explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3040: Chemical Formulas

2025-01-21T07:43:43Z

172.70.162.204: Tyop

I believe the diagram on the left incorrectly shows a double-bond between the carbon and the OH pair. -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 03:13, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
:: ''"incorrectly shows a double-bond"'' This may be more correct (there are many ways to draw it):
:: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/formic-acid-molecule-structure-260nw-1359283460.jpg [[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 03:42, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
:::what’s a double bond? '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 04:25, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
:::: if a hydrogen atom had hands it would have one and could only hold other atoms with one hand. Some atoms have more than one hand and in the case of a double bond can hold another atom with two hands. I almost recall something about electron orbits and spaces. I hope this isn't to unhelpful.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.58|108.162.242.58]] 05:08, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
:::::ohhhh, i think i get it now. thanks! '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 05:19, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
::::::For the molecules concerned (and ignoring some more exotic situations), you just need to know that;
::::::*Hydrogen should have only one bond in total (H-C... or H-O..., in whatever direction. An H-H would be H2, or hydrogen (probably!) gas unbonded to anything else).
::::::*Oxygen should have two bonds (...X-O-Y... as part of a link between X and Y, like the (acceptibly abbreviated) -OH ('hydroxy') group attached to a carbon; or ...C=O, as oxygen double-bonded to a carbon with those two bonds available). H-O-H would be water (H2O), O=O would be the pure oxygen molecule (O2).
::::::*Carbon has ''four'' bonds, which can be:
::::::**Four singles, often with alkane links, ...C-C... with three things (more carbons, hydrogens or hydroxys/etc) hanging off as well, as part of a hydrocarbon/similar, starting with CH4 which has ''only'' hydrogens hanging directly off the one and only carbon, longer chained alkanes string carbons together with two hydrogens off of each mid-carbon (in three-or-more chains) and a third completing each end.
::::::**Two singles and a double, like the ...C=O with two further off-shoots, or else an ...C=C... as an alkene link (with two things/continuations of carbon hanging off each of the ends of that carbon-pair),
::::::**''Two'' doubles (cumulenes, like ...C=C=C..., are rare, but O=C=O is the really common CO2/carbon dioxide molecule in its entirety), or
::::::**A single and a triple, typically back-to-back as alkynes, ...-C≡C-..., ''or'' something like -C≡N (nitrogen has exactly three bonds!) for a cyano-group, but it's often a strained group.
::::::**A quadruple-bond would be... beyond this basic overview.
::::::**(Benzene rings effectively have 1.5 shared links between the adjacent carbons, or alternating single/double three times round the six Carbon-Carbon links, leaving one "hang off" bond from each of them, without bothering which ring-bonds are single or double.)
::::::**(Graphene sheets effectively have three singles, plus "two halves" weekly bonding to adjacent graphene sheets, in actual graphite; or whatever else fun thing you're doing with graphene/nanotubes/buckyballs ''singly''...)
::::::If you check the "Hackoo", the C has ''five'' bonds (at least until and unless Randall corrects it!), the error most obviously (just from the above knowledge!) because the O in the -OH (i.e. -O-H) has three bonds (...C=O-H) where it should only have two (...C-O-H).
::::::It can perhaps be explained as an interestingly radical-enhanced number of bonds, though you'd notate it differently (in diagram ''and'' formula) and it wouldn't really be the ethanoic/formic acid that Cueball(/Randall) clearly intends it to be. Simple slip of the stylus, maybe, from someone more a physical scientist who [[520: Cuttlefish|isn't always affiliated to chemical sciences]], so may not have realised when glancing at the 'finished' comic. (Or it's yet another (too?) subtle dig at the Cueball character that he's set up to fail/be creatively-wrong.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.108|172.70.90.108]] 07:01, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

Similar to 2492 [[User:Chakra|Chakra]] ([[User talk:Chakra|talk]]) 03:18, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

My favorite hydrocarbons are C6H6 (Bouba) and C5H12 (Kiki) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.105|172.69.70.105]] 03:21, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

I assume 'Nackle' is NaCl (Sodium Chloride, aka salt) [[User:Pvnic|Pvnic]] ([[User talk:Pvnic|talk]]) 03:30, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
: for blood pressure reasons I use fake salt = potassium chloride. Note to self: don't say "please pass the kackle" because at best at best I'd get a funny look and a chicken nugget. (Thinking) Or do. Chicken nuggets are good.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.245.179|172.68.245.179]] 04:41, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
::Wouldn't that be more like "kickle" or "keckle"? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.212.173|162.158.212.173]] 07:10, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
And in the meta-humor department, the explanation message "Created by a BORON-OXYGEN-TANTALUM-URANIUM-TITANIUM-MOLYBDENUM-TITANIUM-CARBON-ALUMINUM-LITHIUM" abbreviates to "B O Ta U Ti Mo Ti C Al Li", or "BOT aUTiMoTiCaLLi". [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 04:27, 21 January 2025 (UTC)
: OH! Thank you. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.245.179|172.68.245.179]] 04:41, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

User talk:CalibansCreations

2025-01-15T15:20:41Z

172.70.162.204: /* "As of..." */ new section

Please chat with me below.
----

== 1946?? Yes, at one point. ==

The change made [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Car_wash&diff=prev&oldid=1212096331&diffonly=1 here] marks the point where the valid header/anchor of "1946" was removed. These things happen, especially cross-wiki. Just so you know (I was intruigued myself, so did a couple of minutes digging). Nice catch, though! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.139|172.70.85.139]] 10:46, 10 October 2024 (UTC)
:oh, my first talk page message, thx. [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 11:44, 10 October 2024 (UTC)

==Politics intrudes==
randall still supports zionist harris... :'( [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 07:49, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
: Do you really think Trump would be better? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.135|172.68.205.135]] 09:18, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
::i mean, both of them suck tbh [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 09:35, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
:::so whats your alternative suggestion? Voting/Endorsing for a third party and then get trump into office? Great strategy --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 10:46, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
::::that ain't how it works. if we all vote for the third party, the third party will win. simple as that. [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 11:30, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
:::::''Which'' third-party? Vermine Supreme? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.206|172.70.90.206]] 12:04, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
:::::Who exactly is "we all"?
:::::Nobody outside of your little internet bubble is voting third-party, because doing so without mass coordination is just throwing your vote away (meanwhile MAGA are all fully coordinated in voting for Trump).
:::::The risk of a Trump second term is bad enough even with everyone who is anti-Trump voting for Harris, and you think the average person over the age of 20 is going to risk that even further by voting for a third party?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.106|172.69.195.106]] 12:25, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
: I think you err if you think that "supports Israel against attackers" totally equates to "supports Israel's uncompromising attacks on others". And "Zionist" is such a loaded term, with {{w|Zionist antisemitism|various complications}}, with Kamala being no more this than is her primary opponent.
: Being consistently critical of one candidate by using a single word (e.g.. "fascist", for the other one) does not bode well for your appreciation of the many subtleties that make up anyone other than a cartoon hero/villain. Not that even the reality of the State Of Israel is simple (there are plenty of its citizen residents who decry their government's actions since/before last October, are they ''anti-''Zionist?), and even that is just a single relatively small mess in the much bigger mess that is the wider morass of foreign (and domestic) policy. By picking just one dogwhistle term (arguably in a very incorrect context) isn't helping whatever argument you're trying to make. All I get from this conversation is that you hate every candidate with any chance of winning (and most of those without, based upon their stated positions), without knowing what you are for. Employment? Social safety-nets? Smaller goverment? ''Better'' (define 'better'!) government? Who would you prefer to 'deal with' the issue of Ukraine, Taiwan, North Korea or countless other worldside issues out there?
: You also elsewhere announced yourself as a Brit (as am I), so you don't have a vote and precious little actual influence. Even if you or I had any useful analysis to say about this issue, it seems that most people are already polarised in opinion and you or I (or, indeed, Randall) can do little but be performative about our current views. It is unlikely we could swing even one notable vote, although we might just push some of the partially polarised fully over (whichever way) into their pre-chosen preferences, excited or annoyed by such a single-issue outburst that they find themself vehemently agreeing or disagreeing with. (As a Brit, I'm frankly embarrassed by those who put up "this house is supporting the LibDem/Labour/Tory/SNP/whoever candidate" signs in their windows. I'd put up OMRLP ones, maybe, but I've never been able to vote that way, anyway, so can certainly say that I've actually never voted for them. Even if they sometimes seem the better choice.)
: Furthermore, it has absolutely nothing to do with this comic (US geography, yes, US politics, no). I would heavily advise you to take this whole section out and place it all somewhere else. Perhaps your User Talk: area, so that you can wear your heartfelt antizionist (and perhaps no more) opinions on your sleeve without distracting from more relevent discussion, such as "Why is Idaho unlabeled" or "Why does everyone mississremember Mississippi's postostostal code?" [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.206|172.70.90.206]] 12:04, 17 October 2024 (UTC) Postscript: *I* have moved this. <-that IP
:Quick question, CalibansCreations. Are you the same IP troll who said that Randall supports Zionism? [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 15:16, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
::yes, I only wanted an account so I could change the skin of this website when viewing it [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 15:39, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

== Name ==

Hey CalibansCreations, thanks for reverting my talk page. My name’s Victoria, as shown on the edit leaderboard. The “Charlie Spring” name was just a pseudonym back then. :) [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 15:15, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
:Oh, pleasure to meet you Victoria! You can just call me Caliban or Cal. (That's my own pseudonym.) [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 19:27, 22 October 2024 (UTC)

==Barnstar==
{| style="border: 1px solid {{{border|gray}}}; background-color: {{{color|#fdffe7}}};"
|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:middle;" | {{{{{|safesubst:}}}#ifeq:{{{2}}}|alt|[[File:Barnstar of Reversion Hires.png|100px]]|[[File:Barnstar_of_Reversion2.png|100px]]}}
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Anti-Vandalism Barnstar'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | <div style="font-family: Cormorant Garamond"> For your help in reverting vandalism on my talk page, [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']], I hereby award thee a Barnstar. Feel free to display it on your user page. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 21:13, 24 October 2024 (UTC) 
</noinclude>
:oh wow tysm --[[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 07:42, 25 October 2024 (UTC)
|}

== Full template name ==

I wouldn't normally change existing {{template|cn}}s to {{template|Citation needed}}s. However, it makes even less sense to replace the latter with the former, them being the same at the front end (the smaller being a redirect to the larger, so making a ''little'' bit of extra work for the server) but being less obvious/noticable for what it is in the source edit.

Even with editing to shuffle it vs. wrongly-arranged punctuation, it's surely simpler to delete the punctuation from (say) <tag><comma> and replacing it to create <comma><tag> than deleting the tag and re-adding the short (but still longer than punctuation) form of the tag. I mean, it's entirely up to you, but I'd keep it just as readable. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.37|172.71.26.37]] 12:35, 14 November 2024 (UTC)

== "{{diff|359134|On the off-chance...}}" ==

So, we need [[[[Header Text]]]], [[[[header Text]]]], [[[[HEADER TEXT]]]], [[[[hEaDeR TeXt]]]], [[[[hEaDeR tEXt]]]], [[[[heADer TExt]]]], etc, as well, do we?

The only reason it existed was because it was wrong-cased originally. Best not to multiply pages unnecessarily, and that one's an easy to delete mistake. (''If'' anyone actually gets around to it...) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.205|172.69.194.205]] 17:19, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

== "As of..." ==

It probably isn't necessary, and not useful, to update an "as of" statement when it marks a past change (or realisation of such a change). Obviously it still can be done for the currently ongoing extent of something, such as "As of <date>, it has not yet changed, but maybe soon", at least until it ''does'' flip otherwise. But "As of..." is an awful phrase that so easily tempts one into such an update. Should probably be said differently, anyway... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.204|172.70.162.204]] 15:20, 15 January 2025 (UTC)

3025: Phase Change

2024-12-16T16:54:01Z

172.70.162.204: Not very good BOT joke

{{comic
| number = 3025
| date = December 16, 2024
| title = Phase Change
| image = phase_change_2x.png
| imagesize = 296x354px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Even when you try to make nice, smooth ice cubes in a freezer, sometimes one of them will shoot out a random ice spike, which physicists ascribe to kiki conservation.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOTBA - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is a reference to the {{w|bouba/kiki effect}}, where people associate different shapes with different nonsense words. The word bouba is often associated with soft and round objects while kiki is associated with sharp and hard ones.

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:3009: Number Shortage

2024-11-11T17:34:53Z

172.70.162.204:

I bet there's plenty of 9s left. They obviously didn't get a proper range of digits at Benford's Discount Number Store. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.113|172.69.195.113]] 05:53, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
:There are so many 9s because they get used the least on microwaves. [[User:N-eh|N-eh]] ([[User talk:N-eh|talk]]) 22:27, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
:I expect pricing psychology uses up most of the 9's that Benford stocks, using the first-in-last-out method.

Is this not an error? "15 2s and 12 3s" uses up one 3. So shouldn't it next be 11 3s left, not 10? -- [[Special:Contributions/172.69.144.152|172.69.144.152]] 10:41, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
: No - they started with fifteen 2s and twelve 3s. They used two 2s saying '15 '''2'''s and 1'''2''' 3s' which leaves thirteen 2s. They used two 3s saying ...12 '''3'''s / No wait, 1'''3''' 2s...' which leaves ten 3s. However, by the next line they still have nine 3s (having used up one saying '... and 10 '''3'''s') - not eight, as the explanation previously said.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.134|172.70.160.134]] 17:06, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

the consequences of our actions /ref [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 10:45, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

The above mentioned “error” is not an error. When she says there are 13 2s left, that uses up one 3. [[User:PedanticMan|PedanticMan]] ([[User talk:PedanticMan|talk]]) 11:13, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

: There's no pause, no "No wait" after "13 2s". Is she reevaluating numbers instantly realtime midsentence? Did she start the sentence planning to say one thing and instantly altered it partway through? I guess that's what Randall is going for. -- [[Special:Contributions/172.69.144.162|172.69.144.162]] 12:00, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
::That's what I assumed, and I already included it in the explanation. But I'm not sure if the title text is consistent with that interpretation. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:35, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
:::Title text is perhaps semi-consistent. Regardless of what was said/used beteen "ten minutes ago" and now, the statement (ten minutes ago) of "2 0s" used one zero. The statement (now) of "10 minutes ago" used another and ''technically'' used a third (but it could be considered recycled from the original statement being quoted).
:::Whichever way the counting works (and presuming that any quotable re-use principle doesn't allow just "Ns" to be requoted as "X Ns" in a way that preserves the N stock even whilst depleting Xs), we're certainly down to the stage where we can no longer say there are "0" of something, nor that the something involved is the 0s.
:::...to put it another way, a different TT might be "10 minutes ago we were down to only 2 ... oh darnit!". But that wouldn't have made itself quite so obvious (the Ns could have been 0, 1 or 2). I suppose having 3 0s ten minutes ago might only have led to the necessity of that logic being explained (then: "3 0s {0s=>2}"; now: "10 minutes {0s=>1} .. 3 0s {0s=>0}" "now?" " {0s=>0 ∴ unable to even begin to answer} "), however...
:::But, much like the TT question posed, wise use of "them”/etc might be useful in ''some'' (not-title text) circumstances. "I earlier said there were 9 9s, but now there are 7 of them. ...still 7. Yep, definitely 7 of them! (7s, on the other hand are now...)", vs. "there were 9 9s, but now there are 7 9s. 6 9s! 5 9s! <...> 1 9! <curses>" [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.114|172.69.195.114]] 12:19, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
::I believe the title text is clear. There where still 2 like there was when she checked ten minutes ago. She can only say the sentence because she still had those two left. But after it is not possible to day there are 0 0 left. And thus the Idk. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:43, 11 November 2024 (UTC)
::: Presumably the scenario that resulted in this was: There were three 0s remaining; Person A said "How many 0s do we have left?" (reducing them to two); Person B then said "2". If, instead, someone had said "We have only 2 0s left", that would have reduced them to one, leaving insufficient to complete the sentence in the title text.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.141|172.70.86.141]] 17:21, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

If anyone wants to see self-referentiality of numbers taken even further, here is a series of posts that I wrote on "self-describing numbers": https://atmos.warplight.dev/profile/1p8WCZnqqG6N3ZOsJxBgUTo/p1cNCw1OTsioTQBRk [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 12:09, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

the first stage of grief is denial [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 12:19, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
: So you saw that the Harris banner is still up too, eh? There may be no shortage of absolute numbers, but numbers of things, yeah, there are shortages. Like, chances to act to avert disaster, like weren't taken in 2016, and we got lucky ... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.92|172.68.23.92]] 17:37, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
::Just heard on Not The Bee that Trump is planning to help the Democrats out by paying Kamala's campaign debt at a rate of $10/mention in speeches over the past 180 days. Should be plenty to pay off the $20 million.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.75|172.71.142.75]] 21:02, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
::: [https://www.dude-n-dude.com/2024/11/05/amoebas-lorica-experimentum-finita/ When logic and proportion][https://www.dude-n-dude.com/2024/11/03/ai-elect/ have fallen sloppy dead], {{w|It_Can%27t_Happen_Here|remember}} {{w|White_Rabbit_(song)|what the dormouse said}}.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.30|172.71.142.30]] 05:48, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure "15" uses up one 3 (3*5) and "12" uses up two 2's and one 3 (2*2*3) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.222.213|172.71.222.213]] 15:09, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
:No, I think the "3s" in the first statement uses one, and the ones place of "13" referring to the number of 2s left in the second statement uses another. [[User:Laneymarie96|Laneymarie96]] ([[User talk:Laneymarie96|talk]]) 03:13, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

"Well? How many numbers do we have left?"
"Oh great! There's one more!"
(Yes, I know this goes against the logic of the original comic)
[[User:Turquoise Hat|Turquoise Hat]] ([[User talk:Turquoise Hat|talk]]) 17:36, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Why don't we try using Roman numerals while we wait for the shortage to get fixed? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.135.53|172.69.135.53]] 04:05, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
:We could always go back gto tally marks...wait also who says this is Miss Lenhart? {{unsigned ip|172.68.70.56|12:41, 11 November 2024}}

Seems very related to the {{w|Look-and-say sequence}}! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.170.93|172.71.170.93]] 21:48, 10 November 2024 (UTC)Bumpf

Instead of having to say "I don't know" in the title text, one could just say "none". [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.170|172.70.110.170]] 19:46, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
:It's funnier to imagine that they forgot how to articulate "zero" as a concept. [[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 20:56, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
:By that logic, they could (partially) escape the "10 minutes ago 0s" issue by saying "ten minutes ago" and not depleting certain digits. Or, as it says "numbers", depleting 10s (but neither 1s nor 0s). But you have to consider if "one" is a "1" (also "a(n)", maybe), and if you can get away with "a couple of" or dozens, scores, grosses, ton(ne)s of, a "pony" or a "grand" or even a googol/googolplex. Then one (1s--) may won(1s--?)der what really ''are'' the uses to be strictly atone(1s--?)d for? Still, I've got 33×3 problems, but the number of 3²s aint one! (1s--). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.218|172.70.160.218]] 12:47, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

So, is this comic related to the Google incident? Google seems to be suffering from money '''shortage''' after being fined in large '''number'''s. [[User:CategoryGeneral|CategoryGeneral]] ([[User talk:CategoryGeneral|talk]]) 01:51, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
: ...no? Big leap in logic here. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.243|172.69.22.243]] 04:06, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

This one needs a nerd snipe warning! Anyone else get sniped with this one? [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 14:02, 11 November 2024 (UTC)
:I'll let you know. I have only fifteen vowels left. No, nine. Or is it six? No, two. Grrrrr! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.135|172.70.160.135]] 15:39, 11 Nvmbr 2024 (TC)

It's surprising they didn't run out of 0s and 1s well before the rest. I mean, we all know what those Computer Science types are like...[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.204|172.70.162.204]] 17:34, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

2993: Ingredients

2024-10-03T14:27:43Z

172.70.162.204: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2993
| date = October 2, 2024
| title = Ingredients
| image = ingredients_2x.png
| imagesize = 417x473px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Add main-belt asteroids to taste.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BETTER PLANET - Table of each moons with its special ingredients as well as the volume and surface area, and compare the combined volume and combined surface area to that of Mars (also check both the actual surface area of the five as well as the surface area of a sphere with the total moons volume, which would be a much smaller surface area than of the five moons sum of surface area... Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic jokes that it is possible (and perhaps intended) to use the five largest moons in the outer solar system (the Galilean moons + Titan) as ingredients, to create a “better” planet, that has the “coolest features”. Apparently, though, Randall couldn't actually think of anything cool that Ganymede and Callisto could contribute, so these have just been used as 'filler'.

Note that Earth's moon is the fifth-largest moon of the solar system overall (Europa is the sixth), so would have been included had "outer solar system" not been specified.

The title text takes it further, treating asteroids as a “to-taste” ingredient in this “recipe”, treating it more like preparing a food dish, rather than making a new Mars sized planet.

There are a number of science fiction works that posit that advanced alien civilizations left puzzles in the solar system for future humans to solve. [Examples needed]

==Transcript==
:[A planet is shown with several different features like oceans and large lakes as well as and craters. It seems like the continent is fused together from five different segments, with cracks between where there is either ocean or rivers. There are four labels above the planet with lines going down to different areas of the planet, but not necessarily pointing to any particular part on the surface, but rather to the entire planet:]
:Sulfur chemistry from Io
:Cool oceans from Europa
:Hydrocarbons from Titan
:Ganymede and Callisto (filler)

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:Scientists now think the five biggest outer solar system moons are actually just ingredients; we're supposed to combine them to create a single Mars-sized planet that's cooler than any of them.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Food]]

Talk:2803: Geohydrotypography

2023-07-25T19:03:08Z

172.70.162.204: I mis-edited my reply, made it say things different from intended. Rehashed.

100 words per minute seems… fast. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.64|172.69.33.64]] 04:47, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
:Yes, has anyone done the maths on this claim?[[User:Thisfox|Thisfox]] ([[User talk:Thisfox|talk]]) 09:52, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
:The claim is actually "per second"... and given the size of the Atlantic it's actually not thaaat much. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:02, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
:The height of 12pt text is stated as approx(!) 4.233mm, which is possibly from the tops of the risers to the bottom of sub-line descenders but not sure if it includes the extra line_spacing that prevents them touching across. If the (quoted) 13,000km figure is accepted as close enough, that's over 3x109 lines of text, ''each'' expanding by (up to) the "fingernail growth" rate often described. That's a lot of compound extension going on.
:The width is variable ('l' vs 'm'; then possible kerning of 'AV'- or 'rj'-like combinations vs 'AA' and 'rr', depending on font), so I don't really know where to start with the exact width-gain-per-line being mapped to characters (then to whole words that can be stocasticall inserted into the available new space). There are probably printers/publishers who have a good idea of how many pages some raw text (not yet actually suitably repaginated) actually might take up, at least to within the nearest quire. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.89|172.70.91.89]] 11:41, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

Is it accurate to say it's a portmaneau of geology, hydrology and typography? Surely the geo- and hydro- could also be considered here to have come from the root words (the same way they have in geology and hydrology) because they're just adding scope to the -ography from typography, or rather specifying that it's typography involving *geo* and *hydro*. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.15|172.70.86.15]] 06:41, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

It may see obvious to most, but I'd like to suggest a bit more literal explanation of the mechanics involved. It took me far too many readings, both of the comic and the explanation, to realize that the comic's "expansion of the ocean basin due to plate tectonics" is independent from the characters being "written" on the ocean. The word-wrap effects are just due to the existing rate of expansion due to plate tectonics. I was looking for some kind of typically Randallian closed loop (as in [[688: Self-Description]]). [[User:Der57|Der57]] ([[User talk:Der57|talk]]) 07:25, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

Why geology and hydrology when geography and hydrography are perfectly valid things? If it is a portmanteau, it could clearly be of three different "graphy" words.. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.108|172.71.102.108]] 09:10, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
:Agree [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:02, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
:There's a difference between geology and geography. The root "-logy" being of knowledge, "-graphy" that of measurement and recording.
:''Very'' roughly, the first I'd consider covers what we know of the underlying plate techtonics/etc, whilst the latter is how people understand/use the surface (not necessarily the land); I think geology applies to the comic more than geography (certainly far from many of its more prominant subfields, such as political geography). Yes, there's overlaps (where physical geography derives from/demonstrates various direct aspect of surface geology), but I think I'd say geology is the prime driver here.
:Hydrology vs hydrography, I'd skew the other way as far as relevence to the comic. It's the measure of the extent of the ocean rather than the understood movements of water (which, significantly to the layperson, includes aquifers and rivers and other land-observed watery analyses even more irrelevent to the hypothetical than that of the actual ocean currents which presumably Randall has no problem 'writing' over).
:..if only I could think of a reason to choose "typology" over "typography", then I could ''really'' go for a more awkward interpretation of what the composite word construction should be rooted in. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.119|141.101.98.119]] 11:12, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
: I don't think it's a portmanteau at all - rather, it's a neologism: the measurement and recording of text on the water surfaces of the earth. So there is no -ology or -graphy applicable to the component parts of the word; just one -graphy applied to the whole thing. (Also, it doesn't necessarily mean that he himself enjoys typing on the water - just that he likes studying / measuring it.)[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.4|141.101.98.4]] 16:14, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
Imho, this is some of Randall's finest work. In a very large portfolio of very fine work. [[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 00:01, 19 July 2023 (UTC)

It took me a bit to realize that the ''width'' of the Atlantic doesn't matter. ~ Megan she/her [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 01:02, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
:Well, it does if it approaches (<~2x?) the width of a single typical 12pt word. And further when it reduces down to demanding hyphens for the longest words. But, yes, such effects are so smeared out that there'd be a rare (non-zero) chance of re-wrapping making the rate increase go wild (and unusually static for a long while). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.181|172.70.162.181]] 08:14, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
::Since the width stays constant, we can ignore its size in area increase calculations. We also know the width of the Atlantic is huge compared with a 12pt word. ~ Megan she/her [[user talk:megan|talk]]/[[special:contribs/megan|contribs]] 15:19, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
:::Ummm... The point is that the width is ''not'' constant. It's increasing. But I thought you'd realised that the point was not the massive ''instantaneous'' width(s), as differently defined at different latitudes, 'merely' the imperceptible ''increase''s of width at all latitudes that sum together as being the space for the increasing number of words that would flow between these expanding margins. What we can ignore is how many actual words any actual full area will contain, we're looking at just the new words possible from just the new area (very very thin but very very tall) that's added. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.183|172.70.90.183]] 15:32, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

For what it's worth, chatGPT4 says this. "The Atlantic Ocean is expanding at a rate of about 2.5 cm/year (or about 0.0000000794 miles/year) due to seafloor spreading along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Assuming this expansion is fairly evenly spread over the entire surface of the Atlantic Ocean, we can convert this to the equivalent in point size for the text, considering there are approximately 72 points to an inch, and one inch is approximately 2.54 cm.
So, the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean in points per year would be approximately: 2.5 cm/year * (1 inch / 2.54 cm) * 72 points/inch ≈ 70.866 points/year
For simplicity, let's assume each line of 12pt text is exactly 12pt high (though in reality it would be a bit more due to line spacing), and each line contains 10 words (as a rough average). So, each point of expansion would add about 10/12 = 0.833 words.
Therefore, the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean in words per year due to seafloor spreading is approximately: 70.866 points/year * 0.833 words/point ≈ 59 words/year
This is equivalent to: 59 words/year / (365.25 days/year * 24 hours/day * 60 minutes/minute * 60 seconds/second) ≈ 0.00000187 words/second
So, with these assumptions and approximations, the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean due to plate tectonics might increase your word count by approximately 0.00000187 words per second.

[[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.65|172.70.127.65]] 18:49, 20 July 2023 (UTC)
:"So, each point of expansion would add about 10/12 = 0.833 words." Meaning that, in 12pt text, a word is smaller than a letter? I think the pile ([[1838: Machine Learning]]) may need a bit more stirring. (Comment by someone who's better at catching GPT errors than knowing how to comment here; sorry if I did it wrong.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.19|162.158.38.19]] 17:00, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
::(On the latter point, you replied close enough. Though could have use <code><nowiki>~~~</nowiki></code>, giving (your version of) "[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.169|172.71.178.169]]", rather than trying to manually write in the timestamp to try to emulate the <code><nowiki>~~~~</nowiki></code>, which gives the full signature aitomatically. I've put the full thing there, for you, and now here is my own... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.169|172.71.178.169]] 19:00, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

Took me a BIT to get this. I thought he was describing the comic, the 30-whatever words written on a MAP view, that their room would expand by 100 words, took me a bit of time to realize he meant on the real ocean, one inch of text covering 1 inch or real ocean. THAT I can believe. :) [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:04, 22 July 2023 (UTC)