explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

878: Model Rail

2024-03-07T02:27:54Z

Fifteen12: Added real world examples of nested models.

{{comic
| number = 878
| date = March 28, 2011
| title = Model Rail
| image = model rail.png
| titletext = I don't know what's more telling--the number of pages in the Wikipedia talk page argument over whether the 1/87.0857143 scale is called "HO" or "H0", or the fact that within minutes of first hearing of it I had developed an extremely strong opinion on the issue.
}}

==Explanation==
In model rail construction, the {{w|HO scale}} refers to the most popular scale for modeling railroads, in which 3.5 millimeters in the model corresponds to 1 real-world Imperial foot. As the comic suggests, it works out to a ratio of about 1:87.1 (or 3048:35 exactly, which equals 1:87.08̄5̄7̄1̄4̄2̄). In Europe, the scale is defined as exactly 1:87 instead, to avoid references to non-metric measurements.

This comic features [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|two Cueballs]] conversing; we'll refer to them as Lefty and Righty to avoid confusion. The conversation takes place in Lefty's basement. Lefty is apparently a less-experienced train modeler, and he tells Righty that he wants to make an HO model layout of his town. However, the more-experienced Righty points out that this is a bad idea, due to nesting. To make it a perfectly accurate model, Lefty would have to include a model of his house, which includes his basement, which includes the model. So, he would have to make a model of the model, which will include a smaller model of the model, and so forth. This is illustrated in the comic. Real world examples of nested models include the {{W|Bourton-on-the-Water model village}}, which includes 4 levels of nested models. Artwork that includes a depiction of itself is known as the {{W|Droste effect}}.

At the end of these six nested models ''The Matryoshka limit'' is stated: "It is impossible to nest more than six HO layouts". {{w|Matryoshka doll|Matryoshka dolls}} are toys of Russian origin that can be stacked inside one another. Here, the "Matryoshka limit" is the hard barrier that follows as a result of the nesting. Matter is not infinitely divisible; once one gets to the level of atoms, it is impossibly difficult to go any smaller. The unit shown in the last diagram is the {{w|Angstrom|ångström}}, a very small unit of measurement (1/10000th of a {{w|micrometre}}, 1/10 of a {{w|nanometre}}, 100 {{w|picometre}}s or 10−10 m) which was created when humans started discovering objects on an atomic scale, such as crystal structures or wavelengths. The last nested model looks like the atoms on a surface as seen using a {{w|scanning tunneling microscope}} (STM).

The rules of model train layouts reference the 1999 cult classic ''{{w|Fight Club}}'', where the first rule of Fight Club is "do not talk about Fight Club." However, while the club instituted the rule because their activities were morally and legally questionable, the rule in the comic was instituted by friends and family members who were apparently sick of hearing the train enthusiasts talk about model train layouts all the time. The second rule of Fight Club is "you ''do not'' talk about Fight Club", repeated for emphasis, but evidently Cueball and his friend are good enough at following the first rule of model train layouts that they only had to be told once.

The "Philistines" comment is not referring to citizens of ancient {{W|Philistia}} (at least not directly), but rather the philosophy of {{w|Philistinism}}. {{w|Friedrich Nietzsche}} defined a Philistine as someone who is purely negative in how they define style, i.e. they know exactly what they hate and don't really have anything they like. A common stereotype for artists is to refer to anyone who dislikes their work as "Philistines," thus dismissing their criticism as being part of a larger personality defect on the critic's part rather than any particular failing of the artwork in question.

The title text references {{w|HO scale}} and, more specifically, whether it should be spelled with the letter "O" or the number zero (0). Such debates often seem petty to the "layman", yet the people involved in the debates can form ''very'' strong feelings for their side. Randall recognizes "nerdy tendencies" almost immediately when he gets the urge to take a side.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball to the left and his friend, who also looks like Cueball, are standing in the friend's rather large basement, where the celling is held up by six thin columns, and the walls are shown angling in towards a point of perspective, to display how big the room is.]
:Friend: I want to build a perfect HO-scale (~1/87) model train layout of my town.
:Cueball: In your basement? Bad idea. Never make a layout of the area you're in.

:[Zoom in on the two friends without the basement visualized.]
:Friend: Why not?
:Cueball: Because it'd include a little 10" replica of your house.

:[Zoom in Cueball's friend who takes his hand to his chin.]
:Friend: So? That's be cool! I'd make tiny replicas of my rooms, my furniture—
:Cueball (off-screen): —And your train layout?

:[Beneath this first row of the comic is the zoom-out of how the full model would look in the basement. The town lies beneath some small mountains. There is some water with a bridge over it continuing to the roads going through the city. There is no frame around this section, but instead there follows five zoom-outs, each one going from the friend's house, that proceeds to a circular frame. Within each of these is shown a nested model. Starting to the right of the main model, and then moving down, then left, and then down and right. Each layer has a broken arrow above the model between two vertical lines to indicate the scale, the length being written between the two parts of the arrow. Some foreign objects are also labeled to help understand the scale.]

:[Layer 1, the model with the two friends standing to the left of it.]
:18 m

:[Layer 2, looks exactly as the model, but without the friends.]
:21 cm

:[Layer 3, with a mosquito shown for comparison. It stands over half the model covering the mountains.]
:2.4 mm

:[Layer 4, with a strand of spider silk (labeled) shown for comparison. The silk is much thicker than the roads, almost as thick as the mountains and much longer than the model. But the model still looks fairly much like the original one.]
:28 μm
:Spider web

:[Layer 5, with a cold virus (labeled) shown for comparison. It covers roughly a quarter of the model, taking up the water part of the model. At this level the whole model becomes notably "fuzzy" as individual atoms are discernible, and most of the features apart from the mountain is indiscernible. There may be two viruses. The other would then be to the right of the one in the water but above the model. The label stands between them.]
:320 nm
:Cold virus

:[Layer 6, is simply spheres (atoms) at this point. The mountain near the back is the only noticeable feature, consisting of five atoms jutting out from the surface of atoms, which is by no mean flat.]
:37 Å

:[Beneath these six versions of the model is a caption:]
:The Matryoshka limit:
:It is impossible to nest
:more than six HO layouts

:[Back to the two friends in the basement, still not showing the basement.]
:Friend: My God.
:Cueball: Yeah. It's the second rule of model train layouts: No nesting.

:[Zoom in on the heads of the two friends.]
:Friend: ...What's the first rule?
:Cueball: "Do ''not'' talk about model train layouts." That rule was actually voted in by our friends and families.
:Friend: Philistines.

==Trivia==
* The city of Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, England actually contains {{w|Bourton-on-the-Water model village|such a model}}. Although, it only has 4 nestings, and is built at a larger scale.
* The town of Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England also contains {{w|Wimborne Model Town|such a model}} with only 3 nestings built at 1/10
* The {{w|Miniatur Wunderland|Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg (Germany)}}, the biggest model rail construction in the world, contains a 1:7500 version of the Miniatur Wunderland with movable vehicles.
* It should be noted that the day this comic went up, it was then repeatedly referenced in the HO talk page by several people commenting on the arguable triviality of the edit war.
* The comic [[1167: Star Trek into Darkness]] is about a similar debate on Wikipedia.
* Randall later created a series discussing scale-model worlds more generally: [[2411: 1/10,000th Scale World]], [[2412: 1/100,000th Scale World]], and [[2417: 1/1,000th Scale World]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Illustrations of scale]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Recursion]]
[[Category:Fight Club]]
[[Category:Wikipedia]]

Talk:1980: Turkish Delight

2023-09-18T17:18:21Z

Fifteen12: Added comment

whomever[[Special:Contributions/172.68.26.71|172.68.26.71]] 15:42, 13 April 2018 (UTC)
:On the distinction (to or for whom something is done) one of my favorite knock-knock jokes goes: >"KnockKnock..." <"Who's there?" >"to" <"...to who?" >(quickly, with emphasis)"to ''WHOM''" [[User:Elvenivle|Elvenivle]] ([[User talk:Elvenivle|talk]]) 02:52, 15 April 2018 (UTC)
::That's a pretty good one. Have to remember it.[[User:Linker|Linker]] ([[User talk:Linker|talk]]) 23:28, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

Randall is a known Animorphs fan, and Cinnabon is portrayed in the books as being foremost among the favourite foods of Andalites when in human morph. Possibly the title text is meant to introduce the narrator as one? It wouldn't be the [[769:_War|first time]] that mousing over has revealed the identity of a character in the strip. [[User:D5xtgr|D5xtgr]] ([[User talk:D5xtgr|talk]]) 17:57, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

Would it be useful to include an explanation of what Turkish Delights are and what they’re made from? It could help to explain why he might be let down. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.82|172.68.211.82]] 19:41, 13 April 2018 (UTC)
:This might be helpful for background [http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2005/12/the_lion_the_witch_and_the_really_foul_candy.html The Lion, the Witch, and the Really Foul Candy] [[User:Odysseus654|Odysseus654]] ([[User talk:Odysseus654|talk]]) 21:22, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

One point that might be worth mentioning, is that this happens during World War II, more specifically during The Blitz (the Kids were being sent off to the professor's to get them out of the city, since the city was being bombed to crap. This kind of thing was rather common.) Rationing had been in place for some time, and ANY sort of confectionery would've been exceedingly difficult to come by. Poor Edmund probably hadn't had any candy at all for months. -Graptor [[Special:Contributions/172.68.58.95|172.68.58.95]] 22:00, 13 April 2018 (UTC)
:Candy was definitely in short supply during the war, and it was still being rationed in the UK even at the time ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' was published. But the witch offered Edmund ''any'' kind of food he might want, and what he requested was Turkish delight, which she magically conjured up. (''"What would you like best to eat?" "Turkish Delight, please, your Majesty," said Edmund. The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle onto the snow, and instantly there appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon, which, when opened, turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight.'') It wasn't like the witch had only Turkish delight to offer and Edmund was grateful for it only because he had no other access to candy. He could have requested chocolate bars or some other kind of candy from the witch, if he had wanted to. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.52|172.68.150.52]] 22:51, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

I'm getting ridiculous deja vous... did Randal publish this comic before? Or did he steal the punchline from somewhere? I could *SWARE* I've seen this before.... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.82|172.69.69.82]] 23:31, 13 April 2018 (UTC)
:I had similar Deja Vu... I don't think from another comic. It might have been this article:
:[https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cs-lewis-greatest-fiction-convincing-american-kids-that-they-would-like-turkish-delight C.S. Lewis’s Greatest Fiction Was Convincing American Kids That They Would Like Turkish Delight] [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.226|108.162.241.226]] 18:20, 14 April 2018 (UTC)

Should Narnia get its own category? Also, the title text has a noteworthy grammatically incorrect sentence: it’s “whomever” instead of “whoever.” [[Special:Contributions/172.68.211.112|172.68.211.112]] 23:54, 13 April 2018 (UTC)
:I'm not sure, there have been several Narnia comics before, but I'm not sure if they could stand out as a category on their own. Maybe as a subcategory of the fiction category? [[User:Herobrine|Herobrine]] ([[User talk:Herobrine|talk]]) 01:07, 14 April 2018 (UTC)
::Five comic references I have moved to a new trivia section here, but reading those comics again gave me the conviction to this new category [[:Category:Chronicles of Narnia]]. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:55, 14 April 2018 (UTC)

I'm not a fan of pushing the prescriptivist grammar here. The subjective/objective distinction in the who(m) words is no longer regularly used in many dialects. Simply using "whom" among these people labels one as being excessively formal. If Randal's dialect does not use "whomever," then it is hardly a mistake. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 02:37, 14 April 2018 (UTC)

Make them [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reese's_Peanut_Butter_Cups Reese's Peanut Butter Cups] and you've got a deal. BTW, Is there a category for "comics drawn in a style uncommon to XKCD"? [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 01:06, 15 April 2018 (UTC)
:If there was I wouldn't put this one in it... What are you talking about? All I can see is that the sled is drawn at an angle, in a 3D style, but that doesn't seem worth mentioning... [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:46, 15 April 2018 (UTC)
::Click on the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:Random Random Page] link 20 times and see how many highly detailed, thin-lined, realistically proportioned images you find. XKCD's signature style is block text and stick figures. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 10:22, 17 April 2018 (UTC) (oops, forgot to sign)
::I think there should be, was there ever action taken on this? I can't think of many comics that have fully drawn people versus just stick figures. Even non-human (But humanoid) characters are always stick figures, such as [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2609:_Entwives Entwives]. I'd be curious to see how many other non-stick figure humanoids Randall has drawn, all I can think of right now is Boy in a Barrell. [[User:Fifteen12|Fifteen12]] ([[User talk:Fifteen12|talk]]) 17:18, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

OMG, ME TOO! Although it was the miniseries for me, didn't try the books until like 10 years ago. Took me 25 years before I found out I could get Turkish Delight - Rose Petal, didn't think they meant that it was the actual flavour. Tried it and... ??? My experience was better than that linked article, though, LOL! [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 03:42, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

Something funny I thought of... What if the implication is that she'll force the kid to eat more of the stuff if he betrays his family, therefore she's trying to keep him loyal? It doesn't make much sense with the context, but it's a different angle to examine this from. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.12|141.101.105.12]] 14:57, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

Uhm...ever considered that Lewis was a devout Christian and everything he wrote had a moral, i.e. evil is *supposed* to look nice but tastes lousy? ;-) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.22|141.101.76.22]] 17:32, 15 April 2018 (UTC)

I don't love Turkish delight but it's OK. What is really awful is any confectionery that comes from the USA. Geolocate my IP. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.190|141.101.98.190]] 07:31, 16 April 2018 (UTC)
:Aw, I was expecting you to be in the US. That would have been rather funny. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.12|141.101.105.12]] 16:19, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

When "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" was translated into Polish, hardly anyone in Poland new what turkish delight was, so it was translated as [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptasie_mleczko ptasie mleczko] which is delicious indeed. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.52|172.68.110.52]] 07:50, 16 April 2018 (UTC)
:But in the movie it was reverted to the original treat - rachatłukum (Polish transcription of the Turkish name) - [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 09:42, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

I'm removing the part about whoever vs. whomever. It adds nothing to the article. [[User:Unpopular Opinions|Goodbye, world!]] ([[User talk:Unpopular Opinions|talk]]) 17:12, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

I think the modern hysteria over dangers of sugar (fast carbs, "sudden hunger" after digesting sugar etc.) would justinfy referring to sugar as "White Witch" But I persnally would just ban coffee. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.246.212|172.68.246.212]] 02:14, 9 May 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2829: Iceberg Efficiency

2023-09-16T01:20:42Z

Fifteen12: Forgot to log in when writing signature

BH clearly isn't Freudian. For the {{w|File:Structural-Iceberg.svg|Iceberg of the Mind}}, the most important part is the 90% of it that is ''hidden''. Which makes for a totally ''different'' (and potentially more implementable) solution whenever you happen to consider that the most important function of an iceberg is to sneak up on ships... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.68|172.71.178.68]] 13:26, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

i added a transcript hopefully it isn't horrible [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]][[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]][[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]] 13:47, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
:Tweaked (slightly, to personal descriptive tastes), but definitely not horrible. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.7|172.70.86.7]] 14:07, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

Does anyone have knowledge of aerogels being infused with helium? I'm assuming it wouldn't be too outlandish to do so, but honestly don't have a lot of experience with them. [[User:Fifteen12|Fifteen12]] ([[User talk:Fifteen12|talk]]) 14:39, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
:It'd be complex. Most are 'open cell', so need an external coating. Or "pockets of helium" could mean small helium-filled ballonettes embedded within aerogel; being uniformly externally supported by the aerogel, these pockets could be structurally less bulky than traditional bladders of lift-gas (still need to be impermeable, but without the inflate-stretching of rubber, can be a more 'delicate but efficient' material, perhaps [https://pubs.aip.org/physicstoday/online/27257/Graphene-displays-unexpected-permeability graphene]). You could (also?) coat the outside of the aerogel, but adding an arbitrarily large envelope of such a membrane around helium-infused aerogel and then adding more (normally aerated) aerogel onto the outside as additional buffer/structural precaution might be wise(r), as you go ship-hunting... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.61|141.101.98.61]] 15:22, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

It seems ChatGPT was use to write the description text? The contributor share in on XKCD's euphoria channel: https://chat.openai.com/share/02006f2e-cca5-4518-8fb4-f9176b39512e [[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.117|188.114.111.117]] 16:04, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

What aerogel would break down in water? From what I've seen, I thought most aerogel was made of silica? (There's actually no gel left in an aerogel; the gel is replaced by gases.) Is this an error produced by ChatGPT? Since my searches just now have turned up no mention of aerogel being made water soluble, I'm removing that statement for now; if someone has a citation supporting it, we could add it back in? [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 20:28, 15 September 2023 (UTC)
:Wikipedia has a section on [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerogel#Waterproofing waterproofing aerogels] which talks about "hyrodoxyl groups...causing [the aerogel] to catastrophically dissolve in the water". However, the [https://www.vsl.cua.edu/cua_phy/images/c/cf/Aerogel_Aerlon_SilicaAerogels.pdf source it cites] clarifies that this is only for aerogels made with a certain process. Other aerogels can be easily made that invert the hydrodoxyl groups and prevent structural breakdown, resulting in hydrophobic aerogels. I presume Black Hat would be smart enough to get his chemistry right. I agree with removing that part.[[User:Fifteen12|Fifteen12]] ([[User talk:Fifteen12|talk]]) 01:20, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

Why not filling the aerogel with hydrogen? You might save for torpedoes then. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 21:24, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

"God himself couldn't sink this ship." That's just giving Murphy a temptation far too great to resist. Naval architect Thomas Andrews, the leader of the Titanic's design team, knew exactly how much damage his ship could sustain and stay afloat, and he knew that the damage inflicted by the iceberg was too great to sustain. He [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Andrews#Death did not survive the sinking.] [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.82|172.69.33.82]] 22:12, 15 September 2023 (UTC)

Talk:2829: Iceberg Efficiency

2023-09-15T14:39:38Z

Fifteen12: Comment about experiments with aerogels

2829: Iceberg Efficiency

2023-09-15T14:37:04Z

Fifteen12: Added links to Wikipedia, additional insight, and improved readability.

{{comic
| number = 2829
| date = September 15, 2023
| title = Iceberg Efficiency
| image = iceberg_efficiency_2x.png
| imagesize = 649x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our experimental aerogel iceberg with helium pockets manages true 100% efficiency, barely touching the water, and it can even lift off of the surface and fly to more efficiently pursue fleeing hubristic liners.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A 90% EFFICENT ICEBERG WHO REVIEWS THIS WIKI - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic humorously plays with the idea of efficiency in a typically absurd and satirical "Black Hat" fashion. Black Hat starts by critiquing traditional icebergs, which are mostly hidden underwater, as inefficient. He then presents his solution - a foam-filled iceberg that floats almost entirely above the water, claiming it to be highly efficient.

The humor lies in the absurdity of Black Hat's idea. Icebergs are naturally formed structures, and his proposal to create a "foam-filled iceberg" is not only impractical but also comically exaggerated. His assertion that it's "efficient" is ironic because his proposed solution is completely outlandish.

The punchline comes when Black Hat suggests that his lightweight iceberg can still pose a threat to ocean liners (as if that's the "purpose" of icebergs -- in the 20th century 6 ships sank as a result of iceberg collisions) through the use of torpedoes, further highlighting the absurdity of his plan. It's also not really so inefficient to have much of the iceberg underwater, since ocean liners also have a significant portion of their hulls underwater, and this will be damaged by the iceberg.

The reactions of the unnamed individuals in the last panel, who are clearly baffled and concerned, add to the comic's humor.

The alt text extends the absurdity of the comic by introducing the concept of an "experimental aerogel iceberg with helium pockets." {{w|Aerogel|Aerogels}} are a class solid, porous materials known for their extremely low density (making them among the lightest solid materials yet synthesized). Their low density should make them float well in liquids, though their porous nature and chemical composition mean that they can break down quickly in water. The structure of an aerogel surrounds pockets of air, leaving spaces that could be infused with a specific gas such as Helium. {{w|Helium|Helium}} is lighter than air, and is often used to make objects such as balloons float. An aerogel iceberg infused with helium could theoretically hover or fly like a balloon as suggested in the comic. This idea of an iceberg flying is obviously preposterous, but it adds an extra layer of exaggeration and humor to the comic.

The mention of this high-tech iceberg being able to "more efficiently pursue fleeing hubristic liners" is a playful nod to the comic's theme of optimizing icebergs for efficiency. It implies that not only can this special iceberg float efficiently, but it's also equipped to chase after and "efficiently pursue" arrogant or prideful ocean liners, turning the concept of iceberg efficiency into a humorous and surreal scenario. The "hubris" alludes to the (possibly apocryphal) quote "God himself couldn't sink this ship," and similar sentiments expressed in reference to the ocean liner {{w|Titanic}}, which struck an iceberg and sank with many casualties.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Black hat is holding a stick and standing next to an image of an iceberg halfway submerged in water, presenting to an unseen audience.]
:Black hat: A standard iceberg is only 10% efficient.
:Black hat: 90% of the ice is hidden underwater, totally wasted.

:[Black hat is now standing next to an image of the same iceberg, with another "iceberg" almost entirely above the surface of the water to the right of it.]
:Black hat: Our next-generation foam-filled iceberg achieves near-100% efficiency, floating almost entirely above the ocean surface.

:[Black hat is still holding a stick, but is standing next to nothing. There are no other people directly shown, but three distinct 'off-frame' voices are indicated.]
:Black hat: "But wait," you might be thinking. "How will such a lightweight iceberg pose a threat to hubristic ocean liners?"
:Black hat: That's where the torpedoes come in.
:Unknown person 1: I'm sorry, what project are you part of, again?
:Unknown person 2: I assumed he was with you.
:Unknown person 3: Security?

{{comic discussion}}

2827: Brassica

2023-09-12T00:25:22Z

Fifteen12: Aesthetic edits to improve readability

{{comic
| number = 2827
| date = September 11, 2023
| title = Brassica
| image = brassica_2x.png
| imagesize = 327x319px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Sequoia Brussels sprouts are delicious but it's pretty hard to finish one.
}}

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

{{w|Brassica oleracea}} is a plant species, to which many vegetables that we eat belong. These vegetables look strikingly different from each other; compare, for example, {{w|cabbage}}, {{w|broccoli}}, {{w|kale}} and {{w|brussels sprouts}}. There are 24 listed on Wikipedia that all look different. These different cultivars all originated from wild cabbage, having evolved into several different forms via (primarily) human selection.

In the comic Cueball (acting presumably as a botanist) declares that the "Mighty Redwood" (presumably the Coast Redwood, {{w|Sequoiadendron sempervirens}}) also belongs to this species. Since the Coast Redwood is a {{w|conifer}}, while B. oleracea is a {{w|Flowering plant}}, the two species are about as different as two land plants can be, both in classification as well as appearance. If the presumed botanist can get away with this, they can probably get away with just about anything. The caption suggests that botanists, perhaps including the one appearing in the cartoon, attempt this from time to time.

The title text refers to Sequoia Brussels sprouts. The reference is probably to the Giant Sequoia, ({{w|Sequoiadendron giganteum}}), a close relative of the Coast Redwood. "Resinous" is probably a more apt adjective than "delicious", and they're probably woody.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:: [Cueball, Megan and another Cueball are standing in front of a large tree. It is about six meters in diameter and about the bottom eight to ten meters are visible.]
:: Cueball: Did you know the Mighty Redwood is actually the same species as broccoli and kale? It's just a different cultivar.
:: Another Cueball: Wow!

:: [Caption below the panel]
:: Every year or two, botanists add another plant to Brassica oleracea and see if anyone calls them on it.

{{comic discussion}}