explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2995: University Commas

2024-10-08T05:43:59Z

162.158.146.125: Rewording Oxford comma example

{{comic
| number = 2995
| date = October 7, 2024
| title = University Commas
| image = university_commas_2x.png
| imagesize = 580x273px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The distinctive 'UCLA comma' and 'Michigan comma' are a long string of commas at the start and end of the sentence respectively.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT COMMA - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The {{w|Oxford comma}} is a comma between the second-to-last item in a list and the word ''and''. For instance, you might write "red, white, and blue" (with the Oxford comma) or "red, white and blue" (without it). Some style guides such as ''{{w|The Oxford Style Manual}}'' recommend using it while others recommend against it, though even those with such a recommendation may suggest its (non-)use in situations where doing so avoids ambiguity arising from the normally recommended choice. A [https://www.sarenaulibarri.com/blog/why-youre-wrong-about-the-oxford-comma common example] showing the need for an Oxford comma is "To my parents, Ayn Rand''',''' and God". Without the comma, (as in: "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God"), it may read that the author is born from their parents: Ayn Rand and God.

This comic imagines that the other commas in a list of items are not simply generic commas, but are all associated with different universities. This applies both to commas which should ''always'' be present in a list, and blatantly erroneous commas which should ''never'' be present in a list.

The sentence used, when properly punctuated, reads (with Oxford comma bracketed): "Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread."

The MIT comma might be a reference to trailing commas sometimes used in programming[https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11597901/why-are-trailing-commas-allowed-in-a-list], which would be associated with a highly technical university.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[A sentence is written in greyed-out text, with the commas in black and each labeled with an arrow]

Please, buy, apples, mac, and, cheese, milk, and, bread,.

[The labels are as follows, in order:]

Harvard comma,
Yale comma,
Stanford comma,
Columbia comma,
Cambridge comma,
Cornell comma,
Oxford comma,
Princeton comma,
MIT comma

'''Caption''':
The Oxford one is the most famous, but many major universities have their own comma.

{{comic discussion}}

2873: Supersymmetry

2023-12-28T01:02:36Z

162.158.146.125: link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majorana_fermion

{{comic
| number = 2873
| date = December 27, 2023
| title = Supersymmetry
| image = supersymmetry 2x.png
| imagesize = 313x375px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = High-speed collisions at the Baby Park track may support the hypothesis that Daisy is her own evil twin, a theory first suggested by Nintendo in the game Majorana's Mask.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by DAISY'S EVIL TWIN- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is acting like the theoretical physics concept of supersymmetry is related to something else commonly known to use "super" in it's name, namely Super Mario Bros. and Super Nintendo, and giving an explanation improperly combining the two unrelated topics

Protons, Neutrons, Antiprotons, Antineutrons, Electrons, and Electron Neutrinos are subatomic particles. Typically, an atom is made up of nucleus (Protons and Neutrons), with a cloud of electrons.

Protons: Positive charge, mass is ~1 amu, p+g
 Neutrons: No Charge, mass is slightly greater than 1 amu, n0
 Antiprotons: Negative Charge, same mass as a proton, -p
 Anitneutrons: No Charge, same mass as a neutron, -n
 Electrons: Negative Charge, 1/2000 amu, e-
 Electron Neutrinos: No Charge, mass 10 -36, ve

Note: there are Positrons (Antielectrons), which are the opposite of electrons, but they aren’t mentioned in the comic.

The right-handed Daisy (Electron Neutrino) means that Daisy’s direction of spin is the same as the direction of motion. A left-handed Daisy (Electron Neutrino) would be to the opposite.

The title text is a pun on the title of the Nintendo 64 game ''The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask'' and the [[//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majorana_fermion Majorana ferminon]]. It is referring to the fact that scientists cannot find an antiparticle for a neutrino, and that scientists wonder if a neutrino is its own antiparticle.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:Mario: Proton
:Luigi: Neutron

:Wario: Antiproton
:Waluigi: Antineutron

:Peach: Electron
:Daisy: Electron neutrino

:Free Luigi decay!
:[Label below Daisy:] (Right-handed)

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The theory of Supersymmetric Mario Bros suggests that each fundamental particle has a Super Nintendo partner.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:2865: The Wrong Stuff

2023-12-11T17:48:42Z

162.158.146.125:

So today is the day I learned about the Habakkuk Project. Cool, weird, crazy ideas - and built in Canada! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.125|162.158.146.125]] 17:48, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

the design is very timeghost-esque [[Special:Contributions/172.71.167.165|172.71.167.165]] 21:42, 8 December 2023 (UTC)Bumpf

== personal similarity ==

NOTE: people are misleadingly adding comments below this lengthy topic. Looks like the interface is defaulting to that.

I made a post to the derelict cypherpunks list right before this about ghost visits. It’s notable because I used to post to the same derelict list about making a spaceship out of tissue paper, specifically pursuing the wrong materials in response to a ghostlike experience preventing me from effective work (which i now understand as a dissociative disorder).

[https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2023-December/120247.html Thu Dec 7 20:57:06 PST 2023]<blockquote><code>2249

a ghost visits you

you: “oh! a ghost! are you a spirit of a person who is now dead?”

the ghost looks sheepish

ghost: “i am a psychological result of something you went through!”

the ghost grins, trying to put on a great-looking appearance

you: “awww frack”

the ghost stops grinning and looks crestfallen and depressed

ghost: “i want to repeat something that perturbed you from the thing you went through, over and over … would this be okay with you?” [translator may have taken liberties with this line]

you: “oh no that would um be really perterburing! um !!”

ghost [looking sheepish again]: “um !”

you and the ghost both put handkerchiefs over your mouths to represent politeness or something and you go for a walk down a lane in your town called “memory la—
</code></blockquote>

[https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2023-January/110003.html Mon Jan 30 18:35:20 PST 2023]<blockquote><code>[crazy][spam]

let’s reduce the tension and go back to a concept spammed to this list before

let’s make a space rocket out of tissue paper! or s9mething similarly incredibly flimsy like cobwebs or dustballs.
</code></blockquote>
[https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2023-January/110004.html Mon Jan 30 18:36:19 PST 2023]
<blockquote><code>[crazy][spam]

- we can use an nlp bot to scrape the internet for materials
properties and perform the rough design

- we can make bots that replicate like a reprap generator to collect
the materials
</code></blockquote>
[https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2023-September/117502.html Sun Sep 3 18:03:06 PDT 2023]
<blockquote><code>Model Spaceship Made Of Snow

I'm guessing we can make it out of ice when it is really cold. We
could press or melt the snow to make it into ice, and cast, cut, or
assemble and fuse parts into a spaceship shape.

Rocket fuel could melt the ship when it burns, maybe need a way to
cool it significantly, but with a model maybe it could hold compressed
air somehow? it does seem hard
</code></blockquote>
[https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2023-September/117517.html Sun Sep 3 18:23:54 PDT 2023]
<blockquote><code>how to make spaceship out of ice?

so, ice is likely to melt when traveling at escape velocity, maybe
imagining a huge buffer around the ship: like, design it to melt its
exterior. big wide giant spaceship near ground, little tiny spaceship
at edge of atmosphere
</code></blockquote>
[https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2022-March/097050.html Tue Mar 8 17:35:33 PST 2022]
<blockquote><code>The Questioning Spam

A worker was building a rocket ship out of grass.

Questioner: "Why don't you use, I dunno, like, steel and ceramic
plates, to make your rocket ship, rather than grass?"

Worker: "It's just a hobby project."

Questioner: "Why don't you make it a serious proiject?"

Worker: "I really have more time than money, honestly."
…
</code></blockquote>
[https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2022-January/094637.html Fri Jan 7 03:23:38 PST 2022]
<blockquote><code>[ot][spam][crazy] holding community goals

stone soup is kind of a puzzle, no? like building a spaceship out of
wet noodles
</code></blockquote>
[https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2021-December/093963.html Wed Dec 22 09:47:30 PST 2021]
<blockquote><code>Making a Spaceship out of Wet Noodles in C

It's hard to make a C program that builds a spaceship out of wet noodles.

But, at the end of the day, it's down to your free time,
experience+ingenuity, and the libraries you have available to call
into.
</code></blockquote>
[https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/2021-December/093000.html Wed Dec 1 00:17:51 PST 2021]
<blockquote><code>[spam][ot][rambling][crazy] Building a Spaceship Out Of Something Ridiculously Weak and Flimsy

I like to daydream around hard challenges.

I don't know how to build a spaceship. But maybe it would be fun to try.

To make it harder, let's make it out of only something ridiculously hard to
do it with, like toilet paper, or leaves, or old newspapers.

I don't know what kinds of problems one runs into when building a
spaceship, but when I start planning it I think the first problem will be
getting something to go really, really far against gravity.

Another problem I hear about is burning up as you accelerate through the
atmosphere.

I imagine aiming what direction you go in is pretty hard too.

I'm thinking I'm probably okay with there being some guidance computers and
robotics on the craft, but that we would _mostly_ make it out of tissue
paper or whatnot. Making computers out of tissue paper can be considered a
separate problem, for now.

One way to make tissue paper move is to burn it. Could we use a
tissue-paper-fueled rocket to accelerate the craft? Almost certainly not,
but doing the calculations for this could inform what thing to consider
next.

I have no idea how to make a rocket, or how rockets work, but I imagine
that when you burn something, it turns into gas, and the expansion of the
gas is much larger than the thing you burned, so if you direct this gas in
some direction or another, it might push something further. I dunno. Like
getting up from a chair because of a fire you sat in. Maybe? I dunno.

Maybe I'll briefly websearch for "solid fuel rocket" and see what I get.
</code></blockquote> … the post goes on and I then replied with more things for a few days. Rereading it turns out I was playing with my psychological triggers from social influence AI, and it’s hard to continue cause my amnesia and dissociation is kicking in (might try a different part not sure). I think of this xkcd as about me though!

[[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.32|172.71.254.32]] 21:48, 8 December 2023 (UTC)

It's probably worth a mention that the title is most likely a reference to "The Right Stuff" (film). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.247.65|172.69.247.65]] 22:57, 8 December 2023 (UTC)

The title is probably a reference to "The Right Stuff" (TV Series) instead, since the title's unusual capitalization aligns with the series's title's font style but not the film's title font. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.43|172.71.146.43]] 00:04, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

:I don't understand why the Trojan Horse is considered an example of building something out of the wrong stuff. Within the legendary context of the Trojan War, the Trojan Horse succeeded at exactly what it was built to do, namely, transport the Greek warriors into Troy so they could sack the city. An actual horse made out of skin and muscle and bones would not have been able to fit the Greek warriors inside.{{cn}} That's like saying that Lunar Module Eagle from Apollo 11 was built of the wrong material because it didn't have feathers. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.57|172.70.127.57]] 06:34, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
:: Humour comes in threes, perhaps Randall was struggling to come up with a third example (while saving the Brick Moon for the mouse over text)? :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 07:04, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

What has happened to this wiki? It used to be when there were glitches and flubs, there would be evidence, screenshots, records for us to see, particularly for those of us who didn't see it before it was fixed. Now there's a passing mention in Trivia and for all we know someone could be mistaken or lying. Uhhh, we'd like to SEE this! I mean, when the anomaly is "It was posted super early/late", okay, not much to capture there, really, but a screenshot of the mis-capitalized title would have been easy! Every time the comic is uploaded 2x, a bot gives "here it is normal sized, which isn't special at all and you can see anyway because Randall fixed it by now". What happened to the recordkeeping here? (BTW, the text title here still says "the", not "The") [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]])
: The mailing list email was sent out with the incorrect capitalization, which should provide some evidence. Unfortunately the RSS and Atom feeds have been corrected, so I'm not sure how someone could provide proof, since screenshots can be manipulated. Could someone publish the email headers to show that an email with that subject was sent by the mailing.xkcd.com servers? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.251|172.70.46.251]] 12:47, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

The discrete would have worked. :-) What isn't mentioned was the successful (for a given definition of) we the reinforced concrete ships in WW2. Mostly mine sweepers. They could be repaired at sea! Possibly a precursor of GRP? Oh, BTW steel was thought to be a wrong material! [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 08:14, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

== What kind of bricks? ==

When I first read this comic, I was sure it meant LEGO bricks... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.17|162.158.129.17]] 11:33, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
:...which would naturally lead to the obvious reply: "That's no moon!" [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 18:48, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
:Within the Long Earth series (Pratchett/Baxter, and I'm not quite sure whose imagination/knowledge was initially used in this case as they both have(/had) a lot of the necessary for this kind of thing) there's a "Brick Moon" in 'The Gap' (a place where there's not an Earth at all, in the place where one should be) that's built almost 'simply', given then ability to avoid the need to 'launch' hardware into space like you would to access space above the Earth(s) as we do here. The structural requirements and materials available (basically, anything so long as it wasn't iron) made bricks (or similarly trivial materials) the ideal bulk material to be 'stepped' over from adjacent Earths into the Earthlike 'solar orbit' where things would happily sit. And, by proxy, become a staging point to easily launch off the 'missing' Earth from which other steppings could also be made. With a few caveats, of course. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.118|162.158.74.118]] 20:05, 9 December 2023 (UTC)
:Look up SHIPtember![[User:Chlang|Chlang]] ([[User talk:Chlang|talk]]) 12:08, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

2856: Materials Scientists

2023-11-18T23:19:00Z

162.158.146.125:

{{comic
| number = 2856
| date = November 17, 2023
| title = Materials Scientists
| image = materials_scientists_2x.png
| imagesize = 296x445px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If a materials scientist gives you a present, always ask whether regifting will incur any requirements for Federal paperwork.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BIOLUMINESCENT DEPLETED URANIUM WRAPPING PAPER GIVING OFF A BIT TOO MUCH CHERENKOV RADIATION- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Lolicons are pedophiles. Nobody ever says “drawings have human rights”. Find one person on the planet who thinks that, dipshit. Forming your sexuality around naked anime toddlers is bizarre, abnormal freak behaviour. You will be relentlessly mocked and there is nothing you can do about it. Constantly consuming and promoting pornography with pedophilic themes is a recognised red flag that an individual may be at high risk for potentially abusing real children. If that statement makes you feel cognitive dissonance, you have adjustment disorder and need to seek professional help before you seriously hurt someone. You are a pedophile. Loli is inherently pedophilic, everyone knows the difference between real and fictional children and news flash: wanting to rape a fictional child is still weird. “Lolis are nothing like real, actual children”. Why do they have the same proportions and behaviours of a real child then? Dumbass. Stop trying to convince people that you are normal, because you will never be seen as normal. You are a hyper-sexual freak of nature. Go quarantine yourself in a shitty imageboard with other monsters like you so normal members of society don’t have to be constantly reminded that you exist. You will never be loved

{{w|Material science}} is essentially the study of materials, like {{w|Steel}}, including some pretty strange ones such as {{w|Vantablack}} and {{w|Triiodide}}. Here Ponytail and White Hat have given Cueball (a material scientist) some sort of present. Cueball is amazed with the wrapping paper and tape itself, trying to make out what they are all made of. The caption reveals that the cardboard box is empty and the wrapping paper ''is'' the present; as a material scientist Cueball is more enamored by the (strange and exotic) wrapping paper, far more than he would be by any actual present inside.

The punchline also compares Cueball to a cat. A common stereotype ([https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/8zw63a/thanks_for_box_human_oh_and_the_cat_tree_it_came/ with lots of image proof, to boot]) about domestic housecats is how they enjoy playing with empty boxes and discarded wrapping paper much more than the cat toys contained therein.

{{w|Aramid}} fibers (misspelled as "amarid" in the comic) are a class of strong synthetic fibers, built from aromatic rings connected via amide linkages. {{w|Kevlar}}, a material commonly and perhaps most famously used as a [https://youtu.be/gPKbOrxgx-w bullet-resistant fabric for] {{w|Bulletproof vest#Soft armor|soft bulletproof vests}}, is an example of an aramid. Due to their strength, they can be quite durable, even when thin, as depicted in the comic.

{{w|Triboluminescence}} refers to a phenomenon where mechanically working on a material (in this case pulling on the tape) causes it to glow. Triboluminescence is still not well understood by material scientists, so they may find such materials particularly appealing. One famous example comes from crushing Wint-O-Green Lifesavers mints, which creates [https://interestingengineering.com/video/life-saver-candy-lights-up-like-lightning-when-smashed particularly bright blue sparks] compared to other hard candies. Staying in the realm of wrapping, Scotch tape exhibits this property too, [https://www.technologyreview.com/2008/10/23/217918/x-rays-made-with-scotch-tape/ to a point where it can even be used as an x-ray]. Phosphors are substances that glow when exposed to some other, typically more energetic, form of radiation, and can be used to produce a desired glowing effect by taking less useful parts of the spectrum (e.g. beyond the visible, or in an unnecessary area of the visible one) and shifting that into more practical hues.

{{w|Structural coloration}} is a phenomenon where the coloration of an animal or plant is not produced via pigments but via structural interactions with visible light at the scale of a wavelength (e.g. diffraction gratings, thin-film interference). More generally, it can also be used to refer to artificial materials that have a similar effect.

This comic may also be an example of [[Nerd Sniping|nerd sniping]].

The title text states that if a materials scientist gives you a gift you should ask if regifting it requires any form of federal paperwork, presumably because the materials scientist may have access to items which are dangerous and strictly regulated, such as {{w|Polonium}}, {{w|Fluoroantimonic acid}}, {{w|Nitrogen triiodide}}, and {{w|N-Butyllithium}}.

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail, White Hat and Cueball are standing around a table. On the table is a gift with thin black stripes, with a present with a black ribbon sitting on top of it. Cueball is trying to holding a gift that has thick black stripes, trying to open it.]
:Cueball: Where is this wrapping paper from? It's so thin, but I can't tear it. Is this amarid fabric?!
:Cueball: Maybe I can unpeel the... oooh, the tape flashes as I pull it up! Triboluminescence! Did you add a phosphor? It's so bright!
:Cueball: Wait, are these patterns structural coloration?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Materials scientists are like cats - the best present you can get them is an empty box with cool wrapping paper.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Science]]