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		<updated>2026-07-07T20:30:08Z</updated>
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	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415388</id>
		<title>3265: Asteroid Threat</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415388"/>
				<updated>2026-06-29T18:47:57Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3265&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 29, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Asteroid Threat&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = asteroid_threat_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 345x424px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Paleontologists have long worried that the dinosaurs blasted into space 66 million years ago will one day complete their orbits and fall back down.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by a reentering dinosaur. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's generally agreed by scientists that most {{w|dinosaurs}} went extinct as a result of the {{w|Chicxulub asteroid}} impacting the Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago. This comic posits that another asteroid is soon going to hit the Earth again. Because the impact location will be on the exact opposite side of the planet, it will have the opposite effect of bring dinosaurs back from extinction.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The general concensus is that the dinosaurs went extinct as a result of the environmental effects of the impact. The title text suggests that it actually launched the dinosaurs lived into space. They've been circling the Sun in a long orbit that will some day intersect with the Earth again.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Two images of Earth are shown. At the top left is a small picture, centered on the west coast of Africa, showing the Atlantic Ocean and the east cost of South America. Taking up most of the rest of the panel is a large picture centered on the Indian Ocean. There's a diagram with a circle and four spokes targeting a location northwest of Australia and southwest of Indonesia.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below image:]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Dire news: An asteroid is on course to hit the earth exactly opposite the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing back the dinosaurs.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415387</id>
		<title>3265: Asteroid Threat</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415387"/>
				<updated>2026-06-29T18:46:24Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3265&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 29, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Asteroid Threat&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = asteroid_threat_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 345x424px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Paleontologists have long worried that the dinosaurs blasted into space 66 million years ago will one day complete their orbits and fall back down.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by a reentering dinosaur. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's generally agreed by scientists that most {{w|dinosaurs}} went extinct as a result of the {{w|Chicxulub asteroid}} impacting the Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago. This comic posits that another asteroid is soon going to hit the Earth again. Because the impact location will be on the exact opposite side of the planet, it will have the opposite effect of bring dinosaurs back from extinction.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The general concensus is that the dinosaurs went extinct as a result of the environmental effects of the impact. The title text suggests that it actually knocked a portion of the Earth where the dinosaurs lived into space. The asteroid that's going to strike us again is that chunk, which has been on a long-term orbit that's finally bringing it back in the Earth's vicinity.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Two images of Earth are shown. At the top left is a small picture, centered on the west coast of Africa, showing the Atlantic Ocean and the east cost of South America. Taking up most of the rest of the panel is a large picture centered on the Indian Ocean. There's a diagram with a circle and four spokes targeting a location northwest of Australia and southwest of Indonesia.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below image:]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Dire news: An asteroid is on course to hit the earth exactly opposite the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing back the dinosaurs.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415386</id>
		<title>3265: Asteroid Threat</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415386"/>
				<updated>2026-06-29T18:46:11Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3265&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 29, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Asteroid Threat&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = asteroid_threat_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 345x424px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Paleontologists have long worried that the dinosaurs blasted into space 66 million years ago will one day complete their orbits and fall back down.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by a reentering dinosaur. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's generally agreed by scientists that most {{w|dinosaurs}} went extinct as a result of the {{w|Chicxulub asteroid}} impacting the Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago. This comic posits that another asteroid is soon going to hit the Earth again. Because the impact location will be on the exact opposite side of the planet, it will have the opposite effect of bring dinosaurs back from extinction.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The general concensus is that the dinosaurs went exting as a result of the environmental effects of the impact. The title text suggests that it actually knocked a portion of the Earth where the dinosaurs lived into space. The asteroid that's going to strike us again is that chunk, which has been on a long-term orbit that's finally bringing it back in the Earth's vicinity.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Two images of Earth are shown. At the top left is a small picture, centered on the west coast of Africa, showing the Atlantic Ocean and the east cost of South America. Taking up most of the rest of the panel is a large picture centered on the Indian Ocean. There's a diagram with a circle and four spokes targeting a location northwest of Australia and southwest of Indonesia.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below image:]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Dire news: An asteroid is on course to hit the earth exactly opposite the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing back the dinosaurs.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415385</id>
		<title>3265: Asteroid Threat</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415385"/>
				<updated>2026-06-29T18:41:31Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3265&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 29, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Asteroid Threat&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = asteroid_threat_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 345x424px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Paleontologists have long worried that the dinosaurs blasted into space 66 million years ago will one day complete their orbits and fall back down.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by a reentering dinosaur. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's generally agreed by scientists that most {{w|dinosaurs}} went extinct as a result of the {{w|Chicxulub asteroid}} impacting the Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago. This comic posits that another asteroid is soon going to hit the Earth again. Because the impact location will be on the exact opposite side of the planet, it will have the opposite effect of bring dinosaurs back from extinction.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Two images of Earth are shown. At the top left is a small picture, centered on the west coast of Africa, showing the Atlantic Ocean and the east cost of South America. Taking up most of the rest of the panel is a large picture centered on the Indian Ocean. There's a diagram with a circle and four spokes targeting a location northwest of Australia and southwest of Indonesia.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below image:]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Dire news: An asteroid is on course to hit the earth exactly opposite the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing back the dinosaurs.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415384</id>
		<title>3265: Asteroid Threat</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415384"/>
				<updated>2026-06-29T18:41:14Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3265&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 29, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Asteroid Threat&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = asteroid_threat_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 345x424px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Paleontologists have long worried that the dinosaurs blasted into space 66 million years ago will one day complete their orbits and fall back down.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by a reentering dinosaur. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's generally agreed by scientists that most {{w|dinosaurs}} went extinct as a result of the {{w|Chicxulub asteroid}} impacting the Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago. This comic posits that another asteroid is soon going to hit the Earth again. Because the impact location will be on the exact opposite side of the planet, it will have the opposite effect of bring dinosaurs back from extinction.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Two images of Earth are shown. At the top left is a small picture, centered on the west coast of Africa, showing the Atlantic Ocean and the east cost of South America. Taking up most of the rest of the panel is a large picture centered on the Indian Ocean. There's a diagram with a circle and four spokes targeting a location northwest of Australia and southwest of Indonesia.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below image:]&lt;br /&gt;
:Dire news: An asteroid is on course to hit the earth exactly opposite the Yucatán Peninsula, bringing back the dinosaurs.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415383</id>
		<title>3265: Asteroid Threat</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3265:_Asteroid_Threat&amp;diff=415383"/>
				<updated>2026-06-29T18:32:15Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3265&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 29, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Asteroid Threat&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = asteroid_threat_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 345x424px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Paleontologists have long worried that the dinosaurs blasted into space 66 million years ago will one day complete their orbits and fall back down.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by a reentering dinosaur. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's generally agreed by scientists that most {{w|dinosaurs}} went extinct as a result of the {{w|Chicxulub asteroid}} impacting the Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula 66 million years ago. This comic posits that another asteroid is soon going to hit the Earth again. Because the impact location will be on the exact opposite side of the planet, it will have the opposite effect of bring dinosaurs back from extinction.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415051</id>
		<title>Talk:3262: Sports Commentary</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415051"/>
				<updated>2026-06-23T14:24:05Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
F1rst p0st! I'll do this explanation. [[Special:Contributions/185.36.194.22|185.36.194.22]] 04:32, 23 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Did this example actually happen? [[Special:Contributions/47.151.65.120|47.151.65.120]] 04:33, 23 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This comic reminds me of [[1122: Electoral Precedent]] and [[2383: Electoral Precedent 2020]]. Generalizing coincidences.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I am not a native English speaker. What does &amp;quot; they've gone 0 for 2&amp;quot; mean? Obviously it cannot be the score, since they are already leading 2-1? Or does this refer to a previous match?&lt;br /&gt;
And on a more general note, I am really surprised to discover the second football themed comic strip in a few days. OK it's the World Cup, but I always thought that Randall doesn't really care about sports? --[[Special:Contributions/92.209.171.90|92.209.171.90]] 08:37, 23 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:I ''am'' a native English speaker, but it was also a bit impenetrable to me. In part, perhaps, because it was ''intended'' to sound impenetrable (as part of the joke). But, even if not, it may be because it's using Americanized sports-talk phrasing that just isn't (yet!) used so much in my more native Anglicised commentaries that I'm used to.&lt;br /&gt;
:However, I ''think'' they're saying that &amp;quot;in the two specific occasions in which all those other conditions occur, they won in neither of them&amp;quot;.&lt;br /&gt;
:A simpler version being perhaps to state that a given team/player has gone nought-for-two in previous matches with their current opponent(s). The results of those contests might have been anything (the winner having gone to 3-2 after penalties, 6-love/6-love/6-love, a par-4 advantage or getting them all out for 178 — depending upon the sport), it's just the win/lose (or win/not-win) count thats &amp;quot;0 for 2&amp;quot;.&lt;br /&gt;
:But this is a case of Overly Narrow Superlative (overlapping with P-Hacking), making it a dubious analysis. Starting with ignoring all the games there are in which a given svoreline was not achieved in a particular ''minute'' of play. I think part of this set-up is the difference between Gridiron 'football'/&amp;quot;hand-egg&amp;quot; having tons of points scored, whereas this football (Soccer) often turns on comparatively low scores that (one-nil can be a worthy and entertaining win/loss, and even a no-score-draw might have been fun to watch if your side isn't in desperate need for a win). These commentators, or at least the US audience they're commentating to, are used to spieling things about &amp;quot;the last time they were down on the forty-yard line in the fifth quarter, with two home runs and a shot from the free-throw line in hand...&amp;quot; (look, I {{tvtropes|GretzkyHasTheBall|know I don't know}} what they'd really say, to any accuracy, there was no point even trying!), at least to fill in the copious down-time/time-out pauses. (Which isn't actually as easy with low-scoring but more ever-moving 'soccer', where there's often much to be said about current player and ball movements almost all the time; although a five-day international cricket test match(!) commentary on the radio ''does'' rather famously lapse into 'filler' like discussing the nice cake that was sent to them by a listener, in the gaps between balls being bowled...)&lt;br /&gt;
:Sorry, that was a long and convoluted paragraph. (But then, so was the Explanation, before I decided to say this down here. I hope it's been tweaked since then. I'm only really guessing about the Leftpondian commentator-speak being parodied here, and ball-sports aren't really my main interest in the sprorting sphere itself. (But, regarding balls that aren't themselves spheres, I'd happily discuss Rugby League or Rugby Union, and why they're 'better'... though I would totally acknowledge Aussie Rules as a class of its own as far as such contact-sports go.)&lt;br /&gt;
:HTH, HAND. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.84|82.132.236.84]] 10:08, 23 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::I'm also English, and it's totally alien to me too. [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 11:53, 23 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:I don't know what prompted the rant above, but if you don't care to read it, &amp;quot;going 0 for 2&amp;quot; means having 0 successes out of 2 chances.  In the context of this commentary, it's referring to winning 0 games out of the 2 games that meet the criteria.  It's not intended to sound impenetrable; it's a common phrasing.[[Special:Contributions/163.116.145.33|163.116.145.33]] 13:37, 23 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Closest match I can find is Germany - Curacao but there Germany took the lead in the 38th minute (not the 37th). I leave the deep dive on Germany's record against teams alphabetically before them when they have taken the lead 2-1 in the 37th/38th minute to someone else...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: And, of course, Germany destroyed Curaçao 7-1, just like they did to Brazil (which is also alphabetically before Germany!) 12 years prior [[User:Wilh3lm|Wilh3lm]] ([[User talk:Wilh3lm|talk]]) 12:38, 23 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
'''Don't assume &amp;quot;bad&amp;quot; p-hacking without looking closer at the data''': Sometimes what looks like P-hacking is really finding previously-unseen patterns.  If you have a drug trial on a drug that you have no reason to think will show gender differences and you are asking &amp;quot;is this drug better than existing drugs&amp;quot; and the results are inconclusive, then you do &amp;quot;p-hack&amp;quot; subgroups and find that in males between the ages of 18 and 50 it demonstrates superior results, you MAY be cherry-picking results or you MAY have found a hidden pattern.  Assuming your sub-group size isn't ridiculously small, you can legitimately claim that you need more funding for a follow-up study or at least a follow-up analysis of this subgroup in previous studies of the same drug. [[Special:Contributions/150.221.155.241|150.221.155.241]] 13:35, 23 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:Yes, more data is usually the solution. The comic deliberately uses an extremely small dataset. You can make up almost any hypothesis and find 2-3 datapoints that fit it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:24, 23 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415011</id>
		<title>3262: Sports Commentary</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415011"/>
				<updated>2026-06-23T04:09:03Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3262&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 22, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Sports Commentary&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = sports_commentary_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 251x374px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created at a statistically insignificant time. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This comic was published 11 days into the {{w|2026 FIFA World Cup}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
[Cueball and Ponytail are sitting at a table. On the wall behind them is a screen showing a soccer field with some unreadable score information above it.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: They could be in trouble. Over the last 36 years, they've gone 0 for 2 when they've scored in the 37th minute to lead 2-1 against a team whose country comes before theirs alphabetically.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below comic:] I wish sports commentators hadn't discovered P-hacking.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415010</id>
		<title>3262: Sports Commentary</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415010"/>
				<updated>2026-06-23T04:08:06Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3262&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 22, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Sports Commentary&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = sports_commentary_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 251x374px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created statistically recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This comic was published 11 days into the {{w|2026 FIFA World Cup}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
[Cueball and Ponytail are sitting at a table. On the wall behind them is a screen showing a soccer field with some unreadable score information above it.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: They could be in trouble. Over the last 36 years, they've gone 0 for 2 when they've scored in the 37th minute to lead 2-1 against a team whose country comes before theirs alphabetically.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below comic:] I wish sports commentators hadn't discovered P-hacking.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415009</id>
		<title>3262: Sports Commentary</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415009"/>
				<updated>2026-06-23T04:07:43Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3262&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 22, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Sports Commentary&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = sports_commentary_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 251x374px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created statistically recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This comic was published 11 days after the beginning of the {{w|2026 FIFA World Cup}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
[Cueball and Ponytail are sitting at a table. On the wall behind them is a screen showing a soccer field with some unreadable score information above it.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: They could be in trouble. Over the last 36 years, they've gone 0 for 2 when they've scored in the 37th minute to lead 2-1 against a team whose country comes before theirs alphabetically.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below comic:] I wish sports commentators hadn't discovered P-hacking.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415008</id>
		<title>3262: Sports Commentary</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415008"/>
				<updated>2026-06-23T04:07:31Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3262&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 22, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Sports Commentary&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = sports_commentary_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 251x374px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created statistically recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This comic was published 11 days after the beginning of the {w|2026 FIFA World Cup}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
[Cueball and Ponytail are sitting at a table. On the wall behind them is a screen showing a soccer field with some unreadable score information above it.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: They could be in trouble. Over the last 36 years, they've gone 0 for 2 when they've scored in the 37th minute to lead 2-1 against a team whose country comes before theirs alphabetically.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below comic:] I wish sports commentators hadn't discovered P-hacking.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415007</id>
		<title>3262: Sports Commentary</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3262:_Sports_Commentary&amp;diff=415007"/>
				<updated>2026-06-23T04:04:48Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3262&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 22, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Sports Commentary&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = sports_commentary_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 251x374px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
[Cueball and Ponytail are sitting at a table. On the wall behind them is a screen showing a soccer field with some unreadable score information above it.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: They could be in trouble. Over the last 36 years, they've gone 0 for 2 when they've scored in the 37th minute to lead 2-1 against a team whose country comes before theirs alphabetically.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below comic:] I wish sports commentators hadn't discovered P-hacking.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3261:_Side_Effect&amp;diff=414938</id>
		<title>3261: Side Effect</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3261:_Side_Effect&amp;diff=414938"/>
				<updated>2026-06-20T14:54:35Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3261&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 19, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Side Effect&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = side_effect_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 658x247px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by sensitive medication and HAS SIDE EFFECTS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Beret Guy]] tells [[Ponytail]] about the new medication he’s using, with the normal side effect of sensitivity to sun exposure and the far less normal sensitivity to {{w|gravitational waves}}.  At first she replies that those side effects are normal, then does a double take and is confused about the second effect. Then, when she realizes, Beret Guy starts to exhibit the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave, but by obviously visible amounts. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from [[291: Dignified|an earlier comic]] that it is stapled to his head. (Or perhaps it's part of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange power]] the medicine makes him exhibit.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is probably the most extreme example to date of Beret Guy being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;{{w|chirp mass|The chirp}}&amp;quot; refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of black hole collision, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly (the term comes from how it sounds when the gravitational wave is converted to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWqhUANNFXw sound]). This would cause Beret Guy's body to also change form repeatedly and rapidly.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
:[Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.&lt;br /&gt;
:[Beret Guy's arms are out.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?&lt;br /&gt;
:Beret Guy: Here comes one now!&lt;br /&gt;
:[Over three panels, Beret Guy is stretched out in height, then he gets shorter and wider, then stretched out again.]&lt;br /&gt;
:[Last Panel:]Beret Guy: ''WHEEE!''&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3261:_Side_Effect&amp;diff=414937</id>
		<title>3261: Side Effect</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3261:_Side_Effect&amp;diff=414937"/>
				<updated>2026-06-20T14:52:46Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3261&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 19, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Side Effect&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = side_effect_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 658x247px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by sensitive medication and HAS SIDE EFFECTS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Beret Guy]] tells [[Ponytail]] about the new medication he’s using, with the normal side effect of sensitivity to sun exposure and the far less normal sensitivity to {{w|gravitational waves}}.  At first she replies that those side effects are normal, then does a double take and is confused about the second effect. Then, when she realizes, Beret Guy starts to exhibit the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave, but by obviously visible amounts. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from [[291: Dignified|an earlier comic]] that it is stapled to his head. (Or perhaps it's part of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange power]] the medicine makes him exhibit.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is probably the most extreme example to date of Beret Guy being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;{{w|chirp mass|The chirp}}&amp;quot; refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of black hole collision, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly (the term comes from how it sounds when the gravitational wave is converted to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWqhUANNFXw sound]). This would cause Beret Guy's body to also change form repeatedly and rapidly.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
:[Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.&lt;br /&gt;
:[Beret Guy's arms are out.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?&lt;br /&gt;
:Beret Guy: Here comes one now!&lt;br /&gt;
:[Over three panels, Beret Guy is stretched out in height, then he gets shorter and wider, then stretched out again.]&lt;br /&gt;
:[Last Panel:]Beret Guy: ''WHEEE!''&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3261:_Side_Effect&amp;diff=414935</id>
		<title>3261: Side Effect</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3261:_Side_Effect&amp;diff=414935"/>
				<updated>2026-06-20T14:39:08Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3261&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 19, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Side Effect&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = side_effect_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 658x247px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Brace yourself--the chirp gets pretty weird.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by sensitive medication and HAS SIDE EFFECTS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Beret Guy]] tells [[Ponytail]] about the new medication he’s using, with the normal side effect of sensitivity to sun exposure and the far less normal sensitivity to {{w|gravitational waves}}.  At first she replies that those side effects are normal, then does a double take and is confused about the second effect. Then, when she realizes, Beret Guy starts to exhibit the stretching and squishing of a gravitational wave, but by obviously visible amounts. Beret Guy's hat also stretches and shrinks, indicating it could be a part of his body, which contradicts the idea from [[291: Dignified|an earlier comic]] that it is stapled to his head. (Or perhaps it's part of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange power]] the medicine makes him exhibit.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This is probably the most extreme example to date of Beret Guy being peculiarly sensitive to minuscule external forces. However, rather than showing concern for his body rapidly changing shape, he instead enjoys the feeling, saying 'Whee' in the last panel.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&amp;quot;{{w|chirp mass|The chirp}}&amp;quot; refers to gravitational waves during the end-stages of black hole collision, during which expansion and contraction of the waves increase in frequency to the point where they alternate extremely rapidly. This would cause Beret Guy's body to also change form repeatedly and rapidly.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
:[Beret Guy is standing to the right of Ponytail.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Beret Guy: This new topical medication makes me extra sensitive to sun exposure and gravitational waves.&lt;br /&gt;
:[Beret Guy's arms are out.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Oh yeah, that's a common ...wait, what was that last part?&lt;br /&gt;
:Beret Guy: Here comes one now!&lt;br /&gt;
:[Over three panels, Beret Guy is stretched out in height, then he gets shorter and wider, then stretched out again.]&lt;br /&gt;
:[Last Panel:]Beret Guy: ''WHEEE!''&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414830</id>
		<title>Talk:3260: Messi</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414830"/>
				<updated>2026-06-17T22:42:26Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Does Randall support Messi? [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:26, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:Who doesn't support Messi? :D [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.46|130.76.187.46]] 18:00, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::He's [https://mrmen.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Messy one of my favourites]. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:29, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
New football/soccer terms for me! 2 goals scored in one game = Brace, 3 goals = Hat-trick, 4 goals = Haul, 5 goals = Glut [[User:BorQhue del Sol|BorQhue del Sol]] ([[User talk:BorQhue del Sol|talk]]) 16:58, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;quot;Brace&amp;quot; is a general form for a 'two-fer' of something (&amp;quot;I shot a brace of pheasant, the other day!&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;quot;Hat-Trick&amp;quot; originally came from cricket; as a feat that earnt you a prized 'bragging rights' cap, from your team-mates, but possibly reinterpreted as you performing a magical feat (like pulling a rabbit from a hat).&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;quot;Haul&amp;quot; isn't, as far as I know, specific to four things, though you may praise a &amp;quot;four-goal haul&amp;quot; (better than the already named hat-trick, but getting a &amp;quot;five-goal haul&amp;quot; would be better yet). If it's been appropriated for four-specifically, it might just be like the extension of birdie to eagle to albatross to condor in golf (seeking a new word for such a feat).&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;quot;Glut&amp;quot; is a slightly derogatory everyday term, really. A &amp;quot;more than sufficiency&amp;quot;. So, in a football context, either a direct complaint that someone scored far more goals against your side than was ''strictly'' necessary (in a case of being outclassed), or a tongue-in-cheek complaint that ''your'' player was now just showing off (supremacy in sport is one thing, but its rarely as much fun as barely scraping a 1-1 draw when anything but an actual loss (or goalless stalemate) isn't a threat to you comfortably staying at (or going up from) your current tier of competition, based upon prior performance and expectations. (A five-nil result, or more, doesn't usually do more to help your cause than a one-nil one, and the risks of trying too hard to get beyond three or four goals for an outclassing team (or just for a given player) are that you'll over-exert yourself, and/or use up 'all your luck'... [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:29, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::Soccer fans are just too used to it being a low-scoring game. You could also win a basketball game 2-1, but I'm pretty sure viewership would drop precipitously if this became normal. Maybe all these sports should switch to a virctory point system rather than just win/loss, so players don't get complacent. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:42, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the explanation on the hover text is missing the point that, at 38 years old, this is likely to be Messi's last world cup, which is another way in which the statement &amp;quot;last world cup in which he faces serious opposition&amp;quot; is technically true.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the curve might be exponential, referencing the &amp;quot;predictions&amp;quot; of AI future capabilities [[Special:Contributions/93.36.179.126|93.36.179.126]] 17:15, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We should explain how there can data points in the graph with y-values between zero and one.  I assume it's because a team might well play multiple games during a single tournament. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 18:10, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:That's obviously true. In the current format, each team plays between 3 and 8 games. During the initial group stage there are groups of 4 where each team plays the other 3. Then there are 5 single-elimination knockout rounds plus a playoff for third place between the semi-final losers. So if Messi makes it to the finals and scores 1 goal in every other game, the y-value will be 0.5. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:03, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
'''Messi'''est graph ever.  [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 18:34, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I was going to update the transcript with estimated Y values of each data point. But maybe someone with a little more time and tooling could actually measure them and produce reasonably precise values. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:57, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Updated the transcript with the goals per game values for each world cup.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Do we need a new category for improbable extrapolations? I remember one about a woman having multiple husbands because she just got married and that would mean she gets a new husband every day, and I swear there were more. [[Special:Contributions/8.53.15.117|8.53.15.117]] 20:55, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414829</id>
		<title>Talk:3260: Messi</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414829"/>
				<updated>2026-06-17T22:42:08Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Does Randall support Messi? [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:26, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:Who doesn't support Messi? :D [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.46|130.76.187.46]] 18:00, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::He's [https://mrmen.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Messy one of my favourites]. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:29, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
New football/soccer terms for me! 2 goals scored in one game = Brace, 3 goals = Hat-trick, 4 goals = Haul, 5 goals = Glut [[User:BorQhue del Sol|BorQhue del Sol]] ([[User talk:BorQhue del Sol|talk]]) 16:58, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;quot;Brace&amp;quot; is a general form for a 'two-fer' of something (&amp;quot;I shot a brace of pheasant, the other day!&amp;quot;).&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;quot;Hat-Trick&amp;quot; originally came from cricket; as a feat that earnt you a prized 'bragging rights' cap, from your team-mates, but possibly reinterpreted as you performing a magical feat (like pulling a rabbit from a hat).&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;quot;Haul&amp;quot; isn't, as far as I know, specific to four things, though you may praise a &amp;quot;four-goal haul&amp;quot; (better than the already named hat-trick, but getting a &amp;quot;five-goal haul&amp;quot; would be better yet). If it's been appropriated for four-specifically, it might just be like the extension of birdie to eagle to albatross to condor in golf (seeking a new word for such a feat).&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;quot;Glut&amp;quot; is a slightly derogatory everyday term, really. A &amp;quot;more than sufficiency&amp;quot;. So, in a football context, either a direct complaint that someone scored far more goals against your side than was ''strictly'' necessary (in a case of being outclassed), or a tongue-in-cheek complaint that ''your'' player was now just showing off (supremacy in sport is one thing, but its rarely as much fun as barely scraping a 1-1 draw when anything but an actual loss (or goalless stalemate) isn't a threat to you comfortably staying at (or going up from) your current tier of competition, based upon prior performance and expectations. (A five-nil result, or more, doesn't usually do more to help your cause than a one-nil one, and the risks of trying too hard to get beyond three or four goals for an outclassing team (or just for a given player) are that you'll over-exert yourself, and/or use up 'all your luck'... [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 22:29, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::Soccer fans are just too used to it being a low-scoring game. You could also win a basketball game 2-1, but I'm pretty sure viewership would drop precipitously if this were normal. Maybe all these sports should switch to a virctory point system rather than just win/loss, so players don't get complacent. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:42, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the explanation on the hover text is missing the point that, at 38 years old, this is likely to be Messi's last world cup, which is another way in which the statement &amp;quot;last world cup in which he faces serious opposition&amp;quot; is technically true.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the curve might be exponential, referencing the &amp;quot;predictions&amp;quot; of AI future capabilities [[Special:Contributions/93.36.179.126|93.36.179.126]] 17:15, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We should explain how there can data points in the graph with y-values between zero and one.  I assume it's because a team might well play multiple games during a single tournament. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 18:10, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:That's obviously true. In the current format, each team plays between 3 and 8 games. During the initial group stage there are groups of 4 where each team plays the other 3. Then there are 5 single-elimination knockout rounds plus a playoff for third place between the semi-final losers. So if Messi makes it to the finals and scores 1 goal in every other game, the y-value will be 0.5. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:03, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
'''Messi'''est graph ever.  [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 18:34, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I was going to update the transcript with estimated Y values of each data point. But maybe someone with a little more time and tooling could actually measure them and produce reasonably precise values. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:57, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Updated the transcript with the goals per game values for each world cup.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Do we need a new category for improbable extrapolations? I remember one about a woman having multiple husbands because she just got married and that would mean she gets a new husband every day, and I swear there were more. [[Special:Contributions/8.53.15.117|8.53.15.117]] 20:55, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414816</id>
		<title>Talk:3260: Messi</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414816"/>
				<updated>2026-06-17T19:05:06Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Does Randall support Messi? [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:26, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:Who doesn't support Messi? :D [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.46|130.76.187.46]] 18:00, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
New football/soccer terms for me! 2 goals scored in one game = Brace, 3 goals = Hat-trick, 4 goals = Haul, 5 goals = Glut [[User:BorQhue del Sol|BorQhue del Sol]] ([[User talk:BorQhue del Sol|talk]]) 16:58, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the explanation on the hover text is missing the point that, at 38 years old, this is likely to be Messi's last world cup, which is another way in which the statement &amp;quot;last world cup in which he faces serious opposition&amp;quot; is technically true.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the curve might be exponential, referencing the &amp;quot;predictions&amp;quot; of AI future capabilities [[Special:Contributions/93.36.179.126|93.36.179.126]] 17:15, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We should explain how there can data points in the graph with y-values between zero and one.  I assume it's because a team might well play multiple games during a single tournament. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 18:10, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:That's obviously true. In the current format, each team plays between 3 and 8 games. During the initial group stage there are groups of 4 where each team plays the other 3. Then there are 5 single-elimination knockout rounds plus a playoff for third place between the semi-final losers. So if Messi makes it to the finals and scores 1 goal in every other game, the y-value will be 0.5. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:03, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
'''Messi'''est graph ever.  [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 18:34, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I was going to update the transcript with estimated Y values of each data point. But maybe someone with a little more time and tooling could actually measure them and produce reasonably precise values. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:57, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414815</id>
		<title>Talk:3260: Messi</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414815"/>
				<updated>2026-06-17T19:03:37Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Does Randall support Messi? [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:26, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:Who doesn't support Messi? :D [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.46|130.76.187.46]] 18:00, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
New football/soccer terms for me! 2 goals scored in one game = Brace, 3 goals = Hat-trick, 4 goals = Haul, 5 goals = Glut [[User:BorQhue del Sol|BorQhue del Sol]] ([[User talk:BorQhue del Sol|talk]]) 16:58, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the explanation on the hover text is missing the point that, at 38 years old, this is likely to be Messi's last world cup, which is another way in which the statement &amp;quot;last world cup in which he faces serious opposition&amp;quot; is technically true.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the curve might be exponential, referencing the &amp;quot;predictions&amp;quot; of AI future capabilities [[Special:Contributions/93.36.179.126|93.36.179.126]] 17:15, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We should explain how there can data points in the graph with y-values between zero and one.  I assume it's because a team might well play multiple games during a single tournament. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 18:10, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:That's obviously true. In the current format, each team plays between 3 and 8 games. During the initial group stage there are groups of 4 where each team plays the other 3. Then there are 5 single-elimination knockout rounds plus a playoff for third place between the semi-final losers. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:03, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
'''Messi'''est graph ever.  [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 18:34, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I was going to update the transcript with estimated Y values of each data point. But maybe someone with a little more time and tooling could actually measure them and produce reasonably precise values. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:57, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414814</id>
		<title>Talk:3260: Messi</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3260:_Messi&amp;diff=414814"/>
				<updated>2026-06-17T18:57:49Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Does Randall support Messi? [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:26, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:Who doesn't support Messi? :D [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.46|130.76.187.46]] 18:00, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
New football/soccer terms for me! 2 goals scored in one game = Brace, 3 goals = Hat-trick, 4 goals = Haul, 5 goals = Glut [[User:BorQhue del Sol|BorQhue del Sol]] ([[User talk:BorQhue del Sol|talk]]) 16:58, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the explanation on the hover text is missing the point that, at 38 years old, this is likely to be Messi's last world cup, which is another way in which the statement &amp;quot;last world cup in which he faces serious opposition&amp;quot; is technically true.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I think the curve might be exponential, referencing the &amp;quot;predictions&amp;quot; of AI future capabilities [[Special:Contributions/93.36.179.126|93.36.179.126]] 17:15, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
We should explain how there can data points in the graph with y-values between zero and one.  I assume it's because a team might well play multiple games during a single tournament. —[[User:Scs|Scs]] ([[User talk:Scs|talk]]) 18:10, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
'''Messi'''est graph ever.  [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 18:34, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
I was going to update the transcript with estimated Y values of each data point. But maybe someone with a little more time and tooling could actually measure them and produce reasonably precise values. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:57, 17 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3259:_Tethys&amp;diff=414700</id>
		<title>3259: Tethys</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3259:_Tethys&amp;diff=414700"/>
				<updated>2026-06-15T19:10:38Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3259&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 15, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Tethys&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = tethys_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 304x317px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = In order to carry the necessary crafting supplies, they built the ships at 12:1 scale.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created recently AND NEEDS TO BE RECREATED AT A 1:12 SCALE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Tethys is the fifth moon of Saturn, and, with a diameter of 1,060 kilometers, is almost exactly 1/12th the physical size of Earth (which has a diameter of 12,742 km).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This comic presents a fantastical scenario in which miniature artists (artists who produce scale models of existing structures) decide to use Tethys to produce a 1:12 scale model of the Earth. This is a patently absurd undertaking: all the difficulties of terraforming, already a monstrous task for a sub-K1 civilization, would be exacerbated by the need for precision (in order to recreate Earth's features accurately), as well as the particularly unfavorable traits of the Saturnian system - which could be considered to make the mission impossible, as Tethys lacks the location relative to the sun Earth has, so would have a very un-Earthlike climate. As well as that, there would also be difficulties in getting the rockets, as it would be unlikely that any space agency would be willing to aid this thoroughly ridiculous project.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Tethys' distance from the Sun is too great for Earth's surface conditions to be recreated without artificially increasing insolation, likely through the use of orbital solar mirrors (which would be especially difficult to erect around Saturn, with its many moons and ring system causing severe gravitational interference).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, there is some good news: Tethys' large native water stores eliminate the need to ship in more, and the nearby moon Titan's atmosphere could be harvested for nitrogen, which is necessary to recreate Earth's atmospheric composition.  Being very far away from Earth also means that there is no risk of [[878: Model Rail|nesting]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The title text humorously says that the ships used in the construction effort are built &amp;quot;at a 12:1 scale,&amp;quot; i.e. 12x larger than normal (however &amp;quot;normal&amp;quot; is defined).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
[An image of a planet, presumably Saturn, showing prominent rings as well as three distant moons (one to the apparent right of it, the other two at the left) and one close, large moon. In front of the large moon is a line of spaceships dwindling into the distance toward the moon, or perhaps toward an orbit around it. Each spaceship has prominent rocket nozzles aimed toward the viewer and away from the large moon, as well as what appears to be a pile of material on &amp;quot;top&amp;quot; of the spaceship, with tie-down ropes holding it in place.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below the panel:]&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
After learning that Tethys is exactly 1/12&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;th&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt; the size of Earth, the miniature art model builders launched a fleet of ships to begin their final, greatest project.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Space]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414569</id>
		<title>3258: Plate Flip</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414569"/>
				<updated>2026-06-13T16:56:54Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3258&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 12, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Plate Flip&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = plate_flip_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's great for exfoliating your skin, bones, houses, cities, landscape, etc.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was FOUND ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CONTINENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Ponytail]] resumes her role as a cosmic home inspector.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
She asks [[Cueball]] when the last time he flipped the {{w|tectonic plates}}, because they look heavily eroded. This may be an allusion to the practice of turning mattresses over every few months. This was common until the 20th century, to even out the wear and tear, and prevent permanent body impressions. When modern box springs became common, the practice became unnecessary.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Flipping mattresses only made sense because both sides are similar. But the underside of a plate is nothing like the surface, it's essentially floating on a sea of {{w|magma}}. As Cueball points out, if you could flip a continent over, the new surface would be molten rock, not a surface amenable to life. Ponytail thinks the warmth would be soothing, and walking on it would {{w|exfoliation (cospmetology)|exfoliate}} your feet. But at hundreds of degrees, it would do far more damage than just removing dead skin.{{cn}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The title text expands on this joke, saying that it would &amp;quot;exfoliate&amp;quot; much just about everything on the surface (which would somehow have to stay in place while the plate below it is flipped).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: These tectonic plates look pretty eroded. When did you last flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Yeah, to use the underside of the continent.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...Never?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Wow. Explains the eons of weathering, debris basins, and ... is this isostatic depression?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It's rebounding!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: You should really flip it. You'll get a whole new landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: But I like '''''this''''' landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Just think how warm and fresh the other side will feel.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: A sea of molten rock?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Good for the feet. Helps exfoliate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Geology]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414568</id>
		<title>3258: Plate Flip</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414568"/>
				<updated>2026-06-13T16:54:46Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3258&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 12, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Plate Flip&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = plate_flip_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's great for exfoliating your skin, bones, houses, cities, landscape, etc.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was FOUND ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CONTINENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Ponytail]] resumes her role as a cosmic home inspector.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
She asks [[Cueball]] when the last time he flipped the {{w|tectonic plates}}, because they look heavily eroded. This may be an allusion to the practice of turning mattresses over every few months. This was common until the 20th century, to even out the wear and tear, and prevent permanent body impressions. When modern box springs became common, the practice became unnecessary.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Flipping mattresses only made sense because both sides are similar. But the underside of a plate is nothing like the surface, it's essentially floating on a sea of {{w|magma}}. As Cueball points out, if you could flip a continent over, the new surface would be molten rock, not a surface amenable to life. Ponytail thinks the warmth would be soothing, and walking on it would {{w|exfoliation (cospmetology)|exfoliate}} your feet. But at hundreds of degrees, it would do far more damage than just removing dead skin.{{cn}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: These tectonic plates look pretty eroded. When did you last flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Yeah, to use the underside of the continent.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...Never?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Wow. Explains the eons of weathering, debris basins, and ... is this isostatic depression?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It's rebounding!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: You should really flip it. You'll get a whole new landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: But I like '''''this''''' landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Just think how warm and fresh the other side will feel.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: A sea of molten rock?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Good for the feet. Helps exfoliate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Geology]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414567</id>
		<title>3258: Plate Flip</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414567"/>
				<updated>2026-06-13T16:52:42Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3258&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 12, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Plate Flip&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = plate_flip_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's great for exfoliating your skin, bones, houses, cities, landscape, etc.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was FOUND ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CONTINENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Ponytail]] resumes her role as a cosmic home inspector.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
She asks [[Cueball]] when the last time he flipped the {{w|tectonic plates}}, because they look heavily eroded. This may be an allusion to the practice of turning mattresses over every few months. This was common until the 20th century, to even out the wear and tear, and prevent permanent body impressions. When modern box springs became common, the practice became unnecessary.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Flipping mattresses only made sense because both sides are similar. But the underside of a plate is nothing like the surface, it's essentially floating on a sea of {{w|magma}}. As Cueball points out, if you could flip a continent over, the new surface would be molten rock, not a surface amenable to life. Ponytail thinks the warmth would be soothing, and walking on it would {{w|exfoliate}} your feet.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: These tectonic plates look pretty eroded. When did you last flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Yeah, to use the underside of the continent.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...Never?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Wow. Explains the eons of weathering, debris basins, and ... is this isostatic depression?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It's rebounding!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: You should really flip it. You'll get a whole new landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: But I like '''''this''''' landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Just think how warm and fresh the other side will feel.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: A sea of molten rock?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Good for the feet. Helps exfoliate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Geology]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414565</id>
		<title>3258: Plate Flip</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414565"/>
				<updated>2026-06-13T16:47:26Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3258&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 12, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Plate Flip&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = plate_flip_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's great for exfoliating your skin, bones, houses, cities, landscape, etc.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was FOUND ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CONTINENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Ponytail]] resumes her role as a cosmic home inspector.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
She asks [[Cueball]] when the last time he flipped the {{w|tectonic plates}}, because they look heavily eroded. This may be an allusion to the practice of turning mattresses over every few months. This was common until the 20th century, to even out the wear and tear, and prevent permanent body impressions. When modern box springs became common, the practice became unnecessary.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: These tectonic plates look pretty eroded. When did you last flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Yeah, to use the underside of the continent.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...Never?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Wow. Explains the eons of weathering, debris basins, and ... is this isostatic depression?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It's rebounding!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: You should really flip it. You'll get a whole new landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: But I like '''''this''''' landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Just think how warm and fresh the other side will feel.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: A sea of molten rock?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Good for the feet. Helps exfoliate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Geology]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414564</id>
		<title>3258: Plate Flip</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414564"/>
				<updated>2026-06-13T16:46:50Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3258&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 12, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Plate Flip&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = plate_flip_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's great for exfoliating your skin, bones, houses, cities, landscape, etc.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was FOUND ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CONTINENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Ponytail]] resumes her role as a cosmic home inspector.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
She asks [[Cueball]] when the last time he flipped the {{w|continental plates}}, because they look heavily eroded. This may be an allusion to the practice of turning mattresses over every few months. This was common until the 20th century, to even out the wear and tear, and prevent permanent body impressions. When modern box springs became common, the practice became unnecessary.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: These tectonic plates look pretty eroded. When did you last flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Yeah, to use the underside of the continent.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...Never?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Wow. Explains the eons of weathering, debris basins, and ... is this isostatic depression?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It's rebounding!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: You should really flip it. You'll get a whole new landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: But I like '''''this''''' landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Just think how warm and fresh the other side will feel.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: A sea of molten rock?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Good for the feet. Helps exfoliate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Geology]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414563</id>
		<title>3258: Plate Flip</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414563"/>
				<updated>2026-06-13T16:41:24Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3258&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 12, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Plate Flip&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = plate_flip_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's great for exfoliating your skin, bones, houses, cities, landscape, etc.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was FOUND ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CONTINENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Ponytail]] resumes her role as a cosmic home inspector.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: These tectonic plates look pretty eroded. When did you last flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Yeah, to use the underside of the continent.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...Never?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Wow. Explains the eons of weathering, debris basins, and ... is this isostatic depression?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It's rebounding!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: You should really flip it. You'll get a whole new landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: But I like '''''this''''' landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Just think how warm and fresh the other side will feel.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: A sea of molten rock?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Good for the feet. Helps exfoliate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Geology]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414562</id>
		<title>3258: Plate Flip</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3258:_Plate_Flip&amp;diff=414562"/>
				<updated>2026-06-13T16:40:43Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3258&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 12, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Plate Flip&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = plate_flip_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's great for exfoliating your skin, bones, houses, cities, landscape, etc.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was FOUND ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE CONTINENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Ponytail]] resumes her role as a cosmic homeowner society member.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: These tectonic plates look pretty eroded. When did you last flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Flip them?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Yeah, to use the underside of the continent.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...Never?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Wow. Explains the eons of weathering, debris basins, and ... is this isostatic depression?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It's rebounding!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: You should really flip it. You'll get a whole new landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: But I like '''''this''''' landscape!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Just think how warm and fresh the other side will feel.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: A sea of molten rock?&lt;br /&gt;
:Ponytail: Good for the feet. Helps exfoliate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Geology]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3256:_Nostalgia_Content&amp;diff=414421</id>
		<title>3256: Nostalgia Content</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3256:_Nostalgia_Content&amp;diff=414421"/>
				<updated>2026-06-09T16:13:20Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3256&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 8, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Nostalgia Content&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = nostalgia_content_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 276x404px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Gen-Z got a chunk of the Carboniferous, and now all their memes are about how pathetic and small today's dragonflies are.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by a Parataxtite. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
This comic is a joke about {{w|nostalgia content}}. In it, a database for creating nostalgia content has accidentally included some {{w|Early Devonian}} features in it. These features, while certainly being old{{citation needed}}, are far too long ago for anyone to be alive at the time, let alone remember it, hence defying the purpose.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{w|Prototaxites}} (here, Parataxites) were huge fungi that lived during the Devonian. The armoured fish [[Cueball]] speaks of are from an ancient class known as {{w|Placodermi}}, which appeared during the {{w|Silurian}} and Devonian. Placoderms were among the first jawed fish, and the first fish clade to have pectoral fins. Devonian placoderms include Dunkleosteus, Titanichthys, Bothriolepis and Rhamphodopsis. Silurian placoderms include Xiushanosteus, Anglaspis, and Poraspis. There was also Sacabambaspis from the {{w|Ordovician}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
:[Cueball is standing, with his arms out, in front of a prototaxite (incorrectly referred to in this comic as a &amp;quot;parataxite&amp;quot;) towering over a mossy landscape. To his right, a Tamagotchi, and milk-caps (referred to in this comic as &amp;quot;pogs&amp;quot;), appear.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Who else remembers pogs? Tamagotchis? Vast forests of Parataxites towering over the mossy landscape as armored fish stir in the deep?&lt;br /&gt;
:[Caption below the panel:] &lt;br /&gt;
:Due to a database error, millennial nostalgia now includes a portion of the early Devonian.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Trivia==&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball has incorrectly refered to the huge fungi as Parataxites. They are actually called prototaxites.&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3255:_Planetary_Science&amp;diff=414307</id>
		<title>Talk:3255: Planetary Science</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3255:_Planetary_Science&amp;diff=414307"/>
				<updated>2026-06-05T15:39:48Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Hey I discovered sentient creatures on the planet! --[[User:Kirinhatchi|Kirinhatchi]] ([[User talk:Kirinhatchi|talk]]) 14:37, 5 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
: &amp;quot;Sentient&amp;quot; :D :D [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.47|130.76.187.47]] 14:58, 5 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:I used to think there was intelligent life. Then they elected Trump. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:39, 5 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3255:_Planetary_Science&amp;diff=414306</id>
		<title>3255: Planetary Science</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3255:_Planetary_Science&amp;diff=414306"/>
				<updated>2026-06-05T15:37:43Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3255&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 5, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Planetary Science&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = planetary_science_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 277x388px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = The research was overseen by the Institutional Review Board, which is what I named my surfboard.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This comic was found on a planet with internet on it!}}&lt;br /&gt;
This is presented as a scientific article in which astronomers claim to have discovered &amp;quot;signs of liquid water on the surface of a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone&amp;quot; --  however, as the accompanying photos (four people on a beach, of whom two are sitting under an umbrella and one is making sand castles) show, the planet in question is Earth. This would not be considered a noteworthy discovery.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
There is value in using Earth as an example of a planet in a habitable zone, such as [https://www.nasa.gov/universe/atacama-rover-astrobiology-drilling-studies-arads/ testing life-detection experiments in remote inhospitable environments] or [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-would-we-know-theres-life-on-earth-this-bold-experiment-found-out/ as a proxy for future astronomical observations], but not in-situ photographic investigation.  Maybe the astronomers should have brought their spectrometer on vacation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
An {{w|institutional review board}} is a committee of researchers which ensures that research carried out at their institution is ethical. In the title text, this is referenced to be the literal name of a {{w|surfboard}}, which is a board used for the recreational activity of {{w|surfing}}, not serious academic activities. Presumably one of the researchers used this as an excuse to post their pictures of a surfing holiday. Of course, 'the Institutional Review Board' is a very strange name for a surfboard{{citation needed}}, and its only purpose would be for this (somewhat bad) excuse.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
:[A journal entry is shown,  with 3 sections of blurred text, and 2 pictures - On on the top-right showing 2 Jills and Kidballs playing at the beach- one running, one building a sandcastle, and 2 under an umbrella, and another at the bottom-left showing the sea.]&lt;br /&gt;
:[Title of journal article:] Evidence of liquid water on the surface of a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone&lt;br /&gt;
:[caption below text:] Planetary science journals have asked astronomers to please stop submitting their vacation photos.&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring children]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Kidball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3254:_Detector&amp;diff=414208</id>
		<title>3254: Detector</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3254:_Detector&amp;diff=414208"/>
				<updated>2026-06-03T21:58:03Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3254&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 3, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Detector&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = detector_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was detected recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
[Hairy is standing next to a large machine labeled &amp;quot;Detector&amp;quot;. The front of the machine has two lights, labeled &amp;quot;Detected&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;Not detected&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;detected&amp;quot; light is lit up in green. Ponytail and Cueball walk towards the machine]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ponytail: Over there are our electron microscope, XRF scanner, and mass spectrometer. And this is our most sensitive detector.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: What does it detect?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ponytail: Lots of stuff. Gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: I don't understand. Aren't most of those always present?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Hairy: Yeah, it's been saying &amp;quot;detected&amp;quot; continuously since we turned it on.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: What happens if it says &amp;quot;not detected&amp;quot;?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ponytail: Oh gosh.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Hairy: That would be pretty bad, I think.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3254:_Detector&amp;diff=414207</id>
		<title>Talk:3254: Detector</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3254:_Detector&amp;diff=414207"/>
				<updated>2026-06-03T21:57:26Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
The deluxe edition of the machine probably has &amp;quot;Detected/Not detected&amp;quot; lights for each of those items.  I would guess its cost would be significantly higher.  [[Special:Contributions/47.248.235.170|47.248.235.170]] 21:39, 3 June 2026 (UTC)Pat&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
To whoever wrote the initial transcript: the title text should not be included. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:57, 3 June 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3254:_Detector&amp;diff=414206</id>
		<title>3254: Detector</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3254:_Detector&amp;diff=414206"/>
				<updated>2026-06-03T21:56:40Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3254&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 3, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Detector&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = detector_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was detected recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
[Hairy is standing next to a large machine. The front of the machine has two lights, labeled &amp;quot;detected&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;not detected&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;detected&amp;quot; light is lit up in green. Ponytail and Cueball walk towards the machine]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ponytail: Over there are our electron microscope, XRF scanner, and mass spectrometer. And this is our most sensitive detector.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: What does it detect?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ponytail: Lots of stuff. Gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: I don't understand. Aren't most of those always present?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Hairy: Yeah, it's been saying &amp;quot;detected&amp;quot; continuously since we turned it on.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: What happens if it says &amp;quot;not detected&amp;quot;?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ponytail: Oh gosh.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Hairy: That would be pretty bad, I think.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3254:_Detector&amp;diff=414205</id>
		<title>3254: Detector</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3254:_Detector&amp;diff=414205"/>
				<updated>2026-06-03T21:56:26Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3254&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = June 3, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Detector&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = detector_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 740x272px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was detected recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
[Hairy is standing next to a large machine. The front of the machine has two lights, labeled &amp;quot;detected&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;not detected&amp;quot;. The &amp;quot;detected&amp;quot; light is lit up in green. Ponytail and Cueball walk towards the machine]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ponytail: Over there are our electron microscope, XRF scanner, and mass spectrometer. And this is our most sensitive detector.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: What does it detect?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ponytail: Lots of stuff. Gas, dust, particles, light, radio waves, gamma rays, protons, neutrons, electrons, fields, forces, events, potentials, or states.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: I don't understand. Aren't most of those always present?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Hairy: Yeah, it's been saying &amp;quot;detected&amp;quot; continuously since we turned it on.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cueball: What happens if it says &amp;quot;not detected&amp;quot;?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Ponytail: Oh gosh.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Hairy: That would be pretty bad, I think.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Title text: No other experiment has a lower false negative rate.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413727</id>
		<title>Talk:3251: Time Machine Conversation</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413727"/>
				<updated>2026-05-27T22:22:34Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[https://www.sea-and-yachting.com/spoiler.html Spoilers for boats]. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 21:25, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The barman says &amp;quot;Sorry, we don't serve time-travellers&amp;quot;. A time-traveller walks into a bar. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:31, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Before explanation/transcript --[[User:OceanLord|OceanLord]] ([[User talk:OceanLord|talk]]) 21:38, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Cool I’ve never been early enough to see an explanation-less comic also help me I’ve never commented before did I mess it up :( {{unsigned ip|73.148.10.13|21:47, 27 May 2026}}&lt;br /&gt;
:You messed up slightly -- you forgot to sign your comment with 4 tildes. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:48, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesian_navigation Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/88.217.185.170|88.217.185.170]] 21:50, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
i think it should be &amp;quot;this page was created in the past&amp;quot; not &amp;quot;this page was created in the future&amp;quot;. im changing that (its more like present here cause its 22:15, 27 May 2026 (UTC))&lt;br /&gt;
:Aren't they all created in the past by the time we read it? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:22, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413725</id>
		<title>3251: Time Machine Conversation</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413725"/>
				<updated>2026-05-27T22:21:39Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3251&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 27, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Time Machine Conversation&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = time_machine_conversation_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 691x344px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created in the past. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Cueball]] uses a time machine to travel to the {{w|Iron Age}} and has a conversation with a prehistoric [[Hairbun]]. She seems to be a farmer since she's holding a pretty modern-looking {{w|hoe}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's not clear how they're able to communicate so easily. While humans did have language for thousands of years by this time, it would be very far removed from modern English. Yet somehow they understand each other's colloquialisms. However, Hairbun doesn't understand the words for some modern concepts: {{w|compass}} and {{w|Spoiler_(media)|spoiler}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The magnetic compass was first invented in China around 200 BCE, well after the end of the Iron Age, but it wasn't used for navigation until the 11th century AD. The title text points out that Pacific islands and Australia were populated long before this time; so-called {{w|Polynesian navigation}} used other methods of marine navigation ({{w|celestial navigation}}, observation of birds, ocean swells, and wind patterns).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The modern meaning of &amp;quot;spoiler&amp;quot; didn't arise until the 1970's. Spoiler warnings became common on {{w|Usenet newsgroups}} in the late 1980's. Cueball may have created a {{w|temporal paradox}} by introducing the concept thousands of years earlier.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 1: Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh Hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Cool.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 2: Hairbun is out of the panel.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: I'm sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 3: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: The what?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 4: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Time travel]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413722</id>
		<title>3251: Time Machine Conversation</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413722"/>
				<updated>2026-05-27T22:16:25Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3251&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 27, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Time Machine Conversation&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = time_machine_conversation_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 691x344px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created in the past. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Cueball]] uses a time machine to travel to the {{w|Iron Age}} and has a conversation with a prehistoric [[Hairbun]]. She seems to be a farmer since she's holding a pretty modern-looking {{w|hoe}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's not clear how they're able to communicate so easily. While humans did have language for thousands of years by this time, it would be very far removed from modern English. Yet somehow they understand each other's colloquialisms. However, Hairbun doesn't understand the words for some modern concepts: {{w|compass}} and {{w|Spoiler_(media)|spoiler}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The magnetic compass was first invented in China around 200 BCE, well after the end of the Iron Age, but it wasn't used for navigation until the 11th century AD. The title text points out that Pacific islands and Australia were populated long before this time; so-called {{w|Polynesian navigation}} used other methods of marine navigation ({{w|celestial navigation}}, observation of birds, ocean swells, and wind patterns).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The modern meaning of &amp;quot;spoiler&amp;quot; didn't arise until the 1970's. Spoiler warnings became common on {{w|Usenet newsgroups}} in the late 1980's.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 1: Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh Hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Cool.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 2: Hairbun is out of the panel.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: I'm sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 3: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: The what?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 4: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Time travel]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413717</id>
		<title>3251: Time Machine Conversation</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413717"/>
				<updated>2026-05-27T22:11:33Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3251&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 27, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Time Machine Conversation&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = time_machine_conversation_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 691x344px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created in the future. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Cueball]] uses a time machine to travel to the {{w|Iron Age}} and has a conversation with a prehistoric [[Hairbun]]. She seems to be a farmer since she's holding a pretty modern-looking {{w|hoe}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's not clear how they're able to communicate so easily. While humans did have language for thousands of years by this time, it would be very far removed from modern English. Yet somehow they understand each other's colloquialisms. However, Hairbun doesn't understand the words for some modern concepts: {{w|compass}} and {{w|Spoiler_(media)|spoiler}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The magnetic compass was first invented in China around 200 BCE, well after the end of the Iron Age, but it wasn't used for navigation until the 11th century AD. The title text points out that the Polynesian islands were populated long before this time, and they travelled on to Australia, so they must have had other methods of marine navigation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The modern meaning of &amp;quot;spoiler&amp;quot; didn't arise until the 1970's. Spoiler warnings became common on {{w|Usenet newsgroups}} in the late 1980's.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 1: Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh Hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Cool.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 2: Hairbun is out of the panel.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: I'm sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 3: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: The what?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 4: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413716</id>
		<title>3251: Time Machine Conversation</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413716"/>
				<updated>2026-05-27T22:09:01Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3251&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 27, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Time Machine Conversation&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = time_machine_conversation_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 691x344px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created in the future. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Cueball]] uses a time machine to travel to the {{w|Iron Age}} and has a conversation with a prehistoric [[Hairbun]]. She seems to be a farmer since she's holding a pretty modern-looking {{w|hoe}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's not clear how they're able to communicate so easily. While humans did have language for thousands of years by this time, it would be very far removed from modern English. Yet somehow they understand each other's colloquialisms. However, Hairbun doesn't understand the words for some modern concepts: {{w|compass}} and {{w|Spoiler_(media)|spoiler}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The magnetic compass was first invented in China around 200 BCE, well after the end of the Iron Age, but it wasn't used for navigation until the 11th century AD.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The modern meaning of &amp;quot;spoiler&amp;quot; didn't arise until the 1970's. Spoiler warnings became common on {{w|Usenet newsgroups}} in the late 1980's.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 1: Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh Hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Cool.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 2: Hairbun is out of the panel.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: I'm sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 3: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: The what?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 4: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413714</id>
		<title>3251: Time Machine Conversation</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413714"/>
				<updated>2026-05-27T22:03:03Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3251&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 27, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Time Machine Conversation&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = time_machine_conversation_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 691x344px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created in the future. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Cueball]] uses a time machine to travel to the {{w|Iron Age}} and has a conversation with a prehistoric [[Hairbun]]. She seems to be a farmer since she's holding a pretty modern-looking {{w|hoe}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It's not clear how they're able to communicate so easily. While humans did have language for thousands of years by this time, it would be very far removed from modern English. Yet somehow they understand each other's colloquialisms. However, Hairbun doesn't understand the words for some modern concepts: {{w|compass}} and {{w|Spoiler_(media)|spoiler}}.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 1: Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh Hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Cool.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 2: Hairbun is out of the panel.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: I'm sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 3: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: The what?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 4: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413709</id>
		<title>Talk:3251: Time Machine Conversation</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413709"/>
				<updated>2026-05-27T21:48:53Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[https://www.sea-and-yachting.com/spoiler.html Spoilers for boats]. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 21:25, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The barman says &amp;quot;Sorry, we don't serve time-travellers&amp;quot;. A time-traveller walks into a bar. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:31, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Before explanation/transcript --[[User:OceanLord|OceanLord]] ([[User talk:OceanLord|talk]]) 21:38, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
Cool I’ve never been early enough to see an explanation-less comic also help me I’ve never commented before did I mess it up :(&lt;br /&gt;
:You messed up slightly -- you forgot to sign your comment with 4 tildes. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:48, 27 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413708</id>
		<title>3251: Time Machine Conversation</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413708"/>
				<updated>2026-05-27T21:47:25Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3251&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 27, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Time Machine Conversation&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = time_machine_conversation_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 691x344px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created in the future. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 1: Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh Hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Cool.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 2: Hairbun is out of the panel.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: I'm sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 3: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: The what?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 4: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown. Cueball holds his hand to his chin.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413705</id>
		<title>3251: Time Machine Conversation</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3251:_Time_Machine_Conversation&amp;diff=413705"/>
				<updated>2026-05-27T21:45:10Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3251&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 27, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Time Machine Conversation&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = time_machine_conversation_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 691x344px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = It's possible to do sea navigation without a compass, but you'll have to get some spoilers from the Polynesians.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created in the future. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 1: Cueball is on the left with a ghostly halo around him. Hairbun is on the right, holding a hoe vertically.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh Hi! Guess my time machine works. How's life in the Iron Age?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: Not bad. Developing new kinds of plows.&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Cool.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: And my brother was just lost at sea.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 2: Hairbun is out of the panel.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: I'm sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun [from outside the right side]: It's OK. I think sea navigation is probably impossible.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 3: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: Oh yeah, you don't have the compass, right?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: The what?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: The weird rock that always points north?&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What are you '''talking''' about?&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Panel 4: Cueball and Hairbun are both shown.]&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: It '''does''' sound ridiculous when I say it out loud. Anyway, spoilers for the magnetic compass. Sorry.&lt;br /&gt;
:Hairbun: What's a spoiler?&lt;br /&gt;
:Cueball: ...spoilers for the concept of a spoiler, too.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3250:_Flag_Design&amp;diff=413589</id>
		<title>3250: Flag Design</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3250:_Flag_Design&amp;diff=413589"/>
				<updated>2026-05-26T14:23:13Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3250&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 25, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Flag Design&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = flag_design_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 678x428px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Every place has a local cryptid; more places need a local Pictish Beast, a creature in historical art that's drawn so weirdly that no one can tell what animal it's supposed to be.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by a recursive flag. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This comic is a parody of normal flag designs, a subject previously covered in [[1815: Flag]] and [[2528: Flag Map Sabotage]]. For example, animals are commonly used on flags, and stars are also occasionally on flags. However regular flags don't feature smaller versions of themselves as part of the design, and don't have tributes or references to topology.{{Citation needed}} It is designed similarly to the [[xkcd Phone]] series, with a number of improbable features indicated with labels. The caption of &amp;quot;I think our flag design committee really knocked it out of the park&amp;quot; references the common problem of {{w|design by committee}} where a design made without a unifying vision, but rather many compromises between competing visions, results in overcomplexity, banality, and internal contradictions, all of which are present on this flag.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The title text references the animal on the flag, with [[Randall]] expressing his opinion that more places should use hard-to-distinguish cryptids like on the flag. This may be a reference to the fact that many places in the world have a local cryptid, and to creatures like the Egyptian god Set where the original creature isn't 100% known.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Flag features ===&lt;br /&gt;
From the top, going clockwise:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; We can't agree what animal this is, so we put it on our flag to spark national debate&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: Refers to a drawing of an unusual creature in grey. [[Randall]] relates it to the {{w|Pictish Beast}}, a animal that appears frequently in the {{w|early medieval}} culture of the {{w|Picts}} of Scotland, and about which there has been much debate about what animal it is meant to represent. Randall has flipped this around, taking an animal whose identity is disputed and incorporating it into a cultural artefact in an attempt to get assistance with identifying it.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: What this has to do with flags: Several flags, and even more so many coats of arms, have animals on them, often one native to, or heraldically representative of, the polity the flag belongs to. Some are quite abstract, making it difficult for the uninformed to identify the original animal (though not so much so as in this flag{{citation needed}}).&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; National flag&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: Incorporating a flag into another flag has often been done before, such as with the {{w|Union_Jack#Use_in_other_flags|Union Jack}} found in the flags of many current and former British colonies and territories, or with national flags being included in naval ensigns, but a flag that includes a smaller version of itself as a detail is a novelty. This is a thoroughly useless thing, as many times flags are shown within flags to establish its link to another country, yet this one is just the flag itself, and the 'link' is unnecessary. This could also cause an issue by leading to a recursive loop of nested flags, but thankfully this feature is omitted in the second iteration.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: What this has to do with flags: Several flags, in particular in some variants, show a relevant coat of arms on the flag, while other flags are very similar to the corresponding coat of arms. The flag-on-the-flag concept is a nonsensical extension of the combination of both concepts.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; Island (not a specific island, just a tribute to islands in general)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: Elements on flags often have hidden meanings that aren't obvious at first glance, such as a hidden map of the country on it. This is an example of an element with a lack of meaning that isn't obvious at first glance: an outline of an island that doesn't refer to a specific island. It is also one of the many random and strange tributes on this flag.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; Tap here to pay taxes&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: This is the icon often used on payment cards to indicate the availability of contactless payment. Besides the inherent ridiculousness of adding such a feature to a flag, flags are generally flown very high so that they can easily be seen, making RFID-activated features, which typically require relatively close proximity, difficult to use.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: What this has to do with flags: This may be riffing on the {{w|flag of South Korea}}, which includes four trigrams which could (if you squint) be considered to look somewhat like this logo.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; Tribute to topology&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: {{w|Topology}} is the study of the underlying geometric form of things. Most flags have a very simple topology, being a single sheet of material. This side of this flag appears to have been separated and twisted by one half-turn to turn the flag into a {{w|Möbius strip}}. This would be difficult to do in real life without disconnecting and gluing, sewing, or otherwise affixing parts of the flag together.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: What this has to do with flags: A few flags are known among vexillologists for having a different front and back sides. Talking about the “front and back sides” of a Möbius strip flag is conceptionally difficult. Many flags include notable {{w|topography|topo''graphic''}} features, such as mountains, rivers, etc., and Randall may have deliberately confused the two terms.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; GDPR consent&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: Implies the flag somehow collects data about people who view (or touch) it. This may be related to the &amp;quot;Tap here to pay taxes&amp;quot; feature. Of note is the &amp;quot;customize&amp;quot; option, implying that the flag can somehow present a range of data processing options for the 'user' to select from. The technology or design features it uses to do this are unknown. Alternatively, this flag could be designed to be embedded as a webpage online, where this and the &amp;quot;Tap here to pay taxes&amp;quot; features would make some sense, and the version on the physical flag could be purely cosmetic.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; Interested in citizenship? Take one!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: This is a rather unorthodox method of gaining new citizens, that mimics a form of advertising that typically provides contact details on each strip, allowing people to take them away and contact the advertiser with an expression of interest at their own convenience. This has the same accessibility problems as the previous two interactive features, in that it would be difficult to reach the strips to tear them off when the flag is flown high. Additionally flags are generally designed to be hard to tear. The design of the flag within the flag implies that the strips that have been torn off are part of the flag design rather than due to use - Probably using another common advertising method, to make it look like a product is popular to encourage people to 'follow the others'.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: What this has to do with flags: There are some flags (such as {{w|Flag_of_the_Republic_of_Venice|that of the Republic of Venice}}) which have a fringed design similar to this. &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; Rounded corners&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: Unusual, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary, as many flags do come in slightly unorthodox shapes. Could be a reference to how many everyday objects have rounded corners to reduce risk of injury or make them more pleasant to use, although this is a moot point with flags since they are generally either placed on a surface or made of cloth.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; EURion anti-counterfeit mark&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: The &amp;quot;{{w|EURion constellation}}&amp;quot; is a pattern of symbols is used as an anti-counterfeiting measure often incorporated in a number of secure documents, such as banknotes, checks, and ownership title certificate designs. Flags are not secure documents and therefore do not require anti-counterfeiting measures. Indeed, the purpose of flags is to be seen, and it is usually desirable for them to be easy to replicate - quite unlike this flag!&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; Jaunty angle&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: Implies that the flag is NOT being viewed at an angle, but rather that the flag is, in fact, a slanted parallelogram in shape. This could have some unintended consequences when flown on a pole.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: What this has to do with flags: A few flags are known among vexillologists for having a non-rectangular shape. Most of them are square, though {{w|Flag_of_Nepal|Nepal's}} is a notable exception. A slightly off-rectangular flag makes things awkward for people drawing or otherwise trying to represent it, without having any particular meaning beyond its 'jauntiness'.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; Tan and white stars on a beige field&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: Deliberate obfuscation through bad color contrast. It also uses very dull colours, which would be hard to distinguish from far off, defying the point of a flag as an easy-to-recognise symbol of something. This may be a deliberate attempt to avoid offending anyone by inadvertently including colors that have some political or otherwise contested connotation.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
; CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram, to ensure flag color fidelity&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: A {{w|CIE_1931_color_space|CIE 1931 diagram}} is a representation of the entire visible light spectrum. This is probably included as a reference to help address color issues arising from reproducing the flag in a given medium. However, given the flag is tan, white, beige, and grey, it's unclear how much of a difference this could possibly make.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: It may also be referencing the {{w|rainbow flag}} or its many variants known as {{w|pride flag}}s. The original concept was to convey diversity by featuring many stripes of different colors, the most common variant having six of them. On the other hand, it can be criticized as suggesting there are only six options. It sparked creation of many multi-colored pride flags to more thoroughly convey diversity. Including every possible visible color takes this concept to the extreme.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:As well as that, it is a helpful feature on flags to be easily replicated, meaning having a few simple base colours. However, it could be very difficult to replicate a gradient like that.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:[A flag with many things on it.]&lt;br /&gt;
:[From left to right, top to bottom, in order labels:]&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:]CIE 1931 Chromaticity Diagram, to ensure flag color fidelity. [Icon]&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] We can't agree what animal this is, so we put it on our flag to spark national debate. [Icon:] An equine creature of some sorts.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] National Flag. [Icon:] A miniature version of the flag, however it is missing a miniature version of itself.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] Island (not a specific island, just a tribute to islands in general) [Icon:] A nondescript island shaped blob.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] Tap here to pay taxes. [Icon:] 4 sequential curves, a shape commonly used on NFC scanners to read a credit or debit card to encat payment.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] Tan and white stars on beige field. [Icon:] 32 stars in a rectangle surrounding all the previously mentioned icons, save for the tax payment NFC scanner.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] Jaunty angle. [Icon] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that the flags left edge is not at a 90 degree angle with the top and bottom edges.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:]  Tribute to topology [Icon:] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that the right edge of the flag is separated from the rest of the flag in the middle and twisted one half turn to make the flag into a Möbius strip.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] Eurion Anti-counterfeit mark. [Icon:] A set of EURion dots, in the shape of the constellation Orion, commonly used on currency to prevent the use of printers to copy and mass produce counterfeit money.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] Rounded corners. [Icon:] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that the flags corners are rounded.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] Interested in citizenship? Take one! [Icon:] Instead of a icon on the flag, the label notes the fact that one who wishes to sign up for citizenship of this fictional nation, can tear off a strip and contact the person on it, referencing posters one can find around a residential areas in a similar format.&lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Label:] GDPR consent [Icon:] A menu saying &amp;quot;you have a choice in how we manage your data&amp;quot; with hypothetically intractable buttons saying &amp;quot;ACCEPT&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;CUSTOMIZE&amp;quot; reminiscent of similar menus that appear when you visit a website for the first time, or after you clear your cache.  &lt;br /&gt;
:&lt;br /&gt;
:[Caption below flag:]&lt;br /&gt;
:I think our flag design committee really knocked it out of the park &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Graphic designers]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics with color]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3250:_Flag_Design&amp;diff=413488</id>
		<title>3250: Flag Design</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3250:_Flag_Design&amp;diff=413488"/>
				<updated>2026-05-25T22:37:57Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3250&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 25, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Flag Design&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = flag_design_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 678x428px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = Every place has a local cryptid; more places need a local Pictish Beast, a creature in historical art that's drawn so weirdly that no one can tell what animal it's supposed to be.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created by a recursive flag. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
This comic is a parody of normal flag designs. For example, animals are commonly used on flags, and stars are also occasionally on flags. However regular flags don't have themselves on it, and don't have tributes or references to science.{{citation needed}} It is designed similarly to the xkcdphone series, with a number of improbable features indicated with labels.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[A flag with many things on it.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
[Caption below flag:]&lt;br /&gt;
:I think our flag design committee really knocked it out of the park &lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3249:_Neutrino_Project&amp;diff=413399</id>
		<title>3249: Neutrino Project</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3249:_Neutrino_Project&amp;diff=413399"/>
				<updated>2026-05-23T04:30:50Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Transcript */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3249&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 22, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Neutrino Project&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = neutrino_project_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 324x471px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = We definitely put the pool in a mine for shielding. It was absolutely not to hide it from the funding people.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a solar neutrino. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
A {{w|neutrino}} is a type of subatomic particle that extremely rarely interacts with matter. In nearly all cases, neutrinos pass through objects, regardless of density or composition, with no effects whatsoever unless there are so {{What If|73|many of them}}. For instance, about [https://icecube.wisc.edu/news/press-releases/2017/11/first-look-at-how-earth-stops-high-energy-neutrinos-in-their-tracks/ 100 trillion neutrinos pass through your body every second] to no noticeable effect.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
However, there is a very small chance that a neutrino will collide with any material, including water, which has the advantage of being transparent to the light that occurs due to that interaction. Neutrinos can thus be detected by constructing a large pool of water, shielded from as many other particles and radiations as possible, and carefully monitoring it for the small flashes of light that occur when a neutrino does interact with one of the many water molecules within the pool. {{w|Photomultiplier tubes}} are used to assist in detecting these very faint and infrequent flashes and reveal the possible nature (and direction) of the interactions that caused them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The comic jokes that these detectors were not constructed with this purpose in mind. Instead, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]], the organizers of this project, obtained funding for a “neutrino project” and then embezzled these funds for a pool party, likely primarily to buy the large swimming pool seen in the panel. They supposedly only then realize that the pool could be repurposed as an actual neutrino detector. (It is unclear what, exactly, they had claimed to be building with the funding they somehow obtained.)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
It is unclear how large the pool in the comic really is. The {{w|Super-Kamiokande}} detector in Japan, one of the world’s largest and most well-known neutrino detectors, holds over 50,000 tons of water. This is approximately 20 times the water capacity of {{w|Olympic-size swimming pool}}s. The only statement made about the water capacity in the swimming pool is “huge”, which is not an accurate measurement of volume or mass.{{Citation needed}} The pool appears to be between 10 and 20 meters in diameter. While the surface of the pool seems to be at most half as large as that of an olympic-sized pool, its depth could be approximately the same, since it seems to safely allow jumps from an approximately 1m high platform. Therefore, a regular pool of this appearance would be expected to hold less water than an olympic-sized one, and certainly much less than would be required for an effective neutrino detector. However, since the bottom of the pool is not visible, the physicists ''might'' just have built a pool with an appropriate volume by making it extremely deep. Assuming a diameter of 20m and therefore a surface area of approximately 314m², the pool would need to be approximately 1582m deep. Constructing such a pool would be even more expensive than building a neutrino detector{{Citation needed}}, thanks to the large depth. It's more likely that the pool simply isn't circular with such a small diameter.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
The title text elaborates on why the pool was suitable for a neutrino detector. In real life, these detectors must be heavily shielded from all other particle interactions that might drown out neutrino interactions. This generally requires them to be deep underground (like {{w|Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment|this}} and {{w|Sudbury Neutrino Observatory|this}} and {{w|Super-Kamiokande|this}}), so a surface-level pool would obviously be unsuitable for that purpose. Randall implies that the pool was built in a deep mine in order to prevent it from being noticed by the people responsible for funding the project, which could fulfill the shielding requirement but is a humorously excessive strategy for hiding a swimming pool from a small group of people.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript| This transcript was written by a pool party attendee. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:[There is a large circular pool at the bottom of the panel, with a diving board and several stickfigures in and around it. Ponytail and Cueball are talking in the pool, two hairy Kidballs are passing a ball, a Kidball is jumping of the diving board, and a Ponytail with a  drink and a Danish are walking along the outside of the pool.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: Ponytail in pool: How much trouble do you think we'll be in when they find out we used the grant money to throw a huge pool party instead?&lt;br /&gt;
: Cueball: We could argue that we '''''did''''' build a neutrino detector.&lt;br /&gt;
: Cueball: There's a lot of water here. A solar neutrino will probably interact with it at '''''some''''' point.&lt;br /&gt;
: Ponytail: ...Wait. Actually, if we got some photomultiplier tubes...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:[Caption below comic:]&lt;br /&gt;
:How the neutrino detector was invented&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Physics]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[Category:Comics featuring Kidball]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3249:_Neutrino_Project&amp;diff=413398</id>
		<title>Talk:3249: Neutrino Project</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3249:_Neutrino_Project&amp;diff=413398"/>
				<updated>2026-05-23T04:29:52Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Never been this early to a new comic before. Good way to get some editing practice [[User:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat]] ([[User talk:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|talk]]) 19:14, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:You just beat me, I was writing a transcript at the same time. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:25, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::Booyah. I was editing transcripts already when it popped it, so I was already primed at the gunshot [[User:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat]] ([[User talk:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|talk]]) 19:30, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Is that really Ponytail and Danish at the top? They're hard to distinguish because they're so tiny, but I thought they might be Blondie and Megan. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:16, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::I'm pretty sure its Ponytail, but it could either be Danish or a wet-haired Megan. Feel free to change it, it's not like the fate of the world hangs on this transcript. [[User:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat]] ([[User talk:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|talk]]) 19:24, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::A note about Blondie: Some people have considered it best to recently deprecate all such [[Blondie]] characters in favour of them now officially being folded into the [[Miss Lenhart]] category.&lt;br /&gt;
::I personally suspect that these examples are intended to be mere generic characters (even if using some of the small pool of recurringly 'recognisable' features). Or at least that it doesn't narratively matter, in this case, except to those who ''really'' want to categorise every single stick figure to their own personal satisfaction.&lt;br /&gt;
::I don't think there's even one 'ideal' level of segregation of characters, never mind one that everyone can agree upon, but just conveying what I know/have observed about this. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:52, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Particle physics-compatable swimwear needs to be thoroughly rinsed and air-dried after swimming to protect the sensitive elastane fibers from developing gaps.[[User:BorQhue del Sol|BorQhue del Sol]] ([[User talk:BorQhue del Sol|talk]]) 19:21, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Added some size estimations for the pool. My math says it should be about 1.5km deep to match S-K’s volume; please re-check that. Not very certain on the diameter estimation, maybe someone wants to pixel-count the stick figures in the background against the visible arc of the pool and correct for perspective? — [[Special:Contributions/2A04:6EC0:271:E850:F420:9A86:97FE:2FB7|2A04:6EC0:271:E850:F420:9A86:97FE:2FB7]] 20:31, 22 May 2026 (UTC) (kleines Filmröllchen)&lt;br /&gt;
:I don't think it's very deep. The characters are standing, not treading water, and their heads are above the surface.  [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 04:29, 23 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3249:_Neutrino_Project&amp;diff=413370</id>
		<title>Talk:3249: Neutrino Project</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:3249:_Neutrino_Project&amp;diff=413370"/>
				<updated>2026-05-22T19:25:09Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;&amp;lt;!-- Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom. --&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
Never been this early to a new comic before. Good way to get some editing practice [[User:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat]] ([[User talk:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|talk]]) 19:14, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
:You just beat me, I was writing a transcript at the same time. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:25, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Is that really Ponytail and Danish at the top? They're hard to distinguish because they're so tiny, but I thought they might be Blondie and Megan. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:16, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
::I'm pretty sure its Ponytail, but it could either be Danish or a wet-haired Megan. Feel free to change it, it's not like the fate of the world hangs on this transcript. [[User:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat]] ([[User talk:Black Hat&amp;amp;#39;s Hat|talk]]) 19:24, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Particle physics-compatable swimwear needs to be thoroughly rinsed and air-dried after swimming to protect the sensitive elastane fibers from developing gaps.[[User:BorQhue del Sol|BorQhue del Sol]] ([[User talk:BorQhue del Sol|talk]]) 19:21, 22 May 2026 (UTC)&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	<entry>
		<id>https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3249:_Neutrino_Project&amp;diff=413368</id>
		<title>3249: Neutrino Project</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3249:_Neutrino_Project&amp;diff=413368"/>
				<updated>2026-05-22T19:22:25Z</updated>
		
		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Barmar: /* Explanation */&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;{{comic&lt;br /&gt;
| number    = 3249&lt;br /&gt;
| date      = May 22, 2026&lt;br /&gt;
| title     = Neutrino Project&lt;br /&gt;
| image     = neutrino_project_2x.png&lt;br /&gt;
| imagesize = 324x471px&lt;br /&gt;
| noexpand  = true&lt;br /&gt;
| titletext = We definitely put the pool in a mine for shielding. It was absolutely not to hide it from the funding people.&lt;br /&gt;
}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Explanation==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a solar neutrino. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{w|Neutrinos}} only rarely interact with matter as they are uncharged and have very little mass. A neutrino detector such as that mentioned in the comic uses photomultiplier tubes to monitor a large volume of water for Cherenkov radiation emitted when an incoming neutrino creates a fast-moving lepton. The comic suggests that the first neutrino detector was only created by researchers misusing grant money to build a swimming pool and throw a pool party. Scientific equipment is expensive and many grants are on the order of millions of dollars, so the pool party must indeed have been huge.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
As the title text alludes to, neutrino detectors are built underground for shielding purposes, often repurposing abandoned mines because the excavation work has already been done. However, in this scenario the shielding too was an excuse to &amp;quot;the funding people&amp;quot; and the pool was in fact built in a mine to hide it from them.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
==Transcript==&lt;br /&gt;
{{incomplete transcript| This transcript was written by a pool party attendee. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:[There is al large circular pool at the bottom of the panel, with a diving board and several stickfigures in and around it. Ponytail and Cueball are talking in the pool, two hairy Kidballs are passing a ball, a Kidball is jumping of the diving board, and a Ponytail with a  drink and a Danish are walking along the outside of the pool.]&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
: Ponytail: How much trouble do you think we'll be in when they find out we used the grant money to throw a huge pool party instead?&lt;br /&gt;
: Cueball: We could argue that we '''''did''''' build a neutrino detector.&lt;br /&gt;
: Cueball: There's a lot of water here. A solar neutrino will probably interact with it at '''''some''''' point.&lt;br /&gt;
: Ponytail: ...Wait. Actually, if we got some photomultiplier tubes...&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:[Caption below comic:]&lt;br /&gt;
:How the neutrino detector was invented&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
{{comic discussion}}&amp;lt;noinclude&amp;gt;&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Barmar</name></author>	</entry>

	</feed>