2553: Incident Report

2021-12-10T22:49:09Z

162.158.75.97: /* Explanation */ added explanation of accession number

{{comic
| number = 2553
| date = December 10, 2021
| title = Incident Report
| image = incident_report.png
| titletext = Increasing-precision timestamps are the Jaws theme of incident reports.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an OVERLY-PRECISE TEMPORAL SHARK - Title-text still pending, and particularly bare-bones explanation for first draft. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

An {{w|incident report}} describes the events that happen before something goes wrong; this usually involves describing what time related events happen at. In this comic, a report starts with particularly vague timestamps (that a package of fireworks arrived "roughly 18 hours prior" to it), then uses false minute-level precision ("14:00" and "14:20", which could reasonably be five minutes off in either direction), then actual minute-level precision ("14:28"), then second-level precision ("14:29:22" and "14:29:26").

This suggests that the ''clock'' time is really a proxy for the ''amount'' of time before one specific moment where everything falls apart, and when seconds start appearing, it implies that the recollection is within a few minutes of the disaster. Normally the increased level of precision reflects close monitoring capabilities of the affected system and/or detailed analysis by incident investigators.

Although the comic refers to juggling "pins," jugglers commonly refer call those props "clubs". It is possible Randall is confusing the similarly shaped objects in 10-pin bowling to juggling clubs. "Pins" are another name for {{W|Nuclear fuel}} rods.

Examples of real-life incident reports featuring this phenomenon include:

* [https://spaceflightnow.com/challenger/timeline/ Explosion] of the Space Shuttle Challenger
* [https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/appendices/chernobyl-accident-appendix-1-sequence-of-events.aspx Chernobyl explosion]]

The title text refers to the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4 theme music] from the 1975 film ''{{w|Jaws (film)|Jaws}}'', which has come to represent impending danger.

9603120071 was an actual accession number for an [https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/main.jsp?AccessionNumber=9603120071 incident] at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in which four slightly contaminated stray kittens were found, cleaned, and adopted. No clock times were mentioned in the report.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Facility: East Valley Nuclear Plant
:Date: 12/10/2021
:Report ID: 9603120071
:Event description: Roughly '''18 hours''' prior to the incident, an Amazon package containing fireworks was mistakenly delivered to the reactor control room and left under the console.
:The next day, at approximately '''14:00''', technician A arrived at the facility with a bag containing four juggling pins. At '''14:20''', technician A entered the control room, and joined technician B at the console.
:At '''14:28''', technician C exited the elevator and approached the control room holding a birthday cake intended for technician B.
:At '''14:29:22''', technician A said "Hey [technician B], check out this cool trick I learned" while taking out the juggling pins. Technician B turned to look just as, at '''14:29:26''', technician C entered holding the cake.

:[Caption below the panel]:
:You know things are about to get bad when the incident report starts including seconds in the timestamps.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2551: Debunking

2021-12-07T11:39:44Z

162.158.75.97:

feels like we should address the factual accuracy of the headlines in this comic, ie point out which actual headlines/claims are being referred to by each, if any? - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 05:35, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

If CNN comments on Santa's skin situation, doesn't that implicitly mean they are claiming Santa to be real (Spoiler alert: he isn't){{Citation needed}}? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.103|162.158.88.103]] 08:49, 7 December 2021 (UTC)
:or else they're simply avoiding "giving away the secret" to younger readers; though yes, in that case why publish the counterargument at all? - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 08:53, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

i'm sorry I seem to have lost my place [[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 10:08, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

In the table it is mentioned that normal offices do not have microwave radiation. However, mobile phones use frequencies in the microwave band for communication. The same holds true for wireless networks (2.4 or 5 GHz is microwave radiation). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.183|162.158.92.183]] 10:32, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

The Dorito debunking may be related to a rumour you can find via the search term dorito-powder-hoax. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.161|162.158.90.161]] 10:45, 7 December 2021 (UTC)
: I'm thinking the headline would be along the lines of Doritos, the company, intentionally making powder that somehow defies gravity in order to cause irritation to consumers of the chips, in some kind of exotic mass social experiment about people's addiction to chips vs their exposure to unpleasant hygiene. I'm betting that most of the headlines here are some kind of 'extremification' of existing conspiracies. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.105|172.70.114.105]] 11:37, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

I think Randall missed an opportunity here to tie this into the Real Name of the Bear comics - refuting a conspiracy theory about bears while simultaneously refusing to name the theory or the animal involved. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.97|162.158.75.97]] 11:39, 7 December 2021 (UTC)Pat

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2553: Incident Report

Talk:2551: Debunking