explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2866: Snow

2023-12-12T04:48:19Z

Darkwolf0218:

{{comic
| number = 2866
| date = December 11, 2023
| title = Snow
| image = snow_2x.png
| imagesize = 609x379px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = For someone who has ostensibly outgrown staying up late waiting for Santa, I do spend an awful lot of time refreshing websites to see if packages are here yet.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a APPARENTLY YOUNG SNOWFLAKE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic refers to how many people, apparently including Randall, get childishly excited about snow.

At the top is shown a line graph with "time" on the x-axis (the independent variable) and "my apparent age" (the dependent variable) on the y-axis. The graph drops sharply near the middle, with a note that this is when snow first begins to fall. Below the graph, Cueball is working on a computer with a window behind him. When snow begins to fall outside the window, he, representing the behavior of many adults including Randall, immediately abandons his work to watch the snowfall, even commenting excitedly. Presumably, it is the first snowfall of the year that provokes this level of excitement.

The title text refers to another common behavior of many adults- constantly refreshing tracking websites to see if a package has moved- and compares it to the idea of a child who believes in Santa and tries to stay up late enough to see him deliver presents.

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Weather]]

Talk:2866: Snow

2023-12-12T04:39:23Z

Darkwolf0218:

"This comic is a interesting comic about how most people get childishly excited about snow, including Randall." Really, that's the best you can come up with? Can we all please either try a little harder than that or leave the explanation for others? [[User:Darkwolf0218|Darkwolf0218]] ([[User talk:Darkwolf0218|talk]]) 04:39, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

2866: Snow

2023-12-12T04:38:07Z

Darkwolf0218: Added an actual explanation

{{comic
| number = 2866
| date = December 11, 2023
| title = Snow
| image = snow_2x.png
| imagesize = 609x379px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = For someone who has ostensibly outgrown staying up late waiting for Santa, I do spend an awful lot of time refreshing websites to see if packages are here yet.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a APPARENTLY YOUNG SNOWFLAKE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic refers to how many people, apparently including Randall, get childishly excited about snow.

At the top is shown a line graph with "time" on the x-axis (the independent variable) and "my apparent age" (the dependent variable) on the y-axis. The graph drops sharply near the middle, with a note that this is when snow first begins to fall. Below the graph, Cueball is working on a computer with a window behind him. When snow begins to fall outside the window, he, representing the behavior of many adults including Randall, immediately abandons his work to watch the snowfall, even commenting excitedly. Presumably, it is the first snowfall of the year that provokes this level of excitement.

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

{{comic discussion}}

2865: The Wrong Stuff

2023-12-09T08:20:29Z

Darkwolf0218:

{{comic
| number = 2865
| date = December 8, 2023
| title = The Wrong Stuff
| image = the_wrong_stuff_2x.png
| imagesize = 351x513px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The phantom found Edward Everett Hale a century too early; by the time we invented satellites, the specifics of his 'brick moon' proposal were dismissed as science fiction.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TRAIN MADE OF NEON TUBING - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Multiple times in history, there have been incidents where companies, governments, and engineers have proposed or developed plans for large vehicles composed of unconventional materials. One example is {{w|Project Habakkuk}} (mentioned in the comic), an aircraft carrier which was to be composed of pykrete, a mixture of wood pulp and ice. The comic imagines that all of these proposals are linked together by a single "Material Phantom," a ghost which haunts engineers and convinces them to design giant vehicles made of the impractical materials.

The three "wrong material vehicles" mentioned in the comic are:

*{{w|The Spruce Goose}} - An actual {{w|flying boat}} made, in spite of its name, almost entirely out of {{w|birch}} wood. Most modern planes are constructed out of aluminum, some other metal/alloy or (partially) out of carbon / glass fibre composites (CFRC / GFRC). Notably, despite being built out of the "wrong" material (due to wartime restrictions on aluminum usage, the use of birch wood was the next best option) the plane did make a single 26-second flight in 1947 before production halted due to the end of the war. The plane is currently on display at the {{w|Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum}} in {{w|McMinnville, Oregon}}, {{w|United States}}.
*{{w|Project Habakkuk}} - A proposed aircraft carrier composed of pykrete, a mixture of wood pulp and ice. Modern aircraft carriers are built from steel.
*{{w|Trojan Horse}} - A mythological, giant wooden horse, supposedly used by {{w|Ancient Greece|the Greeks}} to invade the city of {{w|Troy}}. Actual horses are composed, like any other animal, out of meat, bone, and other tissues and bodily fluids.{{citation needed}} In addition, the interior of the Trojan Horse was composed of Greek warriors rather than horse innards.

The title text references {{w|Edward Everett Hale|Edward Everett Hale's}} science fiction novella ''{{w|The Brick Moon}},'' the first known depiction of an artificial satellite in fiction. The novella is, of course, just a sci-fi story, but the title text states that Hale was actually approached by the Material Phantom, and the novella was a serious proposal for a moon made out of bricks. Apparently, it was only retroactively perceived as science-fiction.

The title "the Wrong Stuff" is a play on {{w|The Right Stuff}}, a book/movie/TV series about the astronauts of {{w|Project Gemini}}. In that title, "the right stuff" refers to the figurative material that these men were made of which gave them the bravery to embark on these missions.

==Trivia==
This comic was uploaded with the "the" in "the Wrong Stuff" being entirely lowercase, breaking the normal title case used for XKCD comic titles. Possibly another word was initially intended to come before "the", in which case lowercasing "the" would be correct. xkcd displays lowercase letters in titles with {{w|small caps}}, making the lowercase "the" less obvious than it is in the true lowercase used on explainxkcd.

However, it's worth noting that the comic title has since been changed to "The Wrong Stuff," with "the" capitalized as per standard title case.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A ghost is approaching Cueball in a workshop. They are surrounded by shop equipment, such as a table with a press on it, and a small pile of what appears to be lumber. Cueball is backing away from the ghost, holding his hands up defensively.]
:Ghost: oooOOOOOOoooo Build a spaceship out of bricks! oooooOOOOOOOOoo
:Cueball: No! Go away!
:[There is a caption underneath the panel]
:The Spruce Goose, the Project Habakkuk Ice Ship, and the Trojan Horse were all work of the Material Phantom, a ghost that wanders the Earth convincing engineers to make giant vehicles out of the wrong stuff.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Engineering]]

2865: The Wrong Stuff

2023-12-09T08:19:34Z

Darkwolf0218:

{{comic
| number = 2865
| date = December 8, 2023
| title = The Wrong Stuff
| image = the_wrong_stuff_2x.png
| imagesize = 351x513px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The phantom found Edward Everett Hale a century too early; by the time we invented satellites, the specifics of his 'brick moon' proposal were dismissed as science fiction.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TRAIN MADE OF NEON TUBING - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Multiple times in history, there have been incidents where companies, governments, and engineers have proposed or developed plans for large vehicles composed of unconventional materials. One example is {{w|Project Habakkuk}} (mentioned in the comic), an aircraft carrier which was to be composed of pykrete, a mixture of wood pulp and ice. The comic imagines that all of these proposals are linked together by a single "Material Phantom," a ghost which haunts engineers and convinces them to design giant vehicles made of the impractical materials.

The three "wrong material vehicles" mentioned in the comic are:

*{{w|The Spruce Goose}} - An actual {{w|flying boat}} made, in spite of its name, almost entirely out of {{w|birch}} wood. Most modern planes are constructed out of aluminum, some other metal/alloy or (partially) out of carbon / glass fibre composites (CFRC / GFRC). Notably, despite being built out of the "wrong" material (due to wartime restrictions on aluminum usage, the use of birch wood was the next best option) the plane did make a single 26-second flight in 1947 before production halted due to the end of the war. The plane is currently on display at the {{w|Evergreen Aviation Museum}} in {{w|McMinnville}}, {{w|Oregon}}, {{w|United States}}.
*{{w|Project Habakkuk}} - A proposed aircraft carrier composed of pykrete, a mixture of wood pulp and ice. Modern aircraft carriers are built from steel.
*{{w|Trojan Horse}} - A mythological, giant wooden horse, supposedly used by {{w|Ancient Greece|the Greeks}} to invade the city of {{w|Troy}}. Actual horses are composed, like any other animal, out of meat, bone, and other tissues and bodily fluids.{{citation needed}} In addition, the interior of the Trojan Horse was composed of Greek warriors rather than horse innards.

The title text references {{w|Edward Everett Hale|Edward Everett Hale's}} science fiction novella ''{{w|The Brick Moon}},'' the first known depiction of an artificial satellite in fiction. The novella is, of course, just a sci-fi story, but the title text states that Hale was actually approached by the Material Phantom, and the novella was a serious proposal for a moon made out of bricks. Apparently, it was only retroactively perceived as science-fiction.

The title "the Wrong Stuff" is a play on {{w|The Right Stuff}}, a book/movie/TV series about the astronauts of {{w|Project Gemini}}. In that title, "the right stuff" refers to the figurative material that these men were made of which gave them the bravery to embark on these missions.

==Trivia==
This comic was uploaded with the "the" in "the Wrong Stuff" being entirely lowercase, breaking the normal title case used for XKCD comic titles. Possibly another word was initially intended to come before "the", in which case lowercasing "the" would be correct. xkcd displays lowercase letters in titles with {{w|small caps}}, making the lowercase "the" less obvious than it is in the true lowercase used on explainxkcd.

However, it's worth noting that the comic title has since been changed to "The Wrong Stuff," with "the" capitalized as per standard title case.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A ghost is approaching Cueball in a workshop. They are surrounded by shop equipment, such as a table with a press on it, and a small pile of what appears to be lumber. Cueball is backing away from the ghost, holding his hands up defensively.]
:Ghost: oooOOOOOOoooo Build a spaceship out of bricks! oooooOOOOOOOOoo
:Cueball: No! Go away!
:[There is a caption underneath the panel]
:The Spruce Goose, the Project Habakkuk Ice Ship, and the Trojan Horse were all work of the Material Phantom, a ghost that wanders the Earth convincing engineers to make giant vehicles out of the wrong stuff.
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Engineering]]

2842: Inspiraling Roundabout

2023-10-17T02:51:15Z

Darkwolf0218: Updated

{{comic
| number = 2842
| date = October 16, 2023
| title = Inspiraling Roundabout
| image = inspiraling_roundabout.png
| titletext = Look, I just think we need to stop coddling those hedonistic roundabout hogs who get into the inner lane and circle for hours, wasting valuable capacity.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a ROUNDABOUT HOG}}

A {{w|roundabout}}, also called a traffic circle or rotary, is a traffic control device that often serves as an alternative to stop signs, instead allowing for mere yields, as all traffic flows in the same direction around a central point.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[A large roundabout with a spiral of dotted lines, three entrances, and three exits.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Even though it '''''was''''' technically navigable, the highway department vetoed my inspiraling roundabout design.

{{comic discussion}}

2842: Inspiraling Roundabout

2023-10-17T02:46:36Z

Darkwolf0218: Grammar and punctuation in transcript

{{comic
| number = 2842
| date = October 16, 2023
| title = Inspiraling Roundabout
| image = inspiraling_roundabout.png
| titletext = Look, I just think we need to stop coddling those hedonistic roundabout hogs who get into the inner lane and circle for hours, wasting valuable capacity.
}}
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a ROUNDABOUT HOG}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}
:[A large roundabout with a spiral of dotted lines, three entrances, and three exits.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Even though it '''''was''''' technically navigable, the highway department vetoed my inspiraling roundabout design.

{{comic discussion}}

2821: Path Minimization

2023-08-29T02:47:31Z

Darkwolf0218: Comic

{{comic
| number = 2821
| date = August 28, 2023
| title = Path Minimization
| image = path_minimization_2x.png
| imagesize = 562x559px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Of course you get an ice cream cone for the swimmer too! You're not a monster.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, it appears that Cueball, standing on shore, is observing a swimmer who is presumably in distress. The comic illustrates 5 potential paths that can be taken to reach the swimmer, each with a different reason to make them viable.

The first path is a 45° angle away from Cueball, straight to the swimmer, which allows for the minimum possible distance to be traveled.

The second path travels at a 30° from Cueball to the water and then at a 20° angle to the swimmer. This path would take the shortest amount of time, as it allows for precise sideways movement as well as forward movement.

The third path travels at roughly a 23.2° angle to the water, maximizing the amount of time spent on land and thus minimizing the time spent swimming. Depending on one's swimming ability versus running ability, this could be the safest path to take.

The fourth path travels horizontal, along the beach, technically moving slightly ''away'' from the swimmer, but towards an arguabky more important goal: an ice cream stand in a straight line away from where Cueball is presently. After that detour, the path turns and aims towards the swimmer, as all the others do (although how one could eat ice cream whilst swimming to rescue someone, much less whilst carrying a second ice cream, is not explained).

The fifth and final path, barely visible directly above Cueball, is labeled as the path that ''maximizes'' time. This path, presumably, travels around the entire world, likely stopping for many, ''many'' rest breaks. It should be noted that, by the definition given, it is theoretically possible to stretch the maximum time taken out forever by simply walking away and never returning.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Path that minimizes distance [A straight line from beach cueball to ocean cueball, bearing about 135]
:Path that minimizes time [A line from beach cueball to the waterline closer to horizontal, bearing about 120, then angling towards ocean cueball, bearing about 150]
:Path that minimizes swimming [A line from beach cueball to the waterline closest to ocean cueball, bearing about 105, then angling toward ocean cueball, bearing 180]
:Path that minimizes time until you get ice cream
:Path that maximizes time

{{comic discussion}}

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

2817: Electron Holes

2023-08-19T05:44:33Z

Darkwolf0218:

{{comic
| number = 2817
| date = August 18, 2023
| title = Electron Holes
| image = electron_holes_2x.png
| imagesize = 295x331px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = They tried to report me to the authorities, but because I had the device they couldn't charge me.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BEAM OF EXCITONS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
An {{w|electron hole}} is a quasiparticle denoting a ''lack'' of an electron. Creating a beam that is made out of a lack of a thing is not possible{{citation needed}}.

Physicists have invented {{w|cathode ray|a device capable of firing a beam of electrons}}, but not electron holes. An electron hole gun would theoretically fire a beam of electron holes at a target.

In this cartoon, the physicist is upset that the idea of the electron hole beam doesn't "make sense", yet the beam is still working to destroy her belongings and eventually she resorts to exclaiming simply "Stop it!"

The caption below the comic states that Physicist''s'', plural, were angry about this device, implying that this is not the first physicist whose lab he has destroyed. It also implies that the off-screen character, likely [[Beret Guy]] considering his history of seemingly impossible feats and powers, is not a physicist himself, notably separating him from {{w|Randall Munroe}}, who is. They are also likely angry that they themselves could not come up with such a device, as well as that something as groundbreaking and innovative (as well as seemingly impossible) is being used solely for the purpose of creating chaos.

The title text plays on a double meaning of "charge". When the word is used with "authorities", it's an accusation. However it can also refer to an electric charge. The implication is that the authorities are trying to charge him with electrons (Electrons carry a negative electric charge.), but due to the device he can {{w|Carrier generation and recombination|recombine}} the electrons with his electron holes, thus making the authorities unable to "charge" him.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail, who has her fists clenched and a squiggle above her head, is standing in front of a desk, a beam of electron holes is being fired at a printer on the desk; the beam is shown reacting to the printer, dispersing lightning bolts and positive electrons.]
:Ponytail: This doesn't even make sense! They're quasiparticles, not real-
:Off-panel voice: ''Pew pew pew''
:Ponytail: ''Stop it!''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physicists got ''really'' mad about my device that fires a beam of electron holes.

{{comic discussion}}

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

Talk:2815: Car Wash

2023-08-15T23:49:07Z

Darkwolf0218:

You know, I've ''never'' been in a carwash. Not even through a hand-wash (these days set up in just about every other ex-petrol(/'gas') station forecourt not redeveloped otherwise. Driven (or walked) right past them on the ways to places (my walk to the supermarket goes past a hand-car-wash, grocery store and tyre business in an ex-petrol station - then I wander past the autocarwash 'booth' at the supermarket-aligned fuelstop, perhaps through the jetwash lanes if nobody's using them), but never took a car to one. There's buckets and sponges/etc at home. Am I missing something? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.11|172.71.242.11]] 20:40, 14 August 2023 (UTC)
:The bucket and sponge method takes time and effort. Automatic car washes are quick and easy. I'm mostly indifferent to car washes, but I like them more than doing it by hand because I'm lazy. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:46, 14 August 2023 (UTC)
::I'm indifferent to car washes too. Five years later you just have to do it all over again [[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 23:09, 14 August 2023 (UTC)
::Time and money for the carwash: Driving there (risking incidents), possible queuing to get into retail park, queuing to pay (£££s!), possible queuing for car wash, waiting for it to do its thing (risk of damage!), possible queuing to get out drive back (risking incidents, also normal road-grime)...
:::I've never gone out specifically to get my car washed. I'm usually out doing other things, I notice the car wash, and realize that my car is dirty, so I go in. And I can't recall ever having to wait more than 5 minutes on the line, usually there isn't any line at all. It's probably not a coincidence that several of the carwashes in my area are near supermarkets. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:03, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
::Time and money for home-wash: Don't need to leave home. Buckets are older than me, sponges/cloths/brushes may in some cases by younger than 50 years old (but all pre-millenium), car-wax/-shampoo bottle (used sparingly) is 5-10yo and nowhere near empty, water (with a water meter, so does cost) is perhaps equivalent to two days of (hand-!)dishwashing [possibly buying a home jet-washer could bring that down, if it "does a lot more with a fastly moving lesser amount", but I might then also be tempted to jetwash the drive/windows/rooftiles as well and I'm not even sure it'd be less water through the nozzle as the tap] and (depending on time of year) may involve various mixes of hot and cold (so heating, though practically individible from other hot-water uses other than the kettle for drinks). Time taken: maybe 15 minutes (±5), at leisure while I appreciate all the distracting luxuries of home, or a highly abbreviated (one-bucket) washover/rinse at significantly less than 5 minutes (I'd still be trying to get into the supermarket, even with no queueueuing; perhaps I'd have been handwashed if ''they'' have no queue, but I wouldn't be back again...) and done. Maybe occasionally get the vacuum out and self-valet the insides, for another <5 minutes and probably entirely covered in electricity by what the solar panels have been feeding in during carwashing-friendly daytime conditions.
::Of course, it'll typically rain shortly afterwards (the rain-gods perhaps even being hopefully invoked by the very act of de-mudding the wheel-arches), but that's not going to differ between either (or neither) efforts to wash. :P [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.45|172.70.85.45]] 21:40, 14 August 2023 (UTC)
:::What is the point of [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.45|172.70.85.45]]'s comment above? Is it trying to suggest that the time to self-wash is low? Or is it trying to suggest that it is high? (It is hard for me to tell, and definitely not clear!) I am under the general impression that hand-washing of cars, like hand-washing of dishes in the kitchen sink, consumes more water than automatic washing, in addition to the questions about pollutants that are raised below. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 20:37, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
::::Less time, I'd say. A bit of personal effort, but can be done at leisure rather than having to take time out (even 'in passing') from other activities.
::::I also don't trust the "hand washed dishes takes more water than dishwasher-washed" claim. It's quoted as something like 20 ''gallons'' of water for hand-washing. Couldn't work out if that's US gallons (75 litres) or imperial (90 litres), but a washing up bowl holds 8-10 litres ''full'' and you never really need to fill it to the brim (and it rarely needs to be above ⅓rd full) to do a good job even for a family meal's-worth of crockery and cutlery. Certainly not 7 to 10 bowls'-worth. (I'm guessing it assumes a continuously running tap for rinsing. If you need any rinsing, you just need a short spurt as necessary ''or'' being pre-rinsed under the tap as it third-fills up the bowl, at least in my experience. But only far more profligate methods can possibly reach 70-90 litres, mostly straight down the drain.)
::::Typically quoted UK usage for dishwasher, however, seems to be around 9.5 litres (a full bowl's-worth, i.e. definitely more than a handwash as described). You also can't easily then use the 'grey' water, not-in-a-bowl, directly on some garden plants if you want. So getting double-duty out of it is trickier.
:::: Not sure how much the car-washing bucket would be, but 20 litres seems to be capacity. Car-wash usages seem to be 120 litres (or greater), apparently less than home hosepipe/jetwash amounts, but (IME) I'd never use more than three (not full) buckets to wash even the dirtiest car. Perhaps two (wash and rinse, but the rinse being less full even than the not-full one that has the 'soap' in) or even just the one (rinsing it all, in one go, getting the top and windows nice with the 'fresh' water before working all the way round each level of possibly more mud-splashed bodywork, then hubcaps and wheel(-arches) last). 5 minutes? Yeah, if the car didn't need more than that rinse'n'shine. I'd set aside 10 minutes (non-continuous, if necessary, a bit at a time during TV ad-breaks perhaps) for a decent roof-to-wheels of a typical-sized family car. Can't speak for SUVs or other over-sized models. Much as I can't speak for wasteful hosepipe use or whatavyer... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.166|172.71.178.166]] 22:46, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
:In Germany, you are discouraged and in many localities it's directly forbidden to wash your car on your premises; it is completely forbidden to wash your car on the street. This because of oil that will enter the sewer system. Automated car washes will recycle water and seperate oil from it. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.150.92|172.69.150.92]] 21:14, 14 August 2023 (UTC)
::Oil? If I notice oil in(/on) the water, I know there's a problem. Maybe a little residue from cleaning inside the fuel-port hatch. The way some people (over)use detergent, I could see ''that'' being an issue, but if you've an oil-leak then that's happening on or off your premises (and mostly off), I'd have thought and you might ''never even know...'' if you don't even wash your own car. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.45|172.70.85.45]] 21:40, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

Am I the only one who actually tried to find out whether baleen really used to be used in car washes or not?
: I added a quote on its use in the manufacture of brush bristles, although editing is needed. Next might be to figure out what vehicles were used in the 1800s and how they were washed. EDIT: https://academic.oup.com/liverpool-scholarship-online/book/43282/chapter-abstract/363026681?redirectedFrom=fulltext has a paragraph in google's cache that mentions that we can tell there was heavy use of baleen for brushes throughout the 1800s because of the heavy presence in museums. Maybe Randall's comment was inspired by a museum display. This seems possible because there's not much mention of this on the internet. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.185|162.158.154.185]] 01:34, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

No mention of the fact that baleen is in whale mouths, so that's where Randall got the idea that the brushes are "licking" the car? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:03, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

Do people actually like car washes? It always seemed like an uncomfortable and at times terrifying experience to me. Maybe some people like it, but I would be very surprised if it's just me, Cueball and now Ponytail who don't like it. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.31|198.41.238.31]] 18:30, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
:I always thought they were fun and cozy, like being in a car during a rainstorm. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.100.107|172.70.100.107]] 20:04, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

Apart from queueing, I am not against car washes - happy to stay inside but not always I am allowed to. Kids do not like it. However, most times the only time I wash my car is when I have to take a flight: the parking lot where I usually leave the car provides optional car wash plus interior cleaning during the stop. [[User:Vdm|Vdm]] ([[User talk:Vdm|talk]]) 19:42, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

I like car washes. I love the feeling of being enclosed like that; it feels rather like our spring and summer rainstorms in the Pacific Northwest. I also have to do it more often than most; my car is painted in pearl white (not my choice, I got it used like that 3 years ago and it's 20 years old so no point in changing it now), which is a trilayer paint that shimmers and has slight bluish undertones. It shows every speck of dirt and mud, so I need to clean it or it looks really bad. (Tricoat 062 is the color code). [[User:Darkwolf0218|Darkwolf0218]] ([[User talk:Darkwolf0218|talk]]) 23:49, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

2812: Solar Panel Placement

2023-08-08T01:48:33Z

Darkwolf0218: updated

{{comic
| number = 2812
| date = August 7, 2023
| title = Solar Panel Placement
| image = solar_panel_placement_2x.png
| imagesize = 506x364px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Getting the utility people to run transmission lines to Earth is expensive, but it will pay for itself in no time.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an underpaid solar panel installer - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Solar panels|Solar panels}} are a relatively common method of powering large objects on Earth, such as homes, businesses, and generators. They work by gathering solar energy reaching the Earth from the sun and converting it to electricity. More specifically, they absorb vast amounts of photons from the solar rays and use them to knock electrons free. Those electrons produce the electric current which is used for powering Earth devices.

Solar panels are notoriously inefficient[https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/solar-performance-and-efficiency] and often cost more than they are worth to install and maintain, not to mention the extreme challenges of disposing of them when they break. [https://cen.acs.org/environment/recycling/Solar-panels-face-recycling-challenge-photovoltaic-waste/100/i18] This is demonstrated in the comic, where a solar panel of 1m^2 is estimated to return around $58/year, and estimates only a 20% efficiency of converting sunlight to electricity. Considering the potential cost of $10,000 - $30,000 to install, it becomes clear why this might not be the best option.

To solve this, Randall here proposes a rather more straightforward solution: place the solar panels ''downwards'', towards the sun, rather than ''upwards'', from the gravity of the Earth. This would allow for substantially more light to get through and would thus produce massive amounts of energy for the owner.

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

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2807: Bad Map Projection: ABS(Longitude)

2023-07-27T07:45:53Z

Darkwolf0218:

...actually, there's quite a bit of 'foldover' that's covered by the Atlantic, but it's still not quite so much as the Pacific gap across the ±180° edge-to-edge, so forgive me if consider the likes of places in India partnered with the over-adopted American locations as being trans-Atlantic (and across the whole width of Africa and some of the Indian Ocean too) rather than anything else. It could definitely do with a more precise analysis/description, though. Plus how bits of western Western Europe are folded over onto more-central Western Europe (not a very good mirror of Scotland, I think, but I'm particularly more familiar with its effective profile than Randall has any reason to be). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.195|172.71.242.195]] 01:20, 27 July 2023 (UTC)
This would make a great EU4 mod [[Special:Contributions/172.68.146.52|172.68.146.52]] 01:21, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

Oh, good, thank you. I on ABS I couldn't get past antilock brakes. And the picture spam from the other day seemed to be tendeon repair. Looked like a surgicical procedure to to fasten cut tendons back together but I didn't see a cast to prevent movement. Shrug. Quite gross, as all surguries are. Poorly of course couldnt see all of the pic.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.222.70|172.71.222.70]] 02:35, 27 July 2023 (UTC)[[Special:Contributions/172.71.222.71|172.71.222.71]] 02:57, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

Added a very basic transcript because this comic is a little too complicated for me and it's my first time. Also, we need more positive vibes considering the previous comic about anti-vaxxers and the... interesting comments in the discussions.

Also, the Galapagos being near to Singapore (that's where I live) would be interesting! [[User:R3TRI8UTI0N|R3TRI8UTI0N]] ([[User talk:R3TRI8UTI0N|talk]]) 03:48, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

This map does not appear to be particularly…correct. For instance, Seoul, South Korea, is given as about 38N/155. But actually it is at 127E longitude. That's nowhere close. On a real map, 155E longitude is several hundred miles east of Japan into the open Pacific ocean, approx. the longitude of the Marshall Islands (but far north of them). Closer to home, for Randall and for me, Boston is given as about 59, but it is really 71W. What's up with that? Is everything shifted…and why? [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 05:00, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

:Oh, wait. I was reading the coordinates like it was a cartesian plane, like on a Lambert or Mercator projection. But in retrospect this is some kind of elliptical projection ({{w|Robinson projection|Robinson}}? {{w|Winkel tripel projection|Winkel tripel}}?) such that the longitude lines are bowed out, further as you get away from the center (here 90°, I guess). That is...too hard for me to read with precision without doing too much math and drawing lines (so I guess I'm lazy), so, probably it's just fine? I dunno. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 05:09, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

I just quickly put together an abs(longitude) "projection" image based on a real (public domain) map, to show what this would look like more realistically, with overlap. Are home-made images allowed? I cannot upload though ("You do not have permission to create new pages"). Is this because I'm a new user or are uploads prohibited for most users? [[User:Mtcv|Mtcv]] ([[User talk:Mtcv|talk]]) 07:41, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

All technical analysis aside, this map is really cool and would make a fantastic fantasy setting.

2799: Frankenstein Claim Permutations

2023-07-09T00:01:56Z

Darkwolf0218: Victor is not a doctor because he literally did not graduate.

{{comic
| number = 2799
| date = July 7, 2023
| title = Frankenstein Claim Permutations
| image = frankenstein_claim_permutations_2x.png
| imagesize = 596x612px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = When I began trying to form a new claim by stitching together these parts in such an unnatural way, some called me mad.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by LORD BYRON THROWS THE WEIRDEST PARTIES - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Frankenstein}} is an 1818 novel by Mary Shelley about a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein who creates a sapient, humanoid lifeform through an unorthodox experiment, and then rejects his creation, which eventually turns on him. The novel is a classic in both the horror and speculative fiction genres, and has been argued to represent the first major example of true science fiction in literature. The lifeform he creates is never named in the original novel, only being referred to as "the Creature".

In the two centuries since the novel's publication, the story and its characters have been adapted and reused in various forms, and the term "Frankenstein" has come to be commonly used to refer to the the creature, rather than the scientist who created him. Literary didacts are often quick to point out this error, but are generally ignored, as the name has become accepted, common usage. The debate has become something of a meme. (Some argue that, given that the creature refers to himself as effectively being Frankenstein's son, it makes sense that he would share the last name.) These disputes have previously been touched upon in [[1589]] and [[2604]].

The title text points out that he's "stitching together" various claims to create something new, and people consider him mad as a result. This refers to the notion of Frankenstein's creation having been stitched together from dead bodies, and Dr. Frankenstein himself being denounced as a madman. It should be noted that these perceptions come from later adaptations (most notably {{w|Frankenstein_(1931_film)|the 1931 film}}) rather than the original novel, but have become closely associated with the Frankenstein mythos.

This comic explores the possible [[wikipedia:Permutation|permutations]] that can be made by matching the names of Mary Shelly, Frankenstein, and '?' (for the unnamed monster) to the positions of author, creator, and monster. The positions are indicated in the drawing by a circle to the left of the book for the author, a box on the left-hand page for the creator, and a labeled picture of the monster lying under a sheet (the traditional image of the monster before being animated) for the monster. Three elements can be arranged in six different ways, as the first element can be placed in any of the three positions, the second in either of the two remaining, and the last in the only remaining space, giving 3 x 2 x 1 options. The same concept was used in [[1613]], where Randall depicted six possible permutations of the Three Laws of Robotics.

{| class="wikitable"
|- style = "text-align: center;"
!Claim!!Notes!!Permutation!!Explanation
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's book is unnamed. Frankenstein is the doctor who created him."||This is the normal claim||MS-F-?||This is the claim that is generally considered correct. The POV character of the novel is, in fact, Victor Frankenstein. The monster is never given a name, although many fans name him Adam because of a line he speaks to Victor: "'I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy". The only error in this claim is referring to Victor as a doctor. (In the novel, Victor does not finish his schooling, returning home before finishing his education at the University of Ingolstadt.)
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's novel is named Frankenstein."||Also common, and not worth getting mad about IMO||MS-?-F||This is a common misconception, but Randall believes it's not something to get upset about. Randall has previously touched upon this in [[1589]] and [[2604]]. This permutation places the '?' in the creator position, and so avoids talking about the doctor's name at all.
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the author. The monster Mary Shelley created is unnamed."||At a glance this could pass for one of the normal claims||F-MS-?||While slightly stretching the meaning of those words, Mary Shelley did "create" the monster (as it's a character in the book she wrote) and Frankenstein is the "author" (creator) of the monster. Alternately, one can consider the story a mostly first hand account of Victor's exploits, as it is initially told to the book's opening narrator (the otherwise sidelined Captain Robert Walton), with Mary having created Monster, Victor, the Captain and all others within the novel (of the Captain's tale of Victor's tale of the apparent nature of the Monster).
This could also be a reference to a tweet[https://twitter.com/MedCrisis/status/1511644464544104452] featuring a photo of a collection of classic books[https://i.redd.it/bnab4cu39dqa1.jpg] in which "Frankenstein" is printed in the position and format of the author's name for the other books of the collection, while "Mary Shelley" is printed in the title position.
|-
|"No one knows who wrote the novel about Doctor Mary Shelley creating the monster Frankenstein."||I would read this book||?-MS-F|| This statement combines the second claim (that Frankenstein is the monster's name) with the third claim (that Mary Shelly created the monster). This time, however, it is claimed that the ''author'' is unknown, while the monster is named. Once again, this claim is almost reasonable, as it could be argued that Mary Shelly, as the author, did create Frankenstein (although she was also not a doctor).
A novel about author Mary Shelly getting a doctorate and actually creating the creature she wrote about could be an interesting twist on the story, hence Randall's comment that he would read this book.
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the doctor. The monster he created is Mary Shelley."||rowspan=2|Fully chaotic||?-F-MS|| This claim is similar to the others, in that it twists the ordering of the components (author, doctor, monster), but this time it gets the doctor's name correct whilst insinuating that Mary Shelly was the monster he created. This is described as "fully chaotic", likely because the idea of the real-life human author being created by a doctor in the story that was written by her is much less believable and much further from any solid literary footing than the others.
|-
|"No, the doctor who creates Mary Shelley in Frankenstein's novel doesn't have a name."||F-?-MS||Possible Doctor Who reference.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{| class="wikitable"
|- style = "text-align: center;"
|Claim||Notes
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's book is unnamed. Frankenstein is the doctor who created him."||This is the normal claim
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's novel is named Frankenstein."||Also common, and not worth getting mad about IMO
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the author. The monster Mary Shelley created is unnamed."||At a glance this could pass for one of the normal claims
|-
|"No one knows who wrote the novel about Doctor Mary Shelley creating the monster Frankenstein."||I would read this book
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the doctor. The monster he created is Mary Shelley."||rowspan=2|Fully chaotic
|-
|"No, the doctor who creates Mary Shelley in Frankenstein's novel doesn't have a name."
|}
[On the left of each of the claims is a book, containing a rectangle containing a symbol representing the creator of the monster on the left page, and a picture of the monster in the book ''Frankenstein'' above another symbol representing the name of the monster on the right page, and a circle containing a symbol representing the author of the book outside of the book with an arrow pointing to the book. "MS" represents Mary Shelley, "F" represents Frankenstein, and "?" represents an unknown entity.]
[[Category:Frankenstein]]
{{comic discussion}}

2799: Frankenstein Claim Permutations

2023-07-08T10:22:42Z

Darkwolf0218:

{{comic
| number = 2799
| date = July 7, 2023
| title = Frankenstein Claim Permutations
| image = frankenstein_claim_permutations_2x.png
| imagesize = 596x612px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = When I began trying to form a new claim by stitching together these parts in such an unnatural way, some called me mad.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A PERMUTATION OF FRANKENSTEIN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Frankenstein}} an 1818 novel by Mary Shelley about a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein who creates a sapient, humanoid lifeform through an unorthodox experiment, and then rejects his creation, which eventually turns on him. The novel is a classic in both the horror and speculative fiction genres, and has been argued to represent the first major example of true science fiction in literature. The lifeform he creates is never named in the original novel, only being referred to as "the Creature".

In the two centuries since the novel's publication, the story and its characters have been adapted and reused in various forms, and the term "Frankenstein" has come to be commonly used to refer to the the creature, rather than the scientist who created him. Literary didacts are often quick to point out this error, but are generally ignored, as the name has become accepted, common usage. (Some argue that, given that the creature refers to himself as effectively being Frankenstein's son, it makes sense that he would share the last name). These disputes have previously been touched upon in [[1589]] and [[2604]].

The title text points out that he's "stitching together" various claims to create something new, and people consider him mad as a result. This refers to the notion of Frankenstein's creation having been stitched together from dead bodies, and Dr. Frankenstein himself being denounced as a madman. It should be noted that these perceptions come from later adaptations (most notably {{w|Frankenstein_(1931_film)|the 1931 film}}) rather than the original novel, but have become closely associated with the Frankenstein mythos.

This comic explores the possible [[wikipedia:Permutation|permutations]] that can be made by matching the names of Mary Shelly, Frankenstein, and '?' (for the unnamed monster) to the positions of author, creator, and monster. The positions are indicated in the drawing by a circle to the left of the book for the author, a box on the left-hand page for the creator, and a labeled picture of the monster lying under a sheet (the traditional image of the monster before being animated) for the monster. Three elements can be arranged in six different ways, as the first element can be placed in any of the three positions, the second in either of the two remaining, and the last in the only remaining space, giving 3 x 2 x 1 options. The same concept was used in [[1613]], where Randall depicted six possible permutations of the Three Laws of Robotics.

{| class="wikitable"
|- style = "text-align: center;"
!Claim!!Notes!!Permutation!!Explanation
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's book is unnamed. Frankenstein is the doctor who created him."||This is the normal claim||MS-F-?||This is the claim that is generally considered correct. The POV character of the novel is, in fact, Victor Frankenstein (who is not a doctor). The monster is never officially named, although he does call himself Adam when speaking to Victor. ("'I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel, whom thou drivest from joy")
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's novel is named Frankenstein."||Also common, and not worth getting mad about IMO||MS-?-F||This is a common misconception, but Randall believes it's not something to get upset about. Randall has previously touched upon this in [[1589]] and [[2604]]. This permutation places the '?' in the creator position, and so avoids talking about the doctor's name at all.
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the author. The monster Mary Shelley created is unnamed."||At a glance this could pass for one of the normal claims||F-MS-?||While slightly stretching the meaning of those words, from this claim one can derive that Mary Shelley did "create" the monster (as it's a character in the book she wrote) and Frankenstein is the "author" (creator) of the monster.
|-
|"No one knows who wrote the novel about Doctor Mary Shelley creating the monster Frankenstein."||I would read this book||?-MS-F|| This statement combines the second claim (that Frankenstein is the monster's name) with the third claim (that Mary Shelly created the monster). This time, however, it is claimed that the ''author'' is unknown, while the monster is named. Once again, this claim is almost reasonable, as it could be argued that Mary Shelly, as the author, did create Frankenstein (although she was not a doctor). This could be an interesting twist on the story, hence Randall's comment that he would read this book.
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the doctor. The monster he created is Mary Shelley."||rowspan=2|Fully chaotic||?-F-MS|| This claim is similar to the others, in that it twists the ordering of the components (author, doctor, monster), but this time it gets the doctor's name correct whilst insinuating that Mary Shelly was the monster he created. This is a reversal of the third claim, which postulates that Mary Shelly created Frankenstein as opposed to vice versa, but is described as "fully chaotic", likely because the idea of the real-life human author being created by a doctor in the story that was written by her is much less believable and much further from any solid literary footing than the others.
|-
|"No, the doctor who creates Mary Shelley in Frankenstein's novel doesn't have a name."||F-?-MS||Possible Doctor Who reference.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{| class="wikitable"
|- style = "text-align: center;"
|Claim||Notes
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's book is unnamed. Frankenstein is the doctor who created him."||This is the normal claim
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's novel is named Frankenstein."||Also common, and not worth getting mad about IMO
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the author. The monster Mary Shelley created is unnamed."||At a glance this could pass for one of the normal claims
|-
|"No one knows who wrote the novel about Doctor Mary Shelley creating the monster Frankenstein."||I would read this book
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the doctor. The monster he created is Mary Shelley."||rowspan=2|Fully chaotic
|-
|"No, the doctor who creates Mary Shelley in Frankenstein's novel doesn't have a name."
|}
[[Category:Frankenstein]]
{{comic discussion}}

2799: Frankenstein Claim Permutations

2023-07-08T10:21:09Z

Darkwolf0218: Update chart

{{comic
| number = 2799
| date = July 7, 2023
| title = Frankenstein Claim Permutations
| image = frankenstein_claim_permutations_2x.png
| imagesize = 596x612px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = When I began trying to form a new claim by stitching together these parts in such an unnatural way, some called me mad.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A PERMUTATION OF FRANKENSTEIN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Frankenstein}} an 1818 novel by Mary Shelley about a young scientist named Victor Frankenstein who creates a sapient, humanoid lifeform through an unorthodox experiment, and then rejects his creation, which eventually turns on him. The novel is a classic in both the horror and speculative fiction genres, and has been argued to represent the first major example of true science fiction in literature. The lifeform he creates is never named in the original novel, only being referred to as "the Creature".

In the two centuries since the novel's publication, the story and its characters have been adapted and reused in various forms, and the term "Frankenstein" has come to be commonly used to refer to the the creature, rather than the scientist who created him. Literary didacts are often quick to point out this error, but are generally ignored, as the name has become accepted, common usage. (Some argue that, given that the creature refers to himself as effectively being Frankenstein's son, it makes sense that he would share the last name). These disputes have previously been touched upon in [[1589]] and [[2604]].

The title text points out that he's "stitching together" various claims to create something new, and people consider him mad as a result. This refers to the notion of Frankenstein's creation having been stitched together from dead bodies, and Dr. Frankenstein himself being denounced as a madman. It should be noted that these perceptions come from later adaptations (most notably {{w|Frankenstein_(1931_film)|the 1931 film}}) rather than the original novel, but have become closely associated with the Frankenstein mythos.

This comic explores the possible [[wikipedia:Permutation|permutations]] that can be made by matching the names of Mary Shelly, Frankenstein, and '?' (for the unnamed monster) to the positions of author, creator, and monster. The positions are indicated in the drawing by a circle to the left of the book for the author, a box on the left-hand page for the creator, and a labeled picture of the monster lying under a sheet (the traditional image of the monster before being animated) for the monster. Three elements can be arranged in six different ways, as the first element can be placed in any of the three positions, the second in either of the two remaining, and the last in the only remaining space, giving 3 x 2 x 1 options. The same concept was used in [[1613]], where Randall depicted six possible permutations of the Three Laws of Robotics.

{| class="wikitable"
|- style = "text-align: center;"
!Claim!!Notes!!Permutation!!Explanation
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's book is unnamed. Frankenstein is the doctor who created him."||This is the normal claim||MS-F-?||This is the claim that is generally considered correct. The POV character of the novel is, in fact, Victor Frankenstein (who is not a doctor). The monster is never officially named, although he does call himself Adam when speaking to Victor.
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's novel is named Frankenstein."||Also common, and not worth getting mad about IMO||MS-?-F||This is a common misconception, but Randall believes it's not something to get upset about. Randall has previously touched upon this in [[1589]] and [[2604]]. This permutation places the '?' in the creator position, and so avoids talking about the doctor's name at all.
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the author. The monster Mary Shelley created is unnamed."||At a glance this could pass for one of the normal claims||F-MS-?||While slightly stretching the meaning of those words, from this claim one can derive that Mary Shelley did "create" the monster (as it's a character in the book she wrote) and Frankenstein is the "author" (creator) of the monster.
|-
|"No one knows who wrote the novel about Doctor Mary Shelley creating the monster Frankenstein."||I would read this book||?-MS-F|| This statement combines the second claim (that Frankenstein is the monster's name) with the third claim (that Mary Shelly created the monster). This time, however, it is claimed that the ''author'' is unknown, while the monster is named. Once again, this claim is almost reasonable, as it could be argued that Mary Shelly, as the author, did create Frankenstein (although she was not a doctor). This could be an interesting twist on the story, hence Randall's comment that he would read this book.
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the doctor. The monster he created is Mary Shelley."||rowspan=2|Fully chaotic||?-F-MS|| This claim is similar to the others, in that it twists the ordering of the components (author, doctor, monster), but this time it gets the doctor's name correct whilst insinuating that Mary Shelly was the monster he created. This is a reversal of the third claim, which postulates that Mary Shelly created Frankenstein as opposed to vice versa, but is described as "fully chaotic", likely because the idea of the real-life human author being created by a doctor in the story that was written by her is much less believable and much further from any solid literary footing than the others.
|-
|"No, the doctor who creates Mary Shelley in Frankenstein's novel doesn't have a name."||F-?-MS||Possible Doctor Who reference.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{| class="wikitable"
|- style = "text-align: center;"
|Claim||Notes
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's book is unnamed. Frankenstein is the doctor who created him."||This is the normal claim
|-
|"No, the monster in Mary Shelley's novel is named Frankenstein."||Also common, and not worth getting mad about IMO
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the author. The monster Mary Shelley created is unnamed."||At a glance this could pass for one of the normal claims
|-
|"No one knows who wrote the novel about Doctor Mary Shelley creating the monster Frankenstein."||I would read this book
|-
|"No, Frankenstein is the name of the doctor. The monster he created is Mary Shelley."||rowspan=2|Fully chaotic
|-
|"No, the doctor who creates Mary Shelley in Frankenstein's novel doesn't have a name."
|}
[[Category:Frankenstein]]
{{comic discussion}}

2789: Making Plans

2023-06-15T05:07:22Z

Darkwolf0218: Updated

{{comic
| number = 2789
| date = June 14, 2023
| title = Making Plans
| image = making_plans_2x.png
| imagesize = 217x396px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Oh no, I haven't checked in with Yvonne in YEARS.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by ABBIE, ABRAHAM, and an AARDVARK named AARON. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about biases created from {{w|alphabetical order}}. According to Wikipedia, "The practice in certain fields of ordering citations in bibliographies by the surnames of their authors has been found to create bias in favor of authors with surnames which appear earlier in the alphabet, while this effect does not appear in fields in which bibliographies are ordered chronologically."[https://decisionslab.unl.edu/pubs/stevens_duque_2018_SM.pdf]. In essence, humans tend to favor whatever is at the top of any given list or data set; this is one reason why randomness is important in any scientifically rigorous trial.

In the comic, Cueball is telling Megan about some of his upcoming plans; namely, that his plans for that night are to attend pub trivia with Annie and Beth. This is a normal activity, assuming all parties are over the age of 21 or the pub allows minors at certain times. However, he then continues, explaining that his next plans are with Alex and that he invited two more friends, Andrew and Amy. By this point, there is a clear pattern: Cueball has been inviting friends based on the alphabetical order of their names, instead of sorting by something more logical, such as the most recently contacted, as the caption suggests.

The title text continues the joke, implying that Cueball rarely makes it to the bottom of the alphabetical list; as such, he has not spoken to his friend Yvonne in a very long time. (It can be assumed that she does not use the alphabetical system as well, as "Cueball" would not be so far down the list that she would not have contacted him, either.)

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to Megan.]
:Cueball: Tonight is pub trivia with Annie and Beth.
:Cueball: And tomorrow Alex and I are seeing a movie. I also invited Andrew and Amy but I haven't heard back.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I'm realizing I should really switch to sorting my phone contacts by most recent.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Phones]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

Talk:2776: Crystal Ball

2023-05-16T01:01:15Z

Darkwolf0218:

FIRST!!!!!!!!!! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.175.82|172.71.175.82]] 22:15, 15 May 2023 (UTC)Andrew Ens
Don't troll the wiki

I added an explanation of spherical aberration and the tendency of light to distort around spherical objects, as well as the idea of how fisheye lenses use this principle to do their thing. [[User:Darkwolf0218|Darkwolf0218]] ([[User talk:Darkwolf0218|talk]]) 01:01, 16 May 2023 (UTC)

2776: Crystal Ball

2023-05-16T00:59:37Z

Darkwolf0218: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2776
| date = May 15, 2023
| title = Crystal Ball
| image = crystal_ball_2x.png
| imagesize = 257x336px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = They often use ball lenses to collect light at the ends of optical fibers, so when you look stuff up on the internet you're actually scrying through a crystal ball.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN INSUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE PHYSICS PRINCIPLES BEHIND REFRACTION AND WHY LIGHT MIGHT ONLY HAVE A ONE-WAY SPEED- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In optics, {{w|spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a lens or a reflection of light rays that occurs when rays strike a mirror near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. This causes the parts of an image reflected near the edges of a sphere (from the perspective of a viewer) to be distorted. As the viewer moves, the parts of the image which are distorted move as well.

This is the principle behind a {{w|Fisheye lens}}, which corrects for the distortion to provide an image that is circular in shape and tends to be convex (i.e, bulges outwards) towards the center of the image.

The comic makes the joke that, since a crystal ball is a sphere, anyone trying to use one for scrying or seeing the future would have to deal with this issue as well; the wizard is telling Cueball that he can only make out the parts of his future which are near the center, as the rest is distorted.

In practice, of course, this would likely not be an issue, as spherical aberration is specifically a property of reflected light, and since the crystal ball is presumably not showing an image made of the light reflected by the ball itself, the image should not be distorted.

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

:[A bearded wizard with a pointed hat is sitting at a table and investigating a crystal ball. Cueball is sitting at the opposite side.]
:Wizard: Your future is hard to see.
:Wizard: I can make out some hazy details in the center, but the off-axis components are particularly unclear.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Wizards never did figure out how to fix spherical aberration.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2776: Crystal Ball

2023-05-16T00:54:00Z

Darkwolf0218: There was nothing here. Now there is something here.

{{comic
| number = 2776
| date = May 15, 2023
| title = Crystal Ball
| image = crystal_ball_2x.png
| imagesize = 257x336px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = They often use ball lenses to collect light at the ends of optical fibers, so when you look stuff up on the internet you're actually scrying through a crystal ball.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SPHERICAL ABERRATION - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In optics, {{w|Spherical aberration }} is an image imperfection that occurs due to the increased refraction of light rays that occurs when rays strike a lens or a reflection of light rays that occurs when rays strike a mirror near its edge, in comparison with those that strike nearer the center. This causes the parts of an image reflected near the edges of a sphere (from the perspective of a viewer) to be distorted. As the viewer moves, the parts of the image which are distorted move as well.

This is the principle behind a {{w|Fisheye lens}}, which corrects for the distortion to provide an image that is circular in shape and tends to be convex (i.e, bulges outwards) towards the center of the image.

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

:[A bearded wizard with a pointed hat is sitting at a table and investigating a crystal ball. Cueball is sitting at the opposite side.]
:Wizard: Your future is hard to see.
:Wizard: I can make out some hazy details in the center, but the off-axis components are particularly unclear.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Wizards never did figure out how to fix spherical aberration.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-14T07:42:07Z

Darkwolf0218:

{{comic
| number = 2669
| date = September 7, 2022
| title = Things You Should Not Do
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL. Seem people forget that he learned this from writing the new book, thus no reason to assume they reference old stuff, for instance see the update to the peel the planets crust away, that clearly is a reference to a new what if in the book. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for [[Randall]]'s new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. A visit to the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ What If? archive] shows the titles, publishing date, and a thumbnail for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below); others are references to examples or hypotheticals explored within the articles. Other entries do not seem to reference currently published ''What If?'' content and may therefore be found in the upcoming book, but this cannot be confirmed as of yet.

The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions and answers in his new book are impossible to attempt in real life.{{citation needed}}

===Table of things you should not do===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation
|-
! colspan="3" | From existing list
|-
|156,812
|Eat Tide Pods
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.
|-
|156,813
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm
|Taller objects are more likely to be struck by lightning, so walking on stilts outdoors would increase the risk of death by electrocution. It would also presumably risk falling and injuring oneself that way, since the ground becomes wet in a rainstorm.
|-
|156,814
|Set off fireworks at a gas station
|This has the risk of potentially causing an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.
|-
|156,815
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand
|This probably runs the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.
|-
! colspan="3" | New!
|-
|156,816
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it
|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid and gas mixture and severely injured or killed. This is a reference to a question from ''What-If? 2'' (called, appropriately enough, "Geyser"), in which it is asked what might happen to a person if they stood on top of the Old Faithful geyser as it erupted.
|-
|156,817
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range
|A hot air balloon could present an irresistible target to the people firing their weapons at the range. The balloon could be shot and you could fall to your death. See image on [https://what-if.xkcd.com/81/ this entry].
|-
|156,818
|Peel away the earth's crust
|This is a reference to an entry in the new book, and an image of what it would look like is shown in [[2575: What If? 2]], where a potato peeler is used to remove the crust of the Earth. See also [https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/mercator this comic]. Several *What If* blog posts also result in massive damage to the earth's crust, including what happened to Texas [https://what-if.xkcd.com/153/ here].

This is a reference to a chapter from the new book, which refers to removing the Earth's mass to lose weight.
|-
|156,819
|Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand
|This would be [https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/ difficult] and require more paint than humanity has ever produced[https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/].
|-
|156,820
|Remove someone's bones without asking
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).
|-
|156,821
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases
|A reference to one of the examples listed in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/108/ this post].
|-
|156,822
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside a regular lava lamp would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}} However, in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/122/ this entry], Randall says it would be fairly easy to find a material that would be able to handle the heat of the lava and thus this would be rather anticlimactic.
|-
|156,823
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever
|Drinking someone else's blood is a bad idea unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is much worse, as they have a very serious and likely deadly disease which can be transmitted by sharing bodily fluids, such as blood. Drinking blood is the theme of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/98/ this article].
|-
|156,824
|Eat meat from rabid animals
|Eating meat from rabid animals could give you {{w|rabies}}, a virus which is nearly always fatal if not treated prior to the appearance of initial symptoms. Pathogen contamination in cooked foods can persist on the surface of ''e.g.'' tongs, chopsticks, or a fork used to grill, which is why the USDA doesn't generally allow kitchen utensils to touch raw or ready to eat foods at all. Exceptions for utensils which touch only raw or partially cooked foods, such as grill spatulas and the like, are often allowed and can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis when they would otherwise be prohibited. The rabies virus permeates essentially all nerve tissue before symptoms appear.
|-
|156,825
|Perform your own laser eye surgery
|Refer to the end of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/82/ this article]
|-
|156,826
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs
|While issuing false statements to government regulators is a violation of both California and Federal law, for which prison sentences can reach ten and fines can reach ten thousand dollars plus any compensatory damages, as per [https://california.public.law/codes/ca_penal_code_section_132 California Penal Code § 132] and [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 18 U.S. Code § 1001], there is some question about whether any competent regulatory authority would ever take such an assertion seriously, and whether they would be liable for greater damages for doing so than the potential liability of the original culprit involved. Actually doing this, even to county level regulators, could result in a series of events very disadvantageous to you, your farm, and your employees. However, declaring that you're producing Pokémon eggs to your local municipality is probably harmless, and likely to brighten the day of your local regulators.{{cn}}
|-
|156,827
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab
|Likely an oblique reference to the image near the end of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/147/ this article].
|-
|156,828
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen
|{{w|Ammonia}} is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPA_list_of_extremely_hazardous_substances extremely hazardous substance] and pumping it into your abdomen would result in a painful death.
|-
|156,829
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun
|Despite its name, sunscreen only protects against some types of radiation from the sun. No amount is going to be adequate protection if you are right inside the sun.{{Actual citation needed}} Also, sunscreen, being a gel, would evaporate when exposed to vacuum. When exposed to the plasma of the coronal surface or the Sun's interior, it would quickly ionize along with anything inside it, becoming plasma like the rest of the Sun.
|}

==Transcript==

:[Caption:]
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]

:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big> 
:(part 3647 of ????)

:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]

:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki>

:[A horizontal divider with the text "''New!''" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]

:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cats]]

2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-14T07:40:02Z

Darkwolf0218: Update with info from What-If? 2

{{comic
| number = 2669
| date = September 7, 2022
| title = Things You Should Not Do
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL. Seem people forget that he learned this from writing the new book, thus no reason to assume they reference old stuff, for instance see the update to the peel the planets crust away, that clearly is a reference to a new what if in the book. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for [[Randall]]'s new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. A visit to the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ What If? archive] shows the titles, publishing date, and a thumbnail for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below); others are references to examples or hypotheticals explored within the articles. Other entries do not seem to reference currently published ''What If?'' content and may therefore be found in the upcoming book, but this cannot be confirmed as of yet.

The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions and answers in his new book are impossible to attempt in real life.{{citation needed}}

===Table of things you should not do===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation
|-
! colspan="3" | From existing list
|-
|156,812
|Eat Tide Pods
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.
|-
|156,813
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm
|Taller objects are more likely to be struck by lightning, so walking on stilts outdoors would increase the risk of death by electrocution. It would also presumably risk falling and injuring oneself that way, since the ground becomes wet in a rainstorm.
|-
|156,814
|Set off fireworks at a gas station
|This has the risk of potentially causing an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.
|-
|156,815
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand
|This probably runs the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.
|-
! colspan="3" | New!
|-
|156,816
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it
|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid and gas mixture and severely injured or killed. This is a reference to a question from ''What-If? 2'' (called, appropriately enough, "Geyser"), in which it is asked what might happen to a person if they stood on top of the Old Faithful geyser as it erupted.
|-
|156,817
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range
|A hot air balloon could present an irresistible target to the people firing their weapons at the range. The balloon could be shot and you could fall to your death. See image on [https://what-if.xkcd.com/81/ this entry].
|-
|156,818
|Peel away the earth's crust
|This is a reference to an entry in the new book, and an image of what it would look like is shown in [[2575: What If? 2]], where a potato peeler is used to remove the crust of the Earth. See also [https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/mercator this comic]. Several *What If* blog posts also result in massive damage to the earth's crust, including what happened to Texas [https://what-if.xkcd.com/153/ here].
|-
|156,819
|Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand
|This would be [https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/ difficult] and require more paint than humanity has ever produced[https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/].
|-
|156,820
|Remove someone's bones without asking
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).
|-
|156,821
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases
|A reference to one of the examples listed in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/108/ this post].
|-
|156,822
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside a regular lava lamp would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}} However, in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/122/ this entry], Randall says it would be fairly easy to find a material that would be able to handle the heat of the lava and thus this would be rather anticlimactic.
|-
|156,823
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever
|Drinking someone else's blood is a bad idea unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is much worse, as they have a very serious and likely deadly disease which can be transmitted by sharing bodily fluids, such as blood. Drinking blood is the theme of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/98/ this article].
|-
|156,824
|Eat meat from rabid animals
|Eating meat from rabid animals could give you {{w|rabies}}, a virus which is nearly always fatal if not treated prior to the appearance of initial symptoms. Pathogen contamination in cooked foods can persist on the surface of ''e.g.'' tongs, chopsticks, or a fork used to grill, which is why the USDA doesn't generally allow kitchen utensils to touch raw or ready to eat foods at all. Exceptions for utensils which touch only raw or partially cooked foods, such as grill spatulas and the like, are often allowed and can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis when they would otherwise be prohibited. The rabies virus permeates essentially all nerve tissue before symptoms appear.
|-
|156,825
|Perform your own laser eye surgery
|Refer to the end of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/82/ this article]
|-
|156,826
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs
|While issuing false statements to government regulators is a violation of both California and Federal law, for which prison sentences can reach ten and fines can reach ten thousand dollars plus any compensatory damages, as per [https://california.public.law/codes/ca_penal_code_section_132 California Penal Code § 132] and [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 18 U.S. Code § 1001], there is some question about whether any competent regulatory authority would ever take such an assertion seriously, and whether they would be liable for greater damages for doing so than the potential liability of the original culprit involved. Actually doing this, even to county level regulators, could result in a series of events very disadvantageous to you, your farm, and your employees. However, declaring that you're producing Pokémon eggs to your local municipality is probably harmless, and likely to brighten the day of your local regulators.{{cn}}
|-
|156,827
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab
|Likely an oblique reference to the image near the end of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/147/ this article].
|-
|156,828
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen
|{{w|Ammonia}} is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPA_list_of_extremely_hazardous_substances extremely hazardous substance] and pumping it into your abdomen would result in a painful death.
|-
|156,829
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun
|Despite its name, sunscreen only protects against some types of radiation from the sun. No amount is going to be adequate protection if you are right inside the sun.{{Actual citation needed}} Also, sunscreen, being a gel, would evaporate when exposed to vacuum. When exposed to the plasma of the coronal surface or the Sun's interior, it would quickly ionize along with anything inside it, becoming plasma like the rest of the Sun.
|}

==Transcript==

:[Caption:]
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]

:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big> 
:(part 3647 of ????)

:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]

:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki>

:[A horizontal divider with the text "''New!''" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]

:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cats]]

2661: Age Milestone Privileges

2022-08-20T20:09:15Z

Darkwolf0218:

{{comic
| number = 2661
| date = August 19, 2022
| title = Age Milestone Privileges
| image = age_milestone_privileges.png
| titletext = If you reach 122, you get complete unrevertible editorial control over Jeanne Calment's Wikipedia article.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BABY GOD-EMPRESS MAKING THE PRESIDENT'S LETTER R-RATED - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a list of "age milestones" in the United States. As usual for Randall, he has added many fictional entries to supplement some real life ones.

{| class="wikitable"
! Age || Privilege || Description
|-
| 16 || Drive || Legal driving age varies by state in the US. In Randall's state of Massachusetts, 16 is the minimum age to apply for a learner's permit.
|-
| 17 || Attend R-Rated movies alone ||In the US, the Motion Picture Association assigns {{w|Motion_Picture_Association_film_rating_system|ratings}} to movies based on whether content in said movie is generally acceptable to present to minors. A rating of "R" is supposed to prohibit viewing by minors under 17 of age unless a parent or guardian accompanies them.
|-
| 18 || Vote || The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents a minimum age of voting from being set above eighteen but does not preclude a minimum age below eighteen. Some states allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they must be allowed to vote in the general , but Randall's state of Massachusetts is not one of them.
|-
| 21 || Buy Alcohol || In the US, the legal drinking age is 21 , although other countries have a lower drinking age. For example, in Japan the legal age to drink is 20; whilst in the UK a person as young as 16 may have alcohol with a meal, although they are not allowed to buy it themselves.
|-
| 25 || Rent a || rental companies charge higher rates for underage drivers; typically the minimum age is 25.
|-`e
| 30 || Run for Senate || This entry is slightly incorrect: one must be at least 30 old in order to ''become'' , not ''run'' for Senate. Joe Biden was 29 old when he was first elected to Senate but turned 30 before being sworn in.
|-
| 32 || Rent a 's || This is the first joke entry in the table. For one thing, most s do not rent out their s, which they probably need to use regularly themselves because they have jobs{{citation needed}} to commute to, and it would be a security hazard to allow random strangers access to their vehicle.
|-
| 35 || Run for president || In the US a person must be at least 35 old to be eligible to the Office of President.
|-
| 40 || Rent a flying || A 25 year-old might be able to rent a non-flying today, but not a flying , because the technology is not mature enough to the point where they're available to rent. The joke is that by the time a 25 year-old reader becomes 40, the technology will exist and they'll be able to rent a flying . Unlike the earlier lines, the limitation has nothing to do with their age, just technological development.
Alternatively, even once flying s are developed, their usage will be more restricted. For example, young people tend to be more vulnerable to radicalization, so some drivers between 25 and 40 might use flying s for terrorism purposes, e.g., fly them into the World Trade Center.
|-
| 45 || Learn about the god-empress || Obviously, the god-empress does not actually exist because this comic is visible to people under 45 old.{{citation needed}}. According to [[1413]], she will be public knowledge by 2040 anyway.
|-
| 50 || Join AARP || Full AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) membership is available to anyone age 50 and over. {{w|AARP}}
|-
| 50 || Get a shingles vaccine || At the time of the comic, the [https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/public/shingrix/index.html CDC recommended] that adults 50 and older get the shingles vaccine called Shingrix (this line was not in the original version of the comic, corrected later)
|-
| 52 || Click to skip captchas || Older people might have more difficulty understanding captchas. Also, they could be more inconvenienced because some older people move more slowly, so it would take them longer to move the mouse, and people would care more about older people anyway. However, this would be impractical to implement because if the computer knew the person's age, it would know that the user is a person, not a bot, so there would be no point in a captcha anyway.
|-
| 55 || Vote for god-empress || It appears that a person must have knowledge of the existence of the god-empress for ten years before they are sufficiently qualified to elect a new one. Since the god-empress is (presumably) in power for life, it is likely that most people would have to wait much longer than ten years.
|-
| 62 || $80 national parks lifetime pass || https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm
|-
| 65 || Eligible for Medicare || Medicare is government-run health insurance for older people.
|-
| 67 || Collect Social Security || U.S. individuals may collect reduced Social Security benefits starting at age 62, and they can collect increased Social Security benefits if they wait until age 70.
|-
| 68 || See "Skip ads" button on live tv || Some DVRs and streaming applications have a feature to skip over commercial breaks in recorded programs, but this could not be available in live TV, since it would require jumping forward in time. Time travel is currently impossible.{{citation needed}} ||
|-
| 70 || Run for God-empress || The name suggests that this would also only be available to women. Alternatively one might magically become female upon taking office.
|-
| 75 || Ride any animal in a national park || The National Parks Service probably could institute this relatively safely because most people over 75 would not be able to run fast enough to outrun/catch up to an animal and mount it{{citation needed}} and would not have the rebellious/risk-taking/adventurous streak that would incline them to try.{{citation needed}}
|-
| 80 || Eligible for Megacare || This is based off of becoming eligible for Medicare at age 65.
|-
| 85 || Click to toggle whether an ad is positive or negative about the product ||
|-
| 90 || Click to make any movie R-rated || It is unclear whether this would actually make the movie less appropriate or change the Motion Picture Association's rating to be erroneous. Also, what if the rating was previously NC-17?
|-
| 100 || Get a letter from the president || In the US (which other milestones, such as running for president starting at age 35, indicate is the country being referred to), you instead get congratulated by the weatherman on the {{w|Today Show}}. However, the United Kingdom is much closer. People there receive a card (formerly a telegram, later a TeleMessage) from the Queen on their 100th birthday. (This is not automatic, but has to be applied for.)
|-
| 102 || (35+67) Collect a presidential pension || The idea behind this joke is that it is the minimum age of presidency plus the minimal age to collect Social Security. There are several reasons why this must be a joke. Two are that Social Security begins 67 after the person was born, not 67 after the person's job started, and that the United States government would not bother to set up such a system because the vast majority of people, including former presidents, do not live to 102 old. In fact, as of 2022, no former United States president has ever lived to 102 old.
|-
| 105 || Get a birthday card from the god-empress || Being a god-empress would be more important than being the leader of a single country. This would make the god-empresses's time more valuable, so she only has to sent a birthday card to the few people who reach the age of 105.
|-
| 111 || Leave your own birthday party early by putting on a magic ring || This is a reference to the Lord of the Rings where Bilbo leaves his eleventy-first birthday party (the Bilbo Baggins Farewell Birthday Party) invisibly by using The One Ring.
|-
| 118 || Vote 100 times || Presumably a joke meaning the person can vote 100 times in each . If there were one at the same time each year, this would actually be the 101st vote the person is eligible to cast in their lifetime. If the sole of each year were held at a different time of each year, someone who voted in every might vote for the 100th time at either age 116, 117, or 118. However this milestone would happen earlier because there are often multiple s per year, e.g., primaries, general s, and possibly runoffs.
|-
| 120 || Collect the pensions of all elected officials ||
|-
| 125 || Drink alcohol in an R-rated movie while getting a shingles vaccine from the president || This entry references four earlier milestones (attending an R-rated movie, drinking alcohol, becoming President, and getting the shingles vaccine) whose corresponding ages (17, 21, 35, and 50) sum to 123. While not exactly 125, this may have contributed to the inspiration or age selection of this milestone.
|-
| 128 || Age rolls over, become a baby again || {{w|Integer overflow}} happens in computers when there are not enough bits (binary digits) to store the result of a calculation. For example, an unsigned 7-bit number can hold the values 0 to 127 (127 being 27 - 1). When calculating 127+1, a computer might store the value 0 instead of 128, discarding the highest bit. This is also called rollover, and usually happens in computers at powers of two, such as 128.

7-bit numbers are uncommon in today's computers. 8-bit numbers are more common. In signed 8-bit, the value 128 would become either -128 or -0 (depending upon implementation), which means you could have a weird experience of your next phase of life. For unsigned integers of one byte, the correct rollover number would be 256.

However, maybe the system uses just 7 bits (the 8th bit often used to be reserved for parity, or other flagging purposes, and otherwise stripped/ignored) if it has never before needed an eighth bit and this had once seemed like a sufficient form of data-packing with no expectation that this limit would be reached. Computers using such systems would have a Y2K-analogous bug once someone actually reached 128 old, where anomalous processing might indicate the person to be a baby (or fail in other ways). But that would not have happened yet.

|}

The title text mentions {{w|Jeanne Calment}}, who holds the record for the oldest person ever (there are biblical references to older people, such as {{w|Methuselah}}, who supposedly lived to 969, but their ages haven't been verified). She reportedly was age 122 when the died in 1997. There's some controversy whether Calment actually claimed her mother's records, including birth certificate, as her own. "Editing wars" have been fought over her Wikipedia page. Randall claims that if you match her age you get sole editorial control over that article. However, if anyone managed to exceed her achieved age, presumably they would get their own page (albeit that they should not be encouraged to {{w|Wikipedia:Editing Your Own Page|edit it}} themselves) and hers would cease to be as interesting - although that might depend on what use is made of the unparalleled editorial control now granted.

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

<big>Age Milestones</big> 
and associated privileges

16  Drive 
17  Attend R-rated movies alone 
18  Vote 
21  Buy alcohol 
25  Rent a 
32  Run for senate 
35  Run for president 
40  Rent a flying 
45  Learn about the God-Empress 
50  Join AARP 
50  Get a shingles vaccine 
52  Click to skip captchas 
55  Vote for God-Empress 
62  $80 National parks lifetime pass 
65  Eligible for Medicare 
67  Collect Social Security 
68  See "Skip Ads" button on live TV 
70  Run for God-Empress 
75  Ride any animal in a national park 
80  Eligible for MegaCare 
85  Click to toggle whether any ad is positive or negative about the product 
90  Click to make any movie R-rated 
100  Get a letter from the president 
102  (35+67) Collect a presidential pension 
105  Get a birthday card from the God-Empress 
111  Leave your own birthday party early by putting on a magic ring 
118  Vote 100 times 
120  Collect the pensions of all elected officials 
125  Drink alcohol in an R-rated movie while getting a shingles vaccine from the president 
128  Age rolls over, become a baby again

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

2661: Age Milestone Privileges

2022-08-20T20:08:41Z

Darkwolf0218:

{{comic
| number = 2661
| date = August 19, 2022
| title = Age Milestone Privileges
| image = age_milestone_privileges.png
| titletext = If you reach 122, you get complete unrevertible editorial control over Jeanne Calment's Wikipedia article.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BABY GOD-EMPRESS MAKING THE PRESIDENT'S LETTER R-RATED - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a list of "age milestones" in the United States. As usual for Randall, he has added many fictional entries to supplement some real life ones.

{| class="wikitable"
! Age || Privilege || Description
|-
| 16 || Drive || Legal driving age varies by state in the US. In Randall's state of Massachusetts, 16 is the minimum age to apply for a learner's permit.
|-
| 17 || Attend R-Rated movies alone ||In the US, the Motion Picture Association assigns {{w|Motion_Picture_Association_film_rating_system|ratings}} to movies based on whether content in said movie is generally acceptable to present to minors. A rating of "R" is supposed to prohibit viewing by minors under 17 of age unless a parent or guardian accompanies them.
|-
| 18 || Vote || The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents a minimum age of voting from being set above eighteen but does not preclude a minimum age below eighteen. Some states allow 17-year-olds to vote in primaries if they must be allowed to vote in the general , but Randall's state of Massachusetts is not one of them.
|-
| 21 || Buy Alcohol || In the US, the legal drinking age is 21 , although other countries have a lower drinking age. For example, in Japan the legal age to drink is 20; whilst in the UK a person as young as 16 may have alcohol with a meal, although they are not allowed to buy it themselves.
|-
| 25 || Rent a || rental companies charge higher rates for underage drivers; typically the minimum age is 25.
|-`e
| 30 || Run for Senate || This entry is slightly incorrect: one must be at least 30 old in order to ''become'' , not ''run'' for Senate. Joe Biden was 29 old when he was first elected to Senate but turned 30 before being sworn in.
|-
| 32 || Rent a 's || This is the first joke entry in the table. For one thing, most s do not rent out their s, which they probably need to use regularly themselves because they have jobs{{citation needed}} to commute to, and it would be a security hazard to allow random strangers access to their vehicle.
|-
| 35 || Run for president || In the US a person must be at least 35 old to be eligible to the Office of President.
|-
| 40 || Rent a flying || A 25 year-old might be able to rent a non-flying today, but not a flying , because the technology is not mature enough to the point where they're available to rent. The joke is that by the time a 25 year-old reader becomes 40, the technology will exist and they'll be able to rent a flying . Unlike the earlier lines, the limitation has nothing to do with their age, just technological development.
Alternatively, even once flying s are developed, their usage will be more restricted. For example, young people tend to be more vulnerable to radicalization, so some drivers between 25 and 40 might use flying s for terrorism purposes, e.g., fly them into the World Trade Center.
|-
| 45 || Learn about the god-empress || Obviously, the god-empress does not actually exist because this comic is visible to people under 45 old.{{citation needed}}. According to [[1413]], she will be public knowledge by 2040 anyway.
|-
| 50 || Join AARP || Full AARP (formerly called the American Association of Retired Persons) membership is available to anyone age 50 and over. {{w|AARP}}
|-
| 50 || Get a shingles vaccine || At the time of the comic, the [https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/public/shingrix/index.html CDC recommended] that adults 50 and older get the shingles vaccine called Shingrix (this line was not in the original version of the comic, corrected later)
|-
| 52 || Click to skip captchas || Older people might have more difficulty understanding captchas. Also, they could be more inconvenienced because some older people move more slowly, so it would take them longer to move the mouse, and people would care more about older people anyway. However, this would be impractical to implement because if the computer knew the person's age, it would know that the user is a person, not a bot, so there would be no point in a captcha anyway.
|-
| 55 || Vote for god-empress || It appears that a person must have knowledge of the existence of the god-empress for five years before they are sufficiently qualified to elect a new one. Since the god-empress is (presumably) in power for life, it is likely that most people would have to wait much longer than five years.
|-
| 62 || $80 national parks lifetime pass || https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/passes.htm
|-
| 65 || Eligible for Medicare || Medicare is government-run health insurance for older people.
|-
| 67 || Collect Social Security || U.S. individuals may collect reduced Social Security benefits starting at age 62, and they can collect increased Social Security benefits if they wait until age 70.
|-
| 68 || See "Skip ads" button on live tv || Some DVRs and streaming applications have a feature to skip over commercial breaks in recorded programs, but this could not be available in live TV, since it would require jumping forward in time. Time travel is currently impossible.{{citation needed}} ||
|-
| 70 || Run for God-empress || The name suggests that this would also only be available to women. Alternatively one might magically become female upon taking office.
|-
| 75 || Ride any animal in a national park || The National Parks Service probably could institute this relatively safely because most people over 75 would not be able to run fast enough to outrun/catch up to an animal and mount it{{citation needed}} and would not have the rebellious/risk-taking/adventurous streak that would incline them to try.{{citation needed}}
|-
| 80 || Eligible for Megacare || This is based off of becoming eligible for Medicare at age 65.
|-
| 85 || Click to toggle whether an ad is positive or negative about the product ||
|-
| 90 || Click to make any movie R-rated || It is unclear whether this would actually make the movie less appropriate or change the Motion Picture Association's rating to be erroneous. Also, what if the rating was previously NC-17?
|-
| 100 || Get a letter from the president || In the US (which other milestones, such as running for president starting at age 35, indicate is the country being referred to), you instead get congratulated by the weatherman on the {{w|Today Show}}. However, the United Kingdom is much closer. People there receive a card (formerly a telegram, later a TeleMessage) from the Queen on their 100th birthday. (This is not automatic, but has to be applied for.)
|-
| 102 || (35+67) Collect a presidential pension || The idea behind this joke is that it is the minimum age of presidency plus the minimal age to collect Social Security. There are several reasons why this must be a joke. Two are that Social Security begins 67 after the person was born, not 67 after the person's job started, and that the United States government would not bother to set up such a system because the vast majority of people, including former presidents, do not live to 102 old. In fact, as of 2022, no former United States president has ever lived to 102 old.
|-
| 105 || Get a birthday card from the god-empress || Being a god-empress would be more important than being the leader of a single country. This would make the god-empresses's time more valuable, so she only has to sent a birthday card to the few people who reach the age of 105.
|-
| 111 || Leave your own birthday party early by putting on a magic ring || This is a reference to the Lord of the Rings where Bilbo leaves his eleventy-first birthday party (the Bilbo Baggins Farewell Birthday Party) invisibly by using The One Ring.
|-
| 118 || Vote 100 times || Presumably a joke meaning the person can vote 100 times in each . If there were one at the same time each year, this would actually be the 101st vote the person is eligible to cast in their lifetime. If the sole of each year were held at a different time of each year, someone who voted in every might vote for the 100th time at either age 116, 117, or 118. However this milestone would happen earlier because there are often multiple s per year, e.g., primaries, general s, and possibly runoffs.
|-
| 120 || Collect the pensions of all elected officials ||
|-
| 125 || Drink alcohol in an R-rated movie while getting a shingles vaccine from the president || This entry references four earlier milestones (attending an R-rated movie, drinking alcohol, becoming President, and getting the shingles vaccine) whose corresponding ages (17, 21, 35, and 50) sum to 123. While not exactly 125, this may have contributed to the inspiration or age selection of this milestone.
|-
| 128 || Age rolls over, become a baby again || {{w|Integer overflow}} happens in computers when there are not enough bits (binary digits) to store the result of a calculation. For example, an unsigned 7-bit number can hold the values 0 to 127 (127 being 27 - 1). When calculating 127+1, a computer might store the value 0 instead of 128, discarding the highest bit. This is also called rollover, and usually happens in computers at powers of two, such as 128.

7-bit numbers are uncommon in today's computers. 8-bit numbers are more common. In signed 8-bit, the value 128 would become either -128 or -0 (depending upon implementation), which means you could have a weird experience of your next phase of life. For unsigned integers of one byte, the correct rollover number would be 256.

However, maybe the system uses just 7 bits (the 8th bit often used to be reserved for parity, or other flagging purposes, and otherwise stripped/ignored) if it has never before needed an eighth bit and this had once seemed like a sufficient form of data-packing with no expectation that this limit would be reached. Computers using such systems would have a Y2K-analogous bug once someone actually reached 128 old, where anomalous processing might indicate the person to be a baby (or fail in other ways). But that would not have happened yet.

|}

The title text mentions {{w|Jeanne Calment}}, who holds the record for the oldest person ever (there are biblical references to older people, such as {{w|Methuselah}}, who supposedly lived to 969, but their ages haven't been verified). She reportedly was age 122 when the died in 1997. There's some controversy whether Calment actually claimed her mother's records, including birth certificate, as her own. "Editing wars" have been fought over her Wikipedia page. Randall claims that if you match her age you get sole editorial control over that article. However, if anyone managed to exceed her achieved age, presumably they would get their own page (albeit that they should not be encouraged to {{w|Wikipedia:Editing Your Own Page|edit it}} themselves) and hers would cease to be as interesting - although that might depend on what use is made of the unparalleled editorial control now granted.

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

<big>Age Milestones</big> 
and associated privileges

16  Drive 
17  Attend R-rated movies alone 
18  Vote 
21  Buy alcohol 
25  Rent a 
32  Run for senate 
35  Run for president 
40  Rent a flying 
45  Learn about the God-Empress 
50  Join AARP 
50  Get a shingles vaccine 
52  Click to skip captchas 
55  Vote for God-Empress 
62  $80 National parks lifetime pass 
65  Eligible for Medicare 
67  Collect Social Security 
68  See "Skip Ads" button on live TV 
70  Run for God-Empress 
75  Ride any animal in a national park 
80  Eligible for MegaCare 
85  Click to toggle whether any ad is positive or negative about the product 
90  Click to make any movie R-rated 
100  Get a letter from the president 
102  (35+67) Collect a presidential pension 
105  Get a birthday card from the God-Empress 
111  Leave your own birthday party early by putting on a magic ring 
118  Vote 100 times 
120  Collect the pensions of all elected officials 
125  Drink alcohol in an R-rated movie while getting a shingles vaccine from the president 
128  Age rolls over, become a baby again

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]] 
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

2638: Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond

2022-06-28T05:10:18Z

Darkwolf0218: Originally was fixing a typo; ended up rewriting the title text explanation to give info on both toxins.

{{comic
| number = 2638
| date = June 27, 2022
| title = Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond
| image = extended_nfpa_hazard_diamond.png
| titletext = With most labs, the hushed horror stories are about something like dimethylmercury or prions, but occasionally you'll get a weird lab where it's about the soda machine or the drop ceiling.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUBSTANCE WORTH $500 IN STREET VALUE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic depicts an extension of [[wikipedia:NFPA 704|NFPA 704]], bringing it from 2x2 to 3x3 by adding 5 variously useful and humorous squares.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Squares and explanations
|-
! Square !! Color !! Comic text !! Explanation
|-
| Top || Red || Flammability -> 0 || [[http://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/nfpa.html Real NFPA 704 square]]. Denotes flammability.
|-
| Top Left || Blue || Health Hazard -> 4 || Real NFPA 704 square. Denotes the danger that the substance poses to living beings in ways other than flammability and reactivity.
|-
| Top Right || Yellow || Instability/Reactivity -> 2 || Real NFPA 704 square. Denotes how easily the substance reacts with other substances.
|-
| Center || White || (Special Hazard) || Real NFPA 704 square. Contains a symbol with additional notes on the substance. After this point, all squares are made up by Randall.
|-
| Center Left || Green || Number of digits in the street value ($/gram) -> 2 || Describes the order of magnitude of the price of one gram of the substance when sold illegally and informally. Most common illicit drugs would score 2 in this square.
|-
| Center Right || Dark Purple || How much of a hassle it is to dispose of -> 4 || Describes in a subjective (or maybe objective?) way how difficult the substance is to dispose of. While many things can be thrown in the trash with no additional procedures{{Citation Needed}}, biohazards that may carry diseases are often disposed of in special containers, and nuclear materials are notoriously difficult to safely dispose of. This square would be useful in limited contexts.
|-
| Bottom Left || Lilac || Number of federal agencies who want to know if you have any -> 3 || In many countries, including Randall's home country, the USA, the government has agencies dedicated to controlling or limiting the use of regulated substances, due to their use as drugs or as chemical weapons. While any given substance would probably be of one agency's interest, something that is both an environmental hazard and a chemical weapon component could interest, for example, both the Chemical Safety Board and the FBI Counterterrorism Division. This could also allude to the CIA's experiments with LSD, which is illegal to possess as a US civilian.
|-
| Bottom Right || Orange || How many times you have to scrub your hands after touching it before they stop smelling weird -> 1 || While the real NFPA 704 chart describes properties ranging from unsafe to potentially deadly, this square describes a minor but very real inconvenience. Some things are harder to wash off your hands than others, and, given that most people don't often work with dangerous substances {{Citation Needed}}, this would be a more common, but less relevant, concern for many people.
|-
| Bottom || Black || Number of times it's caused one of those terrifying lab accidents that chemists tell scary stories about late at night -> 2 || The result of this square, although dependent on how much the substance is researched in labs, can show how scared someone should be in handling the substance in question, especially if the number is more than one. Though the description is vague, this number could show how easy it is to cause ''some'' kind of reaction of a terrifying magnitude with this substance.
|}

The title text refers to {{w|Dimethylmercury}} and {{w|prions}}. Dimethylmercury is an organic form of mercury with an NFPA score of 4-4-3 (Contact can be fatal, will burn below 73° F, will combust if put under pressure). In 1997, an American chemist, {{w|Karen Wetterhahn}}, died 298 days after a few drops of C2H6Hg ate through her latex gloves, contacting her skin and causing fatal mercury poisoning. Despite following all safety protocols of the time, the chemical was as of then not understood to be so caustic or toxic. Prions are misfolded proteins that are responsible for a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including Mad Cow disease, chronic wasting syndrome, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans. These would indeed be the kind of substances that would scare those working with them in their labs; if an accident occurs, the results could be calamitous. But a few labs have apparently had accidents involving a soda machine or {{w|dropped ceiling}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Know your extended NFPA hazard diamond:

Flammability: 0 (top)

Health hazard: 4 (top-left)

Instability/reactivity: 2 (top-right)

Number of digits in the street value ($/gram): 2 (left)

(Special hazard) (center)

How much of a hassle it is to dispose of: 4 (right)

Number of federal agencies who want to know if you have any: 3 (bottom-left)

How many times you have to scrub your hands after touching it before they stop smelling weird: 1 (bottom-right)

Number of times it's caused one of those terrifying lab accidents that chemists tell scary stories about late at night: 2 (bottom)

{{comic discussion}}