explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2007: Brookhaven RHIC

2018-06-17T05:19:13Z

162.158.59.172: /* Explanation */ you can't make a profit this way. accelerators use too much electricity

{{comic
| number = 2007
| date = June 15, 2018
| title = Brookhaven RHIC
| image = brookhaven_rhic.png
| titletext = "Buddy, you trying to pull something? I can't buy this gold--all the electrons are missing. I could face serious charges!"
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Someone could probably calculate the revenue of this proposed project... And I think we need to mention a few other comics involving absurd research proposals. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The {{w|Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider}} is a particle accelerator designed to collide gold ions together at incredibly high speeds. This is normally done to study particle physics - the high-energy collisions allow us to learn more about how subatomic particles behave.

[[Randall]] proposes that, instead of using the beam of gold ions for particle collisions, it should be diverted and sold at cash-for-gold stores to make money. He proposed damaging part of the circular particle accelerator to add a diverter, so he can direct the gold ion beam to the three stores. It is unclear, however, how he would manage to transport the gold to the stores, as once it leaves the circular particle accelerator, parts of the beam are not in an enclosed space, and would likely collide with something. It would also cause problems once it reached the stores.

The joke is that because they are traveling at relativistic speeds, the mass of the particles being sold will be much more than the mass of the ions being supplied to the collider's input. However, it would be very difficult to sell a beam of charged particles{{Citation needed}}, and the amount of gold involved is below microscopic scales. That, and the fact that he is trying to misuse the particle accelerator for his own profit, is the reason why Brookhaven rejected Randall's proposal. Also, the energy used by the particle accelerator would cost more than the revenue from selling the gold.

Randall has done many comics describing impractical research proposals in the past.

The title text imagines the owner of the stores complaining about the sale, not because of impracticality, but because Randall tries to sell gold ions with the entire positively-charged nucleus of the gold atom with all 79 electrons stripped from it instead of normal, electrically neutral gold atoms. This is also a pun on the word "charges", which could refer to {{w|electric charge}} or to {{w|criminal charge|criminal charges}}.

The cash for gold stores depicted in the comic are, from left to right:

We Buy Gold
451 Glen Dr
Shirley, NY 11967

Cash for Gold
969 Montauk Hwy
Shirley, NY 11967

Enrico's Jewelry Exchange
442 William Floyd Pkwy
Shirley NY 11967

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

:[A single panel contains a simplified overhead map view of the Brookhaven Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and some of the surrounding area. The map is rotated 90°; north is to the left. The collider is located on the left hand side of the image as a yellow beam (representing the Gold ions) outlined in black. Parts of the collider are are labeled and there are light gray arrows indicating the direction of travel for the ions. At the bottom of the main accelerator ring there is a diverter that splits the ion beam and directs it towards a set of three Cash for Gold stores, passing through a more diverters along the way. Each Cash for Gold store is represented with a yellow burst and is marked with a Google maps style "store" locator pin. The following labels are written on the map.]

:Brookhaven Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
:Gold Ion Source
:Accelerator Ring
:Diverter
:Gold Ion Beam

:[There are arrows coming from this label pointing at each store]
:Cash for Gold Stores

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Sadly, Brookhaven rejected my proposed experiment

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:1777: Dear Diary

2016-12-26T12:51:54Z

162.158.59.172:

I am not sure if he is actually referring to his own diary. His characters can't interact with him, and never do. To me, it seemed more like Black Hat is so used to fisching on the web that he can't even write a regular diary entry. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.22|108.162.219.22]] 06:15, 26 December 2016 (UTC)Innertuber40

Is it possible that instead of the metaphoric "Dear Diary", maybe he is literally writing to a person named "Diary"? This can explain the phishing mail body, at least in some extent. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.172|162.158.59.172]] 12:51, 26 December 2016 (UTC)

Talk:887: Future Timeline

2016-12-25T00:22:31Z

162.158.59.172:

The explanation is really messed up. You can hardly tell where one year ends and the next begins. Can someone who's better at editing than me fix this, perhaps by putting a line across the page after each year? [[User:GizmoDude|GizmoDude]] ([[User talk:GizmoDude|talk]]) 19:11, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

This one slipped under the transcripting radar. I may do it. --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 20:52, 17 August 2013 (UTC)
:Do not talk about radars, just do it. The transcript is done right now, but the explain section still does need a big radar!--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:20, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

Find the song! I have no idea so far but the repeating phrase "Social security trust fund exhausted" should match a refrain.--[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 20:20, 18 August 2013 (UTC)

They now have the dogs driving cars... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWAK0J8Uhzk Let's not wait for 2053.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.90|173.245.54.90]] 21:01, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

Out of curiosity (I'm new to the standards of explainxkcd), are out of date pages considered incomplete? Or is it up to editors to chose when to update a pages explination. I would assume the former, except that would make maintaining the pages significantly more difficult. Also, referencing the Linux takes over. Since Android is now a part of the libux kernel,should thia be changed? It would definently put linux over the 50% mark. [[User:Mrmakeit|Mrmakeit]] ([[User talk:Mrmakeit|talk]]) 05:03, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
:Pages can not become out of date, as they refrence the meening of the comic at the time of creation. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 15:24, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

I would change the 2nd paragraph to say that the entirety of the search results are a super long set-up and "All your base..." is the punch-line. [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 08:46, 10 November 2014 (UTC)

I would correct the entry in 2014 that says that the Taliban are the organisation responsible for the September 11th attacks. The more accurate explanation would be that The US believed Al Qaeda (the real organisation responsible) were hiding out in Afghanistan and that defeating the Taliban, and bringing stability to the country was an important stepping stone towards finding Osama Bin Laden. Of course we now know he was in Pakistan all along, but still that was the original rationale for invading Afghanistan.--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.192|141.101.98.192]] 15:27, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

This further details stuff is wrong about the comic. The lines are just random answers to Google searches. There is no explanation. I move to remove this table, or convert it into links or summaries of the articles in the links. This sucks. It is good enough as it is now without the table (as the table is random and the explanations on the table are incorrect. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.209|108.162.216.209]] 22:12, 15 December 2014 (UTC)
:Let's get to work on the table then. I'm adding suitable references to incomplete sections to aid as jumping off points, from where further expansion can be done on a case-by-case basis. Can you provide some inspiration as to which explanations are most egregiously in need of correction? [[User:Pmw57|Pmw57]] ([[User talk:Pmw57|talk]]) 01:44, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

As of 2014 I have noticed that a lot of US sites are moving from html to closed sources such as Adobe so the quote: "The prediction about GNU/Linux Operating Systems is ambiguous" is now fighting through government agencies. Users of Linux trying to access the volcano archive (once supplied by listserv using linux) now have to get access via Windows machines. This has to be the saddest computing news in a long time. [[User:Weatherlawyer|Weatherlawyer]] ([[User talk:Weatherlawyer|talk]]) 08:19, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

“The prediction about GNU/Linux Operating Systems is ambiguous, as Android (based on Linux) constitutes nearly 50% of the mobile OS market” — GNU/Linux refers to an operating system consisting of the GNU userland toolchain over the Linux kernel. Android is based on Linux but not GNU, therefore, it is irrelevant in GNU/Linux context. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.230.107|108.162.230.107]] 11:18, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Can we change this to Incomplete explanation of the month? [[User:Foldark|Foldark]] ([[User talk:Foldark|talk]]) 22:03, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

2145:War... War never changes
(the Great War happens) {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.252}}

Is it just my reading, or does it say "ACHEIVE" instead of "ACHIEVE" where it says something about 192 UN member nations achieving millennium development goals in the comic? (It's under 2015.) --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.55.70|172.68.55.70]] 21:45, 10 November 2016 (UTC)
:No, it reads like this for me too. (Even on the original comic page, where I'd expect it to have been long fixed already.) --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.87|172.68.11.87]] 19:35, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

Some of these predictions seem very realistic. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.59.172|162.158.59.172]] 00:22, 25 December 2016 (UTC) Jawa457