:Science Girl with ponytail 585.png]][[File:Science_Girl.png]] [[File:Science Girl with two hair buns 1058.png]] [[File:Hair Bun Girl with curly hair and ponytail biologist.png]]

{{navbox-characters}}

Talk:1259: Bee Orchid

2015-01-08T10:47:28Z

141.101.104.156:

[[First]]! The act of telling someone not to jinx something causes the jinx you're trying to prevent. [[User:gijobarts|gijobarts]] ([[User Talk:gijobarts|talk]]) 07:02, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

I had thought all the worker bees were female, and all the male "drones" stayed in the hives. The Wikipedia says that isn't true for all species. [[User:gijobarts|gijobarts]] ([[User Talk:gijobarts|talk]]) 07:15, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Eusociality in bees is actually quite rare. Only the honey bee and a few other species are social, the rest are solitary: one nest per female and males that fly around without nesting and are often quite active. It's the common case, social species are the exception.

Social: 7 species of honeybee, about 500 species of stingless bees and about 200 species of bumblebee, compared to a good twenty thousand bee species total. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.156|141.101.104.156]] 10:47, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ophrys_apifera&oldid=571187022#Reproduction Wikipedia on the reproduction of Ophrys apifera]:
:It is the only species of the genus Ophrys which preferentially practice self-pollination. The flowers are almost exclusively self-pollinating in the northern ranges of the plant's distribution, but pollination by the solitary bee Eucera occurs in the Mediterranean area. In this case the plant attracts these insects by producing a scent that mimics the scent of the female bee. In addition, the lip acts as a decoy as the male bee confuses it with a female. Pollen transfer occurs during the ensuing pseudocopulation.
:Bees in the past have promoted the evolution of bee orchids. Male bees, over many generations of cumulative orchid evolution, have built up the bee-like shape through trying to copulate with flowers, and hence carrying pollen.
[[User:gijobarts|gijobarts]] ([[User Talk:gijobarts|talk]]) 07:36, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

:A colony of ophrys apifera was discovered a few months ago.[http://www.elperiodic.com/torrent/noticias/254352_serra-perenxisa-disfruta-categoria-microrreserva-flora.html (Spanish)]. Probably not related.
:[http://www.nguoiduatin.vn/nhung-ky-hoa-di-thao-quai-la-nhat-the-gioi-a98176.html This page (Vietnamese)] has an excellent photo of an ophrys apifera, along with other strange-looking plants. You can see how it looks like bees in that photo. [[User:gijobarts|gijobarts]] ([[User Talk:gijobarts|talk]]) 07:50, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Was there once another bee that pollinated it in more areas, or did the eucera once populate more of the world, or has the flower expanded where the bee has not followed? [[User:gijobarts|gijobarts]] ([[User Talk:gijobarts|talk]]) 08:47, 2 September 2013 (UTC)
:Eucera is common all over Europe. But only the Southern bees recognize the plant. It may be the northern plants started selecting for a different bee that went extinct, or Eucera got ahead of the arms race in Europe or that self-pollination is more effective for now or some other reason entirely. [[Special:Contributions/96.251.85.48|96.251.85.48]] 15:41, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

The Axe body spray gag is particularly relevant, since the ad's depiction of a woman, like the flower, is another imitation of real females of a species meant to draw males of the species through deception. [[User:Nick Douglas|Nick Douglas]] ([[User talk:Nick Douglas|talk]]) 17:50, 2 September 2013 (UTC)
:You are right, and the title text is still too descriptive. Give us a try.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 18:29, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Note that (as doubtless mentioned in the linked-to Wikipedia article, "Axe" is known as "Lynx" in the UK (at least). The same style of marketing campaign, however, with the partially homogonised Anglo-American (or even Worldwide) cultural references fighting it out with local variations in sensibilities and advertising law/regulation. Meaning that besides alternate product-shots and (sometimes) voiceovers, they do tend to have similar/identical action composition in their ads.

Also, self-pollination is being described as "a form of in-breeding". I think making that "the ultimate form of in-breeding", or similar, would be more accurate. In-breeding generally is used to describe more marginal or "just beyond the limit" forms of incests (e.g. close cousins, in human cultures), up until sibling or parent/child genetic re-mixing, but only full parthenogenisis seems to be more 'extreme' (although arguably less dangerous, through its long-time 'practice', rather than being a step ''back'' from the more beneficial sexual reproduction methods that the self-fertilising organism generally will have had to make, like in this case). [[Special:Contributions/178.106.190.241|178.106.190.241]] 23:29, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

This is the most touching cartoon he's ever done. [[Special:Contributions/72.10.216.205|72.10.216.205]] 02:35, 3 September 2013 (UTC)
I have to agree with you there. [[Special:Contributions/115.70.105.180|115.70.105.180]] 07:41, 3 September 2013 (UTC)
: Well, right up there with [[695: Spirit]], anyway. [[Special:Contributions/130.225.98.201|130.225.98.201]] 08:52, 3 September 2013 (UTC)
::Too bad it isn't true. The bee is quite common.{{unsigned ip|96.251.85.48}}

This is almost straight from the movie [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268126/ Adaptation (2002)] {{unsigned ip|68.188.12.97}}

I noticed that there are a number of sub-species of Ophrys apifera. Is it possible that they are regionally adapted to variations among the Eucera population? Randall has gone to a lot of trouble to depict the flower and to wax poetically upon the bee, and it seems somewhat odd if the whole point of the comic, that the bee is 'extinct', is a fallacy. Is Randall just making use of his poetic license here? Or does the Ophrys apifera that he depicts relate to an actually extinct sub-species of Eucera? I would love to know, but without going to the trouble of finding out for myself. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 02:22, 8 January 2014 (UTC)

Talk:1143: Location

2014-12-17T12:27:57Z

141.101.104.156:

I thought the words "like" and "hang out" were references to facebook's "like" and google's "hang out". What do the native speakers think? {{unsigned|213.252.171.254|07:56, 5 December 2012 (UTC)}}

: Not in this case- here they're just being used as the everyday terms that facebook and google co-opted. {{unsigned|140.247.0.10|08:12, 5 December 2012 (UTC)}}

:: I agree. {{unsigned|122.60.40.91|09:28, 5 December 2012 (UTC)}}

: Native speaker here: there doesn't seem to be anything distinctive about the use of 'like' and 'hang out' in this comic to indicate they might be references. {{unsigned|170.194.32.42|10:33, 5 December 2012 (UTC)}}

:: The words aren't out of place otherwise, so it just might be a (big) coincidence. I still find it likely to be true. [[Special:Contributions/207.237.164.241|207.237.164.241]] 11:18, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

::: It's really not a "big" coincidence at all. 'Like' and 'hang out' are ''the'' most obvious word choices in their context in the comic. The same words are used in social network apps ''because'' they are common social phrases. It doesn't even warrant the word "coincidence", let alone a "big" coincidence. [[Special:Contributions/46.65.14.73|46.65.14.73]] 22:55, 16 December 2012 (UTC)

: Another native speaker here. You typically would not "hang out" – in real life – with people you don't "like" – as in you like your friends. There's nothing in the comic to make me think there's any connection with Facebook or Google+. [[Special:Contributions/24.41.5.167|24.41.5.167]] 11:44, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

: This native speaker agrees. The dialog is ordinary informal American English. That's why facebook and Google hijacked the words. Facebook and Google want to be seen as informal and idiomatic institutions. {{unsigned|174.125.142.147|15:25, 5 December 2012 (UTC)}}

::They'll be very disappointed when they discover that he just decorated the bushes around his house with green LED lights for Christmas. --Geoff [[Special:Contributions/128.156.10.80|128.156.10.80]] 19:22, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

No explanation for the space noises? [[User:Max Nanasy|Max Nanasy]] ([[User talk:Max Nanasy|talk]]) 21:28, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

: The game literally makes space noises. Like... ''whooosshhshhhssshhoooooshhh.'' Things like that. [[Special:Contributions/138.110.225.187|138.110.225.187]] 22:30, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

::Thank you for that. I had no idea what was being referenced, serves me right for not reading the title text. (This is not sarcasm, it sounded like it was when I read it to myself, so I'm adding this disclaimer) [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 22:33, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

:: But "space noises" is an oxymoron. In space, you can't hear noise. (Oh... you mean bad-sci-fi-movie noises...) [[Special:Contributions/207.225.239.130|207.225.239.130]] 19:16, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

::Another Google closed beta – you get to play by invite only. Meh [[Special:Contributions/24.41.5.167|24.41.5.167]] 23:53, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

I'm trying to find a game that I played on the computer about 2 years ago. I remember that you could see the entire play area the entire time. It was timed. The object was to get to a hole (maybe blue in color) to end the level. There were blocks that often blocked your path, which you needed to push out of your way or more often use them to make bridges to cross water. Some of the levels were very much a timing game where you needed to quickly move a block through a winding path(up, down, left, right only)to avoid being caught by, I believe, moving blocks.The closest screen shot that I've found is Chips Challenge, which is not the game that I played previously. I remember there were many levels, probably between 50 and 100. Ideas?[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 15:33, 6 December 2012 (UTC) RESOLVED : game was called Silversphere[[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 21:24, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

: RE: Shine. The game was called Rodent's Revenge. Phenomenal Times, Shine, Phenomenal Times. Glad you reminded me about it!
:::Not the game I was thinking of, but fun game too. No animals of any kind in the game that I'm trying to find [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 17:13, 7 December 2012 (UTC)
:OK got it. It was called Silversphere. [[User:Shine|Shine]] ([[User talk:Shine|talk]]) 21:24, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

I was absolutely certain that the bright green "fountains" were supposed to illustrate some radioactive material and them being "excited" was somehow a particle physics joke I couldnt nail down.

:My assumption was that his house was just in a good location to watch some space phenomenon. The Aurora, or a meteor shower.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.156|141.101.104.156]] 12:27, 17 December 2014 (UTC)