explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3090: Sail Physics

2025-05-17T08:02:36Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */ I gave up part way in trying to make this huge paragraph's prose style even readable, but did what I initially wanted to do, then a bit more.

{{comic
| number = 3090
| date = May 16, 2025
| title = Sail Physics
| image = sail_physics_2x.png
| imagesize = 699x263px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Turning in other directions can be accomplished by using a magnetized centerboard and ocean currents, since a current flowing through a magnetic field induces a Laplace force.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a wind-blown electron. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic shows what initially appears to be an explanation of how boats sail upwind. However, it quickly devolves into wrongness, where, instead of even mentioning {{w|tacking (sailing)|tacking}}, it dives into a totally wrong explanation involving electrons and magnetism.

This humour works at another level — almost all interaction of physical things with each other at macro scale (humans and boat sized objects) are electromagnetic in nature (this is considering, that at this scale, among the 4 fundamental interactions, only electromagnetic interactions are of reasonable strength). So one unaware of sailing mechanics may start to explain the situation with electromagnetism, and could come to this line of thinking, but it is wrong. If we are to consider this, we find that either no force is appearing in the direction shown, or very little.

{{w|Triboelectric effect|Triboelectric effect}} is acquisition of static charge by friction between two objects, which in turn depends on effective interaction surface area. But the charge acquired would be very small, and not be comparative to gravity by orders of magnitudes (gravity is a weaker force, but involves a whole planet's-worth of mass normally dominating the static-effects of all but the lightest particles/hairs/scraps of tissue, or significantly buoyant toy balloons). There is more charge generated due to the running of the boat through water, in a realistic situation. Following on from the initial assumption, however, the comic assumes motion in a downstream direction, effectively due to normal forces on the sail. Further, the comic applies this motion as of that of a charged object in Earth's magnetic field. If we are to consider this magnetic field to be roughly parallel to Earth's surface, which would be true for situations close to the equator (as Earth's magnetic field is effectively that of dipole bar magnet, which is roughly aligned with our planetary rotational axis). The net Lorentz force on the boat would be F = qvB, and since both velocity of both and magnetic field lines are in the same plane (as viewed in the above sketches, in a top-down manner), then the force would be perpendicular to the plane. That is, along the direction of gravity for the boat, which will not cause any motion in plane. If we consider magnetic field lines to be perpendicular to Earth's surface (close to poles), even then the magnitude of the force is very small. If we consider a net charge of 1 coulomb across the boat (which is an extremely high amount of charge, at which point, the charge would try to accumulate on sharp objects, and due to this high charge density, either charge will leave the boat through coronal discharge, or the sharp objects would start to break from the boat (this is due to high self electrostatic energy, which is roughly proportional to square of charge density divided by radius of curvature of object, if the bonding between object is not strong enough, then this electrostatic energy can overcome this bonding energy), assuming that this charge does not cause the ship to break or the charge to leak out to water body, as the charge would like to spread to minimise the electrostatic energy), and if we consider field strength of order 0.0001 Tesla (close to typical values on surface), and take wind speeds of 10000 m/s (also very high) then the net force on ship would be 1 N, which for a boat of mass 10 kg (less for a typical boat, but is appropriate for a makeshift raft) cause a net acceleration of 0.1 m/s^2. Which is not tiny, but due to friction across the boat, would be cancelled out (by 1 or 2 orders of magnitude). This is considering the best possible case. For more reasonable charge values, this force would be about a trillion times weaker, and hence this will not cause any practical motion.{{citation needed}}

If the described effect were actually significant, it wouldn't always make boats turn upwind. A positively charged boat would turn counter-clockwise on the northern hemisphere, where the magnetic field points down, and clockwise on the southern hemisphere, where the magnetic field points up. Thus it would turn upwind or downwind depending on which side of the boat faces the wind. A negatively charged boat would turn in the opposite direction. To beat to windward it would be necessary to switch between two sails made of different materials – one sail to accumulate a positive charge, and another to accumulate a negative charge.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[Panel 1]

How sailboats use physics to sail upwind:

[A schematic boat with a sail is shown (top-down view). Winds shown with directional arrows, pointing in the direction of the sail (going towards 4:30 on a clock face).]

[Panel 2]

1. Wind passing over the sail strips away electrons via the triboelectric effect.

[Schematic similar to panel 1, but with charged ions shown across both sides of the sail, representing the triboelectric effect.]

[Panel 3]

2. The positively charged boat is blown downwind; its movement in Earth's magnetic field produces a Lorentz force.

[The same schematic, except a force vector is shown in the direction of the wind, and a perpendicular force vector (along 1:30 on a clock face) is shown with a dashed arrow.]

[Panel 4]

3. The Lorentz force acts perpendicular to the direction of motion, redirecting the boat upwind.

[A net force vector is shown perpendicular to the downstream vector.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

1010: Etymology-Man

2025-01-14T14:35:47Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1010
| date = January 30, 2012
| title = Etymology-Man
| image = etymology_man.png
| titletext = I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Aquaman were here instead--HE'D be able to help.
}}

{{incomplete|This needs better discussion of the actual explanation Etymology-Man is giving and particularly historical events like the {{w|1755 Lisbon earthquake|1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami}}.}}

==Explanation==
This became the first comic in a two comic series about the [[:Category:Etymology-Man|Etymology-Man]]. The second followed two comics later in [[1012: Wrong Superhero]].

This comic is a take on the traditional appearance of a super hero when a disaster strikes. In this case, Etymology-Man arrives, who apparently has the power of {{w|Etymology}} — the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. As Etymology-Man is explaining the history of the words "{{w|tsunami}}" and "tidal wave", referencing the {{w|2004 Indian Ocean tsunami}}, the {{w|2011 Tōhoku tsunami}} and the {{w|1755 Lisbon earthquake and tsunami}}, the water starts rising around them. As the waters continue to rise, he continues to only explain the words, rather than attempting to save them as a superhero should. This, intentionally or unintentionally, is a dig at academics who prefer to talk about issues when taking action is more appropriate.

Also, the title text is a play on how useless {{w|Aquaman}} is (perceived to be) compared to other superheroes, as his powers — breathing underwater, speed swimming, and communicating with sea life — are very difficult for writers to make relevant, since most stories do not take place underwater.{{Citation needed}} Indeed, in the case of a flood, Aquaman and his aquatic allies would be able to assist with evacuations. (Some depictions of Aquaman do not have control of water itself. Though when equipped with his mystical trident, or magical prosthetic "water hand", could probably also perform useful hydrokinesis to avert significant damage.)

The irony of the situation comes from the fact that Etymology-Man seemingly has the power of flight and could in fact save Cueball and Ponytail if he was not so busy talking about the origin of the word "tidal wave".

Inexplicable is the fact that Cueball and Ponytail both know exactly who this "superhero" is, and ergo presumably realize that what he is telling them is useless, but they don't even attempt to get to safety. There are few possible explanations for this: perhaps they are simply accepting their fate instead of trying to escape, or even that learning cool word facts takes precendence over saving their own lives, or they have been distracted by Etymology-Man's lecture and were caught by surprise by the fast tidal wave.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Ponytail are facing each other, with wavy lines around them to indicate they are experiencing the shaking of an earthquake.]
:Cueball: Earthquake!
:Ponytail: We should get to a higher ground - There could be a tidal wave.

:[A frame-less panel with Cueball and Ponytail, with Cueball taking a pedantic pose and raising a finger.]
:Cueball: You mean a tsunami. "Tidal wave" means a wave caused by tides.

:[A crash is heard, followed by Etymology-Man flying in while wearing a cape.]
:Etymology-man: You know, that doesn't add up.
:Cueball and Ponytail: Etymology-man!

:[Etymology-man takes a pedantic pose.]
:Etymology-man: What ''does'' "tidal wave" mean? There are waves caused by tides, but they're "tidal bores", and they're not cataclysmic.
:It can refer to the daily tide cycle, but that's obviously not what people mean when they say "a tidal wave hit".
:It's been obvious for centuries that these waves come from quakes. So why "tidal"?

:[Panel zooms in on Etymology-man.]
:Etymology-man: Remember that until 2004, there weren't any clear photos or videos of tsunamis. Some modern writers even described them rearing up and breaking like surfing waves [sic]
:Of course, in 2004 and 2011, it was made clear to everyone that a tsunami is more like a rapid, turbulent, inrushing tide - exactly what historical accounts describe.

:[Water begins to rush in. Etymology-man keeps his pedantic pose.]
:Etymology-man: Maybe those writing about Lisbon in 1755 used "tidal wave" not out of scientific confusion, but because it described the wave's form — a description lost in our rush to expunge "tidal wave" from English.

:[The water is now waist-deep. Etymology-man continues to drone on, but the others start to panic.]
:Etymology-man: "Tsunami" is now the standard, and I'm not trying to change that. But let's be a tad less giddy about correcting "tidal wave" - especially when "tsunami" just means "harbor wave", which is hardly...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Etymology-Man]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Earthquakes]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Pedantic]]

3035: Trimix

2025-01-09T11:41:41Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3035
| date = January 8, 2025
| title = Trimix
| image = trimix_2x.png
| imagesize = 436x259px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You don't want the nitrogen percentage to be too high or you run the risk of eutrophication.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a FLOATING TRIMIX SCUBA DIVER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Trimix (breathing gas)|Trimix}} is a gas used in {{w|SCUBA}} tanks that consists of {{w|helium}}, {{w|oxygen}}, and {{w|nitrogen}}. Trimix comes in some standard ratios between the component gases, depending on the required diving depth, for example 21/35/44 (percentage oxygen/helium/nitrogen), 18/45/37 and 15/55/30 for increasing depth. Helium safely substitutes a portion of the nitrogen to minimize nitrogen's narcotic effects at greater depths, and to ease the effort required for breathing, as merely reducing the nitrogen ratio in an oxygen/nitrogen mix will increase oxygen to levels that, at the pressures that exist at depth, {{w|Oxygen toxicity|creates other dangers}} (hence why the Trimix ratios also provide slightly lower proportions of oxygen). This comic suggests that if the initial helium amount is too high, a diver will float away before reaching the water to start a dive, as their tank of air suddenly acts just like a sufficiently buoyant helium balloon.

The reason a helium balloon creates lift is that it can inflate. The balloon has a thin and expandable layer, weighing almost nothing, that allows the intrinsically less dense gas to take up space at not much more than atmospheric pressure. The total weight of the filled balloon is less than the total weight of the air it displaces, thus creating {{w|buoyancy}}. A SCUBA tank is made of metal, is heavy and cannot inflate in anything like normal circumstances. Even with a {{w|vacuum balloon|perfect vacuum inside it}} (if that were possible) it would still weigh more than the equivalent volume of air. You would simply increase that weight if you pumped helium, or ''any'' kind of gas, into it. An inflating helium balloon also gets heavier, but this is more than compensated for by the greater increase in volume. The more you pumped into a rigid metal tank, the denser and heavier it would get, and it will never be able to create any degree of additional lift.

The real reason SCUBA divers need to be careful with the amount of helium is to not get too little (or too much) oxygen for the intended depth and pressure, as well as reducing the troublesome nitrogen.

The title text asserts that a trimix diver whose gas mix contains an excess of nitrogen runs "the risk of eutrophication". The term {{w|Eutrophication|eutrophication}} describes the process by which nutrients ("fertilizers") accumulate in an environment, typically a body of water, leading to consequences that are often unfortunate for inhabitants or users of that environment. The human body is an ecosystem, but one that is not typically subject to eutrophication, due to its manner of acquiring and jettisoning nutrients. Moreover, the nitrogen in trimix is diatomic elemental nitrogen, not the {{w|Nitrogen_fixation|"fixed"}} nitrogen that serves as a component of eutrophication. The diver would not breathe "fixed" nitrogen unless nitrogen-fixing bacteria were somehow incorporated into the SCUBA gear, a complex feature of dubious utility.

[[Randall]] addressed the question "how much helium is needed to lift a human body" in a [https://what-if.xkcd.com/62/ What if?] article. Helium has also featured in comics [[2766: Helium Reserve]] and [[2972: Helium Synthesis]].

==Transcript==
:[In a single frame five images of Cueball is shown as a kind of a cartoon event sequence, with each image a later time in the process. The first image to the left shows Cueball standing by the shore of a body of water. He is wearing SCUBA gear, goggles, breathing tubes, SCUBA tanks with a small H logo on it on his back, and swimming flippers, which almost touch the water.]

:[In the next four images he has the same equipment on, but with changes. It should be seen as he is still at the edge of the water, but that is not drawn in the next four depictions of Cueball.]

:[In the second image to the right of the first, Cueball's SCUBA tank is beginning to float upwards, so the end that is not teetered to Cueball move out and up, as shown with three small lines beneath the tank.]

:[In the third image the SCUBA tank is now floating above Cueball's head and the strings pull his arms a bit upwards. Cueball has turned his head looking up at the tank floating above and behind his head. Again three small lines beneath the tank indicates it is moving upwards.]

:[In the fourth image Cueball is now being lifted up, so his feet are now off the ground and he is tilting forward. The tank is now pointing it's bottom almost straight up and Cueball is looking down with his arms out the each side as the tank pulls him up. Two lines on either side of the tank indicate that it now wobbles above him as it lifts him up.]

:[In the fifth and last image the SCUBA tank is now pulling a dangling Cueball high above the ground, above his head's height in the first image. The tank is now turned so it points it's bottom to the left with lines on either side indicating wobbling motion. Cueball is floating as lying prone a bit bended on the middle as the tanks straps pulls him up. At this point he yells:]
:Cueball: ''Help!''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Trimix SCUBA divers need to be careful not to let the helium percentage get too high.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

1015: Kerning

2024-12-14T04:31:48Z

172.69.195.231: Undo revision 359455 by 172.71.219.104 (talk) Red category

{{comic
| number = 1015
| date = February 10, 2012
| title = Kerning
| image = kerning.png
| titletext = I have never been as self-conscious about my handwriting as when I was inking in the caption for this comic.
}}

==Explanation==
In typography, {{w|kerning}} refers to the spacing between consecutive letters in printed material or the process of adjusting said spacing. Bad kerning is thus text that has so much space between letters of one word that it appears to be two words, or so little space between letters that they run together. A common kerning issue is an "r" and an "n" together looking like an "m". (This latter case has resulted in the slang term "{{w|Kerning#Automatic_and_manual_kerning|keming}}" for this type of kerning.) Extreme behavior of bad kerning can lead to humorous or inappropriate text.

Proper kerning is more difficult than it sounds. If one were to imagine each letter as existing inside a rectangle, "A" and "V", for example, happen to be negatives of one another space-wise, and as a result if an "A" was simply set alongside a "V" (or vice versa) where the rectangles do not overlap, the spacing would end up looking unusually large. Thus, "AV" and "VA" sequences have to be specially programmed to overlap slightly.

Kerning has been an issue in typography since the early era of printing presses and movable type but has taken on new challenges with digital printing. Typical non-designers using basic word processing software don't pay much attention to kerning. A good graphic designer, however, can compensate for bad kerning by individually adjusting the spacing between problem letters. People who specialize in graphic design or layout (and, thus, who are exposed to digital text on a regular basis) can become hyper-sensitive to bad kerning, seeing it in signs or other printed materials prepared by people without such sensitivity to bad kerning.

One example of bad kerning is the font Comic Sans. The kerning is very low quality, which is one reason as to why graphic designers have a disliking for it.

In the comic, the kerning in the sign is badly done: the spacing between C and I (in "City"), between C and E (in "Offices"), and even slightly between F and I (also in "Offices") is inconsistent. The space between the C and E is almost as wide as the space between the words. One character is clearly frustrated while the other character doesn't notice the problem at all.

The comic explains that once a person learns what good kerning is, they will get irritated by shoddy kerning in the future. And since it is very irritating to be annoyed every time this happens, [[Randall]] suggests that you teach this to someone you really hate. Unfortunately, the comic itself has also taught us to be annoyed. Thanks, Randall.

Kerning was mentioned in the title text of [[590: Papyrus]], a comic about the font Papyrus. The suggestion of teaching someone about kerning to annoy them sounds like it could become a new [[:Category:My Hobby|hobby]] for Randall.

The title text is written by Randall explaining that as he was writing this comic about kerning, he was very self-conscious of his own handwriting. The act of thinking about kerning (and likely, the act of drawing an example of such bad kerning) made him aware of it in his own writing, and in fact, he kerns the caption oddly, with, for example, the T in "them" hanging over the top of the H, but this is a common quirk of his.

The comic has a parallel with [[972: November]], which also suggests the idea of annoying a person by calling their attention to something which usually does not merit it.

== Transcript ==
:[There is a poorly-kerned sign on the side of a building. Two Cueball-like guys are standing in front of it. The first guy has his hands in fists up in front of him and a black cloud over his head.]
:C I T Y O F F I C E S
:First guy: ''Argh!''
:Second guy: What?
:[Caption below the frame:]
:If you really hate someone, teach
:them to recognize bad kerning.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

User:42.book.addict

2024-11-21T22:56:40Z

172.69.195.231: Undo revision 357572 by 172.69.22.156 (talk)

{{notice|I have entrusted my account credentials to a close friend and am taking a break from editing to focus on my studies-I don’t know when I’ll be back, but expect me to be AWOL for some time. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]'''}}

{{notice|I have reached out to [[User:Jeff|Jeff]]-the owner of this wiki and the only (sort of) active ‘crat-via Gmail. Hopefully he responds soon! You can see my To-Do List for him at the bottom of my user page. If there is anything else you think is important, please add to it. I am also considering asking him for adminship, for I am pretty active and available, as well as very dedicated towards this project. What do you think?
TL;DR-emailed [[User:Jeff|Jeff]], asked him to do some very important things, I want to become an admin, please give me your thoughts.}}

Hi! If you see this, you have reached my user page! I’m 14, live in California, love reading, and started reading Randall’s works (What If?, Thing Explainer, XKCD) in 2018. I started editing on Feb. 1, 2024. I've done {{#cscore:42.book.addict|changes}} changes across {{#cscore:42.book.addict|pages}} pages, bringing to a total of {{#cscore:42.book.addict|score}} point contribution score. See my [[User:42.book.addict/userbox|userboxes]]!

==My Loves==
•Hatsune Miku 🥰 
•Classical music-Beethoven 
•Reading (seriously. I will read any book you give me. I will read the ingredients off the back of a mustard bottle for fun. I read an entire scientific encyclopaedia during the lockdown.) 
•ao3 
•Pokémon cards (I have a pretty solid portfolio/collection) 
•Bluey (yes, I enjoy watching a preschool show. sue me.) 
•Harry Potter (the book series) 
•Sciences 
•Maths

==To Do List==
•learn to use the goddamned preview button
:✓ '''{{{1|Done}}}''' 
•get a life 
:X '''impossible'''
•create a bot that fixes grammatical mistakes through the Pywiki library 
:•<nowiki>{{citation needed}}</nowiki>, extra periods/commas/spaces/whitespace
•clean out the maintenance report pages 
•update comic images, switch to 2x (?) 
•finish up [[2288: Collector's Edition]]

==Log==
•yayyyyy only 3 months on the wiki and already 43rd place in overall editing for the entire history of this wiki! also, first admin beat in edit count! more edits to come! (5/14/2024) 
•42nd place-the answer to life, the universe and everything else (5/16/2024) 
•what on earth did I do that made my contribution score jump 70 points (9/24/2024) 
•''must…figure…out…how…to…set…up…a…custom…sig (collapses after fighting with wikitext)'' (9/26/2024) 
•300 edits in a month! (10/1/2024, 2:13 PM PST) 
•broke my right wrist and yet I’m still editing this wiki at the hospital-what the hell am I doing with my life. (10/1/2024, 5:24 PM PST) 
•'''1000. EFFING. EDITS. YESSSSSSSSS.''' (I’m doing this edit with a damn cast 😭-I really need to take a break.) (10/1/2024, 6:20 PM PST) 
•wow, i did a 10 mile hike. i’m proud of myself. (10/13/2024) 
•organized user page, made a separate userbox page. (10/15/2024) 
•new sig, can’t use it due to “HTML tag errors”. gave out 2 barnstars, got both user/discussion pages protected. vandal count: 31! (10/25/2024) 
•just realized that it’s because my sig is way too damn long (10/30/2024) 
•AHHHHHHH [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aG7tmL5lJ0 WHITEPINE 3] CAME OUT AND I MISSED THE LIVESTREAM (happy halloween! 🎃) (10/31/2024) 
•I have fixed my sig! 255 characters-exactly at the max. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' (11/04/2024) 
•Pulled an all-nighter to finish a Geo project-would’ve been absolute hell if I was editing in between. Hiatus is still on, just wanted to add this It’s 5:29 AM right now. (11/21/2024)

==To Do List for [[User:Jeff|Jeff]]==
•Update the MySQL and MediaWiki software 
•Promote another ‘craft 
•Promote some more active admins ([[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] is a candidate, [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]], maybe me?) 
•Find out the root cause behind all of these [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#the_site_is_collapsing|errors]] (still happening as of October) 
•Give TheusafBOT bot status 
•De-sysop [[User:Markhurd|Markhurd]], [[User:Lcarsos|Lcarsos]], [[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]], [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]], maybe [[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]] and other inactive admins (this list is only admins who haven’t edited in over 2 years) 
•Fix email confirmation

User:42.book.addict

2024-11-21T00:57:47Z

172.69.195.231: Undo revision 357481 by 172.69.134.30 (talk) Nope.

{{notice|I have entrusted my account credentials to a close friend and am taking a break from editing to focus on my studies-I don’t know when I’ll be back, but expect me to be AWOL for some time. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]'''}}

{{notice|I will be attempting reach out to [[User:Jeff|Jeff]]-the owner of this wiki and the only (sort of) active ‘crat-via Twitter/X DMs when I find the time. You can see my To-Do List for him at the bottom of my user page. If there is anything else you think is important, please add to it. I am also considering asking him for adminship, for I am pretty active and available, as well as very dedicated towards this project. What do you think?
TL;DR-will be DMing [[User:Jeff|Jeff]], asking him to do some very important things, I want to become an admin, please give me your thoughts.}}

Hi! If you see this, you have reached my user page! I’m 14, live in California, love reading, and started reading Randall’s works (What If?, Thing Explainer, XKCD) in 2018. I started editing on Feb. 1, 2024. I've done {{#cscore:42.book.addict|changes}} changes across {{#cscore:42.book.addict|pages}} pages, bringing to a total of {{#cscore:42.book.addict|score}} point contribution score. See my [[User:42.book.addict/userbox|userboxes]]!

==My Loves==
•Hatsune Miku 🥰 
•Classical music-Beethoven 
•Reading (seriously. I will read any book you give me. I will read the ingredients off the back of a mustard bottle for fun. I read an entire scientific encyclopaedia during the lockdown.) 
•ao3 
•Pokémon cards (I have a pretty solid portfolio/collection) 
•Bluey (yes, I enjoy watching a preschool show. sue me.) 
•Harry Potter (the book series) 
•Sciences 
•Maths

==To Do List==
•learn to use the goddamned preview button
:✓ '''{{{1|Done}}}''' 
•get a life 
:X '''impossible'''
•create a bot that fixes grammatical mistakes through the Pywiki library 
:•<nowiki>{{citation needed}}</nowiki>, extra periods/commas/spaces/whitespace
•clean out the maintenance report pages 
•update comic images, switch to 2x (?) 
•finish up [[2288: Collector's Edition]]

==Log==
•yayyyyy only 3 months on the wiki and already 43rd place in overall editing for the entire history of this wiki! also, first admin beat in edit count! more edits to come! (5/14/2024) 
•42nd place-the answer to life, the universe and everything else (5/16/2024) 
•what on earth did I do that made my contribution score jump 70 points (9/24/2024) 
•''must…figure…out…how…to…set…up…a…custom…sig (collapses after fighting with wikitext)'' (9/26/2024) 
•300 edits in a month! (10/1/2024, 2:13 PM PST) 
•broke my right wrist and yet I’m still editing this wiki at the hospital-what the hell am I doing with my life. (10/1/2024, 5:24 PM PST) 
•'''1000. EFFING. EDITS. YESSSSSSSSS.''' (I’m doing this edit with a damn cast 😭-I really need to take a break.) (10/1/2024, 6:20 PM PST) 
•wow, i did a 10 mile hike. i’m proud of myself. (10/13/2024) 
•organized user page, made a separate userbox page. (10/15/2024) 
•new sig, can’t use it due to “HTML tag errors”. gave out 2 barnstars, got both user/discussion pages protected. vandal count: 31! (10/25/2024) 
•just realized that it’s because my sig is way too damn long (10/30/2024) 
•AHHHHHHH [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aG7tmL5lJ0 WHITEPINE 3] CAME OUT AND I MISSED THE LIVESTREAM (happy halloween! 🎃) (10/31/2024) 
•I have fixed my sig! 255 characters-exactly at the max. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' (11/04/2024)

==To Do List for [[User:Jeff|Jeff]]==
•Update the MySQL and MediaWiki software 
•Promote another ‘craft 
•Promote some more active admins ([[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] is a candidate, [[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]], maybe me?) 
•Find out the root cause behind all of these [[explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical#the_site_is_collapsing|errors]] (still happening as of October) 
•Give TheusafBOT bot status 
•De-sysop [[User:Markhurd|Markhurd]], [[User:Lcarsos|Lcarsos]], [[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]], [[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]], maybe [[User:Philosopher|Philosopher]] and other inactive admins (this list is only admins who haven’t edited in over 2 years) 
•Fix email confirmation

2536: Wirecutter

2024-11-21T00:57:04Z

172.69.195.231: Undo revision 357480 by 172.68.23.92 (talk) Strange deletions. (I agree about removing the "yuck", but more narrative reasons.)

{{comic
| number = 2536
| date = November 1, 2021
| title = Wirecutter
| image = wirecutter.png
| titletext = This was always going to be a controversial Wirecutter post, but what really got them in trouble were their 'budget' and 'upgrade' picks.
}}

==Explanation==

''{{w|Wirecutter (website)|Wirecutter}}'' is a product review website owned by ''The New York Times''. Randall is parodying the website by having them "review" the 70 most popular [[:Category:Religion|religion]]s. Product review websites typically make posts with the "best" X, e.g. "Best smartphones," or "Best laptops." These reviews are useful for consumers trying to choose among the wide variety of products available.

There are {{w|List of religions and spiritual traditions|a wide variety of religions}}. However, unlike electronic devices, a person does not usually choose their religion; they are typically taught one during childhood and most remain in that religion their entire life. Changing religions is ([[1102|usually]]) a significant life event. Many religions, including many variants of the three major {{w|Abrahamic religions}} promote {{w|Religious exclusivism|exclusivity}}, and do not recognize other religions as valid. They emphasize the importance of specific practices or belief in specific creeds. Members of those religions might not recognize a reviewer as having truly "tried" their religion if their intent was always to move on to another.

A post "reviewing" religions is sure to stir up controversy, as many religious followers are passionate about their religious beliefs and believe their religion is best. {{w|Religious_war|Literal wars}} have been fought over the idea one religion could be superior to another, and it is not a wound most practitioners are willing to reopen any time soon. Moreover, religions are typically chosen for more fundamental reasons -- such as by comparing the likelihood that each religion makes accurate claims, or the efficacy of each religion in promoting an ethical life, or the connection a practitioner feels to the religion's rituals, metaphors, and images, or by privileging a preexisting cultural or family connection to a particular tradition -- not by comparing gimmicky features or price.

The title text mentions "budget" and "upgrade" picks, which are subcategories for reviewers - cheaper options and options that are good for upgrading your current product. Neither of these categories are typical categories for religions{{Citation needed}} and could further anger their adherents. The association of religion and money could allude to various controversial topics such as {{w|tithe|tithing}}, {{w|indulgences}}, {{w|televangelism}}, or {{w|Prosperity theology}} (yuck). Budget need not be just about money, it could also refer to the amount of time or effort involved. (e.g., how much time is spent in religious activities, needing to learn a new language, etc.) Some religious followers might be offended{{Citation needed}} if their religion was picked (or ''not'' picked) in a "budget" category. The idea of a religion "upgrade" evokes the highly divisive concept of {{w|supersessionism}} among the major Abrahamic religions, which would be guaranteed to cause further outcry no matter which one of those the article would pick for the category. (Various forms of {{w|syncretism}} could qualify as an "upgrade," but whatever Wirecutter's intent, that is unlikely to be the first thing anyone reading such an article thinks of.)

==Transcript==
:[A New York Times Wirecutter article. There is the NYT logo and Wirecutter logo in the top left. Also in the top of the page is a search bar, a user account icon, and 7 "header" level hyperlinks with illegible text. The article title is as follows:]
:The Best Religion
:By Wirecutter Staff

:[The words "Wirecutter Staff" are followed by illegible text presumably representing the date of the article. Below are icons for Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, and save.]

:[The article's image depicts Cueball shrugging in the center of the picture with many question marks floating above him. The content of the article is as follows:]

:What does it all mean? Our reviewers tried out over 70 of the most popular belief systems. Here's what they found…

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:2986: Every Scientific Field

2024-09-18T09:37:46Z

172.69.195.231:

My reading of the comic is completely opposite to the current explanation. Rather than the large section being what 'a disproportionate amount of time is spent on', it's the small section, which is why we've heard of that stuff. To me, the large section represents the bulk of what is there to be studied, but is relatively poorly understood, so the point of the comic is emphasising how little we actually know about stuff in relation to what there is to be known. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.136|172.70.160.136]] 11:16, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: I didn't like the word 'disproportionate' either, because to me it sounded like an accusation of too much time being spent in the wrong branch, which is not what Randall is saying. I reworded and fleshed out the description. Better now? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.167|172.70.111.167]] 11:38, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: I disagree with "poorly understood" being the central issue, though, rather the branches the general public finds fascinating are often not the scientificially dominating ones. Wasps laying eggs in other insects isn't "poorly understood" at all. It's just that cute baby elephants or pandas draw huge crowds in zoos, whereas 'icky' wasps don't. And e.g. a gyroscope makes for great YouTube videos, but it's no longer a subject of fundamental physics research. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.238|162.158.154.238]] 13:04, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: It's not really a matter of understanding, it's whether most of the public has even heard of it and knows that scientists are studying it. Randall's point is that most of what scientists study doesn't get much mention in the mainstream press and lay people don't know about it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:27, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: I disagree with "dark energy" being a no-interest-for-the-broad-public theme. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.70|172.71.160.70]] 08:16, 18 September 2024 (UTC)

== This stupid site is malfunctioning. ==

Hi chat. I'm the infamous #FreePalestine "troll". I would go into another rant, but there is a more pressing matter on our hands here. Whenever I try to access this site, I frequently encounter some "technical difficulties" message, claiming that I can't access the database. It occurs both on the school computers and my own device, so it's probably server-side. Can someone get to the bottom of this?

Cheers! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.48|141.101.105.48]] 19:35, 17 September 2024 (UTC)

:This has been happening to me too. Reloading the tab almost always fixes it, but it’s still annoying nonetheless. [[User:Trogdor147|Trogdor147]] ([[User_talk:Trogdor147|talk]]) 23:49, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
::seems to have been fixed now :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.33.237|162.158.33.237]] 07:42, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
:::Can we make it so that it it only does this for trolls and vandals?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.27|172.69.195.27]] 08:12, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
::::Vunny, I zougt Mossad already did zis :-) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.70|172.71.160.70]] 08:16, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
:Hmmm. "Hi, I am a troll..." What a strange claim. Does your point benefit from saying that? (Even "I'm the person that others ''consider'' to be a troll"?) Friendly advice: Under the remit of making a serious and valid observation, you can remain undistinguished behind your latest IP 'identity', because we don't care if you're a first-time poster or a decades-long contributor in this case.
:(As a decade-and-a-bit contributor, if you'll take my word for it, I had of course noticed this occasionally recurring issue had started again but had decided that (if it is sortable) then it didn't need my input to sort.)
:I do care about you not trolling, of course, but it's primarily because you say you're the one (with as little reason to take that as true) that now associate you with it. It doesn't add any value, shall we say? And probably neither does this reaction, but that's also down to your decision to make it a point of information, and having no other way to make my worldview known to you privately... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.231|172.69.195.231]] 09:37, 18 September 2024 (UTC)

1655: Doomsday Clock

2024-09-10T12:44:50Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1655
| date = March 14, 2016
| title = Doomsday Clock
| image = doomsday_clock.png
| titletext = After a power outage at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the new Digital Doomsday Clock is flashing 00:00 and mushroom clouds keep appearing and then retracting once a second.
}}

==Explanation==
The {{w|Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists}} is an academic journal which has a recurring feature known as the {{w|Doomsday Clock}}, which shows the Bulletin's judgment on the current state of the world. The idea is that when the clock hits midnight, the world ends (originally conceived as in a {{w|nuclear war}}), so how close the clock is to midnight is a scale of the world's current state of risk. Its setting as of the publication of this comic was at "three minutes to midnight" (11:57 PM or 23:57). Its current setting is (as of the most recent meeting on 23th January 2024) at "90 seconds to midnight" (11:58:30 PM or 23:58:30).

{{w|Daylight saving time}} (DST) is a feature in many countries where in the summer months, everyone moves their clock forward an hour to artificially postpone sunset and thereby have a longer time of sunlight in the afternoon. The {{w|History_of_time_in_the_United_States#Start_and_end_dates_of_United_States_Daylight_Time|day before this comic came out}} (Sunday), most of the United States switched from standard time to DST. This makes it the first of [[:Category:Daylight saving time|several comics about DST]] that has been released in conjunction with the beginning of DST.

[[Cueball]] is inside the office of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and comes across the Doomsday Clock, which is apparently an actual clock. Citing a {{w|mnemonic}}, "Spring forward, fall back", referring to which direction to move the hour hand in the season when DST begins or ends, he pushes the hour hand forward one hour, so instead of the world being three minutes ''from'' the end of the world, it is now 57 minutes ''into'' it, so the final panel simply shows the world erupting in a {{w|Dr. Strangelove|''Dr. Strangelove''}}-esque nuclear apocalypse, with the typical mushroom cloud shape, with a ring around the stem, which is also displayed in the Wikipedia page on {{w|nuclear weapons}}.

This is an absurdist joke confusing the Doomsday Clock with an actual clock; the Doomsday Clock is a subjective measurement of risk, not of time, and as such is not subject to Daylight Saving Time. Furthermore, in the comic the Doomsday Clock does not just measure the world's risk but actively controls it; even if the Doomsday Clock were affected by DST, the doomsday scenario notably does not occur until Cueball adjusts the clock. Also Cueball would only ever adjust the clock like this, if he happened to come by just when the real time was 12:57 the day after DST (as it is not clear from an analog clock if it is AM or PM). When he spots the clock showing 11:57 at 12:57 he just thinks someone has forgotten this particular clock, (which happens a lot the day after DST), and he is thus just helpfully adjusting to the new correct DST time.

The title text continues on this same theme, with the digital doomsday clock (apparently it has now been replaced by a digital one, maybe Cueball broke the old analog one) being reset by a power outage. Many [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0fdc_D38-c digital clocks blink] 00:00 once per second after a power outage, only stopping when the clock is reset. This is interpreted as the world actually blinking in and out of the Doomsday Clock's midnight, so nuclear explosions thus naturally appear and disappear in sync with the clock.

This once more underlines the entire point of this comic, that it makes no sense to have such a clock. Many people, including [[Randall]], also believe that DST also makes little sense today, so maybe this is why the two are connected in this comic. Randall has [[:Category:Daylight saving time|mocked DST several times]], so this could be yet another attempt to have some fun at its expense.

Another doomsday clock was used in [[1159: Countdown]], although here it was for a {{w|supervolcano}} eruption. A nuclear bomb, not yet exploded but with a short countdown, was the facilitator of the joke in [[1168: tar]].

Within a year before this comics release Randall made several other comics about nuclear weapons, most recently January of 2016 with [[1626: Judgment Day]], and before that these two in 2015, [[1539: Planning]] and [[1520: Degree-Off]]. Nuclear weapons are also mentioned twice in ''[[Thing Explainer]]'', specifically they are explained in the explanation for ''Machine for burning cities'' about {{w|Thermonuclear weapon|thermonuclear bombs}}, but they are also mentioned in ''Boat that goes under the sea'' about a submarine that caries nukes. All three comics and both explanations in the book, does like this comic, comment on how crazy it is that we have created enough firepower to obliterate Earth several times (or at least scourge it for any human life). After these there was some time without nuclear bombs, but a new mushroom cloud was displayed in [[1736: Manhattan Project]], the week after such weapons invention was listed at 1950 CE.

Most practical clocks will mechanically tie the movement of the hour hand to the minute hand, to ensure 'half past' minutes have a 'half-between' hour-hand rather than confusingly coincide with the hour-hand sitting over any digit (and then half-way between when the minute is near an "o'clock" time). Even if the hour hand ''is'' easily moved independently from the front, it is generally good practice to wind the minute hand round fully (to add an hour) back to the correct minute, and instead move the hour hand on ''that'' way.

Clocks that can be adjusted by moving the hands (or any other control, such as an adjustment gear n the back of the unit) are also best always adjusted ''forward'' (as it is being, in this case), and are best changed for the "fall back" adjustment by sending the minute hand clockwise eleven (or, if relevent, twenty-three!) times round to get 'back' to the hour before.

==Transcript==
:[Above a clock that shows 3 minutes to 12:]
:Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
:<big>Doomsday Clock</big>

:[Cueball enters the frame from the left and walks up the clock while looking up at it.]
:Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
:<big>Doomsday Clock</big>
:Cueball: Oh hey, spring forward.

:[Cueball grabs hold of the hour hand on the clock and adjust it one hour ahead to 3 minutes to 1.]
:Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
:<big>Doomsday Clock</big>

:[Nuclear apocalypse with one large central mushroom cloud, with a typical ring around the central stem, two other mushroom clouds are behind it left and right as well as three smaller ones near (or even partly under) the horizon. There are also three smaller explosion in the air.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]

Talk:2978: Stranded

2024-08-30T08:50:43Z

172.69.195.231:

This reminds me of the apocryphal UK newspaper headline (sometimes claimed to be The Times in 1957): "Fog in (the English) Channel - Continent Cut Off"
See e.g. https://www.quora.com/Is-the-famous-headline-Fog-in-Channel-Continent-Cut-Off-an-urban-myth

It gets worse, SpaceX's Falcon 9 is grounded too: [https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/spacexs-falcon-9-grounded-after-failing-landing-attempt-2024-08-28/ SpaceX's Falcon 9 grounded after failing landing attempt]:
:{{quote|Falcon 9 is also due to launch two NASA astronauts in late September on a Crew Dragon spacecraft that will bring home next year the two astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station after riding Boeing's troubled Starliner spacecraft. NASA regulates Falcon 9 for its own missions. It was not immediately clear how the rocket's latest grounding will affect that NASA mission. The U.S. space agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.}}
Here's hoping those guys like the view. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.165|172.71.166.165]] 20:48, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

I was going to add something about how the people on Earth not being alone may not be a benefit, considering all the political division and wars going on down here. But I think that's too much editorializing for an explanation. But we can say what we like in the comments. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:18, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

I just noticed that howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com doesn't list Wilmore and Williams. [[User:RegularSizedGuy|RegularSizedGuy]] ([[User talk:RegularSizedGuy|talk]]) 22:13, 28 August 2024 (UTC)
:But it lists people who got back in July 2022, so I'd say it's not kept up to date....
:--[[Special:Contributions/188.114.102.116|188.114.102.116]] 22:19, 28 August 2024 (UTC)

wow this is JUST like the jevil  [[Special:Contributions/172.69.64.184|172.69.64.184]] 23:16, 28 August 2024 (UTC)Bumpf

The transcript currently includes the statement “There's an elliptical window through which they can see the planet below”. Analysing the image carefully, that’s clearly correct - but at first, second and third glance I can’t help but see it as a circular porthole on an isometric view of a non-existent bulkhead on the left… I guess I’m just conditioned to expect things at ~30 degree angles to be isometric, rather than “floating in space”… [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.83|172.69.194.83]] 07:06, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
:In a few moments, I'm going to change it to "large round". Roundedness does not admit to (nor deny) circularity, so covers any orientation of the bulkhead (also not sure what you mean by "non-existent", as the whole greebled wall you see is the probably-at-an-angle outer bulkhead).
:It is also ''very'' large, in keeping with xkcd's illustrative fiction (bigger, but more believably non-cornered than [[2906: Earth]], if that's supposed to be a window/porthole; a variety seen looked out of in [[865: Nanobots]]; I recall at least one other with a large window, but can't recall the circumstances at the moment). Noting that the ISS's {{w|Cupola (ISS module)|cupola}} is probably the most "windowy window" actually in use, due to practical concerns that I'm sure we'd all have about a huge (necessarily thick) spread of 'glass' that's needed in this sort of scene for aesthetic reasons.
:Not as bad as "Hollywood"-type submersible picture-windows, of course. You have to resist no more than one atmosphere of pressure, outwards, in space. You have to resist multiple atmosphere's of pressure, ''inwards'', at depth. A hemispherical bubble-end (or a symmetric slice of one) could be adopted from deep-sea applications, but the window would have to bulge inwards for best strength and safety purposes against the outwards pressure, making a more awkward method of viewing at all angles (and possibly distorting astronomical photographs in ways that reduce their convenient usefulness). [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.218|141.101.99.218]] 12:04, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
::My point was that in the picture, I think there are 2 bulkheads - the main greebled wall facing us that contains the large oval window (the backdrop of a stage, if you like), and a small part of a second wall at an angle to the first visible at the right edge of the frame (stage left). We can assume that the narrow strip between the two is some kind of corner reinforcement, and there’s a rectangular greeble that changes shape as it goes around that corner, indicating this is probably not just some kind of vertical conduit. However, there is no 3rd bulkhead to stage right… the window is embedded in the main backdrop. My lazy viewing wants to interpret the large round window as being circular, in the stage right bulkhead - but there is no stage right bulkhead, we only have visibility of the backdrop and a fraction of stage left. Therefore, the original description of an oval window is spot-on… but deliberately or otherwise, the artist is messing with my head. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.18|172.70.85.18]] 07:01, 30 August 2024 (UTC)
:::It took a while to work out what you meant...
:::*You: The left-sweep of bulkhead is perpendicular to the camera, the 'greeble line' is a convex corner (pointing towards us) leading to a wall that goes away from us, at an angle that might have agreed with the 'circle at an angle' viewing angle.
:::*Me: Left-sweep is either fully or partly at that angle, agreeing with the window (and the edges of the window/wall-features, many of which have relief features that stand out in perspective to the left more than their rights)... it ''may'' subtly curve back to being camera-perpendicular as we reach the corner. The corner is concave, the 'stage right' wall past the greeble line heads back towards us, or at least less away. (Consistent with an internal bulkhead, separating another section of space-station, rather than an externally-flush one round a constructed corner. But could also be flush with a normal 'box corner' of the station.)
:::Note the corner-greeble's short tranverse curves that hint more at a low camera angle and a 90-degree angle (slightly flush 45-degree 'flat'ish attachment) rather than high angle and a 270-degree one (would have to wrap around as a corner protector).
:::But, as with all ambiguous perspectives, may depend on which way your eye 'snaps' to understanding it the first time. I had to 'unfocus/refocus’ to comprehend the opposite to my first impression (then I just needed to 'blink', mentally, to pop my internal visualisation across the divide). I probably picked up on the wall-features' innate angled perspective and that then let the rest fall into place. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.231|172.70.160.231]] 08:01, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

This is basically the plot of Seveneves [[Special:Contributions/162.158.33.196|162.158.33.196]] 08:58, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

I can see why they wanna stay in space today, and probably forever tbh [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.231|172.70.160.231]] 10:53, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

I'm fairly concerned that nobody else is concerned that the astronauts will die from 8 MONTHS in space. Unless I'm wrong, prolonged space stays usually lead to atrophy of pretty much every human organ due to the nonexistence of gravity, right? But they'll be there for 8 months... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.84|172.69.71.84]] 18:54, 29 August 2024 (UTC)
:they’ve had rigorous training, exercise for at least 2 hours a day on the ISS, and 8 months is nowhere close to the 437 day record for the longest stay in space [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 20:41, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

::Ah ok, but still. To paraphrase Hitchhiker's "2 years is a long time to get stranded anywhere, especially somewhere as mind-bogglingly dull as the Earth". Change the variables and you get the point. At least they're probably fine [[Special:Contributions/172.71.22.167|172.71.22.167]] 21:15, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

2977: Three Kinds of Research

2024-08-27T23:17:46Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2977
| date = August 26, 2024
| title = Three Kinds of Research
| image = three_kinds_of_research_2x.png
| imagesize = 501x306px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The secret fourth kind is 'we applied a standard theory to their map of every tree and got some suspicious results.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DEPTH-FIRST TREE RE-SEARCHER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, three types of research are presented. First, [[Cueball]] presents an analysis of an existing theory, testing to see if it holds up under unusual circumstances. Second, [[Miss Lenhart]] presents a new theory; to prove that it has merit, it is tested on "standard" circumstances, presumably older data that the existing theories have already been tested on. As Miss Lenhart's data graph looks similar in form to Cueball's, it is possible that they are approaching the same field from two different directions.

The punchline is a disheveled [[Hairy]] presenting the third kind of research: not a theory, but a survey that collects the data to test theories on. Rather than sit around his laboratory crunching numbers, Hairy has gotten deep in the weeds — literally, judging by the leaves stuck to his body — to [https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=lidar+tree+survey somehow] map out "every tree." How far his survey of "every tree" reaches isn't clear but it's implied to be a massive area such as most of a country, continent or even the world (though the appearance of the graph doesn't have any obvious relationship to any [[977: Map Projections|global projection]]), and he's raising his arms in exhausted triumph over the fact that he's finally finished.

The comic this presents a message about science: while it is perceived to be a high-minded affair with lots of very smart people performing calculations well over most people's heads, it still relies on getting down and dirty — again, literally in Hairy's case — with the rather basic challenges of measuring what the problems are to begin with. [[2456: Types of Scientific Paper|Some scientific papers]] are simply descriptions of measured phenomena.

The title text brings everything together by testing theories on the tree map (this is similar to Cueball's approach), with suspicious results. There can be multiple interpretations of these results: the "map of every tree" was manipulated or simply inaccurate, someone is messing with trees on a global level or the tree survey methods and/or mapping techniques are questionable.

For example, the {{w|Lambda-CDM_model|ΛCDM standard model of cosmology}} could be 
1) confirmed or challenged by new empirical data on the distribution of galaxies, new simulations or a mathematical thought experiment based on that model 
2) challenged by a new model that is better at explaining some oddities of the model, such as {{w|dark energy}} 
3) complemented with a survey of the timeline of everything in the universe :-) 

In this case the fourth kind of researcher would apply the cosmological standard model to the map of everything and find something suspicious.

Randall has previously created a similar type of comic in [[2529: Unsolved Math Problems]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A single panel with three separate drawings.]
:[Caption above the drawings:]
:The Three Kinds of Scientific Research:
:[Cueball is pointing to a scatter plot with a best-fit curve.]
:Cueball: We applied a standard theory to novel circumstances and got some surprising results.
:[Miss Lenhart is pointing to a similar scatter plot.]
:Miss Lenhart: We applied a novel theory to standard circumstances and got some intriguing results.
:[Hairy, with leaves in his messy hair and on his body, is pointing to another chart that is covered in random dots and unidentifiable shapes, while having both arms raised. Leaves are falling from him and are scattered on the ground at his feet. A stick is stuck in his hair.]
:Hairy: ''Finally, a map of every tree.''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]

Talk:2967: Matter

2024-08-04T11:53:28Z

172.69.195.231:

This one is a head-scratcher. Do skateboarders call "anti-" things goofy? What's the deal with that Dirac statistic? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.31|162.158.154.31]] 23:47, 2 August 2024 (UTC)
:It's like being a 'southpaw' boxer (or at least being able to stand the opposite way, maybe in order to flip/spin the board the opposite way from what you would end up kicking it normally).
:The Dirac thing is... well, quantum physics has various uses/restrictions upon spin (and colour, etc) that isn't really physical spin (or colour) as we know it, but sort of means a kind of particle-based rotational momentum, which has to be conserved/transfered/agree in various quantum interactions (and is a quantised state, meaning that only certain spin-values can exist in a given situation).
:Both the skateboarding and the elementary physics issues are (in their own way) rather technical matters, and I know a lot more about one than the other (but think I understand the other a lot more, from just reading up on it, than I know I actually understand the original one based on what I actually was taught). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.186|172.70.162.186]] 00:03, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
:''"Do skateboarders call "anti-" things goofy?"'' FWIW, I first heard 'goofy' in the 1960s skateboard fad, using your left foot where the right foot normally goes. It appears this was 2 or 3 years before Mr Hawk was born, so it isn't his invention. I would wonder if surfers (Hawaii and California) got goofy even earlier. [[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]])
:: Looks like a fair summary: [https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/where-does-the-term-goofy-footed-surfer-come-from Goofy Foot] --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 02:21, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
::: I first heard the term "goofy foot" back in Skate or Die on the NES. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.212.133|162.158.212.133]] 07:59, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

I'm way over the hill, and that linked 20 minute video on spin was the first explanation of that quantum number which seemed fully satisfactory and didn't leave me feeling like I was missing something crucial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYeRS5a3HbE&t=18m30s "The spin number characterizes how fast the state of a particle changes when we rotate it in space." WHERE HAS THAT EXPLANATION BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.90|172.68.22.90]] 04:56, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
:Spin is a terrible name, it should be "twist factor" for example. It's a derivative unit error, like calling acceleration in terms of speed. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.198|162.158.90.198]] 07:58, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

Problem loading previous comic, I get MediaWiki error. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 17:15, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
:Can't replicate that, and doesn't sound like the kind of errors I might get (504s, "sorry too busy"-style message, etc). Is it still happening for you? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.18|172.70.85.18]] 19:23, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

This part doesn't make any sense to me; was this section AI generated? "That is why it is very difficult to compress matter based on fermions and even to get goofy matter (which are not identical particles), as they should be brought in contact with in the comic, near enough or mixed enough with the normal matter."
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:15, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
:Reverted as an incorrect and confusing attempt to extend the panel joke into the title text explanation. That never goes well. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.237|172.71.150.237]] 21:47, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

So in skateboard, does goofy just mean "left foot" or does it mean "non-dominant foot". Like, would a left handed skater be skating goofy "normally", or is goofy for them, using right foot?
:Left, because it's described in the frame of reference of observers. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.34|172.70.214.34]] 07:35, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

Have made a new [[:Category:Skateboard]]. There have for a long time been one for Electric Skateboard but I found 10 with regular skateboards being referenced. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:08, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

The extra spacing in the Feynman diagram on the blackboard explains why most antimatter was annihilated. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.135.89|172.69.135.89]] 10:00, 4 August 2024 (UTC)
:Given an initial universe with equal parts matter and antimatter plus a slight asymmetry (50% + e), the mutual annihilation of matter and antimatter would leave behind a residual amount of matter proportional to the asymmetry e. In the extremely dense early universe, this annihilation would be nearly complete, ensuring that almost all antimatter and a corresponding amount of matter annihilated into energy, leaving a tiny excess of matter. Thus, the observed baryon asymmetry today can be explained by this initial slight asymmetry, as even a minuscule e would result in a predominantly (anti)matter-filled universe post-annihilation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.52|172.70.210.52]] 10:33, 4 August 2024 (UTC)
::It does mean that mass-energy conservation (or ways to feed that energy into other things, e.g. the expansion of space itself?) gives us a different initial distribution to the kind of initial universe where the imbalance was never just a residual (anti-particals just naturally being rarer to find/be created), and still begs the question of where such an imbalance came from (however small) from a spontaneously created universal 'seed' that one would imagine ought to be 'property neutral' in combining all essentially symmetric measures. But I added a little something about this to my own edit. (My edit being an attempt to stop huge run-on sentences with comma asides (and other dubious usages of comma), in a key section. So much so that I gave up trying to work out what some of it was intended to mean and just gave my own version. Still with plenty of commas, but not relying quite so heavily upon them alone.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.231|172.69.195.231]] 11:53, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

2960: Organ Meanings

2024-07-19T15:28:34Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2960
| date = July 17, 2024
| title = Organ Meanings
| image = organ_meanings_2x.png
| imagesize = 407x346px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = IMO the thymus is one of the coolest organs and we should really use it in metaphors more.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT'S PINEAL GLAND - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This is a graph by [[Randall]] ranking how well he understands the function of certain human organs, compared to how much he understands {{w|metaphor}}s using them. 

A number of organs (and other body parts) are used in common vernacular for metaphorical meaning. The English language is full of sayings like "she had a lot of heart", "go with your gut", and "he hasn't got the stomach for it". One might expect understanding an organ's role and its use in metaphor to be strongly correlated, since the metaphors generally work by drawing a parallel to biological function. However, since our understanding of biological functions has evolved dramatically over time, and metaphorical language does not always keep up, the correspondence is often much looser. To complicate matters, many such anatomical metaphors vary from culture to culture, even though the biological functions remain largely consistent.{{Citation needed}}

The {{w|pineal gland}}, located in the center of the brain, was described as the "Seat of the Soul" by the {{w|Mind–body dualism|mind-body dualist}} {{w|René Descartes}} in the 17th century. If this was true, the metaphors that might be derived from it would be quite clear. It was only in the mid-20th century that its real neuroendocrine (hormone-producing) biological role was grasped. Thus, the real meaning of the metaphor "the pineal gland of something" is uncertain, as is its actual function for the layman. It was also described as a "third eye", as its regulation of the circadian rhythm used to be linked to light perception in the organ, and still is in {{w|Tuatara|Tuataras}}. It is also jokingly stated as still the location of the soul within discordianism.

The {{w|thymus}}, highlighted in the title text, plays an important role in the immune system. It is not commonly used in metaphors,{{Citation needed}} but is perhaps ripe for use in ones describing such things as resilience, indomitability, and adaptability to changing circumstance, were more people to know what it was.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Organ !! Biological understanding !! Metaphor understanding !! Biological function !! Metaphor meaning(s) !! Comments
|-
| {{w|Appendix_(anatomy)|Appendix}} || 3% || 85% || Maintaining gut flora, introducing pathogens to the immune system || Uselessness; extraneousness || The appendix is vestigial and was long assumed to have no useful function, and thus could be removed with minimal consequences. Modern research has shown that it retains utility as reservoir for useful micro-organisms. It is also unclear whether metaphorical usages have in mind the body part, or the alternative usage referring to a part of a publication.
|-
| {{w|Nerves}} || 40% || 90% || Sensing stimuli, and controlling muscles and organs || Courage; lack of courage; unsettledness; arrogance; (emotional) feeling ||
|-
| {{w|Spine}} || 50% || 80% || Holding other bones up, protecting the spinal cord || Courage; resoluteness; structural integrity; centrality ||
|-
| {{w|Heart}} || 80% || 90% || Circulation of blood || Emotion; feeling; sympathy; love; courage; resilience; core; essence; the vulnerable self || The function of the heart is (relatively) easy to understand, since it is, in essence, a circulatory pump. However, it has long been culturally associated with emotion and resolve.
|-
| {{w|Bones}} || 75% || 80% || Holding the body up, protection of underlying organs || Basic/underlying structure; something hidden; core; essence; an issue of debate || Bone marrow is the actual source of blood, associated with {{w|four humours|sanguine moods}}, previously believed to be created in the liver
|-
| {{w|Stomach}} || 70% || 65% || Repository for cake and other, less important, foods || Ability to tolerate unpleasant circumstances; motivation || The stomach's primary function is as part of the digestive system, but it's often one of the first organs impacted by illness or disgust, which has made a strong stomach a metaphor for constitution and resolve.
|-
| {{w|Liver}} || 10% || 48% || Processing alcohol and other less important metabolic functions like glycemia regulation, toxin processing, decomposition/production of amino acids and lipids, etc. || Courage or lack thereof (e.g., lily-livered) || Actual source of yellow bile, stored in the gall bladder, associated with {{w|four humours|choleric moods}} but previously believed to be the source of blood
|-
| {{w|Lungs}} || 60% || 52% || Oxygenation of blood, exhalation of carbon dioxide || Loudness (e.g., of singing); purification; aerobic stamina || Source of phlegm, associated with {{w|four humours|phlegmatic moods}}
|-
| {{w|Spleen}} || 22% || 34% || Storing extra blood, filtering blood for damaged cells and pathogens || Anger; viciousness, "venting one's spleen" || Source of black bile, associated with {{w|four humours|melancholy}}
|-
| {{w|Thymus}} || 10% || 13% || Training immune cells (T-Cells) || ||
|-
| {{w|Kidneys}} || 47% || 19% || Filtering blood for metabolic wastes and excess minerals || ||
|-
| {{w|Pineal gland}} || 2% || 2% || Produces melatonin || || Philosophers from Herophilus to Descartes speculated that the pineal gland might be the seat of the soul, or regulate the flow of vital spirits, or otherwise serve an important metaphysical function.
|-
| {{w|Tongue}} || 70% || 5% || Taste, chewing, speaking || Language; unidentified speakers (particularly in relation to gossip/secrets); something long and extended ||
|}

As [[Randall]] does not provide any examples, only his general ratings, it is not entirely clear whether he has restricted himself to metaphors drawing upon the nature of organs (e.g. "heart of the city" or "bone dry") and/or metaphorically describing these organs in terms of another idea ("a heart of gold" or "his bones turned to jelly"). As well as metaphor, the assessment might also involve all closely related (or overlapping) rhetorical devices such as {{w|simile}} ("his heart fluttered like a butterfly"), {{w|metonymy}} ("my mother tongue"), other references with an intent more figurative than literal ("he was a bundle of nerves"), or misattributed bodily functions ("I feel it in my bones"). As such, any contributed examples given here could be disputed in all but the broadest of terms.

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown with X and Y-axis without arrow or ticks. To the left of the Y-axis and below the X-axis there are labels with an arrow pointing up from the top of the Y-axis label and an arrow pointing right above the X-axis label, just beneath the x-axis.]
:Y-axis: How well I understand what it means when used in metaphors
:X-axis: How well I understand its actual biological function

:[On the graph is a scatter plot with 13 labels. Each label is written inside a line that goes just around the words. There are most in the top right corner, but they are spread all over the graph. Here in approximate reading order from top left with indicating of where on the graph the words are located:]
:[Top left:]
:Appendix
:[Top middle:]
:Nerves
:Spine
:[Top right:]
:Heart
:Bones
:Stomach
:[Center left:]
:Liver
:Spleen
:[Center right:]
:Lungs
:[Bottom left:]
:Thymus
:Pineal gland
:[Bottom middle:]
:Kidneys
:[Bottom right:]
:Tongue

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:1380: Manual for Civilization

2024-07-18T07:21:34Z

172.69.195.231:

There's probably some connection between Eno and animorphs/post-apocalyptic earth, but because I don't know him, I only added info on the animorphs [[User:Shadowmanwkp|Shadowmanwkp]] ([[User talk:Shadowmanwkp|talk]]) 08:40, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

Brian Eno is associated with Long Now foundation as a board member: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Now_Foundation
--------
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.222.45|108.162.222.45]] 08:50, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

The joke at the end of the comic about the list being 'all' animorph books is not that not all animorph books are included in the list but that the list contains the megamorph and the andalite books in addition to all the animorph books. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.92.231|141.101.92.231]] 09:03, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

I wonder why only Megamorphs and Andalite Chronicles were mentioned. Does Eno not like the others? 12:40, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

Yeah, and aren't there also the Hork-Bajir Chronicles? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.58|172.68.34.58]] 14:56, 20 March 2024 (UTC)

Am I the only one who saw "Manual for Civilization" and thought: "I am Gandhi of the Indians. Our words are backed with NUCLEAR weapons. We have decided to rid the world of your pathetic civilization. Goodbye." -? Ah, that takes me back. Sid Meier, you owe me many hours. [[User:Fluppeteer|Fluppeteer]] ([[User talk:Fluppeteer|talk]]) 13:15, 11 June 2014 (UTC)
:Great comment - yes he ''owes me'' a lot of hours too! I had not seen it but it is very obvious - although probably not intended ;) [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:38, 11 June 2014 (UTC)
:: It's what happens when you don't properly program your peaceniks. (To those who don't know, Gandhi in the original Civ had an Aggression stat of 1. When a nation went democratic, it would reduce their Aggression stat by 2. Due to an oversight, this meant Gandhi's Aggression went negative, and because of the way the game handled (or didn't handle) negative numbers, it meant a democratic Gandhi went from 1 to 255 points worth of pure omnicidal nuclear rage.) -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/162.158.2.221|162.158.2.221]] 04:53, 11 June 2015 (UTC)
::: This is an urban legend. It was actually impossible for the score in the game to go negative. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.140.143|172.68.140.143]] 21:50, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

I disagree with the Asimov Foundation pun - I do not think Randall refeers to that at all. It was put at the top before the explain of the Amorph books. As it is a side issue I moved it down to the bottom of the explain where it might belong. But I think it should be removed! But I will leave that for others to decide! [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:38, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

:The first thing I thought of when seeing "Long Now Foundation" and the reference to a person saying books are needed to help rebuild society ''was'' Asimov's Foundation series. So I think it should remain in the explanation. It my not be a pun, but I think significant reference to it is possible, and maybe likely. --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 17:34, 11 June 2014 (UTC)
:: For what it's worth, the Long Now Foundation really is building a Manual for Civilization: http://blog.longnow.org/02010/04/06/manual-for-civilization/ --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.113|199.27.128.113]] 18:55, 11 June 2014 (UTC)
::: Thank you for linking to this! I came to this explainxkcd page because I wanted to know the answer to that very question. I think this link should be included in the article. {{unsigned ip|199.27.130.210}}
::: For the record, I had the idea for a "Post-apocalyptic Survival Guide" in 2008. I believe 3 text-book sized volumes could contain enough information on wilderness knowledge, engineering, science, medicine, and psychology for an individual or small community to exist quite happily. I considered making it a wiki, but that defeats the purpose, since nobody's going to have internet after an apocalypse. If you're actually trying to rebuild society to its present advancement, the hard part won't be finding the information, it will be finding people more interested in rebuilding than in their own survival. ''The Postman'' comes to mind...--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.55|108.162.215.55]] 20:58, 11 June 2014 (UTC)
::::Actually, we can assume there WILL be some warning apocalypse is coming. Post-apocalyptic Survival Guide must therefore be wiki-based system with simple "print" button, to be pressed (on multiple computers) in moment of such warning, immediately transferring the data to local computer before the Internet collapses and printed hopefully before the electrical grid collapses (and/or backup generators run out of fuel). -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:34, 14 June 2014 (UTC)
:::::I think the best method, considering the quantity of information such a guide could contain in electronic form, would be to make it a wiki that is published as an app that receives regular content updates. Each device with the app would sync and retain a full copy of the entire guide. In order to ensure the device continues to function post-apocalypse, the app would come with instructions for protecting a device from damage/EMP and for generating power. I'd love to market a ruggedized and EMP shielded tablet with a hand generator.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.130|108.162.215.130]] 16:20, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

:::: ::::: I've had a stab at writing such a manual for rebooting civilisation, at least as far as is possible in a single hardback, in a popular science book published this year called "The Knowledge: How to Rebuild our World from Scratch" ( [http://the-knowledge.org/en-gb/buy-the-book/] ). The complete bibliography for the book should offer a pretty complete library for genuinely restarting from scratch ( [http://the-knowledge.org/en-gb/bibliography/] ). And if you're interested, I've also contributed a selection to The Manual for Civilization for The Long Now Foundation ( [http://blog.longnow.org/02014/04/19/the-knowledge/] ) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.8|141.101.98.8]]{Lewis Dartnell}

---

:: I always though that in Asimov's Foundation, the Encyclopedia Galactica itself was not actual point. The point was that the Foundation, that is the organization writing the Encyclopedia, consisted of large amount of educated people concentrated on one place and equipped with lot of informations they supposedly were formating for inclusion into the Encyclopedia. So, when the Empire collapsed, they could start rebuilding civilization with this initial advantage. Not speaking of other advantages Seldon prepared, like the position of that place. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:34, 14 June 2014 (UTC)

"If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generation of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis that all things are made of atoms — little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another. In that one sentence, you will see, there is an enormous amount of information about the world, if just a little imagination and thinking are applied." - Richard P. Feynman (quote mentioned in Daniel Bor's "The Ravenous Brain", and sourced from: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/11/richard-feynman-lectures-on-physics/) [[Special:Contributions/108.162.208.169|108.162.208.169]] 17:40, 11 June 2014 (UTC)

Don't have time to create an account today, or I would do so to correct a typo: Asimov's character's first name was "Hari", not "Harry" (Seldon). Sorry if this seems like nitpicking...
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.114|108.162.241.114]] 16:36, 12 June 2014 (UTC)

---

Any reference in this comic to "The Knowledge"[http://the-knowledge.org/en-gb/]? {{unsigned ip|108.162.246.210}}

--> Not directly, I don't think, no. {Lewis Dartnell} {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.8}}

---

I wonder whether part of the point of this comic is that Eno/the experts are implicitly suggesting that the most likely failure mode for civilization is that humanity will be taken over by Yeerks and that the Animorph books therefore represent the best guide to recovery. And if the experts believe this then most likely they believe that the Yeerks are here already (otherwise, why Animorphs not some other alien invasion story?) And of course is very hard to prove the Yeerks AREN'T here. Which also makes me wonder whether that means the experts/Eno are, themselves, Animorphs since who else would know about Yeerks and be prepared to talk about it?

[[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.237|108.162.249.237]] 04:14, 28 June 2014 (UTC)

--------

the KISS in the end would be a reference to lovemaking, creating children and thus the most vital aspect of recreating civilization! {{unsigned|Solsang}}

--------

My only question is... How many of these books did Randall read to know that *that* is the most ohmygod worthy moment of the series? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.235|108.162.210.235]] 05:28, 10 July 2014 (UTC)
:yes [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.231|172.69.195.231]] 07:21, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

2942: Fluid Speech

2024-06-06T14:30:58Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2942
| date = June 5, 2024
| title = Fluid Speech
| image = fluid_speech_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x406px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Thank you to linguist Gretchen McCulloch for teaching me about phonetic assimilation, and for teaching me that if you stand around in public reading texts from a linguist and murmuring example phrases to yourself, people will eventually ask if you're okay.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by sum'un who wud rite like'is all'u time if e'cud gi'away with'd- Title text not adressed. How would the utterance of the fourth panels actually sound? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is about {{w|sandhi}}.

[[Randall]] states that people often unconsciously shorten words in various ways when speaking to optimize the fluidity of speech.
He then presents four side-view diagrams of the human mouth and paths depicting how it moves when saying increasingly fluid versions of "going to."

The first diagram gives the pronunciation /ɡoʊɪŋ tu/ ''GO-ing TO''. This is the version found in dictionaries and used when one is speaking slowly and deliberately. Here, the tongue and lips have to move a lot. The phrase starts at the back of the throat with the velar /g/ and moves forward through the diphthong /oʊ/ and the approximant [w] to the near-close vowel /ɪ/. (Though it's not in the traditional IPA transcription or the comic, most native accents will insert [w] between [ʊ] and another vowel.) The tongue then has to move all the way back for another velar consonant /ŋ/, followed by an even bigger jump forwards to the alveolar /t/ and back again for the back vowel /u/. Since /t/ is a voiceless consonant, the vocal cords will briefly stop vibrating, interrupting the sound, which the diagram illustrates as a gap in the path.

The second diagram shows a slightly more efficient pronunciation, in which the /ŋ/ is replaced by an /n/ instead since both /n/ and /t/ are alveolar sounds. The final /u/ weakens to the more neutrally positioned /ə/, which is the "default" vowel (aka you should be making this sound if you relax your mouth completely and give a small grunt). (For more about Schwa, see [[2907: Schwa]].) All doubling back of the tongue is now removed, leaving only a small, nearly closed loop.

The third diagram shows an even more efficient and very common pronunciation of the phrase, /ɡʌnə/ ''GUN-na''. Here rather than optimizing tongue movement hard-to-pronounce sounds are removed or further replaced instead. The /t/ is dropped leaving only /n/, while the vowel(s) of the first syllable go from /o/ to /ʌ/ between which the only difference is the optional rounding, or pursing of the lips - though more likely given Randall Munroe's prior comics demonstrating a {{w|Phonological history of English close back vowels#STRUT–COMMA merger|ꜱᴛʀᴜᴛ-coᴍᴍᴀ merger}}, a supposed /ə/.

The fourth diagram shows the most reduced pronunciation. The /n/ is lost as a consonant in its own right, with only remnants of its existence found by the nasalisation of the preceding vowel where part of the airflow is redirected through the nose. (This is, incidentally, the same manner how French got its famous nasal sounds - sequences of what used to be vowel + /n/ from Latin were reduced.) This way, the only motions one must make is to draw the tongue to the back of the mouth to articulate the /ɡ/, although the epiglottis or other laryngial elements may also be employed in the modulation of such rear-mouth plosive effects.

In the bottom text, Randall comments on the perception of reduced pronunciations, remarking that while many perceive them as being sloppy, in reality deliberately pronouncing each word with the "supposed" pronunciation in its dictionary form sounds stilted, forced, and unnatural. The final 't' in the word "hot" is an example of this. Most people perceive the plosive /t/ to be the "full" pronunciation of the letter 't', but in reality 't' has many possible allophones depending on its position and one's accent. After a vowel and before a consonant (as in 'hoT potato'), it is almost always pronounced as a glottal stop [ʔ].

The title text is a serious shout-out to linguist Gretchen McCulloch who has been teaching Randall about this stuff, but includes a joke about what happens when he tries these things out in public.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Above the panel:]
:Fun fact: Experienced speakers constantly merge, drop, and alter sounds when talking at normal conversational speed to optimize for efficient mouth movement.

:[The panel shows four labeled side profiles of a mouth with paths of sounds made in different parts of the mouth. There is a label "More fluid" with an arrow pointing to the right. From left to right:]

:[Label:]
:Going to
:/ɡoʊɪŋ tu/
:[Path:] G O >> I >> NG >> >> >> T >> >> O

:[Label:]
:Goin' to
:/ɡoʊɪn tə/
:[Path:] G O >> I >> N T >> >> O

:[Label:]
:Gonna
:/ɡʌn.ə/
:[Path:] G O >> NN >> A

:[Label:]
:How fluent speakers ''actually'' say it when speaking rapidly
:/ɡə̃/
:[Path:] G >> >> ə̃

:[Below the panel:]
:If you think ''you'' don't do this, try to use "hot potato" in a sentence and fully pronounce the first "t" without sounding like an alien impersonating a human.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Fun fact]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Gretchen McCulloch]]

2940: Modes of Transportation

2024-06-05T15:06:43Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2940
| date = May 31, 2024
| title = Modes of Transportation
| image = modes_of_transportation_2x.png
| imagesize = 510x518px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = My bold criticism might anger the hot air balloon people, which would be a real concern if any of them lived along a very narrow line directly upwind of me.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Transportationally convenient but insidiously dangerous robotic car - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Randall's chart compares different modes of transportation by how convenient and dangerous they are. At the top-left (high in convenience and low in danger) are airliners and trains, as these are both fast-moving vehicles on which many millions of dollars have been spent to make them safer. In the top-right, motorcycles are at the same convenience level, but are rated much more dangerous, since they are easy to lose control of at high speeds, and careless drivers (of cars) can easily hit a motorcycle and cause extreme harm. Things like unicycles (bottom-left) are considered much lower on the convenience scale, being not very fast or easy ways to travel, but relatively safe, while towards the centre, skis are apparently moderately convenient and moderately dangerous, since they are relatively easy to fall on if going fast downhill. Way out on their own in the bottom-right, hot air balloons appear to be unique in being rated least on convenience and highest on danger. Presumably, modes of transportation similar to hot air balloons (like zeppelins and blimps) are left off the chart to increase the gap for comedic effect.

The modes are grouped into several zones by darkened backgrounds -- the easiest or most effective that are also the safest ones (trains, cars, walking, biking, boats, etc.) are in the '''Zone of Practicality''' at the upper left. The ones that are mixed, ranging from very useful for travel but dangerous (motorcycles and helicopters) in the upper-right, through moderately dangerous and moderately unpractical (go karts, skateboards, rollerblades, skis, light aircraft) in the middle, to quite safe but totally unpractical for travel (bumper cars, unicycles, sleds) in the lower-left are in the '''Zone of Specialty or Recreational Vehicles'''. At the extreme of dangerous and very unpractical (lower-right) is a zone labeled simply '''?????''' containing one only mode: Hot Air Balloons.

Because a hot air balloon is rated so poorly, if an optimization algorithm considers it the optimal mode of transportation, it must be the result of a sign error (e.g. having a minus sign where a plus sign is supposed to be, or vice versa), making the algorithm optimize for the opposite result by mistake. This could be because, unusually, on the y axis of the chart higher is better, whereas on the x axis lower is better. If these were treated the wrong way around, it would result in the air balloon appearing to be the best result. More typically, you might plot convenience vs ''safety'', so that a higher value on either axis would represent a better result. However, both measures are still likely to need to take underlying data (for safety, incident counts, etc.; for convenience, travel time, etc.) and invert them, leading to potential for errors.

In order to compare the relative danger from each mode of transport, one can look at statistics of fatalities and injuries sustained during each activity. Traditionally this can be reported in fatalities/{{w|Killed_or_Seriously_Injured|KSI}} per mile driven or passenger mile (or other unit of distance), to account for the fact that some modes are used much more than others and make valid comparisons. They may also be reported per capita (but this ignores the relative usage of different modes), or per journey (but this doesn't take into account the fact that different modes typically have different journey lengths and times). All of these are somewhat flawed, since they are really measuring the danger ''to'' users of that mode of transport, both from their own conveyance, and from other sources such as other road users. Since ballooning is not a very common mode of transport, hot air balloon incidents are [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9533500/ correspondingly uncommon], and flights are not routinely monitored or registered, it is difficult to draw strong conclusions from the data for hot air balloons.

The title text makes a joke that if a hot air balloon enthusiast disagrees with the ranking and is angered by it, they may wish to remonstrate or retaliate, but will have a difficult time getting to Randall's house with their preferred mode of transportation, because they are limited to travelling in the direction of the wind. If they chose an alternative form of transport, they would be making his point for him. In reality, hot air balloons have some freedom to choose their direction of travel, since by controlling their altitude they can access different wind directions at different heights. Randall should, therefore, be concerned about hot air balloonists who live within a wedge spanned by the various wind directions accessible on a given day. In principle, if the weather conditions are favorable, this could cover every direction from Randall's house. The phrase "hot air balloon people" is reminiscent of "autogyro people" from the title text of [[1972: Autogyros]].

Curiously, the comic includes most common forms of transport, and a number of less common ones, but omits examples such as buses (a mass transit solution arguably more convenient than trains). It is not clear if this is an error, or a deliberate choice to maintain the comic's layout and presentation.

This is the second comic in a row to feature an algorithm.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Transportation !! Description !! Convenience !! Danger !! Zone
|-
|{{w|Train}}s
|Mass transit on rails, typically between urban centers.
|data-sort-value=""|Convenient and comfortable, provided proper funding/maintenance and filled timetables. Allows relatively cheap travel for many people at once.
|data-sort-value=""|Exceedingly safe, due to dedicated tracks along a controlled environment. In places with strong safety regulations and well-maintained infrastructure, fatalities are generally limited to individuals wandering onto the off-limit tracks.
|Practicality
|-
|{{w|Airliner}}s
|Mass transit by aircraft
|data-sort-value=""| Extremely fast travel between population centers for larger groups of people. Less comfortable and more expensive than trains.
|data-sort-value=""| Extremely safe due to strong regulation and relatively little traffic interactions. However, the few catastrophies that do happen have high death counts.
|Practicality
|-
|{{w|Car}}s
|Motorised road vehicle Most common method of long distance travel, used by many individuals to reach specific destinations
|data-sort-value=""| Owners of a car can usually go easily to any road-accessible location within a 200 mile/300 km radius. Requires constant focus, but can transport a few passengers or some cargo. Parking, maintenance, and infrastructure requirements are often ignored when judging car convenience.
|data-sort-value=""| While collisions can be extremely serious, due to the high speeds and large mass of most cars, decades of advancement have resulted in most cars being designed around safety considerations, which protect the passengers from serious injuries in most accidents. While road fatalities remain high in many countries, the per-mile rate rate of injury and death is relatively low, compared to many means of transit in this chart.
|Practicality
|-
|Scooters
|Either: 
*{{w|Kick scooter}} - Less convenient than the placing would suggest.
*{{w|Scooter (motorcycle)|Low powered motorbike/moped}} - More dangerous than the placing would suggest.
*{{w|Motorized scooter|Engine-powered scooter}} - A middle-ground.
|data-sort-value=""| Kick scooter-style vehicles are probably less convenient than bicycles as they do not provide seating, and are less efficient at converting energy into motion. A low-powered motorbike is about as convenient as a bicycle, requiring refueling in lieu of pedalling, and going much faster.
|data-sort-value=""| Kick scooters are much slower – and therefore safer – than bicycles. Some motorized scooters can reach speeds comparable to car travel, but they are usually limited to speeds around average cycling speeds. Falling from one might be slightly safer than from a bicycle. Low-powered motorbikes often go much faster than bicycles, and would therefore be much more dangerous. All leave the rider vulnerable to danger from motorised traffic sharing the same space.
|Practicality
|-
|{{w|Bicycle}}s
|Human-powered (or {{w|Electric bicycle|mostly so}}) two-wheeled road vehicle
|data-sort-value=""| Assuming proper road or trail connections, bicycles are highly flexible for traveling to any location within a ~10 km radius, or further. They are a very efficient use of human power for producing motion.
|data-sort-value=""| Bicycles mostly move slow enough for falls or collisions to have little impact, though they are vulnerable to motorized traffic where it shares the road. Around 66% of fatal bicycle accidents occur due to collisions with cars, vans, or trucks.<ref>[https://swov.nl/en/fact-sheet/cyclists#:~:text=The%20crash%20registration%20shows%20that,occurred%20in%20single%2Dbicycle%20crashes swov.nl on cyclists].</ref>
|Practicality
|-
|{{w|Boat}}s
|Watercraft of various types
|data-sort-value=""| Specialized for water traffic, which is a very common form of transportation. Quite comfortable (unless you suffer from seasickness), but usually very slow.
|data-sort-value=""| Sinking, capsizing, or falling overboard, whether by collision or misuse, can be lethal, especially on the sea. However, collisions are very rare.
|Practicality
|-
|{{w|Walking}}
|Personal bipedal ambulation 
|data-sort-value=""| Can travel between any two connected points regardless of infrastructure, but most people only find it comfortable for a few kilometers. Very slow compared to even bicycles, but the energy intensity is good for exercise.
|data-sort-value=""| Due to the slow speed of walking, it's extremely rare for the activity to cause serious injuries or death. The primary risk from walking itself is falling, particularly down stairs or from some other height. Walking may expose a person to outside risks (eg: vehicle collisions, weather exposure, wildlife encounters, crime), but the act of walking itself is exceptionally safe.
|Practicality
|-
|{{w|Motorcycle}}s
|...
|data-sort-value=""| As practical as cars to move between locations, and sometimes quicker, due to the ability to filter in traffic, but generally less comfortable, especially in rough weather.
|data-sort-value=""| Motorcycles generally move as fast as cars, introducing all of the dangers that come with speed. Having two wheels, rather than four, there's a significantly higher risk of losing control and falling. Being smaller than a car, there's more danger of not being seen in a potential collision. Most importantly, the driver is fully exposed, lacking both the enclosure of a car or truck and all of the safety features that come with it, and has no protection other than any personal gear they're wearing. In consequence, motorcycles have a per-mile fatality rate 25 times higher than cars.
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Helicopter}}s
| Rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors.
|data-sort-value=""| Effective to move between any two points as long as there are landing pads of reasonable size. Can be used to hover relatively still in the air. Speed for utility helicopters is comparable to trains. Very loud, and very difficult to learn to fly.
|data-sort-value=""| As per {{w|Harry Reasoner}}: "An airplane by its nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or by a deliberately incompetent pilot, it will fly. A helicopter does not want to fly. It is maintained in the air by a variety of forces and controls working in opposition to each other, and if there is any disturbance in this delicate balance the helicopter stops flying; immediately and disastrously. There is no such thing as a gliding helicopter."
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Light aircraft}}
|In the United States, the general category of [https://www.faa.gov/aircraft/air_cert/design_approvals/small_airplanes/categories small aircraft] covers a variety of aircraft certified to weigh 19,000 pounds (8618 kg) or less at takeoff. Maximum allowed weight varies by specific category.
|data-sort-value=""|Convenience greatly depends on style of aircraft, proximity of airfields to intended destination as well as "first and final mile" transportation, etc. In many areas the need for a trained pilot as well as costs and time spent on the ground at an airfield ("taxi time"), plotting and filing of flight plans, and the variability of weather conditions make surface transportation (automobiles, trains, buses) and scheduled heavy commercial aircraft more practical. However, in areas such as the Alaskan interior and north slope, light airplane travel becomes critically important for living and working in remote areas.
|data-sort-value=""|
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Go-kart}}s
|Low profile, [https://www.cpsc.gov/FAQ/Fun-CartsGo-Karts unregulated], four-wheel, motorized platforms that are not {{w|Street-legal vehicle|street legal}}
|data-sort-value=""| A lack of proper suspension makes for a bumpy ride, poor clearance would leave them at risk of grounding on more uneven terrain, and the maximum speed is quite low.
|data-sort-value=""| Crashing is much more likely to cause spinal damage than bicycles, but the relatively low speed would make them much safer than other motorized vehicle options.
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Skateboard}}s
| A board on four wheels
|data-sort-value=""| Much slower and less energy-efficient than bicycles.
|data-sort-value=""| As long as you're not doing mad tricks in a quarterpipe, using a skateboard for transportation carries little risk, other than being struck by other users of the same space. Safety gear is common.
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Inline skates|Rollerblades}}
| Shoes with a single line of wheels at the bottom
|data-sort-value=""| Much slower and less energy-efficient than bicycles.
|data-sort-value=""| As long as you're not doing mad tricks in a quarterpipe, using rollerblades for transportation carries little risk, other than being struck by other users of the same space. Safety gear is common.
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Ski}}s
| Narrow strips of material to stand on while sliding across a low-friction surface
|data-sort-value=""| A fine way to move downhill relatively fast, but maintenance of the slope is required. Also a fairly quick way to travel on the flat when there is snow cover that would make other modes of transport challenging. Less useful in less conducive conditions.
|data-sort-value=""|Downhill skiers can reach high speeds at which collisions could cause significant injury to the skier's lightly protected body. It can be hard to control your speed at lower skill levels, but as long as low speeds are maintained (as it might when used as a transportation option), skiing is not that dangerous.
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Unicycle}}s
| One-wheeled human-powered vehicle
|data-sort-value=""|While it can be a [https://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/24351890.wellington-teen-circumnavigates-globe-unicycle/ practical form of transport] for skilled riders, unicycles are very low on the "convenience" scale. Having only a single wheel makes balance much more difficult, especially over longer distances, and the lack of gearing makes pedalling less efficient and more taxing, particularly as road conditions change.
|data-sort-value=""| While riders may be more likely to fall off unicycles than bicycles (particularly when new to them), the low speed and minimal height mean that falls are highly unlikely to cause serious injuries. Despite their difficulty, it's almost unheard of for people to die in unicycle accidents, though low usage rates mean that drawing conclusions from injury data is problematic.
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Sled}}s
| A construction that can slide over snow, ice, or sand
|data-sort-value=""| Useful in limited conditions in which other forms of transport might struggle to cope with.
|data-sort-value=""| It is hard to properly control your speed downhill, but extremely safe on level terrain or slight slopes.
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Bumper Cars}}
| Small electric karts with rubber bumpers
|data-sort-value=""| Only really convenient for making ''very'' short journeys. Typically require an electronic mesh in the ceiling to move at all.
|data-sort-value=""| Because these vehicles usually travel only at very slow speeds, are confined to a small and controlled area, and are protected by large, shock-absorbing bumpers, the risk of serious or fatal injury is low, though riders may be at risk from whiplash, bracing injuries, or impact injuries to hands placed outside the car. Many operators will have rules against ramming other cars head-on, to minimise the risk of injuries.
|Speciality/Recreational
|-
|{{w|Hot Air Balloon}}s
| A basket tied to a huge bag of heated air
|data-sort-value=""| Provide limited control and low speeds. They were the primary form of air-travel available in the 19th-century, but were overtaken by powered air-travel.
|data-sort-value=""| A malfunction in the balloon can result in a very rapid descent, from great height. A poorly executed descent could result in a mid-air collision (e.g. with trees, powerlines, etc.) with potential for a nasty fall. The air that provides the lift is heated by a flame, which may be open, and the envelope catching fire would very likely cause an uncontrolled descent with high likelihood of death. Further known dangers are malfunctions of the propane tanks fueling the burner causing an explosion and falling down the edge of the basket due to improper or no tethering. While accidents aren't especially common, this is because hot air balloons are not common forms of transit. The number of injuries per passenger-mile is at least as high as any other form of transit in this chart.
|?????
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A chart is shown, where the Y axis is labeled "Convenient for travel" and has an arrow pointing up and the X axis is labeled "Dangerous" and has an arrow pointing right.]
:[In gray text, "Zone of practicality" points to a large irregular area fitting in to the top left corner of the chart with a gray background. The following modes are shown in this area, starting with the first few bunched at highest convenience:]
::Trains [very convenient, very safe]
::Airliners
::Cars
::Scooters [the most dangerous of this set, at medium-low danger]
::Bicycles
::Boats [medium-high convenience, a slight amount of danger]
::Walking [the least convienient, at roughly half, and lowest danger of this set]
:[In gray text, "Zone of specialty and recreational vehicles" points to a large irregular swathe from the top right to the bottom left with a gray background. The following modes are shown in this area, with the nodes spread in rough order from high convenience/danger to low convenience/danger:]
::Motorcycles [highly convenient, nearly maximum danger]
::Helicopters [not quite fully convenient, most danger]
::Light aircraft
::Go karts
::Skateboards
::Rollerblades
::Skis
::Unicycles
::Sleds
::Bumper cars [lowest convenience and lowest danger item]
:[In gray text, "?????" points to a small blob in the bottom right corner with a gray background, notably distant from the nearest other group. A single mode is included in this area:]
::Hot air balloons [placed as almost the least convenient and most dangerous, of all labels]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Hot air balloons are the optimal mode of transportation, if your optimization algorithm has a sign error.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]

2939: Complexity Analysis

2024-05-31T16:19:21Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2939
| date = May 29, 2024
| title = Complexity Analysis
| image = complexity_analysis_2x.png
| imagesize = 430x361px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = PERPETUALLY OPTIMISTIC CASE: Early in the execution, our research group makes a breakthrough in proving P=NP.
}}

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

[[Cueball]] is teaching about an algorithm's complexity. The average-case complexity of the algorithm is written in {{w|Big O notation}} as O(''n'' log ''n''), expressing the asymptotic runtime of the algorithm as the number of inputs to it grows larger and larger.

The comic's joke involves taking the terms "best case" and "worst case" far more broadly and literally than intended. Cueball presents not just the best/worst cases for the data input into the function, but also the global environment as a whole, taking in factors such as the United States Congress which should fall ''far'' outside the algorithm's scope.

In particular, the joke regards the analysis of a closed system, which is common in engineering. Recently, technology has become so prevalent and integrated with humanity, that conventionally closed systems are now behaving openly. Results regarding external feedback on engineering choices have been emerging on the world stage. People have been engineering more and more for the larger situation possibly using more {{w|Game theory}} than Big O, but continuing to use the analytical approaches that assume systems are closed produces ridiculous results because living beings and societies are now in the loop.

An algorithm's "best case" is typically its runtime when its inputs have optimal values and it runs in as little time as possible. One example would be a sorting algorithm that is called with an already-sorted list of numbers. The joke here is that not only does it run quicker than this by being terminated early because it's 'unnecessary', but its runtime appears to be an hour shorter still because of an act of Congress changing {{w|daylight saving time}}, giving it an end time (in local time) that is an hour less than it would otherwise have been. Potentially this would result in an end time that is less than its start time, and therefore an apparently ''negative'' 'runtime'. Daylight saving time is a [[:Category: Daylight saving time|recurrent theme]] on xkcd, and it is clear that Randall is not a fan, so Congress making surprise DST changes is another way for Randall to mock the concept.

The "worst case" refers to the movie {{w|Groundhog Day (movie)|Groundhog Day}}, in which the same events occur over and over in a sort of time loop. (This movie has been referenced before in [[1076|1076: Groundhog Day]].) If the hardware running the algorithm is stuck in this kind of loop that resets to a previous time before it finishes, then the algorithm would never terminate. This gives rise to a philosophical question about the movie as to whether the whole world is reset after every day, or just the town where the movie takes place. If it is just the town, and you could still connect to their hardware from outside, then from that perspective the algorithm would appear to be taking an interminably long time to run. If the whole world resets, since people (aside from the movie's main character) do not experience the reset, it would only appear to take as long as it did on the final day when it was completed.

This may be an indirect reference to the {{w|halting problem}}, a famous problem in computer science. The halting problem is {{w|undecidable}}, meaning that no general algorithm can tell whether a given algorithm will halt, but the widely accepted traditional proof of this relies on external action on details of a system considered closed.

The title text refers to perhaps an even more famous problem in computer science: {{w|P versus NP problem|P versus NP}}. This asks whether every problem whose solution can be quickly verified (in nondeterministic polynomial time, {{w|NP_(complexity)|NP}}) can also be quickly solved (in polynomial time, {{w|polynomial time|P}}). The P-versus-NP problem is one of the seven {{w|Millennium Prize Problems}}, and as such has a $1 million prize for its solution. Presumably, the problem discussed here is in NP, so if P=NP, its worst-case runtime would be some polynomial O(''nk)''. However, P vs. NP is a Millennium Prize Problem for a reason; most computer scientists expect that P≠NP, so hoping for a breakthrough in proving P=NP is "perpetually optimistic". This may be a reference to {{w|Optimism bias}} and the {{w|Planning fallacy}}, whereby people tend to assume that the most favourable outcome will be the most likely.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is holding a presentation pointer stick, pointing to a table behind him that towers above him. The table has a heading above it and then two columns and three rows. the first column is slim and the second much broader.]

:[Table Heading]
::Results of algorithm complexity analysis:

:[Row 1]
::Average case
::O(n log n)

:[Row 2]
::Best case
::Algorithm turns out to be unnecessary and is halted, then Congress enacts surprise daylight saving time and we gain an hour

:[Row 3]
::Worst case
::Town in which hardware is located enters a Groundhog Day scenario, algorithm never terminates

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]
[[Category:Fiction]]

2917: Types of Eclipse Photo

2024-04-09T17:02:16Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2917
| date = April 8, 2024
| title = Types of Eclipse Photo
| image = types_of_eclipse_photo_2x.png
| imagesize = 594x460px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The most rare, top-tier eclipse photo would be the Solar Earth Eclipse, but the Apollo 12 crew's attempt to capture it was marred by camera shake. They said it looked spectacular, though.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an AUSTRALIAN CLOUD FROM THE FUTURE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about the {{w|Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024|recent total solar eclipse}} visible in North America. The last photograph refers to a that will cross the Australian continent.

'''The Standard:''' A photo of the solar eclipse during totality, a typical photo most people might hope to take.

'''The Partial:''' A photo of the eclipse in progress, likely approaching totality. Another typical photo most viewers take as the eclipse progresses, or the sum total image that could have been taken if not able to be at the [[2914: Eclipse Coolness|right time/place]] to properly observe totality.

'''The Reaction Shot:''' Some people will choose to take a photo of their reaction or their friends' and/or family's reaction. Typically, this style is chosen to document something more personal to the viewer, since a large number of photos of the eclipse already exist online,{{Citation Needed}} and a shot of the crowd is perhaps a more foresighted way of documenting their personal presence under the phenomenon.

'''The Fancy Lens:''' A photo of this type, that features conspicuous {{w|solar prominence}}s, will almost certainly require a lot more preparation and equipment (the 'fancy lens', a tripod or other mounting, etc).

'''The Focus Issues:''' People new or unaware of the challenges of astral photography typically experience challenges focusing their lenses on astral bodies, especially if they are trying to fight against a confused auto-focus. The eclipse is no exception to this, and this type of photo pops up more frequently during this event because more people are taking photos of the sky than they usually would, who may be more in hope of getting a decent shot than liable to get one.

'''The Traffic Jam:''' On the way to the zone of totality, many people got stuck in traffic. The 2024 solar eclipse occurred in the range of nearly 200 million people and many millions were commuting to the zone.

'''The Astronaut:''' Astronauts on the ISS have a particularly unique view of the solar eclipse, seeing the Moon's shadow on the Earth's surface.

'''The "Frustratedly Looking up at the Cloud Situation in Australia for 2028":''' There was clouds over the Sun for a large portion of the country during the eclipse. Thus, a [[2915: Eclipse Clouds|frustrated onlooker]] would likely be looking up if the {{w|Solar eclipse of July 22, 2028|eclipse in Australia in 2028}} will also be cloudy, giving them second chance to see the eclipse in all its glory.

The title text refers to a [[:File:Apollo_12_view_of_Solar_Eclipse_(5052129615).jpg|photograph]] taken during the {{w|Apollo 12}} mission when the Earth came between the spacecraft and the Sun.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:<big>Types of Eclipse Photo</big>

:[Eclipse during totality]
:The standard

:[Partial eclipse with lighter sky]
:The partial

:[Two Cueballs and Ponytail looking and pointing at the sky]
:The reaction shot

:[Eclipse during totality with red "ribbons" around the Moon]
:The fancy lens

:[A blurry ring of light in the center]
:The focus issues

:[The rear of an SUV]
:The traffic jam

:[A dark circle on Earth's surface]
:The astronaut

:[A gray cover of clouds]
:The "frustratedly looking up the cloud situation in Australia for 2028"

==Trivia==
* The [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/types_of_eclipse_photo.png standard size] image was uploaded with a resolution/size of 8920 by 6909, larger than the supposed 2x version at 1189 by 921. This was likely an error.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Solar eclipses]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Photography]]

2917: Types of Eclipse Photo

2024-04-09T16:57:10Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2917
| date = April 8, 2024
| title = Types of Eclipse Photo
| image = types_of_eclipse_photo_2x.png
| imagesize = 594x460px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The most rare, top-tier eclipse photo would be the Solar Earth Eclipse, but the Apollo 12 crew's attempt to capture it was marred by camera shake. They said it looked spectacular, though.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an AUSTRALIAN CLOUD FROM THE FUTURE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about the {{w|Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024|recent total solar eclipse}} visible in North America. The last photograph refers to a that will cross the Australian continent.

'''The Standard:''' A photo of the solar eclipse during totality, a typical photo most people might hope to take.

'''The Partial:''' A photo of the eclipse in progress, likely approaching totality. Another typical photo most viewers take as the eclipse progresses, or the sum total image that could have been taken if not able to be at the [[2914: Eclipse Coolness|right time/place]] to properly observe totality.

'''The Reaction Shot:''' Some people will choose to take a photo of their reaction or their friends' and/or family's reaction. Typically, this style is chosen to document something more personal to the viewer, since a large number of photos of the eclipse already exist online,{{Citation Needed}} and a shot of the crowd is perhaps a more foresighted way of documenting their personal presence under the phenomenon.

'''The Fancy Lens:''' A photo of this type, that features conspicuous {{w|solar prominence}}s, will almost certainly require a lot more preparation and equipment (the 'fancy lens', a tripod or other mounting, etc).

'''The Focus Issues:''' People new or unaware of the challenges of astral photography typically experience challenges focusing their lenses on astral bodies, especially if they are trying to fight against a confused auto-focus. The eclipse is no exception to this, and this type of photo pops up more frequently during this event because more people are taking photos of the sky than they usually would, who may be more in hope of getting a decent shot than liable to get one.

'''The Traffic Jam:''' On the way to the zone of totality, many people got stuck in traffic. The 2024 solar eclipse occurred in the range of nearly 200 million people and many millions were commuting to the zone.

'''The Astronaut:''' Astronauts on the ISS have a particularly unique view of the solar eclipse.

'''The "Frustratedly Looking up at the Cloud Situation in Australia for 2028":''' There was clouds over the Sun for a large portion of the country during the eclipse. Thus, a frustrated onlooker would likely be looking up if the eclipse in Australia in 2028 will also be cloudy, giving them second chance to see the eclipse in all its glory.

The title text refers to a [[:File:Apollo_12_view_of_Solar_Eclipse_(5052129615).jpg|photograph]] taken during the {{w|Apollo 12}} mission when the Earth came between the spacecraft and the Sun.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:<big>Types of Eclipse Photo</big>

:[Eclipse during totality]
:The standard

:[Partial eclipse with lighter sky]
:The partial

:[Two Cueballs and Ponytail looking and pointing at the sky]
:The reaction shot

:[Eclipse during totality with red "ribbons" around the Moon]
:The fancy lens

:[A blurry ring of light in the center]
:The focus issues

:[The rear of an SUV]
:The traffic jam

:[A dark circle on Earth's surface]
:The astronaut

:[A gray cover of clouds]
:The "frustratedly looking up the cloud situation in Australia for 2028"

==Trivia==
* The [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/types_of_eclipse_photo.png standard size] image was uploaded with a resolution/size of 8920 by 6909, larger than the supposed 2x version at 1189 by 921. This was likely an error.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Solar eclipses]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Photography]]

1098: Star Ratings

2024-04-04T23:26:15Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */ Reword to avoid argument about whether it grammatically agrees best between "reviews ... ... push" or "... factor ... pushes"

{{comic
| number = 1098
| date = August 22, 2012
| title = Star Ratings
| image = star ratings.png
| titletext = I got lost and wandered into the world's creepiest cemetery, where the headstones just had names and star ratings. Freaked me out. When I got home I tried to leave the cemetery a bad review on Yelp, but as my hand hovered over the 'one star' button I felt this distant chill...
}}

==Explanation==
This comic deals with the idea that users when viewing online star ratings are usually heavily biased towards the best possible rating (five stars). As there are nine possible scores in the rating system in the comic (1 star, 1.5 stars, 2 stars...4.5 stars, and finally 5 stars), a rating of 3 out of 5 stars is supposed to represent "average" or "mediocre". Thus, anything above 3-and-a-half stars is supposed to be "good" and anything below 3-and-a-half stars is "bad". However, most people consider a four-star rating to be "OK", and everything below as "crap".

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Star Rating!! Randall's Conclusion || Explanation
|-
| 5 Stars || [Has Only One Review] || No product is so perfect that every user will give it five stars - as soon as one person gives it less than five, the overall review score will drop. Fake reviews are also factors that often push an aggregate score higher, although this is not addressed in the comic. For this reason, the only explanation for a five-star rating is that only a few users have voted, maybe only one.
|-
| 4.5 Stars || Excellent || When a business has many customers it's impossible to please all of them (or they did please them all and some are posting bad reviews as a cruel prank). However, 4.5 stars means almost everyone finds the business pleasant.
|-
| 4 Stars || OK || If it has 4 stars this means that a significant portion of the customers are having a bad experience at the store
|-
| 3.5 Stars - 0 Stars || Crap || 3.5 stars and below means a large percentage of people have a bad experience at the shop.
|}

The title text may refer to the folkloric practice of attributing a feeling of a chill to someone walking on your future grave. When Randall is back home he would like to give a bad rating on {{w|Yelp}} — a corporation that operates an "online urban guide" — and hovering his hand over the 'one-star' button, he was just 'walking' over the rating on his own future grave.

Another possible explanation for the title text is that the headstones are from people who gave the cemetery star ratings and were then murdered, having their given ratings displayed in the headstones. This would explain the chill Randall feels before clicking the one-star button.

Finally, the "world's creepiest cemetery, where the headstones just had names and star ratings" could simply be Randall not understanding he was in a Jewish cemetery where headstones have {{w|Star of David}}s on them. Note that these would exclusively be {{w|hexagram}}s, rather than the more usual five-pointed/ten-edged variety of concave {{w|star polygon}} used in actual rating systems.

See also: [[937: TornadoGuard]], another comic about star ratings.

==Transcript==
:Understanding online star ratings:

:5 stars: [Has only one review]
:4.5 stars: Excellent
:4 stars: OK
:3.5-1 star: Crap

==Trivia==
*The image at the end of [http://what-if.xkcd.com/69/ What-If 69] references this comic in the title text.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Online reviews]]

2765: Escape Speed

2024-02-16T16:32:07Z

172.69.195.231: Unbalanced. Presumed supposed to be level 3 header.

{{comic
| number = 2765
| date = April 19, 2023
| title = Escape Speed
| image = escape_speed_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x700px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Gotta go fast.
}}
{{TOC}}
*To experience the interactivity of the game, visit the {{xkcd|2765|original comic}}.

== Explanation ==
This interactive comic is similar to [[2712: Gravity]], which celebrated the release of ''[[What If? 2]]'', as you can visit different planets. Your fuel runs out and recharges slowly over time or instantly whenever you land. Like in Gravity, there is no "universal" point of view: the bottom of the window, "down", is oriented towards the object exerting the most gravity upon the player.

You begin on the Starting Planet, near Origin. To escape Origin's gravitational force, gain enough momentum by swinging a few times inside the large hidden tunnel that goes from the rollercoaster to the opposing side of the planet. However, note that it is possible to escape Origin’s gravitational pull by maneuvering the spacecraft counterclockwise around the Starting Planet, accelerating tangential to the surface above the figure yelling “WOW!” or “!MOM”. To help you find other planets there are also many small circles surrounding the spaceship indicating the locations of nearby or distant planets depending on how transparent these points are. Collecting circles with a star outline will improve the performance of the spaceship, such as by making the engine more efficient or increasing the rate at which the fuel recharges, and sometimes make you find a new item. Collecting small grey circles will instead just make you find an item, such as a rock with neat stripes, a cool bug, and a pretty leaf.

Most planets and celestial objects are inside of a large Crystal Sphere in which there is a visible navigable crack. Halfway through the crack, gravity gets increasingly stronger as the spaceship feels the gravitational force of the parts of the Crystal Sphere it is leaving behind. Above the crack in the Crystal Sphere, there is the Star Destroyer from [[1608: Hoverboard]], and on the opposite side of the crack, there is a huge part of the world in [[1110: Click and Drag]] in the form of a round planet.

The title of the comic is likely a reference to the 1996 computer game {{w|Escape Velocity (video game)|Escape Velocity}}, which also featured a 2D map dotted with planets. The title text says, "Gotta go fast.", a reference to {{w|Sonic the Hedgehog (character)|Sonic the Hedgehog}}'s catchphrase, and the point of the game: getting able to go faster to escape larger and larger planets and leave the Crystal Sphere.

===The Hyperdrive===
The Hyperdrive is a powerful upgrade to the spaceship that massively boosts your thrusters. It is found at the center of the Boston Planet and is needed to explore the planets outside the Crystal Sphere and to escape from the black hole inside the Subway Planet. It can only be unlocked after deactivating the MIT Cloaking Device on the Subway Planet and collecting three of the four subway tokens found at different "Bostons". Subway tokens are circles with a T outline, and they have a distinct color: "blue", "red", "green", and "orange", the four colors of {{w|MBTA subway|Boston's subway system}}. The blue token on the Boston Planet is not strictly necessary to get the Hyperdrive, although it is the easiest to obtain. Note that getting it will require several other upgrades first, so it shouldn't be your first objective. See [[#Celestial Bodies and Collectable Items|the table below]] for other ways to progress in the game.

Here's how to get the Hyperdrive:
# Get to the Subway Planet by launching from the bush where someone says "Shhh." on Origin. () The Subway Planet features all the subways of North America except Boston, which has been ripped out and hidden by the MIT kids, leaving a big empty hole in the crust of the planet.
# Once on the Subway Planet, go to Morgantown, WV via Mexico City and Atlanta, and deactivate the MIT Cloaking Device to make the Boston Planet appear.
# Follow the two intangible grey lines that will first guide you to Origin and then the Roche Lobe Earth (one of the four Bostons) and collect the green subway token on it.
# Go back to Origin and collect the orange token on the Guitar Ship (see [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2765:_Escape_Speed#Celestial_Bodies_and_Collectable_Items the table below] for instructions on how to find these planets).
# Get to the East Coast of the US on the Projection of Earth and collect the red token.
# Now that the center of the Boston Planet is accessible, go there and collect the Hyperdrive. The planet also contains the final blue token, but it's not necessary to get to the Hyperdrive.

===Extra Escape Speed pages===
Since this comic is so big and complicated, extra pages have been created to include much more information than is wished for on this main page. These pages are listed here for convenience, but they are also listed in the relevant sections below:
* [[2765: Escape Speed/Transcript]] - The full transcript of the entire comic, as if you played the game can be found here. It is linked from the [[#Transcript|Transcript]] section.
* [[2765: Escape Speed/The whole image]] - A collection of different compilations of the whole Image.
* [[2765: Escape Speed/Screen-shots]] - Can be linked from several sections
* [[2765: Escape Speed/Tables]] - Tables used for explanation can be put on this page.

===Celestial Bodies and Collectable Items===
This is a table of all celestial bodies and items, in descending order of planet size (the Starting Planet, Origin, and the Hollow Planet are at the top for their relevance). Collectable items and messages are found in the "You found...", "Upgrades", "Messages" and "Subway tokens" columns. For more detailed and in-depth tables and lists, see [[2765: Escape Speed/Tables|here]]. Here are some other useful resources:
* A map of the entire universe created by the community can be found [https://aeromancer.dev/xkcd/escape_speed/ here]
* Screenshots of the entire world, planets, and celestial bodies made using this map can be found [[2765: Escape Speed/The whole image|here]]
* A spreadsheet of all items and messages from the game's source code can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hygJKdwjkufAU3ZYC4NELdCX7XgRdOIW68vPUidR9qA here]
* A spreadsheet of coordinates for all celestial bodies from the game's source code can be found [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc here]

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! rowspan="2"|Name

<code>codename</code>
! rowspan="2"|Tiles (X, Y)
! rowspan="2"|Explanation
! colspan="4"|Collectable items and messages
|-
! You found...
! Upgrades
! Messages
! Subway tokens
|-
| '''Starting Planet'''

<code>tiny-world</code>
| (6024, -8976)
| To get here, click the "Home" button in the lower right corner of the comic.

The planet is tiny, grassy, and has few trees. Beret Guy is saying "WOW!", but since he's on the other side of the planet, it looks like he is shouting "iMOM". This is a reference to the title text of [[1117: My Sky]], and it could also be a reference to [[502: Dark Flow]]. Pressing the "Home" button to go back to the starting planet shows the message, "Welcome back, pilot", which may be a reference to the greeting that plays when re-entering a Titan in the ''Titanfall'' video games.
|
* a rock with neat stripes

* a cool bug

* a pretty leaf
|
|
* Wheeee!
|
|-
| '''Origin'''

<code>origin</code>
| (3096, -5904)
| To get here, launch from Beret Guy saying "Wow!" on the Starting Planet.

The planet has a sign saying 'Welcome to Origin! You can never leave™'. A large hidden tunnel inside it leads from below the rollercoaster to the St. Louis Arch on the opposing side of the planet, which you can use to gain enough momentum to escape the gravitational force if you don't have many upgrades. There are lots of landmarks and signs that mark the directions to different planets.
|
* a secret glade
* a holographic Charizard business card
* a 5G seagull
* a DVD of The Core (2003)
* a normal-looking leaf
* a marsh wren
* an orb wren
* a single grain of salt
* 11 squares packed into a larger square
* a tumbleweed
|
* Nice flying! (Your tanks recharge faster now.)
|
* You found a tiny meteorite!
* Welcome to liminal space
* The St. Louis arch is also known as the gateway to space.
* Be careful; this roller coaster can be disorienting!
|
|-
| '''Hollow Planet'''

<code>hollow-shell</code>
| (-13952, 1848)
| To get here, launch from the St. Louis Arch on Origin.

The planet is just a shell with some gaps. On the outside, there are lots of landmarks and signs that mark the directions to different planets.
|
|
* You found a handful of the quantum foam that makes up the fabric of space! (Your tanks recharge much faster now.)

* You found a sixth lagrange point! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)

* You found a glass of heavy water (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
| '''Star Destroyer'''

''from'' <code>star-destroyer-a</code> ''to'' <code>star-destroyer-i</code>
| (18192, -130000)
| To get here, launch from the crack in the Crystal Sphere.

The planet has been copied from [[1608: Hoverboard]], with the only difference being that Darth Vader's dialogue was changed from referencing {{w|Steven Universe}} to {{w|The Murderbot Diaries}}.
|
* an unread email
* a glass slipper with a glass foot in it
* a lymphocyte
* a forged resume
* a serif
* a Bursa of Fabricius
* a cluster of data points
* a premium subscription to food
* two goats and a new car
* an out-of-control trolley
* a helium-238 nucleus
* the Death Star plans
|
* You found a perpetual motion fidget spinner! (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
* You found a vintage Juicero juicer! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
|
* Hmmm.
|
|-
| '''Click and Drag Planet'''

<code>clickdrag-nw</code>'','' <code>clickdrag-ne</code>'','' <code>clickdrag-sw</code>'', and'' <code>clickdrag-se</code>
| (-31808, 111808)
| To get here, launch from the bow or stern of the Star Destroyer tangentially to the Crystal Sphere to orbit it and keep the stars in the background moving horizontally on the screen until you see a dot around the spaceship guiding you.

The planet has mostly been copied from [[1110: Click and Drag]] and modelled to form a round planet, so the drawings are very tiny. The large rocket has been changed from the original look, possibly as a reference to SpaceX. Originally, it had no gravity, and the spaceship was only attracted by the gravity of the Crystal Sphere. This made navigating around the planet difficult, so a later update added gravity to it to make it easier for players to explore it.
|
* an ant the size of Rhode Island
* a pin with 17 angels dancing on it
|
* The vehicle below gives you a boost (Your launch speed has increased.)
* We should turn back (Your engine gets a bit more powerful.)
* You found an expert at underwater ropes. (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* You found a trisected angle! (Your launch speed has greatly increased.)
|
|
|-
| '''Subway Planet'''

<code>subway-planet</code> ''and'' <code>black-hole-3</code>
| (22000, 34000)
| To get here, launch from the bush where someone says "Shhh." on Origin.

The planet is a reference to [[1196: Subways]] and it's riddled with tunnels. Boston has been ripped out and hidden by the MIT kids, leaving a big empty hole in the crust of the planet, and there is a black hole at the center that can only be escaped with the Hyperdrive. You need to find the switch that turns off the MIT Cloaking Device to help you get the Hyperdrive. Once found, two intangible grey lines will appear (on the Subway Planet and on Origin), guiding you to one of the four Bostons.
|
* a relativistic bowling ball
* a Cybiko® wireless handheld computer for teens (2000)
* a handful of quantum foam
* a normal-sized apple
|
* You get the feeling you're not in Kansas anymore (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
* There is no parking in the white zone (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* The next stop is Interplanetary Terminal G (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You feel accomplished (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found a brightly-lit billboard (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* You found a hot dog (Your launch speed has increased.)
* You found a bottle of Coke Absolute Zero! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
* You found a beige electron! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found $30 in Yahoo! cash! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
* You found a friendly cat! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
* Transfer here for Mornington Crescent
|
* MIT Cloaking Device deactivated! Boston detected. (Blue, red, green, and orange lines activated.)
|-
| '''Boston Planet'''

<code>mbta</code>
| (-42000, 8000)
| To get here, launch from the back of the Shuttle Skeleton.

The planet is the Boston subway system that was ripped out from the Subway Planet by the MIT kids. The Hyperdrive, needed to explore the planets outside the Crystal Sphere, is at the center of the planet, which is only accessible after getting the green, red and orange subway tokens. The blue token is not strictly necessary to get the Hyperdrive, although it is the easiest to obtain. If the player goes to the location of the Boston Planet before turning off the MIT Cloaking Device, they will only find an invisible region out in space that has gravity, at the center of which a "strangely heavy subway token" can be found. The gravitational force around it remains even after the token is collected. As hinted by Blondie on Andal, the MIT Cloaking Device doesn't affect gravity, therefore the cloaked Boston planet is intangible and invisible, but its mass still affects the gravitational field around it.
|
* a strangely heavy subway token
|
|
|
* Blue line deactivated!
* Welcome to MIT! You acquired a hyperdrive!
|-
| '''Projection of Earth'''

<code>earth-map</code>
| (-15808, 22192)
| To get here, launch from the Earth map landmark on Origin or the sign on the Hollow Planet.

The planet is a huge, distorted map of all land masses on Earth. The spaceship can fly where water would be, but it can't go over land.
|
* the Heart of the Ocean
* a whale shark
* some microbial life
* some tin from the pantai remis mine
* a sparkling gem
* a piece of pumice
|
* You found the Principality of Sealand! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* You found a Rhode Island the size of an ant! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* You found an icosahedral d10 (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
* Red line deactivated!
|-
| '''What If? Planet'''

<code>gravity-earth</code>
| (-46000, -24000)
| To get here, launch from the two people explaining where Boston is on Origin, the left of Stonehenge on the Round Planet, or the left rim of the Guitar Ship.

The planet contains several scenes from ''[[What If? 2]]'' and [[2712: Gravity]]. Megan and Cueball are floating inside a small space in the center of the planet, which can be reached after getting the Hyperdrive. This is arguably the most remote object within the Crystal Sphere, since all the planets around it are very distant from it.
|
* an eye in the sky

* a stick

* an asterisk

* a sterile neutrino

* a secret leaf

* a pair of squirrel goggles

* a large hadron

* a smooth green snake
|
* You found a sunken treasure (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)

* The Yellowstone Super What? (Your launch speed has increased.)

* Nutritional Facts - Serving Size: 1 Cloud, Total Calories: 0 (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* You captured the flag! You decide to leave it there, but it's yours. (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* You found a steam calliope! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* You found a dna base pair! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
| '''Uzumaki'''

<code>uzumaki</code>
| (-3904, -26904)
| To get here, launch from Origin's spiral landmark, the sign on the Hollow Planet, or below the plane-towed banner on the Round Planet.

The planet is a large spiral of grass inspired by the manga ''{{w|Uzumaki}}'' by Junji Ito. A Roomba is loose, a reference to [[1558: Vet]].
|
* a golden radio tuned to 1.618 MHz

* a scroll lock key

* a primordial black hole

* a cool pair of shoes with flames on the side

* an ink cartridge

* a podcast episode

* a festive but somehow unnerving holiday card from Junji Ito

* a friendly bee

* a spiral-cut diamond

* a burrito
|
* You found a tree-filled grove and a nice spot for quiet contemplation (Your thrusters are significantly more efficient now.)

* You found a single caffeine molecule! (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
|
* Exit Only

* You're going the wrong way!
|
|-
| '''Round Planet'''
<code>orb</code>
| (-19154, -7288)
| To get here, launch from the tower with an orb on it on Origin or the sign on the Hollow Planet.

The planet is moderately small with no vegetation and some architecture such as Stonehenge and the Great Wall of China.
|
* a swatch pop-out wristwatch
|
* You found a sensible cheese platter (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)

* ''[no message]'' (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
| '''Jurassic Park Planet'''

<code>gravity-qwantz</code>
| (20000, 11000)
| To get here, launch from the dinosaur on Origin or the Andalites on Andal.

The planet is covered in dinosaurs from [https://www.qwantz.com Dinosaur Comics] and has very weak gravity. It is an exact copy of the Dinosaur Planet from [[2712: Gravity]].
|
* a tiny pteranodon

* a baby hedgehog

* a tattered knapsack containing about $194,00 in $20 bills
|
* Today is a good day I think for space exploration (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* But what if gravity doesn't actually exist? (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)
|
|
|-
| '''Andal'''

<code>platform-planet</code>
| (12048, 14048)
| To get here, launch from the Andal landmark near the pyramids on Origin or below Saturn's equator, when the soccer ball is oriented to the bottom left compared to the spaceship.

The planet is small and has a T-shaped tower, mountains, and grass.
|
|
* You found two Andalites, one canonical! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)

* What a nice place for a ship to sit! (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)

* You found a friend (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)

* You found baby shoes (and baby)! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
| '''Comet 67P'''

<code>67p</code>
| (18048, -11152)
| To get here, launch from the duck next to the 'Caution: long vertical drop' sign on Origin.

The planet is a reference to the comet {{w|67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko}} and contains the crashed Rosetta spacecraft along with the Philae lander that landed on it in 2014.
|
|
* Some people believe that when the Earth appears in the sky, it's a harbinger of doom. (Your tanks recharge a bit faster now.)

* You found a broken smoke machine (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* Anyone for Scrabble later? (Your engine gets a little more powerful.) (This is a reference to [[470: The End is Not for a While]].)

* You found The Long Now Foundation's nickel paperweight containing an archive of every published Animorphs book! (Your launch speed has increased.)
|
|
|-
| '''Guitar Ship'''

<code>guitar-ship</code>
| (-12000, -30000)
| To get here, launch from the musicians singing "it's more than a feeling" near Uzumaki.

The planet is a huge guitar labeled 'Boston' with the city skyline under a dome on the back (a reference to the cover art of the album {{w|Boston (album)|''Boston''}}).
|
* a guitar pick
|
|
|
* Orange line deactivated!
|-
| '''Saturn'''

<code>saturn</code>
| (2600, 14000)
| To get here, launch from the pyramid with Saturn on it on Origin. If you see the Spacetime Soccer Field, you're too far left.

The planet has a soccer ball inside it, a reference to [[2513: Saturn Hexagon]].
|
* a really cool data point
|
* You found a pair of platonic solids, not quite touching! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* You found a block of scandium! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
| '''Roche Lobe Earth'''

<code>earth-roche</code> ''and'' <code>normal-moon</code>
| (-9952, -3952)
| To get here, launch from the landmark that looks like a very round cannon firing a cannon ball on Origin.

The planet is a distorted Earth being attracted by the gravity of the moon, which makes the Earth look like a giant drop of water. See ''{{w|Roche Lobe}}'' for more information.
|
* a curious humboldt squid

* a bathyscaphe

* a wayward Roomba full of moondust
|
|
|
* Green line deactivated!
|-
| '''Giant Spider'''

<code>spider</code>
| (26982, -8714)
| To get here, launch from the spider landmark on Origin.

The object is a giant spider floating in space with eight people standing on top of his legs.
|
* a spider-silk scarf
|
* You found a friendly jumping spider (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
| '''Dark Matter Planet'''

<code>dark-matter</code>
| (-2892, 2640)
| To get here, launch from the goal on the half of the field with just one person on it on Spacetime Soccer Field.

The planet is small and grey, and it has the words "Dark matter" inside. On its surface, there are two squirrels and Ponytail exclaiming "I found it!", a reference to [[2186: Dark Matter]]).
|
|
* You found a delicate music box. (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)
|
|
|-
| '''Shuttle Skeleton'''

<code>space-shuttle</code>
| (-30200, 14576)
| To get here, launch from the Shuttle Skeleton landmark on Origin or Northwest from Alaska on the Projection of Earth.

The object is a reference to the Space Shuttle Skeleton from [[2630: Shuttle Skeleton]].
|
* a piece of space shuttle food
|
* A little upgrade works wonders on fuel efficiency (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
|
|
|-
| '''Diffraction Spikes Star'''

<code>diffraction</code>
| (-19944, 11240)
| To get here, launch from the back of the left "hand" of the Shuttle Skeleton or the north of Alaska.

The object is a very spiky star, a reference to [[2762: Diffraction Spikes]].
|
* a hydrogen ion

* a piece of coronium (iron)
|
|
|
|-
| '''SafetySat'''

<code>safetysat</code>
| (17024, 1024)
| To get here, launch from the cell tower on Origin.

The object is a reference to [[1992: SafetySat]].
|
* a first of its kind
|
* ''[no message]'' (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)

* The more refined oil had a dinner engagement (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
|
|
|-
| '''Spacetime Soccer Field'''

<code>soccerfield</code>
| (6048, 4048)
| To get here, launch from the pyramid with a soccer ball on it on Origin.

The planet is reference to [[2705: Spacetime Soccer]] and consists of a central white body, goals on the poles, and intangible lines farther away.
|
|
* GOOOOOOOOAAAAA- AAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)

* GOOOOOOOOAAAAA- AAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL!!! (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* You found the 3 million point line (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)

* You found a sunspot! (Your launch speed has increased.)
|
|
|-
| '''Voyager 1'''

<code>voyager-1</code>
| (1606, -14282)
| To get here, launch from the "Receiving transmission" communication device near the spiral landmark on Origin.

The object is a satellite flying in space around Origin.
|
|
* You found Voyager 1! Some of its great speed rubs off on you. (Your engine thrust has increased significantly.)
|
|
|-
| '''Voyager 2'''

<code>voyager-2</code>
| (10682, -5172)
| To get here, launch from the "Receiving transmission" communication device near the spider landmark on Origin.

The object is a satellite flying in space around Origin.
|
|
* You found Voyager 2! Some of its great speed rubs off on you. (Your engine thrust has increased significantly.)
|
|
|-
| '''Crystal Sphere'''

''from'' <code>ring-1</code> ''to'' <code>ring-36</code>
|
| To get here, launch from anywhere and keep avoiding planets until you hit it.

Most planets and celestial objects are inside of a large Crystal Sphere in which there is a visible navigable crack. Halfway through the crack, gravity gets increasingly stronger as the spaceship feels the gravitational force of the entire Crystal Sphere. Despite a person on Origin saying that "there's no way you'd be able to escape [the Crystal Sphere's] gravitation pull. You'd need some kind of a Hyperdrive for that", it's actually possible to get out of the Crystal Sphere without the Hyperdrive (but the spaceship won't be able to stay in the air for more than a second without being pulled back). You can also escape by going fast enough and ramming through. Above the crack, there is an arch made up of the repeating words "The End", which is reminiscent of the "Don't leave the play area" message in [[1608: Hoverboard]] that appeared when the player tried to get out of it.

|
* a necklace of element samples whose symbols spell out your name

* the platinum cylinder formerly used to define the kilogram
|
* A significant boost to the engines for a curious pilot (Your engine thrust has increased significantly.)

* You found the gold crown Archimedes stole! (Your engine thrust has increased significantly.)
|
|
|-
| '''Crack in the Crystal Sphere'''
|
| To get here, launch from the two characters talking about 'shooting for the moon' on Origin or the 'Exit' sign on the Hollow Planet.

This section of the Crystal Sphere was violently removed, similarly to how Boston was ripped out from the Subway Planet, leaving jagged edges and construction materials visible. Judging by the shape of the edges of the crack, it doesn't look like the Crystal Sphere is made of crystal. As noticed by Ponytail in the Hollow Planet, when the player is inside the Crystal Sphere, they don't feel a gravitational pull from the huge structure, but when they're outside, the spaceship feels the gravitational force of all the celestial bodies it is leaving behind, resulting in an very strong pull towards the interior of the Crystal Sphere. Above the crack, there is an arch made up of the repeating words "The End", which is reminiscent of the "Don't leave the play area" message in [[1608: Hoverboard]] that appeared when the player tried to get out of it. The Crystal Sphere may be a reference to {{w|The Crystal Spheres}}, a short story by science fiction author David Brin which suggests that each star with habitable planets in the universe is surrounded by a crystal sphere that can be broken only from the inside and is otherwise completely impenetrable.
|
|
* There is a way out (Your launch speed has increased.)
|
* Right lane must turn right

* Left lane must turn left
|
|-
| '''Open Space Outside the Crystal Sphere'''
|
|To get here, go through the crack in the crystal sphere
|
|
* It is very lonely out here (Your tanks recharge much faster now.)

* You found a needle in a haystack (Your engine gets a little more powerful.)

* From here you can view the source of it all. (Your thrusters are more efficient now.)
|
|}

==Hacks==
Some of the modes and hacks from [[2712: Gravity]] return in this comic and can be activated by opening the browser console (F12, Ctr+Shift+I or Cmd+Option+I to open your browser's developer tools, then choose the Console tab) and typing a command. <div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 

* <code>python("import antigravity")</code> flips the gravitational pull. It's a reference to comic [[353: Python]].
* <code>noclip = true</code> disables collision detection.
* <code>Comic.gravityConstant = 0</code> turns gravity off (default is 100).
* <code>Comic.voyager.opts.speed = 0.1</code> increases engine power (default is 0.04).
* <code>Comic.voyager.opts.thrustDuration = 1000</code> provides extra fuel (default is 3.5).
* <code>Comic.voyager.opts.turnSpeed = 0.008</code> increases your turning speed (default is 0.002).
* <code>[Comic.voyager.pos.x, Comic.voyager.pos.y] = [1177, 6755]</code> teleports the spaceship to Saturn ([https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xhw3oVb4fMktZB_KEIF9fGkYCkfbpRMHKBLI63laTgc Coordinates list].)
* <code>Comic.map.items</code> is an array of the findable items, and <code>Comic.map.locations</code> is an array of places.
* <code>ship.engines = "infinite improbability drive"</code> moves the spaceship to random locations, in a reference to the Heart of Gold from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
* <code>ze.goggles()</code> once again prints "they do nothing!"
* <code>ship.shields = false</code> turns the entire screen black when you collide with something.
===Spaceships===

This is a table of all spaceships:

| -
| <code>paperplane</code>[[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/paperplane/landed.png]]
| '''paperplane'''
| changes the spaceship into a paper plane.
| - -
| <code>bubble</code> [[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/bubble/landed.png]]
| '''Default Ship'''
| (the default spaceship)
| - -
| <code>small-bubble</code>[[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/small-bubble/landed.png]]
| '''Small-bubble'''
| (a smaller version of the default)
| -
| <code>carriagereturn</code> [[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/carriagereturn/landed.png]]
| '''USS Enterprise'''
| (the USS Enterprise, presumably a pun on 'Enter')
| -
| <code>lamp</code> [[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/lamp/landed.png]]
| '''Flyable Lamp'''
| (a lamp that shoots light down/up/left/right)
| -
| <code>lampacity</code> [[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/lamp/landed.png]]
| '''Flyable Lamp 2'''
| (also a lamp?)
| -
| <code>ship1</code> [[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/ship1/landed.png]]
| '''Default ship 2'''
| (the default spaceship from "Gravity"). available only with Code inspector
| -
|
| '''USS Enterprise 2''' [[https://xkcd.com/2765/assets/0/ships/carriagereturn/landed.png]]
| <code>ship.engines = "warp"</code> The spaceship USS Enterprise from Star Trek and massively boosts the power of your engines.Use
| <code>ship.engines = "standard"</code> to return to normal.available only with Code inspector
| -
| Right click on the side and then press inspect then click console then Copy and paste this into the console and then put the ship name in between the quote marks <code>Comic.ship = " " </code>
| -

==Data and Maps==
[[User:CruseCtrl|CruseCtrl]]'s wayfinder adds a blue dot to show where the nearest collectable is.
Paste this into the JavaScript console:

const waypointDiv = document.createElement("div");
waypointDiv.style = "position: absolute; left: 50%; top: 50%; width: 6px; height: 6px; background: blue; border-radius: 99px;";
document.getElementById("comic").appendChild(waypointDiv);
const findClosestObject = (voyager, xPos, yPos) => {
let bestDist = Infinity;
let bestObject = null;
for (const object of voyager.objects.filter((o) => !voyager.gotObjects.has(o.id) && o.visible?.())) {
const dist = Math.sqrt((xPos - (object.x1 + object.x2) / 2) ** 2 + (yPos - (object.y1 + object.y2) / 2) ** 2);
if (dist < bestDist) {
bestDist = dist;
bestObject = object;
}
}
return { object: bestObject, dist: bestDist };
};
const everyFrame = function (state) {
const { object, dist } = findClosestObject(Comic.voyager, state.x, state.y);
if (!object) {
waypointDiv.style.display = "none";
return;
}
const objectX = (object.x1 + object.x2) / 2;
const objectY = (object.y1 + object.y2) / 2;
const angleToObject = Math.atan2(objectY - state.y, objectX - state.x);
const waypointAngle = angleToObject + Comic.voyager.cameraAngle;
const waypointDistance = 10 + 2 * dist ** (1 / 3);
const waypointX = Math.cos(waypointAngle) * waypointDistance;
const waypointY = Math.sin(waypointAngle) * waypointDistance;
waypointDiv.style.transform = `translate(${waypointX}px, ${waypointY}px)`;
};
const oldOnFrame = Comic.onFrame.bind(Comic);
Comic.onFrame = function (...args) { everyFrame(...args); oldOnFrame(...args); };

The following script stops the momentum of the spaceship, which can be useful after seeing a planet without being able to slow down in time:
window.onkeydown = function(e){if(e.key == 'p'){Comic.gameHandle.playerConfig.maxSpeed = 0; setTimeout(() => {Comic.gameHandle.playerConfig.maxSpeed = 100;},10)}}
</div>
 

== Transcript ==
:'''[This transcript only covers the starting page as shown on {{xkcd|2765|xkcd.com}}. A full transcript of the entire comic can be found [[2765: Escape Speed/Transcript|here]].]'''

:[What is shown on xkcd it what is known as the Starting planet. It is a small planet. On top of it is a small spaceship standing on two legs. It has a circular shape on top of the legs with a round window. Next to it is a small tree which is higher than the spaceship. This is the spaceship to be controlled by the user. The planet has grass all around, and the entire planet is visible. But the ship is in the center, so most of the planet is in the lover part of the panel. The background around the planet is a star-studded black backdrop. Going around the planet to clockwise from the small tree, there are two more trees with some small bushes between the first small tree and the two next trees. A larger tree is on the opposite part of the planet. Between the two trees and this there is a small bush and the Beret Guy who looks and point up from his point of view (down as seen in the image as he is on the opposite side). He is exclaiming a word. After the largest tree next to him, come a small tree. Before that Cueball and Megan stand together. On the last part back to the spaceship there is another small bush. There are also four gray dots. One above the spaceship. One between the first three and the two. One above the largest of the two trees together. And the final near the bush to the left of the spaceship. Those four dots are part of the game and can be removed if the ship touches them. In the bottom right corner of the panel there is a small white square with a black house drawn upon it. There are two small black dots beneath it. A curved arrow goes below the house from the right to the left dot. This is the home button that will always take the player back to this starting window. To the very right of the panel on height with the spaceship there is a white bar about three times the height of the spaceship. This bar indicates how much energy the spaceship has. It always refuels immediately after landing anywhere.]
:Beret Guy: Wow!
:[As Beret Guy is upside down, so is his words. They can thus easily be read as MOM as they are written, as always, in all caps.]

:[As part of the game there are messages appearing the first time you enter the comic, and every time you return to home of to the comic from another comic. Although they are not part of the image, they do appear on the home image. These messages appear as black text in a rectangular white panel with a black border. The messages are only on screen for a short time. On a mobile phone browser "Use the arrow keys" is "Tap the sides of your screen". The three situations follow here:]

:[First time opening the game in a new browser there are two messages one appearing after the other:]
:Greetings!
:Use the arrow keys, pilot.

:[When pressing the home button only one message appears:]
:Welcome back, pilot.

:[When reloading or going to the page after having been in another page or having shut down the program and opening again, there will be two messages:]
:Welcome back! We saved your progress.
:Use the arrow keys, pilot.

:[When moving past the grey dots text is revealed in a similar manner to the greetings text. If it is items, then they are collected and listed beneath the panel under the heading "You've found:" A bulleted list will then start to grow beneath this as you play the game and collect items.]

:'''[For more transcripts from the rest of the game go to the [[2765: Escape Speed/Transcript|full transcript page]].]'''

== Trivia ==
* Since the comic came out on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday, it may have been timed to celebrate the test flight of the [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/apr/20/elon-musks-spacex-launches-test-flight-for-rocket-that-could-bring-people-to-mars SpaceX Starship rocket], which was blown up four minutes after liftoff because its booster stage failed to separate. The large rocket found on the Click and Drag Planet has also been changed from the original look, possibly as a reference to SpaceX. It could also be a late [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]], since for the second time in 12 years no such comic was published this year.
* At (-945.399px, -694.381px), a person named Ryan is stuck in a small hole with a dog. This is a reference to a real event that happened to [https://www.polygon.com/2015/8/18/9173621/ryan-north-stuck-hole-twitter Dinosaur Comics author Ryan North]. Nearby is featured the T-rex from his iconic comic strip, in the pose of the last panel.

== Discussion ==
The discussion was removed due to its extreme length, but it's still visible on its own page.

[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Comics with animation]]
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Knit Cap]]
[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]] 
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Spiders]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Soccer]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:Airplane banner]]
[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:The Core]]
[[Category:Animorphs]]
[[Category:Stilts]]
[[Category:What If?]] 
[[Category:Popular Comics]]

1547: Solar System Questions

2024-02-14T11:52:20Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1547
| date = July 6, 2015
| title = Solar System Questions
| image = solar_system_questions.png
| titletext = My country's World Cup win was exciting and all, but c'mon, what if the players wore nylon wings and COULD LITERALLY FLY?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a list of questions which [[Randall]] has about the Solar System, which at first glance may appear to be things that Randall would like to learn about. In actuality, most of the questions have not been satisfactorily answered or proven by anyone in the {{w|List of unsolved problems in physics#Astronomy and astrophysics|scientific community}}. These open questions may serve to intrigue readers and prompt further interest in astronomy and austronautics.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Question given
! Answered?
! Answer given by Randall (in red in the original)
! Comments
|-
| Why is the the Moon so blotchy?
|style="background: lightgreen" | Yes
| Lava
| The {{w|Moon}} is in synchronous rotation with Earth, which means that we always can see only one half of the surface of the Moon. And on that side we can see large {{w|lunar maria}} formed by lava from big volcanoes. This surface is very different from all other celestial bodies we know in our Solar system. The double "the the" could be a Randallism — intended or unintended.
|-
| Why are all the blotches on the near side?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| The nearside of the Moon is dominated by the blotchy 'seas' or maria, the far side by craters. {{w|Far side of the Moon#Differences|Several explanations}} for this have been proposed, including an overabundance of impacts obliterating the blotches on the more exposed far side, different compositions of heat-producing elements, large collisions, or heat produced by the still-cooling Earth.
|-
| Did Mars have seas?
|style="background: lightgreen" | Yes
| Yes (briefly?)
| Recent explorations have confirmed there was once standing (and also flowing) water on {{w|Mars}}. Many rovers and orbiters on Mars give us the evidence on this early development of that planet, but it is still unknown how long such conditions existed in its history. Two of these probes have been the subject of comics before: [[695: Spirit]] and [[1504: Opportunity]].
|-
| Was there life on Mars?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| One of the big mysteries, {{w|Life on Mars|not yet answered}}.
|-
| What's Titan like?
|style="background: lightyellow" | Partly
| Cold, yellow, lakes + rivers (methane)
| The {{w|Cassini–Huygens}} mission confirmed the presence of {{w|Lakes of Titan|lakes and rivers}} on {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}}. The {{w|Huygens (spacecraft)#Findings|Huygens}} lander itself returned some very yellow images of a dry lake bed from Titan's surface. The possibility of life on Titan was mentioned in [[829: Arsenic-Based Life]].
|-
| What was Earth like during the Hadean?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| The {{w|Hadean}} was the first geologic era on Earth, the planet had just formed and not much is known of that period of Earth. But since it was the time when Earth was formed it was mainly very hot with extreme volcanic activity, with the entire surface melted. This is why the era is named after {{w|Hades}} the ancient Greek god of the underworld, even though Hades was never associated with fire.
|-
| Is the Oort Cloud a real thing?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| The {{w|Oort Cloud}} is a theoretical spherical cloud of icy planetesimals, maybe dust, and also larger objects at a distance of up to around 100,000 {{w|Astronomical units|AU}} from our Sun. We can see similar clouds at other stars, but there is still no evidence that this cloud exists in our Solar System.
|-
| Why is the Sun's corona so hot?
|style="background: lightyellow" | Maybe
| Something about magnets?
| The {{w|corona}} of the Sun is hotter than it theoretically should be. Tiny solar flares called {{w|nanoflares}} might be responsible. The Sun's {{w|Stellar magnetic field|magnetic field}} is almost certainly relevant.
|-
| What are comets like?
|style="background: lightgreen" | Yes
| Precipitous
| A comet can be dangerously steep: the {{w|Philae (spacecraft)|Philae lander}} finally stopped tumbling when it ran into a cliff.
|-
| Where's Philae, exactly?
|style="background: lightgreen" | Yes
| ...
| ...but we were not sure ''which'' cliff until September 5, 2016, when the European Space Agency announced that Philae had been found and photographed by Rosetta on the previous Friday (September 2). The landing of Philae was depicted in real time in the dynamic comic [[1446: Landing]]. This lasted for several hours. Later the comic was updated with a new image where Philae is resting on the edge of a cliff.
|-
| What's Pluto like?
| rowspan="2" style="background: lightyellow" | Partly
| rowspan="2" | [Soon!]
| rowspan="2" | {{w|Pluto}} is so far from Earth ''and'' so small that traditional telescopes couldn't discern much about it. When this comic was released, the probe {{w|New Horizons}} was eight days away from its closest approach to Pluto and its moon {{w|Charon (moon)|Charon}}; Randall was naturally excited about it. The probe was the subject of the comic [[1532: New Horizons]].
|-
| What's Charon like?
|-
| Why don't we have in-between-sized planets?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| There is a size-gap between the rocky {{w|terrestrial planets}} up to Earth size and the {{w|gas giants}} very much larger than Earth in our Solar System.
There are many known {{w|exoplanets}} (planets in other solar systems) filling in the range between our rocky planets and our gas giants, known as [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Exoplanet_Mass-Radius_Scatter_Super-Earth.png Super-earths] However, there is an observed but unexplained {{w|Small planet radius gap|scarcity of planets of this size category}} even among exoplanets.
|-
| What's Ceres like?
|style="background: lightyellow" | Partly
| [Working on it!]
| The {{w|Dawn (spacecraft)|Dawn probe}} was currently exploring the {{w|dwarf planet}} {{w|Ceres (dwarf planet)|Ceres}} at the time that this comic was written and released. We now know.
|-
| Why is Europa so weird-looking and pretty?
|style="background: lightgreen" | Yes
| Ice over a water ocean
| {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}} is a moon of {{w|Jupiter}} and the surface is basically thick pack ice covered in {{w|lineae}}.
|-
| Why is Io so weird-looking?
|style="background: lightyellow" | Partly
| Sulfur volcanoes (? in the wrong places?)
| The moon {{w|Io (moon)|Io}} is also orbiting Jupiter and is close enough that {{w|tidal forces}} make it the most volcanic object in the solar system. The moon is mainly yellow but there are several other colors on the surface, for instance spots and streaks of bright red that comes from {{w|sulfur}} ejected by the volcanoes. The "wrong places" refer to some volcanoes discovered by the {{w|Voyager program|Voyager missions}} and believed to erupt sulfur. But more recent measurements showed that the temperature inside those volcanoes is about 2.000 °C where this element is not liquid anymore but gas.
|-
| Why are so many Kuiper Belt objects red?
|style="background: lightyellow" | Maybe
| ...
| Many objects in the {{w|Kuiper Belt}} have a reddish hue. A possible explanation is that they are [http://www.space.com/9418-icy-red-objects-solar-system-edge-point-life-building-blocks.html covered in organic molecules] formed by the irradiation of their surface ices. The New Horizons probe might also shed light on this.
|-
| What are those spots on Ceres?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| The Dawn probe found some mysterious spots on Ceres. These [http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA19568.jpg white spots] are still not understood, but the mission is still running and we may figure out the source of the glowing white features. These spots became the punch line of the joke in [[1476: Ceres]].
|-
| What's in the seas under Europa's ice?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| The {{w|ESA}} selected the mission {{w|Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer|Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE)}} to Jupiter. The moon Europa is one target for that mission. But we have to wait, because, even though it has already launched on 14 April 2023, its arrival at Jupiter is planned for 2031. But that's not uncommon for missions like this. New Horizons and {{w|Rosetta (spacecraft)|Rosetta}} also traveled approximately ten years to reach their targets. And before such a mission can start many preparations have to be done. {{w|2010: Odyssey Two}} is a 1982 science fiction novel by {{w|Arthur C. Clarke}} in which he envisions life under the ice on Europa. This life becomes a major plot point both in this and in the two sequels.
|-
| Which of the other moons have seas?
|style="background: lightyellow" | Partly
| Several
| Randall has already mentioned above that there are liquids on two moons. The moon Titan at Saturn has lakes on its surface formed by liquid ethane, methane, and propane and the Jupiter's moon Europa has a sea of water covered by a thick sheet of ice. Depending on the definition of 'sea', other less obviously 'frozen water world' moons such as {{w|Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede}} at Jupiter may have {{w|Ganymede (moon)#Subsurface oceans|subsurface}} [http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27151-aurora-reveals-jupiter-moons-secret-subsurface-sea.html oceans] of liquid water and on other moons it could be other substances that are liquid at the relevant temperature, like on Titan.
|-
| What are the big white things in Titan's lakes?
|style="background: lightgreen" | Yes
| ...
| This is a joke about some gaps in the radar measurements as shown in [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PIA10008_Seas_and_Lakes_on_Titan_full_size.jpg this image].
|-
| What do Jupiter's clouds look like up close?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| The Jupiter mission {{w|Galileo (spacecraft)|Galileo}}, operated by NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), arrived at Jupiter in 1995 and was sent to impact the planet at the end of that mission in 2003 to eliminate the possibility of contaminating local moons with terrestrial bacteria. Several measurements were done on the atmosphere but no pictures were sent back to Earth. So there is still no answer on this question.
|-
| What's all that red stuff in the Great Red Spot?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| The {{w|Great Red Spot}} is a storm south of Jupiter's equator. Observations from Earth show a lifespan of more than 150 years. It's unknown why it's stable for that long a time and it's also not clear why the color is red. The probe {{w|Juno (spacecraft)|Juno}} has arrived in July 2016 at Jupiter but has not answered Randall's question.
|-
| What's pushing the Pioneer probes?
|style="background: lightgreen" | Yes
| Heat from the RTG
| Discussed as the {{w|Pioneer anomaly}}. RTG stands for {{w|Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator}}. This effect was mentioned (and explained a little differently) in the title text of [[502: Dark Flow]].
|-
| What pushes spacecraft slightly during flybys?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| Several spacecraft experienced unexplained speed increases during Earth flybys. This is called the {{w|flyby anomaly}}.
|-
| Where are all the Sun's neutrinos?
|style="background: lightyellow" | Maybe partly
| Oscillating
| There are fewer observed electron neutrinos from the Sun than the standard model predicts. This is called the {{w|Solar neutrino problem}}. Since the sum of all the neutrinos, regardless of type, that come from the Sun add up to the predicted number of electron neutrinos it is theorized that neutrinos can change their type. This is called {{w|Neutrino oscillation}}, and can occur only if {{w|neutrinos}} have mass. Neutrino oscillation is considered a proof that the mass of a neutrino is non-zero. The {{w|Neutrino#Mass|mass of a neutrino}} is not yet measured and is one of the problems on the {{w|List of unsolved problems in physics#High-energy physics.2Fparticle physics|list of unsolved problems in physics}} on Wikipedia.
|-
| Why is there so much air on Titan?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| {{w|Titan (moon)|Titan}} has an atmospheric pressure 1.45 times that of Earth, but only 1/7th of the surface gravity which is less than Earth's own airless Moon has, hence the confusion. In fact, Titan actually has almost 20% more atmosphere by mass than Earth, and ''seven times'' more atmosphere across a given surface area! Less influence from the more distant Sun probably helps retain more of the atmosphere's gases (for instance, Mars saw most of its atmosphere blasted away by the Sun), and {{w|cryovolcanoes}} may replenish the methane fraction which should by now have ''all'' been converted into the other hydrocarbons present from subsurface reservoirs. Further studies are required to properly answer this question.
|-
| Why does the Kuiper Belt stop?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| A reference to the {{w|Kuiper Cliff}}. Most Kuiper Belt Objects are found between 42 and 48 {{w|astronomical units|AU}}; calculations predicted that there would be more and larger KBOs beyond 50 AU, but instead very few objects have been found in that region. The reason for this is still unknown.
|-
| Why is Iapetus weird-colored?
|style="background: lightyellow" | Partly
| ...
| {{w|Iapetus (moon)|Iapetus}} is a moon of {{w|Saturn}} and always keeps the same face towards Saturn. The trailing side is white while the other side is dark.
|-
| Why does Iapetus have a belt?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| Iapetus has a 13 km high ridge around most of the equator, and a number of 10-km-high mountains where the ridge is interrupted.
|-
| What's the deal with Miranda?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| {{w|Miranda (moon)|Miranda}} is the smallest of {{w|Uranus}}' five round satellites, and it's {{w|Verona Rupes|a bit rough around the edges}} and also has an unusually high orbital inclination that is difficult to explain. Also possibly a [[Category:Firefly|''Firefly'' reference]] since {{w|List of Firefly planets and moons#Miranda|Miranda}} is also the name of a planet in {{w|Serenity (film)|''Serenity''}}, a film based on the {{w|Firefly (TV series)|''Firefly''}} TV series.
|-
| Did Uranus and Neptune change places?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| The {{w|Nice model}} is a theory of how our solar system formed, which suggests the possibility of Uranus and {{w|Neptune}} having swapped places before reaching their current positions. Work by Professor S. Desch [http://dusty.la.asu.edu/~desch/publications/2007/Desch2007.pdf also came to this result].
|-
| Did the Late Heavy Bombardment happen?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| The {{w|Late Heavy Bombardment}} is the name given to a theorized bombardment of the planet Earth during its early history, along with the other rocky planets around the Sun. It's believed that during that time many large objects still existed and are likely to have impacted the planets. On Earth the evidence for those impacts would have been destroyed, but on the Moon or Mercury some evidence may be available.
|-
| Did life start before it?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
| For some speculation on this topic, see [http://www.livescience.com/5426-life-survived-earth-early-bombardment.html Life Could Have Survived Earth's Early Bombardment]. It is still a mystery if life was formed on Earth first or if it came from outer space.
|-
| Is Europa covered in ice spikes?
|style="background: salmon" | No
| ...
|Dr Daniel Hobley has put forward a [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21341176 theory] that Jupiter's icy moon {{w|Europa (moon)|Europa}} has the right conditions to form ice spikes called {{w|Penitente (snow formation)|penitentes}} of up to 10m in height.
|-
| Why haven't we built a big inflatable Extreme Sports Complex on The Moon?
|style="background: lightyellow" | Partly
| ...
| The only silly item besides the "white on Titan's lakes" question, this question is less about science than about human priorities. It would be fun to watch sports in such a stadium - see the title text. Building a sports complex on the Moon would be prohibitively expensive in the context of government budgets, and transporting athletes to such a venue regularly would be logistically and financially complex. But it would be extremely cool.

See also, ''{{w|The Menace From Earth}}'', a 1957 short story by Robert Heinlein, as well as [https://what-if.xkcd.com/124/ What If # 124] which gives great detail to the topic of lunar swimming.
|}

The title text refers to the {{w|2015 FIFA Women's World Cup}} which was won by the USA the day before. The nylon wings and flying may be a reference to two passages from 3001: The Final Odyssey, one where Frank Poole tries out various wings while in an extremely low gravity environment, and one where he remarks while watching Swan Lake that Tchaikovsky could never have imagined a performance where the dancers were actually flying (due to aforementioned low gravity). This is also a reference to the last point on the list, because if we had such a stadium on the Moon, maybe it would be possible to use such wings to make very long floating leaps.

==Transcript==
:'''Questions I have'''
:'''about the solar system'''
:(some answered)

:{| class="wikitable" style="border: 0px;"
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is the the Moon so blotchy?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Lava
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why are all the blotches on the near side?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Did Mars have seas?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Yes (briefly?)
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Was there life on Mars?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's Titan like?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Cold, yellow, lakes + rivers (methane)
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What was Earth like during the Hadean?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Is the Oort Cloud a real thing?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is the Sun's corona so hot?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Something about magnets?
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What are comets like?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Precipitous
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Where's Philae, exactly?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's Pluto like?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" rowspan="2" | [Soon!]
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's Charon like?
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why don't we have in-between-sized planets?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's Ceres like?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | [Working on it!]
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is Europa so weird-looking and pretty?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Ice over a water ocean
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is Io so weird-looking?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Sulfur volcanoes (? in the wrong places?)
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why are so many Kuiper Belt objects red?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What are those spots on Ceres?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's in the seas under Europa's ice?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Which of the other moons have seas?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Several
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What are the big white things in Titan's Lakes?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What do Jupiter's clouds look like up close?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's all that red stuff in the Great Red Spot?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's pushing the Pioneer Probes?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Heat from the RTG
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What pushes spacecraft slightly during flybys?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Where are all the Sun's Neutrinos?
| style="border: 0px; color:red;" | Oscillating
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is there so much air on Titan?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why does the Kuiper Belt Stop?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why is Iapetus weird-colored?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why does Iapetus have a belt?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | What's the deal with Miranda?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Did Uranus and Neptune change places?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Did the Late Heavy Bombardment happen?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Did life start before it?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Is Europa covered in ice spikes?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|-
| style="border: 0px; text-align: right" | Why haven't we built a big inflatable extreme sports complex on the moon?
| style="border: 0px;" |
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Soccer]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Firefly]]

2890: Relationship Advice

2024-02-06T00:17:09Z

172.69.195.231: /* Explanation */ Not the only necessary edit. Needs a good rewrite, really.

{{comic
| number = 2890
| date = February 5, 2024
| title = Relationship Advice
| image = relationship_advice_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x241px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Good to be a little wary of advice that sounds too much like a self pep talk.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RELATIONSHIP WITH A JOB IN THE FINE ARTS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, [[White Hat]], [[Cueball]], and [[Ponytail]] can be seen having a conversation about relationships. In the second frame, White Hat is saying that relationships are a job in of itself and need constant work. An off-frame voice, possibly Cueball, expresses a wary agreement. In the third frame, White Hat is saying that relationships are “a challenge that feels overwhelming” and create a crushing burden. Again, Cueball voices confusion and disagreement. Finally, in the last frame, he says that relationships are “a grueling ordeal”. Hearing all of this “relationship advice”, Cueball and Ponytail ask who he’s trying to convince and if he’s ok. White Hat manically yells out that he’s ok, making his point moot, as his behaviour is clearly NOT ok. The joke is that even though White Hat is giving relationship advice, his advice is actually negative and isn’t helping others. Perhaps White Hat is even having trouble in his own relationship, which would explain why he seems to be describing relationships in general so pessimistically. There’s also a possibility that White Hat is {{w|aromantic}}, meaning that he doesn’t experience love and may have a negative outlook on romance. Seeing Randall’s negative thoughts on Valentine’s Day, it may not be a coincidence that this comic was released only 9 days before the holiday. In any case, it seems White Hat is only making relationships harder for himself by rambling about the hardship of relationships without acknowledging that his own attitude might be at fault.

When someone is in an abusive relationship, they may struggle to see that the relationship is abusive. There are various reasons this may occur (e.g. {{w| Traumatic bonding}}) but does not change the fact that the relationship is abusive. If someone is in a situation like this, they may need help from friends or professional counselors to see the situation they are in.

The title text explains that when a person's advice sounds overtly negative, or otherwise seemingly too specific to their own personal difficulties in life, then that person may not be the most qualified to give that advice. Perhaps the person in this position is more so giving advice as a way to project their own feelings about their circumstances rather than actually providing helpful information. In this comic, this sentiment is seemingly applied to White Hat, whose "relationship advice" may be much more personal than such advice should reasonably be, and the reader is thus warned to take advice like this with a grain of salt. This is similar to [[449: Things Fall Apart]] where Cueball tells Megan "I love you" repeatedly and Megan points out he's only saying it to reassure ''himself'' rather than express it to her.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[White Hat, Cueball and Ponytail are walking. White Hat has his palm out.]
:White Hat: What you have to remember is, relationships aren't easy.
:Ponytail: Yeah, fair.

:[Close-up of White Hat with his finger raised.]
:White Hat: They're hard. They require constant work.
:White Hat: A relationship is a job.
:Off-panel voice: I guess...

:[White Hat has stopped walking and is facing Cueball and Ponytail standing a bit further away.]
:White Hat: It's a challenge that feels overwhelming. It's a crushing burden.
:Cueball: Umm.

:[White Hat has his arms raised while still facing Cueball and Ponytail.]
:White Hat: A relationship is a grueling ordeal.
:Cueball: ...Who are you trying to convince, exactly?
:Ponytail: Yeah, are '''''you''''' okay?
:White Hat: I'm '''''fine!''''' This is '''''normal!'''''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]