explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

765: Dilution

2024-06-07T18:06:19Z

172.71.242.188: Removed Rational wiki link and smarted text.

{{comic
| number = 765
| date = July 12, 2010
| title = Dilution
| image = dilution.png
| titletext = Dear editors of Homeopathy Monthly: I have two small corrections for your July issue. One, it's spelled "echinacea", and two, homeopathic medicines are no better than placebos and your entire magazine is a sham.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Homeopathy}} is the belief that poisons, bacteria, and other harmful substances can actually cure the diseases they normally cause, if they are administered in sufficiently dilute form. The normal procedure is to prepare a solution, then successively dilute it with water or alcohol by multiple factors of 10. (There's also a "succussion" step between rounds, which basically consists of shaking or striking the mixture, but no serious mechanism for how this would affect anything has been provided.) In the medical world, it's known to be completely ineffective, with countless scientific studies repeatedly showing it to have no more effectiveness than a {{w|placebo}}. Keep in mind that homeopathy was invented when standard treatments included blood letting, drugs made with mercury and arsenic, and natural remedies made with nightshade and hemlock. So doing effectively nothing like homeopathy had better results than doing harm to an individual.

Here we find [[Cueball]], a firm believer in homeopathy, applying the idea to fertility by diluting his semen. 30X means that the semen has been diluted with water at a 1:10 ratio 30 times, so the solution contains 1 part semen to one-nonillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) parts water. Since the average ejaculation contains 200 to 500 million sperm cells, this means the solution Cueball is holding has a 3.5x10<sup>-20</sup>% chance of containing even a single sperm cell. Clearly, [[Megan]] will not be getting pregnant from this, so she and Cueball will not be passing on their genes to the next generation, which is why the comic states that "the belief in homeopathy is not, evolutionarily, selected for".

According to the belief of homeopathy, diluted sperm should not help in getting pregnant, but help to cure the symptoms, e.g. pregnancy, caused by it. So even if diluting it 30X, would have a homeopathic effect, it would be the opposite of the one Cueball states he wants to achieve.

{{w|Echinacea}} is a genus of flowers commonly used in herbal remedies to stimulate the immune system. Scientific studies have not shown that such an effect exists. The title text is intended to represent a letter to the editors of fictitious journal 'Homeopathy Monthly', starting with a minor complaint that they seem unable to perform the basic proof-reading and fact-checking necessary to correctly spell one of the most well-known herbal remedies. This is followed up by a complete dismissal of homeopathy as a whole and the magazine in particular.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands at a desk with a beaker in one hand and a turkey baster in the other. Megan lies in a bed in the same room.]

:Cueball: Okay, this time I've diluted the semen 30x.
:Megan: We'll be ''sure'' to get pregnant now!

:Belief in homeopathy is not, evolutionarily, selected for.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

User talk:Apollo11

2024-06-02T21:19:22Z

172.71.242.188: Drift... ;)

{{Welcome}}

== Link edit made ==

See [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1167:_Star_Trek_into_Darkness&diff=338228&oldid=338217 here], for details. (The stray "z", in the reason was supposed to be a comma, bloomin' touchscreen keyboard!)

Basically <code><nowiki>{{w|Page Title|link text}}</nowiki></code> supplies the necessary bits in what 'raw' might be <code><nowiki>[[wikipedia:Page Title|link text]]</nowiki></code>. Not ''much'' saving time, but just enough to be worthwhile. And far better than <code><nowiki>[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_(spacecraft) whatever else you might use]</nowiki></code>... ;)

(PS, Columbia or Eagle? I mean, neither are ''called'' "Apollo". I suppose technically Eagle is ''more'' than a spacecraft, as it can land (or ditch into the sea, ironically for Aquarius!), but ''an'' Apollo craft could be anything from early boilerplate ones onward, and anything from the full stack to any free-flying component, and thus Apollo 11 is any/all of it from the base of its first stage to the tip of its escape-tower. Not to be pedantic, just wondering out loud. :p ) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.99|172.70.162.99]] 18:51, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

:(I have no idea what the second paragraph is so straight to the ps! ;) Comlumbia obvously, the Eagle already has so much hype (plus it bugs me that they put an ACTUAL EAGLE on the mission patch, it would've looked so much cooler with a rocket or the Eagle) That being said, the entire Apollo program was pretty freaking awsome, like, they did stuff that half a decade earlier people couldnt have dreamed of doing (techniclly they did dream it, but yk what i mean)!! As for the rocket itself, yes its called the Saturn V, but my names Apollo11 soooooooooooo :p And no worries beung pedantic, i love the decussion ;) [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 19:01, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

::Just clicked the link! I see, thanks for the help! :) [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 19:04, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

==Request==
May I please correct the misspellings on your user page? If not, then Ok... [[User:Z1mp0st0rz|The orange crewmate ඞ]] ([[User talk:Z1mp0st0rz|talk]]) 14:40, 7 May 2024 (UTC)
:Sure! [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 15:04, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

== cereal ==

no, cereal are nachos! cuberule.com (and a hotdog is a taco) [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 02:23, 15 May 2024 (UTC)
:I will exept that a hotdog is a taco, but nachos are a salad too! [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 16:22, 15 May 2024 (UTC)

== Three suggestions. ==

# Use a spell-checker. (Or a spill-chucker!) You ''really'' need to, and you know you do.
# Use the Preview button more.
# It's really better not to create User or User Talk pages for IPs.
I hope you find these useful to consider, but of course they're just my own observations. We can discuss any of this here, if you want. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.121|172.70.163.121]] 21:38, 16 May 2024 (UTC)

How do I get a spell checker on a wiki? I use google docs to type up anything so I don't have any downloaded spell checkers, would those work? If so do you have a suggestion? [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 21:05, 20 May 2024 (UTC)
:Get something like LibreOffice, rather than relying on an online office-suite. (You can still cross-copy things, if you like the "store on the cloud" element. That'd have spellchecker. But I would have thought Google provides one - never used it, but would seem like an obvious feature.)
:But all sane browsers also have native and official plugins that include rather decent spell-checkers. Though if you're not using en-US, yourself, you might have to add that on top of your normally useful native brand of language. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.171|141.101.99.171]] 00:41, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
:Awesome thank you! I will try LibreOffice. (hopfully it runs fine on a Mac, I've had SO many apps not run on it) [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 16:48, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
::Google Docs DOES have a spell check-please start using it's feature (it's all built in, unless you did something horrible to your Google Docs and now it's not functioning properly) [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 03:16, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
:::Yeah I know it has a spell check feature, thats why I dont have an outside one [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 16:48, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
::::Ok... Yeah, what you wrote looked like "I use Google Docs to write my wiki contributions, as a precursor to copying them into the browser, and I haven't got a spellchecker activated on GD". Only if you're doing this sort of thing (writing elsewhere then copying across) will something like LibreOffice help you any more (in that regard) than the assumed prior situation. (Though I'm also fairly certain that LibreOffice ''will'' work perfectly well on a Mac, assuming you get the right installer, because they're very good at supporting even obscure platforms and OSes. And is less reliant upon online connectivity at the implicit behest of Mr Google.)
::::What browser are you using, then? The plug-in 'store' for Firefox, Chrome, etc will almost certainly have a spellchecker (and choice of dictionaries) if you look in the obvious places. I also had a quick look at references for Safari (given you're a Maccie, and perhaps it's a valid assumption that you're just using the pre-installed default) and apparently from the Edit menu there's a Spelling And Grammar built in, but might need enabling/selecting your chosen locale(s)/other twiddly bits... but I can't tell you exactly what with any certainty. You can probably work it out yourself, or ask (here or elsewhere) or search (your favourite search engine results) for more clues. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.40|172.70.86.40]] 20:03, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
:::::Ohhhh I see, yeah no, I don't use docs to type in this Wiki the copy and paste it, I just use it for typing up and printing stuff like reports.
:::::Sorry, if you already explained this, but did you say that the LibreOffice won't work directly in the wiki? (" Only if you're doing this sort of thing (writing elsewhere then copying across) will something like LibreOffice help you any more (in that regard) than the assumed prior situation.") Also I do have to Wiki Spelling and Grammar built in, but its not that reliable. (It does catch quite a few errors though :) ).
::::::Also I do use safari, I have an older Mac and it doesnt like Google Chrome very much. [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 23:11, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
:::::::"did you say that the LibreOffice won't work directly in the wiki?" - well, I can think of a way to jury-rig it to connect into the online wiki-editing process (and there are probably other, better ways than that of doing so), but it's your browser doing the main interaction as it is. Also with Google Docs, I presume, but that's yet another different website emulating a 'proper' word-processor interface, and even that won't easily let you use your browser to edit a document which you can directly save to the wiki website.
:::::::I just thought you were making it slightly complicated for itself, and I wouldn't want to make it ''far more'' complicated. (But you might be able to use something that's not Google Docs for your other purposes.) There's not really such a thing as a standalone spell-checker, but whatever works in whatever you type in is useful. ("Also I do have to Wiki Spelling and Grammar built in" ...there's errors in that very statement, typos and/or thinkos, of one or other variety, and which errors there are dictates which very different advice I would then suggest. But it's something you may have to work out yourself. I could perhaps work things out with you properly if we sat down together at your machine, but it's not really something that two random people can sort out purely by passing text messages around, who probably aren't even on the same continent.)
:::::::There are a number of reasons why you might not be good with spelling: dyslexia, though not the worst case I've seen; insufficient (home-?)schooling, not your fault and you can remedy that with practice; just not paying attention during (home-?)school, ''partly'' your fault, but a good teacher might have helped greatly; English As A Second Language, generally you'd trip up in different ways, in my experience; not really caring, but then you ''seem'' like you care in these missives; <s>You're an American</s>, well, no, not seriously, but even Randall can't spell the likes of "colour", "analyse" and "aluminium" ''correctly''. ;p 
::::::: That doesn't matter, though. Just try to use the tools you have at hand ''and that work for you''. Everyone trips up, and different situations are differently forgiving to such various potential trips. Here, community concensus will (generally) put things right (well, "US English" 'right'!), and there's also nothing to stop you becoming an international best-selling author (your various locality-based copy-editors will likely help transform your works for the various different areas), so long as you have good enough ideas behind your enthusiasm for such things to make it all worthwhile. And I've no real complaints in that department. (As if such a random comment by a random commentator such as me is worth anything. But we've hit the practical limits of direct good advice I might have) on the original matter, so forgive the presumption.) All the best, then... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.74|141.101.99.74]] 11:01, 22 May 2024 (UTC) PS, one undeliberate typo was made in the above. If you spot it, then "I know", but absolute perfection is unatainable and (after all the others I corected, already) I'm happy to leave it as a personal lesson in humility. And if you spot more than one, then... well, feel free to be smug about spotting them. ;)
::Thank you for taking the time to try and help me with this. I'm not sure how to respond to most of it, so thank you for the clarifications.
:"There are a number of reasons why you might not be good with spelling" Honestly, its just cause theres 170,000 words in the English language and I can't keep track of them all (especially since they follow no rules what so ever eg. Bomb Tomb Comb).
:Also for the record of anyone else, I'm a "gosh darned God blessed soil born 'marican". ;)
Also are you the same person as before (I can't tell with the IP)?
Thank you again :) [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 20:02, 22 May 2024 (UTC)

== Userboxes ==

Hey, I would recommend to have your user box on top of the page or to the side, as that’s standard procedure for most, and it would be seen more by people if you move it. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, of course. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 16:26, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
:I just moved it up to after my intro paragraph, (I don't like how it looks with it right above that paragraph) [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 16:33, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
::ravenclaw colors are blue and SILVER NOT BRONZE I WILL FIGHT YOU ⚔️🔥[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 16:44, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
:::NOOOOOOO, the movies butchered the colors in the books their blue and BRONZE. I WILL WIN THIS FIGHT [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 16:51, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
::::NO SILVER LOOKS BETTER WITH BLUE [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 16:53, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
:::::NO BRONZE LOOKS COOLER!! PLUS SILVER IS SLYTHERIN'S COLOR [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 16:54, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
::::::I'm a slytherclaw its fine [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 16:55, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
:::::::I'm a RAVENclaw so it’s not fine! Also apostrafies, I may suck at spelling, but grammar!!!! [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 17:08, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
::::::::look I’m rushing to type these alright Im still in school rn [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 17:18, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
:::::::::ok fine I suppose it's fine then. But Bronze is still far superior [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 21:03, 30 May 2024 (UTC)
::::::::::FINALLY HGD (human growth & development (sex ed))IS OVER-THE MOST BORING CLASS IN THE HISTORY OF BIOLOGY HAS BEEN COMPLETELY TAUGHT! (I learned everything when I was like 9 or 10 when I read a scientific encyclopaedia for fun during the lockdown.) [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 02:33, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
:::::::::::This is one of those 'things that make you feel old' statements.
:::::::::::Not going to say that you're wrong, but I remember the thing that was 'sex ed' in the '70s. That was just an awkward "ok, everyone's not doing the <insert 'unimportant' class schedule slot here caused least disruption> today, all the boys will go with Mr Smith to <Room A>, all the girls will go with Mrs Smith to <Room B>", whereupon we boys learnt... probably far less than we had from 'hedgerow porn stashes' and any personal extrapolation/playground rumour we might have experienced. I presume the girls were taught a bit more (than their mothers maybe hadn't already told them) about their own bodies, but generally discouraged from getting anywhere near ours.
:::::::::::The 'boring biological' lessons in the actual cellular-level biology must have been done after I had already chosen to go off into the physics/chemistry scientific slant and dropped the (up to that point) lessons that either dealt with the rather wider study of respiration/transpiration/etc or had gone in what types of cell-wall various branches of the Tree Of Life possessed.
:::::::::::I probably got more of a technical introduction from the "How your body works"-style book (a pair of pages covering that in a 'family friendly' way, in amongst other sections for how the blood carries oxygen, the digestive/renal system, etc), but went above my head at the time.
:::::::::::Then, much later, due to my later scheduling needs in Further Education I was putin a "chemistry (for biologists)" class rather than the "chemistry (for physicists)" one. That got me an unexpected insight in the whole DNA, subcellular and cell-level parts of the biochemical process. But, by then, I was well into teenage years (for better or worse).
:::::::::::Interesting to see that you essentially went down the age-old "learnt it from a medical encyclopaedia" route, with a physical book, though. These days, one sort of assumes that everything (both properly educational/useful and "Not Safe For School"/possibly misinforming) gets discovered online. That option wasn't available to me (until university, by which point that focus of education wasn't as relevent as hoovering up all kinds of other knowledge/'knowledge', and this was pre-web/long-pre-Google-and-Wikipedia so what you could find over the internet was perhaps technically broad but practically limited).
:::::::::::So... anyway... at least you now know. Though don't imagine that you know ''everything'', yet. Possibly, even, your class was ''deliberately'' bowdlerised into utter boredome to satisfy some (misplaced?) adult sensibilities. Storing up problems in your (or at least some of your classmates') near future. But possibly it was just ''too'' comprehensive and dry, instead... I really should not presume either way.
:::::::::::But you being 9/10 during lockdown '''definitely''' makes me feel old. (Or, to put it another way, you're young. Enjoy being young! There's probably plenty of further 'boring' stuff in your future adult life, as well as things that your further-future adult self might look back upon as having been ''too'' exciting. But we don't have rewind buttons or handy savegames to reload (though we do often spend too much time rewinding or savegaming things that aren't life itself, potentially wasting the time in hindsight...) so you just have to take these things as they come. Including this particularly boring class, just hoping that it wasn't a total mistake by those who taught it that way. :p
:::::::::::Welcome to (the start of) the rest of your life, though. Little things are sent to try us, and maybe this was one of them. Or maybe not. Time will tell. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.164|141.101.98.164]] 10:51, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

::::::"whereupon we boys learnt... probably far less than we had from 'hedgerow porn stashes' and any personal extrapolation/playground rumour we might have experienced. I presume the girls were taught a bit more (than their mothers maybe hadn't already told them) about their own bodies, but generally discouraged from getting anywhere near ours." This part made me laugh. This is also why I'm very glad to be homeschooled (I was pulled out after middle school during the pandemic, so I got a little tast of sex ed class, it very much did suck) Luckly my sex-ed class only persisted of my mother telling me not to "do anything I'll regret" and my father saying if I was doing stuff, to make sure my mother didn't find out.
:::::::The fact that the pandemic was around half a decade ago is very crazy, especally the fact that now NOBODY CARES at all. At the time it seemed like the only future available was one that was filled with either masks or vaccinated cards, now I don't carry either and I haven't seen one in a couple years which is very welcome in my opinion.
::::::: Also I don't know about how it was in the seventies but now a days, the boys and girls are together (at least in my old middle school) so it was even more akward.
::::::::My final question is, how did we get here for moving my user box to the top of the screen?? ;) [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 17:10, 2 June 2024 (UTC)
::::::::[[File:King_of_Europe_Round_3_Lydden_Hill_2014_(14356011899).jpg|200px]] [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.188|172.71.242.188]] 21:19, 2 June 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2928: Software Testing Day

2024-05-04T17:37:27Z

172.71.242.188:

What holiday are they referring to? In the UK we will have a long weekend due to the Early May Bank Holiday. But May Day isn't a "thing" in the USA, is it? Or should we just assume this is set in Britain? [[User:Zeimusu|Zeimusu]] ([[User talk:Zeimusu|talk]]) 13:45, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
:Well, that's refering to the official STD(!) set to be on January 0th (+24hr+12hr), so I don't think it's a topical scene.
:It looks like our Leftpondian friends have official ''nationwide'' 'holidays' on: New Year's Day (1/Jan), Martin Luther King, Jr, Day. (3rd Monday in January), Inauguration Day (20/Jan, every 4 years), Presidents Day (3rd Monday in February), Memorial Day (last Monday in May), Juneteenth (19/Jun), Independence Day (4/Jul), Labor Day (1st Monday in September), Columbus Day (2nd Monday in October), Veterans Day (11/Nov), Thanksgiving Day (4th Thursday in November), Christmas Day (25/Dec). And then there'll be additional state/more local days, no doubt. (And, because of labo(u)r laws, or insufficient ones, I'm given to believe that might be more of an inconvenience/inapplicability to quite a lot of workers.)
:But this seems to be a highly specific 'QA'/software-testers' tradition, either within a particular company or across ''all'' such professionals. At least within the xkcd universe, which might have all kinds of other strangenesses to it that we're only seeing the vaguest outline of through these comics. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.188|172.71.242.188]] 17:37, 4 May 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2710: Hydropower Breakthrough

2024-04-28T13:01:24Z

172.71.242.188:

ChatGPT sez:
:The comic depicts Beret Guy, a character known for his expertise in science and engineering, standing on a podium and announcing that their hydroelectric dam has achieved a level of efficiency greater than one, producing more water than was fed into it. This is cause for celebration, as it indicates that the dam is functioning properly and efficiently. However, the second off-panel voice raises a question, suggesting that there may be more to the situation than initially thought.
:The title text adds further information by revealing that a hydroelectric dam is also known as a heavy water reactor. This suggests that the dam may not be operating in the traditional way, but rather may be using a different type of technology, such as nuclear power, to produce the excess water. This could raise concerns about safety and the potential risks associated with this type of technology.
Meh. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.45|172.69.33.45]] 03:44, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

It *is* possible. All Beret Guy has to do is use the electricity to run air conditioners, which will have one side condensing water from the atmosphere, ergo more water coming out than went in. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 04:00, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
:I think there's a conservation of energy violation here, but can't model the entire system. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.97|172.70.134.97]] 14:31, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

Considering that he phrases it "more water than we fed into it" in the past tense, it might just be that there's a leak in the dam.
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.19|172.69.33.19]] 04:06, 13 December 2022 (UTC) mraction

More variation: "more water than *we* fed into it" ie not counting water from the river that feeds it, or rainfall. There's also the title text turn of phrase "heavy water reactor". "heavy" could refer to either the "water" (in the sense of gravity, or deuterium passing through), or the "reactor" (as in its mass) - [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.242|172.70.210.242]] 05:43, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

A fusion reactor that produces more energy than it consumes does so by consuming and producing things other than energy. If they're running a hydrogen gas turbine at the site, they could be producing more water (from hydrogen and oxygen gases) than they lose, at least in theory. Of course, producing and shipping hydrogen to the site of a dam would be vastly less efficient under any reasonable circumstances than producing electricity instead of hydrogen in the first place.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.76|172.70.111.76]] 07:34, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

If Q is only barely >1 it could square the circle by converting atoms to oxygen by fusion in order to create water but the whole energy of the dam is used to make the fusion of a few oxygen atoms.

"Another member of audience, who is presumably familiar with regular physics, says "Wait.", because conservation of mass usually applies to water such that a dam should produce the same amount of water as that fed into it. That said, for a regular dam in a natural valley like the one shown in this comic, it is entirely normal for the dam to "produce" more water than input in the sense that in addition to water from upstream rivers, the dam will also output any "unofficial" inflow from direct rainfall above and from uncharted sources of groundwater below."<br>
I thought that the "Wait" comment was in relation to the fact that the announcement, although achieving something that was not achieved so far, is impractical. As the power plants are expected to produce energy, announcement that they produce additional water is irrelevant, and the "wait" comment indicated that they have missed the point. {{unsigned ip|172.68.50.204}}

Given the title of ''Hydropower Breakthrough'', is a possible interpretation that the dam is just about to fail? --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.171|172.68.110.171]] 10:35, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

My immediate thought was that he was using the generated electricity to ignite a hydrogen cell, but my immediate thoughts are always weird. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.97|172.70.134.97]] 14:31, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

I feel Randall's comic is strongly indicative of a fair degree of skepticism around recent fusion power hype (many existing ''fission'' reactors produce an energy surplus, but fail to meet their cost of operations)... Yet, the comic's explanation currently reads as a guileless exhortation of fusion's possibilities, making no mention of the many other challenges faced by fusion reactors, besides this critical ''first step'' of generating more power than required to sustain the reaction. The comic is clearly making light of the recent publication\marketing push, yet the explanation gives no sign that fusion power is anything but practical & just around the corner. Fusion still has many remaining challenges to overcome, before reaching practicality as an energy source even for military applications (moreso still, for public utility); wind & solar are the top KWh:$ producers & another 10 or 100 billion spent researching fusion are very unlikely to change that in the next couple decades. In fact, solar research returns more Watts per dollar. The comic should probably mention the other challenges involved in nuclear fusion power, besides raw output quantity?
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 16:00, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
:Top KWh:$ producers sure, by which statistics? The effectivity of different kinds of power plants varies widely both with specific location, cost of input and the method used, but usually the hydroelectric damns build in good terrain would take a lead, especially considering that they can work for more than century. Which wind or solar power plant can hope for that? There is sure lot of research still necessary to make fusion power plants reality, but long term it can easily pay itself, and it can work anywhere, while damns need to be build on river, wind onshore (offshore are MUCH less effective and no research will change that) and solar, well, not too far from equator and somewhere with sunny weather, it wouldn't work when raining. Or, well, in space. Fission might also get good value from research if the research actually will be happening. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:21, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
::Dams are far from maintenance free & damage local ecologies in ways which can't yet be solved (a fish run lessens only one of these issues & only ''partially''), plus they cost ''way'' more per watt-hour to deploy. Also, the turbines they rely on, require periodic service similar to those used with wind. More importantly though, dams & solar & wind are ''already'' a viable method of public energy production, & research into improving solar & wind return far more improvement in watt-hours per dollar, than nuclear does. Since we're already in the midst of a growing ecological crisis & need cleaner energy ''now'', it makes more sense to research solar & wind, than nuclear. Sure, nuclear energy research ''may'' pay off eventually, but we need society to survive long enough to benefit; solar & wind make money ''and'' energy, right now, & research money spent on solar & wind power has returned far more Watt-hours per dollar, than research into nuclear power. Also, it's very incorrect to presume that solar only works well at low latitudes: Solar is used extensively in nordic regions, & even the energy-per-meter landing at the Earth's ''poles'' is still quite significant; there's so much energy in solar power, that it's almost ridiculous to go looking elsewhere. I agree that some forms of nuclear energy deserve more research funding than they've received so far (US-funded research is so obsessed with highly-fissile materials, that even nuclear energy "experts" are often ignorant of other methods), but at this point ''future'' technologies like fusion & hydrogen power, are effectively siphoning money from tech that ''would help now'' in favor of speculation on tech that ''could'' help ''someday''. Money spent researching fusion isn't necessarily ''wasted'', but spending that money to research solar or wind, helps more people sooner, while we have increasingly little time left to do so.
::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]])
21:07, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
::Moreover, my point is that ''Randall’s comic'' seems to portray this type of fusion hype as somewhat laughable, yet the comic's explanation treats fusion as a serious current contender for public utility; which it simply isn't (not for another few decades at the earliest, anyway). I feel the explanation fails to convey the absurdity prompting the "Wait..." reaction: The findings are presented with such overblown hype, that a reasonable attendee finds it obvious that something isn't as it's presented. A more responsible explanation might begin by stating outright, that fusion energy as a utility is a long-term ''possibility'', but is ''not'' "on the verge" of near-term viability, despite findings massaged to attract further speculative finance.
::[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:34, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

I think the explanation is overthinking it. The joke is that there's a leak in the dam.
[[User:Nico31415926|An idiot]] ([[User talk:Nico31415926|talk]]) 16:37, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
:You mean you only see one of the long list of jokes in this comic? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:21, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
:: I guess my mind just thought of the simplest joke first? :shrug: -- [[User:Nico31415926|An idiot]] ([[User talk:Nico31415926|talk]]) 06:03, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

The explanation says nothing about the effect this would have downriver from the dam. [[User:Inquirer|Inquirer]] ([[User talk:Inquirer|talk]]) 16:51, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

I wonder if the image depicts Vajont Dam, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajont_Dam, which was overtopped by a massive wave generated by a landslide--briefly outputting MUCH more water than was input. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.3|172.71.150.3]] 18:38, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

Is not counting rain, equivalent to only counting the energy released by the laswers, not the energy fed into the lasers? [[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 20:47, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

Another possible reason for the "Wait." comment is that, if Beret Guy's dam is indeed magically creating water, then left unchecked it could, over time, lead to the sea levels rising higher than all land surface on Earth. This would indeed be a very unfortunate situation. [[User:Dansiman|Dansiman]] ([[User talk:Dansiman|talk]]) 22:24, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

One of the things I just edited out was the claim that discharging (effectively) distilled water could dehydrate the environment. With an unnaturally hypertonic (dilute) water-source, creatures would not dry out but (if anything) ''absorb'' more water under osmotic pressure, which could lead to cells bursting from too much effort to balance things out. Hypotonic water (too many salts, for a given organism) would draw cellular/bodily stores of water out. Probably a 'pure water discharge' of the kind described would locally dilute the natural body of water that it was set to run into, but would also fairly quickly make itself/its dump-body more eager than normal to adopt ions from the immediate geologies of the run-off path. If you don't presume deluging a parched land with basically your fancy new-water output, there might be effects upon plants and animals adapted to more hard and/or briney water-environments (e.g. creating a disruptive freshwater lagoon within a saltwater marsh), with some ecological concerns to be addressed by careful use of mixing ponds (almost the opposite of most waste-water outlettings, which may require settling ponds or filtrating reed-beds) and questions about relative temperatures (which can be useful ''or'' disruptive to the survival of local creatures who might previously have migrated to more naturally warmer expanses of water), but overall it'd be better than most post-industrial water outflows. With the right eco-oversight to spot side-effects. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.74|172.71.242.74]] 01:39, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Where did all the AWS advertising come from? The comic has no relation to cloud computing or the amazon. The companies green washing ads should be deleted. --[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.33|198.41.242.33]] 09:30, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Twelve paragraphs is absurd. This wall of text is an order of magnitude harder to understand than the simple comic joke. It needs to be trimmed to three to five paragraphs, tops! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.159|172.71.154.159]] 00:16, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
:Agreed, but it was that large by the time ''I'' arrived at the article, and it seemed that two (or three) separate strands of thought had been separately composed and concatonated. Perhaps not helped by multiple subtly different interpretations of the hidden meanings springing from deep within the words. Major re-editing is needed, but I'm not confident enough to blitz it properly. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.74|172.71.242.74]] 00:39, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
:Those single sentence paragraphs with no context. This is the worst post-start explanation I've seen in months. Now that the next comic is up it's time to get to work. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.17|172.69.134.17]] 04:57, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

The AWS stuff should all be deleted. It is nonsensical. AWS uses water for evaporative cooling of its data centers. It is spending loads of money on wet lands to feel better about it. That has nothing what-so-ever to do with this comic.

ChatGPT may be only barely mediocre at producing good explanations from the transcripts, but it did a fantastic job of reducing 14 absurdly verbose to 5 simple paragraphs (8.3 to 3.6 kilobytes.) I did maybe fifteen words of cleanup, mostly to put the (wiki)links back in. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.142.124|162.158.142.124]] 05:19, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

The explanation makes it seem like we may already have fusion reaction net energy gain, when this is simply not the case: we may have achieved Q > 1 for the energy put into the hydrogen particle, but this disregards the energy required to power the lasers as well as the energy required to convert the resulting heat into electricity (that would be QTotal > 1). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.98.124|172.71.98.124]] 13:07, 15 December 2022 (UTC) Gogeta

I'm wondering if this is also relevant to Amazon's claim that their data centers somehow have 1:1 water cooling consumption:production, with a future predicted ratio that is somehow "even higher".
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.35.69|172.70.35.69]] 00:44, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

Is it not Q>I, rather than Q>1? {{unsigned ip|172.70.34.9|03:42, 28 April 2024}}
:You'd need to justify what the "I" could be. (Noting that even in [[2707: Astronomy Numbers]], the 'simple' digit one features ''as well as'' the serifed/tick-marked version for a stylistic digit, but (generally) xkcd "|"s serve as both numeric and alphabetic glyphs.) And there's a clear joke regarding ">1", where there isn't really one here for ">I" without reason to believe it specifically references luminous intensity, moment of inertia, electric current, etc, although with ''some'' additional terms (that Randall'd know to use) you ''might'' be able to justify those equivalences... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.188|172.71.242.188]] 13:01, 28 April 2024 (UTC)

2625: Field Topology

2024-04-24T07:55:33Z

172.71.242.188: Undo revision 340475 by 172.68.34.58 (talk) Already topologically explained. Hard to topologically re-explain in reverse.

{{comic
| number = 2625
| date = May 27, 2022
| title = Field Topology
| image = field_topology.png
| titletext = The combination croquet set/10-lane pool can also be used for some varieties of foosball and Skee-Ball.
}}

==Explanation==
Field Topology is [https://encyclopediaofmath.org/wiki/Topological_field a subject in mathematics], but in this comic, Randall is instead examining the topology of playing fields used for various sports. The comic strip depicts a situation in which the common practice of multi-use athletic facilities has been organized by the "topology department" and constructed to be shared by all sports whose normal playing fields are {{w|topology|topologically equivalent}}. One key assumption in topology is that you can ignore the specificities of shape, size and material of the objects concerned. This presents an amusing contrast as the "equivalent" topology department playing fields are actually not very appropriate for the activities listed in the comic, as the standard positioning, size and shape of hoops, nets and bars and the material of the field itself are not equivalent to the real playing fields used for those activities.

(Not to be confused with {{w|Field (mathematics)|mathematical fields}}, or the {{w|Fields Medal}} prize -- although the concept is likely a further pun in the comic, as math (including topology), and most things once can imagine really, are mostly performed ("played") within mathematical fields.)

In topology, shapes which can be smoothly deformed into one another without adding or removing holes are considered equivalent. A topological hole is an area of the nominal space (or area, or other manifold) through which nothing restricted to this topology can pass. A loop is a path across the allowable territory of a topology (or a viable circuit to make through the world it describes) that end up where it started. For example, when describing the space taken up by a solid object such as a coffee mug, the handle forms a loop with a hole through it. If a loop cannot be tightened (ultimately adjusted to take a shorter path) down to a single point, then it must be wrapped around at least one "topological hole", and you have separately unique paths (or points, i.e., on different disconnected topologies) where you cannot adjust one loop to take the route of another without severing a looped path and reconnecting it.

When describing a negative space, such as the space around an archway, the 'hole' would be the material of the arch itself. This is because a loop formed by a ring around any part of the arch material can only be shortened to a finite length, not to a point; the 'hole' is the arch-shaped obstruction which forces the existence of these loops. A {{w|basketball}} hoop connected to the ground forms a similar obstruction with a loop through it, so the space around the hoop contains an equivalent hole. In this comic the topology department has analysed the spaces where various sports are played by the number of such obstructions in the playing area. Each space depicted in the comic is then signposted with the sports which are played on a field with that number of holes.

{{w|Baseball}}, {{w|tetherball}} and {{w|soccer}} are played on fields which are continuous in three-dimensional space. This means it is possible to traverse any path around or over any of the structures defining the field, while there are no obstructions which can be traversed through in a loop around them. The goals on a soccer field presumably do not create holes because the goalposts and crossbar are connected to the field by the net; Randall apparently considers these to form continuous surfaces which do not allow loops through them.

{{w|Volleyball}} and {{w|badminton}} are played using a net suspended from poles, and the {{w|high jump}} has a bar that contestants jump over. The structure formed by the net or bar and the supporting poles can be considered to be a "hole" through the playing field, as a path over and under the net/bar forming a loop cannot be contracted to a single point, so their playing fields in the comic all have one "hole".

[[File:Double torus illustration.png|thumb|150px|A genus two surface]]

A basketball court has two hoops. {{w|Parallel bars}} can be thought of as two archways. Both have opportunities to pass through either (or both) structures, and so the material of the structures define a hole in the topological abstract of the playing 'space'. Since we are told that these sports fields belong to the Topology Department - and are not necessarily generalized to all sports fields - we might assume that their "football" field is either for {{w|Rugby_sevens|rugby}} or for American football using H-shaped {{w|Goal (sports)|uprights}}.

An {{w|Olympic-sized_swimming_pool|Olympic-sized swimming pool}} has ten lanes, and thus nine lane dividers which are fastened to the walls of the pool at each end, creating topological holes through the play area. Each hoop in {{w|croquet}} is similarly a hole through the space; while most versions of croquet use six hoops, nine hoops are used for "backyard croquet" which is played recreationally in the United States and Canada. The fact that the space in a swimming pool is typically filled with water{{citation needed}} has been overlooked by the topology department.

As mentioned in the title text, this last configuration is also {{w|homeomorphism|homeomorphic}} to a {{w|foosball}} table (with each rod sustaining the player figures above the table defining a hole) or a {{w|Skee-Ball}} lane (which is even more straightforward, as it is just a plane with several holes in which to throw balls). These "fields" don't actually have the same number of holes, but are apparently lumped together by the Topology Department as having "many" holes.

Unfortunately, the Topology Department does not seem to have a field for {{w|hurdling}} events.

==Transcript==
:[A row of four signs, each held up by two posts, followed by a row of four rounded lozenge shapes, one for each sign. The signs and lozenge shapes are shaded as if three-dimensional objects, all being flattish with a small third dimension; the four lozenge shapes each have one pair of sides horizontal and the other pair at a slight angle from vertical, denoting a horizontal plane perpendicular to the signs extending "out" towards the viewer, which places each shape "in front" of its sign. All but the first lozenge shape have various numbers of ellipses within the shape - ovoids shaded to denote holes piercing through the objects.]

:[Leftmost sign:]
:Baseball
:Soccer
:Tetherball
:[The shape below this sign contains no ellipses.]

:[Second sign from left:]
:Volleyball
:Badminton
:High jump
:[This shape has one large ellipse in the center.]

:[Third sign:]
:Basketball
:Football
:Parallel bars
:[This shape has two large ellipses - one in the top half and one in the bottom half.]

:[Fourth and rightmost sign:]
:Olympic swimming
:Croquet
:[This shape has nine small ellipses - eight arranged symmetrically towards the edges of the shape and one in the center.]

:[Caption underneath the signs and shapes:]
:No one ever wants to use the topology department's athletic fields.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Sport]]

Talk:2918: Tick Marks

2024-04-15T08:57:01Z

172.71.242.188:

The ticks on the y axis conceal the area of the graph between them. Why didn't Randall just build his graph so that the x axis did similar? Then he could keep up a continuous level of activity equal to the size of the ticks, rather than just doing short bursts to coincide with them.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.146|172.70.91.146]] 09:28, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
:Don't really know. But look, I was waiting all day yesterday for the Wednesday comic, so I'll take any comic at this point T_T [[User:Z1mp0st0rz|Z1mp0st0rz]] ([[User talk:Z1mp0st0rz|talk]]) 14:54, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
::It was at least half an hour before end-of-day-Midnight, for Randall's expected TZ. I know you're a new username, so perhaps you weren't aware that he often publishes (as best as we can pick up) ''quite late'' in the respective day (currently UTC+6). And it's also really not so much unknown to be (fairly) early in the following day (yet still officially on the relevent M/W/F).
::That doesn't mean we aren't often frustratingly gripped by antici.................pation, but we are very rarely stymied for more than a whole day (developmental delays to rolling out 'special comics', aside), and I think we are lucky to have such a conscientious creator as we do. It must be a hard schedule to keep up with. (And also that even if "not every one is a winner", ''most'' still are, for ''most'' people. Could be worse!) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.110|172.71.178.110]] 15:12, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
::I remember back a decade ago when it wasn't as much a T-T-S-evening update schedule as it is now, it's progressed over time. Poor sod might well be winding down, and regretting the busy schedule over so many bloody years. (Posting from Australia) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.60.201|172.69.60.201]] 19:13, 12 April 2024 (UTC)

Should [[688: Self-Description]] also be linked as an example of "actual data is part of the graphical framing device"? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.39.12|172.70.39.12]] 21:01, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
:It already is linked, in the prior paragraph, and ''isn't'' quite so relevent to the flag-based variation (which is a kind of cousin to this tricky graph thing). But do rewrite it if you think it can be expounded better. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.173|172.70.90.173]] 22:13, 11 April 2024 (UTC)
::Thanks, I must have missed it on my first read. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.146|172.70.114.146]] 23:20, 11 April 2024 (UTC)

This doesn't seem like a useful method of hiding activity, simply as the area hidden under the ticks is too little to be of significance.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.16|172.69.134.16]] 04:09, 12 April 2024 (UTC)

What exactly is this graph meant to refer to? Obviously it's not important for the joke, but I don't really understand the premise. Is there a real-world context where "activity" of some sort is commonly reported in a line graph like this? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.68|162.158.158.68]] 05:06, 12 April 2024 (UTC)
: Some sort of code repository comes to mind. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 09:17, 12 April 2024 (UTC)
: For certain financial events, you may not be allowed to do deals within a certain time leading up to a scheduled relevent corporate disclosure. Sneaking a few microtransactions in after that time could be ''significantly'' profitable. And actionable.. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.165|172.69.194.165]] 10:27, 12 April 2024 (UTC)
:It reminded me of a burnup chart, though those are intended to be cumulative, rather than distributive.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.188|172.71.242.188]] 08:57, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

Talk:188: Reload

2024-04-12T20:41:04Z

172.71.242.188: Fixes. I do not claim 'third'

First comment lol [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:16, 27 February 2024 (UTC)

:And I'm the second! (anonymous) 13:42, 12 April 2024 {{unsigned ip|172.71.147.99|17:44, 12 April 2024 (presumably, author wrote from UTC-4, e.g. EDT}}

Category:Furries

2024-02-01T16:13:25Z

172.71.242.188: Removing "Animals" category. In the seven "Furries" comics, just one title text mention of hamsters, and no further animals! (Over half of "Narnia" sub-group doesn't even mention animals/furries, also, so clearly Animals is not a superset, nor Furries!)

{{w|Furry|Furries}} are fans of anthropomorphic animals. They often express their interests by wearing ears and tails, sometimes even constructing elaborate full-body fursuits that embody their {{w|fursona}}. They often are accused of sexual perversion, with all evidence to the contrary. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_fandom Wikipedia:Furry Fandom] Randall's opinion on furries is currently unknown.

[[Category:Comics by topic]]

2831: xkcd Phone Flip

2024-01-13T07:01:32Z

172.71.242.188: /* Explanation */ Surfeit of Citation Neededs. None obviously "the one to keep" (perhaps the Citation film link, but that was rendered 'normal' before I got here, so I don't know what sense of humour level we're operating at).

{{comic
| number = 2831
| date = September 20, 2023
| title = xkcd Phone Flip
| image = xkcd_phone_flip_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x458px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Theranos partnership: Sorry, we know, but we signed the contract back before all the stuff and the lawyers say we can't back out, so just try to keep your finger away from the bottom of the phone.
}}

==Explanation==
This is the 9th in the ongoing [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd Phone]] series in which Randall explains his new joke phone designs with many strange and useless features. It is a reference to the somewhat recent {{w|Galaxy Z}} series, but instead of folding in half, it folds into the more complex and much less usable shape of a typical {{w|paper fortune teller}}. (A traditional paper fortune teller requires a square-shaped piece of material; to make this phone with a ~2:1 ratio rectangular shape into a fortune teller, it would first need to be folded in half lengthswise.)

The product's slogan suggests that this was not an intended feature, which would be incredibly difficult to create accidentally without causing the phone to become nonfunctional. It's therefore possible that this phone was designed by [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|Beret Guy's company]], which has in the past [[1493: Meeting|trademarked seemingly normal phrases]] and [[1293: Job Interview|done impossible things with electronics]].

The name Phone Flip is a play on the term {{w|Flip Phone}}, which has referred to older cellphones with a {{w|Clamshell design|basic hinged construction}}, but {{w|Samsung}}, in particular, has released a line of {{w|smartphones}} under the Galaxy Z range given the name 'Flip' (or 'Fold') which use a flexible display across the hinge, with {{w|Motorola Razr|other manufacturers}} producing similar technology by other names. Randall's version takes this complexity up a notch with a currently impractical varifolded origami design.

===Left column features===

; Exfoliating screen
: A term commonly found on lotions and facial products, "exfoliating" means removing dead skin cells from the surface of the skin, in order to improve its appearance. This could mean that it will exfoliate the user's skin when pressed to it. However, this would probably require a mildly abrasive and/or adhesive screen texture or coating, which are usually not desirable qualities of a touchscreen. A different reading is that the screen itself exfoliates, i.e. slowly disintegrates. Unless the phone is an organism able to regrow exfoliated surfaces, this will eventually lead to the screen's disappearance, not an improvement of its appearance.

; Orthotic shape for arch support
: {{w|Orthotics}} are devices used to reduce stress on the body. "Arch support" is a specific term referring to padded inserts designed to fit to the contour of a person's foot and provide support for the arch of the foot, a raised area between the ball in front and the heel in back. Fitting this space requires either a curved shape or one that's thicker in the center, which would usually make a phone less straightforward ([[No Pun Intended|pun not intended]]) to use. (This assumes, of course, that the foot is shaped like a "normal" human foot.) Additionally, the materials used in a phone are not typically suitable for orthotic usage and doing so could worsen any issues and damage the phone from the stress of the person's weight upon it. However, it's possible that in this context, the phone is ergonomically shaped to fit the way that the typical hand arches around it.

; Single big pixel
: A joke about how phones advertise how many pixels they have, not how few. Typical phone displays use many small {{w|pixels}}, each with relatively few display states. For instance, each pixel can show a uniform color. It would be difficult to make a useful display with a single pixel of this sort. Some displays use smaller numbers of more complicated picture elements (e.g., each element could show a letter, like a {{w|split-flap display}}, or a {{w|nixie tube}}). To make a useful display with one pixel means that element needs a different display state for every image the phone can show (like a {{w|carousel slide projector}}, {{w|movie projector}}, or {{w|gobo (lighting)|gobo}}). This may also be a joke on "{{w|Megapixel}}".

; Ready to eat
: A typical sales pitch for {{w|convenience foods}} denoting that no time must be spent preparing the product for safe consumption, in contrast to other such meals where ingredients would need to be combined and/or cooked in some fashion. It is unknown how a phone could be produced in such a way as to be edible (perhaps the display could use {{w|sugar glass}}), but in any case, it seems likely that eating it would limit its future usefulness as a phone. An alternative interpretation is that the phone is alive and all ready to begin consuming its prey.

; Hypoimmunogenic
: Meaning less able to produce an immune response - so perhaps useful in that people do not want their phone to cause an immune response in their body, although cell phones typically cause no immune response. This is probably related to items that are marketed as hypoallergenic, less likely to cause an allergic reaction. It may also be a reference to persistent unsubstantiated claims that radio waves from mobile phones cause cancer and other disorders.

; Up to 50% more
: A play on the words "Up to 50% more <product>". Although considering that there is no mention of what product there could possibly be 50% more of (or 0% extra, as that is ''also'' less than or equal to 50%), this statement is useless. See [[870: Advertising]].

; Full-spectrum backlight optimized for plant growth
: {{w|Full-spectrum light}}s and backlights are typically used to increase {{w|color rendering}} accuracy, especially important in photography, art, and printing. It typically refers to the part of the spectrum people can see. Plants respond to some wavelengths outside our visual spectrum (e.g., UVA), and are less influenced by some portions of the visual spectrum (e.g. green, hence mostly reflecting such light). A backlight optimized for plant growth would not provide a very natural appearance to our eyes and typically appear pink. The screen backlight is unlikely to be used for growing plants. One scenario in which this would be an advantage is at the end of the phone's useful life; instead of being recycled, it could be repurposed as a light in a greenhouse.

; Long-lasting main sequence battery
: Perhaps referring to a "{{w|main sequence}}" star (Dwarf stars, like the {{w|Sun}}, where main energy generation is hydrogen fusion). Such stars spend a long time in this phase of evolution. This might also explain SPF 15 and full-spectrum backlight. Stars do last a long time compared to most cell phone batteries. This feature might be a reference to [[1422: My Phone is Dying]].

; Break glass to access apps
: A play on how emergency paraphernalia such as fire alarms and extinguishers are protected by glass casings in most places. The idea of this is to discourage removal of these items except in an emergency situation. It would not be helpful in the case of smartphone apps, which are frequently used. Presumably you would have to replace the glass each time you use an app, which is likely to prove tedious and expensive. Unusual things behind glass is also mentioned in [[1634: In Case of Emergency]]. Could also refer to the process of Jailbreaking a smartphone, such as an iPhone, to allow the install of 3rd party apps from an alternate app store.

===Right column features===

; Buy one get one
: A play on typical retail sales advertised as "Buy one get one ____", where one buys one item at full price and gets another of that item either for free or at a reduced price. Since no discount has been mentioned, it would imply either (1) that you can get two at full price or perhaps (2) simply that if you buy a phone, you receive the phone; this is expected upon almost all purchases and is {{w|Tautology (logic)|tautological}} in nature.

; Bending phone activates chemical flashlight
: This feature parallels a {{w|glow stick}}, which is also activated by bending the stick; this breaks an inner capsule causing chemicals to mix and produce light. However, doing this with a phone is likely to cause physical or chemical damage and additionally only works once, which is not very useful for a phone flashlight that one typically uses as a tool throughout the phone's lifetime. It might be fun at a rave though.

; SPF 15 coating protects your face from websites
: Sun protection factor (SPF) is a rating used to compare the protection provided by sun screens. Some people find some web sites excessively bright, colorful or garish, making them hard to read, or causing eye strain. This extends that to imply that some sites are so bright that they might cause {{w|sunburn}}. In reality, some sites, browsers, or plugins provide a {{w|night mode}}, for those who have problems with excess brightness. (See also full spectrum, and main sequence battery.)
: Alternatively, SPF in this context might be a novel term for, for example, ''site'' protection factor, or ''socials'' protection factor, and be a method for protecting you from viewing potentially harmful content encountered on the internet.

; Iatrogenic construction
: 'Iatrogenic' means 'physician caused', and usually refers to illnesses which are caused or worsened by medical malpractice. This may imply that the phone was made ''by'' doctors, which may align with the statement given in the title text.

; All-vinyl data storage for maximum fidelity
: This is a reference to the hipster maxim that vinyl records provide high fidelity music. And while {{w|vinyl data}} storage does exist, it's profoundly outdated and was never widely adopted. The relevant formats had several issues, including (relevantly) wear issues that lead to fidelity problems after repeated reads. It is also unlikely that vinyl storage could be engineered to provide sufficient storage density to meet the requirements of a modern smartphone.

; Locks in moisture
: Good for cosmetics perhaps, to combat 'dry skin' (which is really more to do with substances other than water), but generally bad for a cell phone, where ingress (let alone retention) of liquids tends not to help the electronics. Most modern phones cite their ability to lock ''out'' moisture.

; National Weather Service partnership - phone is afraid of thunder
: Probably a reference to the development of various public service systems which generate an alert to phone users to warn of likely dangerous events, such as storms, earthquakes, etc. In this case, though, rather than generate fear in the user, the phone itself becomes afraid. This may be further referencing the fact that, thanks to humanized personal assistant functions, some people have developed pseudo-human relationships with their devices, whereby they attribute emotions and other human characteristics to them. In reality, phones do not have emotions (yet), but even if they did, it's not clear how this would be a useful feature. How this fear manifests is also unexplained. It may turn off, or it may scream like the original xkcd phone did when in free fall. A number of the previous xkcd phones have had unexplained, inexplicable, or incomprehensible partnerships.

; One-click ''ruina montium''
: ''{{w|Ruina montium}}'' ('mountain destroyer') was a now-lost mining technique used by the ancient Romans, thought to involve a form of hydrostatic drilling. It is not clear how this could be applied by a smartphone, let alone as a one-click operation. This may be a reference to the mobile phone industry's reliance on often unsustainable mining practices to supply the precious metals, rare earths, and other minerals required to make their devices work.

; Free refills
: Good for restaurant drinks, not typical for cell phones. Realistic meanings include providing complementary...
# "top ups" of cell phone plan minutes or data
# refueling (e.g., {{w|fuel cell}} power)
# recharging or {{w|battery swapping}}
# replacing the glass each time you use an app.

===Title text===
The title text references the failed company {{w|Theranos}} that notably could not live up to its promise to diagnose many health issues from a single drop of blood, and was charged with fraud for claiming it could do so. Due to legal agreements, and subsequent design choices already built in, the bottom of the phone ''will'' still collect a drop of your blood (unless you're particularly careful).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A rectangular phone with a touch screen. There is a small dark camera section at the top of the screen and a charging/connecting port may be shown on the lower casing edge. Lines on the left side of the phone lead from the general area of the image to feature descriptions down the leftmost edge of the frame.]
:Exfoliating screen
:Orthotic shape for arch support
:Single big pixel
:Ready to eat
:Hypoimmunogenic
:Up to 50% more
:Full-spectrum backlight optimized for plant growth
:Long-lasting main sequence battery
:Break glass to access apps

:[Two phones folded in the shape of a 'paper fortune teller' are depicted on on the right, set one above the other with other general feature lines leading off from the nearest folded phone illustration towards further listed items down the right-hand side of the frame.]
:Buy one get one
:Bending phone activates chemical flashlight
:SPF 15 coating protects your face from websites
:Iatrogenic construction
:All-vinyl data storage for maximum fidelity
:Locks in moisture
:National Weather Service partnership: phone is afraid of thunder
:One-click ''ruina montium''
:Free refills

:[Text below the phone:]
:Introducing
:'''The xkcd Phone Flip'''
:''We actually didn't mean for it to do this''™

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:xkcd Phones]]
[[Category:Comics sharing name|xkcd Phones]]