explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2034: Equations

2018-11-27T03:08:09Z

172.68.141.94: Tried to fix the article somewhat. If anyone would like to add some more specialized information, feel free to do so. but PLEASE DON'T OVERDO IT

{{comic
| number = 2034
| date = August 17, 2018
| title = Equations
| image = equations.png
| titletext = All electromagnetic equations: The same as all fluid dynamics equations, but with the 8 and 23 replaced with the permittivity and permeability of free space, respectively.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|TODO: some simplified explanations. The title text is bad explained. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic gives a set of mock equations. To anyone not familiar with the field in question they look pretty similar to what you might find in research papers or on the relevant Wikipedia pages. Most of the jokes are related to the symbols or "look" of most equations in the given field.

The comic makes jokes about the fields of kinematics, number theory, fluid dynamics, quantum mechanics, chemistry, quantum gravity, gauge theory, cosmology, and physics equations. Of course, all of the equations listed are not real equations (<math>\pi-\infty</math> and H2EAT are clearly jokes and making a mockery of the given field). As always, Randall is just having a laugh.

* Most '''kinematics''' equations tend to make heavy use of constants, addition, powers and multiplication.

* Randall makes a joke about how '''number theory''' often involves the uses of summations. The use of the constants ''e'' and π as integers in the double summation is just a joke. The constants ''e'', i, π, and the number <math>\infty</math> often appear in number theory equations.

* '''Fluid dynamics equations''' often involve copious integrals, especially those over closed contours, which are often the main telling factors of those equations to an outsider. <math>\frac{\partial}{\partial t}</math> also looks like a derivative in the form <math>\frac{d}{dx}</math>.

* '''Quantum mechanics''' often involve some of the foreign-looking symbols listed.

* '''Chemistry equations''' use chemical formulas, as shown. The addition of H2EAT and HEAT is just a joke.

* '''Quantum gravity''' uses many functions with uppercase letters, as shown. There is a possible pun here, on "Sue you too... you won"... "Sue you, you too", though it's unclear how it fits in here.

* '''Gauge theory''' is a subset of field theory. Most gauge theory equations appear to have many strange-looking constants with odd labels.

* '''Cosmology''' is the science of the development of the universe. The joke here may be pertaining to the different models accepted in the field of cosmology. H is the Hubble parameter (?).

* The joke about the "truly deep physics equations" is that most of the universal physics equations are simple, almost exceedingly so. One example is Einstein's <math>E = mc^2</math>. The equation shows holds resemblance to Euler's identity.

==Transcript==
:[Nine equations are listed, three in the top row and two in each of the next three rows. Below each equation there are labels:]

:E = K0t + 1/2 ρvt2
:All kinematics equations

:Kn = ∑i=0∞∑π=0∞(n-π)(i-eπ-∞)
:All number theory equations

:∂/∂t ∇ ⋅ ρ = 8/23 (∯ ρ ds dt ⋅ ρ ∂/∂∇)
:All fluid dynamics equations

:|ψx,y〉 = A(ψ) A(|x〉⊗ |y〉)
:All quantum mechanics equations

:CH4 + OH + HEAT → H2O + CH2 + H2EAT
:All chemistry equations

:SU(2)U(1) × SU(U(2))
:All quantum gravity equations

:Sg = (-1)/(2ε̄) i ð (̂ ξ0 +̊ pε ρvabc η0 )̂ f̵a0 λ(ʒ̆) ψ(0a)
:All gauge theory equations

:[There is a brace linking the three cases together.]
:H(t) + Ω + G⋅Λ ...
:... > 0 (Hubble model)
:... = 0 (Flat sphere model)
:... < 0 (Bright dark matter model)
:All cosmology equations

:Ĥ - u̧0 = 0
:All truly deep physics equations

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2073: Kilogram

2018-11-18T04:21:45Z

172.68.141.94: s/it's/its/

{{comic
| number = 2073
| date = November 16, 2018
| title = Kilogram
| image = kilogram.png
| titletext = I'm glad to hear they're finally redefining the meter to be exactly three feet.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CONSTANT PLANCK. Links to resources would be good. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Standard units such as the kilogram, meter, and second are redefined from time to time as measurement technologies improve. These redefinitions are generally done to improve the precision to which the various units can be known or reproduced, without changing their actual value. The joke here is that redefining the kilogram to equal one pound would not only fail to improve on its precision, but would also significantly change the value of what a kilogram is.

On the day of this comic, the {{w|International Committee for Weights and Measures|International Committee for Weights and Measures}} voted to redefine the {{w|kilogram}} by fixing it to the value of {{w|Planck's Constant}}. This is done by passing a measured current through an electromagnet to exert a force to balance 1 kg. The change will take effect on May 20, 2019, when the platinum cylinder International Prototype Kilogram that defines the unit will be retired. This means that the mass of a kilogram will no longer be calibrated by comparing the relative mass of two physical objects, but by measuring the influence of an electromagnetic field relative to local gravitational forces. By fixing the value of Planck constant to 6.62607015×10-34 kg⋅m2⋅s−1, the kilogram will be defined in terms of the second and the speed of light via the meter.

The previous method of confirming that a kilogram is accurate is to use physical metal weights measuring exactly one kilogram, periodically transporting them around the world to an official weight lab to confirm they still weigh the same. Over time these physical objects have changed very slightly in their mass making them unreliable in the long run -- thus running into the issue that a kilogram did not stay a constant measure of mass. Note that these weights and comparisons are so precise that a fingerprint on one of the weights could throw them off.

In this comic, Black Hat announces that the kilogram has been redefined as equal to one {{w|Pound (mass)|pound}}. Ponytail and Cueball seem to think this makes things simpler, but Megan is rightfully alarmed. The metric system of measurement is the one used by most of the world and is the standard system used in science. It is considered superior to the {{w|United States customary system}} and the {{w|Imperial system}} (both of which the pound is part of). Therefore, redefining the kilogram to be based on the pound would make things much, much worse and outrage supporters of the metric system. More to the point, the pound is still often defined by metal weights, thus running right back into the very same problem they tried to escape from. Also, redefining the kilogram as being a completely different size from before will create a lot of confusion, since now when people read a mass in kilograms they need to work out whether it was written in old kilograms or new (pound-sized) kilograms.

In real life, the pound is officially defined as 0.45359237 kilograms, or less than half a kilogram. This makes defining a kilogram as one pound even more impossible as they are then stuck in a loop, as the pound must weigh less than half of a kilogram, meaning the value of each would be equal to zero.

In addition, the pound also exists as a unit of weight or force (lbf), whereas the kilogram is a unit of mass, thus fixing the kilogram to the pound would make even less practical sense.

The title text continues the joke by saying that the meter has been defined as exactly three feet. The yard, the closest US measurement to the meter, is three feet. However, a meter is about 9 centimeters longer than a yard. As with the pound, the metric system is used to define the yard as it is officially defined as 0.9144 meters.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat talking to Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan while all stand in a row. Megan's hands are raised emphatically.]
:Black Hat: To end many years of confusion, the International Committee for Weights and Measures has just voted to redefine the kilogram.
:Black Hat: As of next May, it will equal exactly one pound.
:Ponytail: Oh, cool.
:Cueball: That ''does'' make things simpler.
:Megan: '''''No!!'''''

==Trivia==
To further expand on this, the classic definitions of all our various units of time, length, mass, and temperature are based on phenomena that are neither convenient to measure precisely nor in fact consistently reproducible. The duration of an Earth day and year vary unpredictably, the circumference of the Earth varies, the International Prototype Kilogram gains or loses mass any time it is handled (and in fact just sitting there it and its reference copies diverge from each other), and the value of baseline temperatures such as the freezing point of water depend on which isotopes of hydrogen are in the water molecules.

Nevertheless, there really are constants of nature. For example, one of them is ‘''c''’, the speed of light in a vacuum. The expressed value of ''c'' depends on your choice of the unit of distance and the unit of time, but it’s a constant in those units. Now just suppose we all had a reproducible way to define a specific unit of time, which just for fun we call a ‘second’. You might not know the length of a ‘meter’, but if I told you that measured in meters per second the universal constant value of ''c'' is exactly 299792458 meters per second, then I would have fixed the length of a meter to be exactly the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299792458 seconds. And in fact this is what the international body responsible for defining our SI units has done.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second#%22Atomic%22_second One second] is defined to be a specific number of periods of the radiation emitted in a certain transition of a cesium 133 atom. The specific number was set in the year 1967, so as to match a previous astronomical standard called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second#Fraction_of_an_ephemeris_year Ephemeris Time] to the limit of human measuring ability at the time. The 1967 definition didn’t change the actual duration of a second, but it did make its measurement forever reproducible.

In 1983 the value of ''c'' was fixed to the value noted above. Prior to that it had been measured with respect to existing definitions of a meter, and had to be expressed with a measure of uncertainty. For example in 1973 a team at the US National Bureau of Standards refined ''c'' to 299,792,457.4 m/s ± 1 m/s. But from 1983 onwards, with an exact integer value for ''c'' that is quite close to that Bureau measurement, the length of a meter is now fixed with no plus/minus uncertainty. Furthermore, both the second and the meter match their predecessor definitions for all intents and purposes.

Similar redefinitions of units of mass and of temperature in terms of universal constants have been agreed to, mass with regard to the Planck constant ''h'', and temperature with regard to the Boltzmann constant ''k''. The constants ''h'' and ''k'' had previously been measured quantities, complete with uncertainties. The SI body fixed both of them to exact values, resulting in exact, no-uncertainty values for a kilogram of mass and a kelvin of thermodynamic temperature. As with the second and the meter, these new definitions match their predecessor definitions for all intents and purposes.

To expand on this even further, three additional universal constants that were previously measured and that had uncertainty values have been assigned fixed values, resulting in exact definitions of three corresponding units of measurement without affecting their applicability. Fixing the unit of elementary charge, ''e'', serves to define the unit of electric current, the Ampere. Fixing the unit of luminous efficacy ''Kcd'' serves to define the unit of luminous intensity, the candela. And fixing the Avogadro constant ''NA'' serves to define the unit of amount of substance, the mole.

A very recent Wikipedia article about redefining the SI units of measure in terms of newly fixed values of things taken to be universal constants is {{w|Redefinition of SI base units}}.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Physics]]

1735: Fashion Police and Grammar Police

2018-11-15T23:49:42Z

172.68.141.94: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1735
| date = September 19, 2016
| title = Fashion Police and Grammar Police
| image = fashion_police_and_grammar_police.png
| titletext = * Mad about jorts
}}

==Explanation==
In this comic, two groups of angry protesters are presented and labeled. They are likely not actually protesting side by side, but simply drawn side by side to compare their similarities.

The left group represents the '''Fashion Police''' with [[Cueball]] holding a sign saying {{w|Crocs}} not allowed (by showing a pair of Crocs shoes in a circle with a strike through it). Crocs are a type of {{w|Clog|clogs}} made of foam. There may be some ergonomic advantages to these special looking shoes, but they will {{w|Crocs#Fashion|never become fashionable}}. It is not the first time [[Randall]] mocks a special type of shoes (although here it may not so much be himself that are against Crocs, but rather he just chose something easy to recognize that the Fashion Police would hate). Previously in [[1065: Shoes]] Randall was after shoes that ''has those creepy individual toes'' like {{w|Vibram FiveFingers}}. They will also never be a hit with the Fashion Police.{{Citation needed}}

The right group represents the '''Grammar Police''' with another Cueball holding a sign with three commonly confused words beneath each other: [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/their Their] (belongs to them), [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/they%27re They're] (contraction meaning "they are"), [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/there There] (a location). The words are written on the sign to explain that there is a difference between these three almost identically-sounding words as many people confuse them with each other, and then the Grammar Police ''have'' to correct them (see [[386: Duty Calls]]). See the [https://twitter.com/_grammar_ Grammar Police on Twitter] and also {{w|Grammar Police|Linguistic prescription}} which comes up on Wikipedia when searching for Grammar Police.

The two groups look similar, standing in similar poses and apart from one Cueball holding signs in each group, one [[Megan]] is also in the front line of both groups. [[Hairy]] is only shown with the fashion police, together with yet another [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|Cueball-like guy]], while [[Ponytail]] is only shown with the grammar police together with a bald man with glasses.

Both types of police are groups of people who make fun of others who wear or say something that doesn't meet their criteria of "good". Fashion police are people who make fun of others who wear clothing that is mismatched, out of style/{{w|fashion}} or straight-up "ugly" to them. Grammar police are people who are "sticklers" to {{w|grammar}} rules and get mad or contradictory if someone uses non-standard grammar in a sentence. The comic explains how the two groups are similar to each other by listing eight points (plus a ninth in the title text) that can be used on both groups. See explanation in the [[#Table of individual items|table below]].

In the caption below the comic Randall notes that he just realized that these are literally the same people because they both exhibit the listed traits. The use of "[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/literally literally]" to emphasize a statement is considered by the grammar police as a dread crime that should be pointed out as such, although the dictionaries already include this definition as acceptable. However it would likely be more appropriate to say figuratively the same people, see [[725: Literally]]. On the other hand, fashion police are known for overusing "literally" in the way the grammar police finds disgusting.

Since it seem like a safe assumption (see [[1339: When You Assume]]) that there are more grammar pedants (see title text of [[1652: Conditionals]]) than fashion police people who read xkcd, and it also would seem likely that many xkcd readers would dislike the Fashion Police (more), it seems likely that Randall is actually mainly targeting the Grammar Police people reading xkcd than the fashion people who do not. They will not like to be compared to the Fashion Police! Ponytail also represented the grammar police in [[1576: I Could Care Less]], where Megan puts her in place after she polices her sentence; this thus shows what Randall thinks about such police work and supports the above assumption. In 1576: I Could Care Less, "literally" was also used in the title text.

Randall is, with regards to language, definitely one of those that can belong in this group: ''To seem cool and casual, pretend to ignore them while understanding them very well.''

The title is a ninth point to add to the list, with the asterisk in front representing one more bullet. See the last entry in the [[#Table of individual items|table below]] for more:

==Table of individual items==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Explanation of individual items in the list
!list item
!Explanation
|-
|Judgemental and Smug || Both types of police will look down upon those who violate their 'laws'.
|-
|Angry about something deeply arbitrary || Both grammar and fashion are, essentially, made-up human constructs.
|-
| Strong opinions backed by style guides || Grammar has ''{{w|The Elements of Style}}'', fashion has fashion magazines.
|-
| Appreciate that the way that you are interpreted is your responsibility || Your choices in both grammar and fashion affect how people see you, and it would be silly to disclaim responsibility for what is essentially your own actions.
|-
| Understand that there's no way to "opt out" of sending messages by how you present yourself, and attempts to do so send strong messages of their own || This means that even if you deliberately choose to not listen to the fashion gurus, then you are actually making a fashion statement anyway, as opposed to those that just don't realize they have a horrible style (and are not dressing wrongly on purpose). Both types can thus be harassed by the Fashion Police. Same goes for those who deliberately do not try to follow the grammar rules. They have thus taken a stance anyway as opposed to those who just do not know how to use grammar correctly. And both types can be harassed for it by the Grammar Police.
|-
|To seem cool and casual, pretend to ignore them while understanding them very well || Deliberately violating fashion or grammar rules gives off a particular 'casual' vibe, distinct from those who violate the rules out of ignorance.
|-
|Vindictive about things that are often uncomfortably transparent proxies for race or social class || "Proper" dress and "proper" language are often defined in terms of how high class people dress and speak. But since "high class" in much of the Western world has generally meant white, alternative ways of dress (e.g. the Afro) or alternative ways of speaking (e.g. Ebonics or Pidgin English) are treated as somehow objectively "wrong", rather than simply as alternatives. Furthermore, dressing or speaking poorly are often marks of "lower class" people who for whatever reason cannot afford fashionable clothing, or don't have access to quality education, and dress codes for customers (no sneakers, hoodies, dew-rags, etc.) are often employed at businesses in place of (illegally) expicit racial discrimination. So when we judge people for their clothing or their speech, we are often indirectly judging them for their race and class. Randall identifies this fact as "uncomfortably transparent".
|-
| Fun to cheer on until one of them disagrees with you|| This may have to do with the human tendency to view the morality of an activity differently when applied to oneself compared to a stranger.
|-
| Mad about jorts (Title text) || "{{w|Shorts#Jorts|Jorts}}" is a {{w|portmanteau}} for a pair of jeans that are made into shorts.

The fashion police would be mad about jorts for being unfashionable.

The grammar police would be mad about the word 'jorts' being an inappropriate portmanteau of jeans and shorts, and also for the fact that the sentence could be misinterpreted as if someone like jorts, as in being mad about something in a positive way.

{{w|Sentence_clause_structure#Incomplete_sentence|Also a fragment}}, with no subject (properly it would be "I am mad about jorts"). Randall has [[:Category:Portmanteau|often used]] portmanteaus as part of his jokes.

It is also possible that the Grammar police are indeed "mad about Jorts" in the positive sense, i.e Grammar Police love Jorts.
|}

==Transcript==
:[Beneath two headings to the left and right are shown two aggressive-looking groups of people with only the four people in the front clearly shown for each group. Behind them five other people can be seen, but they are not drawn with the same solid line and are only partly shown behind the first four, but legs from all five in each group can be seen along with some heads (all Cueball like) and arms etc. The front of the left group consist of Hairy holding a fist up towards left, Megan with her arms crossed in front of her chest, Cueball holding a sign, using both hands, straight up above his head and another Cueball-like guy to the right is holding up a broken branch in one hand toward right. The person behind this last person is shown to hold up his fist towards right like Hairy does to the left. The sign shows a Crocs shoe in a circle with a strike through it going above the Crocs from top left to bottom right. The front of the right group consist of Megan holding both her arms over her head hands folded into fist while looking towards left, Cueball holding a sign, using both hands, towards the right and up above Ponytails head, she is raising one hand in a fist to the left and finally a bald guy with glasses is brandishing a short sword in one hand toward right while holding his other hand palm up. The sign has three similar words written beneath each other.]
:Left: Fashion Police
:Right: Grammar Police
:Sign:
::Their
::They're
::There

:[Below the two groups are eight points with bullets:]
:*Judgemental and smug
:*Angry about something deeply arbitrary
:*Strong opinions backed by style guides
:*Appreciate that the way that you are interpreted ''is'' your responsibility
:*Understand that there's no way to "opt out" of sending messages by how you present yourself, and attempts to do so send strong messages of their own
:*To seem cool and casual, pretend to ignore them while understanding them very well
:*Vindictive about things that are often uncomfortably transparent proxies for race or social class
:*Fun to cheer on until one of them disagrees with you

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I just realized these are literally the same people

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Portmanteau]]

Talk:2064: I'm a Car

2018-11-02T04:49:00Z

172.68.141.94:

Is that a Chevy Volt? --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.62.196|172.69.62.196]] 04:30, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
:Using google image search I could find various different taillight configurations on Chevrolet Volt's, but non where the lights extend to the trunk, and also downward on the site of the trunk. They are either above each other, or extending to the trunk. The one in the comic has both.--[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:51, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
:Having owned a first-generation Volt, it sure looks like it to me. No, the details aren't perfect, but the taper of the lights seems to strongly suggest a first-gen Volt. ~ [[User:BestComicEver|BestComicEver]] ([[User talk:BestComicEver|talk]]) 14:04, 31 October 2018 (UTC)

Cars are getting more intelligent and the voters seem to get dumber. This comic states that some cars are more intelligent than the average voters. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.209|141.101.104.209]] 06:48, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

No matter how smart the car is it would need to meet eligibility requirements to vote. Cars are typically registered in a jurisdiction but are generally not recognized as citizens or residents for voting purposes. Only some cars meet the age requirements, e.g. in the United States the median age of an automobile was [https://news.ihsmarkit.com/press-release/automotive/average-age-vehicles-road-remains-steady-114-years-according-ihs-automotive 11.4 years] in 2014 while a voter must be at least 18 years of age to vote in US Federal elections. As for the title text, cars are generally incapable of reproduction [citation needed], ineligible for adoption [citation needed], and generally do not attend school [citation needed], making this scenario multiply implausible [[User:ChronoCronut|ChronoCronut]] ([[User talk:ChronoCronut|talk]]) 09:00, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
: "Only some cars meet the age requirements" Right, but they are very mature for their age. xD [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.114|162.158.90.114]] 11:35, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
: It's time to start the car suffrage movement! [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 13:13, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

"The entire comic seems to be related to self-driving cars, which has been a recurring subject on xkcd. As they first begins to drive by themselves, the next step is voting and later getting car babies that can grow up and become honor students." Actually, I think that this comic is about bumper stickers on cars. Of course people put bumper stickers on their cars to make a statement about themselves, but what if the bumper stickers were actually a statement by the car, not the person driving it. That's another common theme. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 12:26, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
: I agree the comic is about bumper stickers which use "first person" wording taken literally as being the cars themselves talking. However as we hear and see more about self driving cars, and get closer to mythical artificial intelligence, the day may come when this joke about literality could cease to be a joke. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 14:25, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

If this car made one of the questionable votes against network neutrality? {{unsigned|Gunterkoenigsmann}}

The first thing that jumped to my mind was that it also mixed in the security issues arising due to the "Internet of Things" problems. Admittedly, most IoT devices are used in DoS attacks and are generally not used as general purpose hacking jump boxes, but I see no reason that cellular network equipped cars could not be hacked and used as a source for voting in digital elections. Adrian Colyer has a great synopsis of two vehicle papers on his blog: https://blog.acolyer.org/2015/12/02/carshark/ and https://blog.acolyer.org/2015/12/03/fast-and-vulnerable/ . [[User:Tovodeverett|Tovodeverett]] ([[User talk:Tovodeverett|talk]]) 13:35, 26 October 2018 (UTC)
: But that would still be someone (a human) voting, albeit using the car as a vehicle [sic] for that vote. So the bumper sticker isn't being literal in this case, the car itself didn't vote, and so the joke doesn't work. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 18:22, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

I put a citation needed tag in as a joke, and someone actually found a source for it. {{unsigned ip|162.158.74.57}}
: I guessed that was what happened. I wonder how many other obvious statements have citations that someone could find? [[User:GreatWyrmGold|GreatWyrmGold]] ([[User talk:GreatWyrmGold|talk]]) 00:10, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

I wonder if it's less common to see these pointing out a party affiliation as in "I'm a Democrat" or "I'm a Republican" and more common to instead see them as showing membership in a special interest group like in "I'm a Mom" or "I'm a union worker" or likewise. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:40, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

'''Now deleted thing about the bomber's vehicle'''

Someone added text suggesting this comic was inspired by the stickers on the bomber's vehicle. Then someone else deleted that text because the comic had been posted before the bomber was arrested so Randall could not have known about the bomber's vehicle.

Does that mean it was a coincidence?

Or could the bomber have seen the comic and been inspired by it to put the stickers on the vehicle?

(The deleted text was "Possibly Randall is ironically referring to the car of the suspect in the pipe bomb case. His whole [https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/181026125735-03-tarp-off-screengrab-1026-closer-exlarge-169.jpg van is covered with pro-Trump, anti-Democrat and anti-liberal stickers]. Or it's just particularly bad timing...")

[[Special:Contributions/172.68.46.173|172.68.46.173]] 05:42, 29 October 2018 (UTC)
Perhaps it is related to the ongoing push for "motor voter" laws encouraging (or mandating) local DMV offices to register persons to vote at the same time they apply for or renew a driver's license?

2035: Dark Matter Candidates

2018-10-11T17:08:59Z

172.68.141.94: /* Pollen */

{{comic
| number = 2035
| date = August 20, 2018
| title = Dark Matter Candidates
| image = dark_matter_candidates.png
| titletext = My theory is that dark matter is actually just a thin patina of grime covering the whole universe, and we don't notice it because we haven't thoroughly cleaned the place in eons.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Dark matter}} is a hypothetical, invisible form of matter used by the vast majority of astronomers to explain the far too high apparent mass of objects at large scales in our universe. In galaxies, stars are orbiting faster than the gravitational force of the sum of the masses of visible matter in the galaxy could cause, and entire galaxies are observed moving much faster around each other than their visible masses could explain. In galactic collisions, the mass can appear to separate from the visible matter, as if the mass doesn't collide but the visible matter does. A small handful of galaxies have been observed to not have this property, suggesting that it is a *thing* that a galaxy can have more or less of and is separable from. At scales of our solar system, those effects are too small and can't be measured. The most plausible explanation for all of these phenomena is that there is some "dark matter" that has gravity, but is otherwise undetectable. In cosmology, dark matter is estimated to account for 85% of the total matter in the universe.

This comic gives a set of possibilities for what dark matter could possibly be, charted by mass from smallest (given in {{w|Electronvolt#Mass|electronvolts}}) to largest (given in kilograms). Masses in the range 10-15 kg to 10-3 kg are given in grams together with appropriate prefixes, while the ton takes the place of 103 kg.

Only massive objects ranging from subatomic particles up to super massive ones are covered in this comic. There are also {{w|Dark matter#Alternative hypotheses|alternative hypotheses}} trying to modify general relativity with no need of additional matter. The problem is that these theories can't explain all different observations at once. Nonetheless dark matter is a mystery because no serious candidate has been found yet.

The joke in this comic is that the range of the mass of the possible particles and objects stretch over 81 powers of ten, with explanations suggested by astronomers covering only some portions of that range. [[Randall]] fills the gaps with highly absurd suggestions.

==== Axion ====
An {{w|Axion|axion}} is a hypothetical elementary particle postulated in 1977 to resolve the strong CP problem in {{w|Quantum chromodynamics|quantum chromodynamics}}, a theory of the strong force between {{w|Quark|quarks}} and {{w|Gluon|gluons}} which form {{w|Hadron|hadrons}} like {{w|Proton|protons}} or {{w|Neutron|neutrons}}. If axions exist within a specific range of mass they might be a component of dark matter. The advantage of this particle is that it's based on a theory which could be proved or also disproved by measurements in the future. Other theories, not mentioned in this comic, like the {{w|Weakly interacting massive particles|Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs)}} are much more vague.

==== Sterile neutrino ====
{{w|Sterile neutrino|Sterile neutrinos}} are hypothetical particles interacting only via gravity. It's an actual candidate for dark matter. The well known {{w|Neutrino|neutrinos}} are also charged under the {{w|Weak interaction|weak interaction}} and can be detected by experiments.

==== Electrons painted with space camouflage ====
{{w|Electron|Electrons}} are fundamental particles which compose the outer layers of atoms. A large number of electrons in the galaxy would be relatively easy to detect, as they not only interact with light (which dark matter does not appear to), but also have a strong electric charge. Presumably, space camouflage is a positively-charged coating which prevents electrons from interacting with light. (Needless to say, this is not an actual candidate for dark matter.) The mass of an electron is about 0.5 MeV which fits well into the graph.

==== Neutralino ====
A {{w|Neutralino|neutralino}} is a hypothetical particle from {{w|Supersymmetry|supersymmetry}} and is also a current candidate for dark matter. But there is not evidence whether or not supersymmetry is correct and none of the predicted particles have been found yet.

==== Q-ball ====
In theoretical physics, a {{w|Q-ball}} is a stable group of particles. It's an actual candidate for dark matter.

(In billiards, a cue ball is the white (or yellow) ball hit with the cue in normal play. In addition, [[Cueball]] is the name explainxkcd uses for the most common xkcd character.)

==== Pollen ====
{{w|Pollen}} is a joke candidate, though people with seasonal allergies may suspect that the universe is genuinely made up entirely of pollen in the springtime. That will get them to use 1 Xyzal, 1 Claritin,1 Allegra, and 20 histimine suppresants

==== No-See-Ums ====
{{w|Ceratopogonidae|No-See-Ums}} are a family (Ceratopogonidae) of small flies, 1–4 mm long, that can pass through most window screens. Another joke candidate, because dark matter is invisible and the name "no-see-ums" implies that the flies are invisible.

==== Bees ====
Insects of the clade {{w|Bee|Antophila}} are major pollinators of flowering plants. In recent years {{w|Colony collapse disorder|bees have been disappearing}} at an alarming rate; {{w|The Stolen Earth|Doctor Who explained}} that they are in fact aliens leaving Earth prior to a Dalek invasion.

==== 8-balls ====
In pool, the {{w|Pool (cue sports)|8-ball}} is a black ball numbered 8. It's a pun with Q-ball/cue ball. Unless undetected aliens have discovered billiards and become addicted to it, 8-balls are found only on Earth and are, hence, unlikely dark matter candidates. The 8-ball is also a popular unit of sale for black market pharmaceuticals like cocaine, where it stands for 1/8th of an ounce (3.5g). This doesn't make sense as a dark matter candidate either -- unless dark matter is hard to detect because it's illegal & trying to avoid the cops.

==== Space Cows ====
Cows are {{w|Bovinae|bovines}} extensively farmed on Earth for milk and meat. Although there is folklore concerning cows {{w|Hey diddle diddle|achieving circum-lunar orbits}}, not to mention their appearance on a {{w|Shindig (Firefly)|beloved space western TV show}}, as Muppet cow [http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Natalie Natalie] in the Sesame Street News Flash (and [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaceWestern others less-remembered]), they have yet to be found elsewhere in the Universe. In the television show "Too Close for Comfort", one of the characters is the cartoonist of a comic strip called "Cosmic Cow". {{w|Spherical cow|Spherical cows}} have also been used (humorously) by physicists needing to simplify some source of mass in a given problem.

==== Obelisks, Monoliths, Pyramids ====
While those human constructions are huge on a human scale, they're negligible at universe-scale. It would take a large number of such constructions, distributed through space, to replicate the effects of dark matter; while a scenario could be envisioned where enough such constructs existed, with properties and distribution allowing them to match observations, this is obviously not a likely explanation.
They often show up in fiction and pseudo-scientific literature as alien artifacts generating immense unknown power out of nowhere, with the most famous and influential example being the three monoliths from {{w|2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey}} (with the largest having a mass of about 500,000 tonnes).

==== Black Holes ruled out by: ====
{{w|Black hole|Black holes}} are known to occur in sizes of a few solar masses (about 1030-1031 kg) as remnants of the core of former big stars, as well as in quite large sizes at the centers of galaxies (millions or even billions of solar masses). But recent gravitational wave detections indicate that black holes at 50 or 100 solar masses also exist, though their origin is still not understood. Randall doesn't mention this but some astronomers hope that these could fill at least a part of the gap. While black holes are widely reported to be ruled out as a candidate for dark matter for various reasons Randall has listed, such constraints are based on "monochromatic" mass distributions -- meaning that all such black holes are assumed to have the same mass -- which is considered physically implausible for populations of merging bodies which are known to have vastly different masses. See: [https://arxiv.org/pdf/1709.07467.pdf Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter (2017)] and [https://arxiv.org/pdf/1705.05567.pdf Primordial black hole constraints for extended mass functions (2017)] (That this is a common practice in cosmology may be part of the reference to "buzzkill" astronomers.) He rules out all black holes in the range of approximately 1010 kg to 1033 kg even when below some gaps at the bars appear.

Except the last item, all range below the mass of the sun (2x1030 kg) while the smallest known black hole is about four solar masses.
* Gamma rays: If dark matter were black holes of this size, the black holes could be evaporating by the predicted {{w|Hawking radiation}}, and we'd see a buzz of gamma rays from every direction if many of those objects would exist. Nonetheless this radiation is still hypothetical and not been observed on any known black holes. Furthermore those objects would be very small because the Schwarzschild radius of a 1012 kg black hole is approximately 148 fm (1.48×10−13 m), which is between the size of an atom and an atomic nucleus.
* GRB lensing: {{w|Gamma-ray burst|Gamma-ray bursts}} (GRBs) are the brightest events in the universe and have been observed only in distant galaxies. While gravitational microlensing (see below) is an astronomical phenomenon, it doesn't make much sense here. GRBs are short (milliseconds to several hours) and are often detected only by space-borne sensors for gamma-rays -- rarely at any other wavelengths. Measuring lensing effects would be very difficult. This [https://arxiv.org/abs/1406.3102 paper] discusses the probability of detecting lensing effects caused by {{w|Dark matter halo|galactic halo objects}} among the known GRBs given sufficient objects to represent the missing mass.
* Neutron star data: {{w|Neutron star|Neutron stars}} aren't black holes, but they're also very small highly compact objects at about 1.4-2.16 solar masses. While black holes can't be observed directly, neutron stars are detectable in many wavelengths. The number of them gives a clue about the number of black holes close to the mass of the sun, a number which is far too low to make up dark matter.
* Micro lensing: {{w|Gravitational microlensing}} is a gravitational lens effect, (the path of radiation is changed by passing through space bent by nearby mass). This was predicted by Einstein's {{w|General Relativity|Theory of General Relativity}} and was first confirmed in 1919 during a solar eclipse, when a star which was nearly in line with the sun appeared more distant to the sun than usual. Astronomers have found many so called {{w|Einstein ring|Einstein rings}} or Einstein crosses where a massive object in front of other galaxies bends the light toward us. Those massive objects may be black holes, but the number is far too low to explain dark matter.
* Solar system stability: Our {{w|Solar system|solar system}} is 4.5 billion years old and has been very stable since shortly after its formation. If not, we wouldn't exist. If dark objects at 1024 kg - 1030 kg (mass of Earth up to mass of Sun) accounted for dark matter and were distributed throughout galaxies, there should be many of them in the vicinity of our solar system and the system wouldn't be stable at all.
* Buzzkill Astronomers: Black holes above a certain size are thought by some astronomers to be impossible to miss, due to the effects they have on nearby matter. At the mass of some 1030 kg there must be many supernova remnants we still haven't found. Black holes of about 1035 kg have long been considered dark matter candidates by a minority group of cosmologists, as could be seen here [https://arxiv.org/pdf/1001.2308.pdf Primordial Black Holes as All Dark Matter (2010)] and the Milky Way's first discovered intermediate mass black hole falling in this range shown here [https://www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/science/2016/20160115-nro.html Signs of Second Largest Black Hole in the Milky Way].
Not covered by this comic are {{w|Massive compact halo object|massive astrophysical compact halo objects (MACHOs)}} composed of hard to detect dim objects like black holes, neutron stars, brown dwarfs, and other objects composed of normal {{w|Baryon|baryonic}} matter. Nevertheless observations have shown that the total amount of baryonic matter in our universe on large scales is much smaller than it would be needed to explain all the measured gravitational effects.

==== Maybe those orbit lines on space diagrams are real and very heavy ====
Diagrams of our solar system (or any planetary system) often show lines representing the elliptical paths the planet takes around its sun. These lines don't show real objects, though. Astronomers just draw them on pictures of the solar system to show where the planets move. If you draw a line on a map to give someone directions, that line isn't an object in real life; it's just on the map. If these lines were real, they would be ''huge'' (Earth's would be 940 million km long (2π AU) and Neptune's would be 28 ''billion'' kilometers long). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0 Powers of Ten (1977)] gives a good sense of just how large these orbit lines need to be in order to be visible in space diagrams. If these orbit lines were also very dense, they would have a huge mass and could possibly account for the missing 85% of the mass in the universe. But they would also constantly be impaling the planets, including the Earth, which would probably be a problem. Their mass would also affect planetary motions in ways which we would detect. A related worry about space travel was expressed in previous centuries; it was thought that the planets were embedded within {{w|Celestial spheres|crystal shells}} (spheres or Platonic solids), and a rocket into space could smash the shells and send planets plummeting to Earth. Another joke candidate.

==== Title text ====
The title text refers to the fact that space is just vast emptiness where a little bit of dirt could be overlooked. Actually the mean density of detectable matter in the universe, according to NASA, is equivalent to roughly [https://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_matter.html 1 proton per 4 cubic meters]. And because this matter is mostly located in galaxies -- and inside there in stars and clouds -- the space between is even more empty. For comparison, one gram hydrogen consists of {{w|Avogadro constant|6.022 x 1023 atoms}}. Like at home wiping with a cleaning cloth in which we can see the dirt that wasn't clearly visible on the surface we have wiped, Randall believes that some few atoms more per cubic meter could stay undetected in the same way. This isn't true because in the space between galaxies astronomers can detect matter as it spreads over thousands or millions cubic light years. Atoms can't hide; there is always radiation.

==Transcript==
:Dark matter candidates:
:[A line graph is shown and labeled at left quarter in eV and further to the right in g together with some prefixes.]
:[The labels read:]
:µeV, meV, eV, keV, MeV, GeV, TeV, 10-18kg, ng, µg, mg, g, kg, TON, 106kg, 1012kg, 1018kg, 1024kg, 1030kg

:[All items are shown in bars ranging between two approximately values:]
:< 1 µeV - 10 meV: Axion

:1 eV - 10 keV: Sterile neutrino

:0.5 MeV (exactly): Electrons painted with space camouflage

:10 GeV - 10 TeV: Neutralino

:100 TeV - 10-17 kg: Q-ball

:1 ng - 100 ng: Pollen

:0.1 mg - 1 mg: No-See-Ums

:10-1 g (exactly): Bees

:10 g - 100 g: 8-balls

:100 kg - TON: Space cows

:TON - 109 kg: Obelisks, monoliths, pyramids

:109 kg - 1033 kg: Black holes ruled out by:
::109 kg - 1013 kg: Gamma rays
::1013 kg - 1017 kg: GRB lensing
::1015 kg - 1022 kg: Neutron star data
::1021 kg - 1030 kg: Micro lensing
::1024 kg - 1030 kg: Solar system stability
::1030 kg - 1033 kg: Buzzkill astronomers

:1033 kg - >1036 kg: Maybe those orbit lines on space diagrams are real and very heavy

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]

1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

2018-10-07T07:01:23Z

172.68.141.94: /*The Wikipedia Links*/ Fixed table. Transcript still has one

{{comic
| number = 1412
| date = August 25, 2014
| title = Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
| image = teenage_mutant_ninja_turtles.png
| titletext = My upcoming album, 'Linked List', has covers of 'The Purple People Eater', the Ninja Turtles theme, 'Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini', and the Power Rangers theme, with every song played to the tune of the next.
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete | Removed table in explain still need to remove transcript table}}

This comic is a reference to the recently released {{w|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014 film)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie}}. It is a list of Wikipedia article titles that are in the same syllable-stress pattern as the first line of the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS-qFdw-v_o theme song] of the {{w|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)|1987 cartoon series}}.

The list is compiled in alphabetical order from top to bottom, without respect to the left or right column. Some of the items on this list (e.g. ''{{w|Ace Ventura: Pet Detective}}'') are drawn as headlines in the same style as the logo from that series. These articles are not in alphabetical order with the surrounding small face text, but these headlines are in alphabetical order with the other headlines from top to bottom, without respect to the left or right column. Some of these phrases are not actually the titles of Wikipedia articles, but are redirects. For instance, the article on {{w|Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie}} redirects to {{w|Woody Guthrie}}, and {{w|Former Arctic Monkeys members}} redirects to {{w|Andy Nicholson}}.

The syllable-stress pattern of this line is long-short-long-short-long-short-long-short, known in poetry as {{w|trochaic tetrameter}}. Randall has previously authored comics dealing with {{w|trochees}}, namely [[856: Trochee Fixation]] and [[1383: Magic Words]].

A similar idea was performed by {{w|Jimmy Fallon}} in 2001 at a [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jimmy+fallon+80s+medley concert for New York city] where he demonstrated singing "any 80's song" over the tune of {{w|MC Hammer}}'s song "{{w|U Can't Touch This}}".

The title text suggests an album of songs (''{{w|The Purple People Eater}}'', the aforementioned ''Ninja Turtles'' theme, ''{{w|Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini}}'' and the ''{{w|Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers}}'' theme), the title or primary refrain of which have a large number of verses in {{w|trochee|trochaic}} {{w|meter (poetry)|meter}}. Randall suggests that these refrains are so interchangeable that the lyrics of each could be sung to the melody of the song following it in the tracklist. Randall would title the album ''{{w|Linked List}}'' as each song would melodically reference the next song. The refrains of the songs, respectively are:
*"One-eyed, one-horned flying purple people eater"
*"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
*"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"
*"Go go Power Rangers"

==The Wikipedia links==

There are 6 headlines and 9 other article links in each block next to a headline for a total of 60 wiki links:

;{{w|Ace Ventura: Pet Detective}}
:{{w|Biggest Loser: Second Chances}}
:{{w|Cayman Island blue iguana}}
:{{w|Central Texas pocket gopher}}
:{{w|Church of Jesus Christ Creator}}
:{{w|Climate change and meat production}}
:{{w|Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon}}
:{{w|Daylight saving time in China}}
:{{w|Denver Airport People Mover}}
:{{w|Easter Island spiny lobster}}

;{{w|Asian Human Rights Commission}}

:{{w|Edgar Allan Poe Museum}}
:{{w|Engine failure after take-off}}
:{{w|English as a second language}}
:{{w|Former Arctic Monkeys members}}
:{{w|Fowler's Modern English Usage}}
:{{w|Georgia Game and Fish Department}}
:{{w|Golden-mantled howler monkey}}
:{{w|Greater Cleveland Film Commission}}
:{{w|Hairy flower chafer beetle}}

;{{w|San Diego City Council}}

:{{w|Harland David "Colonel" Sanders}}
:{{w|Human Tissue Resource Network}}
:{{w|Klondike-class destroyer tender|Klondike class destroyer tender}}
:{{w|Legal code of North Dakota}}
:{{w|Lesser knapweed flower weevil}}
:{{w|Lockheed Martin Atlas rocket}}
:{{w|Maple syrup urine syndrome}}
:{{w|Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers}}
:{{w|Nablus mask-like facial syndrome}}

;{{w|Single payer health insurance}}

:{{w|Neo Geo Pocket Color}}
:{{w|New Year's Eve with Carson Daly}}
:{{w|Newton's second law of motion}}
:{{w|North Korean Workers Party}}
:{{w|Orange County Business Council}}
:{{w|Over/under cable coiling}}
:{{w|Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater}}
:{{w|Places named for Adolf Hitler}}
:{{w|Proton-proton chain reaction}}

;{{w|Spotted giant flying squirrel}}

:{{w|Puerto Rican lizard-cuckoo}}
:{{w|Quantum vacuum plasma thruster|Quantuum vacuum plasma thruster}}<ref>See also [[1404: Quantum Vacuum Virtual Plasma]].</ref>
:{{w|Rocky Mountain spotted fever}}
:{{w|Royal Flying Doctor Service}}
:{{w|Russian Women's Fascist Movement}}
:{{w|Semi-active laser guidance}}
:{{w|Seven Brides for Seven Brothers}}
:{{w|Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows}}
:{{w|Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon}}

;{{w|Women science fiction authors}}

:{{w|Trailing suction hopper dredger}}
:{{w|Vector graphics markup language}}
:{{w|Viti Levu giant pigeon}}
:{{w|Voting rights in Puerto Rico}}
:{{w|William Henry, Duke of Gloucester}}<ref>Gloucester is pronounced /ˈglɒstər/ (gloster).</ref>
:{{w|Windows Vista startup process}}
:{{w|Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie}}
:{{w|Yaba monkey tumor virus}}
:{{w|Zack and Miri Make a Porno}}

===Notes===

<references/>

==Transcript==

{{incomplete transcript}}

:{|class="wikitable"
!colspan="2"|
:'''WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE TITLES'''
:With the right syllable stress pattern
:to be sung to the tune of the original
:''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' theme song
:
|-style="vertical-align:top;"
|style="text-align:right;"|
:'''''Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'''''
|style="text-align:left;"|
:''Biggest Loser: Second Chances''
:Cayman Island blue iguana
:Central Texas pocket gopher
:Church of Jesus Christ Creator
:Climate change and meat production
:''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''
:Daylight saving time in China
:Denver Airport People Mover
:Easter Island spiny lobster
|-style="vertical-align:top;"
|style="text-align:right;"|
:Edgar Allan Poe Museum
:Engine failure after take-off
:English as a second language
:Former ''Arctic Monkeys'' members
:''Fowler's Modern English Usage''
:Georgia Game and Fish Department
:Golden-mantled howler monkey
:Greater Cleveland Film Commission
:Hairy flower chafer beetle
|style="text-align:left;"|
:'''Asian Human Rights Commission'''
|-style="vertical-align:top;"
|style="text-align:right;"|
:'''San Diego City Council'''
|style="text-align:left;"|
:Harland David "Colonel" Sanders
:Human Tissue Resource Network
:''Klondike''-class destroyer tender
:Legal code of North Dakota
:Lesser knapweed flower weevil
:Lockheed Martin Atlas rocket
:Maple syrup urine syndrome
:''Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers''
:Nablus mask-like facial syndrome
|-style="vertical-align:top;"
|style="text-align:right;"|
:Neo Geo Pocket Color
:''New Year's Eve with Carson Daly''
:Newton's second law of motion
:North Korean Workers Party
:Orange County Business Council
:Over/under cable coiling
:Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater
:Places named for Adolf Hitler
:Proton-proton chain reaction
|style="text-align:left;"|
:'''Single payer health insurance'''
|-style="vertical-align:top;"
|style="text-align:right;"|
:'''Spotted giant flying squirrel'''
|style="text-align:right;"|
:Puerto Rican lizard-cuckoo
:Quantuum vacuum plasma thruster
:Rocky Mountain spotted fever
:Royal Flying Doctor Service
:Russian Women's Fascist Movement
:Semi-active laser guidance
:''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers''
:''Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows''
:Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
|-style="vertical-align:top;"
|style="text-align:left;"|
:Trailing suction hopper dredger
:Vector graphics markup language
:Viti Levu giant pigeon
:Voting rights in Puerto Rico
:William Henry, Duke of Gloucester
:Windows Vista startup process
:Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie
:Yaba monkey tumor virus
:''Zack and Miri Make a Porno''
|style="text-align:right;"|
:'''Women science fiction authors'''
|}

==Trivia==
*Randall mistyped the word "album" as "alubm" in the original title text but it was fixed later.
*He did not correct the word Quantum, which is mistyped Quantuum in the comic.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]
[[Category:Climate change]]

2050: 6/6 Time

2018-09-26T02:53:39Z

172.68.141.94: /* Explanation */ Just clarity ...

{{comic
| number = 2050
| date = September 24, 2018
| title = 6/6 Time
| image = 6_6_time.png
| titletext = You know how Einstein figured out that the speed of light was constant, and everything else had to change for consistency? My theory is like his, except not smart or good.
}}

The original image has a link to a previous comic [https://xkcd.com/1061/ 1061: EST] which is explained [[1061: EST|here]].

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] suggests a regional time system similar to that used in many societies prior to the invention of [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-time-division-days-hours-minutes/ mechanical time keeping], such as [https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Telling_Time Japan during the Edo period] or the {{w|Roman timekeeping|Roman Empire}}, where the day is separated into two parts based on night and day and then subdivided by hour, minute, and second to give season-variable lengths for each. This method is also named [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/temporal_hour temporal hour].

Exact points in time such as noon, sunrise, or sunset vary on the {{w|Longitude|longitude}} from east and west, while the length of day and night depends on the {{w|Latitude|latitude}}. The first problem is solved today by using {{w|Time zone|time zones}} in which at 12pm the sun is in most cases at the {{w|Zenith|zenith}} and sunrise/sunset happens at different times. The second issue is attributed to the tilt of Earth's axis and the curvature of its surface; in summer days are longer than nights and vice versa in winter. In the polar regions there are very long days (and nights) and by Cueball's suggestion the entire months-long polar day would last only 12 hours.

The caption lays out the punchline in which [[Randall]] has very strong feelings and opinions on how standards of time ''should'' be measured, but as bad as he believes the official standards are he also recognizes that his own rules would not be popular with other people. After coming to recognize this he has made a hobby or game out of making the worst possible system of measuring time and sharing it with other people.

The caption, though vague, can also be assumed to relate to the gradual deviation of certain regions from the {{w|Coordinated Universal Time}} (UCT) zones with "{{w|Daylight Saving Time}}" that is observed inconsistently and smaller regions opting for awkward fractional increments of deviation from Coordinated Universal Time.

The title text refers to Einstein's {{w|Special relativity|special theory of relativity}} which postulates that the speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source (or the observers). An observer at high speed measures the same speed of light as an observer with no motion, measured from the same light source. In classical physics the speed of the moving observer would be added up but in special relativity this isn't true, instead the time runs slower for the moving observer. And additional to this {{w|Time dilation|time dilation}} there is also a {{w|Length contraction|length contraction}}, without which the geometry wouldn't work.

"Today is one of the two days each year when my clocks run at the same speed as everyone else's" refers to the autumnal equinox, when day and night are the same length, therefor causing his clocks to match the world.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and White Hat are walking.]
:Cueball: Under my time system, the sun rises at 6 am and it sets at 6 pm, as it '''''should'''''.
:Cueball: The length of the second is different each day and night, and the current time shifts with your latitude and longitude.
:Cueball: Today is one of the two days each year when my clocks run at the same speed as everyone else's.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Time standards are so unfixably messy and complicated that at this point my impulse is just to try to make them worse.

==Trivia==
*In the title text the name Einstein was originally misspelled as "einstein".
*This comic was released two days after the {{w|September equinox}} 2018 in the [http://aa.usno.navy.mil/seasons?year=2018&tz=-5&dst=1 US]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Time]]

2050: 6/6 Time

2018-09-25T05:19:21Z

172.68.141.94: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2050
| date = September 24, 2018
| title = 6/6 Time
| image = 6_6_time.png
| titletext = You know how Einstein figured out that the speed of light was constant, and everything else had to change for consistency? My theory is like his, except not smart or good.
}}

The original image has a link to a previous comic [https://xkcd.com/1061/ 1061: EST] which is explained [[1061: EST|here]].

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[File:edo_clock.jpg|thumb|An image of a Japanese mechanical clock, here showing two different hour schema for Japanese summer and winter, from the Seiko museum's collection. (Base units in this system are twice as long as Western hours and are denoted by the larger moving symbols on the dial edge.)]]

Cueball here suggests a regional time system similar to that used in many societies prior to the invention of [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-time-division-days-hours-minutes/ mechanical time keeping], such as [https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Telling_Time Japan during the Edo period], where the day is separated into two parts based on night and day and then subdivided by hour, minute, and second to give season-variable lengths for each. However Cueball's suggestions (where time shifts based not just on longitude but also on latitude, and seconds are variable in length so that day and night are always 6 hours long) are downright absurd. The caption lays out the punchline: Randall, represented by Cueball, has very strong feelings and opinions on how standards of time ''should'' be measured, but as bad as he believes the official standards are he also recognizes that his own rules would not be popular with other people. After coming to recognize this he has made a hobby or game out of making the worst possible system of measuring time and sharing them with other people.

The caption, though vague, can also be assumed to relate to the gradual deviation of certain regions from the Coordinated Universal Time zones with "Daylight Savings Time" that is observed inconsistently and smaller regions opting for awkward fractional increments of deviation from Greenwich Mean Time.

The title text refers to Einstein's {{w|Special relativity|special theory of relativity}} which postulates that the speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source (or the observers). An observer at high speed measures the same speed of light as an observer with no motion, measured from the same light source. In classical physics the speed of the moving observer would be added up but in special relativity this isn't true, instead the time runs slower for the moving observer. And additional to this {{w|Time dilation|time dilation}} there is also a {{w|Length contraction|length contraction}} without which the geometry wouldn't work.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball and White Hat are walking.]
:Cueball: Under my time system, the sun rises at 6 am and it sets at 6 pm, as it '''''should'''''.
:Cueball: The length of the second is different each day and night, and the current time shifts with your latitude and longitude.
:Cueball: Today is one of the two days each year when my clocks run at the same speed as everyone else's.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Time standards are so unfixably messy and complicated that at this point my impulse is just to try to make them worse.

==Trivia==
* In the title text, "Einstein" was originally "einstein".
* This method is also named "temporal hour" [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/temporal_hour]]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Time]]

2050: 6/6 Time

2018-09-25T05:17:58Z

172.68.141.94: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2050
| date = September 24, 2018
| title = 6/6 Time
| image = 6_6_time.png
| titletext = You know how Einstein figured out that the speed of light was constant, and everything else had to change for consistency? My theory is like his, except not smart or good.
}}

The original image has a link to a previous comic [https://xkcd.com/1061/ 1061: EST] which is explained [[1061: EST|here]].

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[File:edo_clock.jpg|thumb|An image of a Japanese mechanical clock, here showing two different hour schema for Japanese summer and winter, from the Seiko museum's collection. (Base units in this system are twice as long as Western hours and are denoted by the larger moving symbols on the dial edge.)]]

Cueball here suggests a regional time system similar to that used in many societies prior to the invention of [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-time-division-days-hours-minutes/ mechanical time keeping], such as [https://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Telling_Time Japan during the Edo period], where the day is separated into two parts based on night and day and then subdivided by hour, minute, and second to give season-variable lengths for each. However Cueball's suggestions (where time shifts based not just on longitude but also on latitude, and seconds are variable in length so that day and night are always 6 hours long) are downright absurd. The caption lays out the punchline: Randall, represented by Cueball, has very strong feelings and opinions on how standards of time ''should'' be measured, but also recognizes that they are impractical and would not be popular with other people. After coming to recognize this he has made a hobby or game out of making the worst possible system of measuring time.

The caption, though vague, can also be assumed to relate to the gradual deviation of certain regions from the Coordinated Universal Time zones with "Daylight Savings Time" that is observed inconsistently and smaller regions opting for awkward fractional increments of deviation from Greenwich Mean Time.

The title text refers to Einstein's {{w|Special relativity|special theory of relativity}} which postulates that the speed of light is the same for all observers, regardless of the motion of the light source (or the observers). An observer at high speed measures the same speed of light as an observer with no motion, measured from the same light source. In classical physics the speed of the moving observer would be added up but in special relativity this isn't true, instead the time runs slower for the moving observer. And additional to this {{w|Time dilation|time dilation}} there is also a {{w|Length contraction|length contraction}} without which the geometry wouldn't work.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball and White Hat are walking.]
:Cueball: Under my time system, the sun rises at 6 am and it sets at 6 pm, as it '''''should'''''.
:Cueball: The length of the second is different each day and night, and the current time shifts with your latitude and longitude.
:Cueball: Today is one of the two days each year when my clocks run at the same speed as everyone else's.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Time standards are so unfixably messy and complicated that at this point my impulse is just to try to make them worse.

==Trivia==
* In the title text, "Einstein" was originally "einstein".
* This method is also named "temporal hour" [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/temporal_hour]]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Time]]

Talk:2049: Unfulfilling Toys

2018-09-22T11:17:56Z

172.68.141.94: Respond about magnet video.

The no string attached yo-yo exists and works rather well for those who know how to yo-yo {{unsigned ip|108.162.229.214}}
: Blinking heck, my Lord. I thought you meant one of those yo-yos with a loop at the end, but I've now seen people yo-ing into the air with detached strings and catching them again by whipping the spinning beast. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.158|162.158.155.158]] 16:55, 21 September 2018 (UTC)

Pondy contributed a video for: "This also exists, is rather functional, and is the only way to make fun Rubik's cube shapes such as 1x5x5. See [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x6leUqKbqE this video] for a good example of this."

But this doesn't appear to be a good example at all. Those cubes are most definitely attached and you can see the presenter has to use quite a bit of force at some points to rotate. Can someone find a better example if it exists? [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 16:51, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
: The cubes are only attached magnetically. It takes a lot of force to break a lot of magnetic connections at once. Some of the cubes they actually take apart and you can see it’s just magnets. The video might be longer than ideal, but it does demonstrate the concept. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.94|172.68.141.94]] 11:17, 22 September 2018 (UTC)

Isn't a wingless sky dancer just an upside down beyblade?

2042: Rolle's Theorem

2018-09-05T22:54:03Z

172.68.141.94: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2042
| date = September 5, 2018
| title = Rolle's Theorem
| image = rolles_theorem.png
| titletext = I mean, if it's that easy to get a theorem named for you ... "a straight line that passes through the center of a coplanar circle always divides the circle into two equal halves." Can I have that one? Wait, can I auction off the naming rights? It can be the Red Bull Theorem or the Quicken Loans Theorem, depending who wants it more.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Go a little bit more into the explanation. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In mathematics a {{w|Differentiable function|differentiable function}} is a function whose derivative exists at each point in its domain. The derivative represents the slope of the corresponding graph which must be ''smooth'' in any point without any abrupt breaks or similar. In the case of this comic the slope starts with a positive value at point (a), then decreases until it reaches zero at point (c), and then smoothly turns to a negative value towards point (b). Only the area for positive x- and y-values are considered as the relevant domain.

In {{w|Differential calculus|differential calculus}} the derivative of a function f(x) is often noted as f'(x). The value f'(c)=0 here represents the value of the derivative of the function f(x) where x equals the value c.

A {{w|Theorem|theorem}} in mathematics is a statement that has been ''proven'' by former accepted statements like other theorems or even more substantial {{w|Axiom|axioms}}. Without a proper proof a statement is called a hypotheses.

To [[Randall]] it's trivial that a line starting with a slope upwards but then turning downwards to the same level must have, at least at one point somewhere between, a slope of zero.

This comic references the theorem in calculus {{w|Rolle's theorem}}, which is intuitively obvious but harder to prove than they seem.

At the title text Randall mentions a line together with a ''coplanar'' circle. This simply means that those both two dimensional objects must lay in the same plane in a higher, three or more dimensional space. And by this means every line drawn through the center of a circle is just a diameter which divides it into two equal parts.

It is interesting to note that the theorem mentioned in the title text is already taken: even if this theorem is trivial, {{w|Proclus}} says that the first man who proved it was {{w|Thales of Miletus|Thales}}. Auctioning of {{w|Naming rights}}, also noted in the title text, refers to the practice of naming entertainment venues for companies which pay for the privilege, such as any of the three {{w|Red Bull Arena}}s or {{w|Quicken Loans Arena}}.

==Transcript==
:[A single framed picture shows a colored x-y-graph with a text above:]
:'''Rolle's Theorem'''
:From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

:Rolle's theorem states that any real, differentiable function that has the same value at two different points must have at least one "stationary point" between them where the slope is zero.

:[The graph shows a sine like curve in blue intersecting the x-axis at points "a" and "b" marked in red while in the middle a point "c" has a vertical dashed green line to the apex and on top also in green f'(c)=0 is drawn with a horizontal line.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Every now and then, I feel like the math equivalent of the clueless art museum visitor squinting at a painting and saying "c'mon, my kid could make that."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

2042: Rolle's Theorem

2018-09-05T22:52:11Z

172.68.141.94: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2042
| date = September 5, 2018
| title = Rolle's Theorem
| image = rolles_theorem.png
| titletext = I mean, if it's that easy to get a theorem named for you ... "a straight line that passes through the center of a coplanar circle always divides the circle into two equal halves." Can I have that one? Wait, can I auction off the naming rights? It can be the Red Bull Theorem or the Quicken Loans Theorem, depending who wants it more.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Go a little bit more into the explanation. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In mathematics a {{w|Differentiable function|differentiable function}} is a function whose derivative exists at each point in its domain. The derivative represents the slope of the corresponding graph which must be ''smooth'' in any point without any abrupt breaks or similar. In the case of this comic the slope starts with a positive value at point (a), then decreases until it reaches zero at point (c), and then smoothly turns to a negative value towards point (b). Only the area for positive x- and y-values are considered as the relevant domain.

In {{w|Differential calculus|differential calculus}} the derivative of a function f(x) is often noted as f'(x). The value f'(c)=0 here represents the value of the derivative of the function f(x) where x equals the value c.

A {{w|Theorem|theorem}} in mathematics is a statement that has been ''proven'' by former accepted statements like other theorems or even more substantial {{w|Axiom|axioms}}. Without a proper proof a statement is called a hypotheses.

To [[Randall]] it's trivial that a line starting with a slope upwards but then turning downwards to the same level must have, at least at one point somewhere between, a slope of zero.

This comic references the theorem in calculus {{w|Rolle's theorem}}, which is intuitively obvious but harder to prove than they seem.

At the title text Randall mentions a line together with a ''coplanar'' circle. This simply means that those both two dimensional objects must lay in the same plane in a higher, three or more dimensional space. And by this means every line drawn through the center of a circle is just a diagonal which divides it into two equal parts.

It is interesting to note that the theorem mentioned in the title text is already taken: even if this theorem is trivial, {{w|Proclus}} says that the first man who proved it was {{w|Thales of Miletus|Thales}}. Auctioning of {{w|Naming rights}}, also noted in the title text, refers to the practice of naming entertainment venues for companies which pay for the privilege, such as any of the three {{w|Red Bull Arena}}s or {{w|Quicken Loans Arena}}.

==Transcript==
:[A single framed picture shows a colored x-y-graph with a text above:]
:'''Rolle's Theorem'''
:From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

:Rolle's theorem states that any real, differentiable function that has the same value at two different points must have at least one "stationary point" between them where the slope is zero.

:[The graph shows a sine like curve in blue intersecting the x-axis at points "a" and "b" marked in red while in the middle a point "c" has a vertical dashed green line to the apex and on top also in green f'(c)=0 is drawn with a horizontal line.

:[Caption below the frame:]
:Every now and then, I feel like the math equivalent of the clueless art museum visitor squinting at a painting and saying "c'mon, my kid could make that."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

2040: Sibling-in-Law

2018-09-01T07:34:28Z

172.68.141.94: /* Explanation */ Lotta purple prose in this paragraph

{{comic
| number = 2040
| date = August 31, 2018
| title = Sibling-in-Law
| image = sibling_in_law.png
| titletext = FYI, it turns out "...because I haven't figured out whether he would be my brother-in-law or not" does NOT qualify as a "reason why these two should not be wed."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT-in-law 6 times removed - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows the complicated way that English refers to {{w|sibling-in-law}} family relationships. As shown in the comic, your sibling's spouse would be called your "sibling-in-law" (either brother-in-law, or sister-in-law). However, your spouse's brother or sister is also called the same way (brother-in-law or sister-in-law).

The confusion lies with your siblings-in-law's siblings. [[Randall]] says they may be "also siblings-in-law, I think?" and further relations are also "possible ''additional'' siblings-in-law". According to Wikipedia, "sibling-in-law is one's spouse's sibling, or one's sibling's spouse, or one's spouse's sibling's spouse"; therefore Randall is correct with the "also siblings-in-law" on the right (his 'spouse's sibling's spouse') but is incorrect regarding the one on the left (his 'sibling's spouse's sibling' would not generally be considering a sibling-in-law).

The caption compares "sibling-in-law" to "<X>th cousin <Y> times removed". This family relationship, for example, {{w|Cousin#Basic_definitions|1st cousin once removed}}, is used to describe your 1st cousin's son or daughter or your second cousin's father or mother. The "once removed" indicates that the family relative is one generation above or below yours.

The title text describes a scenario in a traditional wedding in most English-speaking regions. Prior to the wedding being completed the officiant will ask whether anyone in the audience has any reason to object to the wedding. In real life this is to allow, for example, someone to aver that one of the participants was already married to someone else, or present evidence (of infidelity? a shameful secret?) that might change one of the participant's mind about their continued commitment to their spouse-to-be. In movies and fiction this is usually a dramatic moment used for the climax of a critical scene. Regardless it is an incredibly serious objection to raise, and should not be done so lightly. The title text however describes a confusing and mundane scenario where the only reason the speaker is objecting to the wedding is because they're unsure whether the marriage would make one of the participants their brother-in-law and thus wouldn't know what to call the groom after the wedding. In order to avoid their own confusion, they attempted to stop the wedding altogether. The officiator rightly ruled that this objection was improper and no reason the couple should be prevented from their own chance at wedded bliss.

Since the title text begins with a FYI (for your information) it is indicated that Randall has actually tried to stop a wedding using that reason and has been overruled, and thus he wishes to help others avoid that socially awkward experience.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A single layer of a family tree with 15 people depicted as sticky figures side by side is shown. They are connected alternated either by a bracket on top or a short line between them. The four outermost figures on each side are faded out in gray.]
:[In the middle is Cueball and from below an arrow points at him:]
:Me
:[To the left Ponytail is connected by a bracket and the arrow below says:]
:Sibling
:[To the right of Cueball Megan is shown connected by a small line, an arrow below her reads:]
:Spouse
:[Further to the left and the right the next figures have an arrow below with the nested text:]
:Siblings-in-law
:[The next connected figures on both sides are drawn with two other wider arrows embedding this statement:]
:Also siblings-in-law, I think?
:[All remaining figures left and right have similar arrows below and the text is:]
:Possible ''additional'' siblings-in-law???

:[Caption below the frame:]
:People complain that “<X>th cousin <Y> times removed” is hard to understand, but to me the most confusing one is sibling-in-law, because it chains across both sibling and marriage links and I don't really know where it stops.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Language]]

1987: Python Environment

2018-05-01T18:46:25Z

172.68.141.94: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1987
| date = April 30, 2018
| title = Python Environment
| image = python_environment.png
| titletext = The Python environmental protection agency wants to seal it in a cement chamber, with pictoral messages to future civilizations warning them about the danger of using sudo to install random Python packages.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PYTHON script (well actually PERL but that's besides the point) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Python_(programming_language)|Python}} is a {{w|computer}} {{w|programming language}} which has been around for quite awhile, especially on {{w|Linux}} platforms. [[Randall]] has likely used it on his computer for quite a few years, from the early years where it wasn't so easy to install, through newer versions where there is a more defined way to install it. Because standards change over time, and he didn't completely uninstall old versions before installing new versions (likely to not break what was already working), he's ended up with a mess where different pieces and versions of Python and its related components litter his {{w|hard drive}}'s {{w|directory structure}}.

{| class="wikitable"
! Text
! Explanation
! Leads from
! Leads to
|-
| $PATH
| $PATH refers to the {{w|PATH (variable)|PATH}} environment variable, which determines where to search for executable files. In this case, it indicates that the pip, Homebrew Python (2.7), and OSX's pre-installed Python are accessible on path, with ~/newenv/ and a mysterious ???? as part of PATH.
|-
| pip
| {{w|pip (package manager)|pip}} is the Python {{w|package management system}}, and is used to install and manage python packages. As it is written in Python, it requires Python to run. It leads to easy_install, Homebrew Python (2.7), "(misc folders owned by root)", and ????.
|-
| Homebrew Python (2.7)
| {{w|Homebrew (package management software)|Homebrew}} is the de facto standard third-party OSX package manager. Homebrew Python (2.7) is the Python 2 version installed through Homebrew. This leads to Python.org binary (2.6) and /usr/local/Cellar.
|-
| OS Python
| Apple bundles an (out of date) version of Python with OSX. This only leads to ????.
|-
| ????
|
|-
| easy_install
| easy_install, much like pip, is a cpan-like tool to download and install Python packages. As of the creation of the comic, many people discourage its use. (e.g., [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3220404/why-use-pip-over-easy-install this question on stack exchange.]
|-
| Anaconda Python
| {{w|Anaconda (Python distribution)|Anaconda}} is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.
|-
| Homebrew Python (3.6)
| As of the creation of the comic, Python 3.6 is the current stable version of Python.
|-
| Python.org binary (2.6)
|
|-
| (Misc folders owned by root)
|
|-
| /usr/local/Cellar
|
|-
| <code>/usr/local/opt</code>
| Both <code>/usr/local</code> and <code>/opt</code> are directories that store files that do not belong to a Unix-like operating system. Usually, files in <code>/usr/local</code> were created with a {{w|make (software)|make command}}, and files in <code>/opt</code> are unbundled packages. The joke is that <code>/usr/local/opt</code> should really, really not exist.
|-
| /(A bunch of items with "Frameworks" in them somewhere)/
|
|-
| $PYTHONPATH
|
|-
| Another pip??
| There should only be one PIP (package management system) in place. More that one would lead to them contradicting each other. Randall is confused as to how the second one got there.
|-
| ~/python/
|
|-
| ~/newenv/
| Probably a virtualenv. Virtualenvs are mechanisms for having Python environments that don't conflict with the system Python. They include the Python interpreter, independent library paths, and usually a copy of pip. The user typically installs packages using the virtualenv's pip such that they can only be accessed by the virtualenv's Python instances, while more common packages are still referenced via the system Python paths.
|-
| /usr/local/lib/python3.6
|
|-
| /usr/local/lib/python2.7
|
|}

Randall compares his degraded Python environment to a {{w|Superfund}} site. Superfund is a US federal government program created for cleaning up contaminated land.

The title text may refer to the philosophical debate surrounding the construction of warning features around the [[wikipedia:Waste_Isolation_Pilot_Plant#Warning_messages_for_future_humans|WIPP]] site in New Mexico, and other nuclear waste disposal sites. In particular, it may refer to [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320054657/http://www.wipp.energy.gov/picsprog/articles/wipp%20exhibit%20message%20to%2012,000%20a_d.htm this article]. These would have to last and be understandable for tens of thousands of years, longer than any known human-made structure or language to date.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A single frame depicting a flowchart is shown. Many chaotic arrows are arranged between the items which are:]
:$PYTHONPATH
:EASY_INSTALL
:ANACONDA PYTHON
:HOMEBREW PYTHON (3.6)
:ANOTHER PIP??
:HOMEBREW PYTHON (2.7)
:PYTHON.ORG BINARY (2.6)
:PIP
:EASY_INSTALL
:$PATH
:(MISC FOLDERS OWNED BY ROOT)
:????

:[The endpoints are:]
:/usr/local/Cellar
:/usr/local/opt
:/(A BUNCH OF PATHS WITH "FRAMEWORKS" IN THEM SOMEWHERE)/
:~/python/
:~/newenv/
:/usr/local/lib/python3.6
:/usr/local/lib/python2.7

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My Python environment has become so degraded that my laptop has been declared a superfund site.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]

1987: Python Environment

2018-05-01T08:05:11Z

172.68.141.94: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1987
| date = April 30, 2018
| title = Python Environment
| image = python_environment.png
| titletext = The Python environmental protection agency wants to seal it in a cement chamber, with pictoral messages to future civilizations warning them about the danger of using sudo to install random Python packages.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PYTHON script (well actually PERL but that's besides the point) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Python_(programming_language)|Python}} is a {{w|computer}} {{w|programming language}} which has been around for quite awhile, especially on {{w|Linux}} platforms. Randall has likely used it on his computer for quite a few years, from the early years where it wasn't so easy to install, through newer versions where there is a more defined way to install it. Because standards change over time, and he didn't completely uninstall old versions before installing new versions (likely to not break what was already working), he's ended up with a mess where different pieces and versions of Python and its related components litter his {{w|hard drive}}'s {{w|directory structure}}.

{| class="wikitable"
! Text
! Explanation
|-
| $PATH
| $PATH refers to the {{w|PATH (variable)|PATH}} environment variable, which determines where to search for executable files. In this case, it indicates that the pip, Homebrew Python (2.7), and OSX's pre-installed Python are accessible on path, with ~/newenv/ and a mysterious ???? as part of PATH.
|-
| pip
| {{w|pip (package manager)|pip}} is the Python {{w|package management system}}, and is used to install and manage python packages. As it is written in Python, it requires Python to run. It leads to easy_install, Homebrew Python (2.7), "(misc folders owned by root)", and ????.
|-
| Homebrew Python (2.7)
| {{w|Homebrew (package management software)|Homebrew}} is the de facto standard third-party OSX package manager. Homebrew Python (2.7) is the Python 2 version installed through Homebrew. This leads to Python.org binary (2.6) and /usr/local/Cellar.
|-
| OS Python
| Apple bundles an (out of date) version of Python with OSX. This only leads to ????.
|-
| ????
|
|-
| easy_install
|
|-
| Anaconda Python
| {{w|Anaconda (Python distribution)|Anaconda}} is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.
|-
| Homebrew Python (3.6)
| As of the creation of the comic, Python 3.6 is the current stable version of Python.
|-
| Python.org binary (2.6)
|
|-
| (Misc folders owned by root)
|
|-
| /usr/local/Cellar
|
|-
| /usr/local/opt
|
|-
| /(A bunch of items with "Frameworks" in them somewhere)/
|
|-
| $PYTHONPATH
|
|-
| Another pip??
|
|-
| Python.org binary
|
|-
| ~/python/
|
|-
| ~/newenv/
|
|-
| /usr/local/lib/python3.6
|
|-
| /usr/local/lib/python2.7
|
|}

Randall compares his degraded Python environment to a {{w|Superfund}} site. Superfund is a US federal government program created for cleaning up contaminated land.

The title text may refer to the philosophical debate surrounding the construction of warning features around the [[wikipedia:Waste_Isolation_Pilot_Plant#Warning_messages_for_future_humans|WIPP]] site in New Mexico, and other nuclear waste disposal sites. In particular, it may refer to [https://web.archive.org/web/20090320054657/http://www.wipp.energy.gov/picsprog/articles/wipp%20exhibit%20message%20to%2012,000%20a_d.htm this article]. These would have to last and be understandable for tens of thousands of years, longer than any known human-made structure or language to date.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A single frame depicting a flowchart is shown. Many chaotic arrows are arranged between the items which are:]
:$PYTHONPATH
:EASY_INSTALL
:ANACONDA PYTHON
:HOMEBREW PYTHON (3.6)
:ANOTHER PIP??
:HOMEBREW PYTHON (2.7)
:PYTHON.ORG BINARY (2.6)
:PIP
:EASY_INSTALL
:$PATH
:(MISC FOLDERS OWNED BY ROOT)
:????

:[The endpoints are:]
:/usr/local/Cellar
:/usr/local/opt
:/(A BUNCH OF PATHS WITH "FRAMEWORKS" IN THEM SOMEWHERE)/
:~/python/
:~/newenv/
:/usr/local/lib/python3.6
:/usr/local/lib/python2.7

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My Python environment has become so degraded that my laptop has been declared a superfund site.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]

Talk:1861: Quantum

2017-07-10T20:33:08Z

172.68.141.94:

The final paragraph probably should note that Magnets are directly on the ICP "Miracles" axis. [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 18:34, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

And now I have to listen to "Miracles" again. Thanks explainxkcd. [[User:OldCorps|OldCorps]] ([[User talk:OldCorps|talk]]) 19:03, 10 July 2017 (UTC)

Unless Randall includes Quantum Field Theory in Quantum Mechanics (which is unusual), General Relativity certainly must be on the right of QM, but on the chart they are almost same level, why? All physics students learn QM, but only small minority take GR course, because mathematically it's much more demanding.
If you look closely, General Relativity ''is'' slightly to the right of Quantum Mechanics. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.94|172.68.141.94]] 20:33, 10 July 2017 (UTC)