explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:99: Binary Heart

2022-03-25T11:18:44Z

172.68.154.143:

The l's and 0's in the binary translation make the code: 10101010011010010, which if you remove either the first or the last digit and convert to text make either, ªi OR TÒ which isn't very helpful. {{unsigned|‎LostFire}}

10101010011010010 in hexadecimal is 154D2 which could mean "I'm sad too". [[User:Noit|Noit]] ([[User talk:Noit|talk]]) 00:34, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

I wondered why he didn't include space characters, but then I realized that ASCII 32 makes for too much white space (only one bit is set) which might spoil the random appearance of the background. Also, shouldn't there be a Doctor Who reference in there somewhere? Just saying... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.58|108.162.219.58]] 18:28, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

This may be part of the reason for 'O' as well; 'o' only has 2 unset bits. ('O' is '01001111', 'o' is '01101111'). [[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.181|199.27.128.181]] 23:55, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Maybe the mixture of o's and O's is only there so that the sequence of bits doesn't contain a single repeating sequence.
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.84|108.162.216.84]] 20:47, 8 March 2014 (UTC)

On the 'o's and 'O's - Converting 011001110010111 from binary to decimal gives 13207. Googling that number only gives hits about Syracuse. Does anyone know if there's a connection there? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.205|141.101.89.205]] 01:04, 18 May 2014 (UTC)

This [http://www.binaryhexconverter.com/binary-to-ascii-text-converter Binary-to-Ascii converter] or [https://codebeautify.org/binary-to-text Binary to Text] tool can be used to decode the sequence to a string. --[[User:Pudder|Pudder]] ([[User talk:Pudder|talk]]) 12:23, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Some of the o's in love are capitalized and some of the o's in you are capitalized but no other letter in any other position has mixed capitalization. If you take a lower case o to be a 0 and a capital o to be a 1, that gives you the string of binary digits: 011001110010111. Unfortunately that is 15 bits, not 16 so not quite enough for two letters, but apparently the first 8 bits are "g". If we append a 0 to the last 7 bits, it becomes "g.", if we use a 1 it becomes "g/". Neither seems likely to be anything that i can tell. in hex, those 15 digits become 0x3397. Appending a 0 it's 0x672E and appending a 1 it's 0x672F. Negating the bits (in case 1's and 0's were reversed) didn't seem to help either unfortunately. I think there is more to the o and O's but not sure what it is :P
[[User:Atrix256|Atrix256]] ([[User talk:Atrix256|talk]]) 02:30, 25 January 2015 (UTC)
: It could be the start of 'g*d'... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 16:46, 17 January 2018 (UTC)
: Since letters in ASCII only really use the last 5 bits, I tried splitting that into 3 sections of 5 bits then prefixing each section with '010' or '011' leads to either <code>L\W</code> or <code>l|w</code>. Doing the same with the negated version results in 'SCH' or 'sch'. Doesn't really seem like much to me, but it tickles the "potentially meaningful" spot in my brain... maybe someone else sees something? [[User:SliceThePi|SliceThePi]] ([[User talk:SliceThePi|talk]]) 08:39, 6 March 2019 (UTC)

The heart pattern isn't symmetric, could the masked-out bits make a message? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.64.29|141.101.64.29]] 17:11, 2 February 2015 (UTC)
:The binary of the heart only is 11111010010111111011110100111011001101110110011001111001010011110111011010010110
11001110111011001100111001010011110011010010110110111011001001011011010010011100101. I tried entering it into the converter linked to above, and got "�_�;7fyOv��S�-�%��". [[User:Z|Z]] ([[User talk:Z|talk]]) 21:58, 7 February 2016 (UTC)

Somehow despite the comments above, I found this one sweet that Randall drew this. i<3u.Boeing-787lover 07:36, 29 June 2018 (UTC)

using the following tools for binary translation https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/binary-to-ascii.html and https://dnschecker.org/binary-to-text-translator.php after deleting the spaces between the numbers, it is a repeating pattern of "I love you" with some o's capital and some not

2500: Global Temperature Over My Lifetime

2022-01-16T06:42:53Z

172.68.154.143: /* Explanation */ Fixed some grammatical mistakes.

{{comic
| number = 2500
| date = August 9, 2021
| title = Global Temperature Over My Lifetime
| image = global temperature over my lifetime.png
| titletext = I was really impressed by the accuracy of some of the report's predictions about fossil fuel consumption. Then I realized, oh, right, of course.
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
This is Randall Munroe in his role as a meticulous, conscientious presenter of scientific data. The activities shown in Randall's lifeline, whether learning to ride a bike or even getting married, pale into insignificance when the consequences of unprecedented global average temperature rise are understood and accepted. In particular, he shows that back in 1982, two years before Randall was born, Exxon wrote an internal report predicting the rise of global temperatures due to fossil fuel use, and 40 years later their prediction (shown as the X in a circle at the top-right) is being shown to be right on track. Unfortunately, that report was hidden and not seen until much later, and the world has been slow to respond with the urgency needed to reverse the damage being done to the planet.

The Wikipedia article {{w|global temperature record}} has some telling graphs to supplement Randall's. This one: {{w|File:20200324_Global_average_temperature_-_NASA-GISS_HadCrut_NOAA_Japan_BerkeleyE.svg|Global Average Temperature}} is the global average temperature change for the modern era, since data started being collected regularly in 1850. This one: {{w|File:2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png|2000 Year Temperature Comparison}} reconstructs 2000 years of temperatures.

And this comic is a small segment of another comic [[1732: Earth Temperature Timeline]].

The comic itself links to [https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2805576-1982-Exxon-Memo-to-Management-About-CO2 the referenced Exxon document about CO2 emissions].

The comic was published on the same day that the {{w|Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change|U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change}} released its [https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ 2021 Assessment Report]

One of the entries is ''I somehow graduate despite spending most of my time playing Mario Kart.'' ''{{w|Mario Kart}}'' is a popular video game series developed by {{w|Nintendo}}, and has been a [[:Category:Mario Kart|recurring theme]] on xkcd. Hewing close to the comic's timeline, [[127: The Fast and the Furious]], which contains an early ''Mario Kart'' joke, was released in July 2006.

The title text refers to the fact that Exxon, being a fossil fuel company, is likely to make better predictions on fossil fuel use as they are involved in fossil fuel production themselves.

==Transcript==
Graph of temperature over time, titled:
"Global average temperature

Over my lifetime

(60-month running june average, NOAA NCEI time series)"

The X axis is in years, going from 1980 to a little after 2020. Each decade is marked.

The Y axis in in °C, with the "20th century average" at the bottom, up to +1°C (from the average), labelled every 0.2°C.

Certain points and periods on the graph are marked and contain descriptions of events and actions that occurred in Randall's life.

; November 1982 : Exxon International report predicts that fossil fuel use will raise global temperatures to about 1°C above their normal levels within 40 years
; October 1984 : I’m born in Easton, PA
; Summer 1991 : I learn to ride a bike
; Spring 1992 : My elementary school celebrates Earth Day and I learn about the greenhouse effect
; 1993-1996 : I get very into ''Star Wars'' and ''Animorphs''
; Fall 1996 : I stand around awkwardly at my first middle school dance
; Spring 2002 : I get accepted into college
; Spring 2006 : I somehow graduate despite spending most of my time playing Mario Kart
; Summer 2006 : I see ''An Inconvenient Truth'' in the theater and feel anxious
; Fall 2011 : I get married
; Summer 2012 : I read headlines about a global warning “pause” and hope that maybe things aren’t so bad
; 2013-2021 : I read more about climate science and get steadily more alarmed
; Spring 2016 : I read the 1982 Exxon report
; June 2020 : Global 60-month average reaches +0.94°C, Easton, PA is 2°C hotter than normal for the fifth year in a row
; Today : ''(no description)''
; 2022 (near future) : [Large X within a circle] 1982 Exxon Prediction

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Climate change]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Mario Kart]]

Talk:2564: Sunshield

2022-01-05T15:12:50Z

172.68.154.143: Rough idea of comic

i thought this is common knowledge. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.173|162.158.90.173]] 15:00, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

It's normally supposed to lock sunlight from reaching the telescope. This comic turns this on its head by suggesting the telescope emits light instead of collecting it. The emitted light is claimed to outshine the sun.
The title text means that the flash is bright enough to scar the surface of Mars, which is unlikely.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.154.143|172.68.154.143]] 15:12, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2564: Sunshield

2022-01-05T15:11:28Z

172.68.154.143: