explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2927: Alphabetical Cartogram

2024-05-01T13:58:07Z

Jiyuztex: /* Explanation */ Corrected topline explanation.

{{comic
| number = 2927
| date = May 1, 2024
| title = Alphabetical Cartogram
| image = alphabetical_cartogram_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x548px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Poor Weeoming.
}}

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

This comic shows a map of the United States, with every state resized based on where it appears in an alphabetical list of states. Hence Alabama is the largest state, Wyoming is the smallest.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! States by Size
! States Alphabetically
|-
| 1 || Alaska || Alabama
|-
| 2 || Texas || Alaska
|-
| 3 || California || Arizona
|-
| 4 || Montana || Arkansas
|-
| 5 || New Mexico || California
|-
| 6 || Arizona || Colorado
|-
| 7 || Nevada || Connecticut
|-
| 8 || Colorado || Delaware
|-
| 9 || Oregon || Florida
|-
| 10 || Wyoming || Georgia
|-
| 11 || Michigan || Hawaii
|-
| 12 || Minnesota || Idaho
|-
| 13 || Utah || Illinois
|-
| 14 || Idaho || Indiana
|-
| 15 || Kansas || Iowa
|-
| 16 || Nebraska || Kansas
|-
| 17 || South Dakota || Kentucky
|-
| 18 || Washington || Louisiana
|-
| 19 || North Dakota || Maine
|-
| 20 || Oklahoma || Maryland
|-
| 21 || Missouri || Massachusetts
|-
| 22 || Florida || Michigan
|-
| 23 || Wisconsin || Minnesota
|-
| 24 || Georgia || Mississippi
|-
| 25 || Illinois || Missouri
|-
| 26 || Iowa || Montana
|-
| 27 || New York || Nebraska
|-
| 28 || North Carolina || Nevada
|-
| 29 || Arkansas || New Hampshire
|-
| 30 || Alabama || New Jersey
|-
| 31 || Louisiana || New Mexico
|-
| 32 || Mississippi || New York
|-
| 33 || Pennsylvania || North Carolina
|-
| 34 || Ohio || North Dakota
|-
| 35 || Virginia || Ohio
|-
| 36 || Tennessee || Oklahoma
|-
| 37 || Kentucky || Oregon
|-
| 38 || Indiana || Pennsylvania
|-
| 39 || Maine || Rhode Island
|-
| 40 || South Carolina || South Carolina
|-
| 41 || West Virginia || South Dakota
|-
| 42 || Maryland || Tennessee
|-
| 43 || Hawaii || Texas
|-
| 44 || Massachusetts || Utah
|-
| 45 || Vermont || Vermont
|-
| 46 || New Hampshire || Virginia
|-
| 47 || New Jersey || Washington
|-
| 48 || Connecticut || West Virginia
|-
| 49 || Delaware|| Wisconsin
|-
| 50 || Rhode Island || Wyoming
|}

Looks more like the states were listed alphabetically and sizes were adjusted to match that ranking. States beginning with ‘A’ are biggest and states beginning with ’W’ are tiny.

The title text is a diminutive of Wyoming, making fun of how small it is on this map.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A More Fair Map
Instead of giving more area to larger states, this map improves fairness by sizing the states alphabetically.
{{comic discussion}}

2927: Alphabetical Cartogram

2024-05-01T13:55:44Z

Jiyuztex: /* Explanation */ Fixed error in table

{{comic
| number = 2927
| date = May 1, 2024
| title = Alphabetical Cartogram
| image = alphabetical_cartogram_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x548px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Poor Weeoming.
}}

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

This comic shows a map of the United States, with every state resized based on how commonly the letters in its named are used in general language. States that have more commonly-used letters (e.g. Hawaii, with four common vowels) are larger, and states with fewer common letters (e.g. Wisconsin) are smaller. Lol what? Where did you get "commonly-used"

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! States by Size
! States Alphabetically
|-
| 1 || Alaska || Alabama
|-
| 2 || Texas || Alaska
|-
| 3 || California || Arizona
|-
| 4 || Montana || Arkansas
|-
| 5 || New Mexico || California
|-
| 6 || Arizona || Colorado
|-
| 7 || Nevada || Connecticut
|-
| 8 || Colorado || Delaware
|-
| 9 || Oregon || Florida
|-
| 10 || Wyoming || Georgia
|-
| 11 || Michigan || Hawaii
|-
| 12 || Minnesota || Idaho
|-
| 13 || Utah || Illinois
|-
| 14 || Idaho || Indiana
|-
| 15 || Kansas || Iowa
|-
| 16 || Nebraska || Kansas
|-
| 17 || South Dakota || Kentucky
|-
| 18 || Washington || Louisiana
|-
| 19 || North Dakota || Maine
|-
| 20 || Oklahoma || Maryland
|-
| 21 || Missouri || Massachusetts
|-
| 22 || Florida || Michigan
|-
| 23 || Wisconsin || Minnesota
|-
| 24 || Georgia || Mississippi
|-
| 25 || Illinois || Missouri
|-
| 26 || Iowa || Montana
|-
| 27 || New York || Nebraska
|-
| 28 || North Carolina || Nevada
|-
| 29 || Arkansas || New Hampshire
|-
| 30 || Alabama || New Jersey
|-
| 31 || Louisiana || New Mexico
|-
| 32 || Mississippi || New York
|-
| 33 || Pennsylvania || North Carolina
|-
| 34 || Ohio || North Dakota
|-
| 35 || Virginia || Ohio
|-
| 36 || Tennessee || Oklahoma
|-
| 37 || Kentucky || Oregon
|-
| 38 || Indiana || Pennsylvania
|-
| 39 || Maine || Rhode Island
|-
| 40 || South Carolina || South Carolina
|-
| 41 || West Virginia || South Dakota
|-
| 42 || Maryland || Tennessee
|-
| 43 || Hawaii || Texas
|-
| 44 || Massachusetts || Utah
|-
| 45 || Vermont || Vermont
|-
| 46 || New Hampshire || Virginia
|-
| 47 || New Jersey || Washington
|-
| 48 || Connecticut || West Virginia
|-
| 49 || Delaware|| Wisconsin
|-
| 50 || Rhode Island || Wyoming
|}

Looks more like the states were listed alphabetically and sizes were adjusted to match that ranking. States beginning with ‘A’ are biggest and states beginning with ’W’ are tiny.

The title text is a diminutive of Wyoming, making fun of how small it is on this map.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A More Fair Map
Instead of giving more area to larger states, this map improves fairness by sizing the states alphabetically.
{{comic discussion}}

2927: Alphabetical Cartogram

2024-05-01T13:53:54Z

Jiyuztex: /* Explanation */ formatting

{{comic
| number = 2927
| date = May 1, 2024
| title = Alphabetical Cartogram
| image = alphabetical_cartogram_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x548px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Poor Weeoming.
}}

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

This comic shows a map of the United States, with every state resized based on how commonly the letters in its named are used in general language. States that have more commonly-used letters (e.g. Hawaii, with four common vowels) are larger, and states with fewer common letters (e.g. Wisconsin) are smaller. Lol what? Where did you get "commonly-used"

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! States by Size
! States Alphabetically
|-
| 1 || Alaska || Alabama
|-
| 2 || Texas || Alaska
|-
| 3 || California || Arizona
|-
| 4 || Montana || Arkansas
|-
| 5 || New Mexico || California
|-
| 6 || Arizona || Colorado
|-
| 7 || Nevada || Connecticut
|-
| 8 || Colorado || Delaware
|-
| 9 || Oregon || Florida
|-
| 10 || Wyoming || Georgia
|-
| 11 || Michigan || Hawaii
|-
| 12 || Minnesota || Idaho
|-
| 13 || Utah || Illinois
|-
| 14 || Idaho || Indiana
|-
| 15 || Kansas || Iowa
|-
| 16 || Nebraska || Kansas
|-
| 17 || South Dakota || Kentucky
|-
| 18 || Washington || Louisiana
|-
| 19 || North Dakota || Maine
|-
| 20 || Oklahoma || Maryland
|-
| 21 || Missouri || Massachusetts
|-
| 22 || Florida || Michigan
|-
| 23 || Wisconsin || Minnesota
|-
| 24 || Georgia || Mississippi
|-
| 25 || Illinois || Missouri
|-
| 26 || Iowa || Montana
|-
| 27 || New York || Nebraska
|-
| 28 || North Carolina || Nevada
|-
| 29 || Arkansas || New Hampshire
|-
| 30 || Alabama || New Jersey
|-
| 31 || Louisiana || New Mexico
|-
| 32 || Mississippi || New York
|-
| 33 || Pennsylvania || North Carolina
|-
| 34 || Ohio || North Dakota
|-
| 35 || Virginia || Ohio
|-
| 36 || Tennessee || Oklahoma
|-
| 37 || Kentucky || Oregon
|-
| 38 || Indiana || Pennsylvania
|-
| 39 || Maine || Rhode Island
|-
| 40 || South Carolina || South Carolina
|-
| 41 || West Virginia || South Dakota
|-
| 42 || Maryland || Tennessee
|-
| 43 || Hawaii || Texas
|-
| 44 || Massachusetts || Utah
|-
| 45 || Vermont || Vermont
|-
| 46 || New Hampshire || Virginia
|-
| 47 || Connecticut || Washington
|-
| 48 || Delaware || West Virginia
|-
| 49 || Rhode Island || Wisconsin
|-
| 50 || New Jersey || Wyoming
|}

Looks more like the states were listed alphabetically and sizes were adjusted to match that ranking. States beginning with ‘A’ are biggest and states beginning with ’W’ are tiny.

The title text is a diminutive of Wyoming, making fun of how small it is on this map.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A More Fair Map
Instead of giving more area to larger states, this map improves fairness by sizing the states alphabetically.
{{comic discussion}}

2927: Alphabetical Cartogram

2024-05-01T13:53:19Z

Jiyuztex: Added table to states listed both by size and alphabetically.

{{comic
| number = 2927
| date = May 1, 2024
| title = Alphabetical Cartogram
| image = alphabetical_cartogram_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x548px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Poor Weeoming.
}}

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

This comic shows a map of the United States, with every state resized based on how commonly the letters in its named are used in general language. States that have more commonly-used letters (e.g. Hawaii, with four common vowels) are larger, and states with fewer common letters (e.g. Wisconsin) are smaller. Lol what? Where did you get "commonly-used"

```
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! #
! States by Size
! States Alphabetically
|-
| 1 || Alaska || Alabama
|-
| 2 || Texas || Alaska
|-
| 3 || California || Arizona
|-
| 4 || Montana || Arkansas
|-
| 5 || New Mexico || California
|-
| 6 || Arizona || Colorado
|-
| 7 || Nevada || Connecticut
|-
| 8 || Colorado || Delaware
|-
| 9 || Oregon || Florida
|-
| 10 || Wyoming || Georgia
|-
| 11 || Michigan || Hawaii
|-
| 12 || Minnesota || Idaho
|-
| 13 || Utah || Illinois
|-
| 14 || Idaho || Indiana
|-
| 15 || Kansas || Iowa
|-
| 16 || Nebraska || Kansas
|-
| 17 || South Dakota || Kentucky
|-
| 18 || Washington || Louisiana
|-
| 19 || North Dakota || Maine
|-
| 20 || Oklahoma || Maryland
|-
| 21 || Missouri || Massachusetts
|-
| 22 || Florida || Michigan
|-
| 23 || Wisconsin || Minnesota
|-
| 24 || Georgia || Mississippi
|-
| 25 || Illinois || Missouri
|-
| 26 || Iowa || Montana
|-
| 27 || New York || Nebraska
|-
| 28 || North Carolina || Nevada
|-
| 29 || Arkansas || New Hampshire
|-
| 30 || Alabama || New Jersey
|-
| 31 || Louisiana || New Mexico
|-
| 32 || Mississippi || New York
|-
| 33 || Pennsylvania || North Carolina
|-
| 34 || Ohio || North Dakota
|-
| 35 || Virginia || Ohio
|-
| 36 || Tennessee || Oklahoma
|-
| 37 || Kentucky || Oregon
|-
| 38 || Indiana || Pennsylvania
|-
| 39 || Maine || Rhode Island
|-
| 40 || South Carolina || South Carolina
|-
| 41 || West Virginia || South Dakota
|-
| 42 || Maryland || Tennessee
|-
| 43 || Hawaii || Texas
|-
| 44 || Massachusetts || Utah
|-
| 45 || Vermont || Vermont
|-
| 46 || New Hampshire || Virginia
|-
| 47 || Connecticut || Washington
|-
| 48 || Delaware || West Virginia
|-
| 49 || Rhode Island || Wisconsin
|-
| 50 || New Jersey || Wyoming
|}
```

You can copy and paste this code directly into a wiki page to display the table.

Looks more like the states were listed alphabetically and sizes were adjusted to match that ranking. States beginning with ‘A’ are biggest and states beginning with ’W’ are tiny.

The title text is a diminutive of Wyoming, making fun of how small it is on this map.
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A More Fair Map
Instead of giving more area to larger states, this map improves fairness by sizing the states alphabetically.
{{comic discussion}}

2922: Pub Trivia

2024-04-19T14:26:06Z

Jiyuztex: /* Explanation */ Made a first stab at explaining the problems with each question.

{{comic
| number = 2922
| date = April 19, 2024
| title = Pub Trivia
| image = pub_trivia_2x.png
| imagesize = 422x666px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Bonus question: Where is London located? (a) The British Isles (b) Great Britain and Northern Ireland (c) The UK (d) Europe (or 'the EU') (e) Greater London
}}

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

The comic shows [[Cueball]] reading off bad trivia questions which are either confusing or don't have an answer.
The caption states that this is because he was paid to sabotage other bars that offer trivia so that people will want to go to the one that hired him.

1. Which member of {{w|BTS}} has a birthday this year?

BTS is a {{w|K-Pop}} group. Every member would have a birthday each year. In fact, al humans have a birthday every year. (Unless you were born on leap day and trying to be pedantic.)

2. How many sides does a {{w|platonic solid}} have?

There are five platonic solids, with 4, 6, 8, 12, or 20 faces (colloquially called sides) in {{w|Euclid|Euclidean}} {{w|Euclidean geometry|3-space}}.

3. What is the smallest lake in the world?

Unknowable as there are many small bodies of water in the world, and determining which is the smallest while still being large enough to count as a {{w|lake}} is a complicated question.

4. Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks? {{w|Jaws (movie)|Jaws (1875)}} or {{w|Lincoln (movie)|Lincoln (2012)}}

Jaws, as Lincoln has a surprising lack of shark attacks.{{cn}}

5. How many planets were there originally?

Question lacks context, since it doesn't define what originally means, and there is no way to know when humans first found out that the wandering stars were actually other worlds, or that Earth is a planet. And if this includes {{w|exoplanets}}, it's unknowable since we have no way of detecting these planets in ancient times.

Or it could be trivially 0, if "originally" means when the universe first formed in the {{w|Big Bang}}.

6. What {{w|NFL}} player has scored the most points outside of a game?

As points are not usually scored outside of games, this is a nonsense question.

7. The {{w|Wright brothers}} built the first airplane. Who built the last one?

Since airplanes are built continuously, there is no way to know who built the last one.

8. Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?

This is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldbach%27s_conjecture an open question in math].

9. Not counting {{w|Canberra}}, what city is the capital of {{w|Australia}}?

Nonsense question, since Australia has only one capital.

10. Who played the drums?

Lots of people have played the drums{{cn}}, famous or not. This question needs context.

The alt-text bonus question:

Bonus question: Where is {{w|London}} located? (a) The {{w|British Isles}} (b) {{w|Great Britain and Northern Ireland}} (c) The {{w|UK}} (d) {{w|Europe}} (or 'the {{w|EU}}') (e) Greater London

All choices are technically correct as they are various geographical areas that include the city of London, England. However, (d) could be wrong, since the UK has not been a member of the EU since {{w|Brexit}} in 202.


|}

This is apparently deliberate (at least on behalf of the organisers), perhaps to upset or otherwise impede groups of overconfident quizzers who would otherwise dominate any genuinely good quiz. -->

Many pubs have trivia nights, where patrons form teams and compete to best answer questions about a range of topics. Cueball has apparently been hired to write particularly bad questions, which he has accomplished using different strategies. The idea is that by making the trivia nights at other pubs horrible, he will drive business to the pub that hired him.

1. Which member of BTS has a birthday this year?

Since everyone has a birthday every year (with the exception of those born on February 29), this question does not have unique answer. And since this comic was published in 2024, even the possible February 29 exception does not apply (and no BTS member was born on February 29).

2. How many sides does a Platonic solid have?

This question is ambiguous in at least two ways. First, a solid does not have "sides"; it has edges and faces. There are five Platonic solids, with 4, 6, 8, 12, and 20 faces, and 6, 12, 8, 30, and 30 edges.

3. What is the smallest lake in the world?

A lake is defined by Wikipedia as a "relatively large and fixed body of water." As there is no universal definition for how large and how fixed a body of water must be in order to qualify as a lake, this question is impossible to answer.

4. Which Steven Spielberg movie features more shark attacks - Jaws (1975) or Lincoln (2012)?

Jaws is a famous movie about a killer shark, and features at least five fatal shark attacks. Lincoln is a movie about the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and contains zero shark attacks. Unlike the previous unanswerable questions, this is a question that no reasonable person could get wrong.

5. How many planets were there originally?

The ancient Greeks named five planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Eventually, it was discovered that the Earth is also a planet. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto were eventually discovered, and when Randall was growing up there were nine planets. The discovery of Kuiper Belt objects larger than Pluto led to the downgrading of Pluto to a "dwarf planet." This has been referenced in previous comics. The dwarf planet Ceres was briefly classified as a planet as well. Today there are thousands of known exoplanets (planets that orbit stars other than the sun).
The joke here is that "originally" could have meant before the solar system formed (so zero) or in ancient times (so 5) or in the 1980s (so 9), or it could mean how many planets in the Universe (so an astronomically large number).

6. What NFL player has scored the most points outside of a game?

American football has a somewhat complicated scoring system, and record keeping involves (for instance) crediting the 6 points for a touchdown to both the receiver and the passer in some situations. This question does not address any of this complexity, but adds a new level of ambiguity as the "points" a player can score outside of a game are undefined.

7. The Wright Brothers built the first airplane. Who built the last one?

It is exceedingly unlikely that the last airplane has been built, and because plane assembly is complicated, it is difficult to assess when a particular aircraft counts as complete, so this is another unanswerable question.

8. Is every even number greater than 2 the sum of two primes?

This is Goldbach's Conjecture. Mathematicians widely believe that it is true, and there is substantial numerical evidence to suggest that it is true, but there is as yet no accepted proof. The joke is that trivia questions should have clear and agreed on answers, and this question does not.

9. Not counting Canberra, what city is the capital of Australia?

Canberra is the capital of Australia. Sydney is larger and possibly more famous, so that asking the capital of Australia would be a good trivia question: people who know there capitals would respond with Canberra and less knowledgeable people would guess Sydney. Australia is divided into states
and territories, each with its own capital, but this would leave multiple equally valid answers to the question.

10. Who played the drums?

If this question asked who played the drums for a particular band or on a particular album, track, or performance, it would be an example of a good trivia question. As it is, it has many possible answers and no way to choose between them.

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

{{comic discussion}}

2850: Doctor's Office

2023-11-06T18:23:32Z

Jiyuztex: Corrected error in describing difficulty of NYTimes crosswords. Also corrected two misspellings.

{{comic
| number = 2850
| date = November 3, 2023
| title = Doctor's Office
| image = doctors_office_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x291px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "The police told me I can't be a doctor, but whenever they show up I just go into the Google Maps settings page I found and change the house to 'Police Headquarters' and then they have to do what I say."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE OFFICIAL WORLDWIDE HEADQUARTERS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, [[Beret Guy]] has discovered how to add public labels to locations on {{w|Google Maps}}. He has used the tool to label his house as a physician's office, and then proceeded to put on a white lab coat and impersonate a physician, making this another comic with one of his special [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|businesses]].

As Cueball arrives for a medical consultation, Beret Guy proceeds to do what he does best -- try to sound like a professional through absurdist, oddball dialogue:

{|class = "wikitable"
! Beret Guy !! Normal Phrasing !! Notes
|-
| "Welcome to the doctor!" || "Welcome to my clinic." || Real outpatient clinics have desk staff that welcome patients, not the physician themself. Doctors don't sit behind a desk waiting for patients to arrive.
|-
| "We're like librarians, but for your bones and blood. || A real doctor wouldn't proactively define their profession to a new patient. If they did so, they might say: "We are trained medical professionals who diagnose and treat illness, provide healthcare advice, and help maintain overall health in our patients." || "Bones and blood" is just one focus of medical education, covering topics like their anatomy and physiology, pathology of related diseases, principles of hematology and orthopedics, clinical diagnosis, and treatment strategies. "Librarian" is not an apt analogy for this knowledge.
|-
| "Uh-oh! This beeper says you're too hot." || "It seems your temperature is elevated according to this thermometer."
|-
| "You should eat some of these little snacks that make you colder." || "I recommend you take some of these fever-reducing medications." || Beret Guy has the medicine already in his hand, suggesting he has only one remedy for whatever condition the patient presents with. Also, in US outpatient care settings it's usually nurses who administer medicine, not doctors, and in either case an order would usually have to be written first. This depends on the medication; in some cases the doctor will have been provided with free samples by the manufacturer, for example.
|-
| "We can make holes in you, but you have to fill out this form first." || "We need to perform a procedure that requires an incision, but before we proceed, you'll need to provide consent by filling out this form." || An incision for a febrile (high temp) patient is not unheard of; it might be needed to address conditions such as abscess drainage, acute appendicitis, an infected wound or gallbladder, or other infections requiring surgical intervention.
|-
|}

In the third panel, Beret Guy then hands Cueball what's supposed to be a medical consent form, but is in fact a ''New York Times'' crossword puzzle for a Monday on a clipboard. Monday NYT crosswords are the easiest of the week; ''New York Times'' crosswords get more challenging over the week, with Saturday being hardest (Sunday's grid is larger, but has about the same difficulty as Thursday). Beret Guy amusingly misinterprets Cueball's hesitance as being about the difficulty of the crossword.

In the fourth panel, Cueball finally questions whether Beret Guy's claim is accurate, and the facts of the situation are revealed - while Beret Guy wheels in a device labled "MRI" (for "{{w|magnetic resonance imaging}}"). He wonders aloud what the MRI is for and excitedly predicts that it is loud.

* MRI machines are huge and cannot be wheeled in by one person on a dolly. They're typically housed within dedicated rooms and require specialized infrastructure to support their weight, shield their powerful magnetic fields, and maintain their functionality. So either this is just one piece of an MRI machine, or it's mislabled.

* And MRI machines are indeed very loud, known for producing banging sounds and other noises, often reaching up to 100 decibels, due to the rapid switching of their magnetic field gradients during scans. To protect their hearing and reduce discomfort, patients are typically provided with earplugs or headphones.

In the '''title text''', Beret Guy acknowledges that the police ''repeatedly'' cite him for impersonating a physician, but each time he returns to Google Maps and relabels his house "Police Headquarters", thus (by implication) making himself Chief of Police to whose authority the officers must submit - which he may also believe removes evidence for the "impersonating a physician" charge. If this works as claimed, it's another of the [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers of Beret Guy]]. But this strategy is unlikely to work in real life; suggesting a Google Maps edit can can take several days to be approved by Google Maps editors, and "Police Headquarters" is not a category selection open to everyday users.

A physician imposter was also featured in [[699: Trimester]], while possibly authentic physicians behaving badly appear in [[938: T-Cells]], [[1471: Gut Fauna]], and [[1839: Doctor Visit]].

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is sitting at a desk, wearing a lab coat. Cueball is walking in from the right as Beret Guy stretches an arm out towards him in greeting.]
:Beret Guy: Welcome to the doctor!
:Beret Guy: We're like librarians, but for your bones and blood.

:[In a frame-less panel Beret Guy is standing in front of Cueball while holding a device in his hand, which are attached with a coiling wire to a thermometer in Cueball's mouth. He reads something of the device while holding a pill bottle in the other hand.]
:Beret Guy: Uh-oh! This beeper says you're too hot.
:Beret Guy: You should eat some of these little snacks that make you colder.

:[Zoom in on the two persons where Beret Guy is holding a pen up towards Cueball who is holding a clipboard with a newspaper page stuck to it. Cueball is looking down at the page, which has a black picture in the top left corner and lots of unreadable lines across the rest of the page.]
:Beret Guy: We can make holes in you, but you have to fill out this form first.
:Cueball: This is a New York Times crossword.
:Beret Guy: Don't worry, it's a Monday, so it's not too hard.

:[Cueball is watching as Beret Guy drags in a machine labeled "MRI" on a dolly.]
:Cueball: This '''''is''''' a doctor's office, right?
:Beret Guy: Yeah! It used to be my house, but I found the setting on Google Maps to change it.
:Beret Guy: Hey, wanna help find out what this box does? I bet it's loud!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Medicine]]

2840: Earth Layers

2023-10-12T18:09:09Z

Jiyuztex: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2840
| date = October 11, 2023
| title = Earth Layers
| image = earth_layers_2x.png
| imagesize = 585x627px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Earth's magnetic field is primarily generated by currents in the liquid outer core, though some geophysicists argue that an unexplained mismatch with models suggests that the Kinder toy contains a magnet.
}}

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

This comic reimagines the internal structure of the earth, mixing the real geological layers of the planet with fictional ones. Some of the fictional layers are appropriated from the layers of other objects that have cross-sectional diagrams, such as the layers of a piece of fruit, an eyeball, an item of confectionary or a building.

{| class="wikitable"
! Layer
! scope="col"| Explanation
|-
! scope="row"| Lithosphere/Crust (50/50 Blend)
| The {{w|lithosphere}} is any outermost rocky layer of a planet. On Earth it consists of the {{w|Earth's crust|crust}} and any parts of the upper mantle (see below) that do not convect. To say they are two distinct layers that could be blended together is rather nonsensical.
The upper limit of a planet's lithosphere is usually taken as where it meets the hydrosphere/atmosphere (wherever either may be present, otherwise the vacuum of space) but may or may not include the rock-derived {{w|pedosphere}} (for Earth, especially) or distinct overburden of loose {{w|regolith}}. All of these overlaid layers would typically be far too thin to be reliably distinct in the depiction of this Earth-like planet, and the diagram depicts the surface details only as a 'painted on' blue/greens/browns/etc to distinguish ocean areas and land heights with vertical depths/elevations that are already effectively insignificant at the scale of this diagram, before even considering the such relatively narrow layers of interface material.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Upper mantle}}
| An actual layer of the earth's structure.
|-
! scope="row"| Deep mantle
| A pseudo-correct layer of the earth's structure. There is a layer called the {{w|lower mantle}}, which could be what Randall refers to.
|-
! scope="row"| Filler
| This suggests there is space in the earth that was empty, so the creator(s) added some filler to fill up the extra space.
|-
! scope="row"| Vitreous humor
|Vitreous humor ({{w|vitreous body}}) is the transparent gel inside the eye, located between the lens and the retina.
|-
! scope="row"| Mechanical/HVAC layer
| {{w|HVAC}} is an abbreviation for 'Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning' - the system used to heat or cool a building. Tall buildings may have a dedicated "HVAC floor" or "{{w|mechanical floor}}" between regular floors, like an extra layer.
|-
! scope="row"| Guacamole
| {{w|Guacamole}} is a dip or sauce made from avocados. [https://www.britannica.com/topic/guacamole Originating from ancient Mexico], it often includes onions, tomatoes and spices. Notably, guacamole is a major component of seven layer dip, and is shown here to be the seventh layer (from the surface).
|-
! scope="row"| Cytoplasm
|{{w|Cytoplasm}} is the "flesh" of both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells; a jelly-like substance that fills all the otherwise empty space within the cell.
|-
! scope="row"| Cork
|Due to the proximity of the cork layer and the insulation layer, this may possibly be referencing {{w|Cork (material)|cork}}-lined walls, which are used today mostly for high quality soundproofing, but have [https://www.jstor.org/stable/27135713 a considerable history]. Another potential reference could be the fact that baseballs (another spherical shape) have a layer of cork in them (though it is usually in the center). Finally, the cork is a real layer of tissue in many woody plants, part of the bark. This comic was posted the day after Birkenstock Holding plc was listed on the New York Stock Exchange; Birkenstock sandals include a layer of cork.
|-
! scope="row"| Insulation
|Probably a reference to the {{w|building insulation}} installed in the walls and ceilings of buildings.
|-
! scope="row"| Seeds
|Part of a fruit.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Pith}}
|Part of a tree trunk or the thick spongy layer of the skin of a citrus fruit
|-
! scope="row"| Nougat
|{{w|Nougat}} is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts, whipped egg whites and, sometimes, chopped candied fruit. It often appears as layers within confectionary items (such as Snickers, Double Decker and Mars) and, notably in relation to the comic, it constitutes the second-innermost layer of {{w|Mozartkugel}}n, a spherical confection.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Outer core}}
| An actual layer of the earth's structure.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Inner core}}
| An actual layer of the earth's structure.
|-
! scope="row"| Secret core
| Likely references secret compartments that may be hidden in the hardest to find recesses of other objects or structures, for the purposes of concealing precious items or closely-guarded secrets.
|-
! scope="row"| Kinder toy capsule
| A {{w|Kinder (brand)|Kinder}} toy is a reference to a chocolate egg-shaped confection by the Kinder brand, the {{w|Kinder Surprise}}, a chocolate shell with a plastic 'yolk' capsule in the center. Though that is loose within a void, unlike this 'Earth model', it closely matches this philosophy despite (or because of) being a {{w|Kinder_Surprise#United_States|banned food item}} in the United States, due to a 1938 FDA rule prohibiting a "non-nutritive object" (the plastic egg 'yolk' containing the toy) to be encased inside of an edible item (the outer chocolate layer) unless it has a specific function related to the edible part. It is widely believed that this is because the 'yolk' can be a choking hazard, despite the fact that you'd have to be swallowing a chicken egg-sized confectionery in a single mouthful for that to happen accidentally, or deliberately try to consume the plastic capsule whole. The toys within, however, may contain small pieces that can pose a choking hazard, especially in the toys that are packed as components, requiring some assembly, in order to fit into the capsule. Rules about small components (in toys for young children) and the inclusion of non-food contents within food-items have been used to prohibit this product within the US. To specifically overcome the latter regulations, the {{w|Kinder Joy}} was developed; an egg-shaped packaging containing the chocolate treat in one half and the toy separately within the other.

Randall's punchline of the comic is that there may indeed be a hidden toy at the center of the Earth. The title text explains that due to the {{w|Earth's magnetic field|geomagnetic field}} not behaving as scientific models suggest it should, some geophysicists argue that the hidden toy is – or at least contains – some additional form of magnet which impacts the accepted {{w|Magnetohydrodynamics|magnetohydrodynamic}} effect. A more plausible explanation is that their model is wrong because they've based it on Randall's diagram full of spurious layers!
|}

Since the radius of the earth is 6371 km, this gives the Kinder Toy Capsule having a radius of about 900 km (from measurements of the diagram). This gives the Kinder Toy Capsule a volume of just over 3 billion km3. Assuming a real Kinder Egg has a volume of 60 cm3, and a packing density of 63.5%, the Kinder Toy Capsule could contain 5x1022 (50 sextillion) actual Kinder Eggs. Current mathematical models of the magnetohydrodynamics of the Earth's core do not include the potentially significant contribution of 50 sextillion Kinder Toy Capsules, a glaring oversight in a well developed field.

==Transcript==
:[Header/Title]
:The layers of the Earth

:[Cutaway diagram of the Earth, a sphere with abstract sea/land/elevation surface, except for a slice removed (quarter-arc in three axes) to make visible a number of roughly equally-sized 'strata'/shells, all the way down to the intact smallest sphere. From surface downwards, these are:]
:Lithosphere/crust (50/50 blend)
:Upper mantle
:Deep mantle
:Filler
:Vitreous humor
:Mechanical/HVAC layer
:Guacamole
:Cytoplasm
:Cork
:Insulation
:Seeds
:Pith
:Nougat
:Outer core
:Inner core
:Secret core
:[The central sphere:]
:Kinder toy capsule

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Food]]