explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3000: Experimental Astrophysics

2024-10-25T16:41:16Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 3000
| date = October 18, 2024
| title = Experimental Astrophysics
| image = experimental_astrophysics_2x.png
| imagesize = 317x490px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our experiment will be expensive, but we believe it will produce important spin-offs, especially if we manage to hit the sun from the right angle.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|Thorne–Żytkow object}} is an object theorized by astrophysicists {{w|Kip Thorne}} and {{w|Anna Żytkow}} which is a {{w|red giant}} or {{w|red supergiant}} with a {{w|neutron star}} at its core. There have been no confirmed sightings, but HV 2112 and HV 11417, both in the {{w|Small Magellanic Cloud}}, have in the past been considered strong candidates.

Cueball is asking for a grant for funding for research into these theoretical astral bodies, the implication being that they are asking funding for telescope time, or even an entirely new telescope, in order to make such investigations possible. However, the caption reveals that he is asking for something completely different: funding to ''create'' the object, with a {{w|Gravity assist|gravitational slingshot}}. Normally, astrophysics is an observational discipline, but the title of the comic (made explicit by the caption text) suggests that this is intended to be a 'practical' experiment to induce a TŻO into existence by actually sending a neutron star into our own {{w|Sun}}.

Cueball is complaining that no one is willing to fund this experiment to create the Thorne–Żytkow object for direct observation. Creating it would be impractical, for several reasons. First, you would need to find (or create!) a neutron star and bring it here, which requires amounts of energy, mass, and precision that we have no current possibility of achieving. Secondly, having a neutron star anywhere near the Sun would most likely destroy the solar system, or at least accelerate its transition to a red giant, which would likely result in {{w|Future_of_Earth#Red_giant_stage|Earth being engulfed by it}} and [[1606|ruining the weather]]. The funding body, presumably based on Earth, would probably find the study would not pass an {{w|Research_ethics|ethics review}}, and the end result would not generate a favorable {{w|environmental impact statement}}, given the almost inevitable destruction of our planet.

A spin-off usually means something additional that was not originally planned. The title text in this comic is a two-layer joke on the phrase "spin-off", meaning that hitting the Sun off-center (from the right angle) would likely have many unintended consequences, but also cause the Sun to start rotating abnormally, due to the added angular momentum, in the same way as hitting a ball on the side makes it spin. A similar idea (the engulfment of a planet or companion star) has been proposed to explain the apparently anomalous rotation of the red supergiant {{w|Betelgeuse}}.{{acn}} "Spin-off" could also refer to material being flung off the Sun due to the impact of the neutron star. If the right material is sent in certain directions, it could have useful, or more likely just 'interesting', properties.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing on a circular podium with a screen behind him. He is holding his palm out towards an unseen audience. On the screen there is a large circle with a solid inner line and a ragged outer line. And then there are two much smaller circles also with solid inner lines and ragged outer lines. One of them is drawn just outside the large circle to the left. An arrow is pointing from this to the center of the large circle, breaking the large circle's edge. It points at the other small circle, which is drawn at the center of the large circle.]
:Cueball: A Thorne-Żytkow object is a hypothesized nested star — a red giant with a neutron star inside it.
:Cueball: So far, no TŻOs have been definitively observed, but your grant could help us change that.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:We're struggling to get funding for our project to slingshot a neutron star into the Sun.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2997: Solar Protons

2024-10-25T16:40:26Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 2997
| date = October 11, 2024
| title = Solar Protons
| image = solar_protons_2x.png
| imagesize = 647x783px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If any of you want to meet some cool local oxygen atoms, I can introduce you!
}}

==Explanation==

This comic is referencing the solar storm that hit the Earth on Thursday night before the comic. A result of the storm was that {{w|northern lights}} were visible across much of the northern United States, including Massachusetts where [[Randall]] lives. The northern lights normally occur much farther north, making this a rare and spectacular occurrence. The rare color background of this panel is an idealized depiction of the northern lights.

The solar protons referenced are hydrogen nuclei ejected from the sun after their electrons were stripped. Since most hydrogen atoms are just a single proton and electron pair, once the electron is removed, the resulting ion is just a proton. These protons, being positively charged, interact with Earth's magnetosphere, and the resulting excitation of atoms in the atmosphere causes them to emit light in the form of aurora. In the northern hemisphere the aurora is called aurora borealis (Latin for "northern dawn") and in the southern hemisphere it is called aurora australis (Latin for "southern dawn").

Here, [[Beret Guy]] takes on the task of giving the protons a cordial welcome to Earth, where they will spend the foreseeable future. He has set up a sign to welcome them, presumably because he normally does not see the northern lights. His sign notes that they will love being part of the atmosphere, since if the light of the aurora is being emitted it means that the protons are interacting with other atoms in the atmosphere. The sign also invites them to try creating water. Water consists of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms sharing an electron each with the oxygen. Since the solar protons are just hydrogen nuclei, they can form water by interacting with oxygen atoms or hydroxide ions (OH-). Scientists believe that solar wind [https://physicsworld.com/a/did-the-solar-wind-create-earths-water/ frequently creates water] by interaction of the hydrogen nuclei with oxygen. However, the mechanism proposed involves solar wind first creating hydroxide from compounds in asteroids and space dust, and then another proton joining to make water. As most of the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere consists of O2 molecules (two bound oxygen atoms), it is not clear if solar protons could create water in the atmosphere at the same time as the northern lights, as opposed to via various other intermediate atmospheric/geological/biological interactions which might take up hydrogen (ionised or otherwise).

Beret Guy is repeating two common misconceptions about aurora: that they are created directly by solar energetic particles, and that they are dominated by protons. [https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/content/aurora-tutorial Most auroras are caused by electrons, and these electrons are mostly already trapped over the long term in Earth's magnetosphere] (although many of them originated in the solar wind at some point). The interaction of the solar wind's magnetic field with Earth's magnetosphere can create strong electric fields parallel to the magnetic field lines near the poles, and these electric fields energize the electrons and accelerate them into the atmosphere, where their interactions with oxygen and nitrogen molecules create the emission lines of the aurora. It's not apparent if the misconceptions are Beret Guy's or Randall's.

The title text references water formation by saying that Beret Guy can introduce the solar protons/hydrogen nuclei to cool oxygen atoms. In reality hydrogen nuclei from the solar wind do not need an introduction,{{Citation needed}} but instead, due to their great speed, form bonds with oxygen when they impact oxygen or hydroxide.

==Transcript==
:[A large mainly black panel is filled with colorful aurora that streaks upwards from the central part of the panel. The aurora if mainly red, orange and yellow light in the streaks that goes to the top of the panel and green in the broad band at the bottom part of the aurora. The band starts lower tot he left and moves higher towards the right. Behind the aurora is a starry night sky. Beret Guy is drawn as a black silhouette just left of the center beneath the aurora which he is looking up at. He is standing on a grassy field, next to a sign to his right. The sign is black with text in a light-greenish font:]
:Welcome Solar Protons!
:You'll love being part of our atmosphere!
:There's so much to do here. Try forming water!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

3001: Temperature Scales

2024-10-25T16:39:32Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 3001
| date = October 21, 2024
| title = Temperature Scales
| image = temperature_scales_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x535px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In my new scale, °X, 0 is Earths' record lowest surface temperature, 50 is the global average, and 100 is the record highest, with a linear scale between each point and adjustment every year as needed.
}}

==Explanation==

Since the invention of the {{w|thermometer}}, a number of different {{w|temperature}} scales have been proposed. In modern times, most of the world uses the 1742 {{w|Celsius}} scale for everyday temperature measurements. A small number of countries (the USA and {{w|Territories of the United States|its territories}}, the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Liberia, and Palau) retain the {{w|Imperial units|imperial system}} (or the related {{w|United States customary units|US customary system}}), which uses the 1724 {{w|Fahrenheit}} scale. The other widely used temperature scale is the 1848 {{w|kelvin}}, which uses the same scale as degrees Celsius, but is rooted at {{w|absolute zero}}, making it both useful in scientific calculations and easy to convert to and from °Celsius (which, along with °Fahrenheit, is now officially defined relative to kelvins). Kelvins have been part of the widely adopted official {{w|metric system}} since 1954. Even in countries that use Fahrenheit, scientific measurements are usually made in degrees Celsius or kelvin.

The comic compares these scales, and a number of others, on [[Randall]]'s scale of "cursedness." The joke is highlighting how different the temperature scales are, and how impractical most of them are. All of the listed scales are real, but may be considered obsolete to varying degrees. Please see also [[1923: Felsius]], a combination of degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius.

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Unit
! scope="col" | Water freezes
! scope="col" | Water boils
! scope="col" | Notes
! scope="col" | Cursedness
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| {{w|Celsius}} || 0 || 100 || Used in most of the world || 2/10 || The Celsius (°C) scale, also known as "centigrade", was devised by Swedish astronomer {{w|Anders Celsius}} in 1742 and revised in 1745, a year after his death. 0°C represents the freezing point of water and 100°C represents the boiling point, both under {{w|standard atmospheric pressure}}. The Celsius scale is now defined in terms of kelvins. By the given "cursedness," it is regarded as one of the least problematic temperature scales.
|-
| {{w|Kelvin}} || 273.15 || 373.15 || 0K is absolute zero || 2/10 || Kelvin (plural with a lowercase 'k' as a temperature unit; or as the symbol 'K', without the degrees symbol '°', unlike most other such units) is a unit of temperature devised by {{w|Lord Kelvin}} in 1848. It uses the same scale as Celsius but is shifted by 273.15 to set absolute zero at 0K (based on the {{w|Boltzmann constant}}.)
<center>Celsius = kelvin - 273.15</center>
<center>kelvin = Celsius + 273.15</center>
While kelvin is very useful for calculations in {{w|thermodynamics}} and material physics, it can be unintuitive to laypersons.
|-
| {{w|Fahrenheit}} || 32 || 212 || Outdoors in most places is between 0–100 || 3/10 || Fahrenheit (°F) is officially used in a few countries and informally in several others. It originated in a time when factors of 360 were favored in science over powers of ten, which is why the freezing and boiling points of water are set 180° apart. Devised around 1724, {{w|Daniel Fahrenheit}} chose not to base 0° on the freezing point of water, instead originally setting it at the coldest temperature he could achieve: the freezing point of an {{w|ammonium chloride}} {{w|brine}} solution.
<center>Celsius = (Fahrenheit - 32) × 5/9</center>
<center>Fahrenheit = Celsius × 9/5 + 32</center>
Although those reference points are now considered arbitrary and outdated by modern scholars, the scale gained popularity in Anglophone countries because everyday weather conditions usually fall handily all across the range 0–100°F, and 100°F is {{w|Human body temperature#Historical understanding|coincidentally close to normal human body temperature}}. The Fahrenheit scale remains officially used only in Randall's home country (the U.S., and its territories), the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Liberia and Palau.
|-
| {{w|Réaumur scale|Réaumur}} || 0 || 80 || Like Celsius, but with 80 instead of 100 || 3/8 || Abbreviated as °Ré, this system devised by {{w|René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur}} in 1730 was used in some places until the early 20th century, mostly for cheese-making.
<center>Celsius = Réaumur / 0.8</center>
<center>Réaumur = Celsius × 0.8</center>
The rating (3/8) is a joke on the boiling point of water in this system being 80 instead of 100 as it is in Celsius; converting this to an out-of-ten scale would give 3.75/10, labeling it as more cursed than Fahrenheit but less so than Rømer.
|-
| {{w|Rømer scale|Rømer}} || 7.5 || 60 || Fahrenheit precursor with similarly random design || 4/10 || Abbreviated as °Rø, this scale was created by the Danish astronomer {{w|Ole Rømer}} around 1702. Much like Fahrenheit, it originally used the freezing point of ammonium chloride brine as the benchmark for 0°, and the scale is built with factors of 360 in mind with the boiling point of pure water at 60°. Like the Fahrenheit scale, the freezing point of pure water was not originally considered significant by Rømer, but the scale was later updated to give the value of 7.5 at this point.
<center>Celsius = (Rømer - 7.5) × 40/21</center>
<center>Rømer = Celsius × 21/40 + 7.5</center>
The Rømer scale is considered the predecessor of both the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales, because Réaumur was inspired by Rømer's scale, Celsius based his work on Réaumur and Fahrenheit specifically designed his scale with more divisions than Rømer's to reduce the necessity for fractions.
|-
| {{w|Rankine scale|Rankine}} || 491.7 || 671.7 || Fahrenheit, but with 0°F [''sic;'' should be 0°Ra] set to absolute zero || 6/10 || The Rankine scale (°Ra), devised in 1859 by {{w|William Rankine}}, is to Fahrenheit what kelvin is to Celsius, an absolute scale rather than a relative one. The scale is mostly obsolete, but is still occasionally used in legacy industrial operations where absolute temperature scales are required. It is described as more cursed than the otherwise identical Fahrenheit scale, despite being rooted at a more universal zero point.
<center>Celsius = (Rankine - 491.67) × 5/9</center>
<center>Rankine = (Celsius + 273.15) × 9/5</center>
Another comic, [[2292: Thermometer]], expresses disdain for this scale.
|-
| {{w|Newton scale|Newton}} || 0 || 33-ish || Poorly defined, with reference points like "the hottest water you can hold your hand in" || 7-ish/10 || The famous scientist and mathematician {{w|Isaac Newton}} published this scale in 1701, which was referred to by the the °N symbol. Sadly, the degrees of temperature specified do not correlate exactly with amounts of {{w|heat}}. The cursedness rating (7-ish/10) is a joke about the vagueness of the scale's definition.
<center>Celsius = Newton × 100/33</center>
<center>Newton = Celsius × 33/100</center>
Very few scientists other than Newton ever used this scale,{{Actual citation needed}} but it did appear on commercial thermometers around 1758.<ref>https://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10413117&wwwflag=&imagepos=43</ref>
|-
| {{w|Wedgwood scale|Wedgwood}} || –8 || –6.7 || Intended for comparing the melting points of metals, all of which it was very wrong about || 9/10 || Created by the potter {{w|Josiah Wedgwood}} in 1782, the '°W' scale was based on the shrinking of clay when heated above red heat, but was found to be very inaccurate.
<center>Celsius = (Wedgwood + 8) × 100/1.3</center>
<center>Wedgwood = (Celsius × 1.3/100) - 8</center>
The comic has a typo, as the scale is called Wedgwood, without the second 'e'.
|-
| Galen || –4? || 4?? || Runs from –4 (cold) to 4 (hot). 0 is "normal"(?) || 4/–4 || The Greek physician {{w|Galen}} suggested a "neutral" temperature around 180 A.D.,<ref>https://www.loebclassics.com/view/galen-temperaments/2020/pb_LCL546.3.xml</ref> when he was a prominent physician in the {{w|Roman Empire}}. Created by mixing equal parts of boiling water and ice, on either side of this neutral point he described four degrees of heat and four degrees of cold.
<center>Galen = ((Celsius - 22) / 100) × 8</center>
<center>Celsius = (Galen × 100 / 8) + 22</center>
This range from +4 to –4 is humorously used as its rating, implying -100% cursedness. Technically this makes it the least cursed of all the listed scales, but the idea of negative cursedness (or cursedness itself) would be Randall's invention. There is no standard modern abbreviation for Galen's scale.
|-
| {{w|Celsius#History|''Real'' Celsius}} || 100 || 0 || In Anders Celsius's original 1742 specification, bigger numbers are ''colder''; others later flipped it || 10/0 || Most scales' temperatures can be indefinitely large, but have an absolute minimum temperature. By starting at a maximum value and counting down, this scale is indeed cursed, as nearly all possible temperatures (possibly to the equivalent of 1.42x1032K, considered [https://doi.org/10.4236/jamp.2024.1210198 the maximum attainable physical temperature]) will be negative in this implementation. The cursedness rating (10/0) is a joke on the scale "flipping" the fixed points of modern Celsius. Division by zero is strictly undefined (see [[2295: Garbage Math]]) and may be interpreted in a number of counter-intuitive ways.
<center>Celsius = 100 - real_Celsius</center>
<center>real_Celsius = 100 - Celsius</center>
The original logic was that zero could be easily calibrated to the height of a {{w|Millimetre of mercury|column of mercury}} at the temperature of boiling water, and further measurements then made of the amount it ''reduced'' in height under cooler conditions. This orientation survives in the historic {{w|Delisle scale}} devised in 1732 by French astronomer {{w|Joseph-Nicolas Delisle}}, which arguably inspired the Celsius scale. The scale originally used by Professor Celsius was only changed, after his death, in 1745. Delisle's scale was never reversed.
|-
| [https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/459851/john-daltons-temperature-scale#459863 Dalton] || 0 || 100 || A nonlinear scale; 0°C and 100°C are 0 and 100 Dalton, but 50°C is 53.9 Dalton || 53.9/50 || {{w|John Dalton}} proposed a logarithmic temperature scale in 1802 during his work on what became {{w|Charles's Law}}. The scale is defined so that absolute zero is at negative infinity, with the exponent chosen to match Celsius at 0 and 100:
<center>Dalton = 320.55 × {{w|Natural logarithm|''ln''(}} (Celsius + 273.15) / 273.15 )</center>
<center>Celsius = 273.15 × ''e''(Dalton / 320.55) - 273.15</center>
There is no standard abbreviation for Dalton's scale. While Dalton temperature is defined for all positive and negative numbers, the nonlinear scale is difficult to work with since the amount of heat represented by a change of one degree Dalton is not constant. Degrees Dalton differs from Celsius by as much as 3.9 degrees between 0 and 100, but diverges much more for more extreme temperatures. The rating (53.9/50) is a joke about the unit, as 53.9 Dalton would be 50 degrees Celsius — i.e., the cursedness could be understood as 50/50, or entirely cursed, but perhaps instead as 107.8% (even more than entirely) cursed.
|-
| °X || 42.9 || 151.4 || '''Title text:''' "In my new scale, °X, 0 is Earths' [''sic''] record lowest surface temperature, 50 is the global average, and 100 is the record highest, with a linear scale between each point and adjustment every year as needed." || Randall has not stated the cursedness of his new scale || The {{w|Lowest temperature recorded on Earth|record lowest surface temperature on Earth}} as of 2024 is –89.2°C (–128.6°F), recorded at the {{w|Vostok Station|Vostok Research Station}} in Antarctica on July 21, 1983.<ref>https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature</ref> The average surface temperature as of 2023, the most recent available, is 14.8°C (58.6°F.)<ref>https://climate.copernicus.eu/climate-indicators/temperature</ref> The {{w|Highest temperature recorded on Earth|record highest temperature}} is 56.7°C (134.1°F), recorded on July 10, 1913 at {{w|Furnace Creek, California|Furnace Creek Ranch}} in Death Valley, California.<ref>https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-highest-temperature</ref>

"Surface" temperatures are measured at 1.5 meters above ground inside a shaded shelter, to accurately represent the temperature of the air, because temperatures closer to the ground are often quite different due to the heating effects of sunlight (or a lack therof, e.g., at night or under clouds), and the thermal capacity of soil.

{{cot|Derivation and graph}}
To break the scale into two linear parts (below and above 14.8°C), we define two separate equations for each range:

1. Below 14.8°C (from –89.2°C to 14.8°C):
* 0 °X corresponds to –89.2°C
* 50 °X corresponds to 14.8°C

We calculate the slope m₁:

<center>m₁ = (50 – 0) / (14.8 – (–89.2)) = 50 / (14.8 + 89.2) = 50 / 104 ≈ 0.48</center>

Now, using the point (14.8°C, 50 °X), we calculate the intercept b₁:

<center>50 = 0.48 × 14.8 + b₁</center>

<center>50 = 7.1 + b₁</center>

<center>b₁ = 50 – 7.1 = 42.9</center>

Thus, the equation for temperatures '''below 14.8°C''' is:

<center>'''X = 0.48 × C + 42.9'''</center>

2. Above 14.8°C (from 14.8°C to 56.7°C):
* 50 °X corresponds to 14.8°C
* 100 °X corresponds to 56.7°C

We calculate the slope m₂:

<center>m₂ = (100 – 50) / (56.7 – 14.8) = 50 / 41.9 ≈ 1.19</center>

Now, using the point (14.8°C, 50 °X), we calculate the intercept b₂:

<center>50 = 1.19 × 14.8 + b₂</center>

<center>50 = 17.6 + b₂</center>

<center>b₂ = 50 – 17.6 = 32.4</center>

Thus, the equation for temperatures '''above 14.8°C''' is:

<center>'''X = 1.19 × C + 32.4'''</center>

;Freezing and boiling points of water

Freezing point of water (0°C): Since 0°C is below 14.8°C, we use the equation X = 0.48 × C + 42.9:

<center>X = 0.48 × 0 + 42.9 = 42.9</center>

So, '''the freezing point is 42.9 °X.'''

Boiling point of water (100°C): Since 100°C is above 14.8°C, we use the equation X = 1.19 × C + 32.4:

<center>X = 1.19 × 100 + 32.4 = 119 + 32.4 = 151.4</center>

So, '''the boiling point is 151.4 °X.'''

[[File:XvsC.png|400px|center]]

See also [[2701: Change in Slope]] for a general discussion of separate linear scales between three points.
{{cob}}
Due to high and average temperature records now increasing almost every year as a result of {{w|climate change}}, Randall's new °X scale must be re-calibrated each year. While the value given to everyday (non-record) temperatures will vary over time, more extreme values like absolute zero or the {{w|Tungsten#Physical properties|melting point of tungsten}} will shift vastly more.
|}

==Trivia==

In the various scales, this is a table of typical {{w|room temperature}}, freezing/boiling points of water, the midpoint {{w|human body temperature}}, recommended refrigerator/freezer settings plus possible values for a warm bath and a hot coffee:

;[Warning, not proofread.]

{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
! Unit scale
! Room temperature
! Water freezing temperature
! Water boiling temperature
! Body temperature
! Recommended refrigerator temperature
! Recommended freezer temperature
! Warm bath temperature
! Hot coffee temperature
|-
| Celsius || 22 °C || 0 °C || 100 °C || 37 °C || 2.5 °C || -18 °C || 39 °C || 77 °C
|-
| Kelvin || 295 K || 273 K || 373 K || 310 K || 276 K || 255 K || 312 K || 350 K
|-
| Fahrenheit || 72 °F || 32 °F || 212 °F || 98.6 °F || 36.5 °F || -0.4 °F || 102 °F || 171 °F
|-
| Réaumur || 17.6 °Ré || 0 °Ré || 80 °Ré || 29.6 °Ré || 2 °Ré || -14.4 °Ré || 31.2 °Ré || 61.6 °Ré
|-
| Rømer || 19.1 °Rø || 7.5 °Rø || 60 °Rø || 26.9 °Rø || 8.8 °Rø || -2 °Rø || 28 °Rø || 47.9 °Rø
|-
| Rankine || 531 °Ra || 492 °Ra || 672 °Ra || 558 °Ra || 496 °Ra || 459 °Ra || 562 °Ra || 630 °Ra
|-
| Newton || 7.3 °N || 0 °N || 33 °N || 12.2 °N || 0.8 °N || -5.9 °N || 12.9 °N || 25.4 °N
|-
| Wedgwood || -7.71 °W || -8.00 °W || -6.70 °W || -7.52 °W || -7.97 °W || -8.23 °W || -7.49 °W || -7.00 °W
|-
| Galen || 0.00 || -1.76 || 6.24 || 1.20 || -1.56 || -3.20 || 1.36 || 4.40
|-
| ''Real'' Celsius || 78 || 100 || 0 || 63 || 98 || 118 || 61 || 23
|-
| Dalton || 24.8 || 0 || 100 || 40.7 || 2.9 || -21.9 || 42.8 || 79.6
|-
| °X || 59 °X || 43 °X || 151 °X || 76.4 °X || 44.1 °X || 34.3 °X || 78.8 °X || 124 °X
|}

==Transcript==

:Temperature Scales

:[A table with five columns, labelled: Unit, water freezing point, water boiling point, notes, cursedness. There are eleven rows below the labels.]

:[Row 1:] Celsius, 0, 100, Used in most of the world, 2/10
:[Row 2:] Kelvin, 273.15, 373.15, 0K is absolute zero, 2/10
:[Row 3:] Fahrenheit, 32, 212, Outdoors in most places is between 0–100, 3/10
:[Row 4:] Réaumur, 0, 80, Like Celsius, but with 80 instead of 100, 3/8
:[Row 5:] Rømer, 7.5, 60, Fahrenheit precursor with similarly random design, 4/10,
:[Row 6:] Rankine, 491.7, 671.7, Fahrenheit, but with 0°F set to absolute zero, 6/10
:[Row 7:] Newton, 0, 33-ish, Poorly defined, with reference points like "the hottest water you can hold your hand in", 7-ish/10
:[Row 8:] Wedgewood, –8, –6.7, Intended for comparing the melting points of metals, all of which it was very wrong about, 9/10
:[Row 9:] Galen, –4?, 4??, Runs from –4 (cold) to 4 (hot). 0 is "normal"(?), 4/–4
:[Row 10:] ''Real'' Celsius, 100, 0, In Anders Celsius's original specification, bigger numbers are ''colder''; others later flipped it, 10/0
:[Row 11:] Dalton, 0, 100, A nonlinear scale; 0°C and 100°C are 0 and 100 Dalton, but 50°C is 53.9 Dalton, 53.9/50

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Science]]

2996: CIDABM

2024-10-25T16:38:45Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 2996
| date = October 9, 2024
| title = CIDABM
| image = cidabm_2x.png
| imagesize = 423x480px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = There's a heated debate over whether the big island of Tierra del Fuego should qualify for membership.
}}

==Explanation==

The comic parodies intergovernmental cooperations, such as the {{w|G7}} "group of seven" (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) or the {{w|BRICS}} group (originally '''B'''razil, '''R'''ussia, '''I'''ndia and '''C'''hina, with '''S'''outh Africa soon after rounding off the acronym before further nations attained membership). Such treaties, and other more casual associations between nations, can be based upon some close association in geographical, political, cultural and/or economic terms (or even, in some cases, by little more than sharing a common opposition to a ''different'' {{w|Trade bloc|bloc}} of nations).

The "CIDABM" group, named for the very specific membership criteria, has been formed on a rather more abstract basis than most geographically-focused groupings (e.g. {{w|NATO}} or the {{w|Pacific Islands Forum}}) and (currently) consists of four otherwise disparate islands:
*{{w|Sicily}} is an autonomous region of {{w|Italy}}, which is on the south eastern edge of the {{w|Eurasia}}n mainland.
*{{w|Sri Lanka}} is a nation in its own right, south of {{w|India}}, which is on the southern edge of the Eurasian mainland.
*{{w|Hainan}} is a province of {{w|China}}, which is on the south eastern edge of the Eurasian mainland.
*{{w|Tasmania}} is a state of the nation of {{w|Australia}}, south of the eastern side of {{w|Australia (continent)|continental Australia}} mainland.

These four islands 'dangle below' their mainlands only because of the convention of having north at the top of maps. If the mapmaking convention had instead been to have south at the top, the islands might have been described as floating above their continents. Conversely, {{w|Madagascar}}, {{w|Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland}} or {{w|Adelaide Island}} might have been applicable members of similar 'dangling' alliances where the basic premise might come from one or other different map orientations.

The big island of Tierra del Fuego ({{w|Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego}}), mentioned in the title text, is off the southern tip of the {{w|Chile}}an mainland (as well as a small bit of {{w|Argentina}}). Unlike the others in the comic, it doesn't prominently 'dangle' south of a mainland: it has narrow channels separating its northern and northwestern sides from the mainland, and other parts of the {{w|Tierra del Fuego}} archipelago surround its southwestern side and make it appear well-connected to the mainland. In addition, it isn't a single political entity: the island is split between Chile to the west and Argentina to the east. The 'heated debate' mentioned in the title text may be a play on ''Tierra del Fuego'' being Spanish for ''Land of Fire''.

While the banner on stage depicts each of the islands with approximately the same size, Tasmania (68,400 km²) and Sri Lanka (65,600 km²) are much larger than Hainan (35,200 km²) and Sicily (25,800 km²). Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego is in the middle sizewise (48,000 km²).

Here is a list of island that clearly do not belong to this club:
*{{w|Corsica}} (8,700 km², south of France's mainland) but clearly not dangling beneath the tip of a land mass like Sicily but on the side of Italy.
*{{w|Cyprus}} (9,300 km², south of Turkey) but also to the west of Syria thus not dangling beneath a land mass.
*{{w|Kyushu}} (36,800 km²) and {{w|Shikoku}} (18,800 km²) that are very close and south of the Japanese mainland of Honshu but this is an island state so island beneath island kind of makes no sense here.
*The same problem with {{w|Stewart Island}}/Rakiura (1,746 km²), which dangles south of the South Island of New Zealand again an island state so island beneath island kind of makes no sense here.
*The {{w|Isle of Wight}} (merely 380 km²) is not really beneath the UK as part of the mainland goes more to the south and again an island state so island beneath island kind of makes no sense here.
*{{w|Gotland}} (3,200 km²) and {{w|Long Island}} (3,600 km²) are even smaller and, like {{w|Taiwan}} (36,200 km²), are not even close to being south of their respective mainlands.
*{{w|Cuba}} (105,800 km²) which "dangles" south of Florida seems to also not quite fit the theme as it is much larger and longer than the part that is "dangles" beneath and thus would not be considered dangling from Florida, rather supporting Florida.
*{{w|Sumatra}} (482,300 km²), is not dangling south of the Malay peninsula as it goes much higher up and is also much larger than the part of the mainland it should dangle beneath so makes no sense to look as it as dangling.

==Transcript==
:[A banner hangs at the top of the frame with a large acronym written above four map segments. The map segments show a landmass in grey with an island at the bottom drawn in black. Beneath the banner are four people. Hairbun and Cueball to the left are shaking hands while looking at each other, Megan is looking towards the unseen crows arms spread out and Hairy to the right is waving with one arm.]
:Banner: C.I.D.A.B.M.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Geopolitical news: Sicily, Sri Lanka, Hainan, and Tasmania have joined together to form the Coalition of Islands that Dangle Awkwardly from the Bottom of a Mainland.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Maps]]

2999: Bad Map Projection: The United Stralia

2024-10-25T16:37:20Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 2999
| date = October 16, 2024
| title = Bad Map Projection: The United Stralia
| image = bad_map_projection_the_united_stralia_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x651px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This projection distorts both area and direction, but preserves Melbourne.
}}

==Explanation==

This is the eighth comic in the series of [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|Bad Map Projections]] displaying Bad Map Projection #102: The United Stralia. It follows [[2951|#45: Exterior Kansas]], released about three and a half months earlier. In this addition to the Bad Map Projections series, Randall has blended two different countries — the United States of America and Australia — into one.

As with a number of Bad Map Projections, the primary joke is the naming of this ''as'' a "map projection". Its depiction is particularly similar to [[2807: Bad Map Projection: ABS(Longitude)]], in which geography is overlaid upon other geography. It also follows the practice of [[2256: Bad Map Projection: South America]], in which a general continental shape is forced upon other areas, with the general geographical outline of the 48 contiguous US states being merged with the political boundaries of Australia (with exceptions, most obviously Australia's Bass Strait being retained in lieu of the US's central Florida). At a further level of merging, the US states are repacked as subdivisions within the various Australian ones; as with the likes of [[2394: Contiguous 41 States]], it also takes some liberties with the relative neighboring positioning of some of these, although not by totally removing any of the actual {{w|contiguous United States}}. Alaska and Hawaii aren't included, likely because the 48 contiguous US states better match the shape and size of Australia. Australia also has no territories that would make a good match in size or shape for Alaska and Hawaii.

The geographically relative climate of the states of the USA is broadly opposite of Australia's. Australia's north is closest to the equator but the USA's north is farthest from the equator. Thus, if Australia's climate were literally applied to the US, Florida would be relatively cold while Maine would be hot. Likewise, applying USA's climate to Australia would make northern Australia unusually cold and southern Australia relatively hot.

The map pokes fun at superficial and irrelevant similarities between features of the maps of the United States and Australia, such as the shape of the east coasts of {{w|New England}} and the {{w|Cape York Peninsula}}, and the distance to the southern tip of the island of {{w|Tasmania}} and the length of the {{w|Florida}} {{w|peninsula}}. The end result is to illustrate a fanciful place which does not actually exist and thus would have limited worth for navigating either Australia or the USA, although navigation between two listed locations/areas drawn from the same original continent would at least be broadly possible (with the possibility of a few 'surprises' en route). The blending features cities from both countries on the map, e.g., San Francisco and Los Angeles (USA) close to Perth (Australia).

The {{w|states and territories of Australia}} are depicted with black lines/labels, while the {{w|states of the United States}} and such cities as are taken from either nation are marked with gray. The Australian states are labeled with their full names, but the American states are given only their postal abbreviations. (Mississippi is mislabeled as MI, in addition to Michigan's own correct usage, instead of the official MS.) Western Australia is usually abbreviated to WA, but the convention here leaves that unambiguously assigned to the US state of Washington. Idaho, for some reason, is not labeled at all, and neither is the Australian island state of Tasmania.

The title text makes a joke that this map does not preserve {{w|Equal-area projection|area}} or {{w|Conformal map projection|direction}} (typically, a map projection {{w|Map projection#Metric properties of maps|sacrifices one to preserve the other}}, or both to correctly depict a particular distance metric), but does preserve the city of Melbourne as a feature located on the map, near the actual location of {{w|Melbourne, Florida}}. Note that this is not the correct location of {{w|Melbourne}}, Australia, as it is far too much east in the bad map projection, but there is nothing to stop the shared Melbourne being entirely 'correct' and every ''other'' feature being shifted as a 'compromise'. The concept of a point being 'preserved', rather than actual dimensionally-meaningful quantities, is meaningless and just adds to the badness of the projection. There are other city names shared between the US and Australia, but they're not located at any obviously similar geographic locations; e.g., the location of Brisbane in the comic is based on the instance in {{w|Brisbane|Queensland}}, not {{w|Brisbane, California|California}} (potentially named after the main example) or {{w|Brisbane, North Dakota|North Dakota}}.

This is the second comic in October 2024 in which Tasmania appears, the first being [[2996: CIDABM]]. Both feature the major island groups in the Bass Strait, in this case perhaps intended as a sort of analogue to the {{w|Florida Keys}}, or else orphaned coastline features across the 'missing' segment of the US peninsula.

===Geographical relationships===
From west to east, the Australian states and territories contain the following U.S. states; the positions of Australian cities on the map are also listed:

{{w|Western Australia}} contains the following U.S. states:
*Arizona
*California
** {{w|Perth, Australia|Perth}} appears on the California coast, about halfway between {{w|Los Angeles}} and {{w|San Francisco}}.
* Colorado
* Idaho
* Montana
* Nevada
* New Mexico
* Oregon
* Utah
* Washington
* Wyoming

{{w|Northern Territory}} contains the following U.S. states:
* Illinois
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Michigan ({{w|Upper Peninsula}})
* Minnesota
** {{w|Darwin (Australia)|Darwin}} is positioned in northwestern Minnesota.
* Missouri
* Nebraska
* North Dakota
* South Dakota
* Wisconsin

{{w|South Australia}} contains the following U.S. states:
* Arkansas
* Louisiana
** {{w|Adelaide, Australia|Adelaide}} is located in the {{w|Mississippi River delta}} region of Louisiana.
* Oklahoma
* Texas

{{w|Queensland}} contains the following U.S. states and territories:
* Connecticut
* Delaware
* District of Columbia
* Indiana
* Kentucky
* Maine
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Michigan ({{w|Lower Peninsula}})
* New Hampshire
* New Jersey
* New York
* North Carolina
** {{w|Brisbane}} is located on the coast in southeast North Carolina.
* Ohio
* Pennsylvania
* Rhode Island
* Tennessee
* Vermont
* Virginia
* West Virginia

{{w|New South Wales}} contains the following U.S. states:

* Alabama
* Georgia
** {{w|Canberra}}, and presumably the rest of the {{w|Australian Capital Territory}}, is located in southeastern Georgia.
* Mississippi
* South Carolina
** {{w|Sydney, Australia|Sydney}} is located along the coast of South Carolina, near the location of {{w|Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston}}.

{{w|Victoria, Australia|Victoria}} and {{w|Tasmania}} combine to make up the U.S. state of Florida, which is now divided into two non-contiguous parts. As a result Tasmania, which has a {{w|Omission of Tasmania from maps of Australia|history of being omitted from maps of Australia}}, is displayed but not named. {{w|Melbourne}} is located in the southeast corner of Victorian Florida. Although Tasmania's largest city {{w|Hobart}} is not labeled, it could share the same general location of Miami on the map. Alaska and Hawaii, the two non-{{w|Contiguous United States|contiguous states}} of the United States, do not appear in the projection. Other major geographic distortions include:
* The U.S. now has two {{w|quadripoint}}s, with the intersection of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico joining the existing {{w|Four Corners}}.
* Indiana has a border with Arkansas.
* Alabama and Mississippi have lost Gulf Coast access, as Florida has a border with Louisiana.
* Missouri has a north-south border with Oklahoma.
* {{w|Miami, Florida|Miami}} is separated from the lower 48 states, as it is now located in the non-contiguous Tasmanian Florida.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Above the map, in 3 paragraphs:
:Bad map projection #102:
:[In larger letters than the first or the third paragraph]: The United Stralia
:A 50/50 US/Australia blend

[A map whose left side looks like that of Australia and whose right side looks like that of the United States, with Tasmania swapped out for a supposed island that looks like South Florida. The modified subdivisions of Australia are bordered with black with their names also black, while those of the United States are bordered with the same grey the city names are written with, with the US state abbreviations being a brighter one]:

==Trivia==
The use of "Stralia" in the title echoes a common Australian verbal abbreviation for the country, often styled something like '''Stralia'', in casual speech or sometimes {{w|Elsa Stralia#Stage name|more formally}}. This is a convenient punny replacement of the word "States" in "The United States", as it starts with the same two letters.

On the day this comic was released, the xkcd homepage changed to show a [[:File:xkcd_homepage_strip_harris_for_president.png|strip]] showing [[Cueball]] installing a "Harris For President" sign in some grass, presumably on his lawn. This relates to the upcoming 2024 US presidential election.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Bad Map Projections]]
[[Category:US maps]]

2994: Númenor Margaritaville

2024-10-25T16:36:29Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 2994
| date = October 4, 2024
| title = Númenor Margaritaville
| image = numenor_margaritaville_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x553px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I see white shores, and beyond it, a far green country under a tequila sunrise.
}}

==Explanation==

Cueball is conflating {{w|J.R.R. Tolkien}}'s fictional island "[https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/N%C3%BAmenor Númenor]" with the beach resort in {{w|Jimmy Buffett}}'s "{{w|Margaritaville}}". The Elf who is telling him about Númenor, and Aragorn's link to it, becomes progressively more upset, and for cause.

Aragorn, more precisely [https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Aragorn_II Aragorn II], is the principal Mannish protagonist of Tolkien's {{w|The_Lord_of_the_Rings|The Lord of the Rings}}. He is crowned High King of Gondor and Arnor at the end of the saga. He is descended from [https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Elros Elros Tar-Minyatur], first king of Númenor and brother of {{w|Elrond}}.

"I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead" is a line from Buffett's song "Growing Older But Not Up", from his 1981 album ''{{w|Coconut Telegraph}}''. [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Ar-Pharaz%C3%B4n Ar-Pharazôn], the twenty-fifth, and last, king of Númenor, sought to conquer the {{w|Valinor|Undying Lands}}, resolving to win eternal life, or die in the attempt. He was therefore responsible for the destruction of Númenor, the removal of the Undying Lands from {{w|Cosmology_of_Tolkien%27s_legendarium#Arda|Arda}}, and the transformation of Arda into a sphere.

"If there's a heaven for me, I'm sure it has a beach attached" is a quote from the chapter "A Caribbean Soul" of Buffett's autobiography ''{{w|A Pirate Looks at Fifty}}''. [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Tol_Eress%C3%ABa Tol Eressëa] is an island off the coast of Aman, the continent on which the Valar (divine angelic spirits) live. Aman is thought to have been inspired by the concept of a [https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Aman#Inspiration paradise out of time].

Cueball's last line alludes to a statement made by Galadriel in ''{{w|The Fellowship of the Ring}}'', in the chapter "The Mirror of Galadriel": "I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel." Cueball's altered version of the statement refers to {{w|Key West, Florida}}, a city closely associated with Buffett, where he lived for many years, recorded albums, and established the first restaurant in his {{w|Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville|Margaritaville chain}}.

The title text alludes to a line from Book VI, Chapter 9: The Grey Havens in ''{{w|The Return of the King}}''. "And then it seemed to him {{w|Frodo_Baggins|[Frodo]}} that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise." The modified line makes a reference to the {{w|Tequila sunrise}} cocktail - and, perhaps, to the {{w|Tequila_Sunrise_(Eagles_song)|song by the Eagles}}, which is thematically similar to "Margaritaville".

Tolkien's legendarium is [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:LOTR frequently alluded to] in xkcd.

==Transcript==
:[An Elf woman with a decorated headband around her long blonde hair and wearing a long dress is walking and talking with Cueball who walks ahead of her looking back at her over his shoulder.]
:Elf: Aragorn was king of Gondor, but we Elves remember when his line ruled Númenor.
:Cueball: Oh, the place from the Jimmy Buffett songs?

:[Closeup on Cueball who has stopped and turned towards the now off-panel Elf. The Elf's reaction is coming from a star burst in the top left corner of the panel.]
:Elf [off-panel]: What.
:Cueball: The semi-mythical seafaring Atlantic paradise? He sang about it. With the fancy cocktails?

:[Zoom back out showing that the Elf and Cueball are now standing facing each other.]
:Elf: ...You mean Margaritaville?
:Cueball: Yeah, that must be the modern name.

:[Another closeup on Cueball with the Elf speaking off-panel as before.]
:Elf [off-panel]: Númenor is not Margaritaville.
:Cueball: "I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead," sang Ar-Pharazôn, king of island life.

:[Zoom back out to see the Elf is now facepalming while Cueball continues.]
:Elf: Please stop.
:Cueball: "If there's a heaven for me, I'm sure it has a beach attached" is about the shores of Tol Eressëa.

:[The Elf is walking away from Cueball who raises his finger in the air.]
:Elf: See, this is why I'm leaving the world of Men.
:Cueball: You shall diminish, and go into Key West.

==Trivia==

In the image of the comic [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/f/f7/20241006145447%21numenor_margaritaville_2x.png as first published], Númenor was styled "Numenor", and Ar-Pharazôn was given as "Tar-Pharazôn". Cueball had mistakenly appended the Elvish ({{w|Quenya}}) royal title Tar to the Mannish ({{w|Adûnaic}}) regnal name Pharazôn; the king did have a Quenya name, Tar-Calion, but he didn't use it, following the precedent established by most of the Kings of Númenor and signaling the increasing estrangement of the Men of the West (apart from the Elf Friends) from the Elves. The errors were corrected two days after publication.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Food]]

3002: RNAWorld

2024-10-25T16:35:43Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 3002
| date = October 23, 2024
| title = RNAWorld
| image = rnaworld_2x.png
| imagesize = 275x345px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Disney lore: Canonically, because of how Elsa's abiogenesis powers work, Olaf is an RNA-only organism.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic conflates {{w|biology}} and {{w|Disney World}}. Disney World is one of a franchise of theme parks with attractions based on various {{w|Walt Disney Company|Disney}} movies, while {{w|RNA world hypothesis}} is a proposed origin of life, in which RNA acts both as the genetic material and {{w|Ribozyme|the enzymatic machinery needed to copy it.}}

{{w|Ariel (The Little Mermaid)|Ariel}} is the titular character from {{w|The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|''The Little Mermaid''}}. In the film she likes to collect human artifacts; the comic replaces this with collecting {{w|nucleotides}}, the basic building blocks of {{w|DNA}} and {{w|RNA}}.

{{w|Ratatouille (film)|''Ratatouille''}} is a film about a French rat named Remy who dreams of becoming a gourmet chef. The comic conflates the soup that a chef might create for patrons to eat with "{{w|primordial soup}}", the environment that's believed to have existed on the early Earth when the processes of life began.

{{w|Elsa (Frozen)|Elsa}} is one of the lead characters from the {{w|Frozen (2013 film)|''Frozen''}} movies. In the film she has the magical ability to control ice and snow, and she used this power to make the snowman {{w|Olaf (Frozen)|Olaf}} come to life. The comic equates this with the original {{w|abiogenesis|emergence of life on Earth}}, or life from non-life, through {{w|ribozyme}} synthesis. Ribozymes are RNA molecules that, similarly to enzymes made of protein, catalyze biochemical reactions, such as the splicing of RNA during gene expression.

The title text continues this by saying that since Elsa's ability is based on ribozymes, Olaf's machinery of life must be based only on RNA, not DNA. This fits in with the theme of RNA World. Olaf generally appears to be (by mass) mostly just snow but, in common with various ideas about {{w|Comet nucleus#%22Dirty snowball%22|the makeup of cometary ice}} (and the role played by them in 'seeding' the young Earth with organic molecules), might well be thoroughly imbued with carbon-rich compounds ''other'' than those inherent in his carrot nose, coal buttons, and basic twig/stick elements. "Canonically" refers to {{w|Canon (fiction)|fictional canon}} (in this case Disney fiction), "the body of works taking place in a particular fictional world that are widely considered to be official or authoritative."

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, Ponytail, Jill, and another child with a dark hair (wearing Mickey/Minnie ears) are walking through an amusement park. Cueball has a water bottle and a backpack, Ponytail is looking at a map or a brochure with a helix structure shown on one page, Jill is pointing forward while holding a small stuffed toy (that looks like Stitch), and the other child has a popsicle. Cueballs, Megans, and Hairys can be seen in the background in gray. There are also a drop tower, a roller coaster, a shop, and a hot air balloon in the background.]
:Ponytail: Okay, kids, now that Ariel is done collecting nucleotides for Ratatouille’s primordial soup, let’s go watch Elsa initiate runaway ribozyme synthesis!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Disney’s RNAWorld

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Disney]]

2995: University Commas

2024-10-25T16:34:40Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 2995
| date = October 7, 2024
| title = University Commas
| image = university_commas_2x.png
| imagesize = 580x273px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The distinctive 'UCLA comma' and 'Michigan comma' are a long string of commas at the start and end of the sentence respectively.
}}

==Explanation==

The use of commas in the English language is {{w|Comma#Uses in English|famously disputed}}, most relevantly among publishers and academics. This comic imagines that all possible (and some improbable) comma positions in an example sentence are associated with different universities. This applies to commas which should ''always'' be present in a list, optional commas (regardless of whether they have anything to do with a list, such as after the word "please") and blatantly erroneous commas (which should ''never'' be present in a sentence, e.g. immediately prior to the {{w|full stop}}/period).

The Oxford comma (a.k.a. {{w|serial comma}} or, despite how this comic represents it, the ''actual'' Harvard comma) is a comma between the penultimate item in a list and its conjunction (typically ''and'' or ''or''), to echo all the commas (at least one) that act as {{w|Comma#List separator and the serial (Oxford) comma|placeholders for the conjunction}} in-between all prior members of the list. For instance, you might write "red, white, and blue" (with the Oxford comma) or "red, white and blue" (without it). Some style guides, such as ''{{w|The Oxford Style Manual}}'' published by {{w|Oxford University Press}}, (unsurprisingly) recommend using it, while other similarly authoritative guides recommend against it. Though even those with either recommendation may suggest its (non-)use in situations where this avoids an ambiguity arising from the normally recommended choice.

One {{w|Serial comma#Ambiguity|common example}} showing the need for an Oxford comma is "To my parents, Ayn Rand''',''' and God". Without the comma (as in: "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God"), it may read that the author's parents are Ayn Rand and God. If such confusion is to be avoided, reordering the list is a common way to avoid ambiguity, for example, "To Ayn Rand, God and my parents" is one such reordering. However, the use of an Oxford comma in this version might imply the deification of Ayn Rand. Conversely, if the sentence was instead to be "To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God", with such a comma, there arises the possibility of an assertion that one's mother is Ayn Rand, whereas "To my mother, Ayn Rand and God" does not let one fall into that trap.

{{w|Macaroni and cheese}} (often shortened to "Mac and cheese" in the US and Canada) should be considered a single item in a list like this. When just two items are joined together, e.g. to name a compound food such as "peanut butter and jelly", "fish and chips" or "steak and eggs", a comma isn't placed before "and". It is in the use of such compounded items, as a singular list item, where some confusion can arise. Alternate forms ("fish'n'chips", "salt-and-pepper", "PB&J") can put emphasis upon the low-level linking of the components, the outer list can be rewritten (e.g. with semicolon separation) or the reader can be left to logically assume where such a commonly encountered pairing is not part of the wider list. A difference in conjunction can also help to clarify, as in "A good choice of breakfast is ham and eggs, sausage and eggs or sausage and beans, but not ham and beans", which is ''unlikely'' to be accidentally misunderstood (including as options such as "sausage + (eggs or additional sausage) + beans" or "sausage + ('non-ham' beans) + further beans").

In the most common interpretation the example sentence reads (with proper punctuation and bracketed Oxford comma): "Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread."

However, most of the commas are possible punctuation marks in a specific pragmatic reading of the sentence:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
! Comma name !! Notation !! Explanation
|-
| Harvard comma || Please, buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || Emphatic plea, marked by a sub-clause separator. (Note that "Harvard comma" is already a common synonym for the Oxford comma, in its context.)
{{w|Harvard University}} is one of eight {{w|Ivy League}} universities in the United States.
|-
| Yale comma || Please buy, apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || A merchant's plea to their customer, marked by a sub-clause separator. This makes the sentence a sentence fragment but this is not uncommon in speech. One use of a comma is to indicate a grammatical aside in speech and (optionally) a return from that pause — as it would here — though more formal writing would typically used a more specific punctuation mark, such as a colon. The implication may be that the list of items are those for sale or that there is a promotion around those items specifically.
{{w|Yale University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
|-
| Stanford comma || Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || Mandatory separator in a list.
{{w|Stanford University}} is one of the prominent universities in the United States. It is located in Silicon Valley, a short distance from the headquarters of {{w|Apple Inc.}} The Stanford comma between "apples" and "mac" is probably necessary there to distinguish discussions of the food products from discussion of the computer products.
|-
| Columbia comma || Please buy apples, mac, and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || A plea to buy apples, cheese, milk and bread, directed at a person called Mac, whose name is stylized as "mac".

Alternatively, a plea to buy apples, a raincoat, cheese, milk[,] and bread. The first 'and' would then be superfluous, but this could reflect the speaker adding the last two items in the moment to an initial request for the first three.

{{w|Columbia University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
|-
| Cambridge comma || (Please buy apples, mac, and, cheese being unavailable, milk[,] and bread.) || Valid with a qualifying sub-clause; invalid in the example sentence. Also requires "mac" to be an item of its own, not a part of "mac and cheese".
The {{w|University of Cambridge}} is one of the two eponymous {{w|Oxbridge}} universities in the United Kingdom. Not to be confused with {{w|Cambridge, Massachusetts#Higher education|other establishments}} in (or originally in) Cambridge, Massachusetts.
|-
| Cornell comma || Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and bread. || Mandatory separator in a list.
{{w|Cornell University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States. It has {{w|Cornell Dairy|its own dairy farm}}, which is why the Cornell comma is placed between dairy products, "cheese" and "milk".
|-
| Oxford comma || Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk, and bread. || The {{w|Oxford comma}}, as discussed above, is a comma often used in lists (with more than two elements) to further separate the last two elements and thus attempt to avoid ambiguity. In this case, it is unlikely that there would be confusion as to how to interpret the given list, with or without this comma.
The {{w|University of Oxford}} is the other eponymous Oxbridge university in the United Kingdom. Not to be confused with {{w|Oxford Brookes University}}, or universities in {{w|Oxford_(disambiguation)#Places|any other Oxford}}.
|-
| Princeton comma || (Please buy apples, mac and cheese, milk[,] and, bread being out of stock, oats.) || Valid with a qualifying sub-clause; invalid in the example sentence.
{{w|Princeton University}} is one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States.
|-
| MIT comma || (Please, buy, apples, mac, and, cheese, milk, and, bread, thank you.) || Possible reference to [https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11597901/why-are-trailing-commas-allowed-in-a-list trailing commas sometimes used in programming], which would be associated with a university highly specialized in technology. If each of these words were identifiers, then including all commas would be a valid way to express a list in some languages (though using a period to indicate the end of a list is uncommon). Specifically, MIT is home to the Rust programming language, which uses trailing commas for the last item of a list as a matter of programming style. In some programming languages trailing commas are allowed since a comma denotes a list and a trailing comma is a way to create a Single-Element list.
The {{w|Massachusetts Institute of Technology}} is one of the prominent universities in the United States.{{citation needed}}
|-
| UCLA comma(s) || (,,,…,,,Please buy apples, mac, and, cheese, milk[,] and bread.) || rowspan="2" | '''Title text proposal''', the two establishments being responsible for each set of commas, perhaps in collaboration. Can perhaps relate to rather specific quotation or quote-separation contexts not in common use. Also strangely looks like German quote marks (two commas at the beginning of the quote and two apostrophes at the end) and their LaTeX representation if you are using the babel package.
The {{w|University of California, Los Angeles}} and the {{w|University of Michigan}} are two more well known universities in the United States.{{citation needed}}
|-
| Michigan comma(s) || (Please buy apples, mac, and, cheese, milk[,] and bread.,,,…,,,)
|}

Depending upon who you talk to, the two establishments referenced by the title text may not be considered quite as prominent or outstanding as the Ivy League universities, or others mentioned here, hence their relegation to title text punchline. But (actual Ivy Leaguers) {{w|Brown University}}, {{w|Dartmouth College}} and the {{w|University of Pennsylvania}} were not referenced at all, for one reason or another; for example, the very idea of a "Brown comma" might more readily resonate with the concept of the {{w|Brown note}}.

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

:[A sentence is written in greyed-out text, with the commas in black and each labeled with an arrow.]
:Please''',''' buy''',''' apples''',''' mac''',''' and''',''' cheese''',''' milk''',''' and''',''' bread''','''.

:[The labels are as follows, in order from left to right:]
:Harvard comma
:Yale comma
:Stanford comma
:Columbia comma
:Cambridge comma
:Cornell comma
:Oxford comma
:Princeton comma
:MIT comma

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The Oxford one is the most famous, but many major universities have their own comma.

==Trivia==
[[Randall]] appears to be a fairly regular user of the Serial/Oxford Comma himself, with the most recent example being in the title text of [[2985: Craters]]. This is clearly out of habit or preference, as it is not required for clarification purposes. Yet it seems he also appreciates the conflicting viewpoints inherent to such a style opinion. He later completely avoided the use of list-commas in a (three-part) list within the comic text of the successive [[2986: Every Scientific Field]], possibly for rhetorical reasons.

This very wiki currently reminds anyone editing a page that their contributions "may be edited, altered, or removed", which is also not a syntactical necessity beyond adherence to the Oxford styling. Later, in the same paragraph of text, it also uses structure of "…, or … or …", but for different grammatical reasons that are unrelated to serial/list commas.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Food]]

2998: Ravioli-Shaped Objects

2024-10-25T16:32:29Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 2998
| date = October 14, 2024
| title = Ravioli-Shaped Objects
| image = ravioli_shaped_objects_2x.png
| imagesize = 608x569px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's a real accomplishment to mess up a ravioli recipe badly enough that the resulting incident touches all four quadrants of the NFPA hazard diamond.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Ravioli}} are a kind of stuffed {{w|pasta}} comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough, commonly square shaped, and serving as the object of this comic's table, which can be seen as a kind of {{w|confusion matrix}}. This comic compares four ravioli-shaped objects (square shaped objects with bulging cross-sections due to their filling) with some common actions associated with them. See the [[#Table of ravioli objects|table]] below.

The title text refers to the {{w|NFPA 704}} diagram for hazardous materials, a diamond figure put out by the {{w|National Fire Protection Association}} showing four kinds of fire hazards. A ravioli that touched all four quadrants would be a health hazard, fire hazard, and demonstrate (chemical) reactivity, and have some other miscellaneous hazard(s). The NFPA diamond was previously mentioned in [[2638: Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond]].

===Table of ravioli objects===
{| class="wikitable" | style="background:#E6C3C3;"
! Ravioli-Shaped Objects
! scope="col"| Eat with a fork
! scope="col"| Rest your head on
! scope="col"| Puncture and slurp
! scope="col"| Install in your phone
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Ravioli}}
| style="background:#C5E6C3;"|Ravioli pasta would indeed be suitable to be eaten with a fork, as shown.
|Ravioli pasta is not structurally strong enough to support the weight of a human head while reclining, and would break and spill its filling over one's head and the object one is resting on. It may also be covered in sauce, adding to the general mess.
|style="background:#FBF8CE;"|If the ravioli filling is fluid enough, one could slurp it out with a straw. This would waste the pasta component, if it were not eaten afterwards.
|Phones are not meant to run on ravioli. Stuffing a phone with a raviolo would cause it to break as shown, spilling the filling through the phone, which is a terrible idea.

There is a mobile app named Ravioli, but it is quite unlikely that Randall had that in his mind.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Throw pillow}}
|Throw pillows are made of cloth and are inedible, whether one uses a fork or not.
| style="background:#C5E6C3;"|A throw pillow is meant to be used as head support while reclining on furniture.
|Throw pillows do not usually have liquids inside them. Hence, Cueball finds, to his dismay, that it's empty.
|Throw pillows are significantly bigger than phones and as such can't fit inside them, nor can typical pillows power them. As depicted, the attempt to force a pillow inside the phone has split the latter in half; the top half of the phone is visible on top of the pillow, and a bit of the bottom half can be seen beneath it.
|-
! scope="row"| {{w|Capri Sun}}
|Eating a pouch of sweetened juice with a fork would most likely simply pierce the pouch and spill the liquid all over Cueball.
|style="background:#FBF8CE;"|A Capri Sun would serve as a waterbed of sorts, and wouldn't be unduly uncomfortable in a pinch. However, it's still possible that the pouch could rupture and leave you with a sticky head and no support.
|style="background:#C5E6C3;"|Capri Suns are meant to be drunk like this, and are enjoyed by many.{{citation needed}}
|The phone shown is surrounded by spilled Capri Sun, implying that the attempt to force the two together punctured the pouch. The resulting spillage would most likely just result in the surface of the phone becoming annoyingly sticky, but if the liquid managed to get inside the phone (especially if the cover had been removed to try to put it in the compartment that usually holds the battery) it could cause a more significant and difficult to clean mess. Once actual power is provided (either an actual battery being subsequently used or the device offered external power by cable or inductance charger), the remaining residue could cause any number of further faults, and perhaps even critical component damage.
|-
! scope="row"| Bulging {{w|Lithium-ion battery|Lithium Battery}}
|Bulging lithium batteries are explosive hazards and should not be punctured lest they explode. Additionally the contents of the battery are toxic if one were to somehow manage to eat the burning bits of the battery.
|A lithium battery is a small, hard object, and a bulging one is no exception. Since the bulging comes from a buildup of heat and gas, (the primary gases being hydrogen and carbon dioxide), it would also be a constant fire hazard, which would not be conducive to relaxation.{{cn}} Lithium battery themed throw pillows, which bulge similarly to such batteries, do exist as a novelty item. Notably, these types of batteries are often referred to as "spicy pillows".
|Similarly to the 'eat with a fork' example, puncturing a bulging lithium battery is a bad idea.
|A bulging lithium battery ''could'' be installed in a phone, if one is willing to break the phone a bit (like the screen in the comic) to accommodate the bulging of the battery. More commonly, bulging batteries form inside the phone itself; if you don't usually have reason to charge or store it separately, you might only notice the problem when it causes the case or screen (shown as partly cracked, in the image) to distort significantly. In [[1422: My Phone is Dying]], [[Beret Guy]]'s phone is expanding. Although in his case it is not the normal bulging battery that causes this.
Upon noticing the bulging of a battery, it is strongly suggested that you uninstall it from the device it is in. It is at least no longer good at holding/delivering its power, and may even become at least as {{w|Lithium-ion battery#Fire hazard|hazardous}} as when used in all the other scenarios, so you should [https://www.reading.ac.uk/health-safety-services/fire-safety/lithium-battery-information/i-have-a-swollen-lithium-ion-battery-what-should-i-do ignore it at your peril].
|}

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

:[A 4x4 grid of squares. The columns are labeled: Eat with a fork, rest your head on, puncture and slurp, install in your phone. The rows are: Ravioli, throw pillow, Capri Sun, bulging lithium battery. Each row has an image of each respective item above the title, with the words “Home Sweet Home” on the throw pillow, and “Fruit” on the Capri Sun.]

Top-Left
:Ravioli, eat with a fork: [green]
::[Cueball sits on a chair in front of a table with a jar of sauce on it. He is eating from a plate from ravioli.]
::Cueball: ''Nom Nom Nom''

Top Mid-Left
:Ravioli, Rest your head on: [red]
::[Cueball is lying down on a couch with ravioli smooshed on his head and the couch. Ravioli bits can be seen on the ground]
::Cueball: Eww.

Top Mid-Right
:Ravioli, puncture and slurp: [yellow]
::[Cueball is slurping from a ravioli through a straw. In front of him is table with two plates, presumably with ravioli on them.]
::''Slurp''

Top-Right
:Ravioli, Install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone is shown with bits of ravioli sticking out and tomato sauce is dripping out.]

Top-Mid Left
:Throw pillow, eat with a fork: [red]
::[Cueball sits on a chair in front of a table with a jar of sauce on it. He is poking with a fork at a throw pillow covered in tomato sauce.]
::''Poke poke''

Top-Mid Mid-Left
:Throw pillow, rest your head on: [green]
::[Cueball is looking at his phone and is lying on a couch. His head is resting on a throw pillow.]

Top-Mid Mid-Right
:Throw pillow, puncture and slurp: [red]
::[Cueball is sucking on a straw that is inserted in a pillow.]
::Cueball: Aw man, this one is empty.

Top-Mid Right
:Throw pillow, install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone is shown on a throw pillow that has the words “Home Sweet Home” partially obscured.]

Bottom-Mid Left
:Capri Sun, eat with a fork: [red]
::[Cueball sits on a chair in front of a table with a jar of sauce on it. He has stabbed a Capri Sun on a plate and is now splattered with juice.]

Bottom-Mid Mid-Left
:Capri Sun, rest your head on: [yellow]
::[Cueball is looking at his phone and is lying on a couch. His head is resting on a Capri Sun.]
::Cueball: Honestly kind of comfortable.

Bottom-Mid Mid-Right
:Capri Sun, puncture and slurp: [green]
::[Cueball is drinking from a Capri Sun through a straw.]
::''Sluuurp''

Bottom-Mid Right
:Capri Sun, Install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone is shown to be squishing a Capri Sun. Juice is trickling out.]

Bottom Left
:Bulging lithium battery, eat with a fork: [red]
::[An explosion bordered by 4 skull and crossbones.]

Bottom Mid-Left
:Bulging lithium battery, rest your head on: [red]
::[Cueball is looking at his phone and lying on his couch. His head is resting on a smoldering battery.]
::Cueball: This fire hazard is uncomfortable.

Bottom Mid-Right
:Bulging lithium battery, puncture and slurp: [red]
::[An explosion bordered by 4 skull and crossbones.]

Bottom Right
:Bulging lithium battery, install in your phone: [red]
::[A phone with a bulging back, presumably from the bulging lithium battery. The phone’s screen is cracked in the center.]

==Trivia==
Surprisingly, the bottom right square was [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/4/4f/20241019165156%21ravioli_shaped_objects_2x.png initially marked in  green ] rather than  red  (or  yellow ) when it was first uploaded. This square may have been marked in green because, although putting a bulging battery in a mobile phone is not normal usage, it is a situation that can ''arise'' from normal usage when a "healthy" battery begins to fail. One other suggestion was that this was an [[:Category:xkcd Phones|xkcd phone]], and a dodgy battery is part of a 'feature', such as an 'integrated hand warmer' or 'dynamic expansion').

More likely, it was just because Randall automatically went with the default association of "Row N is appopriate for Column N", as is his [[:Category:Confusion matrices|usual design]] for these comics, to which he adds adjustments for other surprises, exceptions and outright jokes.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Confusion matrices]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Phones]]

3001: Temperature Scales

2024-10-25T16:31:18Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 3001
| date = October 21, 2024
| title = Temperature Scales
| image = temperature_scales_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x535px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In my new scale, °X, 0 is Earths' record lowest surface temperature, 50 is the global average, and 100 is the record highest, with a linear scale between each point and adjustment every year as needed.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an TOTALLY CONFORMING TEMPERATURE SYSTEM. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Since the invention of the {{w|thermometer}}, a number of different {{w|temperature}} scales have been proposed. In modern times, most of the world uses the 1742 {{w|Celsius}} scale for everyday temperature measurements. A small number of countries (the USA and {{w|Territories of the United States|its territories}}, the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Liberia, and Palau) retain the {{w|Imperial units|imperial system}} (or the related {{w|United States customary units|US customary system}}), which uses the 1724 {{w|Fahrenheit}} scale. The other widely used temperature scale is the 1848 {{w|kelvin}}, which uses the same scale as degrees Celsius, but is rooted at {{w|absolute zero}}, making it both useful in scientific calculations and easy to convert to and from °Celsius (which, along with °Fahrenheit, is now officially defined relative to kelvins). Kelvins have been part of the widely adopted official {{w|metric system}} since 1954. Even in countries that use Fahrenheit, scientific measurements are usually made in degrees Celsius or kelvin.

The comic compares these scales, and a number of others, on [[Randall]]'s scale of "cursedness." The joke is highlighting how different the temperature scales are, and how impractical most of them are. All of the listed scales are real, but may be considered obsolete to varying degrees. Please see also [[1923: Felsius]], a combination of degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius.

{| class=wikitable
! scope="col" | Unit
! scope="col" | Water freezes
! scope="col" | Water boils
! scope="col" | Notes
! scope="col" | Cursedness
! scope="col" | Explanation
|-
| {{w|Celsius}} || 0 || 100 || Used in most of the world || 2/10 || The Celsius (°C) scale, also known as "centigrade", was devised by Swedish astronomer {{w|Anders Celsius}} in 1742 and revised in 1745, a year after his death. 0°C represents the freezing point of water and 100°C represents the boiling point, both under {{w|standard atmospheric pressure}}. The Celsius scale is now defined in terms of kelvins. By the given "cursedness," it is regarded as one of the least problematic temperature scales.
|-
| {{w|Kelvin}} || 273.15 || 373.15 || 0K is absolute zero || 2/10 || Kelvin (plural with a lowercase 'k' as a temperature unit; or as the symbol 'K', without the degrees symbol '°', unlike most other such units) is a unit of temperature devised by {{w|Lord Kelvin}} in 1848. It uses the same scale as Celsius but is shifted by 273.15 to set absolute zero at 0K (based on the {{w|Boltzmann constant}}.)
<center>Celsius = kelvin - 273.15</center>
<center>kelvin = Celsius + 273.15</center>
While kelvin is very useful for calculations in {{w|thermodynamics}} and material physics, it can be unintuitive to laypersons.
|-
| {{w|Fahrenheit}} || 32 || 212 || Outdoors in most places is between 0–100 || 3/10 || Fahrenheit (°F) is officially used in a few countries and informally in several others. It originated in a time when factors of 360 were favored in science over powers of ten, which is why the freezing and boiling points of water are set 180° apart. Devised around 1724, {{w|Daniel Fahrenheit}} chose not to base 0° on the freezing point of water, instead originally setting it at the coldest temperature he could achieve: the freezing point of an {{w|ammonium chloride}} {{w|brine}} solution.
<center>Celsius = (Fahrenheit - 32) × 5/9</center>
<center>Fahrenheit = Celsius × 9/5 + 32</center>
Although those reference points are now considered arbitrary and outdated by modern scholars, the scale gained popularity in Anglophone countries because everyday weather conditions usually fall handily all across the range 0–100°F, and 100°F is {{w|Human body temperature#Historical understanding|coincidentally close to normal human body temperature}}. The Fahrenheit scale remains officially used only in Randall's home country (the U.S., and its territories), the Bahamas, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Liberia and Palau.
|-
| {{w|Réaumur scale|Réaumur}} || 0 || 80 || Like Celsius, but with 80 instead of 100 || 3/8 || Abbreviated as °Ré, this system devised by {{w|René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur}} in 1730 was used in some places until the early 20th century, mostly for cheese-making.
<center>Celsius = Réaumur / 0.8</center>
<center>Réaumur = Celsius × 0.8</center>
The rating (3/8) is a joke on the boiling point of water in this system being 80 instead of 100 as it is in Celsius; converting this to an out-of-ten scale would give 3.75/10, labeling it as more cursed than Fahrenheit but less so than Rømer.
|-
| {{w|Rømer scale|Rømer}} || 7.5 || 60 || Fahrenheit precursor with similarly random design || 4/10 || Abbreviated as °Rø, this scale was created by the Danish astronomer {{w|Ole Rømer}} around 1702. Much like Fahrenheit, it originally used the freezing point of ammonium chloride brine as the benchmark for 0°, and the scale is built with factors of 360 in mind with the boiling point of pure water at 60°. Like the Fahrenheit scale, the freezing point of pure water was not originally considered significant by Rømer, but the scale was later updated to give the value of 7.5 at this point.
<center>Celsius = (Rømer - 7.5) × 40/21</center>
<center>Rømer = Celsius × 21/40 + 7.5</center>
The Rømer scale is considered the predecessor of both the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales, because Réaumur was inspired by Rømer's scale, Celsius based his work on Réaumur and Fahrenheit specifically designed his scale with more divisions than Rømer's to reduce the necessity for fractions.
|-
| {{w|Rankine scale|Rankine}} || 491.7 || 671.7 || Fahrenheit, but with 0°F [''sic;'' should be 0°Ra] set to absolute zero || 6/10 || The Rankine scale (°Ra), devised in 1859 by {{w|William Rankine}}, is to Fahrenheit what kelvin is to Celsius, an absolute scale rather than a relative one. The scale is mostly obsolete, but is still occasionally used in legacy industrial operations where absolute temperature scales are required. It is described as more cursed than the otherwise identical Fahrenheit scale, despite being rooted at a more universal zero point.
<center>Celsius = (Rankine - 491.67) × 5/9</center>
<center>Rankine = (Celsius + 273.15) × 9/5</center>
Another comic, [[2292: Thermometer]], expresses disdain for this scale.
|-
| {{w|Newton scale|Newton}} || 0 || 33-ish || Poorly defined, with reference points like "the hottest water you can hold your hand in" || 7-ish/10 || The famous scientist and mathematician {{w|Isaac Newton}} published this scale in 1701, which was referred to by the the °N symbol. Sadly, the degrees of temperature specified do not correlate exactly with amounts of {{w|heat}}. The cursedness rating (7-ish/10) is a joke about the vagueness of the scale's definition.
<center>Celsius = Newton × 100/33</center>
<center>Newton = Celsius × 33/100</center>
Very few scientists other than Newton ever used this scale,{{Actual citation needed}} but it did appear on commercial thermometers around 1758.<ref>https://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10413117&wwwflag=&imagepos=43</ref>
|-
| {{w|Wedgwood scale|Wedgwood}} || –8 || –6.7 || Intended for comparing the melting points of metals, all of which it was very wrong about || 9/10 || Created by the potter {{w|Josiah Wedgwood}} in 1782, the '°W' scale was based on the shrinking of clay when heated above red heat, but was found to be very inaccurate.
<center>Celsius = (Wedgwood + 8) × 100/1.3</center>
<center>Wedgwood = (Celsius × 1.3/100) - 8</center>
The comic has a typo, as the scale is called Wedgwood, without the second 'e'.
|-
| Galen || –4? || 4?? || Runs from –4 (cold) to 4 (hot). 0 is "normal"(?) || 4/–4 || The Greek physician {{w|Galen}} suggested a "neutral" temperature around 180 A.D.,<ref>https://www.loebclassics.com/view/galen-temperaments/2020/pb_LCL546.3.xml</ref> when he was a prominent physician in the {{w|Roman Empire}}. Created by mixing equal parts of boiling water and ice, on either side of this neutral point he described four degrees of heat and four degrees of cold.
<center>Galen = ((Celsius - 22) / 100) × 8</center>
<center>Celsius = (Galen × 100 / 8) + 22</center>
This range from +4 to –4 is humorously used as its rating, implying -100% cursedness. Technically this makes it the least cursed of all the listed scales, but the idea of negative cursedness (or cursedness itself) would be Randall's invention. There is no standard modern abbreviation for Galen's scale.
|-
| {{w|Celsius#History|''Real'' Celsius}} || 100 || 0 || In Anders Celsius's original 1742 specification, bigger numbers are ''colder''; others later flipped it || 10/0 || Most scales' temperatures can be indefinitely large, but have an absolute minimum temperature. By starting at a maximum value and counting down, this scale is indeed cursed, as nearly all possible temperatures (possibly to the equivalent of 1.42x1032K, considered [https://doi.org/10.4236/jamp.2024.1210198 the maximum attainable physical temperature]) will be negative in this implementation. The cursedness rating (10/0) is a joke on the scale "flipping" the fixed points of modern Celsius. Division by zero is strictly undefined (see [[2295: Garbage Math]]) and may be interpreted in a number of counter-intuitive ways.
<center>Celsius = 100 - real_Celsius</center>
<center>real_Celsius = 100 - Celsius</center>
The original logic was that zero could be easily calibrated to the height of a {{w|Millimetre of mercury|column of mercury}} at the temperature of boiling water, and further measurements then made of the amount it ''reduced'' in height under cooler conditions. This orientation survives in the historic {{w|Delisle scale}} devised in 1732 by French astronomer {{w|Joseph-Nicolas Delisle}}, which arguably inspired the Celsius scale. The scale originally used by Professor Celsius was only changed, after his death, in 1745. Delisle's scale was never reversed.
|-
| [https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/459851/john-daltons-temperature-scale#459863 Dalton] || 0 || 100 || A nonlinear scale; 0°C and 100°C are 0 and 100 Dalton, but 50°C is 53.9 Dalton || 53.9/50 || {{w|John Dalton}} proposed a logarithmic temperature scale in 1802 during his work on what became {{w|Charles's Law}}. The scale is defined so that absolute zero is at negative infinity, with the exponent chosen to match Celsius at 0 and 100:
<center>Dalton = 320.55 × {{w|Natural logarithm|''ln''(}} (Celsius + 273.15) / 273.15 )</center>
<center>Celsius = 273.15 × ''e''(Dalton / 320.55) - 273.15</center>
There is no standard abbreviation for Dalton's scale. While Dalton temperature is defined for all positive and negative numbers, the nonlinear scale is difficult to work with since the amount of heat represented by a change of one degree Dalton is not constant. Degrees Dalton differs from Celsius by as much as 3.9 degrees between 0 and 100, but diverges much more for more extreme temperatures. The rating (53.9/50) is a joke about the unit, as 53.9 Dalton would be 50 degrees Celsius — i.e., the cursedness could be understood as 50/50, or entirely cursed, but perhaps instead as 107.8% (even more than entirely) cursed.
|-
| °X || 42.9 || 151.4 || '''Title text:''' "In my new scale, °X, 0 is Earths' [''sic''] record lowest surface temperature, 50 is the global average, and 100 is the record highest, with a linear scale between each point and adjustment every year as needed." || Randall has not stated the cursedness of his new scale || The {{w|Lowest temperature recorded on Earth|record lowest surface temperature on Earth}} as of 2024 is –89.2°C (–128.6°F), recorded at the {{w|Vostok Station|Vostok Research Station}} in Antarctica on July 21, 1983.<ref>https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-lowest-temperature</ref> The average surface temperature as of 2023, the most recent available, is 14.8°C (58.6°F.)<ref>https://climate.copernicus.eu/climate-indicators/temperature</ref> The {{w|Highest temperature recorded on Earth|record highest temperature}} is 56.7°C (134.1°F), recorded on July 10, 1913 at {{w|Furnace Creek, California|Furnace Creek Ranch}} in Death Valley, California.<ref>https://wmo.asu.edu/content/world-highest-temperature</ref>

"Surface" temperatures are measured at 1.5 meters above ground inside a shaded shelter, to accurately represent the temperature of the air, because temperatures closer to the ground are often quite different due to the heating effects of sunlight (or a lack therof, e.g., at night or under clouds), and the thermal capacity of soil.

{{cot|Derivation and graph}}
To break the scale into two linear parts (below and above 14.8°C), we define two separate equations for each range:

1. Below 14.8°C (from –89.2°C to 14.8°C):
* 0 °X corresponds to –89.2°C
* 50 °X corresponds to 14.8°C

We calculate the slope m₁:

<center>m₁ = (50 – 0) / (14.8 – (–89.2)) = 50 / (14.8 + 89.2) = 50 / 104 ≈ 0.48</center>

Now, using the point (14.8°C, 50 °X), we calculate the intercept b₁:

<center>50 = 0.48 × 14.8 + b₁</center>

<center>50 = 7.1 + b₁</center>

<center>b₁ = 50 – 7.1 = 42.9</center>

Thus, the equation for temperatures '''below 14.8°C''' is:

<center>'''X = 0.48 × C + 42.9'''</center>

2. Above 14.8°C (from 14.8°C to 56.7°C):
* 50 °X corresponds to 14.8°C
* 100 °X corresponds to 56.7°C

We calculate the slope m₂:

<center>m₂ = (100 – 50) / (56.7 – 14.8) = 50 / 41.9 ≈ 1.19</center>

Now, using the point (14.8°C, 50 °X), we calculate the intercept b₂:

<center>50 = 1.19 × 14.8 + b₂</center>

<center>50 = 17.6 + b₂</center>

<center>b₂ = 50 – 17.6 = 32.4</center>

Thus, the equation for temperatures '''above 14.8°C''' is:

<center>'''X = 1.19 × C + 32.4'''</center>

;Freezing and boiling points of water

Freezing point of water (0°C): Since 0°C is below 14.8°C, we use the equation X = 0.48 × C + 42.9:

<center>X = 0.48 × 0 + 42.9 = 42.9</center>

So, '''the freezing point is 42.9 °X.'''

Boiling point of water (100°C): Since 100°C is above 14.8°C, we use the equation X = 1.19 × C + 32.4:

<center>X = 1.19 × 100 + 32.4 = 119 + 32.4 = 151.4</center>

So, '''the boiling point is 151.4 °X.'''

[[File:XvsC.png|400px|center]]

See also [[2701: Change in Slope]] for a general discussion of separate linear scales between three points.
{{cob}}
Due to high and average temperature records now increasing almost every year as a result of {{w|climate change}}, Randall's new °X scale must be re-calibrated each year. While the value given to everyday (non-record) temperatures will vary over time, more extreme values like absolute zero or the {{w|Tungsten#Physical properties|melting point of tungsten}} will shift vastly more.
|}

==Trivia==

In the various scales, this is a table of typical {{w|room temperature}}, freezing/boiling points of water, the midpoint {{w|human body temperature}}, recommended refrigerator/freezer settings plus possible values for a warm bath and a hot coffee:

;[Warning, not proofread.]

{| class=wikitable style="text-align: center;"
! Unit scale
! Room temperature
! Water freezing temperature
! Water boiling temperature
! Body temperature
! Recommended refrigerator temperature
! Recommended freezer temperature
! Warm bath temperature
! Hot coffee temperature
|-
| Celsius || 22 °C || 0 °C || 100 °C || 37 °C || 2.5 °C || -18 °C || 39 °C || 77 °C
|-
| Kelvin || 295 K || 273 K || 373 K || 310 K || 276 K || 255 K || 312 K || 350 K
|-
| Fahrenheit || 72 °F || 32 °F || 212 °F || 98.6 °F || 36.5 °F || -0.4 °F || 102 °F || 171 °F
|-
| Réaumur || 17.6 °Ré || 0 °Ré || 80 °Ré || 29.6 °Ré || 2 °Ré || -14.4 °Ré || 31.2 °Ré || 61.6 °Ré
|-
| Rømer || 19.1 °Rø || 7.5 °Rø || 60 °Rø || 26.9 °Rø || 8.8 °Rø || -2 °Rø || 28 °Rø || 47.9 °Rø
|-
| Rankine || 531 °Ra || 492 °Ra || 672 °Ra || 558 °Ra || 496 °Ra || 459 °Ra || 562 °Ra || 630 °Ra
|-
| Newton || 7.3 °N || 0 °N || 33 °N || 12.2 °N || 0.8 °N || -5.9 °N || 12.9 °N || 25.4 °N
|-
| Wedgwood || -7.71 °W || -8.00 °W || -6.70 °W || -7.52 °W || -7.97 °W || -8.23 °W || -7.49 °W || -7.00 °W
|-
| Galen || 0.00 || -1.76 || 6.24 || 1.20 || -1.56 || -3.20 || 1.36 || 4.40
|-
| ''Real'' Celsius || 78 || 100 || 0 || 63 || 98 || 118 || 61 || 23
|-
| Dalton || 24.8 || 0 || 100 || 40.7 || 2.9 || -21.9 || 42.8 || 79.6
|-
| °X || 59 °X || 43 °X || 151 °X || 76.4 °X || 44.1 °X || 34.3 °X || 78.8 °X || 124 °X
|}

==Transcript==

:Temperature Scales

:[A table with five columns, labelled: Unit, water freezing point, water boiling point, notes, cursedness. There are eleven rows below the labels.]

:[Row 1:] Celsius, 0, 100, Used in most of the world, 2/10
:[Row 2:] Kelvin, 273.15, 373.15, 0K is absolute zero, 2/10
:[Row 3:] Fahrenheit, 32, 212, Outdoors in most places is between 0–100, 3/10
:[Row 4:] Réaumur, 0, 80, Like Celsius, but with 80 instead of 100, 3/8
:[Row 5:] Rømer, 7.5, 60, Fahrenheit precursor with similarly random design, 4/10,
:[Row 6:] Rankine, 491.7, 671.7, Fahrenheit, but with 0°F set to absolute zero, 6/10
:[Row 7:] Newton, 0, 33-ish, Poorly defined, with reference points like "the hottest water you can hold your hand in", 7-ish/10
:[Row 8:] Wedgewood, –8, –6.7, Intended for comparing the melting points of metals, all of which it was very wrong about, 9/10
:[Row 9:] Galen, –4?, 4??, Runs from –4 (cold) to 4 (hot). 0 is "normal"(?), 4/–4
:[Row 10:] ''Real'' Celsius, 100, 0, In Anders Celsius's original specification, bigger numbers are ''colder''; others later flipped it, 10/0
:[Row 11:] Dalton, 0, 100, A nonlinear scale; 0°C and 100°C are 0 and 100 Dalton, but 50°C is 53.9 Dalton, 53.9/50

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Science]]

3002: RNAWorld

2024-10-25T16:29:48Z

TiredQuill281:

{{comic
| number = 3002
| date = October 23, 2024
| title = RNAWorld
| image = rnaworld_2x.png
| imagesize = 275x345px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Disney lore: Canonically, because of how Elsa's abiogenesis powers work, Olaf is an RNA-only organism.
}}

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

This comic conflates {{w|biology}} and {{w|Disney World}}. Disney World is one of a franchise of theme parks with attractions based on various {{w|Walt Disney Company|Disney}} movies, while {{w|RNA world hypothesis}} is a proposed origin of life, in which RNA acts both as the genetic material and {{w|Ribozyme|the enzymatic machinery needed to copy it.}}

{{w|Ariel (The Little Mermaid)|Ariel}} is the titular character from {{w|The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|''The Little Mermaid''}}. In the film she likes to collect human artifacts; the comic replaces this with collecting {{w|nucleotides}}, the basic building blocks of {{w|DNA}} and {{w|RNA}}.

{{w|Ratatouille (film)|''Ratatouille''}} is a film about a French rat named Remy who dreams of becoming a gourmet chef. The comic conflates the soup that a chef might create for patrons to eat with "{{w|primordial soup}}", the environment that's believed to have existed on the early Earth when the processes of life began.

{{w|Elsa (Frozen)|Elsa}} is one of the lead characters from the {{w|Frozen (2013 film)|''Frozen''}} movies. In the film she has the magical ability to control ice and snow, and she used this power to make the snowman {{w|Olaf (Frozen)|Olaf}} come to life. The comic equates this with the original {{w|abiogenesis|emergence of life on Earth}}, or life from non-life, through {{w|ribozyme}} synthesis. Ribozymes are RNA molecules that, similarly to enzymes made of protein, catalyze biochemical reactions, such as the splicing of RNA during gene expression.

The title text continues this by saying that since Elsa's ability is based on ribozymes, Olaf's machinery of life must be based only on RNA, not DNA. This fits in with the theme of RNA World. Olaf generally appears to be (by mass) mostly just snow but, in common with various ideas about {{w|Comet nucleus#%22Dirty snowball%22|the makeup of cometary ice}} (and the role played by them in 'seeding' the young Earth with organic molecules), might well be thoroughly imbued with carbon-rich compounds ''other'' than those inherent in his carrot nose, coal buttons, and basic twig/stick elements. "Canonically" refers to {{w|Canon (fiction)|fictional canon}} (in this case Disney fiction), "the body of works taking place in a particular fictional world that are widely considered to be official or authoritative."

==Transcript==
:[Cueball, Ponytail, Jill, and another child with a dark hair (wearing Mickey/Minnie ears) are walking through an amusement park. Cueball has a water bottle and a backpack, Ponytail is looking at a map or a brochure with a helix structure shown on one page, Jill is pointing forward while holding a small stuffed toy (that looks like Stitch), and the other child has a popsicle. Cueballs, Megans, and Hairys can be seen in the background in gray. There are also a drop tower, a roller coaster, a shop, and a hot air balloon in the background.]
:Ponytail: Okay, kids, now that Ariel is done collecting nucleotides for Ratatouille’s primordial soup, let’s go watch Elsa initiate runaway ribozyme synthesis!

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Disney’s RNAWorld

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Disney]]

Talk:2998: Ravioli-Shaped Objects

2024-10-18T20:13:24Z

TiredQuill281:

I think its a missed opportunity not to include the 'bulging lithium battery' themed throw pillow.[[User:Xurkitree10|Xurkitree10]] ([[User talk:Xurkitree10|talk]]) 22:04, 14 October 2024 (UTC)
: [https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=455ef0c0e7ccb718&rlz=1C5CHFA_enPT1102PT1103&sxsrf=ADLYWILokQZ6eE3TWl2J_c07q1iHNDGgjw:1729080251272&q=%27bulging+lithium+battery%27+throw+pillow&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0Aa4sjWe7Rqy32pFwRj0UkWd8nbOJfsBGGB5IQQO6L3J_TJ4YMS4eRay1mUcjRHkZwkNnuzbvXdHSnZt8SI-ypebpRXuYkgug6DK-4Ut13H99ktA8Mqi1OEFqdR-eK48bJa__90OMgplgEoZnWValhUQ343gp_exU8Evdjtace2RF7oLL9h99qRkTgUJWLIWwzoXToL&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj72qjx7ZKJAxVOYPEDHe8mDMkQtKgLegQINxAB&biw=1920&bih=968&dpr=1#vhid=fdx7hJP7669_DM&vssid=mosaic Oh, these actually exist]--[[Special:Contributions/172.64.236.35|172.64.236.35]] 12:07, 16 October 2024 (UTC)
:: Although technically, the pillow itself is normal, it's the overlay / cover which is battery themed. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 05:08, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
::: Missing a trick by not having them be heated. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.202|172.70.90.202]] 08:49, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Battery stories.
One of my backup batteries has started bulging so much I wrapped it in duct tape to hold the case onto it. It still works if I joggle the connectors well, but I’m worried.
Another time, I was trying to repair a cell phone but accidentally pierced the battery with my tiny screw driver. It started sparking and smoking and emitting dense dark noxious smoke. I threw it, it landed on a chair and burst into a small fire. The building filled with the dense noxious smoke, setting off all the alarms, coughing, opening the windows. When the fire calmed down (it didn’t spread) the chair seat was burnt in the shape of the battery, as well as the phone was bent and discolored and unusable in every way. But it still had its electronics in many parts. I want to image that flash chip and get my files!
A kid also once told me, they had an old phone they had taken to a very cold event (lithium batteries can hold power in proportion to temperature, so sudden drops could be a problem), and it started emitting s whining nosie. They threw it for safety, and it exploded away from them, according to their story.

Now, people also sell large expanded batteries for cell phones, which don’t fit in the case, and people mod or bend the case to get more power for their phones. Phone hacking, in some areas, has been getting easier and easier as information on it spreads and as design norms for phones stabilise. I used to mismatch phone batteries to save money and waste, but I was young and I would do crazy things like bunching up internal foil from candy wrappers, or bending paperclips, or pulling copper strands from discarded wires, and with my youngster manual dexterity i could measure the right voltages and jam, tape, or solder the disparate batteries to the internal connectors, and forcing the phone back on would then indeed yield things that looked like Randall’s drawings here.

Since traditional lithium batteries stop working after a few years, there’s pressure for people to do home battery mods.

But I bet nowadays you can find all sorts of clear descriptions of how to do these various things much better than I used to all over the internet somewhere, maybe even 3d print designs for parts. Maybe even a robot or drone exoskeleton for your phone, connecting with usb-serial or bluetooth or wifi.

So according to Randall it’s totally safe to use my bulging lithium backup battery (even if a screen is a little cracked)? {{unsigned ip|172.69.59.66|22:29, 14 October 2024}}

Should we create a group/series for comics containing confusion matrices? This now makes 5, with the other 4 being 2963, 2813, 2420 and 1890. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.184|108.162.250.184]] 22:50, 14 October 2024 (UTC)
:Nevermind I just realised that this group exists, my bad. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.210.124|172.68.210.124]] 22:53, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

I wasn't expecting a comic about spicy pillows but I think it's awesome that we got one. I do think there should be mention of or links to how to safely dispose of expanding lithium batteries such as [https://www.call2recycle.org/ Call2Recycle] in the explanation, even if it's just to spread awareness about the dangers of spicy pillows and the proper disposal of them. [[User:OmniDoom|OmniDoom]] ([[User talk:OmniDoom|talk]]) 23:36, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

spicy pillows yummy [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 07:41, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Shouldn’t the bottomright square be yellow or even red? (I see it is mentioned in the explanation already) - - [[Special:Contributions/172.71.103.178|172.71.103.178]] 09:26, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
: I'm assuming that Randal has the experience in his community of never having an issue with installing an expanded battery. The comic appears to be saying that rumors that this is dangerous are false. But I don't know, maybe he's getting senile. In the "internetizen" or "hacker" spirit of the comic's demographic, trying out alternative approaches than the mainstream is (or was) the celebrated norm, and leads to many new discoveries that are (or were) shared online. There might be more information on irc or twitter. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.129|108.162.245.129]] 23:17, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
:My interpretation is that yellow indicates "weird" rather than safe/practical. Two two yellow-marked squares are no unsafe or impractical, they are merely weird. Having a bulging phone battery is not weird, and because it still functions (despite being dangerous/damaging), it can't be red either. I do think it's an odd choice though, emotionally. [[User:Maplestrip|Maplestrip]] ([[User talk:Maplestrip|talk]]) 09:41, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

In the phone/pillow square, we can see an edge under the front of the pillow, so maybe Cueball split the phone opened and placed the pillow between the parts. That would explain the red color. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.127.99|162.158.127.99]] 12:43, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
:If the intent is to put each battery/non-battery-substitute 'in' the battery compartment, then this makes sense. Given that it's typically a tight-tolerance fit (so that even a slightly 'blown' battery is hard to insert, or at least get the cover back over), anything bigger than the original battery will protrude, or at least distort the case heavily. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.55|172.71.26.55]] 14:38, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

It seems like Randall forgot to hide the sketch in the bottom left cell. {unsigned ip|162.158.167.83|20:50, 15 October 2024}}

Please do not eat old Samsung batteries. [[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 21:01, 15 October 2024 (UTC)
:Nor drink, nor use as headrests. Thank you fandoor your cooperation. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.191|172.68.22.191]] 23:50, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

: Eating a lithium (IIRC) battery is good for one and those about iff one is a zombie in Z Nation ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3843168/ ) Otherwise? Yikes.
:Aside: I'd advise against thinking that xkcd is an advice column. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.213|172.70.134.213]] 02:58, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

:Please do not eat other brand of lithium batteries either, no matter their age. Do not eat Apple batteries. Do not eat Google Pixel batteries. Do not eat Xiaomi batteries. Do not eat Huawei batteries. Do not eat Honor batteries. Do not eat Motorola batteries. Do not eat rechargable AAA batteries. Actually, do not eat non-rechargable AAA batteries either, although those are not lithium-based. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 05:15, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
::Nor AAs, CR2032s or PP3s. Although I suspect that {{w|D battery|D cells}} are perfectly ok, so long as you don't try to chew them and just swallow them whole... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.202|172.70.90.202]] 05:45, 17 October 2024 (UTC)
We need a row for cooking them because baked lithium ion batteries are tasty (The Batteries from those old T-mobile keyboard phones are the best kind they have extra flavor)