explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3104: Tukey

2025-06-18T22:17:26Z

Abcasada: Specify birth date instead of birth year to be more accurate

{{comic
| number = 3104
| date = June 18, 2025
| title = Tukey
| image = tukey_2x.png
| imagesize = 392x276px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Numbers can be tricky. On the day of my 110th birthday, I'll be one day younger than John Tukey was on his.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by TUKEY'S 110.000 YEAR OLD GHOST. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

The comic depicts a quote from John W. Tukey: "Far better an approximate answer to the right question, which is often vague, than an exact answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise." The quote originates
from a paper called "The Future of Data Analysis" in part 11 where he discusses the importance of facing uncertainty.

Randall then gives Tukey's age as 110.000 years (that is, 110 years to three decimal places), a very precise answer to the question of "how old is John Tukey?" However when it comes to his birthday (arguably the right question in this context) he only gives the approximate answer of "sometime this week." (it was actually on the 16th of June, two days before this comic was published).

The title text states that Randall would be one day younger than Tukey would be on his 110th birtday. This is due to leap days: between Tukey's date of birth in 1915 and his 110th birthday in 2025 there were 28 leap days, but between Randall's date of birth in 1984 and his 110th birthday in 2094, there would only be 27 leap days (he was born after the leap day of 1984).

John Tukey was born on Monday, June 16, 1915, 110 years and 2 days before the release of this comic on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. This 110th birthday marks 40,178 days since his birth. Randall's 110th birthday ([[1179: ISO 8601|2094-10-17]]) would be 40,177 days after his birth, due to having only passed through {{w|Gregorian calendar|27 leap-days}} instead of Tukey's 28.

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

[ Text formatted as a block quote ]

"Far better an approximate answer to the right question, which is often vague, than an ''exact'' answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise."

- John W Turkey
''The future of data analysis (1962)''

[ Caption ]

Happy approximate birthday to John Turkey, author of my favorite statistics quote, who was born 110.000 years ago sometime this week.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

1688: Map Age Guide

2024-09-19T14:38:58Z

Abcasada: Clarified about naming of Alaska

{{comic
| number = 1688
| date = June 1, 2016
| title = Map Age Guide
| image = map_age_guide.png
| titletext = Does the screeching chill your blood and herald death? If yes, banshee. If no, seagull.
}}

* A [http://xkcd.com/1688/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
The comic consists of a flowchart depicting various ways to tell what era a map is from based on present country borders and land forms. (Except in the Not a Political Map Branch (from "Can you see the familiar continents?" downwards), the comic applies to a political map.) While many of the options are very serious, a few bizarre options reference fictional maps (Pratchett's {{w|Discworld}}, Lewis's {{w|Narnia}} and Tolkien's {{w|Middle-earth}}), or consider that cats, seagulls, staplers, tubas or breadboxes could be mistaken for a map. Randall also mentions US President {{w|Jimmy Carter}} being [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter_rabbit_incident attacked by a giant swimming rabbit], an event previously referenced as one we must never forget in [[204: America]].

The flowchart, although probably effective in eventually identifying the production year of certain maps, is designed in a rather inefficient way, as some early distinctions are already on a very detailed level before some really important distinctions (fictional or non-political map) are made. This, of course, adds to the humorous tone of the comic. It is also hampered by several smaller or larger error (see [[#Trivia|trivia]]), the biggest being a whole section on I-25 that gives years in the range 1948–1952, before I-25 was built, and coming from a question that fixed the year range to 1960–1961.

Additionally, (possible) future maps including a "Radioactive Exclusion Zone" in the place of Colorado are mentioned. It predicts that some kind of nuclear incident will occur in Colorado (possibly at Rulison or Rio Blanco nuclear testing sites) in 2022. It also predicts that the area will be infested by radioactive spiders one year later. As it is 2024 now, we see that both claims have been proven incorrect.{{Citation needed}}

The title text continues the path where the user has confused a seagull for a map by inquiring if the (presumed) seagull might be a banshee based on the effect of its screams.

===Table===
*Going through the flowchart, taking the leftmost path first, recursively. (Note there is no recursive loop, any loop is your mistake). See also {{w|Depth-first search}}.
**"Prior Date Range" is the range determined immediately before the question, carried over from the previous question.
**"Question Date Range" is the range each answer choice implies.
**"New Date Range" is the intersection of the Prior Date Range and the Question Date Range for each choice, and is the range determined by all questions hitherto answered.

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! # !! Question !! Explanation !! Prior Date Range !! Question Date Range !! New Date Range
|-
! 1
| '''Istanbul or Constantinople'''
| The largest city in {{w|Turkey}} is famous for having different names at different times or to different people. Variations on both names go back at least 1,000 years. Other names have also been used at various points. {{w|Istanbul}} has been the official name in Western languages since the 1920s (although it's been the native name since 1453), although Western maps often referred to it as Constantinople as late as the 1960s; on the flowchart, the choice of name appears to go with the 1920s date. The name changes are the subject of a [http://mentalfloss.com/article/60314/original-istanbul-not-constantinople song], originally by the Four Lads, but now mainly known for the They Might Be Giants recording.
| '''Start here'''
|
* Constantinople: 330 – 1928
* Neither: inconclusive
* Istanbul: 1928+
|
* Constantinople: 330 – 1928 (Go to 2)
* Neither: inconclusive (Go to 19)
* Istanbul: 1928+ (Go to 51)
|-
| colspan="6" | '''Note:''' the chart splits here into three divisions, each from a choice in question 1. The Neither Division will attempt to use other indicators to sort maps into one of the other two divisions or branches thereof; or, after 5 failures to find a country, conclude that the "map" in question is not a political map and proceed to find out what it is (the Not a Political Map Branch). The Constantinople and Istanbul Divisions are linear except where the Neither Division joins them as stated above.
|-
! colspan="6" | Constantinople Division
|-
! 2
| '''Do any of these exist?'''
* '''Independent Canada'''
* '''US Territory of Alaska'''
* '''Tokyo'''
| All these seem to specify a date cut-off of 1867/8, but there are caveats attached to each:
* {{w|Canada}} gained its independence gradually, but it would appear as its own country (the Dominion of Canada) on maps sometime between the {{w|Constitution Act, 1867}} (which created Canada as a British dominion) and the {{w|Statute of Westminster 1931}} (which made Canada largely self-governing).
* The {{w|Territory of Alaska}} was so named from 1912 to 1959. (From the 1867 {{w|Alaska Purchase}} until 1912, it was known as the Alaska District; in 1959, it became the State of Alaska).
* {{w|Tokyo}} was once called Edo. It was renamed Tokyo (which means "Eastern Capital") when it became the capital in 1868. [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Tokyo%2CTokei&year_start=1870&year_end=1880&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTokyo%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CTokei%3B%2Cc0 Most English books around then] would actually have called it "Tokei," the Chinese reading. The name Tokyo didn't take off until {{w|Hepburn romanization}} was popularized in the 1880s.
| 330–1928 (from 1)
1299–1922 (from 19 in the Neither Division)
(from 24 in the Neither Division)
|
* No: 1867-
* Yes: 1868+
|
* No: 330–1867 (Go to 3)
* Yes: 1868–1928 (Go to 11)
|-
! colspan="6" | Holy Roman Empire Branch
|-
! 3
| '''The Holy Roman Empire?'''
| The predecessor to modern Germany, the {{w|Holy Roman Empire}} was a union of hundreds of small states in Central Europe. Nationalism and the concept of the {{w|nation state}} hadn't taken off yet, so countries as we know them didn't really exist. There were just small lands, often with keenly contested borders, owned by minor aristocracy who pledged allegiance to one of the big powers. The HRE was {{w|Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire|dissolved}} in 1806 after it was invaded by Napoleon, arguably the first leader to realise the potential of making a nation salute a flag.
| 330–1867
|
* Yes: 899–1806
* No: 899- or 1806+
|
* Yes: 899–1806 (Stated in comic as "1805 or earlier," since modern map-making was fuzzy as a concept prior) ('''Stop''')
* No: 330–899 or 1806–67 (Go to 4)
|-
! 4
| '''The United States?'''
| The original {{w|Thirteen Colonies|13 colonies}} declared independence in 1776. A map that does not include ''either'' the HRE ''or'' the USA must be older than the HRE, which would put the map sometime prior to 1000 AD, when there really were no countries, and English wasn't used yet, hence Randall's comment.
| 330–899 or 1806–67
|
* No: 1776-
* Yes: 1776+
|
* No: 330–899 (Not stated in comic, since a map in this period is probably not in English, which violates a proviso of the comic) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1806–67 (Go to 5)
|-
! 5
| '''Texas is... Part of Mexico? Independent? Part of the US?'''
| {{w|Mexico}} (and before its independence, {{w|New Spain}}) occupied the area modern-day Texas from around 1718 ({{w|Spanish Texas|when the first permanent Spanish settlements were founded}}) to the {{w|Texas Declaration of Independence}} in 1836 (the comic apparently cited 1834 as the date) – the land called "Texas" was only a small part of the modern-day state. The {{w|Republic of Texas}} only lasted a decade and joined the US in 1846.
| 1806–67
|
* Part of Mexico: 1718–1836
* Independent: 1836–46
* Part of the US: 1846+
|
* Part of Mexico: 1806–36 (Go to 6)
* Independent: 1836–46 (stated in comic as 1834–45 – a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
* Part of the US: 1846–67 (Go to 9)
|-
! 6
| '''Florida is part of... Spain? The US?'''
| Spain occupied {{w|Florida}} (as {{w|East Florida}} and {{w|West Florida}}) but frankly they didn't actually want it – it was expensive to send people to settle it, and there wasn't much economic value in it. So they gave it to the US for free in the 1819 {{w|Adams–Onís Treaty}} (which took effect in 1821) in exchange for the US giving up parts of Mexico and paying off angry Spanish settlers. (For some reason, the comic treats Florida as part of the US in 1818; see questions 7 and 8.)
| 1806–36
|
* Spain: 1565–1763 or 1783–1821
* The US: 1821+
|
* Spain: 1806–21 (Go to 7)
* The US: 1821–36 (Go to 8)
|-
! 7
| '''{{w|Paraguay}}?'''
| Declared independence from Spain in 1811 (although it might appear on older maps as the Spanish Province of Paraguay).
| 1806–21
|
* No: 1811-
* Yes: 1811+
|
* No: 1806–11 (stated in comic as 1806–10) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1811–21 (stated in comic as 1811–17 – a discrepancy (see question 6)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 8
| '''{{w|Venezuela}} and/or {{w|Ecuador?}}'''
| Both declared independence from {{w|Gran Colombia}} (Greater Colombia) in 1830.
| 1821–36
|
* No: 1830-
* Yes: 1830+
|
* No: 1821–30 (stated in comic as 1818–29 – a discrepancy (see question 6)) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1830–36 (stated in comic as 1830–33 – a discrepancy (see question 5)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 9
| '''Does Russia border the Sea of Japan?'''
| The 1858 {{w|Treaty of Aigun}} brought the {{w|Russian Empire}}'s border to the {{w|Sea of Japan}}.
| 1846–67
|
* No: 1858-
* Yes: 1858+
|
* No: 1846–58 (Go to 10)
* Yes: 1858–67 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 10
| '''The US's southern border looks...'''
| The last southward expansion of the US is the 1854 {{w|Gadsden Purchase}}, where the US bought a chunk of what is now {{w|Arizona}} and {{w|New Mexico}} so they could build a railway that avoided unfavourable terrain. The southern border looks "weird" before that because we are accustomed to the current border shape.
| 1846–58
|
* Weird: 1854-
* Normal: 1854+
|
* Weird: 1846–54 (stated in comic as 1846–53) ('''Stop''')
* Normal: 1854–58 (stated in comic as 1854–56 – a discrepancy (where is 1857?)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | South Africa Branch
|-
! 11
| '''{{w|South Africa}}?'''
| The {{w|Union of South Africa}} was created in 1910 out of the four British colonies ({{w|Cape Colony}}, {{w|Colony of Natal|Natal}}, {{w|Transvaal Colony|Transvaal}} and {{w|Orange River Colony|Orange River}}), although South Africa was then not yet fully independent from the United Kingdom (which would not happen until 1931).
| 1868–1928
|
* No: 1910-
* Yes: 1910+
|
* No: 1868–1910 (Go to 12)
* Yes: 1910–28 (Go to 16)
|-
! 12
| '''Rhodesia?'''
| The region that now makes up {{w|Zambia}} and {{w|Zimbabwe}} was named {{w|Rhodesia (region)|"Rhodesia"}} by the {{w|British South Africa Company}} in 1895. An {{w|Rhodesia|unrecognised state}} (1965–79) and a {{w|Southern Rhodesia|colony}} (1923–80 on-and-off) also bore this name, but they are both outside the Prior Date Range.
| 1868–1910
|
* No: 1895-
* Yes: 1895+
|
* No: 1868–95 (Go to 13)
* Yes: 1895–1910 (Go to 15)
|-
! 13
| '''Is Bolivia landlocked?'''
| {{w|Bolivia}} lost its coastal territory to {{w|Chile}} in the {{w|War of the Pacific}}, ceding {{w|Antofagasta}} in the {{w|Treaty of Valparaiso}} in 1884.
| 1868–95
|
* No: 1825–84
* Yes: 1884+
|
* No: 1868–84 (Go to 14)
* Yes: 1884–95 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 14
| '''"Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"?'''
| In 1873, the Hungarian cities of {{w|Buda}} and {{w|Pest, Hungary|Pest}} joined together to form the city of {{w|Budapest}}.
| 1868–84
|
* Buda and Pest: 1247–1873
* Budapest: 1873+
|
* Buda and Pest: 1868–73 (stated in comic as 1868–72) ('''Stop''')
* Budapest: 1873–84 (stated in comic as 1873–83) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 15
| '''Is Norway part of Sweden?'''
| {{w|Norway}} was ceded to {{w|Sweden}} in 1814, from which it separated in 1905.
| 1895–1910
|
* Yes: 1814–1905
* No: 1814- or 1905+
|
* Yes: 1895–1905 (Stated in comic as 1896–1905) ('''Stop''')
* No: 1905–10 (Stated in comic as 1906–09) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 16
| '''Austria-Hungary?'''
| {{w|Austria-Hungary}} formed in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. (Clueless bureaucrats of the time loved to abbreviate the name to just "Austria", but mapmakers tended to be more careful than that.)
| 1910–28
|
* Yes: 1867–1918
* No: 1918+
|
* Yes: 1910–18 (Go to 17)
* No: 1918–28 (Go to 18)
|-
! 17
| '''Albania?'''
| {{w|Albania}} declared independence from the {{w|Ottoman Empire}} in 1912.
| 1910–18
|
* No: 1912-
* Yes: 1912+
|
* No: 1910–12 ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1912–18 (stated in comic as 1913–18) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 18
| '''Leningrad?'''
| {{w|Saint Petersburg}} was known as Leningrad between 1924 and 1991. The city was founded in 1703 as Saint Petersburg (specific spellings vary); in August 1914, due to major anti-German sentiment related to WWI, it was renamed Petrograd (essentially the Russian translation of Petersburg). On January 26, 1924, five days after the death of {{w|Vladimir Lenin}} (the main revolutionary leader), the new Communist government (hostile to both the Orthodox {{w|Saint Peter}} the city was named after and the Czar {{w|Peter the Great}} who named it) renamed the city Leningrad in his honor. After the decline of the Soviet government in 1991, the name became unpopular, and a referendum in June 1991 (concurrently with the first Russian presidential election) restored the name Saint Petersburg for the city (officially in September 1991), which it holds to this day.
| 1918–28
|
* No: 1924- or 1991+
* Yes: 1924–91
|
* No: 1918–24 (stated in comic as 1919–23) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1924–28 (stated in comic as 1924–29) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Neither Division
|-
! 19
| '''Does the Ottoman Empire exist?'''
| The {{w|Ottoman Empire}} was founded in 1299, and defeated and dissolved on November 1, 1922 when the sultanate was abolished.
| Inconclusive
|
* Yes: 1299–1922
* No: 1299- or 1922+
|
* Yes: 1299–1922 (Go to 2 in the Constantinople Division)
* No: 1299- or 1922+ (Go to 20)
|-
! 20
| '''The Soviet Union?'''
| The {{w|Soviet Union}} is one of the largest countries ever to exist consisting of Russia and large portions of eastern Europe and central Asia. It was a major political force from December 28, 1922, when several allied Soviet republics united, to 1991, when it broke up.
''Note:'' This question is the same as question 51 in the Istanbul Division, but because there a Prior Date Range of 1928+ has already been established by the presence of Istanbul, we need one more question to determine whether we are within the range of 1928+.
| 1299- or 1922+
|
* Yes: 1922–91
* No: 1922- or 1991+
|
* Yes: 1922–91 (Go to 21)
* No: 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) or 1991+ (Go to 22)
|-
! 21
| '''Saudi Arabia?'''
| The Kingdom of {{w|Saudi Arabia}} was founded in 1932. It is the first modern state to exert control over the area it claims, which previously were controlled by various tribal leaders. Most maps before 1932 will not mark the area as belonging to a nation at all, will attempt to mark the various shifting chieftains, or will attribute the land to the {{w|Ottoman Empire}}, which claimed the land but did not effectively control it.
| 1922–91
|
* Yes: 1932+
* No: 1932-
|
* Yes: 1932–91 (Go to 52 in the Istanbul Division)
* No: 1922–32 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 22
| '''North Korea?'''
| The {{w|Korean Peninsula}} was divided into two regions, the north of which would be known as {{w|North Korea}}, at the end of {{w|World War II}} in 1945. This resulted in the inconclusive {{w|Korean War}}.
| 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) or 1991+
|
* Yes: 1945+
* No: 1945-
|
* Yes: 1991+ (Go to 69 in the Istanbul Division)
* No: 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) (Go to 23)
|-
! 23
| '''Saint Trimble's Island'''
| Since [[Randall]] just made up this place, it is impossible that a map would include it, probably as a {{w|trap street|cartographer's fingerprint}} indicating plagiarism?
| 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28)
|
* No: inconclusive
* Yes: impossible
|
* No: 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) (Go to 24)
* Yes: impossible ('''Stop''')
|-
! 24
| '''Is Jan Mayen part of the kingdom of Norway?'''
| Jurisdiction over the island of {{w|Jan Mayen}} was given to {{w|Norway}} around 1920, and it officially joined in 1930. '''Note:''' Strictly speaking, it should be almost impossible to answer "Yes" to this question – the Ottoman Empire existed until 1922, the Soviet Union existed from 1922 to 1991, and North Korea from 1945 onwards, so by answering "No" to the previous three questions, the user has ruled out the entire period during which Norway has officially owned Jan Mayen, and almost the entire period it controlled it barring an extremely slim sliver of time between November 1, 1922 to December 28, 1922. The following questions ignore the previous ones (East Germany only existed at the same time as the USSR, and Pakistan was founded later than North Korea, so both should have already been excluded) – essentially, the Jan Mayen question reboots the test.
| 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28)
|
* Not yet: prior to 1930
* What?: Not a political map
* Yes: 1930+
|
* Not yet: (Go to 2 in the Constantinople Division)
* What?: (Go to 25)
* Yes: (Go to 53 in the Istanbul Division)
|-
! colspan="6" | Not a Political Map Branch
|-
! 25
| '''Can you see the familiar continents?'''
| At this point, it is clear that the map in question is not a political map from any time. Therefore, the comic tries to determine whether it is a map of the Earth at all by asking if the continents are there.
|
|
* Yes: map of the Earth
* No: not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: map of the Earth (Go to 26)
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 32)
|-
! colspan="6" | Topographical Map / Satellite Image Subbranch
|-
! 26
| '''This sounds like a physical map or satellite photo.'''
| A map of the Earth that does not label political regions must be a topological map; or, it can be a satellite image of the Earth.
| Map of the Earth
|
* Yes, that's it: topographical map or satellite image of the Earth
|
* Yes, that's it: topographical map or satellite image of the Earth (Go to 27)
|-
! 27
| '''Is Lake Chad missing?'''
| {{w|Lake Chad}} lost 75% of its area in the 1970s, becoming too small to be included in a map or picture of the Earth.
| Topographical map or satellite image of the Earth
|
* No: 1970s-
* Yes: 1970s+
|
* No: 1970s- (Go to 28)
* Yes: 1970s+ (Go to 31)
|-
! 28
| '''How far east do the American prairies reach?'''
| As settlers made their way west, the prairie land in the {{w|Great Plains}} region was steadily replaced by farmland and ranches. By the 1920s, most of the land had been converted to agricultural use, and the last of the prairie was largely obliterated by the {{w|Dust Bowl}}s in the 1930s. The dividing lines correspond roughly to the three types of prairie: {{w|tallgrass prairie}} grew between the Mississippi and Indiana, {{w|mixed grass prairie}} covered Nebraska and other states on the {{w|100th meridian west}}, and {{w|shortgrass prairie}} covered the remaining area east of the Rocky Mountains. There's some overlap in the dates, since it's fairly arbitrary at what point you say the prairies stopped existing. There are still patches of prairie (covering about 1% of their former reach), but these are probably not visible in a satellite image.

| 1970s-
|
* Indiana: Before 1830
* The Mississippi: 1830–1880s
* Nebraska: 1860s–1910s
* What prairies?: 1920s+
|
* Indiana: Before 1830 ('''Stop''')
* The Mississippi: 1830–80s ('''Stop''')
* Nebraska: 1860s–1910s (Go to 29)
* What prairies?: 1920s–1970s (Go to 30)
|-
! 29
| '''Is there a big lake in the middle of Southern California? (created by mistake)'''
| This is {{w|Salton Sea}}, a previously dry lake bed accidentally flooded in 1905 while attempting to increase irrigation to the area from the Colorado River
| 1860s–1910s
|
* No: before 1905
* Yes: 1905+
|
* No: 1860s–1900s ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1910s ('''Stop''')
|-
! 30
| '''Is there a big lake in the middle of Ghana? (created on purpose)'''
| {{w|Lake Volta}}, formed by the {{w|Akosombo Dam}} which was built in the 1960s
| 1920s–1970s
|
* No: before 1960s
* Yes: 1960s+
|
* No: 1920s–50s ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1960s–70s ('''Stop''')
|-
! 31
| '''Is the Aral Sea missing?'''
| Shrinking since the 1930s, the {{w|Aral Sea}} would be too small to be on maps or images of the Earth by the 2000s.
| 1970s+
|
* No: 1990s-
* Yes: 2000s+
|
* No: 1970s-90s ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 2000s+ ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | ''Topograpical Map / Satellite Image Subbranch ends''
|-
! colspan="6" | Fictional Map / Non-Map Subbranch
|-
! 32
| '''Rivers "Sirion" or "Anduin"?'''
| The rivers {{w|List of Middle-earth rivers#Sirion|Sirion}} and {{w|Anduin}} are part of {{w|Middle-earth|Middle-earth}}, the fictional setting of J.R.R. Tolkien's ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' books.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: map of Middle-earth
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: map of Middle-earth (Go to 33)
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 37)
|-
! colspan="6" | Middle-earth Subbranch
|-
! 33
| '''Mordor?'''
| {{w|Mordor}} is the base of operations of {{w|Sauron}}, who settled there c. 1000 in the {{w|Second Age}} (which lasted for 3,441 years).
| Map of Middle-earth
|
* No: S.A. c. 1000-
* Yes: S.A. c. 1000+
|
* No: S.A. c. 1000- (Go to 34)
* Yes: S.A. c. 1000+ (Go to 35)
|-
! 34
| '''Beleriand?'''
| {{w|Beleriand}} was broken in the {{w|War of Wrath}} in the year 583 in the {{w|Years of the Sun}} in the {{w|First Age}}. The First Age itself ran for 450 Valian Years and 590 Years of the Sun, adding up to between 5,023 and 65,390 Years of the Sun, depending on the conversion factor used ({{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}} has given several during the years). Note that Randall has apparently ignored the time before the First Age (4,550 Valian Years).
| S.A. c. 1000-
|
* Yes: Y.S. 583 First Age-
* No: Y.S. 583 First Age+
|
* Yes: Y.S. 583 First Age- (stated in comic as First Age) ('''Stop''')
* No: Y.S. 583 First Age–S.A. c. 1000 (stated in comic as early Second Age) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 35
| '''Númenor?'''
| The island of {{w|Númenor}} was raised from the sea at the start of the Second Age. It sank back into the sea in 3319 in the Second Age, as the formerly flat Earth was made into a globe.
| S.A. c. 1000+
|
* Yes: S.A. 1–3319
* No: First Age- or S.A. 3319+
|
* Yes: S.A. c. 1000–3319 (stated in comic as late Second Age) ('''Stop''')
* No: S.A. 3319+ (Go to 36)
|-
! 36
| '''The forest east of the Misty Mountains is...'''
| The forest {{w|Mirkwood}} was called Greenwood the Great from its discovery by the Elves c. V.Y. 4620 in the First Age to 1050 in the {{w|Third Age}} when the shadow of Sauron fell upon it and it was renamed. It was cleansed on 'March' 28, 3019 in the Third Age (which ran for 3,021 years), after which it is called the Wood of Greenleaves. Note that Randall ignores the Fifth Age and onwards; although Tolkien said that the present day is about the end of the Sixth Age or the beginning of the Seventh, nothing is written about these later Ages.
| S.A. 3319+
|
* Greenwood the Great: c. V.Y. 4620–T.A. 1050
* Mirkwood: T.A. 1050–3019–03–28
* The Wood of Greenleaves: T.A. 3019–03–28+
|
* Greenwood the Great: S.A. 3319–T.A. 1050 (stated in comic as early Third Age) ('''Stop''')
* Mirkwood: T.A. 1050–3019–03–28 (stated in comic as Late Third Age) ('''Stop''')
* The Wood of Greenleaves: T.A. 3019–03–28+ (stated in comic as Fourth Age) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | ''Middle-earth Subbranch ends''
|-
! 37
| '''Cair Paravel?'''
| {{w|Cair Paravel}} is the fictional castle where the Kings and Queens of Narnia rule in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: map of Narnia
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: map of Narnia (Go to 38)
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 42)
|-
! colspan="6" | Narnia Subbranch
|-
| colspan="6" | '''Note:''' This series contains seven books, whose original publication order does not match their chronological order. Specifically, ''The Magician's Nephew'' is earlier than ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', and ''The Horse and His Boy'' is between ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' and ''Prince Caspian''. Questions in this subbranch concern whether the place referenced can be found in the map contained in each book, not in which books' time the place exists. Therefore, places that exist in a book published later but is chronologically earlier than another book will not appear in the latter book, even if canonically they still exist in its time. Here are the seven books in their original publication order, which they will be referred to as.

# ''{{w|The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe}}''
# ''{{w|Prince Caspian}}''
# ''{{w|The Voyage of the Dawn Treader}}''
# ''{{w|The Silver Chair}}''
# ''{{w|The Horse and His Boy}}''
# ''{{w|The Magician's Nephew}}''
# ''{{w|The Last Battle}}''
|-
! 38
| '''Calormen?'''
| {{w|Calormen}} is a foreign empire in ''The Chronicles of Narnia''. While it was indirectly referenced in the first three books, it was not included in maps until the later books in the series.
| Map of Narnia
|
* No: 3-
* Yes: 4+
|
* No: 3- (Go to 39)
* Yes: 4+ (Go to 41)
|-
! 39
| '''Lotta islands?'''
| Refers to [http://www.charliewstarr.com/_Media/mapdawntreader.gif this map] from ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', which focused on a ship voyage from Cair Paravel to the eastern edge of the world and back.
| 3-
|
* No: not 3
* Yes: 3
|
* No: 2- (Go to 40)
* Yes: 3 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 40
| '''Beruna'''
| Refers to [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-54_2TDRUbHY/TpJHzFBzmiI/AAAAAAAALOA/q3RnPSvfdJ0/s1600/IMG.jpg the map] of Narnia originally published in Prince Caspian. During the time of ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', the people of Beruna crossed the Great River via a ford, but it had been replaced by a bridge at the beginning of ''Prince Caspian''.
| 2-
|
* Ford: 1
* Bridge: 2
|
* Ford: 1 ('''Stop''')
* Bridge: 2 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 41
| '''Weird recursive heaven?'''
| Refers to ''The Last Battle'', where the protagonists find themselves in {{w|Aslan's Country}}, a glorious afterlife of which Narnia (along with Earth and presumably every other world) is only a shadowy reflection.
| 4+
|
* No: 6-
* Yes: 7
|
* No: 4–6 (stated in comic as one of the random later books) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 7 ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | ''Narnia Subbranch ends''
|-
! 42
| '''Mossflower?'''
| A forest from the ''{{w|Redwall}}'' book series. See also the comic [[370: Redwall]] and [[1722: Debugging]] that references the books.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: ''Redwall''
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: ''Redwall'' ('''Stop''')
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 43)
|-
! 43
| '''Is the world on the back of a turtle?'''
| The comic fantasy book series ''{{w|Discworld}}'' is set on the fictional Discworld, a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: ''Discworld''
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: ''Discworld'' ('''Stop''')
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 44)
|-
! 44
| '''Are you ''sure'' this is a map?'''
| After incorrectly guessing several popular fictional world, it is fair to doubt whether the subject being identified here is a map at all.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: a map ''for sure'', just not of the Earth
* No: not a map
|
* Yes: a map ''for sure'', just not of the Earth (Go to 45)
* No: not a map (Go to 47)
|-
! 45
| '''Did you make it yourself?'''
| At this point, the map can only be a homemade map of some other fictional world. (Although it might be a published map of another world, such as Pern, Oz or Mars but there isn't enough room for these options.)
| A map ''for sure'', just not of the Earth
|
* Yes: a homemade map
|
* Yes: a homemade map (Go to 46)
|-
! 46
| '''It's very nice.'''
| A stock response to "[It's] Very nice" is "Thanks, I made it myself". Since we have already done the "made it myself" part, we need to do the other parts too, albeit out of sequence.
| A homemade map
|
* Thank you!: something "very nice"
|
* Thank you!: a "very nice" homemade map ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Not a Map Subbranch
|-
! 47
| '''Is it trying to bite you?'''
| Now we are trying to guess something that is not a map. Makes sense to ask if it's something that bites, right? Right?
| Not a map
|
* No: doesn't bite
* Yes: bites
|
* No: doesn't bite and not a map (Go to 48)
* Yes: bites (Go to 49)
|-
! 48
| '''Is it larger than a breadbox?'''
| A typical, generic question asked by Steve Allen on ''{{w|What's My Line?}}'', and is often used when playing {{w|Twenty Questions}}. However, instead of asking further questions to narrow down the choices, the comic just gives a guess for each response. The comic guesses a breadbox itself as something about the same size as a breadbox.
| Doesn't bite and not a map
|
* Yes: larger than a breadbox
* No: smaller than a breadbox
* About the same: about the same size as a breadbox
|
* Yes: larger than a breadbox, doesn't bite, and not a map (comic guesses a {{w|tuba}}) ('''Stop''')
* No: smaller than a breadbox, doesn't bite, and not a map (comic guesses a {{w|stapler}}) ('''Stop''')
* About the same: about the same size as a breadbox, doesn't bite, and not a map (comic guesses a {{w|breadbox}}) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 49
| '''If you let it go, what does it do?'''
|This assumes that you are holding the biting object. While holding it, the object may have already bitten you, and the consequences of this would most likely be painful.
| Bites
|
* Hisses and runs away: hisses and runs away if let go
* Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things: screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go
|
* Hisses and runs away: bites, and hisses and runs away if let go (comic guesses a {{w|cat}}) ('''Stop''')
* Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things: bites, and screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go (comic guesses a {{w|seagull}}) ('''Stop''' (however, see 50))
|-
! 50
| '''Does the screeching chill your blood and herald death?'''
| ''Note: Title text question.'' Likely, if a banshee is being held, or flapping around the room, one would have bigger problems than its identification. Also, heralding of death is a difficult quality to identify.
| Bites, and screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go
|
* Yes: Screeching chills your blood and heralds death
* No: Screeching does not chill your blood and herald death; or does not screech
|
* Yes: bites; screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go; screeching chills your blood and heralds death (title text guesses a {{w|banshee}}) ('''Stop''')
* No: bites; screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go; screeching does not chill your blood and herald death (title text guesses a seagull) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Istanbul Division
|-
! 51
| '''Does the Soviet Union exist?'''
| The {{w|Soviet Union}}, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, existed from 1922 to 1991. After 1991, the Soviet Union split up into Russia and 15 other post-Soviet states.
|1928+
|
* Yes: 1928–1991
* No: 1991+
|
* Yes: 1928–1991 (Go to 52)
* No: 1991+ (Go to 69)
|-
! colspan="6" | West Africa branch
|-
! 52
| '''Is most of West Africa a giant French blob?'''
| Before 1960, most of West Africa consisted of a number of French colonies united under {{w|French West Africa}}.
|1928–1991
|
* Yes: 1928–1960
* No: 1960–1991
|
* Yes: 1928–1960 (Go to 53)
* No: 1960–1991 (Go to 60)
|-
! 53
| '''Pakistan?'''
| {{w|Pakistan}} was officially recognized as its own country in 1947, when {{w|British India}} was granted independence and {{w|Partition of India|partitioned into two nations}}. Pakistan was created at the request of Muslims who wished for a Muslim majority state.
|1928–1960
|
* No: 1928–1947
* Yes: 1947–1960
|
* No: 1928–1947 (Go to 54)
* Yes: 1948–1960 (Go to 56)
|-
! 54
| '''How many Germanys are there?'''
| During WWII, the {{w|Nazi Party}} invaded a large swath of Europe, which would make {{w|Nazi Germany}} huge on the map during that period. After the war, it split up into two countries — {{w|West Germany}} which was part of {{w|NATO}}, and {{w|East Germany}} which was part of the {{w|Warsaw Pact}}. Note that by modern standards, pre-WWII Germany was also quite huge, since at that point Germany included {{w|Prussia}} which contained much of modern Poland as well as Russian {{w|Kaliningrad}}, and in 1938 Germany took control of Austria in the {{w|Anschluss}} and the {{w|Sudetenland}} in {{w|Czechoslovakia}} following the {{w|Munich Agreement}}. Not all maps produced during WWII used the Nazi borders, since the Allies refused to recognize German occupation and supported the {{w|government-in-exile|governments-in-exile}}.
|1928–1947
|
* One: 1928–1940
* One, but it's ''huge'': 1941–1945
* Two: 1946–1947
|
* One: 1928–1940 (Go to 55)
* One, but it's ''huge'': 1941–1945 ('''Stop''')
* Two: 1946–1947 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 55
| '''Persia or Iran?'''
| In 1935 the {{w|Iran|Iranian}} Government requested that westerners call it by the name its own people had used for hundreds of years, rather than after a tribe within it that gained prominence 2500 years earlier. The interval from 1928 to 1930 is dropped from this branch, but it would fall under {{w|Persia}}.
|1928–1940
|
* Persia: 1930–1934
* Iran: 1935–1940
|
* Persia: 1930–1934 ('''Stop''')
* Iran: 1935–1940 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 56
| '''Cambodia?'''
| {{w|Cambodia}} (or Kampuchea) declared independence from France in 1953.
|1948–1960
|
* No: 1948–1953
* Yes: 1953–1960
|
* No: 1948–1953 (Go to 57)
* Yes: 1953–1960 (Go to 59)
|-
! 57
| '''Eritrea is a part of...'''
| {{w|Eritrea}} declared independence from Italy in 1952, joining {{w|Ethiopia}} to create the {{w|Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea}}.
|1947–1953
|
* Italy: 1948–1952
* Ethiopia: 1952–1953
|
* Italy: 1948–1952 (Go to 58)
* Ethiopia: 1952–1953 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 58
| '''Canada is...'''
| In 1949, the {{w|Dominion of Newfoundland}} became a part of {{w|Canada}}. Before that, it was marked as its own country on the map, so maps from 1948 and before would have Canada "missing a piece" on its east coast as compared to how it looks today.
|1947–1952
|
* Missing a piece: 1948
* Fine: 1949–1952
|
* Missing a piece: 1948 ('''Stop''')
* Fine: 1949–1952 (Go to 63)
|-
! 59
| '''The United Arab Republic?'''
| The {{w|The United Arab Republic}} was a short-lived political union between {{w|Egypt}} and {{w|Syria}}. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961 (although Egypt continued to call itself the United Arab Republic for several years after Syria left the union).
|1953–1960
|
* No: 1953–1958
* Yes: 1958–1960
|
* No: 1953–58 (stated in comic as 1954–57 – a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1958–60 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 60
| '''How many Vietnams are there?'''
| On April 30, 1975, forces from {{w|North Vietnam}} captured {{w|Saigon}} (now known as {{w|Ho Chi Minh City}}), and reunified the country, in an event known as {{w|Reunification Day}}, which marked the end of the {{w|Vietnam War}}. Maps before this date would have "North Vietnam" and "{{w|South Vietnam}}" on them rather than a single "{{w|Vietnam}}".
|1960–1991
|
* Two: 1960–1975
* One: 1975–1991
|
* Two: 1960–1975 (Go to 61)
* One: 1975–1991 (Go to 64)
|-
! 61
| '''Bangladesh?'''
| {{w|Bangladesh}} (formerly {{w|East Pakistan}}) declared independence from {{w|Pakistan}} in 1972, as they had different languages and cultures, and the Bengalis felt their country was being run from West Pakistan without their input. The {{w|Bangladesh Liberation War|resulting war}} lasted just over 8 months and ended in Indian intervention.
|1960–1975
|
* No: 1960–1972
* Yes: 1972–1975
|
* No: 1960–1972 (Go to 62)
* Yes: 1972–1975 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 62
| '''Is the area south of Lake Victoria...'''
| The area south of {{w|Lake Victoria}} was called {{w|Tanganyika}}, and it declared independence from the United Kingdom to form its own country in 1961 It unified with {{w|Zanzibar}} to create {{w|Tanzania}} in 1964.
|1960–1972
|
* British: 1960–1961
* Tanganyika: 1961–1964
* Tanzania: 1965–1971
|
* British: 1960 ('''Stop''')
* Tanganyika: 1961–1964 ('''Stop''')
* Tanzania: 1965–1972 (stated in comic as 1964–1971 – a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 63
| '''The town on I-25 between Albuquerque and El Paso is... '''
| {{w|Interstate 25 in New Mexico|I-25}} didn't exist for any of the years listed for this item, since the Interstate Highway System wasn't launched until 1956. The highway designation on maps printed during the years listed was {{w|U.S. Route 85#New Mexico|US-85}}, and it was first replaced by I-25 in 1970–1990. The town changed its name from Hot Springs to "{{w|Truth or Consequences, New Mexico|Truth or Consequences}}" in 1950, although locals say that it provides more of the latter than of the former. Initially there was an error as this question was on a path from the British Tanganyika (directly above it) instead of from the "Fine" option of "Canada is.." but this has been fixed.
|1949–1952
|
* Hot Springs: 1916–49
* Truth or Consequences: 1950+
|
* Hot Springs: 1948–49 ('''Stop''')
* Truth or Consequences: 1950–52 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 64
| '''Jimmy Carter is...'''
| On April 20, 1979, {{w|Jimmy Carter}} was "{{w|Jimmy Carter rabbit incident|attacked}}" by a swamp rabbit, a fact referenced in [[204|204: America]]. This fact would not normally be referenced on a map, however, and is simply a joke entry that leads to the next question.
|1975–1991
|
* Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit: April 20, 1979
* Fine: 1975–1991
|
* Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit: April 20, 1979 ('''Stop''')
* Fine: 1975–1991 (Go to 65)
|-
! 65
| '''The Sinai is part of what country?'''
| In 1979, {{w|Israel}} signed a peace treaty in which it would gradually retreat from the entire {{w|Sinai Peninsula}}, handing that area to {{w|Egypt}}. This happened over a period of three years, completing in 1982.
|1975–1991
|
* Israel: 1976–1979
* Mostly Israel: 1980
* Mostly Egypt: 1981
* Egypt: 1982–1991
|
* Israel: 1976–1979 (missing 1975?) ('''Stop''')
* Mostly Israel: 1980 ('''Stop''')
* Mostly Egypt: 1981 ('''Stop''')
* Egypt: 1982–1991 (Go to 66)
|-
! 66
| '''What's the capital of Micronesia?'''
| The {{w|Federated States of Micronesia}} are a group of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. Their capital was {{w|Kolonia}} until 1989, when it changed to {{w|Palikir}}, on the same island.
|1982–1991
|
* Kolonia: 1982–1988
* Palikir: 1989–1991
|
* Kolonia: 1982–1988 (Go to 67)
* Palikir: 1989–1991 (Go to 68)
|-
! 67
| '''Republic of the Upper Volta or Burkina Faso?'''
| {{w|Burkina Faso}} was named the {{w|Republic of Upper Volta}} until 1984, when the president Thomas Sankara decided to rename it to promote a sense of unity in the nation and in an anti-colonial statement.
|1982–1988
|
* Upper Volta: 1982–1984
* Burkina Faso: 1985–1988
|
* Upper Volta: 1982–1984 ('''Stop''')
* Burkina Faso: 1985–1988 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 68
| '''(Number of Yemens) + (Number of Germanys) = ?'''
| In 1990, two unification events took place: {{w|Yemeni unification}} on May 22 and {{w|German reunification}} on October 3. Before these events, in early 1990, there would have been four Yemens and Germanys total. In mid-1990, when only the Yemeni unification had taken place, there would be one Yemen and two Germanys, for a total of three. and in late 1990, after both events took place, there would be one of each for a total of two.
|1989–1991
|
* Four: 1989–early 1990
* Three: mid-1990
* Two: late 1990–1991
|
* Four: 1989–early 1990 ('''Stop''')
* Three: mid-1990 ('''Stop''')
* Two: late 1990–1991 ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Post-Soviet branch
|-
! 69
| '''Zaire? or: "Hong Kong (UK)"'''
| Zaire was one of a series of names for what is today called the {{w|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}. In 1996 a (successful) revolt began to oust the reigning government from power. As part of this revolution, the country was renamed. The original name change away from 'Congo' was part of an 'Africanisation' naming campaign, although 'Congo' is in origin an authentic African name for the river that set the boundaries of the nation.

{{w|Hong Kong}} was taken by the British in 1843 at the end of the {{w|First Opium War}}, and an additional area (the {{w|New Territories}}) were leased from China in 1898 on a 99-year lease. When the lease expired in 1997, {{w|Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|the whole of Hong Kong was returned to China}}.
|1991+
|
* Yes: 1992–1996
* No: 1996+
|
* Yes: 1992–1996 ('''Stop''')
* No: 1996+ (Go to 70)
|-
! 70
| '''Serbia and Montenegro are...'''
| The Union of {{w|Serbia and Montenegro}} was a remnant of {{w|Yugoslavia}}. {{w|Montenegro}} voted to become its own country in 2006. '''Note:''' For much of the prior date range, "Serbia and Montenegro" did not appear on maps–the states still went by the name Yugoslavia. {{w|Serbia and Montenegro#State union|Serbia and Montenegro only came into existence in 2003}}.
|1996+
|
* One country: 1996–2006
* Two countries: 2007+
|
* One country: 1996–2006 (Go to 71)
* Two countries: 2007+ (Go to 72)
|-
! 71
| '''East Timor?'''
| {{w|East Timor}} (also known as Timor-Leste) is a nation north of Australia and south east of {{w|Indonesia}}. During the Dutch colonization of Indonesia, East Timor remained in Portuguese hands. While {{w|Indonesian occupation of East Timor|occupied and annexed by Indonesia}} in 1976, East Timor retained its own culture and voted for independence, then had a nasty militia action that required UN peacekeeping action, and finally become independent in 2002.
|1996–2006
|
* No: 1997–2001
* Yes: 2002–2006
|
* No: 1997–2001 ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 2002–2006 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 72
| '''How many Sudans are there?'''
| In 2011, after a long history of violence between the two portions of the country (which can be characterized as Islam vs. Christianity and traditional religions), {{w|South Sudan}} became independent from {{w|Sudan}}.
|2006+
|
* One: 2007–2011
* Two: 2011+
|
* One: 2007–2011 ('''Stop''')
* Two: 2011+ (Go to 73)
|-
! 73
| '''Is Crimea disputed?'''
| In 2014, a {{w|Euromaidan|revolution}} ousted the current Ukrainian president. {{w|Crimea}} had its own civil unrest, and Russian troops exploited the unrest to launch {{w|Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|an invasion}}. A {{w|2014_Crimean_status_referendum|referendum}} was held on March 16 2014 and ostensibly decided in favor of Russian annexation. Many nations, including the EU's member states, the USA and Canada, disputed the democratic legitimacy of the referendum. As a result, depending on where you get your maps, Crimea may be marked as disputed or as part of one or the other countries. [http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/12/302337754/google-maps-displays-crimean-border-differently-in-russia-u-s Google Maps Ukraine shows it as solely Ukrainian while Google Maps Russia shows it as Russian].
|2011+
|
* Yes: 2014+
* No: 2012–2013
|
* Yes: 2014+ (Go to 74)
* No: 2012–2013 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 74
| '''"Colorado" or "Danger—Radioactive Exclusion Zone—Avoid"?'''
| This entry and the one below it are now referring to hypothetical future events: specifically, a huge radioactivity event in {{w|Colorado}} that takes place some time in 2022. Colorado houses several important USA defense installations which, in popular culture, become targets for nuclear strikes in the event of an all out war between the USA and Russia (for example over the {{w|political status of Crimea}}). Installations include {{w|Peterson Air Force Base}} and the heavily fortified {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex}} housing {{w|NORAD}} command functions. Colorado also has a previous history of radioactive contamination–it was home to uranium mines, nuclear tests (including {{w|Project Rulison}}, an attempt to use nuclear bombs to drill for natural gas that ended up making the gas radioactive) and the controversial {{w|Rocky Flats Plant}}, a nuclear weapons manufacturing facility that suffered {{w|Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant|several fires and leaks}} and was ultimately raided and shut down by the FBI. None of these has yet caused spiders to mutate.{{Citation needed}}
|2014+
|
* Colorado: 2014–2021
* Danger: 2022+
|
* Colorado: 2014–2021 ('''Stop''')
* Danger: 2022+ (Go to 75)
|-
! 75
| '''Does the warning mention the spiders?'''
| Presumably some time in 2023, the radioactive exclusion zone also becomes infested with mutant spiders.
|2022+
|
* No: 2022
* Yes: 2023 or later
|
* No: 2022 ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 2023 or later ('''Stop''')
|}

==Transcript==
:[A very complicated flow chart, which can only be read in detail using the larger image now shown at the top of this page. This transcript uses the large version, which is more legible.]

:[At the top of the chart there is a large caption, with a smaller caption below:]
:<big>Guide to figuring out the age of an undated world map</big>
:(Assuming it's complete, labeled in English, and detailed enough)

:[Below the starting bracket in the small caption is a start box. It has rounded corners and it is gray with white text. From this box there is a gray line to a box consisting of a black frame with rounded corners. In these kind of boxes there are questions regarding the map in black text. Below this box there are three gray boxes like the start box, superimposed over the bottom frame. In these boxes are the possible answers to the question in the frame above. From each of these options there is a gray line going to similar black framed boxes with other questions either below, or to either side. There can either be two, three or four gray boxes, two the most common. Only at the very bottom of the central branch where it turns out it was a home made map, are there two frames with only one gray question box each. This trend continues over this entire large image. When reaching the end of a branch in the flow chart, there is no line away from one, more or all of the gray boxes for a black frame. When this happens a year range or a guess at what the map shows, or what it is (if it turns out to not be a map) is written below the gray box in gray text. Of the text in the gray boxes are Yes/No, but not always. There are 74 boxes with black frames with 158 gray boxes and 78 endpoints with text below the gray box and one end point without text below (the one with the home made map).]

:Start
::Istanbul or Constantinople?
:::Constantinople
::::Do any of these exist? 
::::*Independent Canada
::::*US Territory of Alaska
::::*Tokyo
:::::No
::::::The Holy Roman Empire?
:::::::Yes
::::::::1805 or earlier (before this point, the modern idea of a complete political map of the world gets hard to apply.)
:::::::No
::::::::The United States?
:::::::::No
::::::::::How sure are you that this map is in English?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Texas is...
:::::::::::Part of Mexico
::::::::::::Florida is part of...
:::::::::::::Spain
::::::::::::::Paraguay?
:::::::::::::::No 1806–10
:::::::::::::::Yes 1811–17
:::::::::::::The US
::::::::::::::Venezuela and/or Ecuador?
:::::::::::::::No 1818–29
:::::::::::::::Yes 1830–33
:::::::::::Independent 1834–45
:::::::::::Part of the US
::::::::::::Does Russia border the Sea of Japan?
:::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::The US's southern border looks...
:::::::::::::::Weird 1846–53
:::::::::::::::Normal 1854–56
:::::::::::::Yes 1858–67
:::::Yes
::::::South Africa?
:::::::No
::::::::Rhodesia?
:::::::::No
::::::::::Is Bolivia landlocked?
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::"Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"?
:::::::::::::Buda and Pest 1868–72
:::::::::::::Budapest 1873–83
:::::::::::Yes 1884–95
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Is Norway part of Sweden?
:::::::::::Yes 1896–1905
:::::::::::No 1906–09
:::::::Yes
::::::::Austria-Hungary?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Albania?
:::::::::::No 1910–12
:::::::::::Yes 1913–18
:::::::::No
::::::::::Leningrad?
:::::::::::No 1919–23
:::::::::::Yes 1924–29
:::Neither
::::Does the Ottoman Empire exist?
:::::Yes [[#canada-alaska-tokyo]]
:::::No
::::::The Soviet Union?
:::::::Yes
::::::::Saudi Arabia?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Is most of West Africa a giant french blob?
:::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::Pakistan?
:::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::How many Germanys are there?
:::::::::::::::One
::::::::::::::::Persia or Iran?
:::::::::::::::::Persia 1930–34
:::::::::::::::::Iran 1935–40
:::::::::::::::One, but it's ''huge'' 1941–45
:::::::::::::::Two 1946–47
:::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::Cambodia?
:::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::Eritrea is part of...
:::::::::::::::::Italy
::::::::::::::::::Canada is...
:::::::::::::::::::Missing a piece 1948
:::::::::::::::::::Fine
::::::::::::::::::::The town on I-25 between Albuquerque and El Paso is...
:::::::::::::::::::::Hot Springs 1948-49
:::::::::::::::::::::Truth or Consequences 1950–52
:::::::::::::::::Ethiopia 1952–53
:::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::The United Arab Republic?
:::::::::::::::::No 1954–57
:::::::::::::::::Yes 1958–60
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::How many Vietnams are there?
:::::::::::::Two
::::::::::::::Bangladesh?
:::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::Is the area south of Lake Victoria...
:::::::::::::::::British 1960
:::::::::::::::::Tanganyika 1961–64
:::::::::::::::::Tanzania 1965–71
:::::::::::::::Yes 1972–75
:::::::::::::One
::::::::::::::Jimmy Carter is...
:::::::::::::::Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit April 20, 1979
:::::::::::::::Fine
::::::::::::::::The Sinai is part of what country?
:::::::::::::::::Israel 1976–79
:::::::::::::::::Mostly Israel 1980
:::::::::::::::::Mostly Egypt 1981
:::::::::::::::::Egypt
::::::::::::::::::What's the capital of Micronesia?
:::::::::::::::::::Kolonia
::::::::::::::::::::Republic of the Upper Volta or Burkina Faso?
:::::::::::::::::::::Upper Volta 1982–84
:::::::::::::::::::::Burkina Faso 1985–88
:::::::::::::::::::Palikir
::::::::::::::::::::(number of Yemens) + (number of Germanys) = ?
:::::::::::::::::::::Four 1989-early 1990
:::::::::::::::::::::Three mid-1990
:::::::::::::::::::::Two late 1990–1991
:::::::::No 1922–1932
:::::::No
::::::::North Korea?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Zaire? or: "Hong Kong (UK)"
:::::::::::Yes 1992–96
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::Serbia/Montenegro are...
:::::::::::::One country
::::::::::::::East Timor?
:::::::::::::::No 1997–2001
:::::::::::::::Yes 2002–06
:::::::::::::Two countries
::::::::::::::How many Sudans are there?
:::::::::::::::One 2007–11
:::::::::::::::Two
::::::::::::::::Is Crimea disputed?
:::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::"Colorado" or "Danger—Radioactive Exclusion Zone—Avoid"?
:::::::::::::::::::Colorado 2014–21
:::::::::::::::::::Danger
::::::::::::::::::::Does the warning mention the spiders?
:::::::::::::::::::::No 2022
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes 2023 or later
:::::::::::::::::No 2012–13
:::::::::No
::::::::::Saint Trimble's Island
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::Is Jan Mayen part of the Kingdom of Norway?
:::::::::::::Not yet
::::::::::::::[[#canada-alaska-tokyo]]
:::::::::::::What?
::::::::::::::Can you see the familiar continents?
:::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::This sounds like a physical map or satellite photo.
:::::::::::::::::Yes, that's it
::::::::::::::::::Is Lake Chad missing?
:::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::How far east do the American Prairies reach?
:::::::::::::::::::::Indiana before 1830
:::::::::::::::::::::The Mississippi 1830s-80s
:::::::::::::::::::::Nebraska
::::::::::::::::::::::Is there a big lake in the middle of Southern California? (created by mistake)
:::::::::::::::::::::::No 1860s-1900s
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes 1910s
:::::::::::::::::::::What prairies?
::::::::::::::::::::::Is there a big lake in the middle of Ghana? (created on purpose)
:::::::::::::::::::::::No 1920s-50s
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes 1960s-70s
:::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::Is the Aral Sea missing?
:::::::::::::::::::::No 1970s-90s
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes 2000s+
:::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::Rivers "Sirion" or "Anduin"?
:::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::Mordor?
:::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::Beleriand?
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes First Age
:::::::::::::::::::::No Early Second Age
:::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::Númenor?
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes Late Second Age
:::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::The forest east of the Misty Mountains is...
:::::::::::::::::::::::Greenwood Early Third Age
:::::::::::::::::::::::Mirkwood Late Third Age
:::::::::::::::::::::::The Wood of Greenleaves Fourth Age
:::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::Cair Paravel?
:::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::Calormen?
:::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::Lotta Islands?
:::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::Beruna
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Ford The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Bridge Prince Caspian
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes Dawn Treader
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::Weird recursive heaven?
:::::::::::::::::::::::No One of the random later books
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes The Last Battle
:::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::Mossflower?
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::Redwall
:::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::Is the world on the back of a turtle?
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes Discworld
:::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::Are you ''sure'' this is a map?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::::::Did you make it yourself?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::It's very nice.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Thank you!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::::Is it trying to bite you?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Is it larger than a breadbox?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes tuba
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::No stapler
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::About the same breadbox
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::If you let it go, what does it do?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Hisses and runs away cat
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things seagull
:::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::[[#pakistan]]
:::::::::::Yes No, I made that one up.
:::Istanbul
::::Does the Soviet Union exist?
:::::Yes
::::::[[#west-africa-french-blob]]
:::::No
::::::[[#zaire]]

==Trivia==
*There are some errors and several discrepancies in the comic regarding how year ranges are given although it appears Randall has been fixing these errors.
**I-25 was built in 1970–1990 through New Mexico; see the [[#Table|table]] above for more info.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Spiders]]
[[Category:Chronicles of Narnia]]
[[Category:Redwall]]

1688: Map Age Guide

2024-09-16T19:08:19Z

Abcasada: /* Explanation */ Add "cats" as one other option given that could be mistaken for a map

{{comic
| number = 1688
| date = June 1, 2016
| title = Map Age Guide
| image = map_age_guide.png
| titletext = Does the screeching chill your blood and herald death? If yes, banshee. If no, seagull.
}}

* A [http://xkcd.com/1688/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
The comic consists of a flowchart depicting various ways to tell what era a map is from based on present country borders and land forms. (Except in the Not a Political Map Branch (from "Can you see the familiar continents?" downwards), the comic applies to a political map.) While many of the options are very serious, a few bizarre options reference fictional maps ({{w|Discworld}}, {{w|Narnia}}, and Tolkien's {{w|Middle-earth}}), or consider that cats, seagulls, staplers, tubas, or breadboxes could be mistaken for a map. Randall also mentions US President {{w|Jimmy Carter}} being [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter_rabbit_incident attacked by a giant swimming rabbit], an event previously referenced as one we must never forget in [[204: America]].

The flowchart, although probably effective in eventually identifying the production year of certain maps, is designed in a rather inefficient way, as some early distinctions are already on a very detailed level before some really important distinctions (fictional or non-political map) are made. This, of course, adds to the humorous tone of the comic. It is also hampered by several smaller or larger error (see [[#Trivia|trivia]]), the biggest being a whole section on I-25 that gives years in the range 1948–1952, before I-25 was built, and coming from a question that fixed the year range to 1960–1961.

Additionally, (possible) future maps including a "Radioactive Exclusion Zone" in the place of Colorado are mentioned. It predicts that some kind of nuclear incident will occur in Colorado (possibly at Rulison or Rio Blanco nuclear testing sites) in 2022. It also predicts that the area will be infested by radioactive spiders one year later. As it is 2024 now, we see that both claims have been proven incorrect.{{Citation needed}}

The title text continues the path where the user has confused a seagull for a map by inquiring if the (presumed) seagull might be a banshee based on the effect of its screams.

===Table===
*Going through the flowchart, taking the leftmost path first, recursively. (Note there is no recursive loop, any loop is your mistake). See also {{w|Depth-first search}}.
**"Prior Date Range" is the range determined immediately before the question, carried over from the previous question.
**"Question Date Range" is the range each answer choice implies.
**"New Date Range" is the intersection of the Prior Date Range and the Question Date Range for each choice, and is the range determined by all questions hitherto answered.

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! # !! Question !! Explanation !! Prior Date Range !! Question Date Range !! New Date Range
|-
! 1
| '''Istanbul or Constantinople'''
| The largest city in {{w|Turkey}} is famous for having different names at different times or to different people. Variations on both names go back at least 1,000 years. Other names have also been used at various points. {{w|Istanbul}} has been the official name in Western languages since the 1920s (although it's been the native name since 1453), although Western maps often referred to it as Constantinople as late as the 1960s; on the flowchart, the choice of name appears to go with the 1920s date. The name changes are the subject of a [http://mentalfloss.com/article/60314/original-istanbul-not-constantinople song], originally by the Four Lads, but now mainly known for the They Might Be Giants recording.
| '''Start here'''
|
* Constantinople: 330 – 1928
* Neither: inconclusive
* Istanbul: 1928+
|
* Constantinople: 330 – 1928 (Go to 2)
* Neither: inconclusive (Go to 19)
* Istanbul: 1928+ (Go to 51)
|-
| colspan="6" | '''Note:''' the chart splits here into three divisions, each from a choice in question 1. The Neither Division will attempt to use other indicators to sort maps into one of the other two divisions or branches thereof, or, after 5 failures to find a country, conclude that the "map" in question is not a political map and proceed to find out what it is (the Not a Political Map Branch). The Constantinople and Istanbul Divisions are linear except where the Neither Division joins them as stated above.
|-
! colspan="6" | Constantinople Division
|-
! 2
| '''Do any of these exist?'''
* '''Independent Canada'''
* '''US Territory of Alaska'''
* '''Tokyo'''
| All these seem to specify a date cut-off of 1867/8, but there are caveats attached to each:
* {{w|Canada}} gained its independence gradually, but it would appear as its own country (the Dominion of Canada) on maps sometime between the {{w|Constitution Act, 1867}} (which created Canada as a British dominion) and the {{w|Statute of Westminster 1931}} (which made Canada largely self-governing).
* The {{w|Territory of Alaska}} existed between 1912 (previously, it was a US district) and 1959 (when it became a state). The US has owned Alaska since the 1867 {{w|Alaska Purchase}}, but it was not a territory then.
* {{w|Tokyo}} was once called Edo. It was renamed Tokyo (which means "Eastern Capital") when it became the capital in 1868. [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Tokyo%2CTokei&year_start=1870&year_end=1880&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTokyo%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CTokei%3B%2Cc0 Most English books around then] would actually have called it "Tokei," the Chinese reading. The name Tokyo didn't take off until {{w|Hepburn romanization}} was popularized in the 1880s.
| 330–1928 (from 1)
1299–1922 (from 19 in the Neither Division)
(from 24 in the Neither Division)
|
* No: 1867-
* Yes: 1868+
|
* No: 330–1867 (Go to 3)
* Yes: 1868–1928 (Go to 11)
|-
! colspan="6" | Holy Roman Empire Branch
|-
! 3
| '''The Holy Roman Empire?'''
| The predecessor to modern Germany, the {{w|Holy Roman Empire}} was a union of hundreds of small states in Central Europe. Nationalism and the concept of the {{w|nation state}} hadn't taken off yet, so countries as we know them didn't really exist. There were just small lands, often with keenly contested borders, owned by minor aristocracy who pledged allegiance to one of the big powers. The HRE was {{w|Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire|dissolved}} in 1806 after it was invaded by Napoleon, arguably the first leader to realise the potential of making a nation salute a flag.
| 330–1867
|
* Yes: 899–1806
* No: 899- or 1806+
|
* Yes: 899–1806 (Stated in comic as "1805 or earlier," since modern map-making was fuzzy as a concept prior) ('''Stop''')
* No: 330–899 or 1806–67 (Go to 4)
|-
! 4
| '''The United States?'''
| The original {{w|Thirteen Colonies|13 colonies}} declared independence in 1776. A map that does not include ''either'' the HRE ''or'' the USA must be older than the HRE, which would put the map sometime prior to 1000 AD, when there really were no countries, and English wasn't used yet, hence Randall's comment.
| 330–899 or 1806–67
|
* No: 1776-
* Yes: 1776+
|
* No: 330–899 (Not stated in comic, since a map in this period is probably not in English, which violates a proviso of the comic) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1806–67 (Go to 5)
|-
! 5
| '''Texas is... Part of Mexico? Independent? Part of the US?'''
| {{w|Mexico}} (and before its independence, {{w|New Spain}}) occupied the area modern-day Texas from around 1718 ({{w|Spanish Texas|when the first permanent Spanish settlements were founded}}) to the {{w|Texas Declaration of Independence}} in 1836 (the comic apparently cited 1834 as the date) – the land called "Texas" was only a small part of the modern-day state. The {{w|Republic of Texas}} only lasted a decade and joined the US in 1846.
| 1806–67
|
* Part of Mexico: 1718–1836
* Independent: 1836–46
* Part of the US: 1846+
|
* Part of Mexico: 1806–36 (Go to 6)
* Independent: 1836–46 (stated in comic as 1834–45 – a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
* Part of the US: 1846–67 (Go to 9)
|-
! 6
| '''Florida is part of... Spain? The US?'''
| Spain occupied {{w|Florida}} (as {{w|East Florida}} and {{w|West Florida}}) but frankly they didn't actually want it – it was expensive to send people to settle it, and there wasn't much economic value in it. So they gave it to the US for free in the 1819 {{w|Adams–Onís Treaty}} (which took effect in 1821) in exchange for the US giving up parts of Mexico and paying off angry Spanish settlers. (For some reason, the comic treats Florida as part of the US in 1818; see questions 7 and 8.)
| 1806–36
|
* Spain: 1565–1763 or 1783–1821
* The US: 1821+
|
* Spain: 1806–21 (Go to 7)
* The US: 1821–36 (Go to 8)
|-
! 7
| '''{{w|Paraguay}}?'''
| Declared independence from Spain in 1811 (although it might appear on older maps as the Spanish Province of Paraguay).
| 1806–21
|
* No: 1811-
* Yes: 1811+
|
* No: 1806–11 (stated in comic as 1806–10) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1811–21 (stated in comic as 1811–17 – a discrepancy (see question 6)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 8
| '''{{w|Venezuela}} and/or {{w|Ecuador?}}'''
| Both declared independence from {{w|Gran Colombia}} (Greater Colombia) in 1830.
| 1821–36
|
* No: 1830-
* Yes: 1830+
|
* No: 1821–30 (stated in comic as 1818–29 – a discrepancy (see question 6)) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1830–36 (stated in comic as 1830–33 – a discrepancy (see question 5)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 9
| '''Does Russia border the Sea of Japan?'''
| The 1858 {{w|Treaty of Aigun}} brought the {{w|Russian Empire}}'s border to the {{w|Sea of Japan}}.
| 1846–67
|
* No: 1858-
* Yes: 1858+
|
* No: 1846–58 (Go to 10)
* Yes: 1858–67 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 10
| '''The US's southern border looks...'''
| The last southward expansion of the US is the 1854 {{w|Gadsden Purchase}}, where the US bought a chunk of what is now {{w|Arizona}} and {{w|New Mexico}} so they could build a railway that avoided unfavourable terrain. The southern border looks "weird" before that because we are accustomed to the current border shape.
| 1846–58
|
* Weird: 1854-
* Normal: 1854+
|
* Weird: 1846–54 (stated in comic as 1846–53) ('''Stop''')
* Normal: 1854–58 (stated in comic as 1854–56 – a discrepancy (where is 1857?)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | South Africa Branch
|-
! 11
| '''{{w|South Africa}}?'''
| The {{w|Union of South Africa}} was created in 1910 out of the four British colonies ({{w|Cape Colony}}, {{w|Colony of Natal|Natal}}, {{w|Transvaal Colony|Transvaal}}, and {{w|Orange River Colony|Orange River}}), although South Africa was then not yet fully independent from the United Kingdom (which would not happen until 1931).
| 1868–1928
|
* No: 1910-
* Yes: 1910+
|
* No: 1868–1910 (Go to 12)
* Yes: 1910–28 (Go to 16)
|-
! 12
| '''Rhodesia?'''
| The region that now makes up {{w|Zambia}} and {{w|Zimbabwe}} was named {{w|Rhodesia (region)|"Rhodesia"}} by the {{w|British South Africa Company}} in 1895. An {{w|Rhodesia|unrecognised state}} (1965–79) and a {{w|Southern Rhodesia|colony}} (1923–80 on-and-off) also bore this name, but they are both outside the Prior Date Range.
| 1868–1910
|
* No: 1895-
* Yes: 1895+
|
* No: 1868–95 (Go to 13)
* Yes: 1895–1910 (Go to 15)
|-
! 13
| '''Is Bolivia landlocked?'''
| {{w|Bolivia}} lost its coastal territory to {{w|Chile}} in the {{w|War of the Pacific}}, ceding {{w|Antofagasta}} in the {{w|Treaty of Valparaiso}} in 1884.
| 1868–95
|
* No: 1825–84
* Yes: 1884+
|
* No: 1868–84 (Go to 14)
* Yes: 1884–95 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 14
| '''"Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"?'''
| In 1873, the Hungarian cities of {{w|Buda}} and {{w|Pest, Hungary|Pest}} joined together to form the city of {{w|Budapest}}.
| 1868–84
|
* Buda and Pest: 1247–1873
* Budapest: 1873+
|
* Buda and Pest: 1868–73 (stated in comic as 1868–72) ('''Stop''')
* Budapest: 1873–84 (stated in comic as 1873–83) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 15
| '''Is Norway part of Sweden?'''
| {{w|Norway}} was ceded to {{w|Sweden}} in 1814, from which it separated in 1905.
| 1895–1910
|
* Yes: 1814–1905
* No: 1814- or 1905+
|
* Yes: 1895–1905 (Stated in comic as 1896–1905) ('''Stop''')
* No: 1905–10 (Stated in comic as 1906–09) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 16
| '''Austria-Hungary?'''
| {{w|Austria-Hungary}} formed in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. (Clueless bureaucrats of the time loved to abbreviate the name to just "Austria", but mapmakers tended to be more careful than that.)
| 1910–28
|
* Yes: 1867–1918
* No: 1918+
|
* Yes: 1910–18 (Go to 17)
* No: 1918–28 (Go to 18)
|-
! 17
| '''Albania?'''
| {{w|Albania}} declared independence from the {{w|Ottoman Empire}} in 1912.
| 1910–18
|
* No: 1912-
* Yes: 1912+
|
* No: 1910–12 ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1912–18 (stated in comic as 1913–18) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 18
| '''Leningrad?'''
| {{w|Saint Petersburg}} was known as Leningrad between 1924 and 1991. The city was founded in 1703 as Saint Petersburg (specific spellings vary); in August 1914, due to major anti-German sentiment related to WWI, it was renamed Petrograd (essentially the Russian translation of Petersburg). On January 26, 1924, five days after the death of {{w|Vladimir Lenin}} (the main revolutionary leader), the new Communist government (hostile to both the Orthodox {{w|Saint Peter}} the city was named after and the Czar {{w|Peter the Great}} who named it) renamed the city Leningrad in his honor. After the decline of the Soviet government in 1991, the name became unpopular, and a referendum in June 1991 (concurrently with the first Russian presidential election) restored the name Saint Petersburg for the city (officially in September 1991), which it holds to this day.
| 1918–28
|
* No: 1924- or 1991+
* Yes: 1924–91
|
* No: 1918–24 (stated in comic as 1919–23) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1924–28 (stated in comic as 1924–29) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Neither Division
|-
! 19
| '''Does the Ottoman Empire exist?'''
| The {{w|Ottoman Empire}} was founded in 1299, and defeated and dissolved on November 1, 1922 when the sultanate was abolished.
| Inconclusive
|
* Yes: 1299–1922
* No: 1299- or 1922+
|
* Yes: 1299–1922 (Go to 2 in the Constantinople Division)
* No: 1299- or 1922+ (Go to 20)
|-
! 20
| '''The Soviet Union?'''
| The {{w|Soviet Union}} is one of the largest countries ever to exist consisting of Russia and large portions of eastern Europe and central Asia. It was a major political force from December 28, 1922, when several allied Soviet republics united, to 1991, when it broke up.
''Note:'' This question is the same as question 51 in the Istanbul Division, but because there a Prior Date Range of 1928+ has already been established by the presence of Istanbul, we need one more question to determine whether we are within the range of 1928+.
| 1299- or 1922+
|
* Yes: 1922–91
* No: 1922- or 1991+
|
* Yes: 1922–91 (Go to 21)
* No: 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) or 1991+ (Go to 22)
|-
! 21
| '''Saudi Arabia?'''
| The Kingdom of {{w|Saudi Arabia}} was founded in 1932. It is the first modern state to exert control over the area it claims, which previously were controlled by various tribal leaders. Most maps before 1932 will not mark the area as belonging to a nation at all, will attempt to mark the various shifting chieftains, or will attribute the land to the {{w|Ottoman Empire}}, which claimed the land but did not effectively control it.
| 1922–91
|
* Yes: 1932+
* No: 1932-
|
* Yes: 1932–91 (Go to 52 in the Istanbul Division)
* No: 1922–32 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 22
| '''North Korea?'''
| The {{w|Korean Peninsula}} was divided into two regions, the north of which would be known as {{w|North Korea}}, at the end of {{w|World War II}} in 1945. This resulted in the inconclusive {{w|Korean War}}.
| 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) or 1991+
|
* Yes: 1945+
* No: 1945-
|
* Yes: 1991+ (Go to 69 in the Istanbul Division)
* No: 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) (Go to 23)
|-
! 23
| '''Saint Trimble's Island'''
| Since [[Randall]] just made up this place, it is impossible that a map would include it, probably as a {{w|trap street|cartographer's fingerprint}} indicating plagiarism?
| 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28)
|
* No: inconclusive
* Yes: impossible
|
* No: 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) (Go to 24)
* Yes: impossible ('''Stop''')
|-
! 24
| '''Is Jan Mayen part of the kingdom of Norway?'''
| Jurisdiction over the island of {{w|Jan Mayen}} was given to {{w|Norway}} around 1920, and it officially joined in 1930. '''Note:''' Strictly speaking, it should be almost impossible to answer "Yes" to this question – the Ottoman Empire existed until 1922, the Soviet Union existed from 1922 to 1991, and North Korea from 1945 onwards, so by answering "No" to the previous three questions, the user has ruled out the entire period during which Norway has officially owned Jan Mayen, and almost the entire period it controlled it barring an extremely slim sliver of time between November 1, 1922 to December 28, 1922. The following questions ignore the previous ones (East Germany only existed at the same time as the USSR, and Pakistan was founded later than North Korea, so both should have already been excluded) – essentially, the Jan Mayen question reboots the test.
| 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28)
|
* Not yet: prior to 1930
* What?: Not a political map
* Yes: 1930+
|
* Not yet: (Go to 2 in the Constantinople Division)
* What?: (Go to 25)
* Yes: (Go to 53 in the Istanbul Division)
|-
! colspan="6" | Not a Political Map Branch
|-
! 25
| '''Can you see the familiar continents?'''
| At this point, it is clear that the map in question is not a political map from any time. Therefore, the comic tries to determine whether it is a map of the Earth at all by asking if the continents are there.
|
|
* Yes: map of the Earth
* No: not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: map of the Earth (Go to 26)
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 32)
|-
! colspan="6" | Topographical Map / Satellite Image Subbranch
|-
! 26
| '''This sounds like a physical map or satellite photo.'''
| A map of the Earth that does not label political regions must be a topological map; or, it can be a satellite image of the Earth.
| Map of the Earth
|
* Yes, that's it: topographical map or satellite image of the Earth
|
* Yes, that's it: topographical map or satellite image of the Earth (Go to 27)
|-
! 27
| '''Is Lake Chad missing?'''
| {{w|Lake Chad}} lost 75% of its area in the 1970s, becoming too small to be included in a map or picture of the Earth.
| Topographical map or satellite image of the Earth
|
* No: 1970s-
* Yes: 1970s+
|
* No: 1970s- (Go to 28)
* Yes: 1970s+ (Go to 31)
|-
! 28
| '''How far east do the American prairies reach?'''
| As settlers made their way west, the prairie land in the {{w|Great Plains}} region was steadily replaced by farmland and ranches. By the 1920s, most of the land had been converted to agricultural use, and the last of the prairie was largely obliterated by the {{w|Dust Bowl}}s in the 1930s. The dividing lines correspond roughly to the three types of prairie: {{w|tallgrass prairie}} grew between the Mississippi and Indiana, {{w|mixed grass prairie}} covered Nebraska and other states on the {{w|100th meridian west}}, and {{w|shortgrass prairie}} covered the remaining area east of the Rocky Mountains. There's some overlap in the dates, since it's fairly arbitrary at what point you say the prairies stopped existing. There are still patches of prairie (covering about 1% of their former reach), but these are probably not visible in a satellite image.

| 1970s-
|
* Indiana: Before 1830
* The Mississippi: 1830–1880s
* Nebraska: 1860s–1910s
* What prairies?: 1920s+
|
* Indiana: Before 1830 ('''Stop''')
* The Mississippi: 1830–80s ('''Stop''')
* Nebraska: 1860s–1910s (Go to 29)
* What prairies?: 1920s–1970s (Go to 30)
|-
! 29
| '''Is there a big lake in the middle of Southern California? (created by mistake)'''
| This is {{w|Salton Sea}}, a previously dry lake bed accidentally flooded in 1905 while attempting to increase irrigation to the area from the Colorado River
| 1860s–1910s
|
* No: before 1905
* Yes: 1905+
|
* No: 1860s–1900s ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1910s ('''Stop''')
|-
! 30
| '''Is there a big lake in the middle of Ghana? (created on purpose)'''
| {{w|Lake Volta}}, formed by the {{w|Akosombo Dam}} which was built in the 1960s
| 1920s–1970s
|
* No: before 1960s
* Yes: 1960s+
|
* No: 1920s–50s ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1960s–70s ('''Stop''')
|-
! 31
| '''Is the Aral Sea missing?'''
| Shrinking since the 1930s, the {{w|Aral Sea}} would be too small to be on maps or images of the Earth by the 2000s.
| 1970s+
|
* No: 1990s-
* Yes: 2000s+
|
* No: 1970s-90s ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 2000s+ ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | ''Topograpical Map / Satellite Image Subbranch ends''
|-
! colspan="6" | Fictional Map / Non-Map Subbranch
|-
! 32
| '''Rivers "Sirion" or "Anduin"?'''
| The rivers {{w|List of Middle-earth rivers#Sirion|Sirion}} and {{w|Anduin}} are part of {{w|Middle-earth|Middle-earth}}, the fictional setting of J.R.R. Tolkien's ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' books.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: map of Middle-earth
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: map of Middle-earth (Go to 33)
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 37)
|-
! colspan="6" | Middle-earth Subbranch
|-
! 33
| '''Mordor?'''
| {{w|Mordor}} is the base of operations of {{w|Sauron}}, who settled there c. 1000 in the {{w|Second Age}} (which lasted for 3,441 years).
| Map of Middle-earth
|
* No: S.A. c. 1000-
* Yes: S.A. c. 1000+
|
* No: S.A. c. 1000- (Go to 34)
* Yes: S.A. c. 1000+ (Go to 35)
|-
! 34
| '''Beleriand?'''
| {{w|Beleriand}} was broken in the {{w|War of Wrath}} in the year 583 in the {{w|Years of the Sun}} in the {{w|First Age}}. The First Age itself ran for 450 Valian Years and 590 Years of the Sun, adding up to between 5,023 and 65,390 Years of the Sun, depending on the conversion factor used ({{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}} has given several during the years). Note that Randall has apparently ignored the time before the First Age (4,550 Valian Years).
| S.A. c. 1000-
|
* Yes: Y.S. 583 First Age-
* No: Y.S. 583 First Age+
|
* Yes: Y.S. 583 First Age- (stated in comic as First Age) ('''Stop''')
* No: Y.S. 583 First Age–S.A. c. 1000 (stated in comic as early Second Age) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 35
| '''Númenor?'''
| The island of {{w|Númenor}} was raised from the sea at the start of the Second Age. It sank back into the sea in 3319 in the Second Age, as the formerly flat Earth was made into a globe.
| S.A. c. 1000+
|
* Yes: S.A. 1–3319
* No: First Age- or S.A. 3319+
|
* Yes: S.A. c. 1000–3319 (stated in comic as late Second Age) ('''Stop''')
* No: S.A. 3319+ (Go to 36)
|-
! 36
| '''The forest east of the Misty Mountains is...'''
| The forest {{w|Mirkwood}} was called Greenwood the Great from its discovery by the Elves c. V.Y. 4620 in the First Age to 1050 in the {{w|Third Age}} when the shadow of Sauron fell upon it and it was renamed. It was cleansed on 'March' 28, 3019 in the Third Age (which ran for 3,021 years), after which it is called the Wood of Greenleaves. Note that Randall ignores the Fifth Age and onwards; although Tolkien said that the present day is about the end of the Sixth Age or the beginning of the Seventh, nothing is written about these later Ages.
| S.A. 3319+
|
* Greenwood the Great: c. V.Y. 4620–T.A. 1050
* Mirkwood: T.A. 1050–3019–03–28
* The Wood of Greenleaves: T.A. 3019–03–28+
|
* Greenwood the Great: S.A. 3319–T.A. 1050 (stated in comic as early Third Age) ('''Stop''')
* Mirkwood: T.A. 1050–3019–03–28 (stated in comic as Late Third Age) ('''Stop''')
* The Wood of Greenleaves: T.A. 3019–03–28+ (stated in comic as Fourth Age) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | ''Middle-earth Subbranch ends''
|-
! 37
| '''Cair Paravel?'''
| {{w|Cair Paravel}} is the fictional castle where the Kings and Queens of Narnia rule in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: map of Narnia
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: map of Narnia (Go to 38)
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 42)
|-
! colspan="6" | Narnia Subbranch
|-
| colspan="6" | '''Note:''' This series contains seven books, whose original publication order does not match their chronological order. Specifically, ''The Magician's Nephew'' is earlier than ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', and ''The Horse and His Boy'' is between ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' and ''Prince Caspian''. Questions in this subbranch concern whether the place referenced can be found in the map contained in each book, not in which books' time the place exists. Therefore, places that exist in a book published later but is chronologically earlier than another book will not appear in the latter book, even if canonically they still exist in its time. Here are the seven books in their original publication order, which they will be referred to as.

# ''{{w|The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe}}''
# ''{{w|Prince Caspian}}''
# ''{{w|The Voyage of the Dawn Treader}}''
# ''{{w|The Silver Chair}}''
# ''{{w|The Horse and His Boy}}''
# ''{{w|The Magician's Nephew}}''
# ''{{w|The Last Battle}}''
|-
! 38
| '''Calormen?'''
| {{w|Calormen}} is a foreign empire in ''The Chronicles of Narnia''. While it was indirectly referenced in the first three books, it was not included in maps until the later books in the series.
| Map of Narnia
|
* No: 3-
* Yes: 4+
|
* No: 3- (Go to 39)
* Yes: 4+ (Go to 41)
|-
! 39
| '''Lotta islands?'''
| Refers to [http://www.charliewstarr.com/_Media/mapdawntreader.gif this map] from ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', which focused on a ship voyage from Cair Paravel to the eastern edge of the world and back.
| 3-
|
* No: not 3
* Yes: 3
|
* No: 2- (Go to 40)
* Yes: 3 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 40
| '''Beruna'''
| Refers to [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-54_2TDRUbHY/TpJHzFBzmiI/AAAAAAAALOA/q3RnPSvfdJ0/s1600/IMG.jpg the map] of Narnia originally published in Prince Caspian. During the time of ''The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'', the people of Beruna crossed the Great River via a ford, but it had been replaced by a bridge at the beginning of ''Prince Caspian''.
| 2-
|
* Ford: 1
* Bridge: 2
|
* Ford: 1 ('''Stop''')
* Bridge: 2 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 41
| '''Weird recursive heaven?'''
| Refers to ''The Last Battle'', where the protagonists find themselves in {{w|Aslan's Country}}, a glorious afterlife of which Narnia (along with Earth and presumably every other world) is only a shadowy reflection.
| 4+
|
* No: 6-
* Yes: 7
|
* No: 4–6 (stated in comic as one of the random later books) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 7 ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | ''Narnia Subbranch ends''
|-
! 42
| '''Mossflower?'''
| A forest from the ''{{w|Redwall}}'' book series. See also the comic [[370: Redwall]] and [[1722: Debugging]] that references the books.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: ''Redwall''
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: ''Redwall'' ('''Stop''')
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 43)
|-
! 43
| '''Is the world on the back of a turtle?'''
| The comic fantasy book series ''{{w|Discworld}}'' is set on the fictional Discworld, a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: ''Discworld''
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: ''Discworld'' ('''Stop''')
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 44)
|-
! 44
| '''Are you ''sure'' this is a map?'''
| After incorrectly guessing several popular fictional world, it is fair to doubt whether the subject being identified here is a map at all.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: a map ''for sure'', just not of the Earth
* No: not a map
|
* Yes: a map ''for sure'', just not of the Earth (Go to 45)
* No: not a map (Go to 47)
|-
! 45
| '''Did you make it yourself?'''
| At this point, the map can only be a homemade map of some other fictional world. (Although it might be a published map of another world, such as Pern, Oz or Mars but there isn't enough room for these options.)
| A map ''for sure'', just not of the Earth
|
* Yes: a homemade map
|
* Yes: a homemade map (Go to 46)
|-
! 46
| '''It's very nice.'''
| A stock response to "[It's] Very nice" is "Thanks, I made it myself". Since we have already done the "made it myself" part, we need to do the other parts too, albeit out of sequence.
| A homemade map
|
* Thank you!: something "very nice"
|
* Thank you!: a "very nice" homemade map ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Not a Map Subbranch
|-
! 47
| '''Is it trying to bite you?'''
| Now we are trying to guess something that is not a map. Makes sense to ask if it's something that bites, right? Right?
| Not a map
|
* No: doesn't bite
* Yes: bites
|
* No: doesn't bite and not a map (Go to 48)
* Yes: bites (Go to 49)
|-
! 48
| '''Is it larger than a breadbox?'''
| A typical, generic question asked by Steve Allen on ''{{w|What's My Line?}}'', and is often used when playing {{w|Twenty Questions}}. However, instead of asking further questions to narrow down the choices, the comic just gives a guess for each response. The comic guesses a breadbox itself as something about the same size as a breadbox.
| Doesn't bite and not a map
|
* Yes: larger than a breadbox
* No: smaller than a breadbox
* About the same: about the same size as a breadbox
|
* Yes: larger than a breadbox, doesn't bite, and not a map (comic guesses a {{w|tuba}}) ('''Stop''')
* No: smaller than a breadbox, doesn't bite, and not a map (comic guesses a {{w|stapler}}) ('''Stop''')
* About the same: about the same size as a breadbox, doesn't bite, and not a map (comic guesses a {{w|breadbox}}) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 49
| '''If you let it go, what does it do?'''
|This assumes that you are holding the biting object. While holding it, the object may have already bitten you, and the consequences of this would most likely be painful.
| Bites
|
* Hisses and runs away: hisses and runs away if let go
* Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things: screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go
|
* Hisses and runs away: bites, and hisses and runs away if let go (comic guesses a {{w|cat}}) ('''Stop''')
* Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things: bites, and screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go (comic guesses a {{w|seagull}}) ('''Stop''' (however, see 50))
|-
! 50
| '''Does the screeching chill your blood and herald death?'''
| ''Note: Title text question.'' Likely, if a banshee is being held, or flapping around the room, one would have bigger problems than its identification. Also, heralding of death is a difficult quality to identify.
| Bites, and screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go
|
* Yes: Screeching chills your blood and heralds death
* No: Screeching does not chill your blood and herald death; or does not screech
|
* Yes: bites; screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go; screeching chills your blood and heralds death (title text guesses a {{w|banshee}}) ('''Stop''')
* No: bites; screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go; screeching does not chill your blood and herald death (title text guesses a seagull) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Istanbul Division
|-
! 51
| '''Does the Soviet Union exist?'''
| The {{w|Soviet Union}}, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, existed from 1922 to 1991. After 1991, the Soviet Union split up into Russia and 15 other post-Soviet states.
|1928+
|
* Yes: 1928–1991
* No: 1991+
|
* Yes: 1928–1991 (Go to 52)
* No: 1991+ (Go to 69)
|-
! colspan="6" | West Africa branch
|-
! 52
| '''Is most of West Africa a giant French blob?'''
| Before 1960, most of West Africa consisted of a number of French colonies united under {{w|French West Africa}}.
|1928–1991
|
* Yes: 1928–1960
* No: 1960–1991
|
* Yes: 1928–1960 (Go to 53)
* No: 1960–1991 (Go to 60)
|-
! 53
| '''Pakistan?'''
| {{w|Pakistan}} was officially recognized as its own country in 1947, when {{w|British India}} was granted independence and {{w|Partition of India|partitioned into two nations}}. Pakistan was created at the request of Muslims who wished for a Muslim majority state.
|1928–1960
|
* No: 1928–1947
* Yes: 1947–1960
|
* No: 1928–1947 (Go to 54)
* Yes: 1948–1960 (Go to 56)
|-
! 54
| '''How many Germanys are there?'''
| During WWII, the {{w|Nazi Party}} invaded a large swath of Europe, which would make {{w|Nazi Germany}} huge on the map during that period. After the war, it split up into two countries — {{w|West Germany}} which was part of {{w|NATO}}, and {{w|East Germany}} which was part of the {{w|Warsaw Pact}}. Note that by modern standards, pre-WWII Germany was also quite huge, since at that point Germany included {{w|Prussia}} which contained much of modern Poland as well as Russian {{w|Kaliningrad}}, and in 1938 Germany took control of Austria in the {{w|Anschluss}} and the {{w|Sudetenland}} in {{w|Czechoslovakia}} following the {{w|Munich Agreement}}. Not all maps produced during WWII used the Nazi borders, since the Allies refused to recognize German occupation and supported the {{w|government-in-exile|governments-in-exile}}.
|1928–1947
|
* One: 1928–1940
* One, but it's ''huge'': 1941–1945
* Two: 1946–1947
|
* One: 1928–1940 (Go to 55)
* One, but it's ''huge'': 1941–1945 ('''Stop''')
* Two: 1946–1947 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 55
| '''Persia or Iran?'''
| In 1935 the {{w|Iran|Iranian}} Government requested that westerners call it by the name its own people had used for hundreds of years, rather than after a tribe within it that gained prominence 2500 years earlier. The interval from 1928 to 1930 is dropped from this branch, but it would fall under {{w|Persia}}.
|1928–1940
|
* Persia: 1930–1934
* Iran: 1935–1940
|
* Persia: 1930–1934 ('''Stop''')
* Iran: 1935–1940 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 56
| '''Cambodia?'''
| {{w|Cambodia}} (or Kampuchea) declared independence from France in 1953.
|1948–1960
|
* No: 1948–1953
* Yes: 1953–1960
|
* No: 1948–1953 (Go to 57)
* Yes: 1953–1960 (Go to 59)
|-
! 57
| '''Eritrea is a part of...'''
| {{w|Eritrea}} declared independence from Italy in 1952, joining {{w|Ethiopia}} to create the {{w|Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea}}.
|1947–1953
|
* Italy: 1948–1952
* Ethiopia: 1952–1953
|
* Italy: 1948–1952 (Go to 58)
* Ethiopia: 1952–1953 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 58
| '''Canada is...'''
| In 1949, the {{w|Dominion of Newfoundland}} became a part of {{w|Canada}}. Before that, it was marked as its own country on the map, so maps from 1948 and before would have Canada "missing a piece" on its east coast as compared to how it looks today.
|1947–1952
|
* Missing a piece: 1948
* Fine: 1949–1952
|
* Missing a piece: 1948 ('''Stop''')
* Fine: 1949–1952 (Go to 63)
|-
! 59
| '''The United Arab Republic?'''
| The {{w|The United Arab Republic}} was a short-lived political union between {{w|Egypt}} and {{w|Syria}}. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961 (although Egypt continued to call itself the United Arab Republic for several years after Syria left the union).
|1953–1960
|
* No: 1953–1958
* Yes: 1958–1960
|
* No: 1953–58 (stated in comic as 1954–57 – a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1958–60 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 60
| '''How many Vietnams are there?'''
| On April 30, 1975, forces from {{w|North Vietnam}} captured {{w|Saigon}} (now known as {{w|Ho Chi Minh City}}), and reunified the country, in an event known as {{w|Reunification Day}}, which marked the end of the {{w|Vietnam War}}. Maps before this date would have "North Vietnam" and "{{w|South Vietnam}}" on them rather than a single "{{w|Vietnam}}".
|1960–1991
|
* Two: 1960–1975
* One: 1975–1991
|
* Two: 1960–1975 (Go to 61)
* One: 1975–1991 (Go to 64)
|-
! 61
| '''Bangladesh?'''
| {{w|Bangladesh}} (formerly {{w|East Pakistan}}) declared independence from {{w|Pakistan}} in 1972, as they had different languages, cultures, and the Bengalis felt their country was being run from West Pakistan without their input. The {{w|Bangladesh Liberation War|resulting war}} lasted just over 8 months and ended in Indian intervention.
|1960–1975
|
* No: 1960–1972
* Yes: 1972–1975
|
* No: 1960–1972 (Go to 62)
* Yes: 1972–1975 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 62
| '''Is the area south of Lake Victoria...'''
| The area south of {{w|Lake Victoria}} was called {{w|Tanganyika}}, and it declared independence from the United Kingdom to form its own country in 1961, and unified with {{w|Zanzibar}} to create {{w|Tanzania}} in 1964.
|1960–1972
|
* British: 1960–1961
* Tanganyika: 1961–1964
* Tanzania: 1965–1971
|
* British: 1960 ('''Stop''')
* Tanganyika: 1961–1964 ('''Stop''')
* Tanzania: 1965–1972 (stated in comic as 1964–1971 – a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 63
| '''The town on I-25 between Albuquerque and El Paso is... '''
| {{w|Interstate 25 in New Mexico|I-25}} didn't exist for any of the years listed for this item, since the Interstate Highway System wasn't launched until 1956. The highway designation on maps printed during the years listed was {{w|U.S. Route 85#New Mexico|US-85}}, and it was first replaced by I-25 in 1970–1990. The town changed its name from Hot Springs to "{{w|Truth or Consequences, New Mexico|Truth or Consequences}}" in 1950, although locals say that it provides more of the latter than of the former. Initially there was an error as this question was on a path from the British Tanganyika (directly above it) instead of from the "Fine" option of "Canada is.." but this has been fixed.
|1949–1952
|
* Hot Springs: 1916–49
* Truth or Consequences: 1950+
|
* Hot Springs: 1948–49 ('''Stop''')
* Truth or Consequences: 1950–52 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 64
| '''Jimmy Carter is...'''
| On April 20, 1979, {{w|Jimmy Carter}} was "{{w|Jimmy Carter rabbit incident|attacked}}" by a swamp rabbit, a fact referenced in [[204|204: America]]. This fact would not normally be referenced on a map, however, and is simply a joke entry that leads to the next question.
|1975–1991
|
* Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit: April 20, 1979
* Fine: 1975–1991
|
* Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit: April 20, 1979 ('''Stop''')
* Fine: 1975–1991 (Go to 65)
|-
! 65
| '''The Sinai is part of what country?'''
| In 1979, {{w|Israel}} signed a peace treaty in which it would gradually retreat from the entire {{w|Sinai Peninsula}}, handing that area to {{w|Egypt}}. This happened over a period of three years, completing in 1982.
|1975–1991
|
* Israel: 1976–1979
* Mostly Israel: 1980
* Mostly Egypt: 1981
* Egypt: 1982–1991
|
* Israel: 1976–1979 (missing 1975?) ('''Stop''')
* Mostly Israel: 1980 ('''Stop''')
* Mostly Egypt: 1981 ('''Stop''')
* Egypt: 1982–1991 (Go to 66)
|-
! 66
| '''What's the capital of Micronesia?'''
| The {{w|Federated States of Micronesia}} are a group of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. Their capital was {{w|Kolonia}} until 1989, when it changed to {{w|Palikir}}, on the same island.
|1982–1991
|
* Kolonia: 1982–1988
* Palikir: 1989–1991
|
* Kolonia: 1982–1988 (Go to 67)
* Palikir: 1989–1991 (Go to 68)
|-
! 67
| '''Republic of the Upper Volta or Burkina Faso?'''
| {{w|Burkina Faso}} was named the {{w|Republic of Upper Volta}} until 1984, when the president Thomas Sankara decided to rename it to promote a sense of unity in the nation and in an anti-colonial statement.
|1982–1988
|
* Upper Volta: 1982–1984
* Burkina Faso: 1985–1988
|
* Upper Volta: 1982–1984 ('''Stop''')
* Burkina Faso: 1985–1988 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 68
| '''(Number of Yemens) + (Number of Germanys) = ?'''
| In 1990, two unification events took place: {{w|Yemeni unification}} on May 22, and {{w|German reunification}} on October 3. Before these events, in early 1990, there would have been four Yemens and Germanys total. In mid-1990, when only the Yemeni unification had taken place, there would be one Yemen and two Germanys, for a total of three. and in late 1990, after both events took place, there would be one of each for a total of two.
|1989–1991
|
* Four: 1989–early 1990
* Three: mid-1990
* Two: late 1990–1991
|
* Four: 1989–early 1990 ('''Stop''')
* Three: mid-1990 ('''Stop''')
* Two: late 1990–1991 ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Post-Soviet branch
|-
! 69
| '''Zaire? or: "Hong Kong (UK)"'''
| Zaire was one of a series of names for what is today called the {{w|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}. In 1996 a (successful) revolt began to oust the reigning government from power. As part of this revolution, the country was renamed. The original name change away from 'Congo' was part of an 'Africanisation' naming campaign, although 'Congo' is in origin an authentic African name for the river that set the boundaries of the nation.

{{w|Hong Kong}} was taken by the British in 1843 at the end of the {{w|First Opium War}}, and an additional area (the {{w|New Territories}}) were leased from China in 1898 on a 99-year lease. When the lease expired in 1997, {{w|Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|the whole of Hong Kong was returned to China}}.
|1991+
|
* Yes: 1992–1996
* No: 1996+
|
* Yes: 1992–1996 ('''Stop''')
* No: 1996+ (Go to 70)
|-
! 70
| '''Serbia and Montenegro are...'''
| The Union of {{w|Serbia and Montenegro}} was a remnant of {{w|Yugoslavia}}. {{w|Montenegro}} voted to become its own country in 2006. '''Note:''' For much of the prior date range, "Serbia and Montenegro" did not appear on maps–the states still went by the name Yugoslavia. {{w|Serbia and Montenegro#State union|Serbia and Montenegro only came into existence in 2003}}.
|1996+
|
* One country: 1996–2006
* Two countries: 2007+
|
* One country: 1996–2006 (Go to 71)
* Two countries: 2007+ (Go to 72)
|-
! 71
| '''East Timor?'''
| {{w|East Timor}} (also known as Timor-Leste) is a nation north of Australia and south east of {{w|Indonesia}}. During the Dutch colonization of Indonesia, East Timor remained in Portuguese hands. While {{w|Indonesian occupation of East Timor|occupied and annexed by Indonesia}} in 1976, East Timor retained its own culture and voted for independence, then had a nasty militia action that required UN peacekeeping action, and finally become independent in 2002.
|1996–2006
|
* No: 1997–2001
* Yes: 2002–2006
|
* No: 1997–2001 ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 2002–2006 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 72
| '''How many Sudans are there?'''
| In 2011, after a long history of violence between the two portions of the country (which can be characterized as Islam vs. Christianity and traditional religions), {{w|South Sudan}} became independent from {{w|Sudan}}.
|2006+
|
* One: 2007–2011
* Two: 2011+
|
* One: 2007–2011 ('''Stop''')
* Two: 2011+ (Go to 73)
|-
! 73
| '''Is Crimea disputed?'''
| In 2014, a {{w|Euromaidan|revolution}} ousted the current Ukrainian president. {{w|Crimea}} had its own civil unrest, and Russian troops exploited the unrest to launch {{w|Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|an invasion}}. A {{w|2014_Crimean_status_referendum|referendum}} was held on March 16 2014 and ostensibly decided in favor of Russian annexation. Many nations, including all member states of the EU, the USA, and Canada, disputed the democratic legitimacy of the referendum. As a result, depending on where you get your maps, Crimea may be marked as disputed or as part of one or the other countries. [http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/12/302337754/google-maps-displays-crimean-border-differently-in-russia-u-s Google Maps Ukraine shows it as solely Ukrainian while Google Maps Russia shows it as Russian].
|2011+
|
* Yes: 2014+
* No: 2012–2013
|
* Yes: 2014+ (Go to 74)
* No: 2012–2013 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 74
| '''"Colorado" or "Danger—Radioactive Exclusion Zone—Avoid"?'''
| This entry and the one below it are now referring to hypothetical future events: specifically, a huge radioactivity event in {{w|Colorado}} that takes place some time in 2022. Colorado houses several important USA defense installations which, in popular culture, become targets for nuclear strikes in the event of an all out war between the USA and Russia (for example over the {{w|political status of Crimea}}). Installations include {{w|Peterson Air Force Base}} and the heavily fortified {{w|Cheyenne Mountain Complex}} housing {{w|NORAD}} command functions. Colorado also has a previous history of radioactive contamination–it was home to uranium mines, nuclear tests (including {{w|Project Rulison}}, an attempt to use nuclear bombs to drill for natural gas that ended up making the gas radioactive) and the controversial {{w|Rocky Flats Plant}}, a nuclear weapons manufacturing facility that suffered {{w|Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant|several fires and leaks}} and was ultimately raided and shut down by the FBI. None of these has yet caused spiders to mutate.{{Citation needed}}
|2014+
|
* Colorado: 2014–2021
* Danger: 2022+
|
* Colorado: 2014–2021 ('''Stop''')
* Danger: 2022+ (Go to 75)
|-
! 75
| '''Does the warning mention the spiders?'''
| Presumably some time in 2023, the radioactive exclusion zone also becomes infested with mutant spiders.
|2022+
|
* No: 2022
* Yes: 2023 or later
|
* No: 2022 ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 2023 or later ('''Stop''')
|}

==Transcript==
:[A very complicated flow chart, which can only be read in detail using the larger image now shown at the top of this page. This transcript uses the large version, which is more legible.]

:[At the top of the chart there is a large caption, with a smaller caption below:]
:<big>Guide to figuring out the age of an undated world map</big>
:(Assuming it's complete, labeled in English, and detailed enough)

:[Below the starting bracket in the small caption is a start box. It has rounded corners and it is gray with white text. From this box there is a gray line to a box consisting of a black frame with rounded corners. In these kind of boxes there are questions regarding the map in black text. Below this box there are three gray boxes like the start box, superimposed over the bottom frame. In these boxes are the possible answers to the question in the frame above. From each of these options there is a gray line going to similar black framed boxes with other questions either below, or to either side. There can either be two, three or four gray boxes, two the most common. Only at the very bottom of the central branch where it turns out it was a home made map, are there two frames with only one gray question box each. This trend continues over this entire large image. When reaching the end of a branch in the flow chart, there is no line away from one, more or all of the gray boxes for a black frame. When this happens a year range or a guess at what the map shows, or what it is (if it turns out to not be a map) is written below the gray box in gray text. Of the text in the gray boxes are Yes/No, but not always. There are 74 boxes with black frames with 158 gray boxes and 78 endpoints with text below the gray box and one end point without text below (the one with the home made map).]

:Start
::Istanbul or Constantinople?
:::Constantinople
::::Do any of these exist? 
::::*Independent Canada
::::*US Territory of Alaska
::::*Tokyo
:::::No
::::::The Holy Roman Empire?
:::::::Yes
::::::::1805 or earlier (before this point, the modern idea of a complete political map of the world gets hard to apply.)
:::::::No
::::::::The United States?
:::::::::No
::::::::::How sure are you that this map is in English?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Texas is...
:::::::::::Part of Mexico
::::::::::::Florida is part of...
:::::::::::::Spain
::::::::::::::Paraguay?
:::::::::::::::No 1806–10
:::::::::::::::Yes 1811–17
:::::::::::::The US
::::::::::::::Venezuela and/or Ecuador?
:::::::::::::::No 1818–29
:::::::::::::::Yes 1830–33
:::::::::::Independent 1834–45
:::::::::::Part of the US
::::::::::::Does Russia border the Sea of Japan?
:::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::The US's southern border looks...
:::::::::::::::Weird 1846–53
:::::::::::::::Normal 1854–56
:::::::::::::Yes 1858–67
:::::Yes
::::::South Africa?
:::::::No
::::::::Rhodesia?
:::::::::No
::::::::::Is Bolivia landlocked?
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::"Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"?
:::::::::::::Buda and Pest 1868–72
:::::::::::::Budapest 1873–83
:::::::::::Yes 1884–95
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Is Norway part of Sweden?
:::::::::::Yes 1896–1905
:::::::::::No 1906–09
:::::::Yes
::::::::Austria-Hungary?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Albania?
:::::::::::No 1910–12
:::::::::::Yes 1913–18
:::::::::No
::::::::::Leningrad?
:::::::::::No 1919–23
:::::::::::Yes 1924–29
:::Neither
::::Does the Ottoman Empire exist?
:::::Yes [[#canada-alaska-tokyo]]
:::::No
::::::The Soviet Union?
:::::::Yes
::::::::Saudi Arabia?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Is most of West Africa a giant french blob?
:::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::Pakistan?
:::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::How many Germanys are there?
:::::::::::::::One
::::::::::::::::Persia or Iran?
:::::::::::::::::Persia 1930–34
:::::::::::::::::Iran 1935–40
:::::::::::::::One, but it's ''huge'' 1941–45
:::::::::::::::Two 1946–47
:::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::Cambodia?
:::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::Eritrea is part of...
:::::::::::::::::Italy
::::::::::::::::::Canada is...
:::::::::::::::::::Missing a piece 1948
:::::::::::::::::::Fine
::::::::::::::::::::The town on I-25 between Albuquerque and El Paso is...
:::::::::::::::::::::Hot Springs 1948-49
:::::::::::::::::::::Truth or Consequences 1950–52
:::::::::::::::::Ethiopia 1952–53
:::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::The United Arab Republic?
:::::::::::::::::No 1954–57
:::::::::::::::::Yes 1958–60
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::How many Vietnams are there?
:::::::::::::Two
::::::::::::::Bangladesh?
:::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::Is the area south of Lake Victoria...
:::::::::::::::::British 1960
:::::::::::::::::Tanganyika 1961–64
:::::::::::::::::Tanzania 1965–71
:::::::::::::::Yes 1972–75
:::::::::::::One
::::::::::::::Jimmy Carter is...
:::::::::::::::Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit April 20, 1979
:::::::::::::::Fine
::::::::::::::::The Sinai is part of what country?
:::::::::::::::::Israel 1976–79
:::::::::::::::::Mostly Israel 1980
:::::::::::::::::Mostly Egypt 1981
:::::::::::::::::Egypt
::::::::::::::::::What's the capital of Micronesia?
:::::::::::::::::::Kolonia
::::::::::::::::::::Republic of the Upper Volta or Burkina Faso?
:::::::::::::::::::::Upper Volta 1982–84
:::::::::::::::::::::Burkina Faso 1985–88
:::::::::::::::::::Palikir
::::::::::::::::::::(number of Yemens) + (number of Germanys) = ?
:::::::::::::::::::::Four 1989-early 1990
:::::::::::::::::::::Three mid-1990
:::::::::::::::::::::Two late 1990–1991
:::::::::No 1922–1932
:::::::No
::::::::North Korea?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Zaire? or: "Hong Kong (UK)"
:::::::::::Yes 1992–96
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::Serbia/Montenegro are...
:::::::::::::One country
::::::::::::::East Timor?
:::::::::::::::No 1997–2001
:::::::::::::::Yes 2002–06
:::::::::::::Two countries
::::::::::::::How many Sudans are there?
:::::::::::::::One 2007–11
:::::::::::::::Two
::::::::::::::::Is Crimea disputed?
:::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::"Colorado" or "Danger—Radioactive Exclusion Zone—Avoid"?
:::::::::::::::::::Colorado 2014–21
:::::::::::::::::::Danger
::::::::::::::::::::Does the warning mention the spiders?
:::::::::::::::::::::No 2022
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes 2023 or later
:::::::::::::::::No 2012–13
:::::::::No
::::::::::Saint Trimble's Island
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::Is Jan Mayen part of the Kingdom of Norway?
:::::::::::::Not yet
::::::::::::::[[#canada-alaska-tokyo]]
:::::::::::::What?
::::::::::::::Can you see the familiar continents?
:::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::This sounds like a physical map or satellite photo.
:::::::::::::::::Yes, that's it
::::::::::::::::::Is Lake Chad missing?
:::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::How far east do the American Prairies reach?
:::::::::::::::::::::Indiana before 1830
:::::::::::::::::::::The Mississippi 1830s-80s
:::::::::::::::::::::Nebraska
::::::::::::::::::::::Is there a big lake in the middle of Southern California? (created by mistake)
:::::::::::::::::::::::No 1860s-1900s
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes 1910s
:::::::::::::::::::::What prairies?
::::::::::::::::::::::Is there a big lake in the middle of Ghana? (created on purpose)
:::::::::::::::::::::::No 1920s-50s
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes 1960s-70s
:::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::Is the Aral Sea missing?
:::::::::::::::::::::No 1970s-90s
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes 2000s+
:::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::Rivers "Sirion" or "Anduin"?
:::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::Mordor?
:::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::Beleriand?
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes First Age
:::::::::::::::::::::No Early Second Age
:::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::Númenor?
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes Late Second Age
:::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::The forest east of the Misty Mountains is...
:::::::::::::::::::::::Greenwood Early Third Age
:::::::::::::::::::::::Mirkwood Late Third Age
:::::::::::::::::::::::The Wood of Greenleaves Fourth Age
:::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::Cair Paravel?
:::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::Calormen?
:::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::Lotta Islands?
:::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::Beruna
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Ford The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Bridge Prince Caspian
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes Dawn Treader
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::Weird recursive heaven?
:::::::::::::::::::::::No One of the random later books
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes The Last Battle
:::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::Mossflower?
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::Redwall
:::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::Is the world on the back of a turtle?
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes Discworld
:::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::Are you ''sure'' this is a map?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::::::Did you make it yourself?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::It's very nice.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Thank you!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::::Is it trying to bite you?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Is it larger than a breadbox?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes tuba
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::No stapler
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::About the same breadbox
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::If you let it go, what does it do?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Hisses and runs away cat
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things seagull
:::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::[[#pakistan]]
:::::::::::Yes No, I made that one up.
:::Istanbul
::::Does the Soviet Union exist?
:::::Yes
::::::[[#west-africa-french-blob]]
:::::No
::::::[[#zaire]]

==Trivia==
*There are some errors and several discrepancies in the comic regarding how year ranges are given although it appears Randall has been fixing these errors.
**I-25 was built in 1970–1990 through New Mexico; see the [[#Table|table]] above for more info.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Spiders]]
[[Category:Chronicles of Narnia]]
[[Category:Redwall]]

2925: Earth Formation Site

2024-04-27T16:42:17Z

Abcasada: /* Explanation */ "mistakes" in Randall's comics are usually intentional.

{{comic
| number = 2925
| date = April 26, 2024
| title = Earth Formation Site
| image = earth_formation_site_2x.png
| imagesize = 478x521px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's not far from the sign marking the exact latitude and longitude of the Earth's core.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A 4,450,002,024 YEAR OLD BALL OF DUST AND GAS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Cueball]] stands in front of a sign that declares itself to be an historical location. Typically, these signs are placed at precise locations where historical, religious and even mythological events happened (such as where battles have been fought, or where people of note were born, or resided, or accomplished something, or died, or where something ''supposedly'' happened). In some cases, multiple locations lay "claim" to events whose true locations are uncertain (or, of course, when events span multiple locations, such as where people resided). However, the event in question on the sign is the formation of the {{w|Earth}} which, due to the {{w|Sun#Motion|Sun's 225-million year long orbit around the center of the}} {{w|Milky Way galaxy}} and the movement of the galaxy itself through space relative to other objects, would not have occurred anywhere ''on'' Earth. The sign could maybe be referring to where the place of the formation of the Earth would be placed if it corresponded to current Earth coordinates, which would also be strange as the Earth formed in the center of the current Earth, so the sign could not be anywhere in the surface of Earth. The sign could also represent the Earth as a whole, indicating that Earth ''formed on'' Earth.

The date on the sign is also ridiculously precise, in keeping with the information usually found on historical markers but absurd in the context of the [https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/how-do-planets-form/ tens or hundreds of millions of years] thought to be required for planet formation. It would require some specific definition of when the gradually-coalescing mass could be considered a planet, as well as the ability to determine when that mass met the definition. The date shown for the formation of the Earth, 4.45 billion years, also differs from the commonly accepted date, [https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html 4.54 (±0.05) billion years]. The difference lies in the transposition of two digits, which is likely due to an error in the sign rather than a mistake on Randall's part.

The title text refers to the 'coordinates of the Earth's core'. This is similar to signs marking {{w|File:Equator sign kenya.jpg|specific}} {{w|File:Arctic Circle sign.jpg|latitudes}}, {{w|File:Prime meridian.jpg|longitudes}} or other {{w|File:2022-06-06 18 39 21 Sign reading "Highest Point on Interstate 80 East of the Mississippi River" along eastbound Interstate 80 (Keystone Shortway) just east of Exit 111 in Pine Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.jpg|notable}} {{w|File:World's lowest point (1971).jpg|locations}}. But, since all coordinates, when superimposed on a globe, theoretically converge at the Earth's core, this reinforces the idea that no singular location can be picked as the exact location where the Earth formed.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Generated by EARTH — Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball is standing in front of a sign in a field of grass. Rocks and plants are scattered across the ground. The sign reads:]
:HISTORICAL MARKER
:<big>EARTH</big>
:FORMATION SITE
:--- 4,450,000,000 BCE ---
:At this location in the year 4,450,000,000 BCE, a cloud of dust and gas gravitationally collapsed to form the Earth.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]

what if?

2018-09-25T21:59:45Z

Abcasada: Randall doesn't use his degree and background; those things provided him with the knowledge to discuss thoroughly and accurately. Simply stating that he has them conveys this clearly.

<noinclude>:''Not to be confused with [[17: What If]].''</noinclude>
[[File:whatifbanner.jpg]]

'''''[http://what-if.xkcd.com/ what if?]''''' is a blog hosted on the [[xkcd]].com domain and written by [[Randall Munroe]] with entries posted [http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/once-in-a-blue-moon.html occasionally]. Before publishing the what if? book, articles were posted weekly.

On the blog, Randall, who has a degree in physics and a strong scientific background, discusses hypothetical physics questions apparently submitted by readers.
Since 2014, there's also a book of the blog.

Unlike other sites which answer readers' questions, ''what if?'' typically takes the question beyond the original scope likely intended by the reader and takes it to some extreme for humorous effect. For example, in {{what if|1|the first article}}, he discusses what would happen if a baseball were pitched at 90% of the speed of light. After effectively describing what would occur as a nuclear explosion, leveling the stadium and the surrounding mile radius, he concludes with the note ''"A careful reading of official Major League Baseball Rule 6.08(b) suggests that in this situation, the batter would be considered 'hit by pitch', and would be eligible to advance to first base."''

The questions Randall tackles range from realistic possibilities (e.g. the probability of achieving a {{what if|2|perfect SAT score by guessing}}) to completely fictional questions (e.g. {{what if|3|How much Force power}} can {{w|Yoda}} output?). In his explanations, Randall, often uses diagrams in an ''xkcd'' style. Regardless of the context, Randall tends to take the questions extremely literally and responds seriously to them, even if they are whimsical (such as the Yoda question). This is clear from his response to the question of what would happen if everybody on Earth stood together and {{what if|8|jumped at the same time}}. After acknowledging that the question has been answered elsewhere, he recaps the result, but then focuses more intently on the unasked resulting issue of the aftermath of everyone on Earth being magically transported to one location as they all try to return home.

This site is not under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License] like [[xkcd]] is.

==The book==
Randall announced his ''what if?'' book on 12 March 2014 in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/03/12/what-if-i-wrote-a-book/ the blag]. It was published on September 2, 2014, and the UK edition of the book was published on September 4, 2014. It is the 2nd book published by Randall.
[[Image:What_If?.jpeg|frame| The general cover of the book]]
[[Image:whatifcover.jpg|frame| The alternate cover of the book]]
It is just like 'xkcd:volume 0' a compilation of some questions from the website, but half of them are new.

In the UK edition of the book, Randall included a preface about his thoughts on the units used in the UK. (The Metric System)

====Summary====
'''The summary on the back of the book reads:'''

''Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . . . ' He liked these questions so much that he started up What If.

*If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive?
*How dangerous is it, really, to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm?
*If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce?
*What if everyone only had one soulmate?
*When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British empire?
*How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live?
*What would happen if the moon went away?

''In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read.''

'''The summary on the back of the UK edition of the book reads:'''

''Hey! Thanks for looking at my book. If you're thinking about buying it, here are some things you might want to know:''

Humans can't digest the cellulose in paper, but if we could, eating this book would give you about 2,300 calories (including the cover).

This book can't stop most bullets; if you want to use it for armour, you may want a lot more than one copy.

If you have a good arm, you could probably throw this book about 45 feet. With practice, it's possible to throw a book every 800 milliseconds, which means that if human attackers are sprinting towards you, you'll have three or four chances to hit them before they reach you. If, on the other hand, you're being attacked by a coyote, it's higher top speed means you'll have only one chance to hit it. Aim carefully.

''HIDDEN FEATURE: The inside of this book has words and pictures, plus a special UK foreword.'' It answers many important questions, including whether you could jump from a plane with a helium tank and inflate balloons fast enough to slow your fall and survive (yes) and whether you could hide from a supersonic windstorm in Finland (yes, but it won't help).

==Trivia==
*There is an easy way to link to a given what if? story by using [[Template:what if|a template]]. For instance, write the following:
**<nowiki>See the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|147|Niagara Straw}}''.</nowiki>
*Copy paste the above text and correct the number and the title to get this result:
**See the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|147|Niagara Straw}}''.
*There used to be an article called ''Peptides'' but it disappeared, leaving ''Hide the Atmosphere'' in its place.

===Release schedule===
*The two first articles were released on the same day, Tuesday July 10, 2012, probably to get the blog going, and let users of xkcd see that there was going to be more.
**After that they were released weekly for almost three years, with just a few times with two (and once three) weeks between releases, up until article 136 was released on April 12, 2015 (2 years and 40 weeks).
**First after 25 releases was there a two week Christmas break before article 26 was released on December 31, 2012.
**After that there were five more two weeks break, one three week break (before December 11, 2014) and two releases in a row (133-134 towards the end of this period of 136 articles), where the release dates where shifted so the two came out over three weeks' time with about 1.5 weeks between them.
**The second break came a year after the first and was also a Christmas break before article 77 was released on December 31, 2013
**Then from August 2014 there came several two week breaks, one in August, one in September and two in November, the last lasting three weeks into December, and on top of that the normal two weeks Christmas break.
**After this less orderly period there came a period of 10 weeks in a row with 10 releases starting on January 1, 2015.
*The release day was fixed to once a week on a given weekday, except for a few articles that were delayed a day (or two) in one week, but then next week's article would again be released on the normal day.
**To begin with the release day was '''Tuesdays''', and the third article was released a week after the first two on Tuesday July 17, 2012.
**The release day shifted to '''Wednesday''' from article 100 released on Wednesday June 11, 2014.
**The release day shifted once more to '''Thursday''' from article 117 released on Thursday October 23, 2014.
**The final six articles in this period were released on four different week days, only two of them with one week apart.
*The result of the above is that over the first 144 weeks 136 articles where released with never more than 3 weeks between releases. As the first two were released on week 1, this means that there were 134 articles released over the next 143 weeks, meaning there were only 9 weeks without an article.
*After article 136 was released on April 12, 2015, Randal took a '''13 week break''' from updates until July 14, 2015.
**At the time Randall wrote a note stating "What If updates are temporarily on hold, and will resume on July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT."
**This was the date and time that the {{w|New Horizons}} probe achieved its closest approach to {{w|Pluto}}.
**The article 137 from July 14, 2015 was about the New Horizons probe.
*After the break only three articles were released, two more were released after article 137 over three weeks, the last article 139 released on August 4, 2015.
**But then there were '''two more breaks''', so only one more article was released in 2015, with article 150 released after more than 6 weeks on September 18, 2015.
*First after 17 more weeks releases began again with article 141 on Tuesday January 16, 2016.
**After that articles began coming out regularly with a total of 9 releases out before the end of March 2016, mainly on Tuesdays to begin with, then one on a Friday before the last two came on Saturdays with two weeks breaks before each, the last being article 149 on March 26, 2016.
*Since then only three more articles were released in 2016, the first two with about 8 weeks between them and then more than 12 weeks.
**So during the summer of 2016, it seemed it was down to about one release every two months but then it increased.
*The what if? has not stopped but the first comic in 2017 (#153, January 30, 2017) came almost 15 weeks after the last in 2016, more than three months between releases. This was so far the second longest break.
**But the next one (#154) was indeed released only a bit more than week after the one with 15 weeks break, and then less than 3 weeks after followed yet an article on February 28 2017.
**It was almost a year ago that two comics had been released with less than two full weeks between them (that was #147 released February 26, 2016). In the year following that release only 8 articles where released including both #147 and #154.
**Interesting to see if they will begin appearing regularly again during the spring of 2017, as seems possible with three articles in less than a month and #156 was again released with less than two weeks between it and #155.
*It then seemed to stop completely after those two, and it took more than a year (62 weeks) before #157 came out in May 2018.
*See more details for breaks in the releases in the table with a list of all the [[#Articles|articles]] down below.
**At the moment it seems impossible to guess when a new post is released so:
**'''It would be nice if anyone noticing a new post, that they made a note in the discussion of the next comic released.'''

==Articles==
*Below is a list of the articles released in the what if? blog.
**This list can also be found in the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ archive section] on the what if? blog.
**But here more data can be added...
{| class="wikitable " |
! No.
! Title
! Release date
! Weeks since last release
! Question(s) answered / Topic
! Comment/Short note on subject
|-
| 1 || {{what if|1|Relativistic Baseball}} || July 10, 2012 || || What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light? || The very first what if? The result would be some kind of nuclear explosion.
|-
| 2 || {{what if|2|SAT Guessing}} || July 10, 2012 || 0.0 || What if everyone who took the SAT guessed on every multiple-choice question? How many perfect scores would there be? || This second article was released on the same day as the first, probably to get the blog going, and let users of xkcd see that there was going to be more. No one would get a perfect score
|-
| 3 || {{what if|3|Yoda}} || July 17, 2012 || 1.0 || How much Force power can Yoda output? || First regular release. From here on standard release day was Tuesday.
|-
| 4 || {{what if|4|A Mole of Moles}} || July 24, 2012 || 1.0 || What would happen if you were to gather a mole (unit of measurement) of moles (the small furry critter) in one place? || As a mole is such a high number this would be tricky.
|-
| 5 || {{what if|5|Robot Apocalypse}} || July 31, 2012 || 1.0 || What if there was a robot apocalypse? How long would humanity last? || Humanity would survive if the robots cared about keeping themselves alive as well. If not, then we all die.
|-
| 6 || {{what if|6|Glass Half Empty}} || August 7, 2012 || 1.0 || What if a glass of water was, all of a sudden, literally half empty? || As in a vacuum? It would explode.
|-
| 7 || {{what if|7|Everybody Out}} || August 14, 2012 || 1.0 || Is there enough energy to move the entire current human population off-planet? || No, at least not without starving to death quickly and leaving our pets, belongings and everything else behind.
|-
| 8 || {{what if|8|Everybody Jump}} || August 21, 2012 || 1.0 || What would happen if everyone on earth stood as close to each other as they could and jumped, everyone landing on the ground at the same instant? || Earth would be unaffected but the human race would be wiped out due to everyone trying to get home at the same time.
|-
| 9 || {{what if|9|Soul Mates}} || August 28, 2012 || 1.0 || What if everyone actually had only one soul mate, a random person somewhere in the world? || Almost nobody would find their soul mate.
|-
| 10 || {{what if|10|Cassini}} || September 4, 2012 || 1.0 || What would the world be like if the land masses were spread out the same way as now - only rotated by an angle of 90 degrees? || Mass biosphere collapse.
|-
| 11 || {{what if|11|Droppings}} || September 11, 2012 || 1.0 || If you went outside and lay down on your back with your mouth open, how long would you have to wait until a bird pooped in it? || 195 years. Assuming you are in a area with a reasonable amount of birds. But why would you ''want'' to catch bird poop in your mouth?
|-
| 12 || {{what if|12|Raindrop}} || September 18, 2012 || 1.0 || What if a rainstorm dropped all of its water in a single giant drop? || The surrounding area would be obliterated and there would be mass panic for many following years.
|-
| 13 || {{what if|13|Laser Pointer}} || September 25, 2012 || 1.0 || If every person on Earth aimed a laser pointer at the Moon at the same time, would it change color? || Not with regular lasers, but with more power, you could destroy the world.
|-
| 14 || {{what if|14|Short Answer Section}} || October 2, 2012 || 1.0 ||
* How long would the Sun last if a giant water hose were focused upon it? My sixth grade brother, Adam, asked me this.
* What if you shined a flashlight (or a laser) into a sphere made of one-way mirror glass?
* If Michael Phelps could hold his breath indefinitely, how long would it take for him to reach the lowest point in the ocean and back if he swam straight down and then straight back up?
* In the first Superman movie, Superman flies around Earth so fast that it begins turning in the opposite direction. This somehow turns back time [... ] How much energy would someone flying around the Earth have to exert in order to reverse the Earth's rotation?
* How fast would you have to go in your car to run a red light claiming that it appeared green to you due to the Doppler Effect?
* What would happen if you opened a portal between Boston (sea level) and Mexico City (elev. 8000+ feet)?
* When my wife and I started dating she invited me over for dinner at one time. Her kitchen had something called Bauhaus chairs, which are full of holes, approx 5-6 millimeters in diameter in both back and seat. During this lovely dinner I was forced to liberate a small portion of wind and was relieved that I managed to do so very discretely. Only to find that the chair I sat on converted the successful silence into a perfect, and loud, flute note. We were both (luckily) amazed and surprised and I have often wondered what the odds are for something like that happening. We kept the chairs for five years but despite laborious attempts it couldn't be reproduced.
||
|-
| 15 || {{what if|15|Mariana Trench Explosion}} || October 9, 2012 || 1.0 || What if you exploded a nuclear bomb (say, the Tsar Bomba) at the bottom of the Marianas Trench? || It would warm a small patch of the ocean and not do much. With a bigger bomb, it could destroy the world. Again.
|-
| 16 || {{what if|16|Today's topic: Lightning}} || October 16, 2012 || 1.0 ||
* How dangerous is it, really, to be in a pool during a thunderstorm?
* What would happen if you were taking a shower when you were struck by lightning? Or standing under a waterfall?
* What would happen if you were in a boat or a plane that got hit by lightning? Or a submarine?
* What if you were changing the light at the top of a radio tower and lightning struck? Or what if you were doing a backflip? Or standing in a graphite field? Or looking straight up at the bolt?
* What would happen if lightning struck a bullet in midair?
* What if you were flashing your BIOS during a thunderstorm and you got hit by lightning?
||
|-
| 17 || {{what if|17|Green Cows}} || October 23, 2012 || 1.0 || If cows could photosynthesize, how much less food would they need? || 4% less. There just isn't enough area.
|-
| 18 || {{what if|18|BB Gun}} || October 30, 2012 || 1.0 || In Armageddon, a NASA guy comments that a plan to shoot a laser at the asteroid is like “shooting a b.b. gun at a freight train.” What would it take to stop an out-of-control freight train using only b.b. guns? || 40000 people and some magic. Stopping an asteroid with a laser on the other hand is a lot easier.
|-
| 19 || {{what if|19|Tie Vote}} || November 6, 2012 || 1.0 || What if there's LITERALLY a tie? || The release date in the archive is the wrong year 2013.
|-
| 20 || {{what if|20|Diamond}} || November 13, 2012 || 1.0 || If a meteor made out of diamond and 100 feet in diameter was traveling at the speed of light and hit the earth, what would happen to it? ||
|-
| 21 || {{what if|21|Machine Gun Jetpack}} || November 20, 2012 || 1.0 || Is it possible to build a jetpack using downward firing machine guns? || Yes, but you need to talk to the Russians to do it right.
|-
| 22 || {{what if|22|Cost of Pennies}} || November 27, 2012 || 1.0 || If you carry a penny in your coin tray, how long would it take for that penny to cost you more than a cent in extra gas? || Never.
|-
| 23 || {{what if|23|Short Answer Section II}} || December 4, 2012 || 1.0 ||
* If my printer could literally print out money, would it have that big an effect on the world?
* What would happen if you exploded a nuclear bomb in the eye of a hurricane? Would the storm cell be immediately vaporized?
* If everyone put little turbine generators on the downspouts of their houses and businesses, how much power would we generate? Would we ever generate enough power to offset the cost of the generators?
* Using only pronounceable letter combinations, how long would names have to be to give each star in the universe a unique one word name?
* I bike to class sometimes. It's annoying biking in the wintertime, because it's so cold. How fast would I have to bike for my skin to warm up the way a spacecraft heats up during reentry?
* How much physical space does the internet take up?
* What if you strapped C4 to a boomerang? Could this be an effective weapon, or would it be as stupid as it sounds?
||
|-
| 24 || {{what if|24|Model Rockets}} || December 11, 2012 || 1.0 || How many model rocket engines would it take to launch a real rocket into space? || About 65,000, give or take a few.
|-
| 25 || {{what if|25|Three Wise Men}} || December 18, 2012 || 1.0 || The story of the three wise men got me wondering: What if you did walk towards a star at a fixed speed? What path would you trace on the Earth? Does it converge to a fixed cycle? || No, but it does make some really cool patterns.
|-
| 26 || {{what if|26|Leap Seconds}} || December 31, 2012 || 1.9 || Every now and then we have to insert a leap second because the Earth’s rotation is slowing down. Could we speed up Earth’s rotation, so that we do not need Leap Seconds? || The first two weeks Christmas break
|-
| 27 || {{what if|27|Death Rates}} || January 8, 2013 || 1.1 || If one randomly chosen extra person were to die each second somewhere on Earth, what impact would it have on the world population? || Not much. The world just has too many people.
|-
| 28 || {{what if|28|Steak Drop}} || January 15, 2013 || 1.0 || From what height would you need to drop a steak for it to be cooked when it hit the ground? || From the very edge of the atmosphere and even then it might not be fully cooked.
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| 29 || {{what if|29|Spent Fuel Pool}} || January 22, 2013 || 1.0 || What if I took a swim in a typical spent nuclear fuel pool? Would I need to dive to actually experience a fatal amount of radiation? How long could I stay safely at the surface? || As long as you don't touch strange things and you don't swim too close to the fuel rods, it would be just like a regular pool.
|-
| 30 || {{what if|30|Interplanetary Cessna}} || January 29, 2013 || 1.0 || What would happen if you tried to fly a normal Earth airplane above different Solar System bodies? || :(
|-
| 31 || {{what if|31|FedEx Bandwidth}} || February 5, 2013 || 1.0 || When - if ever - will the bandwidth of the Internet surpass that of FedEx? || NEVER!!!
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| 32 || {{what if|32|Hubble}} || February 12, 2013 || 1.0 || If the Hubble telescope were aimed at the Earth, how detailed would the images be? || A smudge of colour.
|-
| 33 || {{what if|33|Ships}} || February 19, 2013 || 1.0 || How much would the sea level fall if every ship were removed all at once from the Earth's waters? || Less than a human hair's width.
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| 34 || {{what if|34|Twitter}} || February 26, 2013 || 1.0 || How many unique English tweets are possible? How long would it take for the population of the world to read them all out loud? || Forever, literally.
|-
| 35 || {{what if|35|Hair Dryer}} || March 5, 2013 || 1.0 || What would happen if a hair dryer with continuous power was turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1 meter box? ||
|-
| 36 || {{what if|36|Cornstarch}} || March 12, 2013 || 1.0 || How much cornstarch can I rinse down the drain before unpleasant things start to happen? || Define unpleasant. [[Megan]] seems to be having fun.
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| 37 || {{what if|37|Supersonic Stereo}} || March 19, 2013 || 1.0 || What if you somehow managed to make a stereo travel at twice the speed of sound, would it sound backwards to someone who was just casually sitting somewhere as it flies by? || Assuming the stereo is indestructible then yes.
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| 38 || {{what if|38|Voyager}} || March 26, 2013 || 1.0 || With today's technology, would it be possible to launch an unmanned mission to retrieve Voyager I? || We could possibly spend a ton of money and resources to get a probe to Voyager. Getting it back is another story.
|-
| 39 || {{what if|39|Hockey Puck}} || April 2, 2013 || 1.0 || How hard would a puck have to be shot to be able to knock the goalie himself backwards into the net? || This is another impossible senario.
|-
| 40 || {{what if|40|Pressure Cooker}} || April 9, 2013 || 1.0 || Am I right to be afraid of pressure cookers? What's the worst thing that can happen if you misuse a pressure cooker in an ordinary kitchen? || The worst thing? Science.
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| 41 || {{what if|41|Go West}} || April 16, 2013 || 1.0 || If everybody in the US drove west, could we temporarily halt continental drift? || Not even by a bit.
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| 42 || {{what if|42|Longest Sunset}} || April 23, 2013 || 1.0 || What is the longest possible sunset you can experience while driving, assuming we are obeying the speed limit and driving on paved roads? || 95 minutes at the right place at the right time.
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| 43 || {{what if|43|Train Loop}} || April 30, 2013 || 1.0 || Could a high-speed train run through a vertical loop, like a rollercoaster, with the passengers staying comfortable? || No, not even if we change the requirements to just the passengers staying alive.
|-
| 44 || {{what if|44|High Throw}} || May 7, 2013 || 1.0 || How high can a human throw something? || 16 giraffes.
|-
| 45 || {{what if|45|ISS Music Video}} || May 14, 2013 || 1.0 || Is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo this] the most expensive music video ever? || No. Just no.
|-
| 46 || {{what if|46|Bowling Ball}} || May 21, 2013 || 1.0 || I've been told that if the Earth were shrunk down to the size of a bowling ball, it would be smoother than said bowling ball. My question is, what would a bowling ball look like if it were blown up to the size of the Earth? || The finger holes would collapse and then not much would happen.
|-
| 47 || {{what if|47|Alien Astronomers}} || May 28, 2013 || 1.0 || Let's assume there's life on the the nearest habitable exoplanet and that they have technology comparable to ours. If they looked at our star right now, what would they see? || This ----->
|-
| 48 || {{what if|48|Sunset on the British Empire}} || June 4, 2013 || 1.0 || When (if ever) did the Sun finally set on the British Empire? || It hasn't set and it won't for thousands of years.
|-
| 49 || {{what if|49|Sunless Earth}} || June 11, 2013 || 1.0 || What would happen to the Earth if the Sun suddenly switched off? || We would see a variety of benefits across our lives but we would also freeze and die.
|-
| 50 || {{what if|50|Extreme Boating}} || June 18, 2013 || 1.0 || What would it be like to navigate a rowboat through a lake of mercury? What about bromine? Liquid gallium? Liquid tungsten? Liquid nitrogen? Liquid helium? || As with a lot of these answers, just don't
|-
| 51 || {{what if|51|Free Fall}} || June 25, 2013 || 1.0 || What place on Earth would allow you to freefall the longest by jumping off it? What about using a squirrel suit? || Mount Thor would allow the longest fall an-AAAAAAAAAAA...
|-
| 52 || {{what if|52|Bouncy Balls}} || July 2, 2013 || 1.0 || What if one were to drop 3,000 bouncy balls from a seven story parking structure onto a person walking on the sidewalk below? Should the person survive, what would be the number of bouncy balls needed to kill them? What injuries would occur and what would the associated crimes be? || The release date in the archive is the wrong month June.
|-
| 53 || {{what if|53|Drain the Oceans}} || July 9, 2013 || 1.0 || How quickly would the ocean's drain if a circular portal 10 meters in radius leading into space was created at the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest spot in the ocean? How would the Earth change as the water is being drained? || NETHERLANDS RULE!!! P.S., everyone dies.
|-
| 54 || {{what if|54|Drain the Oceans: Part II}} || July 16, 2013 || 1.0 || Supposing you did {{what if|53|Drain the Oceans}}, and dumped the water on top of the Curiosity rover, how would Mars change as the water accumulated? || it would split into many islands and the Netherlands will take over.
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| 55 || {{what if|55|Random Sneeze Call}} || July 23, 2013 || 1.0 || If you call a random phone number and say “God bless you”, what are the chances that the person who answers just sneezed? On average, not just in spring or fall. || 1 in 40000
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| 56 || {{what if|56|Restraining an Airplane}} || July 30, 2013 || 1.0 || If you wanted to anchor an airplane into the ground so it wouldn't be able to take off, what would the rope have to be made out of? || whale hair.
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| 57 || {{what if|57|Dropping a Mountain}} || August 6, 2013 || 1.0 || What if a huge mountain—Denali, say—had the bottom inch of its base disappear? What would happen from the impact of the mountain falling 1 inch? What about 1 foot? What if the mountain's base were raised to the present height of the summit, and then the whole thing were allowed to drop to the earth? || The first scenarios are pretty boring. the last is devastating.
|-
| 58 || {{what if|58|Orbital Speed}} || August 12, 2013 || 0.9 ||
* What if a spacecraft slowed down on re-entry to just a few miles per hour using rocket boosters like the Mars-sky-crane? Would it negate the need for a heat shield?
* Is it possible for a spacecraft to control its reentry in such a way that it avoids the atmospheric compression and thus would not require the expensive (and relatively fragile) heat shield on the outside?
* Could a (small) rocket (with payload) be lifted to a high point in the atmosphere where it would only need a small rocket to get to escape velocity?
||
|-
| 59 || {{what if|59|Updating a Printed Wikipedia}} || August 20, 2013 || 1.1 || If you had a printed version of the whole of (say, the English) Wikipedia, how many printers would you need in order to keep up with the changes made to the live version? || 6, but they would cost much more than you could afford.
|-
| 60 || {{what if|60|Signs of Life}} || August 27, 2013 || 1.0 || If you could teleport to a random place of the surface of the Earth, what are the odds that you'll see signs of intelligent life? || 70% of the time you would end up in the ocean.
|-
| 61 || {{what if|61|Speed Bump}} || September 3, 2013 || 1.0 || How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? || Surprisingly fast, but beware destroying the city, and fines.
|-
| 62 || {{what if|62|Falling With Helium}} || September 10, 2013 || 1.0 || What if I jumped out of an airplane with a couple of tanks of helium and one huge, un-inflated balloon? Then, while falling, I release the helium and fill the balloon. How long of a fall would I need in order for the balloon to slow me enough that I could land safely? || 2500 cubic feet.
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| 63 || {{what if|63|Google's Datacenters on Punch Cards}} || September 17, 2013 || 1.0 || If all digital data were stored on punch cards, how big would Google's data warehouse be? || big enough to bury the world many times.
|-
| 64 || {{what if|64|Rising Steadily}} || September 24, 2013 || 1.0 || If you suddenly began rising steadily at one foot per second, how exactly would you die? Would you freeze or suffocate first? Or something else? || Assuming you had a good coat, you would survive to the death zone and die.
|-
| 65 || {{what if|65|Twitter Timeline Height}} || October 1, 2013 || 1.0 || If our Twitter timelines (tweets by the people we follow) actually extended off the screen in both directions, how tall would they be? || Very tall.
|-
| 66 || {{what if|66|500 MPH}} || October 8, 2013 || 1.0 || If winds reached 500 mph, would it pick up a human? || Absolutely! But first worry about what caused the 500 MPH winds...
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| 67 || {{what if|67|Expanding Earth}} || October 15, 2013 || 1.0 || How long would it take for people to notice their weight gain if the mean radius of the world expanded by 1cm every second? (Assuming the average composition of rock were maintained.) || 10 years, give or take.
|-
| 68 || {{what if|68|Little Planet}} || October 22, 2013 || 1.0 || If an asteroid was very small but supermassive, could you really live on it like the Little Prince? || yes, but it would be very inconvenient.
|-
| 69 || {{what if|69|Facebook of the Dead}} || October 29, 2013 || 1.0 || When, if ever, will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than of living ones? || A decade or a century, depending if Facebook would still be popular.
|-
| 70 || {{what if|70|The Constant Groundskeeper}} || November 5, 2013 || 1.0 || How big of a lawn would you have to have so that when you finished mowing you'd need to start over because the grass has grown? || Very big, bigger if you're a cougar.
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| 71 || {{what if|71|Stirring Tea}} || November 12, 2013 || 1.0 || I was absentmindedly stirring a cup of hot tea, when I got to thinking, "aren't I actually adding kinetic energy into this cup?" I know that stirring does help to cool down the tea, but what if I were to stir it faster? Would I be able to boil a cup of water by stirring? || No, and don't even try.
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| 72 || {{what if|72|Loneliest Human}} || November 19, 2013 || 1.0 || What is the furthest one human being has ever been from every other living person? Were they lonely? || Possibly the Apollo Astronauts but they definitely weren't lonely.
|-
| 73 || {{what if|73|Lethal Neutrinos}} || November 26, 2013 || 1.0 || How close would you have to be to a supernova to get a lethal dose of neutrino radiation? || About 2.3 AU
|-
| 74 || {{what if|74|Soda Planet}} || December 3, 2013 || 1.0 || How much of the Earth's currently-existing water has ever been turned into a soft drink at some point in its history? || 0.0000005%.
|-
| 75 || {{what if|75|Phone Keypad}} || December 10, 2013 || 1.0 || I use one of those old phones where you type with numbers—for example, to type "Y", you press 9 three times. Some words have consecutive letters on the same number. When they do, you have to pause between letters, making those words annoying to type. What English word has the most consecutive letters on the same key? ||nonmonogamous
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| 76 || {{what if|76|Reading Every Book}} || December 17, 2013 || 1.0 || At what point in human history were there too many (English) books to be able to read them all in one lifetime? || Depends, as many were burned.
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| 77 || {{what if|77|Growth Rate}} || December 31, 2013 || 2.0 || What height would humans reach if we kept growing through our whole development period (i.e. till late teens/early twenties) at the same pace as we do during our first month? || The second two weeks Christmas break
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| 78 || {{what if|78|T-rex Calories}} || January 7, 2014 || 1.0 || If a T-rex were released in New York City, how many humans/day would it need to consume to get its needed calorie intake? || One large sized one per day.
|-
| 79 || {{what if|79|Lake Tea}} || January 14, 2014 || 1.0 || What if we were to dump all the tea in the world into the Great Lakes? How strong, compared to a regular cup of tea, would the lake tea be? || Not strong enough to make a difference.
|-
| 80 || {{what if|80|Pile of Viruses}} || January 21, 2014 || 1.0 || What if every virus in the world were collected into one area? How much volume would they take up and what would they look like? || It would be like a Super Bowl of puss.
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| 81 || {{what if|81|Catch!}} || January 28, 2014 || 1.0 || Is there any way to fire a gun so that the bullet flies through the air and can then be safely caught by hand? e.g. shooter is at sea level and catcher is up a mountain at the extreme range of the gun. || It is possible, but beware the police.
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| 82 || {{what if|82|Hitting a comet}} || February 5, 2014 || 1.1 || Astrophysicists are always saying things like "This mission to this comet is equivalent to throwing a baseball from New York and hitting a particular window in San Francisco." Are they really equivalent? || The baseball is much harder.
|-
| 83 || {{what if|83|Star Sand}} || February 11, 2014 || 0.9 || If you made a beach using grains the proportionate size of the stars in the Milky Way, what would that beach look like? || It would be a bunch of boulders with some patches of sand.
|-
| 84 || {{what if|84|Paint the Earth}} || February 18, 2014 || 1.0 || Has humanity produced enough paint to cover the entire land area of the Earth? || So close!!!
|-
| 85 || {{what if|85|Rocket Golf}} || February 25, 2014 || 1.0 || Assuming that you have a spaceship in orbit around the Earth, could you propel your ship to speeds exceeding escape velocity by hitting golf balls in the other direction? If so, how many golf balls would be required to reach the Moon? || If you cheat, a bag a little smaller than the Moon.
|-
| 86 || {{what if|86|Far-Traveling Objects}} || March 4, 2014 || 1.0 || In terms of human-made objects, has Voyager 1 travelled the farthest distance? It's certainly the farthest from Earth we know about. But what about the edge of ultracentrifuges, or generator turbines that have been running for years, for example? || The Mariner 1 has traveled much farther than Voyager 1.
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| 87 || {{what if|87|Enforced by Radar}} || March 11, 2014 || 1.0 || I've occasionally seen "radar enforced" on speed limit signs, and I can't help but ask: How intense would radio waves have to be to stop a car from going over the speed limit, and what would happen if this were attempted? || Intense enough to cause a medium sized nuclear explosion. Better to just carry a sign.
|-
| 88 || {{what if|88|Soda Sequestration}} || March 18, 2014 || 1.0 || How much CO2 is contained in the world's stock of bottled fizzy drinks? How much soda would be needed to bring atmospheric CO2 back to preindustrial levels? || Enough soda to cover Earth with ten layers of cans.
|-
| 89 || {{what if|89|Tungsten Countertop}} || March 25, 2014 || 1.0 || How far would a tungsten countertop descend if I dropped it into the Sun? || It would be vapourized before it got close to the Sun.
|-
| 90 || {{what if|90|Great Tree, Great Axe}} || April 3, 2014 || 1.3 ||
''If all the seas were one sea, 
''What a great sea that would be! 
''If all the trees were one tree, 
''What a great tree that would be! 
''If all the men were one man, 
''What a great man that would be! 
''If all the axes were one axe, 
''What a great axe that would be! 
''And if the great man took the great axe, 
''And cut down the great tree, 
''And let if fall into the great sea, 
''What a great splish-splash that would be!'' 
... How great would all of these things be?
|| The tree and splash would be great. The others not so much.
|-
| 91 || {{what if|91|Faucet Power}} || April 8, 2014 || 0.7 || I just moved into a new apartment. It includes hot water but I have to pay the electric bill. So being a person on a budget ... what's the best way to use my free faucet to generate electricity? || Just give it to make drinking water.
|-
| 92 || {{what if|92|One-Second Day}} || April 15, 2014 || 1.0 || What would happen if the Earth's rotation were sped up until a day only lasted one second? || KA-BLOOSH!!!!!
|-
| 93 || {{what if|93|Windshield Raindrops}} || April 22, 2014 || 1.0 || At what speed would you have to drive for rain to shatter your windshield? || Fast enough so you would need a speedometer in scientific notation.
|-
| 94 || {{what if|94|Billion-Story Building}} || April 29, 2014 || 1.0 || My daughter — age 4.5 — maintains she wants a billion-story building. It turns out not only is that hard to help her appreciate this size, I am not at all able to explain all of the other difficulties you'd have to overcome. || First of all, it would bot stand under it's own weight. Also, it would be many times the distance the Earth is from the Moon.
|-
| 95 || {{what if|95|Pyramid Energy}} || May 6, 2014 || 1.0 || What took more energy, the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza or the Apollo Mission? If we could convert the energy to build the Great Pyramid, would it be enough to send a rocket to the Moon and back? || No
|-
| 96 || {{what if|96|$2 Undecillion Lawsuit}} || May 14, 2014 || 1.1 || What if Au Bon Pain lost [http://loweringthebar.net/2014/05/2-undecillion-dollar-demand.html this lawsuit] and had to pay the plaintiff $2 undecillion? || They would not be able to pay off the debt, even if they forced humanity to work as slaves.
|-
| 97 || {{what if|97|Burning Pollen}} || May 20, 2014 || 0.9 || What if you were to somehow ignite the pollen that floats around in the air in spring? Other than being a really bad idea, what effect would it have? || It would just warm up the air by a bit.
|-
| 98 || {{what if|98|Blood Alcohol}} || May 27, 2014 || 1.0 || Could you get drunk from drinking a drunk person's blood? || Not before other nasty things happened.
|-
| 99 || {{what if|99|Starlings}} || June 3, 2014 || 1.0 || I was watching [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eakKfY5aHmY this video] and was wondering: How many birds there would need to be for gravity to take over and force them into a gargantuan ball of birds? || Enough to make a black hole
|-
| 100 || {{what if|100|WWII Films}} || June 11, 2014 || 1.1 || Did WWII last longer than the total length of movies about WWII? For that matter, which war has the highest movie time:war time ratio? || From here on standard release day was Wednesday.
|-
| 101 || {{what if|101|Plastic Dinosaurs}} || June 18, 2014 || 1.0 || As plastic is made from oil and oil is made from dead dinosaurs, how much actual real dinosaur is there in a plastic dinosaur? || Not much
|-
| 102 || {{what if|102|Keyboard Power}} || June 25, 2014 || 1.0 || As a writer, I'm wondering what would be the cumulative energy of the hundreds of thousands of keystrokes required to write a novel. || less than enough energy to microwave a burrito.
|-
| 103 || {{what if|103|Vanishing Water}} || July 2, 2014 || 1.0 || What would happen if all the bodies of water on Earth magically disappeared? || like with most of the other scenarios, everyone dies.
|-
| 104 || {{what if|104|Global Snow}} || July 9, 2014 || 1.0 || From my seven-year-old son: How many snowflakes would it take to cover the entire world in six feet of snow? (I don't know why six feet...but that's what he asked.) || Too much.
|-
| 105 || {{what if|105|Cannibalism}} || July 16, 2014 || 1.0 || How long could the human race survive on only cannibalism? || ................................
|-
| 106 || {{what if|106|Ink Molecules}} || July 23, 2014 || 1.0 || Suppose you were to print, in 12 point text, the numeral 1 using a common cheap ink-jet printer. How many molecules of the ink would be used? At what numerical value would the number printed approximately equal the number of ink molecules used? || An 18 digit number.
|-
| 107 || {{what if|107|Letter to Mom}} || July 30, 2014 || 1.0 || What’s the fastest way to get a hand-written letter from my place in Chicago to my mother in New Jersey? || Missiles, obviously.
|-
| 108 || {{what if|108|Expensive Shoebox}} || August 13, 2014 || 2.0 || What would be the most expensive way to fill a size 11 shoebox (e.g. with 64 GB MicroSD cards all full of legally purchased music)? || The third two weeks break.
|-
| 109 || {{what if|109|Into the Blue}} || August 20, 2014 || 1.0 || If I shot an infinitely strong laser beam into the sky at a random point, how much damage would it do? || Most of the time it would not hit anyhing.
|-
| 110 || {{what if|110|Walking New York}} || August 27, 2014 || 1.0 || Could a person walk the entire city of NY in their lifetime? (including inside apartments) || 30 years to walk, much longer for the sentence.
|-
| 111 || {{what if|111|All the Money}} || September 2, 2014 || 0.9 || People sometimes say "If I had all the money in the world ..." in order to discuss what they would do if they had no financial constraints. I'm curious, though, what would happen if one person had all of the world's money? || the only thing to do would be to make a swimming pool.
|-
| 112 || {{what if|112|Balloon Car}} || September 17, 2014 || 2.1 || My 12-year-old daughter is proposing an interesting project. She is planning to attach a number of helium balloons to a chair, which in turn would be tethered by means of a rope to a Ferrari. Her 13-year-old friend would then drive the Ferrari around, while she sits in the chair enjoying uninterrupted views of the countryside. Leaving aside the legal and insurance difficulties, my daughter is keen to know the maximum speed that she could expect to attain, and how many helium balloons would be required. || The fourth two weeks break.
|-
| 113 || {{what if|113|Visit Every State}} || September 24, 2014 || 1.0 || How fast could you visit all 50 states? || in 5 sattilite orbits!
|-
| 114 || {{what if|114|Antimatter}} || October 1, 2014 || 1.0 || What if everything was antimatter, EXCEPT Earth? || Earth go boom!!!
|-
| 115 || {{what if|115|Into the Sun}} || October 8, 2014 || 1.0 || When I was about 8 years old, shoveling snow on a freezing day in Colorado, I wished that I could be instantly transported to the surface of the Sun, just for a nanosecond, then instantly transported back. I figured this would be long enough to warm me up but not long enough to harm me. What would actually happen? || you would not be warmed if you went to the surface. The core on the other hand, would vapourize you.
|-
| 116 || {{what if|116|No-Rules NASCAR}} || October 15, 2014 || 1.0 || If you stripped away all the rules of car racing and had a contest which was simply to get a human being around a track 200 times as fast as possible, what strategy would win? Let's say the racer has to survive. || Hard to do while surviving
|-
| 117 || {{what if|117|Distant Death}} || October 23, 2014 || 1.1 || What is the farthest from Earth that any Earth thing has died? || From here on standard release day was Thursday.
|-
| 118 || {{what if|118|Physical Salary}} || October 30, 2014 || 1.0 || What if people's incomes appeared around them as cash in real time? How much would you need to make to be in real trouble? || A normal person would not get buried. A CEO on the other hand, would be in trouble.
|-
| 119 || {{what if|119|Laser Umbrella}} || November 13, 2014 || 2.0 || Stopping rain from falling on something with an umbrella or a tent is boring. What if you tried to stop rain with a laser that targeted and vaporized each incoming droplet before it could come within ten feet of the ground? || The fifth two weeks break.
|-
| 120 || {{what if|120|Alternate Universe What Ifs}} || November 20, 2014 || 1.0 || Dispatches from a horrifying alternate universe ||
|-
| 121 || {{what if|121|Frozen Rivers}} || December 11, 2014 || 3.0 || What would happen if all of the rivers in the US were instantly frozen in the middle of the summer? || The only tree weeks break, the sixth break in total.
|-
| 122 || {{what if|122|Lava Lamp}} || December 18, 2014 || 1.0 || What if I made a lava lamp out of real lava? What could I use as a clear medium? How close could I stand to watch it? || It would be too bright to watch and it would turn into rock quickly.
|-
| 123 || {{what if|123|Fairy Demographics}} || January 1, 2015 || 2.0 || How many fairies would fly around, if each fairy is born from the first laugh of a child and fairies were immortal? || The third two weeks Christmas break, the seventh break in total
|-
| 124 || {{what if|124|Lunar Swimming}} || January 8, 2015 || 1.0 || What if there was a lake on the Moon? What would it be like to swim in it? Presuming that it is sheltered in a regular atmosphere, in some giant dome or something. || that would be ''so'' cool!!!
|-
| 125 || {{what if|125|Bowling Ball}} || January 15, 2015 || 1.0 || You are in a boat directly over the Mariana Trench. If you drop a 7kg bowling ball over the side, how long would it take to hit the bottom? || Never.
|-
| 126 || {{what if|126|Stairs}} || January 22, 2015 || 1.0 || If you made an elevator that would go to space (like the one you mentioned in the billion-story building) and built a staircase up (assuming regulated air pressure) about how long would it take to climb to the top? || A week or two.
|-
| 127 || {{what if|127|Tug of War}} || January 28, 2015 || 0.9 || Would it be possible for two teams in a tug-o-war to overcome the ultimate tensile strength of an iron rod and pull it apart? How big would the teams have to be? || Not too big.
|-
| 128 || {{what if|128|Zippo Phone}} || February 5, 2015 || 1.1 || What in my pocket actually contains more energy, my Zippo or my smartphone? What would be the best way of getting the energy from one to the other? And since I am already feeling like Bilbo in this one, is there anything else in my pocket that would have unexpected amounts of stored energy? || The Zippo.
|-
| 129 || {{what if|129|Black Hole Moon}} || February 12, 2015 || 1.0 || What would happen if the Moon were replaced with an equivalently-massed black hole? If it's possible, what would a lunar ("holar"?) eclipse look like? || It would not have a big impact unless it happened during the space age.
|-
| 130 || {{what if|130|Snow Removal}} || February 19, 2015 || 1.0 || I've long thought about putting a flamethrower on the front of a car to melt snow and ice before you drive across it. Now I've realized that a flamethrower is impractical, but what about a high-powered microwave emitter? ||
|-
| 131 || {{what if|131|Microwaves}} || February 27, 2015 || 1.1 || I have had a particular problem for as long as I can remember. Any time I attempt to heat left over Chinese food in a microwave, it fails to heat completely through somewhere. Usually the center but not always and usually rice, but often it will be a small section of meat. It's baffling and has made me automatically adjust heating times to over 2 minutes. In most cases this tends to heat the bowl or plate more than the food. So I suppose the question is what is the optimal time to heat left over Chinese food in the microwave, how about an 800 watt microwave? || The release date in the archive is the wrong year 2014. From here on there seems to no longer be a standard release day for some time.
|-
| 132 || {{what if|132|Hotter than Average}} || March 7, 2015 || 1.1 || I saw a sign at a hot springs tub saying "Caution: Water is hotter than average" with water at about 39°C. Although they were presumably trying to say "hotter than the average swimming pool," this got me wondering: What is the average temperature of all water on the Earth’s surface, and how does that temperature compare to 39°C? || There is a water average. Give the signmakers some credit.
|-
| 133 || {{what if|133|Flagpole}} || March 17, 2015 || 1.4 || So, you're falling from a height above the tallest building in your town, and you don't have a parachute. But wait! Partway down the side of that skyscraper there's a flagpole sticking out, sans flag! You angle your descent and grab the pole just long enough to swing around so that when you let go you're now heading back up toward the sky. As gravity slows you and brings you to a halt, you reach the top of the skyscraper, where you reach out and pull yourself to safety. What's the likelihood this could happen? || The first of two longer shifts in release day two weeks in a row which resulted in only two releases over three weeks, resulting in the eight break in total.
|-
| 134 || {{what if|134|Space Burial}} || March 28, 2015 || 1.6 || I've often joked I'd like to have my remains put into orbit. Not in a "scatter my ashes" sense, but, like, "throw my naked corpse out the airlock" sense. Honestly, my main motivation is to baffle someone in the distant future, but it's an interesting scientific question: what would happen to my body in orbit over the course of years, decades or centuries? || The second of two longer shifts in release day two weeks in a row which resulted in only two releases over three weeks, resulting in the eight break in total.
|-
| 135 || {{what if|135|Digging Downward}} || April 5, 2015 || 1.1 || What would happen if I dug straight down, at a speed of 1 foot per second? What would kill me first? || Magic, because science just works like that.
|-
| 136 || {{what if|136|Spiders vs. the Sun}} || April 12, 2015 || 1.0 || Which has a greater gravitational pull on me: the Sun, or spiders? Granted, the Sun is much bigger, but it is also much further away, and as I learned in high school physics, the gravitational force is proportional to the square of the distance. || The Sun. But spiders are a lot more scary.
|-
| 137 || {{what if|137|New Horizons}} || July 14, 2015 || 13.3 || What if New Horizons hits my car? || The second longest break up til summer 2016, the only one to have been announced. The ninth break in total.
|-
| 138 || {{what if|138|Jupiter Submarine}} || July 28, 2015 || 2.0 || What if you released a submarine into Jupiter's atmosphere? Would it eventually reach a point where it would float? Could it navigate? || The sixth two weeks break, tenth break in total. Answer: NO!!!!!
|-
| 139 || {{what if|139|Jupiter Descending}} || August 4, 2015 || 1.0 || If you did {{what if|138|fall into Jupiter's atmosphere in a submarine}}, what would it actually look like? What would you see before you melted or burned up? || You would see...brown.
|-
| 140 || {{what if|140|Proton Earth, Electron Moon}} || September 18, 2015 || 6.4 || What if the Earth were made entirely of protons, and the Moon were made entirely of electrons? || First and shortest of two long breaks in a row, the 11th break in total. For the answer, the universe would be destroyed.
|-
| 141 || {{what if|141|Sunbeam}} || January 12, 2016 || 16.6 || What if all of the sun's output of visible light were bundled up into a laser-like beam that had a diameter of around 1m once it reaches Earth? || Second and longest break so far of two long breaks in a row, the 12th break in total. From here on standard release day was again Tuesday. Answer: A literal Death Star.
|-
| 142 || {{what if|142|Space Jetta}} || January 20, 2016 || 1.1 || What if I tried to re-enter the atmosphere in my car? (a 2000 VW Jetta TDI). Would it do more environmental damage than it is already apparently doing? || Actually, it would be more clean than it is currently!
|-
| 143 || {{what if|143|Europa Water Siphon}} || January 26, 2016 || 0.9 || What if you built a siphon from the oceans on Europa to Earth? Would it flow once it's set up? (We have an idea for selling bottled Europa water.) || No, at least not with a siphon.
|-
| 144 || {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}} || February 2, 2016 || 1.0 || How long would it take for a single person to fill up an entire swimming pool with their own saliva? || 8345 years.
|-
| 145 || {{what if|145|Fire From Moonlight}} || February 9, 2016 || 1.0 || Can you use a magnifying glass and moonlight to light a fire? || NO!!!!!!
|-
| 146 || {{what if|146|Stop Jupiter}} || February 16, 2016 || 1.0 || I understand that the New Horizons craft used gravity assist from Jupiter to increase its speed on the way to Pluto. I also understand that by doing this, Jupiter slowed down very slightly. How many flyby runs would it take to stop Jupiter completely? || This can never happen, even if we were to throw Earth at Jupiter.
|-
| 147 || {{what if|147|Niagara Straw}} || February 26, 2016 || 1.4 || What would happen if one tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a straw? || From here on there is no longer any standard release days. Answer: The International Niagara Committee, the International Niagara Board of Control, the International Joint Commission, the International Niagara Board Working Committee, and probably the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence River Adaptive Management Committee would be angry. Also, the Earth would be destroyed.
|-
| 148 || {{what if|148|Eat the Sun}} || March 12, 2016 || 2.1 || What percentage of the Sun's heat (per day) does the population of Earth eat in calories per year? What changes could be made to our diets for the amount of calories to equal the energy of the Sun? || The seventh two weeks break, 13th break in total.
|-
| 149 || {{what if|149|Pizza Bird}} || March 26, 2016 || 2.0 || My boyfriend recently took a flight on a plane with wifi, and while he was up there, wistfully asked if I could send him a pizza. I jokingly sent him a photo of a parrot holding a pizza slice in its beak. Obviously, my boyfriend had to go without pizza until he landed at JFK. But this raised the question: could a bird deliver a standard 20" New York-style cheese pizza in a box? And if so, what kind of bird would it take? || The eight two weeks break, 14th break in total.
|-
| 150 || {{what if|150|Tatooine Rainbow}} || May 23, 2016 || 8.3 || Since rainbows are caused by the refraction of the sunlight by tiny droplets of rainwater, what would rainbow look like on Earth if we had two suns like Tatooine? || First two months break of at least two in a row, the 15th break in total.
|-
| 151 || {{what if|151|Sun Bug}} || July 21, 2016 || 8.4 || How many fireflies would it take to match the brightness of the Sun? || Second two months break of at least two in a row, the 16th break in total. The release date in the archive is the wrong month June. It was released [http://web.archive.org/web/20160718014924/http://what-if.xkcd.com/ between 18-20 July], as the link here was posted on the 20th. But on the [http://web.archive.org/web/20160724210016/https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ archive page] is says it was released on June 21, which should probably have been July 21.
|-
| 152 || {{what if|152|Flood Death Valley}} || October 18, 2016 || 12.6 || Since Death Valley is below sea level could we dig a hole to the ocean and fill it up with water? || After two 8 weeks breaks this one waited almost three months. Regarding the question it could be done, but why did the guy asking the question whish to do such a horrible thing Randall ends up asking back. Most of the what if? goes with citing temperature records and other trivia actually naming a Jeopardy master. At least two comics coming out right after this was referencing this article. [[1748: Future Archaeology]] and [[1750: Life Goals]].
|-
| 153 || {{what if|153|Hide the Atmosphere}} || January 30, 2017 || 14.9 || Earth’s atmosphere is really thin compared to the radius of the Earth. How big a hole do I need to dig before people suffocate? || With close to 15 weeks this was the second longest break between articles so far. The hole needs to be Very big it turns out, but under the right circumstances a five mile hole over the entire state of Texas might suffice... But beware of messing with the Texans.
|-
| 154 || {{what if|154|Coast-to-Coast Coasting}} || February 8, 2017 || 1.3 || What if the entire continental US was on a decreasing slope from West to East. How steep would the slope have to be to sustain the momentum needed to ride a bicycle the entire distance without pedaling? || The article is about the slope needed to be able to coast on a bike, without using the pedals, across mainland USA. It turns out the ramp would need to be five miles high (8 km) to make this possible, and that would be at a speed slower than walking. Also you would need oxygen the first third of the way down... Unlike the last article, out after almost a 15 weeks break, this one was released only a bit more than week after that. It is almost a year ago that two comics have been released with less than two full weeks between them (that was #147 released February 26, 2016). In that year (assuming no more comics before February 26 2017), only 8 articles where released including both 147 and this one. Interesting to see it they will begin appearing regularly again during the spring of 2017.
|-
| 155 || {{what if|155|Toaster vs. Freezer}} || February 28, 2017 || 2.9 || Would a toaster still work in a freezer?|| With less than 3 weeks between releases, releases seems to have become more regular in the beginning of 2017. The question is not asked of Randall this time, but rather one he has found discussed on [http://www.maximumfun.org/my-brother-my-brother-and-me/mbmbam-343-sauce-doctors-blessing Episode 343] of the {{w|My Brother, My Brother and Me|advice podcast}} ''[http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/my-brother-my-brother-and-me My Brother, My Brother and Me]'' (links are those given in the article) where the three brothers McElroy are discussing a {{w|Yahoo! Answers}} question. They did not answer the question but Randall does and it is quite easy so he puts it a the top: The Toaster wins! Since it heats with 1000+ watts of heat production where a freezer only cools with 100-150 watts. Although the freezer may be up to three times as effective, it is no match for the toaster, which also heats the bread locally inside it self. A nice way to explain this, is that to a toaster any human environment feels cool, so a freezer at 258 K (-15 °C) compared to room temperature of typically 293 K (20 °C), seems like a small difference compared to the temperature of the toasters heating element of about 900 K (over 600 °C). So it makes no real difference to the toaster where it is. But please don't try this at home, and also not outside in {{w|Winnipeg}}, Canada to avoid getting eaten by wolves.
If the question is "would a toaster still toast bread in a freezer?" the answer requires no maths at all; since toasters work by radiating heat (effecting a chemical change and increased temperature), and freezers work by convecting heat away (reducing the temperature), then no matter how powerful the freezer and how wussy the toaster, the chemical change would still occur (though your toast might be very cold).
|-
| 156 || {{what if|156|Electrofishing for Whales}} || March 9, 2017 || 1.3 || I used to work on a fisheries crew where we would use an electro-fisher backpack to momentarily stun small fish (30 - 100 mm length) so we could scoop them up with nets to identify and measure them. The larger fish tended to be stunned for slightly longer because of their larger surface area but I don't imagine this relationship would be maintained for very large animals. Could you electrofish for a blue whale? At what voltage would you have have to set the e-fisher? || Second time with less than two weeks between release in 2017. The answer focuses more on the bad side effects of electrofising, both long term effect on fish and also mentions killing of Dolphins. So it seems more of an protect the animal article than an answer. But the fact is that larger animals (and especially mammals) is likely to die rather than just get stunned. But it is also harder to get any effect in saltwater, which explains why electrofishing is mainly done in rivers and lakes. The higher conductivity of saltwater makes to current prefer to avoid the less salt whale rather than go through it. This is less of an issue in fresh water. So basically it just won't work on blue whales.
|-
| 157 || {{what if|157|Earth-Moon Fire Pole}} || May 21, 2018 || 62 || My son (5y) asked me today: If there were a kind of a fireman's pole from the Moon down to the Earth, how long would it take to slide all the way from the Moon to the Earth? || After two in as short period of time in March 2017 more than a year (62 weeks) passed before the next entry came in May 2018... After a discussion of the extreme challenges that this set-up would face (an extreme form of the challenges of a space elevator), Randall details the different domains of the new slowest extreme sport: climbing out of the Moon's gravity, accelerating through the middle transfer phase, and then decelerating to your supersonic arrival on earth. Fun.
|}



[[Category:Meta]]

explain xkcd:Editor FAQ

2018-09-25T21:55:14Z

Abcasada: /* How do I behave at the talk page (discussion)? */ Grammar

'''Frequently Asked Questions for editors'''

This FAQ is a short description about editing pages at this wiki. Please read this carefully and if you have any further questions do not hesitate to enter them into this [[explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ|talk page]].

For general questions please read first the MediaWiki help pages about [[mw:Help:Editing pages|Editing pages]] or look at the full overview here: [[mw:Help:Contents|Help Contents]]. You also can use your preferred search engine by entering "MediaWiki mytopic". Change mytopic to the theme you're searching for, i.e. "MediaWiki tables" will show you many useful sites about editing tables.

Please always use the preview button to verify your edit before finally pressing the save button.

This FAQ focuses only on topics related to this specific Wiki.

==What is the general layout of a comic page?==
In general you don't have to care about this because the pages are generated by a bot nearly immediately after a new comic is released. If the bot fails please follow exactly the instructions here [[User:dgbrtBOT]] to do all the needed actions.

The layout and order is always this:
*Comic ''picture'' with the ''title text'' below
*''Explanation''
*''Transcript''
*''Trivia'' (optional)
*''Discussion'' (embedded Talk page)
*List of non standard ''categories''

==What should I include in the explanation?==
Everything is welcome as long as it explains the content of the comic. Everybody can edit here and when others disagree about your contributions they may change it.

==In which cases are tables meaningful, and when are they not?==
At the transcript tables should never be used, even when there is a table in the comic image it should be described by text.

At the explanation tables only make sense when the content is compact. When a single row contains more than a small item like a number, a small phrase, or something similar a table isn't the proper layout because it's hard to read. Instead it should be written in floating text chapters with distinct headers above (see next section below.)

Instead of using a two-column table (e.g. "sentence from comic", "explanation"), consider using a description list (''bold text''). Place a semicolon (<code>;</code>) at the beginning of the sentence to be explained and a colon (<code>:</code>) at the beginning of each paragraph of the explanation, like this (from [[1987: Python Environment#Explanation|1987]]):
; Anaconda Python
: Anaconda is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.
: A second paragraph for the explanation.

The Wikipedia's {{w|WP:WHENTABLE#Appropriate use|Manual of Style/Tables}} describes it best:
<blockquote>Often a list is best left as a list. Before reformatting a list into table form, consider whether the information will be more clearly conveyed by virtue of having rows and columns. If so, then a table is probably a good choice. If there is no obvious benefit to having rows and columns, then a table is probably not the best choice. </blockquote>

==What is the proper layout for headers?==
For headlines you have to use Wiki-style code. The simplest way is a preceding semicolon at the beginning of the line which causes the entire line to be rendered in bold.

On large explanations it can be handy to divide it into subsections. In this case the header is written like this: <code><nowiki>===Sub header===</nowiki></code>. But in most cases the simple semicolon is just enough.

==What is the format of the transcript section?==
The transcript should describe the content (think about explaining the comic to a visually impaired person, or to someone on phone). It should do this in a compact manner, and cite all written words. Every line should begin with an indent (a simple <code>:</code> at the beginning), and every panel from the comic should be separated by a blank line. The transcript must not contain any links, nor rich math markup, which it just generates new images. Tables should generally be avoided, although not all transcripts comply with this. Furthermore the title text is not included in the transcript. Checking the pages for the older comics will help understand this.

==One or two spaces after a period? And what about newlines?==
There is a controversy if one or two spaces after a period ending a sentence should be used. The fact is that even three or more spaces are rendered as only one.
Furthermore a single newline is also just rendered as a space.

A new paragraph like this needs an empty line before, not just a single newline. Click the edit/source button to see how this chapter is written.

==What belongs to the trivia section?==
As implied by the section name, it's just trivia, consisting of unimportant odds-and-ends related to the comic. Since this wiki focuses on explaining this section is not part of the default layout. If a word has been misspelled in the comic or title text, or the image was originally broken at xkcd and reuploaded... basically the things that don't belong in the explanation but should still be mentioned, then it should be mentioned in the trivia section.

==How do I behave on the talk page (discussion)?==
Everybody can add here any thoughts about the comic and more. Please follow the common netiquette and don't be rude. Unless you are replying to a previous comment, in which you should add a colon before your comment, you should add comments at the bottom. Every comment has to be signed at the end with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> or just click the sign button [[File:Button sig.png]] at the top of the editor.

==What does the incomplete tag mean?==
There are two templates to indicate that an explanation or the transcript do need further rework. Just enter <nowiki>{{incomplete|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> or respectively <nowiki>{{incomplete transcript|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> and don't forget to enter a proper reason to replace the filler text left by the bot (Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.), or if the reason said in the tag has been dealt with. The reason at the transcript is not shown to the viewer.

==How do I enter links to other pages?==
The three mostly used options are:
*an internal link like <code><nowiki>[[Cueball]]</nowiki></code> which renders like this: [[Cueball]]
*a link to the English Wikipedia should use this template: <code><nowiki>{{w|Page}}</nowiki></code> links to the Wikipedia article on "Page" or <code><nowiki>{{w|Page|Display}}</nowiki></code> prints "Display" which links to the Wikipedia article on "Page"
*other external links can be done in three ways:
**just write the URL and it will be shown like this: http://www.example.com
**put it into single brackets: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com]</nowiki></code> and you will see this [http://www.example.com] (please avoid this)
**and add a text: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com Example Homepage]</nowiki></code> everything after the first space is shown: [http://www.example.com Example Homepage]

==Why can't I upload pictures or create pages?==
Only registered and trusted users can create pages or upload images. After the registration you have to wait at least three days and you must have done a small amount of edits, then you will be able to create pages and upload images at will.

==How do I embed images?==
This Wiki isn't a picture book, use this feature only sparingly and reduce the size as much as possible. An example can be seen here: [[1400: D.B. Cooper]]. The syntax in this case is <code><nowiki>[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|150px|Cooper]]</nowiki></code> and the picture is taken from Commons, the main source for Wikipedia images. The full syntax can be found at [[mw:Help:Images|MediaWiki]].

You also can upload pictures directly to this Wiki by using the [[Special:Upload]] link from the menu. But do not violate any copyright rules or it will be deleted. And when the picture is available at Commons there is no need to upload it here.

==The picture at xkcd was updated, how do I upload this here?==
Sometimes the initial picture at [[xkcd]] contains typos or other errors. When that has been fixed the comic picture here should also be updated. Save the picture from xkcd to your local PC but be careful, there are two versions available. We here use only the smaller version ''picture.png'' and not the larger one ''picture_2x.png''. So change <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture_2x.png</nowiki></code> to <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture.png</nowiki></code> when your browser shows the 2x version.

To update it here just click the image in the comic page and then click "Upload a new version of this file" below the file history. And please be patient, you wont see your upload immediately because it still comes from the cache at the server. But when you see your upload in the file history everything is OK. Just wait...

==How do I enter mathematical or chemical formulas?==
You can use the Math markup <code><nowiki><math>...</math></nowiki></code>. The other known code from Wikipedia <code><nowiki><chem>...</chem></nowiki></code> is NOT supported yet. It's based on LaTeX syntax and a general overview can be found at this {{w|Help:Displaying a formula|Wikipedia help page}} -- don't use it unless you understand what you are doing.

Furthermore never use this markup at the ''transcript'' because that math code is rendered to a picture -- at the transcript we try to describe the comic ''image'' by ''words'', a picture there wouldn't be helpful.

==Is the ''Citation needed'' template here similar to the analog at Wikipedia?==
Simple answer: NO. In fact that template just links to [[285: Wikipedian Protester]], a comic from July 4, 2007 and was meant to be a joke. Adding this template to every comic doesn't explain anything at all (that's what this Wiki aims to do) and should be placed only when there is a deeper sense of humor.

explain xkcd:Editor FAQ

2018-09-25T21:54:30Z

Abcasada: /* One or two spaces after a period? And what's about newlines? */ Grammar

'''Frequently Asked Questions for editors'''

This FAQ is a short description about editing pages at this wiki. Please read this carefully and if you have any further questions do not hesitate to enter them into this [[explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ|talk page]].

For general questions please read first the MediaWiki help pages about [[mw:Help:Editing pages|Editing pages]] or look at the full overview here: [[mw:Help:Contents|Help Contents]]. You also can use your preferred search engine by entering "MediaWiki mytopic". Change mytopic to the theme you're searching for, i.e. "MediaWiki tables" will show you many useful sites about editing tables.

Please always use the preview button to verify your edit before finally pressing the save button.

This FAQ focuses only on topics related to this specific Wiki.

==What is the general layout of a comic page?==
In general you don't have to care about this because the pages are generated by a bot nearly immediately after a new comic is released. If the bot fails please follow exactly the instructions here [[User:dgbrtBOT]] to do all the needed actions.

The layout and order is always this:
*Comic ''picture'' with the ''title text'' below
*''Explanation''
*''Transcript''
*''Trivia'' (optional)
*''Discussion'' (embedded Talk page)
*List of non standard ''categories''

==What should I include in the explanation?==
Everything is welcome as long as it explains the content of the comic. Everybody can edit here and when others disagree about your contributions they may change it.

==In which cases are tables meaningful, and when are they not?==
At the transcript tables should never be used, even when there is a table in the comic image it should be described by text.

At the explanation tables only make sense when the content is compact. When a single row contains more than a small item like a number, a small phrase, or something similar a table isn't the proper layout because it's hard to read. Instead it should be written in floating text chapters with distinct headers above (see next section below.)

Instead of using a two-column table (e.g. "sentence from comic", "explanation"), consider using a description list (''bold text''). Place a semicolon (<code>;</code>) at the beginning of the sentence to be explained and a colon (<code>:</code>) at the beginning of each paragraph of the explanation, like this (from [[1987: Python Environment#Explanation|1987]]):
; Anaconda Python
: Anaconda is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.
: A second paragraph for the explanation.

The Wikipedia's {{w|WP:WHENTABLE#Appropriate use|Manual of Style/Tables}} describes it best:
<blockquote>Often a list is best left as a list. Before reformatting a list into table form, consider whether the information will be more clearly conveyed by virtue of having rows and columns. If so, then a table is probably a good choice. If there is no obvious benefit to having rows and columns, then a table is probably not the best choice. </blockquote>

==What is the proper layout for headers?==
For headlines you have to use Wiki-style code. The simplest way is a preceding semicolon at the beginning of the line which causes the entire line to be rendered in bold.

On large explanations it can be handy to divide it into subsections. In this case the header is written like this: <code><nowiki>===Sub header===</nowiki></code>. But in most cases the simple semicolon is just enough.

==What is the format of the transcript section?==
The transcript should describe the content (think about explaining the comic to a visually impaired person, or to someone on phone). It should do this in a compact manner, and cite all written words. Every line should begin with an indent (a simple <code>:</code> at the beginning), and every panel from the comic should be separated by a blank line. The transcript must not contain any links, nor rich math markup, which it just generates new images. Tables should generally be avoided, although not all transcripts comply with this. Furthermore the title text is not included in the transcript. Checking the pages for the older comics will help understand this.

==One or two spaces after a period? And what about newlines?==
There is a controversy if one or two spaces after a period ending a sentence should be used. The fact is that even three or more spaces are rendered as only one.
Furthermore a single newline is also just rendered as a space.

A new paragraph like this needs an empty line before, not just a single newline. Click the edit/source button to see how this chapter is written.

==What belongs to the trivia section?==
As implied by the section name, it's just trivia, consisting of unimportant odds-and-ends related to the comic. Since this wiki focuses on explaining this section is not part of the default layout. If a word has been misspelled in the comic or title text, or the image was originally broken at xkcd and reuploaded... basically the things that don't belong in the explanation but should still be mentioned, then it should be mentioned in the trivia section.

==How do I behave at the talk page (discussion)?==
Everybody can add here any thoughts about the comic and more. Please follow the common netiquette and don't be rude. Unless you are replying to a previous comment, in which you should add a colon before your comment, you should add comments at the bottom. Every comment has to be signed at the end with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> or just click the sign button [[File:Button sig.png]] at the top of the editor.

==What does the incomplete tag mean?==
There are two templates to indicate that an explanation or the transcript do need further rework. Just enter <nowiki>{{incomplete|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> or respectively <nowiki>{{incomplete transcript|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> and don't forget to enter a proper reason to replace the filler text left by the bot (Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.), or if the reason said in the tag has been dealt with. The reason at the transcript is not shown to the viewer.

==How do I enter links to other pages?==
The three mostly used options are:
*an internal link like <code><nowiki>[[Cueball]]</nowiki></code> which renders like this: [[Cueball]]
*a link to the English Wikipedia should use this template: <code><nowiki>{{w|Page}}</nowiki></code> links to the Wikipedia article on "Page" or <code><nowiki>{{w|Page|Display}}</nowiki></code> prints "Display" which links to the Wikipedia article on "Page"
*other external links can be done in three ways:
**just write the URL and it will be shown like this: http://www.example.com
**put it into single brackets: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com]</nowiki></code> and you will see this [http://www.example.com] (please avoid this)
**and add a text: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com Example Homepage]</nowiki></code> everything after the first space is shown: [http://www.example.com Example Homepage]

==Why can't I upload pictures or create pages?==
Only registered and trusted users can create pages or upload images. After the registration you have to wait at least three days and you must have done a small amount of edits, then you will be able to create pages and upload images at will.

==How do I embed images?==
This Wiki isn't a picture book, use this feature only sparingly and reduce the size as much as possible. An example can be seen here: [[1400: D.B. Cooper]]. The syntax in this case is <code><nowiki>[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|150px|Cooper]]</nowiki></code> and the picture is taken from Commons, the main source for Wikipedia images. The full syntax can be found at [[mw:Help:Images|MediaWiki]].

You also can upload pictures directly to this Wiki by using the [[Special:Upload]] link from the menu. But do not violate any copyright rules or it will be deleted. And when the picture is available at Commons there is no need to upload it here.

==The picture at xkcd was updated, how do I upload this here?==
Sometimes the initial picture at [[xkcd]] contains typos or other errors. When that has been fixed the comic picture here should also be updated. Save the picture from xkcd to your local PC but be careful, there are two versions available. We here use only the smaller version ''picture.png'' and not the larger one ''picture_2x.png''. So change <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture_2x.png</nowiki></code> to <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture.png</nowiki></code> when your browser shows the 2x version.

To update it here just click the image in the comic page and then click "Upload a new version of this file" below the file history. And please be patient, you wont see your upload immediately because it still comes from the cache at the server. But when you see your upload in the file history everything is OK. Just wait...

==How do I enter mathematical or chemical formulas?==
You can use the Math markup <code><nowiki><math>...</math></nowiki></code>. The other known code from Wikipedia <code><nowiki><chem>...</chem></nowiki></code> is NOT supported yet. It's based on LaTeX syntax and a general overview can be found at this {{w|Help:Displaying a formula|Wikipedia help page}} -- don't use it unless you understand what you are doing.

Furthermore never use this markup at the ''transcript'' because that math code is rendered to a picture -- at the transcript we try to describe the comic ''image'' by ''words'', a picture there wouldn't be helpful.

==Is the ''Citation needed'' template here similar to the analog at Wikipedia?==
Simple answer: NO. In fact that template just links to [[285: Wikipedian Protester]], a comic from July 4, 2007 and was meant to be a joke. Adding this template to every comic doesn't explain anything at all (that's what this Wiki aims to do) and should be placed only when there is a deeper sense of humor.

explain xkcd:Editor FAQ

2018-09-25T21:53:42Z

Abcasada: /* What shall I write at the explanation? */ Rewrote to improve grammar and understandability.

'''Frequently Asked Questions for editors'''

This FAQ is a short description about editing pages at this wiki. Please read this carefully and if you have any further questions do not hesitate to enter them into this [[explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ|talk page]].

For general questions please read first the MediaWiki help pages about [[mw:Help:Editing pages|Editing pages]] or look at the full overview here: [[mw:Help:Contents|Help Contents]]. You also can use your preferred search engine by entering "MediaWiki mytopic". Change mytopic to the theme you're searching for, i.e. "MediaWiki tables" will show you many useful sites about editing tables.

Please always use the preview button to verify your edit before finally pressing the save button.

This FAQ focuses only on topics related to this specific Wiki.

==What is the general layout of a comic page?==
In general you don't have to care about this because the pages are generated by a bot nearly immediately after a new comic is released. If the bot fails please follow exactly the instructions here [[User:dgbrtBOT]] to do all the needed actions.

The layout and order is always this:
*Comic ''picture'' with the ''title text'' below
*''Explanation''
*''Transcript''
*''Trivia'' (optional)
*''Discussion'' (embedded Talk page)
*List of non standard ''categories''

==What should I include in the explanation?==
Everything is welcome as long as it explains the content of the comic. Everybody can edit here and when others disagree about your contributions they may change it.

==In which cases are tables meaningful, and when are they not?==
At the transcript tables should never be used, even when there is a table in the comic image it should be described by text.

At the explanation tables only make sense when the content is compact. When a single row contains more than a small item like a number, a small phrase, or something similar a table isn't the proper layout because it's hard to read. Instead it should be written in floating text chapters with distinct headers above (see next section below.)

Instead of using a two-column table (e.g. "sentence from comic", "explanation"), consider using a description list (''bold text''). Place a semicolon (<code>;</code>) at the beginning of the sentence to be explained and a colon (<code>:</code>) at the beginning of each paragraph of the explanation, like this (from [[1987: Python Environment#Explanation|1987]]):
; Anaconda Python
: Anaconda is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.
: A second paragraph for the explanation.

The Wikipedia's {{w|WP:WHENTABLE#Appropriate use|Manual of Style/Tables}} describes it best:
<blockquote>Often a list is best left as a list. Before reformatting a list into table form, consider whether the information will be more clearly conveyed by virtue of having rows and columns. If so, then a table is probably a good choice. If there is no obvious benefit to having rows and columns, then a table is probably not the best choice. </blockquote>

==What is the proper layout for headers?==
For headlines you have to use Wiki-style code. The simplest way is a preceding semicolon at the beginning of the line which causes the entire line to be rendered in bold.

On large explanations it can be handy to divide it into subsections. In this case the header is written like this: <code><nowiki>===Sub header===</nowiki></code>. But in most cases the simple semicolon is just enough.

==What is the format of the transcript section?==
The transcript should describe the content (think about explaining the comic to a visually impaired person, or to someone on phone). It should do this in a compact manner, and cite all written words. Every line should begin with an indent (a simple <code>:</code> at the beginning), and every panel from the comic should be separated by a blank line. The transcript must not contain any links, nor rich math markup, which it just generates new images. Tables should generally be avoided, although not all transcripts comply with this. Furthermore the title text is not included in the transcript. Checking the pages for the older comics will help understand this.

==One or two spaces after a period? And what's about newlines?==
There is a controversy if one or two spaces after a period ending a sentence should be used. The fact is that even three or more spaces are rendered as only one.
Furthermore a single newline is also just rendered as a space.

A new paragraph like this needs an empty line before, not just a single newline. Click the edit/source button to see how this chapter is written.

==What belongs to the trivia section?==
As implied by the section name, it's just trivia, consisting of unimportant odds-and-ends related to the comic. Since this wiki focuses on explaining this section is not part of the default layout. If a word has been misspelled in the comic or title text, or the image was originally broken at xkcd and reuploaded... basically the things that don't belong in the explanation but should still be mentioned, then it should be mentioned in the trivia section.

==How do I behave at the talk page (discussion)?==
Everybody can add here any thoughts about the comic and more. Please follow the common netiquette and don't be rude. Unless you are replying to a previous comment, in which you should add a colon before your comment, you should add comments at the bottom. Every comment has to be signed at the end with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> or just click the sign button [[File:Button sig.png]] at the top of the editor.

==What does the incomplete tag mean?==
There are two templates to indicate that an explanation or the transcript do need further rework. Just enter <nowiki>{{incomplete|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> or respectively <nowiki>{{incomplete transcript|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> and don't forget to enter a proper reason to replace the filler text left by the bot (Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.), or if the reason said in the tag has been dealt with. The reason at the transcript is not shown to the viewer.

==How do I enter links to other pages?==
The three mostly used options are:
*an internal link like <code><nowiki>[[Cueball]]</nowiki></code> which renders like this: [[Cueball]]
*a link to the English Wikipedia should use this template: <code><nowiki>{{w|Page}}</nowiki></code> links to the Wikipedia article on "Page" or <code><nowiki>{{w|Page|Display}}</nowiki></code> prints "Display" which links to the Wikipedia article on "Page"
*other external links can be done in three ways:
**just write the URL and it will be shown like this: http://www.example.com
**put it into single brackets: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com]</nowiki></code> and you will see this [http://www.example.com] (please avoid this)
**and add a text: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com Example Homepage]</nowiki></code> everything after the first space is shown: [http://www.example.com Example Homepage]

==Why can't I upload pictures or create pages?==
Only registered and trusted users can create pages or upload images. After the registration you have to wait at least three days and you must have done a small amount of edits, then you will be able to create pages and upload images at will.

==How do I embed images?==
This Wiki isn't a picture book, use this feature only sparingly and reduce the size as much as possible. An example can be seen here: [[1400: D.B. Cooper]]. The syntax in this case is <code><nowiki>[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|150px|Cooper]]</nowiki></code> and the picture is taken from Commons, the main source for Wikipedia images. The full syntax can be found at [[mw:Help:Images|MediaWiki]].

You also can upload pictures directly to this Wiki by using the [[Special:Upload]] link from the menu. But do not violate any copyright rules or it will be deleted. And when the picture is available at Commons there is no need to upload it here.

==The picture at xkcd was updated, how do I upload this here?==
Sometimes the initial picture at [[xkcd]] contains typos or other errors. When that has been fixed the comic picture here should also be updated. Save the picture from xkcd to your local PC but be careful, there are two versions available. We here use only the smaller version ''picture.png'' and not the larger one ''picture_2x.png''. So change <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture_2x.png</nowiki></code> to <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture.png</nowiki></code> when your browser shows the 2x version.

To update it here just click the image in the comic page and then click "Upload a new version of this file" below the file history. And please be patient, you wont see your upload immediately because it still comes from the cache at the server. But when you see your upload in the file history everything is OK. Just wait...

==How do I enter mathematical or chemical formulas?==
You can use the Math markup <code><nowiki><math>...</math></nowiki></code>. The other known code from Wikipedia <code><nowiki><chem>...</chem></nowiki></code> is NOT supported yet. It's based on LaTeX syntax and a general overview can be found at this {{w|Help:Displaying a formula|Wikipedia help page}} -- don't use it unless you understand what you are doing.

Furthermore never use this markup at the ''transcript'' because that math code is rendered to a picture -- at the transcript we try to describe the comic ''image'' by ''words'', a picture there wouldn't be helpful.

==Is the ''Citation needed'' template here similar to the analog at Wikipedia?==
Simple answer: NO. In fact that template just links to [[285: Wikipedian Protester]], a comic from July 4, 2007 and was meant to be a joke. Adding this template to every comic doesn't explain anything at all (that's what this Wiki aims to do) and should be placed only when there is a deeper sense of humor.

explain xkcd:Editor FAQ

2018-09-25T21:51:48Z

Abcasada: /* In which case are tables meaningful, and when are they not? */ Finished correcting grammar

'''Frequently Asked Questions for editors'''

This FAQ is a short description about editing pages at this wiki. Please read this carefully and if you have any further questions do not hesitate to enter them into this [[explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ|talk page]].

For general questions please read first the MediaWiki help pages about [[mw:Help:Editing pages|Editing pages]] or look at the full overview here: [[mw:Help:Contents|Help Contents]]. You also can use your preferred search engine by entering "MediaWiki mytopic". Change mytopic to the theme you're searching for, i.e. "MediaWiki tables" will show you many useful sites about editing tables.

Please always use the preview button to verify your edit before finally pressing the save button.

This FAQ focuses only on topics related to this specific Wiki.

==What is the general layout of a comic page?==
In general you don't have to care about this because the pages are generated by a bot nearly immediately after a new comic is released. If the bot fails please follow exactly the instructions here [[User:dgbrtBOT]] to do all the needed actions.

The layout and order is always this:
*Comic ''picture'' with the ''title text'' below
*''Explanation''
*''Transcript''
*''Trivia'' (optional)
*''Discussion'' (embedded Talk page)
*List of non standard ''categories''

==What shall I write at the explanation?==
Everything is welcome as long as it explains the content of the comic. Everybody can edit here and when others disagree about your contributions they may change it.

==In which cases are tables meaningful, and when are they not?==
At the transcript tables should never be used, even when there is a table in the comic image it should be described by text.

At the explanation tables only make sense when the content is compact. When a single row contains more than a small item like a number, a small phrase, or something similar a table isn't the proper layout because it's hard to read. Instead it should be written in floating text chapters with distinct headers above (see next section below.)

Instead of using a two-column table (e.g. "sentence from comic", "explanation"), consider using a description list (''bold text''). Place a semicolon (<code>;</code>) at the beginning of the sentence to be explained and a colon (<code>:</code>) at the beginning of each paragraph of the explanation, like this (from [[1987: Python Environment#Explanation|1987]]):
; Anaconda Python
: Anaconda is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.
: A second paragraph for the explanation.

The Wikipedia's {{w|WP:WHENTABLE#Appropriate use|Manual of Style/Tables}} describes it best:
<blockquote>Often a list is best left as a list. Before reformatting a list into table form, consider whether the information will be more clearly conveyed by virtue of having rows and columns. If so, then a table is probably a good choice. If there is no obvious benefit to having rows and columns, then a table is probably not the best choice. </blockquote>

==What is the proper layout for headers?==
For headlines you have to use Wiki-style code. The simplest way is a preceding semicolon at the beginning of the line which causes the entire line to be rendered in bold.

On large explanations it can be handy to divide it into subsections. In this case the header is written like this: <code><nowiki>===Sub header===</nowiki></code>. But in most cases the simple semicolon is just enough.

==What is the format of the transcript section?==
The transcript should describe the content (think about explaining the comic to a visually impaired person, or to someone on phone). It should do this in a compact manner, and cite all written words. Every line should begin with an indent (a simple <code>:</code> at the beginning), and every panel from the comic should be separated by a blank line. The transcript must not contain any links, nor rich math markup, which it just generates new images. Tables should generally be avoided, although not all transcripts comply with this. Furthermore the title text is not included in the transcript. Checking the pages for the older comics will help understand this.

==One or two spaces after a period? And what's about newlines?==
There is a controversy if one or two spaces after a period ending a sentence should be used. The fact is that even three or more spaces are rendered as only one.
Furthermore a single newline is also just rendered as a space.

A new paragraph like this needs an empty line before, not just a single newline. Click the edit/source button to see how this chapter is written.

==What belongs to the trivia section?==
As implied by the section name, it's just trivia, consisting of unimportant odds-and-ends related to the comic. Since this wiki focuses on explaining this section is not part of the default layout. If a word has been misspelled in the comic or title text, or the image was originally broken at xkcd and reuploaded... basically the things that don't belong in the explanation but should still be mentioned, then it should be mentioned in the trivia section.

==How do I behave at the talk page (discussion)?==
Everybody can add here any thoughts about the comic and more. Please follow the common netiquette and don't be rude. Unless you are replying to a previous comment, in which you should add a colon before your comment, you should add comments at the bottom. Every comment has to be signed at the end with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> or just click the sign button [[File:Button sig.png]] at the top of the editor.

==What does the incomplete tag mean?==
There are two templates to indicate that an explanation or the transcript do need further rework. Just enter <nowiki>{{incomplete|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> or respectively <nowiki>{{incomplete transcript|YOUR REASON}}</nowiki> and don't forget to enter a proper reason to replace the filler text left by the bot (Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.), or if the reason said in the tag has been dealt with. The reason at the transcript is not shown to the viewer.

==How do I enter links to other pages?==
The three mostly used options are:
*an internal link like <code><nowiki>[[Cueball]]</nowiki></code> which renders like this: [[Cueball]]
*a link to the English Wikipedia should use this template: <code><nowiki>{{w|Page}}</nowiki></code> links to the Wikipedia article on "Page" or <code><nowiki>{{w|Page|Display}}</nowiki></code> prints "Display" which links to the Wikipedia article on "Page"
*other external links can be done in three ways:
**just write the URL and it will be shown like this: http://www.example.com
**put it into single brackets: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com]</nowiki></code> and you will see this [http://www.example.com] (please avoid this)
**and add a text: <code><nowiki>[http://www.example.com Example Homepage]</nowiki></code> everything after the first space is shown: [http://www.example.com Example Homepage]

==Why can't I upload pictures or create pages?==
Only registered and trusted users can create pages or upload images. After the registration you have to wait at least three days and you must have done a small amount of edits, then you will be able to create pages and upload images at will.

==How do I embed images?==
This Wiki isn't a picture book, use this feature only sparingly and reduce the size as much as possible. An example can be seen here: [[1400: D.B. Cooper]]. The syntax in this case is <code><nowiki>[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|150px|Cooper]]</nowiki></code> and the picture is taken from Commons, the main source for Wikipedia images. The full syntax can be found at [[mw:Help:Images|MediaWiki]].

You also can upload pictures directly to this Wiki by using the [[Special:Upload]] link from the menu. But do not violate any copyright rules or it will be deleted. And when the picture is available at Commons there is no need to upload it here.

==The picture at xkcd was updated, how do I upload this here?==
Sometimes the initial picture at [[xkcd]] contains typos or other errors. When that has been fixed the comic picture here should also be updated. Save the picture from xkcd to your local PC but be careful, there are two versions available. We here use only the smaller version ''picture.png'' and not the larger one ''picture_2x.png''. So change <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture_2x.png</nowiki></code> to <code><nowiki>https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture.png</nowiki></code> when your browser shows the 2x version.

To update it here just click the image in the comic page and then click "Upload a new version of this file" below the file history. And please be patient, you wont see your upload immediately because it still comes from the cache at the server. But when you see your upload in the file history everything is OK. Just wait...

==How do I enter mathematical or chemical formulas?==
You can use the Math markup <code><nowiki><math>...</math></nowiki></code>. The other known code from Wikipedia <code><nowiki><chem>...</chem></nowiki></code> is NOT supported yet. It's based on LaTeX syntax and a general overview can be found at this {{w|Help:Displaying a formula|Wikipedia help page}} -- don't use it unless you understand what you are doing.

Furthermore never use this markup at the ''transcript'' because that math code is rendered to a picture -- at the transcript we try to describe the comic ''image'' by ''words'', a picture there wouldn't be helpful.

==Is the ''Citation needed'' template here similar to the analog at Wikipedia?==
Simple answer: NO. In fact that template just links to [[285: Wikipedian Protester]], a comic from July 4, 2007 and was meant to be a joke. Adding this template to every comic doesn't explain anything at all (that's what this Wiki aims to do) and should be placed only when there is a deeper sense of humor.

explain xkcd:Editor FAQ

2018-09-25T21:50:52Z

Abcasada: /* In which case tables are meaningful and when not? */ Corrected grammar in heading

'''Frequently Asked Questions for editors'''

This FAQ is a short description about editing pages at this wiki. Please read this carefully and if you have any further questions do not hesitate to enter them into this [[explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ|talk page]].

For general questions please read first the MediaWiki help pages about [[mw:Help:Editing pages|Editing pages]] or look at the full overview here: [[mw:Help:Contents|Help Contents]]. You also can use your preferred search engine by entering "MediaWiki mytopic". Change mytopic to the theme you're searching for, i.e. "MediaWiki tables" will show you many useful sites about editing tables.

Please always use the preview button to verify your edit before finally pressing the save button.

This FAQ focuses only on topics related to this specific Wiki.

==What is the general layout of a comic page?==
In general you don't have to care about this because the pages are generated by a bot nearly immediately after a new comic is released. If the bot fails please follow exactly the instructions here [[User:dgbrtBOT]] to do all the needed actions.

The layout and order is always this:
*Comic ''picture'' with the ''title text'' below
*''Explanation''
*''Transcript''
*''Trivia'' (optional)
*''Discussion'' (embedded Talk page)
*List of non standard ''categories''

==What shall I write at the explanation?==
Everything is welcome as long as it explains the content of the comic. Everybody can edit here and when others disagree about your contributions they may change it.

==In which case are tables meaningful, and when are they not?==
At the transcript tables should never be used, even when there is a table in the comic image it should be described by text.

At the explanation tables only make sense when the content is compact. When a single row contains more than a small item like a number, a small phrase, or something similar a table isn't the proper layout because it's hard to read. Instead it should be written in floating text chapters with distinct headers above (see next section below.)

Instead of using a two-column table (e.g. "sentence from comic", "explanation"), consider using a description list (''bold text''). Place a semicolon (<code>;</code>) at the beginning of the sentence to be explained and a colon (<code>:</code>) at the beginning of each paragraph of the explanation, like this (from [[1987: Python Environment#Explanation|1987]]):
; Anaconda Python
: Anaconda is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.
: A second paragraph for the explanation.

The Wikipedia's {{w|WP:WHENTABLE#Appropriate use|Manual of Style/Tables}} describes it best:
<blockquote>Often a list is best left as a list. Before reformatting a list into table form, consider whether the information will be more clearly conveyed by virtue of having rows and columns. If so, then a table is probably a good choice. If there is no obvious benefit to having rows and columns, then a table is probably not the best choice. </blockquote>

==What is the proper layout for headers?==
For headlines you have to use Wiki-style code. The simplest way is a preceding semicolon at the beginning of the line which causes the entire line to be rendered in bold.

On large explanations it can be handy to divide it into subsections. In this case the header is written like this: <code><nowiki>===Sub header===</nowiki></code>. But in most cases the simple semicolon is just enough.

==What is the format of the transcript section?==
The transcript should describe the content (think about explaining the comic to a visually impaired person, or to someone on phone). It should do this in a compact manner, and cite all written words. Every line should begin with an indent (a simple <code>:</code> at the beginning), and every panel from the comic should be separated by a blank line. The transcript must not contain any links, nor rich math markup, which it just generates new images. Tables should generally be avoided, although not all transcripts comply with this. Furthermore the title text is not included in the transcript. Checking the pages for the older comics will help understand this.

==One or two spaces after a period? And what's about newlines?==
There is a controversy if one or two spaces after a period ending a sentence should be used. The fact is that even three or more spaces are rendered as only one.
Furthermore a single newline is also just rendered as a space.

A new paragraph like this needs an empty line before, not just a single newline. Click the edit/source button to see how this chapter is written.

==What belongs to the trivia section?==
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2048: Curve-Fitting

2018-09-25T21:42:26Z

Abcasada: /* Logarithmic */ Moved "2" to the end of the list of common log bases, as it's far less common (I'd debate whether it should be included, since I literally never heard of using it in engineering school or since, but I'll leave it be for now.)

{{comic
| number = 2048
| date = September 19, 2018
| title = Curve-Fitting
| image = curve_fitting.png
| titletext = Cauchy-Lorentz: "Something alarmingly mathematical is happening, and you should probably pause to Google my name and check what field I originally worked in."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please edit the explanation below and only mention here why it isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

An illustration of several plots of the same data with {{w|Curve fitting|curves fitted}} to the points, paired with conclusions that you might draw about the person who made them. These data, when plotted on an X/Y graph, appear to have a general upward trend, but the data is far too noisy, with too few data points, to clearly suggest any specific growth pattern. In such a case, many different mathematical and statistical models ''could'' be presented as roughly fitting the data, but none of them fits well enough to compellingly represent the data.

When modeling such a problem statistically, much of the work of a data scientist or statistician is knowing which fitting method is most appropriate for the data in question. Here we see various hypothetical scientists or statisticians each applying their own interpretations to the exact same data, and the comic mocks each of them for their various personal biases or other assorted excuses. In general, the researcher will specify the form of an equation for the line to be drawn, and an algorithm will produce the actual line.

Nonetheless scientists work much more seriously on the reliability of their assumptions by giving a value for the {{w|Standard deviation|standard deviation}} represented by the Greek letter sigma σ or the Latin letter s as a measure to quantify the amount of variation of the data points against the presented ''best fit''. If the σ-value isn't good enough an interpretation based on a specific fit wouldn't be accepted by the science community.

Since [[Randall]] gives no hint about the nature of the used data set - same in each graph - any fitting presented doesn't make any sense. The graphs could represent a star map, the votes for the latest elected presidents, or your recent invoices on power consumption. This comic just exaggerates various methods on interpreting data, but without the knowledge of the matter in the background nothing makes any sense.

===Linear===
[[File:Anscombe's quartet 3.svg|thumb|200px|Different data sets result in the same regression.]]
<math>f(x) = mx + b</math>

{{w|Linear regression}} is the most basic form of regression; it tries to find the straight line that best approximates the data. As it's the simplest, most widely taught form of regression, and in general derivable function are locally well approximated by a straight line, it's usually the first and most trivial attempt of fit.

The picture to the right shows how totally different data sets can result into the same line. It's obvious that some more basics about the nature of the data must be used to understand if this simple line really does make sense.

The comment below the graph ''"Hey, I did a regression."'' refers to the fact that this is just the easiest way of fitting data into a curve.

===Quadratic===
<math>f(x) = ax^2 + bx + c</math>

{{w|Polynomial regression|Quadratic fit}} (i.e. fitting a parabola through the data) is the lowest grade polynomial that can be used to fit data through a curved line; if the data exhibits clearly "curved" behavior (or if the experimenter feels that its growth should be more than linear), a parabola is often the first, easiest, stab at fitting the data.

The comment below the graph ''"I wanted a curved line, so I made one with math."'' suggests that a quadratic regression is used when straight lines no longer satisfy the researcher, but he still wants to use simple math expression. Quadratic correlations like this are mathematically valid and one of the simplest kind of curve in math, but this curve doesn't appear to satisfy the data any better than does simple, linear regression.

===Logarithmic===
[[File:Logarithm_plots.png|thumb|200px|Common logarithm functions.]]
<math>f(x) = a\log_b(x) + c</math>

A {{w|Logarithm|logarithmic}} curve growths slower on higher values, but still grows without bound to infinity rather than approaching a horizontal {{w|asymptote}}. The small ''b'' in the formula represents the base which is in most cases ''{{w|e (mathematical constant)|e}}'', 10, or 2. If the data presumably does approach a horizontal asymptote then this fit isn't an effective method to explain the nature of the data.

The comment below the graph ''"Look, it's tapering off!"'' builds up the impression that the data diminishes while under this fit it's still growing to infinity, only much slower than a linear regression does.

===Exponential===
[[File:Exponential.svg|thumb|200px|Exponential growth (green) compared to other functions.]]
<math>f(x) = a\cdot b^x + c</math>

An {{w|Exponential growth|exponential curve}}, on the contrary, is typical of a phenomenon whose growth gets rapidly faster and faster - a common case is a process that generates stuff that contributes to the process itself, think bacteria growth or compound interest.

The logarithmic and exponential interpretations could very easily be fudged or engineered by a researcher with an agenda (such as by taking a misleading subset or even outright lying about the regression), which the comic mocks by juxtaposing them side-by-side on the same set of data.

The comment below the graph ''"Look, it's growing uncontrollably!"'' gives an other frivolous statement suggesting something like chaos. Also this even faster growth is well defined and has no asymptote at both axes.

===LOESS===
A {{w|Local regression|LOESS fit}} doesn't use a single formula to fit all the data, but approximates data points locally using different polynomials for each "zone" (weighting differently data points as they get further from it) and patching them together. As it has much more degrees of freedom compared to a single polynomial, it generally "fits better" to any data set, although it is generally impossible to derive any strong, "clean" mathematical correlation from it - it is just a nice smooth line that approximates well the data points, with a good degree of rejection from outliers.

The comment below the graph ''"I'm sophisticated, not like those bumbling polynomial people."'' emphasis this more complicated interpretation but without a simple mathematical description it's not much helpful to find academic descriptions on the underlying matter.

===Linear, No Slope===
<math>f(x) = c</math>

Apparently, the person making this line figured out pretty early on that their data analysis was turning into a scatter plot, and wanted to escape their personal stigma of scatter plots by drawing an obviously false regression line on top of it. Alternatively, they were hoping the data would be flat, and are trying to pretend that there's no real trend to the data by drawing a horizontal trend line.

The comment below the graph ''"I'm making a scatter plot but I don't want to."'' is probably done by a student who isn't happy with its choice of field of study.

===Logistic===
[[File:Logistic-curve.svg|thumb|200px|A standard logistic function between the values ''0'' and ''1''.]]
The {{w|Logistic regression|logistic regression}} is taken when a variable can take binary results such as "0" and "1" or "old" and "young".

The curve provides a smooth, S-shaped transition curve between two flat intervals (like "0" and "1").

The comment below the graph ''"I need to connect these two lines, but my first idea didn't have enough math."'' implies the experimenter just wants to find a mathematically-respectable way to link two flat lines.

===Confidence Interval===
Not a type of curve fitting, but a method of depicting the predictive power of a curve.

Providing a confidence interval over the graph shows the uncertainty of the acquired data, thus acknowledging the uncertain results of the experiment, and showing the will not to "cheat" with "easy" regression curves.

The comment below the graph ''"Listen, science is hard. But I'm a serious person doing my best."'' is just an honest statement about this uncertainty.

===Piecewise===
Mapping different curves to different segments of the data. This is a legitimate strategy, but the different segments should be meaningful, such as if they were pulled from different populations.

This kind of fit would arise naturally in a study based on a regression discontinuity design. For instance, if students who score below a certain cutoff must take remedial classes, the line for outcomes of those below the cutoff would reasonably be separate from the one for outcomes above the cutoff; the distance between the end of the two lines could be considered the effect of the treatment, under certain assumptions. This kind of study design is used to investigate causal theories, where mere correlation in observational data is not enough to prove anything. Thus, the associated text would be appropriate; there is a theory, and data that might prove the theory is hard to find.

One notable time this is used is when a researcher studying housing economics is trying to identify housing submarkets. The assumption is that if two proposed markets are truly different, they will be better described using two different regression functions than if one were to be used.

The additional curved lines visible in the graph are the kind of confidence intervals you'd get from a simple OLS regression if the standard assumptions were valid. In the case of two separate regressions, it would be surprising if all those assumptions (that is, i.i.d. Normal residuals around an underlying perfectly-linear function) were in fact valid for each part, especially if the slopes are not equal.

A classical example in physics are the different theories to explain the black body radiation at the end of the 19th century. The {{w|Wien approximation}} was good for small wavelengths while the {{w|Rayleigh–Jeans law}} worked for the larger scales (large wavelength means low frequency and thus low energy.) But there was a gap in the middle which was filled by the {{w|Planck's law}} in 1900.

The comment below the graph ''"I have a theory, and this is the only data I could find."'' is a bit ambiguous because there are many data points ignored. Without an explanation why only a subset of the data is used this isn't a useful interpretation at all.

===Connecting lines===
This is often used to smooth gaps in measurements. A simple example is the weather temperature which is often measured in distinct intervals. When the intervals are high enough it's safe to assume that the temperature didn't change that much between them and connecting the data points by lines doesn't distort the real situation in many cases.

The comment below the graph ''"I clicked 'Smooth Lines' in {{w|Microsoft Excel|Excel}}."'' refers to the well known spreadsheet application from {{w|Microsoft Office}}. Like other spreadsheet applications it has the feature to visualize data from a table into a graph by many ways. "Smooth Lines" is a setting meant for use on a {{w|line graph}} and is purely aesthetic; as it simply joins up every point rather than finding a sensible line, it is not suitable for regression.

===Ad-Hoc Filter===
Drawing a bunch of different lines by hand, keeping in only the data points perceived as "good". Not really useful except for marketing purposes.

The comment below the graph ''"I had an idea for how to clean up the data. What do you think?"'' admits that in fact the data is whitewashed and tightly focused to a result the presenter wants to show.

===House of Cards===
Not a real method, but a common consequence of misapplication of statistical methods: a curve can be generated that fits the data extremely well, but immediately becomes absurd as soon as one glances outside the training data sample range, and your analysis comes crashing down "like a house of cards". This is a type of ''overfitting''. In other words, the model may do quite well for (approximately) {{w|Interpolation|interpolating}} between values in the sample range, but not extend at all well to {{w|Extrapolation|extrapolating}} values outside that range.

''Note:'' Exact polynomial fitting, a fit which gives the unique <math>(n-1)</math>th degree polynomial through <math>n</math> points, often display this kind of behaviour.

The comment below the graph ''"As you can see, this model smoothly fits the- wait no no don't extend it AAAAAA!!"'' refers to a curve which fits the data points relatively well within the graph's boundaries, but beyond those bounds fails to match at all.

The name is also a reference to the TV show ''{{w|House of Cards (U.S. TV series)|House of Cards}}'' ("WAIT NO, NO, DON'T EXTEND IT!").

===Cauchy-Lorentz (title text)===
{{w|Cauchy_distribution|Cauchy-Lorentz}} is a continuous probability distribution which does not have an expected value or a defined variance. This means that the law of large numbers does not hold and that estimating e.g. the sample mean will diverge (be all over the place) the more data points you have. Hence very troublesome (mathematically alarming).

Since so many different models can fit this data set at first glance, Randall may be making a point about how if a data set is sufficiently messy, you can read any trend you want into it, and the trend that is chosen may say more about the researcher than about the data. This is a similar sentiment to [[1725: Linear Regression]], which also pokes fun at dubious trend lines on scatterplots.

A brief Google search reveals that Augustin-Louis Cauchy originally worked as a junior engineer in a managerial position. Upon his acceptance to the Académie des Sciences in March 1816, many of his peers expressed outrage. Despite his early work in "mere" engineering, Cauchy is widely regarded as one of the founding influences in the rigorous study of calculus & accompanying proofs.

Alternately, the title-text could be implying that the person who applied the Cauchy-Lorentz curve-fitting method may not be well qualified to the task assigned.

==Transcript==
:'''Curve-Fitting Methods'''
:and the messages they send

:[In a single frame twelve scatter plots with unlabeled x- and y-axes are shown. Each plot consists of the same data-set of approximately thirty points located all over the plot but slightly more distributed around the diagonal. Every plot shows in red a different fitting method which is labeled on top in gray.]

:[The first plot shows a line starting at the left bottom above the x-axis rising towards the points to the right.]
:Linear
:"Hey, I did a regression."

:[The second plot shows a curve falling slightly down and then rising up to the right.]
:Quadratic
:"I wanted a curved line, so I made one with math."

:[At the third plot the curve starts near the left bottom and increases more and more less to the right.]
:Logarithmic
:"Look, it's tapering off!"

:[The fourth plot shows a curve starting near the left bottom and increases more and more steeper towards the right.]
:Exponential
:"Look, it's growing uncontrollably!"

:[The fifth plot uses a fitting to match many points. It starts at the left bottom, increases, then decreases, then rapidly increasing again, and finally reaching a plateau.]
:LOESS
:"I'm sophisticated, not like those bumbling polynomial people."

:[The sixth plot simply shows a line above but parallel to the x-axis.]
:Linear, no slope
:"I'm making a scatter plot but I don't want to."

:[At plot #7 starts at a plateau above the x-axis, then increases, and finally reaches a higher plateau.]
:Logistic
:"I need to connect these two lines, but my first idea didn't have enough Math."

:[Plot #8 shows two red lines embedding most points and the area between is painted as a red shadow.]
:Confidence interval
:"Listen, science is hard. But I'm a serious person doing my best."

:[Plot #9 shows two not connected lines, one at the lower left half, and one higher at the right. Both have smaller curved lines in light red above and below.]
:Piecewise
:"I have a theory, and this is the only data I could find."

:[The plot at the left bottom shows a line connecting all points from left to right, resulting in a curve going many times up and down.]
:Connecting lines
:"I clicked 'Smooth Lines' in Excel."

:[The next to last plot shows a echelon form, connecting a few real and some imaginary points.]
:Ad-Hoc filter
:"I had an idea for how to clean up the data. What do you think?"

:[The last plot shows a wave with increasing peak values. Finally the plot of the wave is continued beyond the x- and y-axis borders.]
:House of Cards
:"As you can see, this model smoothly fits the- ''wait no no don't extend it AAAAAA!!''"

==Trivia==
*This is the comic 2048, or 211. In addition to being the name of a popular app referenced in [[1344: Digits]], this is an extremely round number in binary (100,000,000,0002). [[1000: 1000 Comics]] pointed out that comic 1024 would be a round number, but there were not any comics noting 2048.

*This comic is similar to [[977: Map Projections]] which also uses a scientific method not commonly thought about by the general public to determine specific characteristics of one's personality and approach to science.

*Regressions have been the subject of several previous comics. [[1725: Linear Regression]] was about linear regressions on uncorrelated or poorly correlated data. [[1007: Sustainable]], [[1204: Detail]] and [[1281: Minifigs]] depict linear regressions on data that was actually logistic, leading to bizarre extrapolations. [[605: Extrapolating]] shows a line extrapolating from just two data points.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Science]]

Talk:1634: In Case of Emergency

2016-02-05T23:13:31Z

Abcasada:

Just attempted my first transcript... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.163|108.162.249.163]] 07:22, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

Can someone please explain the title text?? When I search for "emergency locker" on google images, I get some disconcerting results... [[Special:Contributions/198.41.243.238|198.41.243.238]] 08:20, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
:Probably means something like this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/St-John-Ambulance-Lockable-Cabinet/dp/B003KK6948 [[User:Jdluk|Jdluk]] ([[User talk:Jdluk|talk]]) 09:36, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
::He clearly means something with glass in front of the locker inside. I have in vain tried to find anything like it on the web. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:07, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
:::Try http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/H-2122/Fire-Protection/Fire-Extinguisher-Cabinet-2-1-2-5-lb or https://www.grainger.com/product/ALTA-Fire-Extinguisher-Cabinet-40LU32?s_pp=false&picUrl=//static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/40LU32_AS02?$smthumb$ (enlarge the image and look at the door handle). I can't find what I remember as the classic with a hammer and instructions in read letters. I suspect I'm dating myself and Randall since it appears there have been some technological changes in the way these cabinets are constructed.[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.95|198.41.235.95]] 16:16, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
::::Thanks, this fits the description. Although I still haven't seen any place on the web where these kinds of lockers are described as ''emergency lockers'' --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:17, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

What I've wanted to do is have a normal one with a fire extinguisher, and next to it have a fireplace with a hammer in the back and a sign that says "In case of glass, extinguish fire." [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 10:10, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
:: Me too! Though I'd prefer "In case of broken glass, start a fire." [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.71|108.162.237.71]] 19:04, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
sorry, "it's" abuse again. aren't we supposed to be geeks? --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.106.161|141.101.106.161]] 13:50, 25 January 2016 (UTC)

:The "incomplete" infobox says ''Fire alarms usually only have plastic in front - not glass that needs to be broken.'' However, there are many styles of pull station which do in fact have glass which needs to be broken: [http://s423.photobucket.com/user/wiley207/media/K-8/IMG_3033.jpg.html example]. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.74|108.162.237.74]] 16:37, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
:: An agreement with the above: Please edit the 'incomplete' tag. While it's true that this new comic's explanation is indeed incomplete, the statement that 'fire alarms do not usually have glass that needs to be broken' isn't just untrue, it's clearly written from one user's perspective in a way that only confuses the meaning of the comic. The whole tag could use rewording, hopefully towards making a statement about what needs to be changed, rather than just declaring a disagreement. - [[Special:Contributions/141.101.70.43|141.101.70.43]] 17:15, 25 January 2016 (UTC)
:::With the above: I think the explanation's complete. Googling "emergency locker glass" clearly reveals the apparatus in the comic (although without "glass" the results aren't that at all) so I think the reason is invalid. Should the tag be removed?03:46, 26 January 2016 (UTC)
::::It seems that the "locker" part of the search results is mostly due to google matching similar or related words, like "lock" or "case". I brought up a handful of results and couldn't find any products containing glass that actually called themselves "emergency lockers". I think the title text joke really is about not needing safety glass because you can bandage yourself with the first aid kit, but the wrong words got used.--[[Special:Contributions/198.41.235.167|198.41.235.167]] 13:47, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Referencing the transcription, generally the correct term is "pane" of glass. Is there a reason the term "panel" is used?[[User:Abcasada|Abcasada]] ([[User talk:Abcasada|talk]]) 23:13, 5 February 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1634: In Case of Emergency

2016-02-05T23:13:13Z

Abcasada: Terminology critique