explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3245: Results Age

2026-05-15T14:20:48Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ nonbreaking spaces

{{comic
| number = 3245
| date = May 13, 2026
| title = Results Age
| image = results_age_2x.png
| imagesize = 478x669px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Please, we need your help. Our research suggests you're the last living descendant of the person who knew how to format this config file.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY AN INTERNET GRANDPA. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic shows how likely it is that a bug reported will be fixed, based on the age of some past post that matches your search for details of the problem.

A table is shown below of the explanations of each table row:
{| class="wikitable"
!Age of post !! What it means !! Probability of a fix !! Full Explanation
|-
|2 hours ago || There's an infrastructure outage || '''Very High''' - Just wait ||The recentness of the information implies that it has just happened, and other people have noticed it and started to post about the issue. Large-scale problems like a service outage are obvious priorities, and will (hopefully!) be fixed quickly.
|-
|5 days ago || A recent update just broke something big || '''High''', but you might have to wait for a patch || Similar to before, a large breakage would be very high priority to be fixed. However, as it's been five days since reporting it, the bug is likely taking a while to be found, so - as pointed out in the comic - you could have to wait a bit longer for this one to be resolved.
|-
|3 months ago || A new product isn't working for some users || '''Decent chance''' of a solution in the replies || This problem is clearly not considered a priority for a fix by the creators, judging by how long it's been there. It possibly isn't an issue affecting everyone, or even a large proportion of users. However, people are innovative, and someone may well have found their own fix, patch or kludge to get around the product limitations.
|-
|2 years ago || You've run into an edge case || '''Low''', but the replies could help with troubleshooting || An {{w|edge case}} is an unusual set of circumstances in which a system is asked to operate. These can cause an otherwise well-functioning system to behave in unexpected and unpredictable ways. Because such cases will occur very rarely, they may not have been foreseen or tested by the developers, or they may have considered it not worth the effort to cater for them. Very few people will suffer from this precise problem, which may mean that it's not considered worth the effort to apply a fix. The developers or other users may have encountered similar issues on this or similar software, and noting how they solved or worked around ''those'' problems might lead you towards how to address your own.
|-
|13 years ago || You're the only one with this problem || '''Very Low''' - post is likely not relevant|| A post of this age likely predates the software you're using, or at least the current version of it. It's probably a coincidental match to your search query, and doesn't actually relate to the problem you've encountered. Since no-one else has posted about this issue or anything similar within a recent timeframe, it's likely that you're the first person (or at least, one of very few people) to have ever come across it.
|-
|24 years ago || Oh god how is the Internet this old || Maybe whoever posted the message has kids who can help you || This is another comic where Randall [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|makes people feel old]], in this case by pointing out that {{w|the Internet}} is quite old. The children of the people who posted these comments are now likely to be around the same age the original posters were when they posted them (and may now be posting themselves). It is also (presumably) rare enough to be a [[979: Wisdom of the Ancients|DenverCoder9 situation]], and 13 years is longer than the time in that comic, so 13 years might be such a situation too. It is possible that Randall could be referencing this comic, as the thread that DenverCoder9 posted on was last posted to in 2003, 23 years before this comic's publication. If DenverCoder9 posted to the thread in 2002 and the thread happened to continue into 2003, then it would perfectly match the age.
The Internet is, in fact, significantly over forty years old, based upon original infrastructure and methods that were set up for perhaps up to two more decades previous to that. The World Wide Web (to many, synonymous with the Internet) hails from the early 1990s, and Google (one of the more commonly used search engines, through which this error search might have been made) was launched in the late 1990s, so are still practically older than this notional post. The biggest surprise might be that some information published on a webpage in 2002 (and still relevant to your search) survives on some still live web server (or as an archive/{{w|Mirror site|mirror}} of that original information on some archival/successor site). For example, any topical write-up of a then extant case of this issue, if documented upon web pages originally hosted by {{w|GeoCities}}, would have otherwise been made permanently inaccessible by the end of 2014.
|}

The title text appears to be a conversation taking place in a distant future with the descendant of an ancient internet post. The 'last living descendant' is a common trope in fiction where arcane knowledge is passed down through a family line (often on the previous generation's deathbed). The suggestion is that the solution to the user's issue is a closely guarded secret that has had to be kept safe in this way.

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

:Implications of the age of the posts you see when you Google an error message

:[A search engine prompt field is shown, containing part of an error code message (beginning with E-21, and what looks like a 9 and 3 next to it). Below this are search results shown as obscured text, except for a the phrase '3 years ago' in the first heading. This is expanded into an ellipse that obscures the rest of the search field.]
:[A table, with 3 columns, labelled "Age of post", "What it means", and "Probability of a fix"]

:[Row 1: Age of post:] 2 hours ago
:[What it means:] There's an infrastructure outage
:[Probability of a fix:] Very high -- just wait

:[Row 2: Age of post:] 5 days ago
:[What it means:] A recent update broke something big
:[Probability of a fix:] High, but you might have to wait for a patch

:[Row 3: Age of post:] 3 months ago
:[What it means:] A new product isn't working for some users
:[Probability of a fix:] Decent chance of a solution in the replies

:[Row 4: Age of post:] 2 years ago
:[What it means:] You've run into an edge case
:[Probability of a fix:] Low, but maybe the replies can help with troubleshooting

:[Row 5: Age of post:] 13 years ago
:[What it means:] You're the only person with this problem
:[Probability of a fix:] Very low -- post is likely not relevant

:[Row 6: Age of post:] 24 years ago
:[What it means:] Oh God how is the Internet this old
:[Probability of a fix:] Maybe whoever posted this message has kids who can help you

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics to make one feel old]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Internet]]

3244: Pullback Drive

2026-05-12T17:29:41Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ no reverse

{{comic
| number = 3244
| date = May 11, 2026
| title = Pullback Drive
| image = pullback_drive_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x292px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "How does the spring not run out almost immediately?" "We pull it back REALLY far."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by A STOMP ROCKET POWERED CAR. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic is a reference to toy cars with {{w|pullback motor}}s. Normally used for small toy cars, a spring motor stores potential energy when the car is pulled backwards, and the potential energy (including the final energy used in holding the car against its spring) is suddenly released as kinetic energy when the car is released.

The very simple version of pull-back car will only go as far forward as it is drawn backwards in the first place. More complicated versions can use a change in effective gearing (through the use of a 'flappy' gear that meshes differently depending upon the relative direction of movement of the cogs it is meshed with) between 'charging' the spring by back-pulling, and then letting it 'expend' in the forward direction. This can allow it to store a lot of torque from a little pre-pulled distance and then expend it to give far more effective speed/distance to the very light toy. Through a free-wheel gearing at the end of its 'powered' phase, the car may run on 'unpowered' for a significant further distance. However, since there is a finite amount of energy that can be stored in the spring, they may hit a hard limit where the spring cannot be wound any further, or commonly a slip-gear will simply click as the mechanism no longer tries to convert pull-back movement into sprung potential (letting the child know that their toy is at maximum readiness).

In this comic, [[Hairy]] suggests a full-scale version of a pullback car, including the mechanism that clicks as it hits the limit of its spring-winding. Making this type of energy store work on the scale of a full-size car would be extremely impractical, due to the {{w|Energy density#In material deformation|low power}} and the requirement to pull it back far enough to then go anywhere meaningful, even assuming a multiplying effect on forward travel compared to the initial backwards travel. Hairy tries to sell the car by saying that [[Cueball]] won't need to worry about gas or electricity prices. This is [[technically]] true, but cars that run on petroleum or electricity have the advantage of their energy supply being refillable, while this pullback car seemingly does not (without another factory-style 'pull back' facility).

A car which is powered by such a simple spring mechanism would have the significant disadvantage of not being able to have a "Reverse" gear setting.

The worries about electricity and gas prices may be a reference to the closure of the {{w|Strait of Hormuz}} due to the {{w|2026 Iran war}}. The strait was a very common waterway used for the international trade of natural gas and petroleum from the Middle East, but the Iranian government is currently not allowing any foreign ships to pass through it. If this type of propulsion works, this would negate the need to fuel the car, making it a good energy-efficient alternative if it could be practically implemented.

It would be possible to "recharge" such a car by repeating the process of pulling it backwards, or perhaps by placing it on a treadmill-style arrangement and running this forward relative to the car, while holding the vehicle stationary. However, the energy being stored in the spring motor would have to come from somewhere. No clue is even given to what form of mechanical device is used to pull the car back at the factory and if/when it needs to be retensioned again, but the means used to power ''that'' might entirely defeat the main purpose of the pullback car (that that it doesn't rely on various fuels to keep it going) if it relies on such fuels itself.

A flywheel connected to the motor could occasionally be lowered onto the road when the car is under braking and then automatically raised, which might work as a form of charging if the released kinetic energy could be diverted to the main wheels. However, the automatic lowering and raising of the flywheel would require an external energy source, and it would be much simpler to just use an electric car at that point. Plus, this would produce diminishing returns and the car would need to be "recharged" every so often.

Also the power relies on the car 'being pulled back', which would present challenges and, as Cueball points out in the title text, such a motor would store very little energy and (in a vehicle the size of an actual car) would run out almost immediately compared to a traditional combustion or electric engine. Hairy responds that they "pull it back '''''REALLY''''' far", which would not actually solve the practical problems of it being an incredibly inefficient energy source, or the various other difficulties, particularly as it is bound by the inbuilt 'clicking-limit' that already is implied to have been reached.

To some extent, the spring-powered car is a direct analogue to electric cars (whether pre-charged at the factory or not), where forms of externally-generated power are transfered to a 'potential' held within the vehicle to be re-expended (with acceptable losses in conversion efficiencies) as movement. By contrast, fuel-powered cars provide the energy in the form of potential-holding material (LPG, fuel-oils, or even solid fuel like coal or wood, depending upon the vehicle), which is expelled after use and refilled with new supplies. The advantages of electrical power are that it can be relatively easily generated by means ''other'' than burning fossil fuels, and (while not currently at energy densities comparable to common engine fuels), the weight of batteries required to power a car over a given distance isn't anything like as problematic as the equivalent spring-based system would be.

==Transcript==

:[Hairy and Cueball are standing to the right of a medium-size car. Hairy has raised one hand slightly to point to the car.]
:Hairy: You won't have to worry about gas prices '''''or''''' electricity prices with our new pullback drive model.
:Hairy: At the factory, we put the car on the ground and tow it all the way backward until it starts clicking.
:Hairy: To drive forward, you just release the brake and it goes.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3244: Pullback Drive

2026-05-12T14:21:35Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */

3243: Crystal Gazing

2026-05-09T14:23:08Z

BunsenH: quotes

{{comic
| number = 3243
| date = May 8, 2026
| title = Crystal Gazing
| image = crystal_gazing_2x.png
| imagesize = 281x397px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Beyond that lies a vale of fire through which my vision cannot penetrate' is the kind of fun thing geologists, heliophysicists, and early universe cosmologists have a lot of opportunities to say.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created over 4.54 billion nanoseconds ago. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A geologist dressed up as a wizard (assuming that isn't how they normally dress) announces — in archaic language befitting his costume — that he has determined the {{w|age of the Earth}} by analyzing {{w|zircon}}. Zircon is a crystal with the formula ZrSiO4. During its formation it can incorporate uranium instead of zirconium in its crystal lattice, but cannot incorporate lead. The uranium then decays (via several intermediates) into lead. Thus a sufficiently old zircon crystal will contain some lead, allowing geologists to calculate its age. This method is especially reliable since uranium-238 decays into lead-206 with a half-life of 4.5 billion years, while uranium-235 decays into lead-207 with a half-life of 0.7 billion years, allowing geologists to determine the age even if some lead was lost from the crystal.

A prophet of doom is someone who predicts impending disasters, especially the end of the world. (and there are lots of ridiculous ways that [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ could happen.])These prophets and predictions are especially common in fantasy media. The joke in the caption is that someone who can determine when the world began is just doing this in reverse, and that's what geochronologists are doing when they calculate the age of the Earth. His last line, the beginning was nigh, is a past tense variation of what people who fear for the end of the world traditionally say: "the end is nigh". This is in keeping with the idea represented in the comic.

The title text points out, in similar flowery language (in keeping with the character being a Tolkienesque portrayal of a wizard, where [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Vales_of_Anduin vales] are part of the geographical language), that many areas of physical sciences are limited in how far back they can describe the world or universe. {{w|Geologists}} are limited by the age of the Earth (and maybe even to some time after that, as we have little evidence of its original molten form), {{w|heliophysicists}} can't determine the early nature of the Sun, and early universe {{w|cosmologists}} don't know what was happening during and before the {{w|big bang}}. The Earth, stars, and the early Universe each passed through a state of extreme heat and chaos that makes it impossible or extremely difficult to accurately predict its earliest state based on its current state: a somewhat literal "vale of fire."

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

:[A character in wizard garb with long beard and hair talks to Cueball. To the left of the wizard is a poster with illegible text over a graph with two lines intersecting.]

:Wizard: By gazing into my crystals of zircon, I have divined the date of the hour of fire marking the limit of this world's existence.
:Wizard: 4.54 billion years ago, the beginning was nigh!

:[Caption below comic:]
:Geochronologists are just reverse prophets of doom.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:3243: Crystal Gazing

2026-05-09T03:48:14Z

BunsenH:

:Not counting any posts made before the vale and/or veil of fire. [[Special:Contributions/150.221.155.241|150.221.155.241]] 22:10, 8 May 2026 (UTC)
Why is it "vale of fire" instead of "veil of fire"? [[Special:Contributions/174.20.245.60|174.20.245.60]] 18:06, 8 May 2026 (UTC)
:"vale" is a poetic term for a valley. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 19:06, 8 May 2026 (UTC)
:: That is indeed the definition, but seems less appropriate than "veil" which has the connotation of blocking/obscuring.[[Special:Contributions/174.20.245.60|174.20.245.60]] 20:59, 8 May 2026 (UTC)
::Not just a poetic term, but used in placenames (e.g. the "Vale of Evesham"), a vale generally more being a ''wide'' valley/flood-plain, framed by hills, rather than a 'mere' river-cut. But one of the more figurative/poetic terms I hear used is "vale of tears", a particularly sorrowful episode of life.
::(PPE: a 'veil' and a 'vale' of obscuration would each be rather different concepts. Veil is a thin barrier, vale a 'territory' of (iin this case) inpenetrability. I think the chosen wor is as good a term, if not better, than the other... But, I don't know if it's an intentional choice or merely a slipup that fortunately landed on a somewhat-synonymic term.) [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:09, 8 May 2026 (UTC)
Alternative the vale of fire for the heliophysists could just be the photosphere, a barrier in space rather than time.[[Special:Contributions/76.180.39.133|76.180.39.133]] 01:44, 9 May 2026 (UTC)
:I think there's definitely a "veil" pun going on there. "Beyond the veil" is something you can't see. [[User:Dogman15|Dogman15]] ([[User talk:Dogman15|talk]]) 02:46, 9 May 2026 (UTC)
I'm not sure if "before the big bang" is a meaningful concept, at least from the inside of the universe. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:48, 9 May 2026 (UTC)

3243: Crystal Gazing

2026-05-09T03:43:46Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ article isn't asserting that the geologist normally dresses one way or the other; no CN needed

{{comic
| number = 3243
| date = May 8, 2026
| title = Crystal Gazing
| image = crystal_gazing_2x.png
| imagesize = 281x397px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Beyond that lies a vale of fire through which my vision cannot penetrate' is the kind of fun thing geologists, heliophysicists, and early universe cosmologists have a lot of opportunities to say.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created over 4.54 billion nanoseconds ago. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A geologist dressed up as a wizard (assuming that isn't how they normally dress) announces — in archaic language befitting his costume — that he has determined the {{w|age of the Earth}} by analyzing {{w|zircon}}. Zircon is a crystal with the formula ZrSiO4. During its formation it can incorporate uranium instead of zirconium in its crystal lattice, but cannot incorporate lead. The uranium then decays (via several intermediates) into lead. Thus a sufficiently old zircon crystal will contain some lead, allowing geologists to calculate its age. This method is especially reliable since uranium-238 decays into lead-208 with a half-life of 4.5 billion years, while uranium-235 decays into lead-207 with a half-life of 0.7 billion years, allowing geologists to determine the age even if some lead was lost from the crystal.

A prophet of doom is someone who predicts impending disasters, especially the end of the world. The joke in the caption is that someone who can determine when the world began is just doing this in reverse, and that's what geochronologists are doing when they calculate the age of the Earth.

The title text points out, in similar flowery language (in keeping with the character being a Tolkienesque portrayal of a wizard, where [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Vales_of_Anduin vales] are part of the geographical language), that many areas of physical sciences are limited in how far back they can describe the world or universe. {{w|Geologists}} are limited by the age of the Earth (and maybe even to some time after that, as we have little evidence of its original molten form), {{w|heliophysicists}} can't determine the early nature of the Sun, and early universe {{w|cosmologists}} don't know what was happening during and before the {{w|big bang}}. The Earth, stars, and the early Universe each passed through a state of extreme heat and chaos that makes it impossible or extremely difficult to accurately predict its earliest state based on its current state: a somewhat literal "vale of fire."

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

:[A character in wizard garb with long beard and hair talks to Cueball. To the left of the wizard is a poster with illegible text over a graph with two lines intersecting.]

:Wizard: By gazing into my crystals of zircon, I have divined the date of the hour of fire marking the limit of this world's existence.
:Wizard: 4.54 billion years ago, the beginning was nigh!

:[Caption below comic:]
:Geochronologists are just reverse prophets of doom.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3242: Aperiodic Table

2026-05-07T14:08:38Z

BunsenH: Not just zoos; also applies to penned pets. For example, see the "Snake Discovery" videos on YouTube.

{{comic
| number = 3242
| date = May 6, 2026
| title = Aperiodic Table
| image = aperiodic_table_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x464px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Scientists occasionally invent alternative periodic table layouts, which is usually a sign that they don't have enough enrichment in their enclosures.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created APERIODICALLY. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The {{w|periodic table of the elements}} is a diagram often used to show the properties of the {{w|chemical elements}} that make up the world. Its structure represents several properties of the elements. For example: all elements in a single column will have similar chemical properties; their atoms increase in size going top to bottom; atoms of elements in a given row decrease in size going left to right, with only a few exceptions; there are similar trends in their tendency to gain or lose electrons, and other properties. Elements in a given row increase in the charge of their nuclei going left to right, but that's essentially by definition: they're ordered by atomic number, which is the same as their nuclear charge.

[[Randall]] spoofs this concept by creating a similar view that is much less useful. The original table is "periodic" because it has consistent, repeating patterns that are represented by the horizontal position of the elements. Randall's 'table' is "aperiodic", meaning it has no consistent, repeating patterns. Instead, it is just a meandering line ordered by {{w|atomic number}}. To fit into a compact space, the sequence snakes back and forth and down the page. This presentation is not actually helpful{{cn}}, since it contains little information other than the atomic number of each element. Faint colouring on each box does show its category, but due to the dull colours that is also quite inconvenient to use, and depicts this information in an unnecessarily unhelpful and hard-to-read format.

The title text makes fun of scientists being cooped up in their labs by comparing them to animals kept in enclosures, suggesting that their creation of {{w|Types of periodic tables|alternative periodic table layouts}} is a result of a lack of enrichment activities to keep them occupied and satisfied in their lab. Researcher enclosure enrichment was previously mentioned in [[3052: Archive Request]].

Chemistry and the periodic table is a periodic ([[559|pun not intended]]) theme on xkcd, with there being many comics featuring variations and "fixes" of it, such as [[2639: Periodic Table Changes]] and [[2975: Classical Periodic Table]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon. All 118 elemenmts and their number should be included in a full transcript.}}

:The Aperiodic Table of the Elements
:[Rectangles showing the atomic symbols and atomic numbers from H (1) through Og (118) are arranged in a serpentine chain. Each rectangle has the atomic number in small numerals at the upper left and the atomic symbol in large letters. The color of each rectangle matches the the pattern of a standard periodic table. For example, the noble elements all have a red background.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Periodic table]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

3238: Soniferous Aether

2026-05-07T14:02:43Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ fixed list sentence

{{comic
| number = 3238
| date = April 27, 2026
| title = Soniferous Aether
| image = soniferous_aether_2x.png
| imagesize = 290x466px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Imagine you could ride alongside a sound wave. It would probably be pretty cool, right? We're putting in a departmental budget request to buy a really fast plane so we can check it out.
}}

==Explanation==

Beginning in the late 1690s, scientists posited a {{w|luminiferous aether}} to explain properties of light (especially its ability to travel in a vacuum) which should not be possible for a wave. This theory was disproven by the 1887 {{w|Michelson–Morley experiment}}, which demonstrated that the {{w|speed of light}} was constant, regardless of relative movement through the supposed aether. (If the luminiferous aether ''did'' exist, light would move at a set speed ''relative to that aether'', and therefore would appear, from a human perspective, to move slower in the direction the Earth was currently traveling, and faster in the opposite direction, but this did not occur.)

In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] have noticed that the {{w|speed of sound}} is ''not'' constant, and therefore have concluded, following a similar line of reasoning, that sound ''does'' travel through a medium. They then coin the term 'soniferous aether', following the same naming scheme, as the name for this 'newly-discovered' medium. ("Luminiferous" is Latin for "light-carrying", and "soniferous" would be the corresponding "sound-carrying" — by analogy with the theory of luminiferous aether, soniferous aether would logically be an otherwise unobtrusive medium which is primarily observable through its interactions with sound waves.) Although their conclusion is, strictly speaking, entirely correct, it overlooks the fact that this medium has already been discovered and named. Sound is widely known to travel through physical media, such as air or water, and cannot exist in a vacuum. Since these substances are already known to modern science{{citation needed}}, it is clearly unnecessary for new scientists to discover or name them.

The comic's caption specifically states that the physicists are reinventing air from first principles. Although sound ''can'' be carried by any form of matter, humans most commonly experience sounds traveling through air, so would likely identify air as the primary form of soniferous aether. As air has very little viscosity and density, is almost entirely invisible to light and is very familiar to humans, its presence is often overlooked in many situations, and this comic takes that to the humorous extreme of physicists forgetting it exists, even while creating a new theory to explain its effects. It is not without reason that the classic physics problems are careful to specify that one must assume that the {{w|Spherical cow|spherically symmetrical cow}} is in a vacuum.

The title text references {{w|Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein's}} thought experiment where he imagined riding alongside a light particle/wave (which was referenced in [[2959: Beam of Light]]), but with a sound wave instead. Travelling at the speed of sound can be accomplished with a fast airplane. Usually these would be military aircraft, though {{w|Concorde}}, the {{w|Tu-144}}, [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/i-was-there-when-the-dc-8-went-supersonic-27846699/ a DC-8] (briefly), and [https://simpleflying.com/supersonic-boeing-747-throwback/ a Boeing 747] were commercial aircraft that did achieve supersonic flight, and the {{w|Boom Overture}} is in the process of being tested as of the comic's publication.

Reinventing things from first principles has previously [[2834|been discussed]] [[2724|multiple times]] on [[xkcd]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is addressing an unseen audience in front of her while she holds her hand out towards them. She is standing on a podium with Cueball behind her. Cueball holds an arm out behind him indicating a screen behind him showing a graph with three sine waves with different wavelengths. The top has two cycles, the middle four cycles and the bottom one cycle.]
:Ponytail: We all know the speed of light is constant for all observers.
:Ponytail: But our experiments show that the speed of sound '''''changes''''' based on the observer's motion.
:Ponytail: Thus, we posit the existence of the '''''soniferous aether''''', a medium that fills the space between us and carries sound waves.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Sometimes physicists forget that air exists and rediscover it from first principles.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Physics]]

3242: Aperiodic Table

2026-05-07T02:29:45Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ zoos, terrariums, tanks, etc.

{{comic
| number = 3242
| date = May 6, 2026
| title = Aperiodic Table
| image = aperiodic_table_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x464px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Scientists occasionally invent alternative periodic table layouts, which is usually a sign that they don't have enough enrichment in their enclosures.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created APERIODICALLY. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The {{w|Periodic Table of the Elements}} is a diagram often used to show the properties of the elements that make up the world. Its structure represents several properties of the elements- for example, all elements in a single column will have similar chemical properties, and their atoms increase in size going top to bottom. Atoms of elements in a given row decrease in size going left to right, with only a few exceptions, and there are similar trends in their tendency to gain or lose electrons, and other properties. Elements in a given row increase in the charge of their nuclei going left to right, but that's essentially by definition: they're ordered by atomic number, which is the same as their nuclear charge.

Randall spoofs this concept by creating a similar diagram that is much less useful. The original table is "periodic" because it has consistent, repeating patterns that are represented by the horizontal position of the elements. Randall's table is "aperiodic", meaning it has no consistent, repeating patterns. Instead, it is just a line in order by {{w|atomic number}}. To fit in the same space as a normal periodic table, the sequence snakes back and forth and down the page in a space-filling manner. The diagram is not actually helpful, since it contains next-to-no information other than the atomic number of each element, plus faint colouring on each box to show its category, though due to the dull colours that is also quite inconvenient to use, and it depicts this information in an unnecessarily unhelpful and hard-to-read format.

Chemistry and the periodic table is a periodic theme on xkcd, with there being many comics featuring humorous variations and "fixes" of it, such as [[2639: Periodic Table Changes]] and [[2975: Classical Periodic Table]].

The title text might be a reference to [[3052: Archive Request]], or maybe some real attempts at inventing actual 'non-grid' linear versions of the periodic table, such as the {{w|File:Elementspiral_(polyatomic).svg|'periodic snail'}} that was created by {{w|Otto Theodor Benfey}}. It is also likely joking by comparing scientists to animals that are kept confined, from the reference to not having enough enrichment in their enclosures.

Thallium’s symbol is incorrectly given as Ti in this comic; its actual symbol is Tl.

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

:The Aperiodic Table of the Elements
:[Rectangles showing the atomic symbols and atomic numbers from H (1) through Og (118) are arranged in a serpentine chain. Each rectangle has the atomic number in small numerals at the upper left and the atomic symbol in large letters. The color of each rectangle matches the the pattern of a standard periodic table. For example, the noble elements all have a red background.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Periodic table]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3242: Aperiodic Table

2026-05-07T02:27:01Z

BunsenH: technically, it's atoms that vary in size, not elements

{{comic
| number = 3242
| date = May 6, 2026
| title = Aperiodic Table
| image = aperiodic_table_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x464px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Scientists occasionally invent alternative periodic table layouts, which is usually a sign that they don't have enough enrichment in their enclosures.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created APERIODICALLY. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The {{w|Periodic Table of the Elements}} is a diagram often used to show the properties of the elements that make up the world. Its structure represents several properties of the elements- for example, all elements in a single column will have similar chemical properties, and their atoms increase in size going top to bottom. Atoms of elements in a given row decrease in size going left to right, with only a few exceptions, and there are similar trends in their tendency to gain or lose electrons, and other properties. Elements in a given row increase in the charge of their nuclei going left to right, but that's essentially by definition: they're ordered by atomic number, which is the same as their nuclear charge.

Randall spoofs this concept by creating a similar diagram that is much less useful. The original table is "periodic" because it has consistent, repeating patterns that are represented by the horizontal position of the elements. Randall's table is "aperiodic", meaning it has no consistent, repeating patterns. Instead, it is just a line in order by {{w|atomic number}}. To fit in the same space as a normal periodic table, the sequence snakes back and forth and down the page in a space-filling manner. The diagram is not actually helpful, since it contains next-to-no information other than the atomic number of each element, plus faint colouring on each box to show its category, though due to the dull colours that is also quite inconvenient to use, and it depicts this information in an unnecessarily unhelpful and hard-to-read format.

Chemistry and the periodic table is a periodic theme on xkcd, with there being many comics featuring humorous variations and "fixes" of it, such as [[2639: Periodic Table Changes]] and [[2975: Classical Periodic Table]].

The title text might be a reference to [[3052: Archive Request]], or maybe some real attempts at inventing actual 'non-grid' linear versions of the periodic table, such as the {{w|File:Elementspiral_(polyatomic).svg|'periodic snail'}} that was created by {{w|Otto Theodor Benfey}}. It is also likely joking by relating scientists to zoo animals, from the reference to not having enough enrichment in their enclosures.

Thallium’s symbol is incorrectly given as Ti in this comic; its actual symbol is Tl.

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

:The Aperiodic Table of the Elements
:[Rectangles showing the atomic symbols and atomic numbers from H (1) through Og (118) are arranged in a serpentine chain. Each rectangle has the atomic number in small numerals at the upper left and the atomic symbol in large letters. The color of each rectangle matches the the pattern of a standard periodic table. For example, the noble elements all have a red background.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Periodic table]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3242: Aperiodic Table

2026-05-07T00:22:42Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ atomic size patterns

{{comic
| number = 3242
| date = May 6, 2026
| title = Aperiodic Table
| image = aperiodic_table_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x464px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Scientists occasionally invent alternative periodic table layouts, which is usually a sign that they don't have enough enrichment in their enclosures.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created APERIODICALLY. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
The {{w|Periodic Table of the Elements}} is a diagram often used to show the properties of the elements that make up the world. Its structure represents several properties of the elements- for example, all elements in a single column will have similar chemical properties, and increase in size going top to bottom. Elements in a given row decrease in size going left to right, with only a few exceptions, and there are similar trends in their tendency to gain or lose electrons, and other properties. Elements in a given row increase in the charge of their nuclei going left to right, but that's essentially by definition: they're ordered by atomic number, which is the same as their nuclear charge.

Randall spoofs this concept by creating a similar, but useless, diagram. The original table is "periodic" because it has consistent, repeating patterns that are represented by the horizontal position of the elements. Randall's table is "aperiodic", meaning it has no consistent, repeating patterns. Instead, it is just a line in order by {{w|atomic number}}. To fit in the same space as a normal periodic table, the sequence snakes back and forth and down the page in a space-filling manner. The diagram is not actually helpful, since it contains next-to-no information other than the atomic number of each element, plus faint colouring on each box to show its category, though due to the dull colours that is also quite inconvenient to use, and it depicts this information in an unnecessarily unhelpful and hard-to-read format.

Chemistry and the periodic table is a periodic theme on xkcd, with there being many comics featuring humorous variations and "fixes" of it, such as [[2639: Periodic Table Changes]] and [[2975: Classical Periodic Table]].

The title text might be a reference to [[3052: Archive Request]], or maybe some real attempts at inventing actual 'non-grid' linear versions of the periodic table, such as the {{w|File:Elementspiral_(polyatomic).svg|'periodic snail'}} that was created by {{w|Otto Theodor Benfey}}. It is also likely joking by relating scientist to household pets, from the reference to not having enough enrichment in their enclosures.

Thallium’s symbol is incorrectly given as Ti in this comic; its actual symbol is Tl.

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

The Aperiodic Table of the Elements

[Rectangles showing the atomic symbols and atomic numbers from H 1 through Og 118 are arranged in a serpentine chain. The color of each rectangle matches the the pattern of a standard periodic table. For example, the noble elements all have a red background.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3240: Bottle

2026-05-02T20:30:07Z

BunsenH: /* Transcript */ link to 3193

{{comic
| number = 3240
| date = May 1, 2026
| title = Bottle
| image = bottle_2x.png
| imagesize = 581x235px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "I know it seems impossible, but the trick is that I sailed in here when I was very young."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was BOTtled recently. Don't remove the cork too soon. }}
This comic shows a life sized ship in a bottle sailing along with other sail boats in the sea. The humor comes from the surreality of the situation.

In this comic, [[Beret Guy]] is inside a {{w|Impossible bottle#Ship in a bottle|ship in a bottle}}. [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are in a sail boat to his left, while [[Ponytail]] is alone in a sail boat to his right. A common question regarding a ship-in-a-bottle is ''how'' the model ship was put inside the bottle, due to the small size of the opening in the bottle compared to the ship. The answer is often that the ship was assembled (or at least partially unfolded, from more compact original components assembled outside) within the bottle. The components are small enough to pass through the neck of the bottle, and the final assembly is likewise done through the neck, usually the most awkward task. Of course, toy boat assembly is not comparable to real or life-sized ship construction, and bottles are almost never big enough to stand up in, with necks large enough to climb in and out through if required.

The title text alludes to this, by saying that Beret Guy, when he was smaller, sailed the boat inside the bottle while he was still able to fit through the entrance. This is similar to the way some brands of pear brandy are sold in {{w|Impossible bottle#Small objects that expand naturally|bottles containing entire pears}}. These are produced by attaching the bottle to a young fruit and letting it grow to full size inside. This explanation fails to address that Beret Guy would fit through the neck of such a bottle relatively easy, on his own; but the boat, being made from non-living materials, would '''not''' have grown inside the bottle, and it is unlikely to have ever been a smaller boat carrying a smaller Beret Guy, and in a manner that both together could have sailed into the bottle. On the other hand, it would probably be easier for someone inside the bottle to have assembled components of a ship there than for that assembly to be done from outside. This would especially be true of a seaworthy vessel of a size to carry a passenger, rather than a mere model. But it’s possible that he used one of his many [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers…]] Also, given the definition of boat explained in the earlier comic [[2043: Boathouses and Houseboats]] ("a ship, by most definitions, carries boats"), Beret Guy's vessel is merely a boat.

The water level in the free-floating bottle is lower than the water outside. This is because the bottle will sink until the weight of the bottle and its contents (the water, the boat, and [[Beret Guy]]) equals the weight of the water displaced by the bottle. The weight of the 'missing' water in the bottle (the layer of air between the two surface levels, including the corresponding volume of air displaced by the boat) is consequently equal to the weight of the whole glass bottle. If you added water to the bottle in an attempt to make the inside and outside water levels the same, the bottle would contain less buoyant air and just sink deeper to misalign the surfaces again. Keep repeating this, and the buoyancy becomes less than zero (unless the inherent buoyancy of Beret Guy and his boat, now forced into the bottle's 'ceiling', still possess enough intrinsic support) at which point the bottle would sink.

As well as the question as to how on earth [[Beret Guy]] and the boat got in the bottle, there's another oddity. The bottle appears to be keeping pace with the boats on either side, impliying it is somehow propelling itself long despite lacking an engine, a sail, or any other method of propulsion. This could mean the bottle shares one of [[Beret Guy]]'s [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers]]. Possibly though, as [[Beret Guy]] seems to also be sailing within the bottle (which is also impossible, as it would lack airflow within there, unless it has it's own wind system. This is very likely, as the cork would prevent all airflow anyway, meaning [[Beret Guy]] would quickly die without his own source of airflow) he could be somehow powering the boat through that. He has [[1486|powered up random objects in strange ways]] before, after all.

In practice, the bottle is horizontally unstable. The weight of the bottle is not equal along its length (it appears heavier at the neck), and the buoyancy at each point will not equal the weight at that point. This is also true of the boats in the cartoon; the difference is that in the bottle much of the weight is the water which is free to move. If the neck of the bottle goes down (to increase the displacement to balance the weight), the water will move to the front of the bottle. This increases the weight at the front which will force the front even deeper. This will continue until the bottle is floating vertically. [[Beret Guy]]'s boat would appear to fit in the width of the bottle so everything will be fine. This effect (known as the 'free surface effect') has real implications for ships with open decks, such as car ferries, and has been implicated in several disasters such as the 'Herald of Free Enterprise', the 'Princess Victoria', and the 'Estonia'. So the bottle is ridiculously impractical and the only thing it would do would be {{What If|103|protecting}} the people riding the ship - though not very much there either, as the bottle is likely made of glass, as giant boat-carrying bottles normally are. And in fact if it was to break then the hole made would make a bottleneck for the way out ([[559|pun not intended]]), so any attackers would have the advantage there as well.

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

[Three small single-masted sailboats are shown (the right one in a [[3193:_Sailing_Rigs|gaff rig]], all sailing towards the right. The ones on the left and right are on the ocean, while the one in the middle is contained completely by a large bottle. On the left, Cueball and Megan are in one boat; Cueball is sitting near the stern, possibly holding the tiller, while Megan is before the mast. In the middle, Beret Guy is before the mast in the boat that's inside the giant bottle, with a cork plugging the screw top bottleneck. On the right, Ponytail is directly aft of the mast of the third boat. All the boats are sitting on the water with ripples on the surface, but the water level in the bottle is lower than the rest.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]

3240: Bottle

2026-05-02T14:01:25Z

BunsenH: missing the point: it's hard to do things through the neck

{{comic
| number = 3240
| date = May 1, 2026
| title = Bottle
| image = bottle_2x.png
| imagesize = 581x235px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "I know it seems impossible, but the trick is that I sailed in here when I was very young."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was bottled recently. Don't remove the cork too soon.}}
This comic shows a life sized ship in a bottle sailing along with other sail boats in the sea. The humor comes from the surreality of the situation.

In this comic, [[Beret Guy]] is inside a {{w|Impossible bottle#Ship in a bottle|ship in a bottle}}. [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are in a sail boat to his left, while [[Ponytail]] is alone in a sail boat to his right. A common question regarding a ship-in-a-bottle is ''how'' the model ship was put inside the bottle, due to the small size of the opening in the bottle compared to the ship. The answer is often that the ship was assembled (or at least partially unfolded, from more compact original components assembled outside) within the bottle. The components are small enough to pass through the neck of the bottle, and the final assembly is likewise done through the neck, usually the most awkward task. Of course, toy boat assembly is not comparable to real or life-sized ship construction, and bottles are almost never big enough to stand up in, with necks large enough to climb in and out through if required.

The title text alludes to this, by saying that Beret Guy, when he was smaller, sailed the boat inside the bottle while he was still able to fit through the entrance. This is similar to the way some brands of pear brandy are sold in {{w|Impossible bottle#Small objects that expand naturally|bottles containing entire pears}}. These are produced by attaching the bottle to a young fruit and letting it grow to full size inside. This explanation fails to address that Beret Guy would fit through the neck of such a bottle relatively easy, on his own; but the boat, being made from non-living materials, would '''not''' have grown inside the bottle, and it is unlikely to have ever been a smaller boat carrying a smaller Beret Guy, and in a manner that both together could have sailed into the bottle. On the other hand, it would probably be easier for someone inside the bottle to have assembled components of a ship there than for that assembly to be done from outside. This would especially be true of a seaworthy vessel of a size to carry a passenger, rather than a mere model. But it’s possible that he used one of his many [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers…]] Also, given the definition of boat explained in the earlier comic [[2043: Boathouses and Houseboats]] ("a ship, by most definitions, carries boats"), Beret Guy's vessel is merely a boat.

The water level in the free-floating bottle is lower than the water outside. This is because the bottle will sink until the weight of the bottle and its contents (the water, the boat, and [[Beret Guy]]) equals the weight of the water displaced by the bottle. The weight of the 'missing' water in the bottle (the layer of air between the two surface levels, including the corresponding volume of air displaced by the boat) is consequently equal to the weight of the whole glass bottle. If you added water to the bottle in an attempt to make the inside and outside water levels the same, the bottle would contain less buoyant air and just sink deeper to misalign the surfaces again. Keep repeating this, and the buoyancy becomes less than zero (unless the inherent buoyancy of Beret Guy and his boat, now forced into the bottle's 'ceiling', still possess enough intrinsic support) at which point the bottle would sink.

As well as the question as to how on earth [[Beret Guy]] & the boat got in the bottle, there's another oddity. The bottle appears to be keeping pace with the boats on either side, impliying it is somehow propelling itself long despite lacking an engine, a sail, or any other method of propulsion. This could mean the bottle shares one of [[Beret Guy]]'s [[:Category:Strange Powers of Beret Guy|strange powers]]. Possibly though, as [[Beret Guy]] seems to also be sailing within the bottle (which is also impossible, as it would lack airflow within there, unless it has it's own wind system) he could be somehow powering the boat through that. He has [[1486|powered up random objects in strange ways]] before, after all.

In practice, the bottle is horizontally unstable. The weight of the bottle is not equal along its length (it appears heavier at the neck), and the buoyancy at each point will not equal the weight at that point. This is also true of the boats in the cartoon; the difference is that in the bottle much of the weight is the water which is free to move. If the neck of the bottle goes down (to increase the displacement to balance the weight), the water will move to the front of the bottle. This increases the weight at the front which will force the front even deeper. This will continue until the bottle is floating vertically. [[Beret Guy]]'s boat would appear to fit in the width of the bottle so everything will be fine. This effect (known as the 'free surface effect') has real implications for ships with open decks, such as car ferries, and has been implicated in several disasters such as the 'Herald of Free Enterprise', the 'Princess Victoria', and the 'Estonia'. So the bottle is ridiculously impractical and the only thing it would do would be {{What If|103|protecting}} the people riding the ship.



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

[Three small single-masted sailboats are shown, all sailing towards the right. The ones on the left and right are on the ocean, while the one in the middle is contained completely by a large bottle. On the left, Cueball and Megan are in one boat; Cueball is near the stern, possibly holding the tiller, while Megan is before the mast. In the middle, Beret Guy is before the mast in the boat that's inside the giant bottle, with a cork plugging the bottleneck. On the right, Ponytail is directly aft of the mast of the third boat. All the boats are sitting on the water with ripples on the surface, but the water level in the bottle is lower than the rest.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]

3240: Bottle

2026-05-02T00:43:24Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ spelling

3240: Bottle

2026-05-02T00:40:51Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ it's only a model

3240: Bottle

2026-05-02T00:38:16Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ pain in the neck

3238: Soniferous Aether

2026-04-29T14:15:36Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ spherically symmetrical cows

{{comic
| number = 3238
| date = April 27, 2026
| title = Soniferous Aether
| image = soniferous_aether_2x.png
| imagesize = 290x466px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Imagine you could ride alongside a sound wave. It would probably be pretty cool, right? We're putting in a departmental budget request to buy a really fast plane so we can check it out.
}}

==Explanation==

Beginning in the late 1690s, scientists posited a {{w|luminiferous aether}} to explain properties of light (especially its ability to travel in a vacuum) which should not be possible for a wave. This theory was disproven by the 1887 {{w|Michelson–Morley experiment}}, which demonstrated that the {{w|speed of light}} was constant, regardless of relative movement through the supposed aether. (If the luminiferous aether ''did'' exist, light would move at a set speed ''relative to that aether'', and therefore would appear, from a human perspective, to move slower in the direction the Earth was currently traveling, and faster in the opposite direction, but this did not occur.)

In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] have noticed that the {{w|speed of sound}} is ''not'' constant, and therefore have concluded, following a similar line of reasoning, that sound ''does'' travel through a medium. They then coin the term 'soniferous aether', following the same naming scheme, as the name for this 'newly-discovered' medium. ("Luminiferous" is Latin for "light-carrying", and "soniferous" would be the corresponding "sound-carrying" — by analogy with the theory of luminiferous aether, soniferous aether would logically be an otherwise unobtrusive medium which is primarily observable through its interactions with sound waves.) Although their conclusion is, strictly speaking, entirely correct, it overlooks the fact that this medium has already been discovered and named. Sound is widely known to travel through physical media, such as air or water, and cannot exist in a vacuum. Since these substances are already known to modern science{{citation needed}}, it is clearly unnecessary for new scientists to discover or name them.

The comic's caption specifically states that the physicists are reinventing air from first principles. Although sound ''can'' be carried by any form of matter, humans most commonly experience sounds traveling through air, so would likely identify air as the primary form of soniferous aether. As air has very little viscosity and density, is almost entirely invisible to light and is very familiar to humans, its presence is often overlooked in many situations, and this comic takes that to the humorous extreme of physicists forgetting it exists, even while creating a new theory to explain its effects. It is not without reason that the classic physics problems are careful to specify that one must assume that the spherically symmetrical cow is in a vacuum.

The title text references {{w|Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein's}} thought experiment where he imagined riding alongside a light particle/wave (which was referenced in [[2959: Beam of Light]]), but with a sound wave instead. Travelling at the speed of sound can be accomplished with a fast airplane. Usually these would be military aircraft, though {{w|Concorde}}, the {{w|Tu-144}} and (briefly) [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/i-was-there-when-the-dc-8-went-supersonic-27846699/ a DC-8] were commercial aircraft that did achieve supersonic flight, and the {{w|Boom Overture}} is in the process of being tested as of the comic's publication.

Reinventing things from first principles has previously [[2834|been discussed]] [[2724|multiple times]] on [[xkcd]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is addressing an unseen audience in front of her while she holds her hand out towards them. She is standing on a podium with Cueball behind her. Cueball holds an arm out behind him indicating a screen behind him showing a graph with three sine waves with different wavelengths. The top has two cycles, the middle four cycles and the bottom one cycle.]
:Ponytail: We all know the speed of light is constant for all observers.
:Ponytail: But our experiments show that the speed of sound '''''changes''''' based on the observer's motion.
:Ponytail: Thus, we posit the existence of the '''''soniferous aether''''', a medium that fills the space between us and carries sound waves.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Sometimes physicists forget that air exists and rediscover it from first principles.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Physics]]

3238: Soniferous Aether

2026-04-29T00:34:08Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ etymology

{{comic
| number = 3238
| date = April 27, 2026
| title = Soniferous Aether
| image = soniferous_aether_2x.png
| imagesize = 290x466px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Imagine you could ride alongside a sound wave. It would probably be pretty cool, right? We're putting in a departmental budget request to buy a really fast plane so we can check it out.
}}

==Explanation==

Beginning in the late 1690s, scientists posited a {{w|luminiferous aether}} to explain properties of light (especially its ability to travel in a vacuum) which should not be possible for a wave. This theory was disproven by the 1887 {{w|Michelson–Morley experiment}}, which demonstrated that the {{w|speed of light}} was constant, regardless of relative movement through the supposed aether. (If the luminiferous aether ''did'' exist, light would move at a set speed ''relative to that aether'', and therefore would appear, from a human perspective, to move slower in the direction the Earth was currently traveling, and faster in the opposite direction- but this did not occur.)

In this comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] have noticed that the {{w|speed of sound}} is ''not'' constant, and therefore have concluded, following a similar line of reasoning, that sound ''does'' travel through a medium. They then coin the term 'soniferous aether', following the same naming scheme, as the name for this 'newly-discovered' medium. ("Luminiferous" is Latin for "light-carrying", and "soniferous" would be the corresponding "sound-carrying".) Although their conclusion is, strictly speaking, entirely correct, it overlooks the fact that this medium has already been discovered and named. Sound is widely known to travel through physical media, such as air or water, and cannot exist in a vacuum. Since these substances are already known to modern science{{citation needed}}, it is clearly unnecessary for new scientists to discover or name them.

The comic's caption states that the physicists are specifically reinventing air from first principles. Although sound ''can'' be carried by any form of matter, a human would likely identify air as the primary form of soniferous aether, since humans generally experience sounds that travel through air, rather than other mediums like water or metal. As air has very little viscosity and density, is almost entirely invisible to light, and is very familiar to humans, its presence is often overlooked in many situations, and this comic takes that to the humorous extreme of physicists forgetting it exists even while creating a new theory to explain its effects.

By analogy with the theory of luminiferous aether, soniferous aether would logically be an otherwise unobtrusive medium which is primarily observable through its interactions with sound waves. This is a somewhat reasonable description of air, hence why the physicists are stated to have 'reinvented air' (although air does have many other effects that humans generally take for granted, such as the presence of oxygen and the ability for scents to diffuse through 'empty' space).

The title text references {{w|Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein's}} thought experiment where he imagined riding alongside a light particle/wave (which was referenced in [[2959: Beam of Light]]), but with a sound wave instead. Travelling at the speed of sound can be accomplished with a fast airplane. Usually these would be military aircraft, though {{w|Concorde}}, the {{w|Tu-144}} and (briefly) [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/i-was-there-when-the-dc-8-went-supersonic-27846699/ a DC-8] were commercial aircraft that did achieve supersonic flight, and the {{w|Boom Overture}} is in the process of being tested as of the comic's publication.

Reinventing things from first principles has previously [[2834|been discussed]] [[2724|multiple times]] on [[xkcd]].

==Transcript==
:[Ponytail is addressing an unseen audience in front of her while she holds her hand out towards them. She is standing on a podium with Cueball behind her. Cueball holds an arm out behind him indicating a screen behind him showing a graph with three sine waves with different wavelengths. The top has two cycles, the middle four cycles and the bottom one cycle.]
:Ponytail: We all know the speed of light is constant for all observers.
:Ponytail: But our experiments show that the speed of sound '''''changes''''' based on the observer's motion.
:Ponytail: Thus, we posit the existence of the '''''soniferous aether''''', a medium that fills the space between us and carries sound waves.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Sometimes physicists forget that air exists and rediscover it from first principles.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Physics]]

3236: Border Message

2026-04-25T14:26:11Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ might as well be explicit about comic page name

{{comic
| number = 3236
| date = April 22, 2026
| title = Border Message
| image = border_message_2x.png
| imagesize = 736x316px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Thanks to differences in logging regulations, the messages actually turned out to be visible from the air.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bored legislator. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

Many US states, counties, and smaller local administrative regions have long, straight borders. Regions whose borders evolved over time often reflect natural geographic features (such as bodies of water or mountain ranges), customary (pre-survey) tradition, or piecemeal growth (a city annexing selected nearby areas based on landowner requests or economic factors). Straight lines tend to be the result of a survey or administrative process that is more concerned with defining a boundary than optimizing for local conditions. However, this may be boring for legislators or surveyors who have the power to set the boundary. In this comic, the legislators in charge of the boundary between two geographic areas ("Southlake" to the southwest and "East Valley" to the northeast) livened up the process by arranging for the boundary to spell out a message when viewed on a map. It's unknown what kind of local areas (municipal regions, counties, etc.) are involved here. The boundary definition includes multiple discontinuities — such as the bottoms of the W and other letters with gaps at the bottom, the interior of the "O"s and other letters with "holes", the apostrophe, and so on — that are {{w|Enclave and exclave|either exclaves}} (probably of the northern territory, that are surrounded by the southern one, in most cases) or (unlabeled) {{w|Enclave and exclave#True_enclaves|enclaved territories}} in their own right that are associated with no other disconnected area (possibly regarded as ''{{w|terra nullius}}''). This would be very inconvenient for both tourists and locals, since they would have to constantly consult the map if they want to know whether they are in East Valley or Southlake. This would mean that, artistically (or [[2008|ironically]]) enough, the message with a nice positive saying would almost certainly annoy people, defeating the purpose. [[2519: Sloped Border]] is about negotiations regarding another bizarre border.

The title text implies that the area around the border is forested. Due to the different logging regulations in the two areas, the densities or types of trees on each side of the border are so different that one can see the border, and hence the messages, when looking down on the land. What logging would happen in the land within the exclaves is unclear (possibly none?), but evidently is sufficiently different to make these visible.

This comic may have been inspired by {{w|gerrymandering}}: defining voting districts to favor a particular group. This often results in districts with very unusual shapes. The comic was published on the day after Virginia voters passed {{w|2026 Virginia redistricting amendment|a referendum approving redistricting}} that favored the Democratic Party. See also the {{w|Belgium-Netherlands border}} and the Google Maps outlines of many western land divisions, which can both be chaotic in places. This comic also happens to have been published on {{w|Earth Day}}.

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

:[A section of a map showing the border between two geographic areas, East Valley and Southlake (marked on the map). The border is shown as a dotted line, and it spells out a message, followed by a small diagonal part:]
:WE HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS MAP

:[Caption below comic:]
:When local legislators get bored

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Maps]]

3237: Husband and Wife

2026-04-25T14:12:29Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ rv sentence fragment which made no sense

{{comic
| number = 3237
| date = April 24, 2026
| title = Husband and Wife
| image = husband_and_wife_2x.png
| imagesize = 586x292px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Borat came out twenty years ago this year--closer to the breakup of the Soviet Union than to today--but it honestly feels like it's been even longer, somehow.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by MAH BAAT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing the phrases that married couples use to refer to each other, traditionally "my husband" and "my wife". Megan thinks this sounds too traditional, comparing it to a "Victorian gossip" (a subject that was previously referenced in [[2660: Gen Z]]), though it isn't clear whether this is because of referring to a spouse possessively or using the term "husband", which can sound fancy due to its 17th-century meanings of "master of the house" or "husbandman" (farmer).

Cueball, on the other hand, isn't bothered as much by this implication as by the association with 2006 film ''{{w|Borat}}''. Borat, a fictional character from {{w|Kazakhstan}}, had a distinct, cringy way of saying [https://youtu.be/Zw16aew4Pt0 "my wife"], which Cueball can't get out of his head when he uses the phrase.

Cueball's problem isn't easily solved; it's hard to forget that {{w|earworm}}. The title text points out that the 20 years from the movie's release to the publication of this comic is longer than the 15 years from the {{w|dissolution of the Soviet Union}} to the movie (Kazakhstan was briefly the last-remaining member of the USSR). In contrast to [[Randall]]'s usual [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|attempts to make people feel old]], the title text claims that ''Borat'' actually seems '''older''' than it really is.

==Transcript==
:[ [[Megan]] & [[Cueball]] are talking, standing next to each other]

:Megan: I still feel a little weird saying the phrase "my husband".
:Megan: It makes me feel so traditional, like a Victorian gossip.

:[Megan and Cueball still standing next to each other]
:Cueball: Yeah, well, '''''my''''' plight isn’t much better.
:Megan: What do you mean?
:Cueball: What’s the most salient cultural reference for the phrase "my wife"?

:[In the 3rd panel, Cueball has his hands raised]
:Megan: Ughhhh, true.
:Cueball: Even now, after two decades, when I speak of you I hear his voice, echoing through the halls of memory like a cringey ghost.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Movies]]

3237: Husband and Wife

2026-04-25T14:06:33Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ rv redundancy, and it's hard to consider that problem to be serious

{{comic
| number = 3237
| date = April 24, 2026
| title = Husband and Wife
| image = husband_and_wife_2x.png
| imagesize = 586x292px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Borat came out twenty years ago this year--closer to the breakup of the Soviet Union than to today--but it honestly feels like it's been even longer, somehow.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by MAH BAAT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing the phrases that married couples use to refer to each other, traditionally "my husband" and "my wife". Megan thinks this sounds too traditional, comparing it to a "Victorian gossip" (a subject that was previously referenced in [[2660: Gen Z]]), though it isn't clear whether this is because of referring to a spouse possessively or using the term "husband", which can sound fancy due to its 17th-century meanings of "master of the house" or "husbandman" (farmer).

Cueball, on the other hand, isn't bothered as much by this implication as by the association with 2006 film ''{{w|Borat}}''. Borat, a fictional character from {{w|Kazakhstan}}, had a distinct, cringy way of saying [https://youtu.be/Zw16aew4Pt0 "my wife"], which Cueball can't get out of his head when he uses the phrase.

Cueball's problem isn't easily solved; it's hard to forget that {{w|earworm}}. The title text points out that the 20 years from the movie's release to the publication of this comic is longer than the 15 years from the {{w|dissolution of the Soviet Union}} to the movie (Kazakhstan was briefly the last-remaining member of the USSR). In contrast to [[Randall]]'s usual [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|attempts to make people feel old]], the title text claims that ''Borat'' actually seems '''older''' than it really is, in part because of how annoying

==Transcript==
:[ [[Megan]] & [[Cueball]] are talking, standing next to each other]

:Megan: I still feel a little weird saying the phrase "my husband".
:Megan: It makes me feel so traditional, like a Victorian gossip.

:[Megan and Cueball still standing next to each other]
:Cueball: Yeah, well, '''''my''''' plight isn’t much better.
:Megan: What do you mean?
:Cueball: What’s the most salient cultural reference for the phrase "my wife"?

:[In the 3rd panel, Cueball has his hands raised]
:Megan: Ughhhh, true.
:Cueball: Even now, after two decades, when I speak of you I hear his voice, echoing through the halls of memory like a cringey ghost.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Romance]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Movies]]

3236: Border Message

2026-04-23T14:06:00Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ you -> one

{{comic
| number = 3236
| date = April 22, 2026
| title = Border Message
| image = border_message_2x.png
| imagesize = 736x316px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Thanks to differences in logging regulations, the messages actually turned out to be visible from the air.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a bored legislator. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

Quite a lot of US States have very long, straight borders, in some cases due to lacking obvious geographic features which might otherwise form natural boundaries. This may well be quite boring for boundary legislators, having to just draw long straight lines. In this comic though, legislators who were negotiating the boundary between two geographic areas ("Southlake" and "East Valley") livened up the normally boring process by arranging for the boundary to spell out a message when viewed on a map. It's unknown what kind of areas (municipal regions, counties, etc.) are involved here. The boundary definition includes multiple areas — such as the bottom of the W, the interior of the "O"s and other letters with "holes", the apostrophe and so on — that are {{w|Enclave and exclave|either}} exclaves (probably of the northern territory, that are surrounded by the southern one, in most cases) or (unlabeled) enclaved territories in their own right that are associated with no other disconnected area (possibly regarded as ''{{w|terra nullius}}''). This would be very inconvenient for both tourists and locals, since they would have to constantly consult the map if they want to know whether they are in East Valley or Southlake. This would mean that, artistically (or [[2008|ironically]]) enough, the message with a nice positive saying would almost certainly annoy people, defeating the purpose.

The title text implies that the area around the border is forested. Due to the different logging regulations in the two areas, the densities or types of trees on each side of the border are so different that one can see the border, and hence the messages, when looking down on the land. What logging would happen in the 'no man's land' between the letters is unclear (possibly none?), but evidently is sufficiently different to make these visible.

This comic may have been inspired by {{w|gerrymandering}}: defining voting districts to favor a particular group. This often results in districts with very unusual shapes. The comic was published on the day after Virginia voters passed {{w|2026 Virginia redistricting amendment|a referendum approving redistricting}} that favored the Democratic Party. See also the {{w|Belgium-Netherlands border}}, which is extremely chaotic. This comic also happens to have been published on {{w|Earth Day}}.

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

:[A section of a map showing the border between two geographic areas, East Valley and Southlake (marked on the map). The border is shown as a dotted line, and it spells out a message, followed by a small diagonal part:]
:WE HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING THIS MAP

:[Caption below comic:]
:When local legislators get bored

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Maps]]

Talk:3236: Border Message

2026-04-23T03:38:14Z

BunsenH:

Wow, I got here early. [[Special:Contributions/47.152.141.142|47.152.141.142]] 21:11, 22 April 2026 (UTC)
: *salutations.* [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 21:39, 22 April 2026 (UTC)
The (sort of) Belgian village of Baarle-Hertog has numerous bizarre exclaves with neighbouring Netherlands, almost as complex as the borders in the cartoon. Some of the borders even pass through houses. https://maps.app.goo.gl/M5duocjEkJRQKedEA [[User:Martin|Martin]] ([[User talk:Martin|talk]]) 22:22, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

SMBC once had a similar idea to stop Gerrymandering: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2013-07-12 [[Special:Contributions/90.146.31.117|90.146.31.117]] 23:02, 22 April 2026 (UTC)

Gerrymandering was not my first thought when I saw this comic, maybe that part should be removed from the description? I don't see any real way that it connects to gerrymandering besides the fact that it talks about borders. [[User:Qoiuoiuoiu|Qoiuoiuoiu]] ([[User talk:Qoiuoiuoiu|talk]]) 01:56, 23 April 2026 (UTC)
: Maybe it was added after the vague link to that SMBC comic was found? [[Special:Contributions/110.145.224.178|110.145.224.178]] 03:22, 23 April 2026 (UTC)
:: For what it's worth, the comment about gerrymandering was added in the very first text to be put on that page (21:09, 22 April 2026). It's not merely because of borders; it's because of "borders that have been made extremely convoluted for artificial reasons unrelated to the factors that usually define such boundaries, such as geographical features, roads, latitude/longitude, or regular divisions". [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:38, 23 April 2026 (UTC)

3236: Border Message

2026-04-23T03:22:10Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ towns, villages, municipalities, ... no reason at all to be specific

3236: Border Message

2026-04-22T21:56:02Z

BunsenH: /* Transcript */ don't know if they're towns, counties, etc.

3236: Border Message

2026-04-22T21:55:08Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ plural

3236: Border Message

2026-04-22T21:54:25Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ tree types

3236: Border Message

2026-04-22T21:53:14Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ don't know if it's towns; clarify

Talk:3232: Countdown Standard

2026-04-15T21:31:19Z

BunsenH:

Refer to all 4 Lethal Weapons movies for discussion. {{unsigned ip|45.138.52.240}}
:{{citation needed}} --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:45, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Don't most people say "on three", "on one", or "on go" before starting the count anyway? And then delay the final (action) number a teensy bit? e.g. "On one. Ready? 3 2 1" This isn't that ambiguous, not that I would object to standardisation. [[User:Sameldacamel34|Sameldacamel34]] ([[User talk:Sameldacamel34|talk]]) 23:13, 13 April 2026 (UTC)
:It is appallingly common for me to hear the inconsistent and dissonant, "On the count of three…one, two, three, GO!" (This is problematic because it is "on the count of THREE" not "on the count of GO, the word after three". Or at least, that is what I understand those words to mean.) [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:09, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:Just "on three" is the most common, I think. You say "On three. Ready? One, two THREE." [[User:Dogman15|Dogman15]] ([[User talk:Dogman15|talk]]) 02:42, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::"On three... THREE!" [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:56, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:::On three... two... one... zero... GO!! [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 23:15, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:There are two different conventions to synchronize a start -- by reacting or by rythmically coordinating. And both are used: in official swimming championships by World Aquatics they train to start to a perfectly rythmic "bip.. bip.. beeep" while in track and field championships by World Athletics the start judge waits an arbitrary time before triggering the gun to which athletes react. [[Special:Contributions/31.221.183.22|31.221.183.22]] 09:49, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::There's at least a third - go at a predetermined time. And a fourth - use a start gate to physically restrain the starters. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:23, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it. -- Monty Python and the Holy Grail [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 00:35, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:[Arthur:] Right. One, two, five!
:[Galahad:] Three, sir.
:[Arthur:] Three! [*throws it*]
:...just to complicate matters. ;) [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 00:54, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::Fantastic guys ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:44, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:I wouldn't look to God for standards on counting - just look at the mess around what 'forty days and forty nights' means. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:16, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Four... Two... One... One Half... One Quarter... One Eighth... One Sixteenth... One Thirty-second... One Sixty-Fourth... [go to infinity] GO! [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 03:47, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:Yeah, you don't even get the reference material foods. You're starving. [[Special:Contributions/47.141.37.161|47.141.37.161]] 16:36, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Just to make things even weirder: the movie industry counts 5, 4, 3, 2, go!
[[Special:Contributions/76.133.66.138|76.133.66.138]] 03:59, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:{{citation needed}} --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:44, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::https://raymonddefelitta.org/i-dig-film-leader/ Film leaders do generally stop at 2 or 3, but they don't really count "3, [2,] go!". There's a 'silent' count for the absent numbers before you reach the 'go!' point. They're left black to avoid fouling the start of the projection. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:54, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I'm sure people all over the world will follow this standard just as faithfully as they follow ISO 8601. {{unsigned|2a00:1a28:1410:5::10db}}
:Here for reference: [[1179: ISO 8601]]. But there is at least one more with ISO reference: [[2322: ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral]]. So that is three comics referencing the ISO system directly (this one not in titel but in the text so no doubt that it would belong with the other two. But I'm not sure three is enough to create and ISO category? Could not on the spot find any others...? If someone can then we could make a category! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:43, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::The home inspections series has only 3 comics, if that helps (I can't link it though, for some reason. It's name is Category:Home Inspections). [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 13:36, 14 April 2026
:::If you write <nowiki>[[Category:Home Inspections]]</nowiki>, it ''adds the current page to that category''; if you want to link ''to'' the category, you have to add an extra colon at the beginning, so <nowiki>[[:Category:Home Inspections]]</nowiki> gives you [[:Category:Home Inspections]] - [[User:IMSoP|IMSoP]] ([[User talk:IMSoP|talk]]) 15:12, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::::Thanks! [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 19:48, 14 April 2026

All instances of "One... Two... Two and a half..." shall be referred to the International Criminal Court for prosecution. [[Special:Contributions/2600:1004:B0A0:E06:0:3E:A3FD:5401|2600:1004:B0A0:E06:0:3E:A3FD:5401]] 14:37, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I personally use “And a 1, a 2, a 1 2 3 4” [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 15:18, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
: Well that's no good - this one's in 5/8. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:25, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

3, 2, 1, 0, -1, ... -∞ [[Special:Contributions/45.178.3.59|45.178.3.59]] 15:26, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Dutch comedian Herman Finkers had a sketch where he said "We count to three. One, two <starts playing music>". In Dutch, "tot" means "up to and not including" while "tot en met" means "up to and including", wso wgen you say "I count to three" you should not include the three, even though most people will do so. [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 18:01, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I wonder if 3-2-1-Go is so well understood because it's similar to rocket countdowns: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-Blastoff! [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:30, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:In between which of those numbers does the ''"Countdown hold"'' arrive? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:36, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
: 3-2-1-Go isn't similar to rocket countdowns, it *IS* rocket - and other physics - countdowns. [[User:Jgharston|Jgharston]] ([[User talk:Jgharston|talk]]) 21:43, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:: Isn't a rocket countdown technically "-3, -2, -1, Go!"? (Which is strictly speaking a countup.) [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:59, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Medical personnel still use 1-2-3 as the count-up when moving a patient from one platform to another (e.g. between a bed and gurney). They've standardized to lifting on 3. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:30, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Hasn't he missed out three two ONE! [[User:Jgharston|Jgharston]] ([[User talk:Jgharston|talk]]) 21:41, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

(I started on writing this before the above comment was here, got edit-conflicted, but this ''could'' almost be a reply to that!) I start people in sports events. My count is "half a minute" [keeping it somewhat vague, just as a lead-up warning but ''trying'' to have that be 30 seconds to go on the "h" of "half"], then "fifiteen", "ten", before "five, four, three, two, one, go!". ''Traditionally'', the competitors would be rocked back and forward slightly (back on 3 and 1, forward on 2 and that converted into a full starting small push on the zero-mark) by the person holding them up, which helps them get off as exactly on time as manually practical. Unfortunately, some hold their brakes on, for reasons of their own, ''and'' tend to release them on or about "one"... I tend to note which of these do this, and ''if'' their finishing time as advantageous by just one second (which is not unknown, but thankfully rare) then I might have a word with the organiser... leave them to worry about if this should affect the final placings. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:45, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

There was a comment about the ISO not usually punishing people so severely... but they don't punish ''at all'' so far as I'm aware..? Where does enforcement come from? [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:31, 15 April 2026 (UTC)
: This was a joke... although I do think that now it's been removed entirely the explanation is missing something of the humour of the comic in suggesting punishment when that is not part of the ISO's role. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:29, 15 April 2026 (UTC)
:: Have replaced it with a slightly less wry version. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:34, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

An advantage of "3-2-1-GO" is that it allows for arbitrarily changing the countdown length - you can start at any number other than 3 and it's still obvious when "GO" will occur. So if "three-two-one-GO" is too long for someone (it's one beat longer than "one-two-THREE"), they just say "two-one-GO" instead. --v.polak06@email.cz, 2026-04-15

Unless I'm wrong, wouldn't a factor in the punishment (that's to say, only being able to eat ISO food) be because it's not intending to be "the best" food, but rather average. So a lifetime of eating ISO food samples would be the same as a lifetime of eating "food that is intended as exceedingly average." [[Special:Contributions/173.210.201.86|173.210.201.86]] 19:09, 15 April 2026 (UTC)
:But that isn't what "ISO food" would really be (though that might be the perception/assumption behind the suggestion in the title text). It's food that's prepared to meet certain standardized criteria. The ISO standard for preparation of tea has nothing to do with whether the tea is good or bad; it's about conditions so that different teas can be compared and evaluated. The tea would be fine to drink. There's the standard for testing food products for aflatoxin, but it doesn't mean that good peanut butter can't be run through the process. The problem might lie in "after the peanut butter has been processed to enable HPLC testing, the result is no longer fit to eat". But not all food products would be ruined by that kind of preparation. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 21:31, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3231: Lightning

2026-04-15T20:53:26Z

BunsenH: zot vs. zot

I don't know if this is important, but at least right now there is no period. Might change later. [[User:Majordesmosnerd|Majordesmosnerd]] ([[User talk:Majordesmosnerd|talk]]) 20:52, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

im not sure how to insert it into the current state of the explanation, but by being a lightning rod nearby but higher up, he ''is'' providing protection to ponytail, right? - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 21:04, 10 April 2026 (UTC)
:That does seem to be the premise, but I doubt that a few inches are sufficient for this, especially if they're several feet apart. But I had the same idea and already put it into the explanation. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:11, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Ironically, wearing a (properly grounded) anti-static strap would actually _increase_ the odds of being struck by lightning, turning you into a human lightning rod. The whole point of an anti-static strap is to dissipate any intrinsic potential difference between you and the ground, thus making you a (marginally) shorter path for the extreme potential difference between the clouds and the ground state. [[Special:Contributions/50.47.191.231|50.47.191.231]] 21:10, 10 April 2026 (UTC)
: - and of course someone said that in the explanation in the time it took me to write the comment. :-p. [[Special:Contributions/50.47.191.231|50.47.191.231]] 21:12, 10 April 2026 (UTC)
:[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/649:_Static Fortunately, Randall also presents an alternative solution.] [[Special:Contributions/216.7.114.74|216.7.114.74]] 23:13, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Timing kinda sucks for this one: [https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz90vpvlvq3o Colorado officials trying to identify woman struck by lightning]. [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 22:54, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

Compare xkcd [[795]]. [[User:X|X]] ([[User talk:X|talk]]) 00:59, 11 April 2026 (UTC)

THE EXPLANATION GIVEN ABOVE is WRONG-ish. ", Cueball has once again confused how anti-static devices work ". Actually, earthing does protect against lighting strikes -- the ground potential shapes around above the ground point. Cueball is less likely to be hit by lighting while wearing a correctly earthed grounding strap. Imagine that instead of "Cueball", what you see is the surface of the mountain curving up and around over Cueball. And yes, he is also more likely to be hit while he is the tallest point, lightning rods do get hit. Also, to work correctly, a lighting rod should have a pointed tip -- this makes it less likely to be hit because it works better at lifting the "surrounding ground" up to the point of the lighting rod. If it works perfectly, Cueball won't be the "high point" -- the surrounding air will be at the same potential has him.

> ""''possibility, however, that the wire goes down the torso (ideally in an insulated manner, ....''"" -- The lightning bolt has just jumped hundreds of feet through air from(/to) the sky. No wire insulation flexible enough to walk with will stop a lightning bolt that strong. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 06:18, 11 April 2026 (UTC)
:It has long been a matter of contention whether a pointy tip (or even multiple spikes, branching out like crown of thorns), or (say) a ball-top, is the 'best' shape for the tip of a lightning conductor. It's very hard to practically test and compare different designs. But the balance of evidence seems to point (no pun intended!) towards a 'blunt-tipped-pencil'-like single extension (like a sharp end, but rounded off) for every 'summit' (though you can and should place multiple 'single spikes' for area-protection), in part because it never gets so thin as to have the flowing charge all trying to squeeze through it (at the moment where the atmosphere just is no longer enough of an insulator across the air-gap and the ionising 'feeler' can establish itself) which won't exactly help things if and when the lightning does strike.
:There's also a lot of other contentious/commonly-misunderstood details about how lightning-protection works,to which I originally elaborated. But it looked a bit too much TL;DR; even to me, so I just now cut it back, fortunately for y'all. ;) But the best way to prevent conductive damage between conductor and the structure (or person?) it's mounted upon is to have it ''standing off'' whatever it's attached to, secured periodically (enough to not flap about) but maintain an air-gap.
:Or, for things that ''really'' don't need (and maybe can't have) a conductor running down them, like rockets on pads, set up several free-standing 'lightning masts' surrounding the core structure, with a greater height sufficient to intercept chance lightning events that ''might'' have sought the structure of interest without these stand-offish towers being more ready to form the base of any initial upstroke. (Perhaps mount ionising lasers on them, to also make that 'bit of air' slightly more likely to be used, if you can't fly kites from them. Or even fire spool-tethered sounding rockets up when critical conditions are detected. Neither of which sound like good solutions when adjacent to a rocket-pad, of course. :p ). [[Special:Contributions/82.132.239.232|82.132.239.232]] 13:23, 11 April 2026 (UTC)

This might be a stretch but the art reminds me a lot of the art for the Magic card Lightning Bolt, might be an intentional reference. [https://scryfall.com/card/a25/141/lightning-bolt] -magic nerd [[Special:Contributions/38.85.177.78|38.85.177.78]] 10:47, 11 April 2026 (UTC)
:Yes that is a very long stretch. There are only som many ways to draw lightning. ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:07, 12 April 2026 (UTC)

Does anyone know what the other comic is where Randall shows lightning? It's one where Cueball keeps walking in a storm, because he thinks the amount of people that die each year from lightning strikes is so small he can't possibly get struck-Despite him being all reckless in a storm by keeping going, thus making him a big target. Anyone know which one it is? [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 15:29, 11 April 2026
:Linked earlier: "Compare xkcd [[795]]." [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 17:29, 11 April 2026 (UTC)
:As well as prior confusion on how antistatic wrist straps work: [https://xkcd.com/649/ xkcd 649]. (Or I have misunderstood what is happening in the strip)[[Special:Contributions/24.255.31.134|24.255.31.134]] 00:34, 12 April 2026 (UTC)

I don't see any comments about the feature of this cartoon visible in my Safari browser on a Mac (not viewing the mobile friendly web site: m.xkcd.com but rather https://xkcd.com/3231/) which shows a Mode pulldown list instead of title text. The pull down list includes: Light Mode, Lighter Mode, Dark Mode, Darkest Mode (Sets the window totally black), Blury Mode, etc. the end of the list is the most disturbing of all, it's Boat Mode.
Isn't anyone else seeing these? They are hilarious. SAWilkus --[[Special:Contributions/2A09:BAC2:B089:1D37:0:0:2E9:CF|2A09:BAC2:B089:1D37:0:0:2E9:CF]] 00:44, 12 April 2026 (UTC)
:They all appeared on all comics since April fools day --[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 08:07, 12 April 2026 (UTC)
:Yes, see [[3227]] itself for all comments (explanations, general chit-chat, etc) directly arising from that...
:At this point, I'm tentatively thinking it's a permanent ''and global'' site addition (not just active for AFD itself, or even just the week following release), or at least as long as there are no further page-redesigns that force Randall to squish it out (except perhaps for #3227 itself).
:Most April 1st 'specials' (or ''intended'' April 1st, give or take delays) only did their thing (assuming there even was a 'thing') on themselves, and http://https://3d.xkcd.com/ only catered for (almost all) comics up until the one for which that was the release (also, you now need to go find it actively sitting on a parallel site). That this is a global site-redesign (except maybe not where it would clash with other single-comic interactivity?), that's not even that intrusive, bodes well for it being a 'standard' feature of the site perpetually from this point on... But I'm open to being wrong, if it for some reason needs to revert to become a feature only upon the 'origin' comic (where I hope it can at least stick around there, for as long as the site lasts). [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.12|82.132.238.12]] 14:55, 12 April 2026 (UTC)
: Thank you for explaining the addition of the Modes to this and previous XKCD sites. --[[User:SAWilkus|SAWilkus]] ([[User talk:SAWilkus|talk]]) 20:36, 12 April 2026 (UTC)

Note: There was indeed a brief period in real life when lightning rods were incorporated into clothing in France in 1778: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_rod_fashion {{unsigned ip|80.146.191.143|13:53, 13 April 2026}}

I removed this paragraph from the Explanation because I believe substantial parts of it are untrue or misleading:

''Additionally, merely ''wearing'' such a device has no effect at all if it isn't connected to a handy grounding point, which is unlikely to be the case if you're actively moving around, such as with the two characters here who seem to be hiking during the storm. You'd possibly even need a couple of grounding-wires, always one secured to some suitable 'earthing point' even while the other is being unclipped from where you've just been and reclipped to slightly ahead of where you're going. Close examination of the 'protected' individual shows that there is a loop of some dangling wire going from their wrist to their body. If that's all it does, then it's practically useless. There is some vague possibility, however, that the wire goes down the torso (ideally in an insulated manner, to avoid both electrical and thermal transference in the event of a lightning strike passing through it) and splits to connect down each leg and towards a grounding-plate/spike on the sole of each foot. ''This'' would technically create a dynamic 'always active' form of lightning-rod protection (ignoring the discrepancy between the height of the figure's wrist and the possibility that the higher crown of the head might be struck by lightning more in the first instance) where the act of walking will always create a protective connection to the ground — so long as Cueball does not attempt to run or (even momentarily) make any jumping movements. And it still relies upon an effective lightning-conductor connection that is rated sufficient to carry a strike's charge properly, without creating additional surface effects to the skin/clothing it passes down along. This is one of the rare situations in which wearing a {{w|tin foil hat}} might actually be of some benefit, assuming that it was connected to ground via a conductor, all sufficiently heavy-duty to carry the current.''

I believe removing that paragraph serves the readers, but it is not beyond repair. Let's workshop it! [[Special:Contributions/2603:800C:1200:596A:B10C:CCAA:E864:EE7B|2603:800C:1200:596A:B10C:CCAA:E864:EE7B]] 03:58, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:Can't see anything substantially untrue or misleading. Care to elaborate? If it has a fault, it says too much, but then that's not exactly a problem unknown to this site. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.68|82.132.237.68]] 16:43, 15 April 2026 (UTC)
:: First of all, if you're wearing a grounding strap that increases the ground potential even at your wrist level, that's not "no effect at all" and it doesn't actually have to be touching the ground, just as long as it has less resistance than your skin and body. A tin foil hat would similarly have increased ground potential relative to hair and skin, and if it is connected to ground it's absolutely not beneficial to avoid being struck. [[Special:Contributions/2603:800C:1200:596A:A08E:FCB1:F968:D433|2603:800C:1200:596A:A08E:FCB1:F968:D433]] 20:13, 15 April 2026 (UTC)
:::Assuming that the tin foil hat and grounding cable are sufficiently conductive, they might protect the wearer from being ''harmed'' by the strike. Even in the case where the pointy bits of the outfit don't give protection by bleeding off static charge, there would be a tradeoff between "how much is the risk of a strike increased" vs. "how much is the harm from that strike reduced". [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 20:53, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3232: Countdown Standard

2026-04-15T04:31:48Z

BunsenH:

Refer to all 4 Lethal Weapons movies for discussion. {{unsigned ip|45.138.52.240}}
:{{citation needed}} --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:45, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Don't most people say "on three", "on one", or "on go" before starting the count anyway? And then delay the final (action) number a teensy bit? e.g. "On one. Ready? 3 2 1" This isn't that ambiguous, not that I would object to standardisation. [[User:Sameldacamel34|Sameldacamel34]] ([[User talk:Sameldacamel34|talk]]) 23:13, 13 April 2026 (UTC)
:It is appallingly common for me to hear the inconsistent and dissonant, "On the count of three…one, two, three, GO!" (This is problematic because it is "on the count of THREE" not "on the count of GO, the word after three". Or at least, that is what I understand those words to mean.) [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:09, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:Just "on three" is the most common, I think. You say "On three. Ready? One, two THREE." [[User:Dogman15|Dogman15]] ([[User talk:Dogman15|talk]]) 02:42, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::"On three... THREE!" [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:56, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:::On three... two... one... zero... GO!! [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 23:15, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:There are two different conventions to synchronize a start -- by reacting or by rythmically coordinating. And both are used: in official swimming championships by World Aquatics they train to start to a perfectly rythmic "bip.. bip.. beeep" while in track and field championships by World Athletics the start judge waits an arbitrary time before triggering the gun to which athletes react. [[Special:Contributions/31.221.183.22|31.221.183.22]] 09:49, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::There's at least a third - go at a predetermined time. And a fourth - use a start gate to physically restrain the starters. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:23, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it. -- Monty Python and the Holy Grail [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 00:35, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:[Arthur:] Right. One, two, five!
:[Galahad:] Three, sir.
:[Arthur:] Three! [*throws it*]
:...just to complicate matters. ;) [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 00:54, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::Fantastic guys ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:44, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:I wouldn't look to God for standards on counting - just look at the mess around what 'forty days and forty nights' means. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:16, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Four... Two... One... One Half... One Quarter... One Eighth... One Sixteenth... One Thirty-second... One Sixty-Fourth... [go to infinity] GO! [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 03:47, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:Yeah, you don't even get the reference material foods. You're starving. [[Special:Contributions/47.141.37.161|47.141.37.161]] 16:36, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Just to make things even weirder: the movie industry counts 5, 4, 3, 2, go!
[[Special:Contributions/76.133.66.138|76.133.66.138]] 03:59, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:{{citation needed}} --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:44, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
::https://raymonddefelitta.org/i-dig-film-leader/ Film leaders do generally stop at 2 or 3, but they don't really count "3, [2,] go!". There's a 'silent' count for the absent numbers before you reach the 'go!' point. They're left black to avoid fouling the start of the projection. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:54, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I'm sure people all over the world will follow this standard just as faithfully as they follow ISO 8601. {{unsigned|2a00:1a28:1410:5::10db}}
:Here for reference: [[1179: ISO 8601]]. But there is at least one more with ISO reference: [[2322: ISO Paper Size Golden Spiral]]. So that is three comics referencing the ISO system directly (this one not in titel but in the text so no doubt that it would belong with the other two. But I'm not sure three is enough to create and ISO category? Could not on the spot find any others...? If someone can then we could make a category! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 06:43, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

The home inspections series has only 3 comics, if that helps (I can't link it though, for some reason. It's name is Category:Home Inspections). [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 13:36, 14 April 2026
:If you write <nowiki>[[Category:Home Inspections]]</nowiki>, it ''adds the current page to that category''; if you want to link ''to'' the category, you have to add an extra colon at the beginning, so <nowiki>[[:Category:Home Inspections]]</nowiki> gives you [[:Category:Home Inspections]] - [[User:IMSoP|IMSoP]] ([[User talk:IMSoP|talk]]) 15:12, 14 April 2026 (UTC)
:Thanks! [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 19:48, 14 April 2026

All instances of "One... Two... Two and a half..." shall be referred to the International Criminal Court for prosecution. [[Special:Contributions/2600:1004:B0A0:E06:0:3E:A3FD:5401|2600:1004:B0A0:E06:0:3E:A3FD:5401]] 14:37, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I personally use “And a 1, a 2, a 1 2 3 4” [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 15:18, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

3, 2, 1, 0, -1, ... -∞ [[Special:Contributions/45.178.3.59|45.178.3.59]] 15:26, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Dutch comedian Herman Finkers had a sketch where he said "We count to three. One, two <starts playing music>". In Dutch, "tot" means "up to and not including" while "tot en met" means "up to and including", wso wgen you say "I count to three" you should not include the three, even though most people will do so. [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 18:01, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

I wonder if 3-2-1-Go is so well understood because it's similar to rocket countdowns: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-Blastoff! [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:30, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

:In between which of those numbers does the ''"Countdown hold"'' arrive? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 18:36, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

: 3-2-1-Go isn't similar to rocket countdowns, it *IS* rocket - and other physics - countdowns. [[User:Jgharston|Jgharston]] ([[User talk:Jgharston|talk]]) 21:43, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Medical personnel still use 1-2-3 as the count-up when moving a patient from one platform to another (e.g. between a bed and gurney). They've standardized to lifting on 3. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 18:30, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

Hasn't he missed out three two ONE! [[User:Jgharston|Jgharston]] ([[User talk:Jgharston|talk]]) 21:41, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

(I started on writing this before the above comment was here, got edit-conflicted, but this ''could'' almost be a reply to that!) I start people in sports events. My count is "half a minute" [keeping it somewhat vague, just as a lead-up warning but ''trying'' to have that be 30 seconds to go on the "h" of "half"], then "fifiteen", "ten", before "five, four, three, two, one, go!". ''Traditionally'', the competitors would be rocked back and forward slightly (back on 3 and 1, forward on 2 and that converted into a full starting small push on the zero-mark) by the person holding them up, which helps them get off as exactly on time as manually practical. Unfortunately, some hold their brakes on, for reasons of their own, ''and'' tend to release them on or about "one"... I tend to note which of these do this, and ''if'' their finishing time as advantageous by just one second (which is not unknown, but thankfully rare) then I might have a word with the organiser... leave them to worry about if this should affect the final placings. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 21:45, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

There was a comment about the ISO not usually punishing people so severely... but they don't punish ''at all'' so far as I'm aware..? Where does enforcement come from? [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:31, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

3232: Countdown Standard

2026-04-15T04:28:39Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ there are ISO standard food samples

{{comic
| number = 3232
| date = April 13, 2026
| title = Countdown Standard
| image = countdown_standard_2x.png
| imagesize = 474x222px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Anyone who is caught counting 'three ... two ... one ... zero ... GO!' will be punished with a lifetime of eating only ISO standard food samples.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page WILL BE CREATED IN TWO...THREE...ONE...ZERO...NEGATIVE ONE...NOW! Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes|OnThree|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy, or [[:Category:The Race|having an electric skateboard race]]) counting to get everybody to do the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. Two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting a beat apart, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over who was at fault.

This comic alleges that, if [[Randall]] gained control of the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} (ISO), he would standardize counting to go ''down'' from three and have the 'go'-point be at zero. However, this proposal would be no better than counting up, as some people may expect to act on the 'one' or, as the title text suggests, to have a 'zero' before the 'go!', leading to exactly the same problems. Moreover, most people are unlikely to refer to the ISO before starting a countdown, and this is likely to simply lead to the problem outlined in [[927: Standards]].

"Deprecated" is a term applied to something that is no longer recommended for use, so you should fix things so as not to use it anymore. It is commonly used when a standard is replaced by a newer version or an alternative approach, but may still be in use in legacy applications.

The fact that these are called "countdowns", yet the ones being complained about are counts that go ''up'', is probably intentional, and cause for additional irritation among those who are bothered by the inherent inconsistencies.

The ISO is an international organization that is responsible for standardizing many things (such as technology and safety standards) to allow for smooth interoperability between countries, manufacturers, and so on. However, it doesn't standardize everyday actions like countdowns. Other standards organizations that have somewhat similar functions include the [https://www.nist.gov/ National Institute of Standards and Technology] (NIST) and the [https://www.ansi.org/ American National Standards Institute] (ANSI), which are technically American but have considerable international influence.

The title text refers to "ISO standard food samples". The ISO doesn't offer such samples, but does have documents which describe how food samples should be prepared for standardized analysis. For example, [https://www.iso.org/standard/29628.html ISO 16050:2003] documents how "cereals, nuts and derived products" are to be analyzed for aflatoxins. {{w|ISO 3103}} describes a standardized method for brewing tea. It's unclear why such samples would be considered particularly unpleasant or inappropriate for consumption. Perhaps they would be assumed to be unimaginably bland because they would be 'lowest common denominator' illustrations of the base definition of each food. There ''are'' NIST Standard Reference Materials for food, such as [https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=2387 peanut butter] and "[https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=1548b typical diet]". Hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"]. Apparently eating these food samples is, in Randall's opinion, suitable punishment for doing “3, 2, 1, 0, Go!” for a countdown. The possibility of including 0 in such a countdown would be an example of an off-by-one error, as described in [[3062: Off By One]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[The comic shows three different ways of counting down]

:One ... Two ... '''''Three!''''' [red X, followed by red text] Deprecated
:One ... Two ... Three ... '''''Go!''''' [red X, followed by red text] Deprecated
:[These first two both followed by a red curly bracket followed by red text:] Too easy to mix up

:Three ... Two ... One ... '''''Go!''''' [green tickmark, followed by green text] ISO Standard

:[Caption below the comic:]
:If I were in charge of ISO, the first thing I'd do would be to standardize the way people count out loud before doing something in sync.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3232: Countdown Standard

2026-04-15T02:14:26Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ ANSI, NIST

{{comic
| number = 3232
| date = April 13, 2026
| title = Countdown Standard
| image = countdown_standard_2x.png
| imagesize = 474x222px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Anyone who is caught counting 'three ... two ... one ... zero ... GO!' will be punished with a lifetime of eating only ISO standard food samples.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page WILL BE CREATED IN TWO...THREE...ONE...ZERO...NEGATIVE ONE...NOW! Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes|OnThree|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy, or [[:Category:The Race|having an electric skateboard race]]) counting to get everybody to do the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. Two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting a beat apart, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over who was at fault.

This comic alleges that, if [[Randall]] gained control of the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} (ISO), he would standardize counting to go ''down'' from three and have the 'go'-point be at zero. However, this proposal would be no better than counting up, as some people may expect to act on the 'one' or, as the title text suggests, to have a 'zero' before the 'go!', leading to exactly the same problems. Moreover, most people are unlikely to refer to the ISO before starting a countdown, and this is likely to simply lead to the problem outlined in [[927: Standards]].

"Deprecated" is a term applied to something that is no longer recommended for use, so you should fix things so as not to use it anymore. It is commonly used when a standard is replaced by a newer version or an alternative approach, but may still be in use in legacy applications.

The fact that these are called "countdowns", yet the ones being complained about are counts that go ''up'', is probably intentional, and cause for additional irritation among those who are bothered by the inherent inconsistencies.

The ISO is an international organization that is responsible for standardizing many things (such as technology and safety standards) to allow for smooth interoperability between countries, manufacturers, and so on. However, it doesn't standardize everyday actions like countdowns. Other standards organizations that have somewhat similar functions include the [https://www.nist.gov/ National Institute of Standards and Technology] (NIST) and the [https://www.ansi.org/ American National Standards Institute] (ANSI), which are technically American but have considerable international influence.

There are no "ISO standard food samples", as mentioned in the title text, but the implication is that they would be unimaginably bland because they would be 'lowest common denominator' illustrations of the base definition of each food. There ''are'' NIST Standard Reference Materials for food, such as [https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=2387 peanut butter] and "[https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=1548b typical diet]". {{w|ISO 3103}} also describes a standardized method for brewing tea, and hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"]. Apparently eating these very bland foods is, in Randall's opinion, suitable punishment for doing “3, 2, 1, 0, Go!” for a countdown. This is a rather more robust level of enforcement than the ISO generally employs against violations of its standards.{{cn}} The possibility of including 0 in such a countdown would be an example of an off-by-one error, as described in [[3062: Off By One]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[The comic shows three different ways of counting down]

:One ... Two ... '''''Three!''''' [red X, followed by red text] Deprecated
:One ... Two ... Three ... '''''Go!''''' [red X, followed by red text] Deprecated
:[These first two both followed by a red curly bracket followed by red text:] Too easy to mix up

:Three ... Two ... One ... '''''Go!''''' [green tickmark, followed by green text] ISO Standard

:[Caption below the comic:]
:If I were in charge of ISO, the first thing I'd do would be to standardize the way people count out loud before doing something in sync.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3232: Countdown Standard

2026-04-14T17:50:10Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ off by one

{{comic
| number = 3232
| date = April 13, 2026
| title = Countdown Standard
| image = countdown_standard_2x.png
| imagesize = 474x222px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Anyone who is caught counting 'three ... two ... one ... zero ... GO!' will be punished with a lifetime of eating only ISO standard food samples.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page WILL BE CREATED IN TWO...THREE...ONE...NEGATIVE ONE...NOW! Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic reflects the common {{tvtropes|OnThree|trope}} of people preparing for a synchronized action as a group (such as lifting something heavy) counting to get everybody to do the action at the same time, without first having agreed at what point in the count they will act. Two of the ways that people often count up can be confusing: the action can be taken ''on'' the beat of 'three', or on the beat ''after'' 'three'. If the people involved do not all have the same understanding, and so end up acting a beat apart, this could result in undesirable outcomes, such as damage, injury, or just a dispute over who was at fault.

This comic alleges that, if [[Randall]] gained control of the {{w|International Organization for Standardization}} (ISO), he would standardize counting to go ''down'' from three and have the 'go'-point be at zero. However, this proposal would be no better than counting up, as some people may expect to act on the 'one' or, as the title text suggests, to have a 'zero' before the 'go!', leading to exactly the same problems. Moreover, most people are unlikely to refer to the ISO before starting a countdown, and this is likely to simply lead to the problem outlined in [[927: Standards]].

"Deprecated" is a term applied to something that is no longer recommended for use, so you should fix things so as not to use it anymore. It is commonly used when a standard is replaced by a newer version or an alternative approach, but may still be in use in legacy applications.

The fact that these are called "countdowns", yet the ones being complained about are counts that go ''up'', is probably intentional, and cause for additional irritation among those who are bothered by the inherent inconsistencies.

{{w|ISO}} is an international organization that is responsible for standardizing many things (such as technology and safety standards) to allow for smooth interoperability between countries, manufacturers, and so on. However, it doesn't standardize everyday actions like countdowns.

There are no "ISO standard food samples", as mentioned in the title text, but the implication is that they would be unimaginably bland because they would be 'lowest common denominator' illustrations of the base definition of each food. There ''are'' NIST Standard Reference Materials for food, such as [https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=2387 peanut butter] and "[https://shop.nist.gov/ccrz__ProductDetails?sku=1548b typical diet]". {{w|ISO 3103}} also describes a standardized method for brewing tea, and hacker lore describes a supposed [http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/A/ANSI-standard-pizza.html "ANSI-standard pizza"]. Apparently eating these very bland foods is, in Randall's opinion, suitable punishment for doing “3, 2, 1, 0, Go!” for a countdown. This is a rather more robust level of enforcement than the ISO generally employs against violations of its standards. The possibility of including 0 in such a countdown would be an example of an off-by-one error, as described in [[3062: Off By One]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[The comic shows three different ways of counting down]

:[Around the first 2 in red curly brackets: "Too easy to mix up"]
:One ... Two ... '''''Three!''''' X Deprecated
:One ... Two ... Three ... '''''Go!''''' X Deprecated

:Three ... Two ... One ... '''''Go!''''' ✓ ISO Standard

:[Caption below the comic:]
:If I were in charge of ISO, the first thing I'd do would be to standardize the way people count out loud before doing something in sync.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3232: Countdown Standard

2026-04-14T03:59:16Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ ISO standard tea, ANSI standard pizza

3231: Lightning

2026-04-13T16:48:38Z

BunsenH: debatable

{{comic
| number = 3231
| date = April 10, 2026
| title = Lightning
| image = lightning_2x.png
| imagesize = 328x364px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Maybe you should wear one too? I guess I'm taller than you, so as long as I have one we're fine.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a GROUNDED BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

An {{w|anti-static wrist strap}} is a device worn by people working with sensitive electronic devices. The strap is connected to a {{w|Ground (electricity)|"ground"}}, so any static charge will be neutralized rather than accumulating and discharging to the device, potentially causing damage. Many electrical devices are grounded by conductors in their power cords, protecting the devices (and their users) from electrical faults.

{{w|Lightning}} is a release of static electricity that occurs when there's a large charge difference between a cloud and the Earth or between two clouds. In the comic, [[Cueball]] has [[649|once again]] confused how anti-static devices work — rather than protecting a device from static in the person, he thinks it will protect the person from static in the lightning. In fact, wearing a strap that conducts electricity will make it fractionally ''more'' likely that he will be struck by lightning (by bringing the typical 'ground' anode marginally closer to the cloud's cathode, bypassing the usually greater electrical impedance of his body), and then the strap is far too small to protect him from the electricity in the lightning strike once this happens.

He may think that the anti-static device works like a {{w|lightning rod}}, attracting the lightning that would have struck his body, and diverting it away from it. The reason they work is because lightning takes the easiest path. If a tall structure is going to be hit by a lightning strike, it's better to have that strike not go via more resistive materials that can be easily damaged or destroyed. A proper lightning conductor is designed to conduct the large amount of energy of lightning safely to the bottom, unlike a wrist-strap cable that is only made to leak away much smaller static buildups and could not contain a sudden cloud-to-ground surge of electricity.

This is further echoed by the title text, in which he thinks that [[Ponytail]] should be safe because he's taller than she is (plus also higher up in the hill in the comic — although she could at some time easily move further up the hill than him, so relative tallness is only part of the issue), and lightning tends to be attracted to the most prominent conductor in its vicinity (e.g., lightning rods that extend above the roof of the building they're protecting). While this is true, it ignores the fact that (by an extension of his own logic) he's made himself more likely to be struck, and potentially severely hurt or killed, by a lightning strike. (Obviously, there are better ways to be protected during a thunderstorm; see the What If on {{What If|16|lightning}}.)

Additionally, merely ''wearing'' such a device has no effect at all if it isn't connected to a handy grounding point, which is unlikely to be the case if you're actively moving around, such as with the two characters here who seem to be hiking during the storm. You'd possibly even need a couple of grounding-wires, always one secured to some suitable 'earthing point' even while the other is being unclipped from where you've just been and reclipped to slightly ahead of where you're going. Close examination of the 'protected' individual shows that there is a loop of some dangling wire going from their wrist to their body. If that's all it does, then it's practically useless. There is some vague possibility, however, that the wire goes down the torso (ideally in an insulated manner, to avoid both electrical and thermal transference in the event of a lightning strike passing through it) and splits to connect down each leg and towards a grounding-plate/spike on the sole of each foot. ''This'' would technically create a dynamic 'always active' form of lightning-rod protection (ignoring the discrepancy between the height of the figure's wrist and the possibility that the higher crown of the head might be struck by lightning more in the first instance) where the act of walking will always create a protective connection to the ground — so long as Cueball does not attempt to run or (even momentarily) make any jumping movements. And it still relies upon an effective lightning-conductor connection that is rated sufficient to carry a strike's charge properly, without creating additional surface effects to the skin/clothing it passes down along. This is one of the rare situations in which wearing a {{w|tin foil hat}} might actually be of some benefit, assuming that it was connected to ground via a conductor, all sufficiently heavy-duty to carry the current.

[[Randall]] also shows [[Cueball]]'s incorrect views on lightning in [[795: Conditional Risk]], in that case confusing statistics.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Lightning overhead. Cueball and Ponytail (the latter holding a walking stick) are standing on a hill at night with various shrubbery on it, watching the lightning.]

:[In the sky, by the lightning:]
:BOOOOM

:Cueball: Don't worry, I'm wearing an anti-static wrist strap

==Trivia==
There was indeed a {{w|Lightning rod fashion|brief period}}, starting in France in 1778, when lightning rods were incorporated into clothing. Its effectiveness is debatable. One would need data about how many people wearing such clothing were struck by lightning but unhurt because of the rods, and there's no way to know how many people wearing such clothing weren't struck at all, but ''would'' have been struck if they hadn't been wearing it.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]

3231: Lightning

2026-04-13T01:20:42Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ clarify grounding

{{comic
| number = 3231
| date = April 10, 2026
| title = Lightning
| image = lightning_2x.png
| imagesize = 328x364px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Maybe you should wear one too? I guess I'm taller than you, so as long as I have one we're fine.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a GROUNDED BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

An {{w|anti-static wrist strap}} is a device worn by people working with sensitive electronic devices. The strap is connected to a {{w|Ground (electricity)|"ground"}}, so any static charge will be neutralized rather than accumulating and discharging to the device, potentially causing damage. Many electrical devices are grounded by conductors in their power cords, protecting the devices (and their users) from electrical faults.

{{w|Lightning}} is a release of static electricity that occurs when there's a large charge difference between a cloud and the Earth or between two clouds. In the comic, [[Cueball]] has [[649|once again]] confused how anti-static devices work — rather than protecting a device from static in the person, he thinks it will protect the person from static in the lightning. In fact, wearing a strap that conducts electricity will make it ''more'' likely that he will be struck by lightning, and the strap is far too small to protect him from the electricity in the lightning strike.

He may think that the anti-static device works like a {{w|lightning rod}}, attracting the lightning and diverting it away from his body. The reason they work is because lightning takes the easiest path. This is corroborated by the title text, in which he thinks that [[Ponytail]] should be safe because he's taller than she is (plus also higher up in the hill in the comic — although she could at some time easily move further up the hill than him, so relative tallness is only part of the issue), and lightning tends to be attracted to the most prominent conductor in its vicinity (e.g., lightning rods that extend above the roof of the building they're protecting). While this is true, it ignores the fact that he's made himself more likely to be struck, and potentially severely hurt or killed, by a lightning strike. (Obviously, there are better ways to be protected during a thunderstorm; see the What If on {{What If|16|lightning}}.)

Additionally, merely ''wearing'' such a device has no effect at all if it isn't connected to a handy grounding point, which is unlikely to be the case if you're actively moving around, such as with the two characters here who seem to be hiking during the storm. You'd possibly even need a couple of grounding-wires, always one secured to some suitable 'earthing point' even while the other is being unclipped from where you've just been and reclipped to slightly ahead of where you're going. Close examination of the 'protected' individual shows that there is a loop of some danling wire going from their wrist to their body. If that's all it does, then it's practically useless. There is some vague possibility, however, that the wire goes down the torso (ideally in an insulated manner, to avoid both electrical and thermal transference in the event of a lightning strike passing through it) and splits to connect down each leg and towards a grounding-plate/spike on the sole of each foot. ''This'' would technically create a dynamic 'always active' form of lightning-rod protection (ignoring the discrepancy between the height of the figures hand and the possibility that the higher crown of the head might be struck by lightning more in the first instance) where the act of walking will always create a protective connection to the ground - so long as Cueball does not attempt to run or (even momentarily) make any jumping movements. And it still relies upon an effective lightning-conductor connection that is rated sufficient to carry a strike's charge properly, without creating additional surface effects to the skin/clothing it passes down along. This is one of the rare situations in which wearing a {{w|tin foil hat}} might actually be of some benefit, assuming that it was connected to ground via a conductor, all sufficiently heavy-duty to carry the current.

[[Randall]] also shows [[Cueball]]'s incorrect views on lightning in [[795|another comic]], in that case confusing statistics.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Lightning overhead. Cueball and Ponytail (the latter holding a walking stick) are standing on a hill at night with various shrubbery on it, watching the lightning.]

:[In the sky, by the lightning:]
:BOOOOM

:Cueball: Don't worry, I'm wearing an anti-static wrist strap

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]

3231: Lightning

2026-04-11T03:28:16Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ tin foil hat

3228: Day Counter

2026-04-06T19:12:54Z

BunsenH: Page is less than 2.99999999 days old and still under regular revision. Most additions were redundant to existing text. Can't see if the sign is attached by nails or by something else.

{{comic
| number = 3228
| date = April 3, 2026
| title = Day Counter
| image = day_counter_2x.png
| imagesize = 319x287px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It has been −2,147,483,648 days since our last integer overflow.
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|This page was created -.000000000000000032 days ago. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A common feature of an industrial setting is a prominent sign announcing how many days have elapsed since the last workplace accident. The sign is typically updated each day to a number one higher — or back to zero, if there ''has'' been an accident. Such signs are intended to foster a culture of safety among the workers in the facility, since presumably no one wants to suffer the embarrassment of being the one to have caused an accident that resets the number to 0. (However, it may also lead workers to cover up or conceal accidents, for the same reason, which would tend to increase future accidents, because they do not report the need to correct hazardous conditions that are causing accidents.)

In this comic, a similar sign highlights the number of days since the last floating-point error. Floating-point errors occur because most computers can devote only a finite amount of storage for each {{w|Floating-point arithmetic|floating point number}} or other fraction. However, many {{w|real numbers}} and {{w|rational numbers}} theoretically require an infinite number of digits to represent them. For example, the ordinary fraction ⅓ is represented in decimal as 0.3333333333…, where the 3s repeat forever. When a number is truncated to fit in the finite amount of space, precision is inevitably lost, resulting in a slight rounding error. Unless carefully controlled, these rounding errors can accumulate, significantly degrading the accuracy of floating-point computations. For example, although ⅓ + ⅓ + ⅓ should obviously equal 1, a finite-precision calculation like 0.333 + 0.333 + 0.333 might show a misleading result of 0.999, which might not trigger the code to do what it should do when three thirds have been accumulated (it can be mitigated by allowing a match for a value which is within a suitably very small difference to the test value, but this must be considered carefully to not be over-/under-sensitive). The amount of required space for rational numbers is not universal, it depends on the base used (⅓ in base 3 requires just two digits: 0 as the units and 1 after the {{w|Decimal separator#Radix point|radix (ternary) point}}). Floating point arithmetic standards, like the popular IEEE 754, define how and when an approximation should take place, leading to predictable results, but they don't respect some basic properties of common arithmetic operations, which someone may take for granted, e.g. in floating point arithmetic addition and multiplication are commutative (a+b=b+a; a*b=b*a), but aren't guaranteed to be associative ((a+b)+c≈a+(b+c)); (a*b)*c≈a*(b*c)).

This issue is exacerbated on computers which use binary arithmetic (i.e., virtually all computers today), since in binary, the ordinary fraction 1/10 is represented as the infinitely-repeating base-2 fraction <tt>0.000110011001100110011</tt>…. A classic example is that, depending on circumstances, the calculation 0.1 + 0.2 might [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/588004/is-floating-point-math-broken seem to give an answer of 0.30000000000000004].

Evidently, in the programming facility shown in the comic, a floating-point error has occurred today, and an attempt has been made to update the sign to say "It has been 0 days since...". But the number 0 is displayed incorrectly, as the very small negative value −0.00000000000000044. Perhaps the error that was made today was the very error that occurred in updating the sign! (This would of course violate {{w|causality}}, but in comedy, self-referential humor beats causality every time, and is at least self-consistent, like with [[363: Reset]])

As an example of how the number −0.00000000000000044 could have arisen when 0 was intended, consider this simple {{w|C (programming language)|C}} program:

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
double d = 19;
for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) d -= 1.9;
printf("%.17f\n", d);
}

The program starts with the number 19, and subtracts 1.9 from it, ten times. Mathematically, we would expect the result to be 0. However, the number 1.9 cannot be represented exactly in binary, nor can the intermediate results 17.1, 15.2, 13.3, etc. The cascading roundoff errors conspire to produce a result of −0.00000000000000044 instead of the expected 0.

In the comic, such an error creates the ridiculous illusion that −0.00000000000000044 days have passed, which implies a 'negative' number of days, which is impossible{{cn}}. It also, even if it were a positive number, would mean that much less than a nanosecond had passed since the last error, which would be an unfeasably short amount of time. Of course, the joke is that in making the sign showing the amount of time since a floating point error was last made, they are creating a floating point error, meaning the sign maintains its own "error state" in a self-referential way. Also, if they tried to reset the sign, they might make the same error again, repeating the cycle over and over, which would not be ideal.

Coincidentally enough, [[Cueball]] is also floating — off his seat in this case. The seat itself looks the same as the chair in [[2144]], possibly meaning making people levitate is one of its numerous settings.

Floating point errors are particularly common in programming, especially in languages that implicitly convert decimal numbers to binary floating point, so an approximation is already made at conversion leading to unexpected results. The title text cites another common programming problem, integer overflow. When a value gets bigger than the biggest integer that can be represented in a certain format, it typically "wraps around" to the smallest value. In case of 32-bit signed integers it may wrap from 231−1 (2,147,483,647) to −231 (−2,147,483,648). 2,147,483,647 days from the comic's date of publication (April 3rd, 2026) is approximately October 12th of the year 5,881,636, assuming no changes in the lengths of the day and year, or in other aspects of time measurement.

Strangely enough, when the comic was first published the sign number was −0.00000000000000017 days. It was changed later though, probably so that it would be more realistic, −0.00000000000000017 would correspond to the very last bit of mantissa being incorrect and only for numbers between 1 and 2 (not including 2), and operation (1-1) is unlikely to result in rounding errors, so the smallest difference from integer is usually higher, which would result in −0.00000000000000044 the smallest possible rounding error for values between 2 and 4.

Integer overflow was the topic of [[571: Can't Sleep]], with yet another example of a 'days since' sign being [[3140: Biology Department]] (two examples, in both the comic and its title text).

It should be noted that computers displaying things like "-1 seconds until the next [blank]" is a glitch that actually happens.

==Transcript==
[White Hat, Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan are all below a large sign, which appears to be attached to the wall at its four corners. White Hat and Ponytail appear to be discussing something, while Cueball is sitting at his desk working on a laptop and Megan is walking away. The sign has text on it, as well as a large display presumably meant to show a number.]

:[Sign:] It has been
:[Display:] -0.00000000000000044
:[Sign:] days since our last floating point error

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>[[Category:Interactive comics]][[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3228: Day Counter

2026-04-05T14:50:51Z

BunsenH: Undo revision 409644 by Scs (talk) page is less than 1.999999999 days old and still under heavy revision

{{comic
| number = 3228
| date = April 3, 2026
| title = Day Counter
| image = day_counter_2x.png
| imagesize = 319x287px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It has been −2,147,483,648 days since our last integer overflow.
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|This page was created -.000000000000000032 days ago. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A common feature of an industrial setting is a prominent sign announcing how many days have elapsed since the last workplace accident. The sign is typically updated each day to a number one higher — or back to zero, if there ''has'' been an accident. Such signs are intended to foster a culture of safety among the workers in the facility, since presumably no one wants to suffer the embarrassment of being the one to have caused an accident that resets the number to 0. (However, it may also lead workers to cover up or conceal accidents, for the same reason, which would tend to increase future accidents, because they do not report the need to correct hazardous conditions that are causing accidents.)

In this comic, a similar sign highlights the number of days since the last floating-point error. Floating-point errors occur because most computers can devote only a finite amount of storage for each {{w|Floating-point arithmetic|floating point number}} or other fraction. However, many {{w|real numbers}} and {{w|rational numbers}} theoretically require an infinite number of digits to represent them. For example, the ordinary fraction ⅓ is represented in decimal as 0.3333333333…, where the 3s repeat forever. When a number is truncated to fit in the finite amount of space, precision is inevitably lost, resulting in a slight rounding error. Unless carefully controlled, these rounding errors can accumulate, significantly degrading the accuracy of floating-point computations. For example, although ⅓ + ⅓ + ⅓ should obviously equal 1, a finite-precision calculation like 0.333 + 0.333 + 0.333 might show a misleading result of 0.999, which might not trigger the code to do what it should do when three thirds have been accumulated (it can be mitigated by allowing a match for a value which is within a suitably very small difference to the test value, but this must be considered carefully to not be over-/under-sensitive). The amount of required space for rational numbers is not universal, it depends on the base used (⅓ in base 3 requires just two digits: 0 as the units and 1 after the {{w|Decimal separator#Radix point|radix (ternary) point}}). Floating point arithmetic standards, like the popular IEEE 754, define how and when an approximation should take place, leading to predictable results, but they don't respect some basic properties of common arithmetic operations, which someone may take for granted, e.g. in floating point arithmetic addition and multiplication are commutative (a+b=b+a; a*b=b*a), but aren't guaranteed to be associative ((a+b)+c≈a+(b+c)); (a*b)*c≈a*(b*c)).

This issue is exacerbated on computers which use binary arithmetic (i.e., virtually all computers today), since in binary, the ordinary fraction 1/10 is represented as the infinitely-repeating base-2 fraction <tt>0.000110011001100110011</tt>…. A classic example is that, depending on circumstances, the calculation 0.1 + 0.2 might [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/588004/is-floating-point-math-broken seem to give an answer of 0.30000000000000004].

Evidently, in the programming facility shown in the comic, a floating-point error has occurred today, and an attempt has been made to update the sign to say "It has been 0 days since...". But the number 0 is displayed incorrectly, as the very small negative value −0.00000000000000044. Perhaps the error that was made today was the very error that occurred in updating the sign! (This would of course violate {{w|causality}}, but in comedy, self-referential humor beats causality every time, and is at least self-consistent, like with [[363: Reset]])

As an example of how the number −0.00000000000000044 could have arisen when 0 was intended, consider this simple {{w|C (programming language)|C}} program:

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
double d = 19;
for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) d -= 1.9;
printf("%.17f\n", d);
}

The program starts with the number 19, and subtracts 1.9 from it, ten times. Mathematically, we would expect the result to be 0. However, the number 1.9 cannot be represented exactly in binary, nor can the intermediate results 17.1, 15.2, 13.3, etc. The cascading roundoff errors conspire to produce a result of −0.00000000000000044 instead of the expected 0.

In the comic, such an error creates the ridiculous illusion that −0.00000000000000044 days have passed, which implies a 'negative' number of days, which is impossible{{cn}}. It also, even if it were a positive number, would mean that much less than a nanosecond had passed since the last error, which would be an unfeasably short amount of time. Of course, the joke is that in making the sign showing the amount of time since a floating point error was last made, they are creating a floating point error, meaning the sign maintains its own "error state" in a self-referential way. Also, if they tried to reset the sign, they might make the same error again, repeating the cycle over and over, which would not be ideal.

Coincidentally enough, [[Cueball]] is also floating — off his seat in this case. The seat itself looks the same as the chair in [[2144]], possibly meaning making people levitate is one of its numerous settings.

Floating point errors are particularly common in programming, especially in languages that implicitly convert decimal numbers to binary floating point, so an approximation is already made at conversion leading to unexpected results. The title text cites another common programming problem, integer overflow. When a value gets bigger than the biggest integer that can be represented in a certain format, it typically "wraps around" to the smallest value. In case of 32-bit signed integers it may wrap from 231−1 (2,147,483,647) to −231 (−2,147,483,648). 2,147,483,647 days from the comic's date of publication (April 3rd, 2026) is approximately October 12th of the year 5,881,636, assuming no changes in the lengths of the day and year, or in other aspects of time measurement.

Strangely enough, when the comic was first published the sign number was −0.00000000000000017 days. It was changed later though, probably so that it would be more realistic, −0.00000000000000017 would correspond to the very last bit of mantissa being incorrect and only for numbers between 1 and 2 (not including 2), and operation (1-1) is unlikely to result in rounding errors, so the smallest difference from integer is usually higher, which would result in −0.00000000000000044 the smallest possible rounding error for values between 2 and 4.

Integer overflow was the topic of [[571: Can't Sleep]], with yet another example of a 'days since' sign being [[3140: Biology Department]] (two examples, in both the comic and its title text).

It should be noted that computers displaying things like "-1 seconds until the next [blank]" is a glitch that actually happens.

==Transcript==
[White Hat, Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan are all below a large sign. White Hat and Ponytail appear to be discussing something, while Cueball is sitting at his desk working on a laptop and Megan is walking away. The sign has text on it, as well as a large display presumably meant to show a number.]

:[Sign:] It has been
:[Display:] -0.00000000000000044
:[Sign:] days since our last floating point error

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>[[Category:Interactive comics]][[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3228: Day Counter

2026-04-04T01:10:20Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ not invalid, but self-referential

{{comic
| number = 3228
| date = April 3, 2026
| title = Day Counter
| image = day_counter_2x.png
| imagesize = 319x287px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It has been −2,147,483,648 days since our last integer overflow.
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|This page was created -.000000000000000032 days ago. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A common feature of an industrial setting is a prominent sign announcing how many days have elapsed since the last workplace accident. The sign is typically updated each day to a number one higher — or back to zero, if there ''has'' been an accident. Such signs are intended to foster a culture of safety among the workers in the facility, since presumably no one wants to suffer the embarrassment of being the one to have caused an accident that resets the number to 0.

In this comic, a similar sign highlights the number of days since the last floating-point error. Floating-point errors occur because most computers can devote only a finite amount of storage for each {{w|Floating-point arithmetic|floating point number}} or other fraction. However, many {{w|real numbers}} and {{w|rational numbers}} theoretically require an infinite number of digits to represent them. For example, the ordinary fraction ⅓ is represented in decimal as 0.3333333333…, where the 3's repeat forever. When a number is truncated to fit in the finite amount of space, precision is inevitably lost, resulting in a slight rounding error. Unless carefully controlled, these rounding errors can accumulate, significantly degrading the accuracy of floating-point computations. For example, although ⅓ + ⅓ + ⅓ should obviously equal 1, a finite-precision calculation like 0.333 + 0.333 + 0.333 might show a misleading result of 0.999, which might not trigger the code to do what it should do when three thirds have been accumulated (it can be mitigated by allowing a match for a value which is within a suitably very small difference to the test value, but this must be considered carefully to not be over-/under-sensitive). The amount of required space for rational numbers is not universal, it depends on the base used (⅓ in base 3 requires just two digits: 0.1). Floating point arithmetic standards, like the popular IEEE 754, define how and when an approximation should take place, leading to predictable results, but they don't respect some basic properties of common arithmetic operations, which someone may take for granted, e.g. in floating point arithmetic addition and multiplication are commutative (a+b=b+a; a*b=b*a), but aren't guaranteed to be associative ((a+b)+c≈a+(b+c)); (a*b)*c≈a*(b*c)).

This issue is exacerbated on computers which use binary arithmetic (i.e., virtually all computers today), since in binary, the ordinary fraction 1/10 is represented as the infinitely-repeating base-2 fraction <tt>0.000110011001100110011</tt>…. A classic example is that, depending on circumstances, the calculation 0.1 + 0.2 might [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/588004/is-floating-point-math-broken seem to give an answer of 0.30000001].

Evidently, in the programming facility shown in the comic, a floating-point error has occurred today, and an attempt has been made to update the sign to say "It has been 0 days since...". But the number 0 is displayed incorrectly, as the very small negative number −0.00000000000000044. Perhaps the error that was made today was the very error that occurred in updating the sign! (This would of course violate {{w|causality}}, but in comedy, self-referential humor beats causality every time, and is at least self-consistent, like with [[363: Reset]])

As an example of how the number −0.00000000000000044 could have arisen when 0 was intended, consider this simple {{w|C (programming language)|C}} program:

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
double d = 19;
for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) d -= 1.9;
printf("%.17f\n", d);
}

The program starts with the number 19, and subtracts 1.9 from it, ten times. Mathematically, we would expect the result to be 0. However, the number 1.9 cannot be represented exactly in binary, nor can the intermediate results 17.1, 15.2, 13.3, etc. The cascading roundoff errors conspire to produce a result of −0.00000000000000044 instead of the expected 0.

In the comic, such an error creates the ridiculous illusion that −0.00000000000000044 days have passed, which implies a 'negative' number of days, which is impossible{{cn}}. It also, even if it was a positive number, would mean that much less than a nanosecond had passed since the last error, which would be an unfeasably short amount of time. Of course, the joke is that in making the sign showing the amount of time since a floating point error was last made, they are creating a floating point error, meaning the sign maintains its own "error state" in a self-referential way. Also, if they tried to reset the sign, they might make the same error again, repeating the cycle over & over, which would not be ideal.

Coincidentally enough, [[Cueball]] is also floating — off his seat in this case. The seat itself looks the same as the chair in [[2144]], possibly meaning making people levitate is one of its numerous settings.

Floating point errors are particularly common in programming, especially in languages that implicitly convert decimal numbers to binary floating point, so an approximation is already made at conversion leading to unexpected results. The title text cites another common programming problem, integer overflow. When a value gets bigger than the biggest integer that can be represented in a certain format, it typically "wraps around" to the smallest value. In case of 32-bit signed integers it may wrap from 231−1 (2,147,483,647) to −231 (−2,147,483,648). 2,147,483,647 days from the comic's date of publication (April 3rd, 2026) is approximately October 12th of the year 5,881,636, assuming no changes in the lengths of the day and year, or in other aspects of time measurement.

Strangely enough, when the comic was first published the sign number was −0.00000000000000017 days. It was changed later though, for unknown reasons.

Integer overflow was the topic of [[571: Can't Sleep]], with yet another example of a 'days since' sign being [[3140: Biology Department]] (two examples, in both the comic and its title text).

==Transcript==
[White Hat, Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan are all below a large sign. White Hat and Ponytail appear to be discussing something, while Cueball is sitting at his desk working on a laptop and Megan is walking away. The sign has text on it, as well as a large display presumably meant to show a number.]

:[Sign:] It has been
:[Display:] -0.00000000000000044
:[Sign:] days since our last floating point error

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>[[Category:Interactive comics]][[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3228: Day Counter

2026-04-03T18:01:38Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ years will pass as days

{{comic
| number = 3228
| date = April 3, 2026
| title = Day Counter
| image = day_counter_2x.png
| imagesize = 319x287px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It has been −2,147,483,648 days since our last integer overflow.
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|This page was created -.000000000000000032 days ago. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A common feature of an industrial setting is a prominent sign announcing how many days have elapsed since the last workplace accident. The sign is typically updated each day to a number one higher — or back to zero, if there ''has'' been an accident. Such signs are intended to foster a culture of safety among the workers in the facility, since presumably no one wants to suffer the embarrassment of being the one to have caused an accident that resets the number to 0.

In this comic, a similar sign highlights the number of days since the last floating-point error. Floating-point errors occur because most computers can devote only a finite amount of storage for each {{w|Floating-point arithmetic|floating point number}} or other fraction. However, many {{w|real numbers}} and {{w|rational numbers}} theoretically require an infinite number of digits to represent them. For example, the ordinary fraction ⅓ is represented in decimal as 0.3333333333…, where the 3's repeat forever. When a number is truncated to fit in the finite amount of space, precision is inevitably lost, resulting in a slight roundoff error. Unless carefully controlled, these roundoff errors can accumulate, significantly degrading the accuracy of floating-point computations. For example, although ⅓ + ⅓ + ⅓ should obviously equal 1, a finite-precision calculation like 0.333 + 0.333 + 0.333 might show a misleading result of 0.999.

This issue is exacerbated on computers which use binary arithmetic (i.e., virtually all computers today), since in binary, the ordinary fraction 1/10 is represented as the infinitely-repeating base-2 fraction <tt>0.000110011001100110011</tt>…. A classic example is that, depending on circumstances, the calculation 0.1 + 0.2 might [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/588004/is-floating-point-math-broken seem to give an answer of 0.30000001].

Evidently, in the programming facility shown in the comic, a floating-point error has occurred today, and an attempt has been made to update the sign to say "It has been 0 days since...". But the number 0 is displayed incorrectly, as the very small negative number −0.00000000000000044. Perhaps the error that was made today was the very error that occurred in updating the sign! (This would of course violate {{w|causality}}, but in comedy, self-referential humor beats causality every time.)

As an example of how the number −0.00000000000000044 could have arisen when 0 was intended, consider this simple {{w|C (programming language)|C}} program:

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
double d = 19;
for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) d -= 1.9;
printf("%.17f\n", d);
}

The program starts with the number 19, and subtracts 1.9 from it, ten times. Mathematically, we would expect the result to be 0. However, the number 1.9 cannot be represented exactly in binary, nor can the intermediate results 17.1, 15.2, 13.3, etc. The cascading roundoff errors conspire to produce a result of −0.00000000000000044 instead of the expected 0.

In the comic, such an error creates the ridiculous illusion that −0.00000000000000044 days have passed, which implies a 'negative' number of days, which is impossible{{cn}}. It also, even if it was a positive number, would mean that much less than a nanosecond had passed since the last error, which would be an unfeasably short amount of time. Of course, the joke is that in making the sign showing the amount of time since a floating point error was last made, they are creating a floating point error, meaning the sign is invalid. Also, if they tried to reset the sign, they might make the same error again, repeating the cycle over & over, which would not be ideal.

Coincidentally enough, [[Cueball]] is also floating — off his seat in this case. The seat itself looks the same as the chair in [[2144]], possibly meaning making people levitate is one of its numerous settings.

Floating point errors are particularly common in programming, especially in languages that implicitly convert decimal numbers to binary floating point, so an approximation is already made at conversion leading to unexpected results. The title text cites another common programming problem, integer overflow. When a value gets bigger than the biggest integer that can be represented in a certain format, it typically "wraps around" to the smallest value. In case of 32-bit signed integers it may wrap from 231−1 (2,147,483,647) to −231 (−2,147,483,648). 2,147,483,647 days from the comic's date of publication (April 3rd, 2026) is approximately October 12th of the year 5,881,636, assuming no changes in the lengths of the day and year, or in other aspects of time measurement.

Strangely enough, when the comic was first published the sign number was −0.00000000000000017 days. It was changed later though, for unknown reasons.

==Transcript==
[White Hat, Ponytail, Cueball, and Megan are all below a large sign. White Hat and Ponytail appear to be discussing something, while Cueball is sitting at his desk working on a laptop and Megan is walking away. The sign has text on it, as well as a large display presumably meant to show a number.]

:[Sign:] It has been
:[Display:] -0.00000000000000044
:[Sign:] days since our last floating point error

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>[[Category:Interactive comics]][[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3208: SNEWS

2026-04-03T17:44:49Z

BunsenH: death is not sleep

{{comic
| number = 3208
| date = February 16, 2026
| title = SNEWS
| image = snews_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x321px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = People say setting of fireworks indoors is dangerous, but I looked at their energy release and it's like 10^-40 foe; totally negligible.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Ponytail]] is 'showing [[Hairy]] her bedroom'. Hairy asks about the large device on the ceiling, and Ponytail explains that it is part of the {{w|SNEWS}} (SuperNova Early Warning System). This provides advance notice of {{w|supernova}}e by detecting {{w|neutrino}}s (tiny particles that travel near the speed of light, rarely interacting with matter). Neutrinos are produced in large quantities during the collapse of the star core, which occurs hours before the brightness of the star surface starts to increase (drastically). Neutrinos from a supernova can be distinguished from those generated by the Sun: the latter are relatively steady in their flux (1010–1011 cm-2s-1) with energies < 20 MeV, while the former come in a much higher flux for a few seconds and have energies of 10–50 MeV. She explains this gives {{w|astronomer}}s warning, allowing them to observe the event with telescopes and other instruments.

Hairy reasonably assumes that the device is either a detector, forming part of the SNEWS, or some kind of telescope to be used in the event the SNEWS goes off. However, Ponytail explains that it is a {{w|fireworks}} launcher — presumably linked into the detection network and triggered if it registers an observation — for the purposes of waking her up so she can witness the supernova herself. This is a '''very''' bad idea, for a multitude of reasons. Reckless use of fireworks is known for causing significant property damage and personal injury, even when used outdoors; launching fireworks inside the house means causing an explosion in a confined area, guaranteeing that it will hit the building, maximizing the opportunity to ignite something flammable on the structure, and containing, and therefore amplifying, the sound of the burst (which can already deafen people who are too close). Understandably, Hairy {{tvtropes|ScrewThisImOuttaHere|leaves to sleep at his own house}}.

Some people aren't easily woken up by a simple {{w|alarm clock}}, especially if it is in reach and has a "snooze" function where a button will silence the alarm for several minutes before it beeps again. The similar sounds of "snooze" and SNEWS may be part of the joke.

Ponytail is being {{w|hyperbole|hyperbolic}}, because even if all astronomers were interested in supernovae, not every individual or observatory will be immediately situated to view a particular point in the sky. For example, they may need to wait for the Earth's rotation, causing the phenomenon to "rise" in the east. Others may be located at unfavorable latitudes where the object will never appear above the Earth's horizon. It may also take some time before the supernova reaches an apparent magnitude that is visible during the daytime. Which would be particularly disappointing for ''everyone'' with an interest (on Earth) if it all happens to a star currently too close to conjunction with the Sun to see, in spite of the advanced neutrino warning.

Since historical supernovae have been visible from 6 months to nearly 2 years, it would be unlikely that Ponytail sleeps through a new one in its entirety, although there would still be significant cachet for any astronomer lucky enough to be able to legitimately say that they had seen the 'first light' at the earliest opportunity. It would have been difficult for her to ''not'' sleep through part of the supernova, for the same reason if she had not set up the fireworks; ironically, she has made that a more likely possibility, because injuries from the fireworks may leave her in a coma or under medical sedation (which might be considered "sleeping").

The title text is a play on the tremendous amount of energy released by a supernova. The {{w|Foe (unit)|foe}} is an unofficial unit of energy equal to 10^44 Joule (but named directly from initials in the original quantity of "ten to the fifty-one ergs", involving a {{w|Erg|pre-SI}} measurement of energy), which is approximately on the order of the usual amount of energy released by a supernova. In comparison, human-scale amounts of energy — even relatively significant ones such as firework detonations — are negligible. This ignores the fact that energy releases that are "negligible in comparison to a supernova" can still be easily fatal to humans; even the largest man-made nuclear explosion is approximately ''twenty-seven'' orders of magnitude less than the baseline 'foe' value. The described "10-40 foe" is equal to 10 kJ, the energy content of approximately 3.3 grams of pyrotechnic gunpowder (for instance, a string of sixty or so 50-mg firecrackers).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is walking into her room. The room has a bed, a set of drawers and a large sci-fi device mounted on the ceiling. Hairy is standing in the room, pointing up at the device.]
:Hairy: What's that device?
:Ponytail: Part of the supernova early warning system.
:Ponytail: There hasn't been a Milky Way supernova in over a century.
:Ponytail: Astronomers don't want to miss the next one.

:[Close up of Ponytail, now sitting on the end of the bed]
:Ponytail: 20 years ago, we set up a supernova alert system using neutrino detectors.
:Ponytail: It should give us a few hours' advance notice.

:[In a frame-less panel the view zooms back out, showing Ponytail and Hairy.]
:Ponytail: If it ever goes off, every astronomer on earth will scramble to point their equipment at the sky.
:Hairy: Oh, OK. So is that a detector? Or some kind of telescope?

:[The panel moves to the right, showing Hairy walking away. Ponytail is still on the end of the bed, raising a clenched fist for dramatic effect.]
:Ponytail: Fireworks launcher.
:Ponytail: I '''''refuse''''' to sleep through a supernova.
:Hairy: I think I'll spend the night at my place instead.

==Trivia==
The word "off" is misspelled as "of" in the title text.

This comic was published on the eve of the {{w|Chinese New Year}} or Lunar New Year, which is reckoned by the new moon appearing at this time of year. Celebrations throughout Asia and communities worldwide include setting off firecrackers and launching fireworks.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

3226: Home Solar

2026-04-01T01:50:17Z

BunsenH: bust up long sentence

{{comic
| number = 3226
| date = March 30, 2026
| title = Home Solar
| image = home_solar_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x258px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "While I try to do my part to destroy the environment, I try not to focus too much on individual responsibility. By pushing for broad policy changes, we can collectively do far more damage to the biosphere than any of us could on our own."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by HARMING THE ENVIRONMENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Black Hat]] and [[Cueball]] are outside Black Hat's house discussing the {{w|solar panel}}s he has recently installed on the roof. (Or alternatively outside another house, e.g. Cueball's, with its solar panels having initiated the comparison.) Being a [[72: Classhole|classhole]], Black Hat is attempting to live in a way that will maximize his negative impact on the environment. Cueball asks why he has installed solar panels, since he knows Black Hat, and that he has described himself as anti-'{{w|renewable energy|renewables}}'. Black Hat responds that, as much as he'd prefer an option that harmed the planet more, solar power ({{w|photovoltaics}} and/or {{w|solar thermal energy}}) is simply the cheapest option and his budget is incapable of supporting anything else.

Black Hat's words in panel 3, that "the technology just isn't there and the cost is too high", is an oft-repeated excuse for those sticking with {{w|fossil fuel}} use rather than potentially deploy renewable energy technology, such as solar panels. When solar panel technologies were in their infancy, their costs were [https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/evolution-of-solar-pv-module-cost-by-data-source-1970-2020 very high], pricing out most uses of them. Now, solar panels are mass-produced, and there have been some periods of official subsidy (with varying likelihood, by both location and time) as the manufacturing/installation industries were encouraged to be more developed. Thus, it has become [https://www.wri.org/insights/growth-renewable-energy-sector-explained more affordable] for households to put solar panels on their rooftops, so the excuse has lost much of its validity. Nowadays this excuse is commonly used to justify technological inertia.

This may also be a reference to the high oil/gasoline prices recently, going up over 30% in the past two weeks prior to this comic's publication, overwhelmingly due to {{w|2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis|military activity}} disrupting fuel (and other) trading, and its knock-on effects globally.

In the end, Black Hat claims that he can try to 'make up for this' by using the saved money to buy industrial waste and burn it in his backyard. Cueball responds with a knowing comment about 'carbon onsets'. This is a play on {{w|Carbon offsets and credits|carbon ''offsets''}}: certificates used for demonstrating mitigation of one's own carbon footprint, by effectively crowd-funding larger projects that are {{w|Carbon dioxide removal|'carbon negative'}} but are difficult to properly coordinate directly and individually. Carbon offsets represent emission reductions or captures happening elsewhere, and can be used to ''offset'' emissions caused by the user of the credit. This is rather than just relying upon random altruistic third parties to put the effort and finance into such a scheme to counteract others' care-free carbon emissions, or to allow a way to reward those who would indeed just do this off their own back.

Black Hat does the reverse, causing extra environmental harm to offset (or "onset", as Cueball calls it) the good reluctantly done by him by using solar panels instead of an {{w|oil burner|oil furnace}}. This doesn't really make sense since it's not clear what target he would be trying to 'onset' to; there is no 'ideal' level of emissions that he would be trying to achieve, although one can assume that he'll be aiming to be at least the wrong side of 'carbon neutral'. While the solar panels will have a much lower carbon footprint than the oil furnace, they will still have had some, in manufacture, and other options (such as burning coal) could provide him with even more emissions than the oil.

The title text is a spin on a standard argument about personal responsibility in tackling environmental issues, distorted through the perspective of Black Hat. Low amounts of action to address personal impact is sometimes excused by pointing out that it will be a 'drop in the ocean' relative to the scale of the problem, and suggesting that only action at a global institutional level can really address it. Black Hat believes (correctly) that policy and other systemic change can cause bigger damage than just him burning industrial waste, and is excited about the potential for this to change things for the worse. This is ironic, because ingrained institutional and systemic factors have played a significant role in ''causing'' the problems we now have, and holding up the finding of solutions to them.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Cueball stand next to a house with solar panels on the roof.]
:Cueball: Wait, you got solar panels?
:Cueball: I thought you were against renewables.

:[Zoom to show only Cueball and Black Hat.]
:Black Hat: Oh, definitely. I hate the environment and want to harm it as much as possible.
:Black Hat: I'd '''''love''''' to have an oil furnace.

:[Zoom in on Black Hat; only his head and shoulders are visible.]
:Black Hat: But the technology just isn't there and the cost is too high.
:Black Hat: I despise solar, but it makes more financial sense in my situation.

:[Zoom out to show Cueball and Black Hat again.]
:Black Hat: But with the money I'm saving, I can buy and burn industrial waste in my yard to try to make up for it.
:Cueball: Ah, yeah, carbon onsets.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3226: Home Solar

2026-03-31T14:21:01Z

BunsenH: /* Explanation */ "omissions", grammar, spelling

{{comic
| number = 3226
| date = March 30, 2026
| title = Home Solar
| image = home_solar_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x258px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "While I try to do my part to destroy the environment, I try not to focus too much on individual responsibility. By pushing for broad policy changes, we can collectively do far more damage to the biosphere than any of us could on our own."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by HARMING THE ENVIRONMENT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Black Hat]] and [[Cueball]] are outside Black Hat's house discussing the {{w|solar panel}}s he has recently installed on the roof. (Or alternatively outside another house, e.g. Cueball's, with its solar panels having initiated the comparison.) Being a [[72: Classhole|classhole]], Black Hat is attempting to live in a way that will maximize his negative impact on the environment. Cueball asks why he has installed solar panels, since he knows that Black Hat, and that he has described himself as anti-'{{w|renewable energy|renewables}}'. Black Hat responds that, as much as he'd prefer an option that harmed the planet more, solar power ({{w|photovoltaics}} and/or {{w|solar thermal energy}}) is simply the cheapest option and his budget is incapable of supporting anything else.

Black Hat's words in panel 3, that "the technology just isn't there and the cost is too high", is an oft-repeated excuse for those sticking with {{w|fossil fuel}} use rather than potentially deploy renewable energy technology, such as solar panels. When solar panel technologies were in their infancy, their costs were very high,{{acn}} pricing out most uses of them; but now solar panels are mass-produced, and it has become [https://www.wri.org/insights/growth-renewable-energy-sector-explained more affordable] for households to put solar panels on their rooftops, so the excuse has lost much of its validity. Nowadays this excuse is commonly used to justify technological inertia.

In the end, Black Hat claims that he can try to 'make up for this' by using the saved money to buy industrial waste and burn it in his backyard. Cueball responds with a knowing comment about 'carbon onsets'. This is a play on {{w|Carbon offsets and credits|carbon ''offsets''}}: certificates used for demonstrating mitigation of one's own carbon footprint, by effectively crowd-funding larger projects that are {{w|Carbon dioxide removal|'carbon negative'}} but are difficult to properly coordinate directly and individually. Carbon offsets represent emission reductions or captures happening elsewhere, and can be used to ''offset'' emissions caused by the user of the credit. This is rather than just relying upon random altruistic third parties to put the effort and finance into such a scheme to counteract others' care-free carbon emissions, or to allow a way to reward those who would indeed just do this off their own back.

Black Hat does the reverse, causing extra environmental harm to offset (or "onset", as Cueball calls it) the good reluctantly done by him by using solar panels instead of an {{w|oil burner|oil furnace}}. This doesn't really make sense since it's not clear what target he would be trying to 'onset' to; there is no 'ideal' level of emissions that he would be trying to achieve, although one can assume that he'll be aiming to be at least the wrong side of 'carbon neutral'. While the solar panels will have a much lower carbon footprint than the oil furnace, they will still have had some, in manufacture, and other options (such as burning coal) could provide him with even more emissions than the oil.

The title text is a spin on a standard argument about personal responsibility in tackling environmental issues, distorted through the perspective of Black Hat. Low amounts of action to address personal impact is sometimes excused by pointing out that it will be a 'drop in the ocean' relative to the scale of the problem, and suggesting that only action at a global institutional level can really address it. Black Hat believes (correctly) that policy and other systemic change can cause bigger damage than just him burning industrial waste, and is excited about the potential for this to change things for the worse. This is ironic, because ingrained institutional and systemic factors have played a significant role in ''causing'' the problems we now have, and holding up the finding of solutions to them.

This is one of the few comics [[Black Hat]] appeared in in the 3000s, the others being [[3057]], [[3067]], [[3105]], & [[3202]].

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat and Cueball stand next to a house with solar panels on the roof.]
:Cueball: Wait, you got solar panels?
:Cueball: I thought you were against renewables.

:[Zoom to show only Cueball and Black Hat.]
:Black Hat: Oh, definitely. I hate the environment and want to harm it as much as possible.
:Black Hat: I'd '''''love''''' to have an oil furnace.

:[Zoom in on Black Hat; only his head and shoulders are visible.]
:Black Hat: But the technology just isn't there and the cost is too high.
:Black Hat: I despise solar, but it makes more financial sense in my situation.

:[Zoom out to show Cueball and Black Hat again.]
:Black Hat: But with the money I'm saving, I can buy and burn industrial waste in my yard to try to make up for it.
:Cueball: Ah, yeah, carbon onsets.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3225: Satellite Pollution

2026-03-29T14:13:17Z

BunsenH: /* Transcript */ comma

{{comic
| number = 3225
| date = March 27, 2026
| title = Satellite Pollution
| image = satellite_pollution_2x.png
| imagesize = 400x334px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're working to make sure the images are as up-to-date and accurate as possible, with a minimum number of sponsored galaxies.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a SATELLITE BOT SHOWING A FAKE XKCD COMIC. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A common concern with new satellite constellations like {{w|Starlink}} is that because that they rely on large numbers, they make ground-based astronomy more difficult by adding more noise, such as disruptive {{w|satellite flare}} producing something like {{w|star trail}}s during normal observations. They may also possibly obscure targets, though as the background stars (or even most other astronomical objects) is greatly outpaced by most examples of artificial satellite (especially those in {{w|low Earth orbit}}), this would be a momentary {{w|occultation}} at best, and longer term observations should at least give some opportunities to salvage some decent data.

This comic satirizes this, by talking about a hypothetical satellite company that knowingly launches inaccurate star maps to be overlaid across the night sky. This would not only obscure a fair amount of stars from view, but also show stars that don't actually exist in the night sky, thus providing confusion for an astronomer who fails to identify the interference, and annoyance for any that can.

Of course, such a plan would have many problems in implementing, such as the pure size and strength needed for the banner to survive in space while being large enough to be noticed by casual observers. Also, the banner would need to have its own light source, powerful enough to be seen from earth. Depending on the distance the banner is from the earth, it would be easy to make lights capable of being visible from our planet. See the {{What If|13|laser pointer "What-If"}}.

One explanation for why anyone would do this is in the title text which implies that the company is somehow offering sponsorship to certain galaxies, despite galaxies not being known for being sentient, or able to provide a sponsorship. It is unclear how exactly these sponsorships are being done, possibly doing banners to advertise certain galaxies, though what for is unknown. Possibly to encourage people to visit the various sponsored galaxies, although many of them would be incredibly far away and unreachable by current space travel.

This comic may have a connection to the "collapse" of Google Image Search, where trying to find a real picture of a historical event or scientific phenomenon will now produce an overwhelmingly intrusive quantity of results produced by generative AI and easily mistaken as fact.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Ponytail are standing on the left, Cueball is on the right, in front of a poster on the wall. The poster has a portion of the Earth at the bottom, with outer space above it. The space scene has lots of stars, along with a few nebulae and galaxies. Part of the space scene is enclosed in a quadrilateral (apparently a rectangle skewed by perspective) which is attached at the middle of its left side to a much smaller object. Its upper edge shows that it has a little thickness, or at least a parallel stiffening frame, rather than being two-dimensional.]
:Ponytail: Aren't you worried these will be disruptive for ground-based astronomy?
:Cueball: No, why?
:[Caption below comic:]
:My new company is being criticized for our satellites that deploy 100-mile-wide banners painted with inaccurate pictures of the night sky.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

3225: Satellite Pollution

2026-03-29T02:02:01Z

BunsenH: /* Transcript */ 3D, not 2D

{{comic
| number = 3225
| date = March 27, 2026
| title = Satellite Pollution
| image = satellite_pollution_2x.png
| imagesize = 400x334px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're working to make sure the images are as up-to-date and accurate as possible, with a minimum number of sponsored galaxies.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a SATELLITE BOT SHOWING A FAKE XKCD COMIC. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A common concern with new satellite constellations like {{w|Starlink}} is that because that they rely on large numbers, they make ground-based astronomy more difficult by adding more noise, such as disruptive {{w|satellite flare}} producing something like {{w|star trail}}s during normal observations. They may also possibly obscure targets, though as the background stars (or even most other astronomical objects) is greatly outpaced by most examples of artificial satellite (especially those in {{w|low Earth orbit}}), this would be a momentary {{w|occultation}} at best, and longer term observations should at least give some opportunities to salvage some decent data.

This comic satirizes this, by talking about a hypothetical satellite company that knowingly launches inaccurate star maps to be overlaid across the night sky. This would not only obscure a fair amount of stars from view, but also show stars that don't actually exist in the night sky, thus providing confusion for an astronomer who fails to identify the interference, and annoyance for any that can.

Of course, such a plan would have many problems in implementing, such as the pure size and strength needed for the banner to survive in space while being large enough to be noticed by casual observers. Also, the banner would need to have its own light source, powerful enough to be seen from earth. Depending on the distance the banner is from the earth, it would be easy to make lights capable of being visible from our planet. See the {{What If|13|laser pointer "What-If"}}.

One explanation for why anyone would do this is in the title text which implies that the company is somehow offering sponsorship to certain galaxies, despite galaxies not being known for being sentient, or able to provide a sponsorship. It is unclear how exactly these sponsorships are being done, possibly doing banners to advertise certain galaxies, though what for is unknown. Possibly to encourage people to visit the various sponsored galaxies, although many of them would be incredibly far away and unreachable by current space travel.

This comic may have a connection to the "collapse" of Google Image Search, where trying to find a real picture of a historical event or scientific phenomenon will now produce an overwhelmingly intrusive quantity of results produced by generative AI and easily mistaken as fact.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Ponytail are standing on the left, Cueball is on the right, in front of a poster on the wall. The poster has a portion of the Earth at the bottom, with outer space above it. The space scene has lots of stars, along with a few nebulae and galaxies. Part of the space scene is enclosed in a quadrilateral (apparently a rectangle skewed by perspective) which is attached at the middle of its left side to a much smaller object. Its upper edge shows that it has a little thickness rather than being two-dimensional.]
:Ponytail: Aren't you worried these will be disruptive for ground-based astronomy?
:Cueball: No, why?
:[Caption below comic:]
:My new company is being criticized for our satellites that deploy 100-mile-wide banners painted with inaccurate pictures of the night sky.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

3225: Satellite Pollution

2026-03-28T14:10:24Z

BunsenH: /* Transcript */ perspective

{{comic
| number = 3225
| date = March 27, 2026
| title = Satellite Pollution
| image = satellite_pollution_2x.png
| imagesize = 400x334px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're working to make sure the images are as up-to-date and accurate as possible, with a minimum number of sponsored galaxies.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a SATELLITE BOT SHOWING A FAKE XKCD COMIC. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A common concern with new satellite constellations like {{w|Starlink}} is that the fact that they rely on large numbers, they make ground-based astronomy more difficult by adding more noise and possibly obscuring targets.

A more recent concern is the "collapse" of Google Image Search, where trying to find a real picture of a historical event or scientific phenomenon, will now produce an unwieldly amount of results produced by generative AI.

This comic satirizes the two by talking about a hypothetical satellite company that launches *deliberately* inaccurate starmaps to be overlaid across the night sky. This would not only obscure a fair amount of stars from view, but also show stars that don't actually exist in the night sky, thus providing confusion for astronomers, seeing stars not on their starmaps, & making them look unreliable. Why anyone would do this is unknown, with its only purpose to confuse & mess with people. However, it could be just the doings of [[Black Hat|a very certain someone...]]

Of course, such a plan would have many problems in implementing, such as the pure size & strength needed for the banner to survive in space, & be large enough to be noticed by casual observers. Also, the banner would need to have its own light source, powerful enough to be seen from earth. Such lights are not known to exist on Earth{{cn}}.

The title text takes the concept further, implying that the company is somehow offering sponsorship to certain galaxies, despite galaxies not being known for being sentient, or able to provide a sponsorship. It is unclear how exactly these sponsorships are being done, possibly doing banners to advertise certain galaxies, though what for is unknown. Possibly to encourage people to visit the various sponsored galaxies, although many of them would be incredibly far away, & unreachable by current space travel.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Ponytail are standing on the left, Cueball is on the right, in front of a poster on the wall. The poster has a portion of the Earth at the bottom, with outer space above it. The space scene has lots of stars, along with a few nebulae and galaxies. Part of the space scene is enclosed in a quadrilateral (apparently a rectangle skewed by perspective) which is attached at the middle of its left side to a much smaller object.]
:Ponytail: Aren't you worried these will be disruptive for ground-based astronomy?
:Cueball: No, why?
:[Caption below comic:]
:My new company is being criticized for our satellites that deploy 100-mile-wide banners painted with inaccurate pictures of the night sky.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

3225: Satellite Pollution

2026-03-28T14:08:11Z

BunsenH: /* Transcript */ The transcript is supposed to be a description of what's literally on the page. The stuff about the quadrilateral being an inaccurate image is only implied.

{{comic
| number = 3225
| date = March 27, 2026
| title = Satellite Pollution
| image = satellite_pollution_2x.png
| imagesize = 400x334px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're working to make sure the images are as up-to-date and accurate as possible, with a minimum number of sponsored galaxies.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a SATELLITE BOT SHOWING A FAKE XKCD COMIC. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A common concern with new satellite constellations like {{w|Starlink}} is that the fact that they rely on large numbers, they make ground-based astronomy more difficult by adding more noise and possibly obscuring targets.

A more recent concern is the "collapse" of Google Image Search, where trying to find a real picture of a historical event or scientific phenomenon, will now produce an unwieldly amount of results produced by generative AI.

This comic satirizes the two by talking about a hypothetical satellite company that launches *deliberately* inaccurate starmaps to be overlaid across the night sky. This would not only obscure a fair amount of stars from view, but also show stars that don't actually exist in the night sky, thus providing confusion for astronomers, seeing stars not on their starmaps, & making them look unreliable. Why anyone would do this is unknown, with its only purpose to confuse & mess with people. However, it could be just the doings of [[Black Hat|a very certain someone...]]

Of course, such a plan would have many problems in implementing, such as the pure size & strength needed for the banner to survive in space, & be large enough to be noticed by casual observers. Also, the banner would need to have its own light source, powerful enough to be seen from earth. Such lights are not known to exist on Earth{{cn}}.

The title text takes the concept further, implying that the company is somehow offering sponsorship to certain galaxies, despite galaxies not being known for being sentient, or able to provide a sponsorship. It is unclear how exactly these sponsorships are being done, possibly doing banners to advertise certain galaxies, though what for is unknown. Possibly to encourage people to visit the various sponsored galaxies, although many of them would be incredibly far away, & unreachable by current space travel.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat and Ponytail are standing on the left, Cueball is on the right, in front of a poster on the wall. The poster has a portion of the Earth at the bottom, with outer space above it. The space scene has lots of stars, along with a few nebulae and galaxies. Part of the space scene is enclosed in a quadrilateral (a slightly skewed rectangle) which is attached at the middle of its left side to a much smaller object.]
:Ponytail: Aren't you worried these will be disruptive for ground-based astronomy?
:Cueball: No, why?
:[Caption below comic:]
:My new company is being criticized for our satellites that deploy 100-mile-wide banners painted with inaccurate pictures of the night sky.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

3223: Inflation Timeline

2026-03-25T19:07:31Z

BunsenH: /* Trivia */ 1/8 = 0.125

{{comic
| number = 3223
| date = March 23, 2026
| title = Inflation Timeline
| image = inflation_timeline_2x.png
| imagesize = 423x213px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Depending what corners of the internet you hang out on, 'regular' may at times awkwardly coexist with 'sexy.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by an INFLATIONARY BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{w|Cosmic inflation}} is the theory that the very early universe briefly expanded at an enormous rate. This explains the "clumpiness" of the early universe, which is necessary to explain the formation of large-scale structures (e.g., galaxies, {{w|galaxy clusters}}, {{w|galaxy filaments}}, etc.) as the universe evolved. "Regular" {{w|inflation}} refers to the economic process in which the average price of goods and services increases over time. This is usually gradual, but can be very rapid during times of economic distress.

The comic puts both of these on the same {{w|Chronology of the universe|timeline of the universe}}. Cosmic inflation occurred very shortly (~10-34 s) after the {{w|Big Bang}}. Regular inflation occurs only during the time of human society after money started being used, perhaps {{w|History of money|7,000 years ago}}. Because of the logarithmic scale of the graph, the cosmic inflation period, which is only a tiny fraction of a second, looks much larger than regular inflation, which has existed for at least a few thousand years. This misinterpretation is likely [[Randall]]'s intention in the comic, along with conflating two wildly different kinds of "inflation".

The title text refers to a third meaning, that of {{w|body inflation}} as a sexual fetish or kink, which has no direct relationship to cosmology or economics.{{Citation needed}} [[Randall]] points out that body inflation happens at the same time as economic inflation, presumably because both arise from human activities. The suggestion that this coexistence may be "awkward" perhaps implies that people are paying to indulge in the fetish, and that those prices are subject to economic inflation. The "inflation" might also refer to something akin to a {{w|Sex doll|blow-up doll}}.

Another comic illustrating cosmic inflation is [[2240]].

==Trivia==
Assuming regular inflation started with the {{w|History of money|first use of money 7,000 years ago}}, the "regular inflation" bar, if accurately displayed, would go from 1017.63856460 to 1017.63856482 seconds, with a difference in the exponents of 0.00000022. Depending on your display resolution, this would make the graph's "regular" bar on the order of a millionth of a pixel wide.

Given that there are only seven secondary tick marks between the primary (labeled) tick marks, these denote not increments of 1 order of magnitude but 1.125 orders of magnitude.

==Transcript==
:[Caption:] Timeline of Inflation
:[A log-scale timeline labeled "Age of the Universe (seconds)" ranging from 10-40 to about 1025, with labeled tick marks at 10-40, 10-30, ..., 1020 s. A bar labeled "Cosmic" begins off-panel to the left and continues up to roughly 10-33 seconds. A second, much thinner bar labeled "Regular" covers another period between roughly 1016.9 and 1017.3 seconds.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Timelines]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]
[[Category:Sex]]