explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3079: Air Fact

2025-04-21T17:43:19Z

162.158.91.173: /* Explanation */ title text

{{comic
| number = 3079
| date = April 21, 2025
| title = Air Fact
| image = air_fact_2x.png
| imagesize = 250x394px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Wow, that must be why you swallow so many of them per year!' 'No, that's spiders. You swallow WAY more ants.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a MICROSCOPIC ANT and contains only microscopic text. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Microbiologist [[Megan]] tells [[Cueball]] that every cubic meter contains thousands of microscopic ants, which is not actually true.{{cn}} Initially incredulous, Cueball accepts this as a fact, because he doesn't have any easy way of take samples of air and putting them under a microscope.

There are indeed microorganisms floating in the air, and the joke is that microbiologists are tempted to make up things about them because most people can't verify them.

This comic could be referencing the problems with sampling bias when sampling air. Megan is extrapolating from a particularly bad sample. Presumable she sampled a 10 cubic centimeter space of air and found 1 ant in it. If she assumed that this was a representative sample, Megan could extrapolate this data to say that there are 10,000 ants for every 1 cubic meter (1,000,000 cubic centimeters). Randall Monroe has made other comics about dubious extrapolations: [[605]].

The title text refers to the commonly believed myth that [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-66319172 people swallow 8 spiders a year in their sleep]. Though commonly quoted, scientists treat this as a myth and "story of legend".

==Transcript==
:[Megan, with her palm out, is talking to Cueball.]
:Megan: Did you know that every cubic meter of air contains over 10,000 microscopic ants?
:Cueball: Wow, really?
:Cueball: I had no idea.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The fact that taking air samples is hard presents microbiologists with a constant temptation.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Ants]]
[[Category:Spiders]]

Talk:3074: Push Notifications

2025-04-09T20:52:07Z

162.158.91.173:

So...this is the April Fool's comic, if I'm not mistaken... Oh ye of little faith! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.106|172.71.26.106]] 20:00, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

I turned this on thinking it would just be a few every so often but I quickly realized how this is xkcd and it doesn't "joke". I had to turn this off because it disrupted my schoolwork by popping up every fricking 5 minutes

Apparently my employer (or ublock) is keeping me from experiencing the full effect of any notifications. All I get is "An *actual* error has occurred. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.173|162.158.91.173]] 20:52, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

What the heck are the "Zoom Notification" ones, with just a pair of numbers? Now that I've been sitting with this for a little bit, they're by far the most common notifications, and the most mysterious. What is "zoom"ing or should be zoomed-in-on or whatever, and what do the two numbers signify? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.75|172.68.22.75]] 20:35, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

Talk:1821: Incinerator

2017-04-09T13:09:21Z

162.158.91.173: not sustainable

The crisis could come from a more abstract feeling thinking of the incinerating/trash devices as Ouroboros, serpents biting their own tail or nilpotent matrices. Nothing would be left. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.62|162.158.88.62]] 06:01, 8 April 2017 (UTC)

There also might be a more practical explanation of the crisis; in my experience it is extremely difficult to convey to trash collectors that a garbage can itself is part of the trash. Merely placing it inside another, larger trash receptacle is often not enough to convince them to collect it. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.58|108.162.216.58]] 07:15, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
:I actually had the opposite problem recently, where we obtained a medium sized plastic tote with a recyclables logo on the side, and they were kind enough to take all the recyclable materials, apparently including the tote. So be careful what you wish for.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.51|162.158.74.51]] 17:14, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
:Sadly, that might not have been the trash collectors. That is, I'm sure they took the recyclables, but it's possible one of your neighbors said, "Hey, free tote," especially since if it was new, clean, and did not have any identifying marks, such as your address, on it.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.63|162.158.62.63]] 23:19, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
: I find that the people who post here have the weirdest, most unusual problems. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.203|141.101.104.203]] 07:46, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

Disposing of a trash can by putting it in its replacement is simply insustainable: After a few generations, you end up with a container that won't fit trough your door! --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.173|162.158.91.173]] 13:09, 9 April 2017 (UTC)