explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3020: Infinite Armada Chess

2024-12-06T02:43:53Z

172.68.54.138:

Did I do well? Added a very very basic explanation. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.147.132|172.68.147.132]] 04:25, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Well, yes but I wonder if just one tiny fix is needed. If you replace the white side with a simplyfied artillery tower, you reinvented space invaders.{{unsigned ip|172.71.160.70|04:57, 5 December 2024 (UTC)}}

I was personally hoping for an explanation of the Infinite Armada thing, and I feel like a link to the TV Tropes page doesn't really. Explain that at all. So I would love a bit of an expansion on that part! Just want to be sure I didn't miss some reference or something. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.91|172.68.23.91]] 05:48, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
: Likewise. I get the comic, but I assumed the 'armada' part was a reference that I just did not get. But it seems it is just a word choice. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.105|172.71.102.105]] 09:39, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
:: The only "Infinite Armada" reference I can think of is ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_Knights_of_the_Old_Republic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic]'', which kind of makes sense because if you have a Star Forge to make chess pieces with, why wouldn't you make them all queens? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.159|162.158.167.159]] 18:47, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

I think that since the error was "out of bounds", not "out of memory", it's referring to indexing outside of the region of memory that the program allocated to deal with the board. This would happen since instead of addressing rank 1..8, you could address rank 9, 10, 0, or -1. Unless bounds checking is performed when converting the board coordinates into linear array indices, you'd get an out-of-bounds error (or worse, succeed in reading or modifying memory that you weren't intending to). --[[Special:Contributions/172.71.30.253|172.71.30.253]] 05:45, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
:It was "Out of Bounds memory access". That means it was trying to access a memory address that was out of the bounds of the computer, as if it were trying to access the ω-th index of the board array, which would put it out of the memory range of any computer [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you want to]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 06:15, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
:: There is no hint that the bounds are those of the computer, the simplest explanation really is that the bounds are those of an array. The error message does come up. In addition, to try to access the memory at the ω-th index, you would need to construct the ω-th index itself first (which would fail or not terminate) [[User:Jmm|Jmm]] ([[User talk:Jmm|talk]]) 07:01, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
::: The specific message, "RuntimeError: Out of bounds memory access", is a WebGL error issuing from its WASM cross-platform browser implementation. This implies to me that an attempt to render an infinite chessboard failed in a fairly trivial way, because of a poor implementation. It's very unlikely that there had been a problem with the [https://github.com/official-stockfish/Stockfish/tree/master/src Stockfish playing algorithm] yet, which would have failed with a different message if it ran out of memory, such as "Killed", which is all that shells like Bash print when one of their job processes is killed by the kernel's OOM killer, or by anything else for that matter. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.215.21|172.70.215.21]] 12:58, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Is this a reference to [https://youtu.be/rav29N0-h2c infinite chess by Naviary?] [[User:HaruruChanDesu|HaruruChanDesu]] ([[User talk:HaruruChanDesu|talk]]) 11:21, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

"it does not really need to consider the infinitely many pieces" => a chess Engine would need to consider the infinitely many pieces (or have a way to abstract them), even if some pieces are currently stuck because the engine recursively evaluates moves and counter-moves (i.e. evaluates the game up to some depth).

Is the cardinality of the set of all the pieces smaller than the cardinality of the set of all possible moves? My gut instinct says yes but I don't have the energy to muck around and see if I can prove it. If I did try I think that matrix diagonalization would be the first thing I'd try. Anybody less lazy than me on this? --[[User:Tomb|Tomb]] ([[User talk:Tomb|talk]]) 21:30, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Can someone explain the linked joke with all the extra queens? I don't understand why it's a bad position. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.59.126|172.69.59.126]] 16:49, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
:Knight to d6. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.175|162.158.167.175]] 17:09, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
::...is checkmate by black. White can't capture the knight with either of the two queens that attack it because they're both pinned, by black's bishop and rook. (And we know it's black's turn to move because the colored squares indicate white just moved.) [[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 17:54, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Expected some discussion here already on the best opening moves given a infinite board or at least the board depicted.
1. e3 e6 2. Qh5 seems a logical start, but not entirely sure what would happen after that?
Any ideas? [[User:Flekkie|Flekkie]] ([[User talk:Flekkie|talk]]) 22:56, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
:I think games will generally end in a draw by perpetual check that's something like:
:1. Qxd7+ Qxd7
:2. Qxd7+ (etc)
:It's tricky to prevent a player at a disadvantage from repeatedly sacrificing queens from further and further away down some file. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.138|172.68.54.138]] 02:43, 6 December 2024 (UTC)

== Hit me up when this becomes real. ==

I would like to try this out. [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 12:29, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
:It should be easy enough. You will rarely get the queens out in play from deep in the array. So maybe just put two chess boars together and put some placeholder in for queens in the extra fields. If ever a queen in the bottom row is moved, place extra queens that can now be moved into the 2-3 squares that would be outside the board...--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:39, 5 December 2024 (UTC)
:It might be something one could set up in Infinite Chess, although having limits on the chessboard may be difficult. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.67|172.68.150.67]] 14:01, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

: Here's a finite approximation in ChessCraft: https://www.chesscraft.ca/design?id=5KM4 [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 15:37, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

While I understand how to play chess, I don't get the bit about "having a bunch of queens doesn't go very well". At first glance, the linked chess layout looks pretty solid. Can someone please enlighten me? Also, what does the TV Tropes link about Title Drop have to do with Infinite Armada, aside from that being the title of the comic? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.77|172.70.230.77]] 13:10, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

:: ... Nd6. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.246|172.70.91.246]] 13:31, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

::: Ah, thanks. Moving the knight there puts the king in check, and moving either queen to take it exposes the king to the bishop or rook, so checkmate. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.38|162.158.63.38]] 15:05, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

::::You are assuming that the opponent makes no moves while you spend at least three moves advancing your knight. Looks like either side can draw by always moving the king backwards whenever a queen has moved and made a hole he can move to and otherwise trying to make a new, deeper hole. Eventually he gets so far back that any attack turns into an infinite sequence of queens taking each other, with the attacker only having file attacks while the defender can retake from a rank, file, or diagonal. Any time the attacker breaks off the infinite sequence of queens taking each other to set up something else, the defender takes advantage of the break to move the king deeper and put more queens in front of him or to create more empty spaces to sidestep into when attacked. To me, this looks like a certain draw. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.252|172.69.33.252]] 16:21, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

:::::They're talking about the linked layout at https://x.com/chesscom/status/1841540380363211164, not the layout in the comic. It only takes one move for the black knight to move to Nd6 and put the white king in checkmate. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.109.167|141.101.109.167]] 20:59, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

You might be able to get the developer of fairy stockfish ( https://fairy-stockfish.github.io/ ) to add this if you ask nicely. I have seen them add several reader requests. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.143|172.70.211.143]] 15:46, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Could this be a reference to the meme about "eating an infinite armada of pizza"? The wording seems too similar to be a coincidence. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.46|172.70.114.46]] 14:46, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Would this guarantee a draw between two competent players who'd played the variant before, or would there be more nuance to it than there appears to be?

Can someone explain the linked joke with all the extra queens? I don't understand why it's a bad position. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.59.125|172.69.59.125]] 16:48, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

The explanation of the linked joke is that the king appears safe at first glance, but in reality there is a simple move that wins the game for black. Moving the black knight to the top left corner of the queen square checks the king. The king cannot move to escape. Two queens are in position to take the knight and save the white king, but both of those moves expose the king to attack from other black pieces (the rook or the bishop).

Wow. Not only did White give Black a mate in one, they also blundered a mate in one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.176|162.158.167.176]] 20:21, 5 December 2024 (UTC)

Really? This comic specifically references some obscure roblox game with like 350k visits? That can't be right. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.247|172.71.154.247]] 02:31, 6 December 2024 (UTC)

2292: Thermometer

2024-10-30T07:34:50Z

172.68.54.138: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2292
| date = April 10, 2020
| title = Thermometer
| image = thermometer.png
| titletext = I hate how many times you have to press it to get to the system normal people use, degrees Rømer.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is the 17th comic in a row (not counting the [[2288: Collector's Edition|April Fools' comic]]) in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}.

This comic expresses frustration at the multitude of {{w|temperature}} scales. [[Randall]], as a former engineer, has strong opinions about units, as unit conversion is often a gripe for many engineers. (In a special preface in the UK edition of Randall's book ''What If'', he mentions that one does not appreciate the metric system unless they have had to go through a bunch of scientific papers using really unusual units like "kilocubic feet per second" or "acre-feet".) As elevated body temperature is a symptom of COVID-19, the comic is thus also concerning the virus.

[[Cueball]] is holding what appears to be a medical thermometer, implying that he's trying to check his {{w|Human body temperature|body temperature}}. He mentions that the thermometer is in Celsius, and asks how to change it. Many thermometers sold in the United States have settings for both Fahrenheit and Celsius, with an option to change between the two. Americans are almost always more familiar with body temperatures in Fahrenheit, so Cueball presumably expects to change to that scale. However, he finds that the thermometer provides measurements in a series of scales that are increasingly unhelpful. Normal human body temperature in Celsius is 37 °C.

*Degrees {{w|Celsius}} are used in most of the world. The Celsius scale sets 0 degrees to water's freezing point and 100 degrees to water's boiling point. Few Americans have a clear idea of what normal and elevated ranges of human body temperature are in Celsius.
*{{w|Kelvin}} is a unit often used in scientific fields. It is calibrated on the same scale as degrees Celsius, but 0 K is set at {{w|absolute zero}} or -273.15 °C. This is used in scientific or engineering contexts requiring a thermodynamically absolute temperature, such as {{w|Charles's law}}, but almost never in a medical context, making the report of little use.
*The {{w|Rankine scale}} is another absolute scale, with its zero set at absolute zero, but degrees identical to degrees Fahrenheit. While this scale is still occasionally used in some industrial and scientific settings (being more convenient for absolute temperatures in a system including Fahrenheit), it's essentially never used in medicine, and most people have never heard of it.
*Thermodynamically, temperature is the average translational {{w|kinetic energy}} of a group of particles. ''Translational'' kinetic energy means it doesn’t include rotational and vibrational kinetic energy. The relation between a gas’s translational kinetic energy E and its temperature T is
::<math>E=\frac32 k_B T,</math>
:where kB is the {{w|Boltzmann constant}}, 1.380649×10−23 J⋅K-1. So if this thermometer told you a translational kinetic energy measurement in joules, you could get the measured temperature in the Kelvin scale by dividing by the Boltzmann constant and multiplying by 2/3. Somebody who actually wanted to use this measure of temperature might then find it useful to have Boltzmann's constant printed on the thermometer.

Using these last three units for home temperature gauging would be ridiculous, as Kelvin and Rankine measurements of body temperature are unfamiliar to the average user and even those familiar with them would need to do calculations to translate normal body temperature. Kinetic energy is obscure enough that only physicists, engineers and thermodynamicists, a relative handful of the potential buyers, would likely know what it refers to. Those that do could make use of the value printed on the thermometer, but such would add a great deal of unnecessary complexity to what should be a simple and intuitive task.

In the last frame Cueball calls the thermometer the worst. It seems to lack {{w|Fahrenheit}} entirely, frustrating its American consumer base, including Cueball. From a nerd's perspective this would be an extraordinary device, offering even exotic temperature scales. However, a "normal person" would find this thermometer terribly difficult to use for everyday purposes when set on any of the non-Celsius scales, like checking their body temperature or the temperature of food. As an item of consumer electronics, especially one sold in the United States, it would be almost completely useless.

Deliberately lacking Fahrenheit is a jab against the {{w|Imperial system of units}}, and against the similar but distinct system of {{w|United States customary units}}. Although Imperial units and local traditional units are still used for various limited purposes (and/or by older generations) in different countries, most of the world has switched to using the metric system for most purposes going forward, with the US being relatively unusual in the extent to which it still routinely defaults to the US customary units in daily life. Many proponents of the metric system have long pushed for the US to change over, arguing that Imperial and US customary units (and degrees Fahrenheit, specifically) are archaic and obsolete. [[Randall]] has dealt with this conflict in [[1643|other strips]]; as a physics major, he's partial to the metric system, and finds it frustrating to maintain multiple different scales (which is the basis of the conflict in this strip). On the other hand, he recognizes certain intuitive advantages to Imperial and US customary measurements, and recognizes that the forces of social inertia in US society make change difficult.

The title text references an archaic temperature unit, {{w|Rømer scale|Rømer}}, first proposed in 1701. It is the common ancestor of both the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales, defining the freezing point of water as 7.5 degrees and the boiling point of water as 60 degrees. Unlike the other measurements mentioned in this strip, the Rømer scale is no longer used in any context, and only people interested in the history of temperature scales have any idea that it even exists. This is the ultimate form of obscure and outdated temperature measurements.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands in the center of the panel holding a thermometer.]
:Cueball: This thermometer is in Celsius. How do you change it?
:Off-panel voice: Long press the button.

:[Cueball presses the button, and the thermometer beeps]
:''Press''
:''Beep''
:Thermometer: Units: Kelvin
:Cueball: No...

:[Cueball presses the button, and the thermometer beeps]
:''Press''
:''Beep''
:Thermometer: Units: Degrees Rankine
:Cueball: What.

:[Cueball presses the button, and the thermometer beeps]
:''Press''
:''Beep''
:Thermometer: Units: Average Translational Kinetic Energy
:Cueball: This is the worst thermometer.
:Off-panel voice: Boltzmann's constant is on the side if you need it.

==Trivia==

In [[1643: Degrees]], Cueball struggles with which temperature unit to use, and ultimately tells his friend the temperature in {{w|radian}}s, which is not a valid temperature scale.

In [[1923: Felsius]], Randall proposes a combined Fahrenheit/Celsius temperature scale called Felsius.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:3001: Temperature Scales

2024-10-23T20:39:50Z

172.68.54.138: Pointless remarks

Shouldn't Rankine say "0ºR is set to absolute zero"? {{unsigned ip|172.70.230.29|22:58, 21 October 2024 (UTC)}}
:Yep. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.253|162.158.186.253]] 04:38, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

yo,i thought comic 3000 was anticlimactic so randall would make this one COOL but sadly not
Same. Hope he does something cool for 3072.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.225|172.69.134.225]] 23:44, 21 October 2024 (UTC)

really he didn't do anything special for this either? come ON randall if you don't do something cool for comic 3072 i will come to your house personally and yell at you [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 23:57, 21 October 2024 (UTC)

 
What's random about Fahrenheit? (Answer: nothing.) 0F is the freezing point of brine, 100F (or 98.7) is the human body temperature. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.65|172.68.54.65]] 00:00, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:What concentration of brine? (And which specific salt... No, not NaCl, as you might presume but NH4Cl!)
:And body temperature varies a lot ('typically' 36.5–37.5°C or 97.7–99.5°F, though even this range is thought to be too small), across genders, individuals, time of day ''and'' which orifices/surfaces you try to measure it from. (Originally, it was set so that '''90°F''' was to be the 'best guess' of human body temperature. It gradually changed, including via various {{w|Human body temperature#Historical understanding|compounded misunderstandings}} so that the best you can say is that 100°F is arbitrarily ''slightly above'' most afebrile human body temperature measurements.)
:Celsius might be a bit off (arguments about triple-point or STP freezing, etc), but it still has far more physical logic to it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.188|172.70.160.188]] 01:14, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

Sorry, Randall, for my comfort, Fahrenheit is the least cursed. It's the best scale to use for my personal use, especially when hearing the weather report and deciding what to wear outdoors: temp in the 80's - no jacket. temp in 70's - maybe a windbreaker if it's breezy. 60's - sweater weather. 50's - medium weight coat. 40's - winter coat. 30'3 - winter coat with scarf and gloves. 20's - multiple layers. teens - stay indoors. None of the other scales provide such convenient distinctions for my daily life. Kelvin is great for astro physics or super conductivity, but useless for any common uses. Celsius is great for hanging out with the Euro crowd but still not so useful to scale my home thermostat. I judge Fahrenheit as 1.0 for cursedness. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 14:19, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:I conveniently use Celsius in tens, also. Negative °C: Cold; 0-10°C: Nippy; 10-20°C: Generally pleasant; 20-30°C: Too warm to exert oneself; 30°C+: ''Definitely'' too warm. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.205|172.70.86.205]] 15:24, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

Personally, I'm most disappointed that {{w|Delisle scale}} was not represented... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.188|172.70.160.188]] 01:14, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
: I was so hoping for a {{w|Planck temperature}} quip. Like: "Water freezing point: 0; Water boiling point: 0; Notes: 1 = highest possible temperature (1.4E32K) where thermal radiation creates black holes; Cursedness: 0/0" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.164.184|162.158.164.184]] 01:27, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:: Same here. Freezing is 0.000000000000000000000000000001928 and boiling is 0.0000000000000000000000000000026338. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 03:38, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
::: Wow, those are even smaller than the IEEE floating point representations of 1-1.0/3*3! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.109|162.158.90.109]] 03:59, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:: The Planck temperature quip is definitely well deserved. Good catch! [[User:Mumingpo|Mumingpo]] ([[User talk:Mumingpo|talk]]) 17:24, 23 October 2024 (UTC)
I guess I was wrong in my comment on the last comic. sigh. -[[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 01:16, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

It's actually spelled {{w|Wedgwood scale}}, not Wedgewood. [[User:Wilh3lm|Wilh3lm]] ([[User talk:Wilh3lm|talk]]) 01:17, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

I still call the modern version of the "Celsius" scale "centigrade", but if people start nitpicking, I'm happy to switch to "Carolus" to avoid ambiguity. For some reason that tends to annoy people more though. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.191|172.68.22.191]] 01:32, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

Every temperature scale is equally "random" as every other scale. People always say that Celsius is so much better because it's defined by the phase changes of water. Okay, cool...why should THAT of all things be what we use as the base for a system of temperature measurement? And, who cares? I'm a ''Homo sapiens'', not a water molecule. If anything we should use the freezing and melting points of humans as our two reference points for temperature (which, I must say, Fahrenheit approximates better than Celsius, assuming 0 and 100 are your points "A" and "B"). [[User:Pie Guy|Pie Guy]] ([[User talk:Pie Guy|talk]]) 03:42, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
: Every temperature scale is arbitrary, but since boiling and freezing water is a thing humans have a lot of experience with it makes sense to use that as the reference point. At least it makes more sense than whatever the coldest recorded temperature in Fahrenheit's home town was, because he didn't like negative numbers [[Special:Contributions/172.70.250.23|172.70.250.23]] 03:56, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
::Planck temperature (as above) is probably the least arbitrary, and some would say it is to some extent free from arbitrariness. However, it's completely impractical for everyday use (as above.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.138|172.69.34.138]] 04:31, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:::Do the physics of black holes or neutron stars involve Planck temperatures greater than 0.0000001? [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 07:23, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
::::Chat Gippity told me:

:::::Black holes and neutron stars do not typically involve temperatures reaching the Planck scale. While both objects exhibit extreme physical conditions, their temperatures are far below the Planck temperature, even though they can be incredibly high compared to everyday phenomena.

::::: - **Neutron stars** have surface temperatures in the range of millions of Kelvin, and the core can reach even higher, possibly up to a few billion Kelvin. These temperatures are still vastly lower than the Planck temperature.

::::: - **Black holes**, especially the smaller ones, can emit Hawking radiation, with temperatures inversely proportional to their mass. However, the temperature of even a very small black hole is still far below the Planck temperature. Hawking radiation is not expected to reach temperatures close to the Planck scale under normal circumstances.

::::: The Planck temperature (TP=1) represents an energy scale so extreme that no known physical models, including those describing black holes and neutron stars, operate near or above this threshold. Temperatures reaching **0.0000001 TP** (or 1.416 × 10^26 K) would still be beyond current observational and theoretical frameworks related to these cosmic objects. A quantum theory of gravity would be required to describe physics at or near the Planck temperature, which remains speculative and is far beyond the conditions found in black holes or neutron stars.

::::[[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 08:46, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

If the °X scale is based on the temperatures of Earth from all time (for some definition of "Earth"), then the scale is very hard to define and highly impractical. The earth appears to have gotten to more than 2,300 Kelvin (hot enough to melt steel and platinum and to boil lead) and while I can't find any sources for the lowest temperature, I imagine it is lower than -100°C. The recorded minimum, maximum and average temperatures appear to be around -89.2 °C, 56.7 °C and 15 °C respectively. This would make the scale somewhat useful, but this would make typical values between 41 °X (cold winter's day) and 68 °X (hot summers day) which I think is pretty cursed. I recommend the clearly superior °Y, based around average temp at 0 °Y, low at -100 °Y and high at 100 °Y. These would be measured by the yearly high, low and mean temperatures averaged per person. Then saying "It's 2 times colder than yesterday" would have some reasonable meaning. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.236.147|198.41.236.147]] 04:01, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:"''Record'' ... surface temperature" implies it was recorded. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.9|172.68.22.9]] 04:08, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

How do you all feel about adding an additional column for room temperature 22C/72F?
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:right;"
! scope="col" | Unit
! scope="col" | Room temperature
|-
| Celsius || 22
|-
| Kelvin || 295
|-
| Fahrenheit || 72
|-
| Réaumur || 18
|-
| Rømer || 18
|-
| Rankine || 531
|-
| Newton || 7
|-
| Wedgwood || -7
|-
| Galen || 0
|-
| ''Real'' Celsius || 78
|-
| °X || 58
|}

Or 0.00000000000000000000000000000208 °Planck, lol. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.211|108.162.245.211]] 05:36, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:I feel like decigalens would be the most practical unit. Who's with me? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.5|162.158.186.5]] 06:20, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
::It's interesting; calculating the equilibrium temperature (with 2.05 and 4.24 being used for the heat capacities of ice and boiling water) gives 67... If I use water that's about to freeze and steam, I get 31. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.0.178|172.69.0.178]] 07:59, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:::Would you please explain in more detail? [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 09:03, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:::: The equilibrium temperature of a mixture (?) of equal quantities of ice at 0 C and water at 100 C (with the heat capacities 2.05 and 4.24) is 67 C; if I use the data for water at 0 C and steam, I get 31 C. Additionally, if I use equal volumes, I get 68 (which isn't much different.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.0.178|172.69.0.178]] 17:15, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:::: One can obtain 0 = 22 C by setting the heat capacity of ice to be 39 and that of water to be 11. For any particular "normal temperature" ''R'' °C (that is, the temperature at 0 is ''R'',), I find that ''x'' °C = 50''R''(''x''+4)/(''x''(''R''-50)+200). In particular, for ''R'' = 22, we get (1100+275''x'')/(50-7''x''). [[Special:Contributions/198.41.236.163|198.41.236.163]] 05:58, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

Question regarding the X scale - when it‘s defined by *three* (somewhat, implying average is real and not just calculated by (max-min)/2)) independent points, how will linearity be achieved? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.76|162.158.155.76]] 05:43, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
[[File:Explanation length.png|right|thumb|Or click "[Expand]" in the bottom right table cell Derivation.]]
:Please see [[2701: Change in Slope]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.179|172.70.206.179]] 05:50, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:Sure, "a linear scale between each point":
[[File:XvsC.png|thumb|left|Here you go. [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 06:33, 22 October 2024 (UTC)]]
{{clear}}

The reference for the average surface temperature, https://www.space.com/17816-earth-temperature.html, suggests it has increased above 15°C. What value should we use in late 2024? [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 07:30, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:The [https://wmo.int/media/news/earth-experiences-warmest-day-recent-history World Meteorological Organization], [https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-2024-now-very-likely-to-be-warmest-year-on-record/ Carbon Brief], and [https://climate.copernicus.eu/new-record-daily-global-average-temperature-reached-july-2024 Copernicus Climate Change Service] suggest 17.16°C. [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 07:42, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
::Updated water temperatures, Derivation, and graph. So we've already had more than the +2°C warming we were trying to avoid in 2019? [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 08:05, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
::: The +2°C (or +1.5°C that we were originally supposed to be avoiding) is over some (undefined) number of years, though, which allows us to ignore the fact that we're cooking ourselves by repeatedly saying 'Oh, but it doesn't count ''yet''.' [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.62|172.70.91.62]] 11:13, 23 October 2024 (UTC)
Regarding [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3001%3A_Temperature_Scales&type=revision&diff=353635&oldid=353632], are the average surface temperatures from the sources supposed to be yearly or overall averages? [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 09:06, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

where is the interactive epic 3000 comic we should've gotten? This one's cool but 1000 seemed to have more effort in it and 2000 was at least tangetially related. Does Randall just not like making these anymore and is only making more comics as a business? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.185|108.162.238.185]] 12:14, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:The comic is free on the website and it doesn't have ads; although the comic is part of his "brand" there are many more profitable things he could be doing with his time, and yet he continues to update it every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I just don't like the idea of claiming that a creative person "should" produce any particular thing to satisfy their fans. He's a busy guy! Maybe he's working on a book, or a Scientific American article, or a TV show. He's under no obligation to give us anything, and maybe one day he'll stop making xkcd altogether; that's his choice. Sorry to single you out; I know a lot of people feel the same way as you do, but to me it doesn't make sense. He's not a content machine--he's a guy who started posting sketches on the internet. [[User:Dextrous Fred|Dextrous Fred]] ([[User talk:Dextrous Fred|talk]]) 15:23, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
::Sorry if I sounded overly brash, I wasn't trying to imply "wahhh no special entry wahhh", I was just wondering if Randall still likes to make these or if he doesn't, mainly because he just didn't do anything special, which feels like he just didn't care. I wasn't trying to imply Randall should just do it for the fans[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.80|108.162.238.80]] 17:52, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:::It ''could'' be that 3000 (or even 3001) ''was'' going to be special but, as fairly frequently with April Fool 'specials', it just wasn't doable on time. (If it's still considered fixablez it might pop up sometime before 3020 or so. Or, if transferable to another occasion (rebranding the obvious "3000!"ness), held over until Haloween, Christmas, April or 4000, perhaps with additional perfections.)
:::Hard to know, unless Randall (or his technical collaborators) say anything. And it's probably not worth doing so right now. Maybe "Hey guys, this ''was'' going to be #3000!" might accompany its eventual emergence, but also maybe not. Does it really matter? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.139|172.70.85.139]] 13:03, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

Is this the first list-style comic where every single entry is real? (Usually he has several joke entries.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.182|172.70.114.182]] 14:26, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

Where would [[1923: Felsius|Felsius]] go on this list?

One can find a smooth function for °X, namely, (477879''x''-17634840)/(3341''x''+197700), which takes °X and returns °C. The inverse is (-197700''x''-17634840)/(3341''x''-477879). Should this be included in the wiki article? Or maybe another way of fitting it (like exponential) should be used. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.0.165|172.69.0.165]] 06:27, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

Should it be noted that in the first _What If?_ book, there's a reference to units and how much Randall loathes rankine? Someone can go take the book and cite it; it's in one of the early pages [[Special:Contributions/172.64.236.10|172.64.236.10]] 08:45, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

I remember it being drummed into us in school physics (admittedly over 50 years ago) that 0 Celsius is defined as the melting point of ice, not the freezing point of water (presumably because of supercooling). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.189|172.70.160.189]] 08:49, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

It seems he wrote "Earths'" (plural possessive) instead of "Earth's". [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.151|141.101.98.151]] 08:58, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

What? No gas mark? It's linear for temperatures over 275°F but inverse powers of 2 below That's pretty cursed, but I still put it in my unit conversion app. It's only used in gas stoves in a few countries, so it doesn't come up very often. By the way, boiling is 1/5.7358 and freezing/melting is 1/843.3572. Interestingly, France has it's own stove temperature scale that seems to be based on °F.

Also, my understanding is that 7.5 and 32 aren't random. Both Romer and Fahrenheit put numbers on things so that freezing/melting of water and "Normal human body temperature", which was thought to be standard at the time, would be some number X (15 for Romer and 64 for Fahrenheit) and the water thing would be to be X/2 and NHBT would be X/2+X. Pretty nerdy. Sadly, the calibration was off and 212 degrees for boiling was found to be less cursed. But I could be wrong.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.138|172.68.54.138]] 20:39, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

2999: Bad Map Projection: The United Stralia

2024-10-16T23:34:53Z

172.68.54.138: A little too much Melbourne.

{{comic
| number = 2999
| date = October 16, 2024
| title = Bad Map Projection: The United Stralia
| image = bad_map_projection_the_united_stralia_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x651px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This projection distorts both area and direction, but preserves Melbourne.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GIANT AUSTRALICAN SPIDERIGATOR - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is the eighth comic in the series of [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections]] displaying Bad Map Projection #102: The United Stralia. It follows [[2951|#45: Exterior Kansas]], released about three and a half months earlier. In this addition to the Bad Map Projections series, Randall has blended two different countries-- the United States of America and Australia-- into one. The primary joke is the naming of this conglomeration as a "map projection;" it does not quite fit the definition properly, and, additionally, describes a fanciful place which does not actually exist, and thus would be nearly-worthless for navigating either Australia or the USA.{{cn}}

The blending was done by roughly combining the shapes of the two countries, with American states becoming subdivisions of Australian states. Cities from both countries are present on the map, e.g. Perth, AU and Los Angeles, USA. Alaska and Hawaii aren't included, likely because the 48 contiguous US states better match the shape and size of Australia.

The Australian states are labeled with their full names, but the American states are only labeled with their postal abbreviations. Thus WA refers to Washington instead of Western Australia. And Idaho is not labeled at all.

The title text makes a joke that this map does not preserve area or direction (typically, a map projection sacrifices one to preserve the other), but does preserve the city of Melbourne as a feature located on the map, near the actual location of {{w|Melbourne, Florida}}. There are other city names shared between the US and Australia, but they're not located at similar geographic locations; e.g the location of Brisbane in the comic is based on the instance in Queensland, not California.

On the map, the [[wikipedia:States and territories of Australia|states and territories of Australia]] are depicted with black lines, while the [[wikipedia:States of the United States|U.S. states]] and cities of both nations are marked with gray.

From west to east, the Australian states and territories contain the following U.S. States; the positions of Australian cities on the map are also listed:

[[wikipedia:Western Australia|Western Australia]] contains the following U.S. states:
*Arizona
*California
** [[wikipedia:Perth, Australia|Perth]] appears on the California coast, about halfway between [[wikipedia:Los Angeles|Los Angeles]] and [[wikipedia:San Francisco|San Francisco]]. It is unclear what happened to [[wikipedia:San Luis Obispo, California|San Luis Obispo]], which is similarly geographically positioned.
* Colorado
* Idaho
* Montana
* Nevada
* New Mexico
* Oregon
* Utah
* Washington
* Wyoming

[[wikipedia:Northern Territory|Northern Territory]] contains the following U.S. states:

* Illinois
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Michigan ([[wikipedia:Upper Peninsula|Upper Peninsula]])
* Minnesota
** [[wikipedia:Darwin (Australia)|Darwin]] is positioned in northwestern Minnesota.
* Missouri
* Nebraska
* North Dakota
* South Dakota

[[wikipedia:South Australia|South Australia]] contains the following U.S. states:

* Arkansas
* Louisiana
** [[wikipedia:Adelaide, Australia|Adelaide]] is located in the [[wikipedia:Mississippi River delta|Mississippi River delta]] region of Louisiana.
* Oklahoma
* Texas

[[wikipedia:Queensland|Queensland]] contains the following U.S. states and territories:

* Connecticut
* Delaware
* District of Columbia
* Indiana
* Kentucky
* Maine
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Michigan ([[wikipedia:Lower Peninsula|Lower Peninsula]])
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New York
* North Carolina
** [[wikipedia:Brisbane|Brisbane]] is located on the coast in southeast North Carolina. It is unknown what happened to [[wikipedia:Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]], which is similarly geographically positioned.
* Ohio
* Pennsylvania
* Rhode Island
* Tennessee
* Vermont
* Virginia
* West Virginia

[[wikipedia:NSW|New South Wales]] contains the following U.S. states:

* Alabama
* Georgia
** [[wikipedia:Canberra|Canberra]], and presumably the rest of the [[wikipedia:Australian Capital Territory|Australian Capital Territory]], is located in southeastern Georgia.
* Mississippi
* South Carolina
** [[wikipedia:Sydney, Australia|Sydney]] is located along the coast of South Carolina, near the location of [[wikipedia:Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]].

[[wikipedia:Victoria, Australia|Victoria]] and [[wikipedia:Tasmania|Tasmania]] combine to make up the U.S. state of Florida, which is now divided into two non-contiguous parts. As a result Tasmania, which has a [[wikipedia:Omission of Tasmania from maps of Australia|history of being omitted from maps of Australia]], is displayed but not named. [[wikipedia:Melbourne|Melbourne]] is located in the southeast corner of Victorian Florida. Alaska and Hawaii, the two non-[[wikipedia:Contiguous United States|contiguous states]] of the United States, do not appear in the projection. Other major geographic distortions include:
* The U.S. now has two [[wikipedia:Quadripoint|quadripoints]], with the intersection of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico joining the existing [[wikipedia:Four Corners|Four Corners]].
* Indiana has a border with Arkansas.
* Alabama and Mississippi have lost Gulf Coast access, as Florida has a border with Louisiana.
* Missouri has a north-south border with Oklahoma.
* [[wikipedia:Miami, Florida|Miami]] is separated from the lower 48 states, as it is now located in the non-contiguous Tasmanian Florida.

This is the second comic in October 2024 in which Tasmania appears, the first being [[2996: CIDABM]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Above the map, in 3 paragraphs:
:Bad map projection #102:
:[In larger letters than the first or the third paragraph]: The United Stralia
:A 50/50 US/Australia blend

[A map whose left side looks like that of Australia and whose right side looks like that of the United States, with Tasmania swapped out for a supposed island that looks like South Florida. The modified subdivisions of Australia are bordered with black with their names also black, while those of the United States are bordered with the same grey the city names are written with, with the US state abbreviations being a brighter one]:

[[Category:Bad Map Projections]]
[[Category:US maps]]

{{comic discussion}}

67: Nerd Girls

2024-10-01T02:29:46Z

172.68.54.138: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 67
| date = February 22, 2006
| title = Nerd Girls
| image = nerd girls.jpg
| titletext = Nothing personal, high schoolers.
}}

==Explanation==

The stereotypical nerd is socially inept and has an obsession with a non-mainstream hobby such as {{w|Dungeons and Dragons}}. Nerd males are also typically represented as treating ''all'' women (including female nerds) with reverence and awkward fawning due to their supposed inexperience and lack of female company in comparison to other males. In the comic, the nerd girl uses this as an excuse for her social ineptitude.

The T-shirt the girl is wearing contains the text "Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons," which is an [https://www.google.com/search?q=Do+not+meddle+in+the+affairs+of+Dragons,+for+you+are+crunchy+and+taste+good+with+ketchup&tbm=shop actual text] used for T-shirts, continuing with "for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!" This text is a modified version of a quote from {{w|J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien's}} {{w|The Fellowship of the Ring}}: "Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."

Randall Monroe went to Clover Hill High School, and is referencing girls at the commonly known competing high school, Maggie Lena Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, whose mascot is the Green Dragons, and have actually produced the shirt in the comic for their students previously. The title text is highlighting that the comic is actually him digging at himself.

==Transcript==
:[Girl with shoulder length brown hair and glasses, wearing a shirt which says "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons".]
:Girl: At least, thanks to your constant fawning, we have an '''excuse''' for our social ineptness. What's '''yours'''?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]