https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.255.164&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T12:55:23ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2469:_Astronomy_Status_Board&diff=2130832469: Astronomy Status Board2021-06-03T20:12:50Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2469<br />
| date = May 28, 2021<br />
| title = Astronomy Status Board<br />
| image = astronomy_status_board.png<br />
| titletext = Junior astronomers hate getting put on board update duty, but someone's gotta make sure that stuff is still up there.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
[[Ponytail]] is staring at the sky through a telescope while [[Cueball]] is operating a checklist, visible on a large screen on what looks like a large billboard.<br />
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Since they are junior astronomers, they appear to have been tasked with simply verifying whether normal celestial objects are still present in the sky, such as the Sun and the Moon. Only large objects that are clear in the sky (at least at night for those not the Sun). Although all of these objects will eventually disappear it is not expected to happen within the next 5 billion years. {{Citation needed}}<br />
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This is likely a reference to the many "status boards" for online services ([https://portal.office.com/ServiceStatus example], [https://status.cloud.google.com/ another example], [https://forum.suprbay.org/status a different example], [http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com/ a funnier example]). The joke is that it would be funny if there was a status board to check that all the celestial bodies are still there, and that with our modern culture few people are looking directly at the real sky, even though anyone with a telescope and an unobstructed view could just look at the sky to verify for themselves without referencing such a status board. This is compounded by the fact that the listed celestial bodies have existed for billions of years, and are expected to last for billions more, leading one to wonder why astronomers would bother checking and rechecking just to see if they're "still there" with any sort of regularity.<br />
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This comic may also be an oblique reference to the study of the projected future of celestial objects given our current understanding of physics. At various points in the future the objects on the billboard may become unobservable from Earth. The Moon is gradually receding from Earth, and when the Sun enters its red giant phase the Moon might be broken up.[https://www.space.com/3373-earth-moon-destined-disintegrate.html] Eventually the Sun itself will run out of {{w|Sun#After_core_hydrogen_exhaustion|usable fuel}} and will go dark as will other stars. Moreover, if current theories of dark energy and universal expansion hold, the acceleration of the universe could push galaxies beyond the {{w|Cosmological_horizon#Hubble_horizon|"Hubble Horizon"}}, meaning they would no longer be observable. Matter itself could even cease to exist under some hypothetical scenarios, such as {{w|Proton_decay|proton decay}} or the {{w|Big_Rip|Big Rip}}. The joke of the comic here would be that all these scenarios are only possible in the unimaginably far future (exception: {{w|False_vacuum_decay|False Vacuum Decay}} ) and do not need constant monitoring by astronomers.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Ponytail is looking through a telescope, while Cueball is pressing buttons, which makes noises, on a remote control connected with a wire to a large board to their right. He controls the messages shown on this board.]<br />
:Remote: Beep beep<br />
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:[The board has a black screen, with a label in a white section above the screen:]<br />
:Astronomy Status Board:<br />
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:[The black screen has five rows with text in three columns. The first column is with white text. The second is in glowing green text and the last are in faded grey red text.]<br />
Moon '''<font color="green">Still there</font>''' <font color="gray">Gone</font><br />
Sun '''<font color="green">Still there</font>''' <font color="gray">Gone</font><br />
Stars '''<font color="green">Still there</font>''' <font color="gray">Gone</font><br />
Planets '''<font color="green">Still there</font>''' <font color="gray">Gone</font><br />
Galaxies '''<font color="green">Still there</font>''' <font color="gray">Gone</font><br />
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==Conditions under which celestial objects might be considered "gone"== <br />
Astronomers do regularly observe {{w|occultation}}s of stars by other celestial bodies, and sometimes also search through archived images for missed occultations. This can provide information on the size and orbit of an asteroid too small to observe directly, or other useful scientific knowledge, but occulted stars are not "gone", merely hidden. There are also a few astronomers who are searching image archives for [https://www.space.com/hunt-for-universe-missing-stars-space-mysteries stars that really have completely vanished without a trace] (or suddenly appeared), as this would be a sign of truly novel physics -- perhaps even a sign of extraterrestrial intelligence -- but no such vanishings have yet been identified.<br />
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Small stars which have exhausted their hydrogen fuel without building enough heat to fuse carbon or oxygen, are theorized to eventually collapse into faint "{{w|white dwarf}} stars" which are of such low luminosity that they are unlikely to remain visible to the naked eye from the Earth's surface except at very close proximities. The Earth's sun, Sol, is generally expected to follow this progression as a low-mass {{w|main sequence}} star, during the latter period of its {{w|stellar evolution}}. Although some stellar models predict that relatively rapid collapses are possible, the long time scale over which stellar evolutions are believed to occur decreases the odds of observing any one specific star both before and after this transition. In this comic, individual stars are not listed; therefore "gone" is unlikely to be useful for the stars, because a great number of stars would be "still there" until well after the expected collapse of our own sun. <br />
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One of the proposed outcomes of the ultimate fate of the universe is the {{w|Big Rip}}. If it's correct, all the items on the status board will eventually move from Still There to Gone, beginning with the most distant galaxies and proceeding to the the objects in our own solar system (although there will be hardly any time for the board to show Gone for the closest, especially the Moon). This scenario is dramatized in the short story "{{w|Last Contact}}" by Stephen Baxter. <br />
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Collisions between celestial bodies are commonly postulated as a fundamental part of the formation of {{w|planetary nebula}}. Since most mass in the known universe is observed to have a relatively low {{w|albedo}}, the presence of numerous unlit, massy bodies of planetary scale and smaller is strongly indicated. This is corroborated by measurements of orbital deflection detected in many visible stars, hinting at the possibility of large planets orbiting around them, unseen due to distance & low luminosity. The possibility of one or more local planets being "gone" could be attributed to unpredicted collision with another object of similar mass or equivalent velocity. Such a collision is one possible explanation for the sudden & catastrophic disintegration of Earth's moon, Luna, in the novel {{w|Seveneves}} by Neal Stephenson. This hypothetical event forms the premise of this book, during which Earth's whole sky becomes occluded by dust raised by millions of impacts across its surface & eventually by the constant incandescent descent of lunar debris itself. Again however, a single collision with any planet besides the Earth would not remove ''all'' the "Planets" from the Earth's visible night sky, so "gone" remains unlikely to be used for that category of celestial objects. <br />
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Occlusion of Earth's entire sky, due to airborne dust, volcanic ash, increased cloud cover, {{w|light pollution}}, or sufficiently dense layers of high-albedo material in orbit, may be the least unlikely potential reason for all of these celestial phenomena to be flagged as "gone". Notably, the phenomena in question would remain; only our view of them would be gone.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2465:_Dimensional_Chess&diff=212486Talk:2465: Dimensional Chess2021-05-25T19:57:32Z<p>162.158.255.164: response to NerillDp</p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
How best to describe the addition of dimensions? The admirable first author goes as far as the second row, but there appear to be more... ahem... 'depths'. The first is 'sideways', though from this non-playing angle it's depthways; the second adds verticality; the third initially looks to be '4d represented in 3d' perspective (now further represented in 2d, by perspective method), but the sole cube atop confuses me; the fourth is... busy... and seems to go with a hyper(hyper)cubic continuation. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.161|141.101.99.161]] 18:05, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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not quite what is demonstrated in the comic but there is a game called 5 dimensional chess with multiverse time travel --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.189|172.68.57.189]] 19:00, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:I don't like that game, entirely because it's called 5-dimensional but actually only has four dimensions. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.94|141.101.98.94]] 06:20, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I think this would require 5 dimensions rather than 4 as the middle rows are 4d slices of a 5d space just as the second row is a 2d slice of a 3d space<br />
[[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.193|172.69.35.193]] 20:23, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:I see it as there being a basic 1D between the opponents. On the Nth row away from you (on your half of the board) there's an additional N lateral dimensions. Row 1, sideways (8 columns). Row 2, sideways and up/down (7 levels). Row 3, those plus some form of superimposition indicated by scale/perhaps a sub-gridlevel elevation (6 of these?). Row 4, all those plus ??? (gonna assume 5). (...Row 5=Profit?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.131|162.158.158.131]] 22:25, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Is there an error on the top board of this image? If I look at the sequence of squares on the vertical, they alternate black/white except for the top board. Even if I were missing some aspect of the logic, I feel like there should be some symmetry between top and bottom. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.70|108.162.221.70]] 20:52, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Agreed, there appears to be an error.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.220|162.158.75.220]] 17:18, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Note that white made a horse move on the left side of the board, forward one and up two [[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.189|172.68.57.189]] 21:11, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:LOL it's called a knight. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.221|162.158.75.221]] 06:08, 21 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:There's at least one black piece on (its) row 3, possibly a knight, and both players have at least one of their pieces on (their) row 4. There are four obvious white pieces forward of the two starting ranks (with no obvious sign that these are established starting positions in this esoteric board*) so there may be a third black piece out there, obscured from clear view. Or more likely that black Knight's movement (two squares forward, three up, one sideways and 0+ squares in the fourth-way direction) is multiple moves (2f1u then 2u1s would be the most simple projected moves).<br />
:(* - The starting ranks appear to be as per 2D chess, with white's far bishop no longer in starting position, but if that's the one now in the nearest start-level 4th rank then it must not have made just one single 2D-like bishop's move to get there, nor is it obviously a pawn brought forward (2f starter then 1f second move, with or without an en-passant), so it may not be quite so simple, or else we've seen more than 4 white moves (and 3/4 black ones). Or both plus some possible exchange of pieces already.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.131|162.158.158.131]] 22:25, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I interpreted the comic as the first row is normal chess- 2 dimensional. The second row starts the boards above and below- 3d. The third row would be 4d, and the 4th row would be 5d. ----<br />
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Pretty sure this is just funny commentary on people making more and more complex variations of chess, Quantum Chess, 4D Chess, 5D chess with time travel etc... but part of me looks at this and goes "that could be a real game... that could actually be a good game." just me? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.20|108.162.221.20]] 21:35, 19 May 2021 (UTC) Sam<br />
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Looking at this, I note that there seems to be an assumption in the explanation that n-dimensional chess means chess with an unlimited number of dimensions. I believe that what Randall was actually saying with the "N" was "any number N", not "all numbers N together", i.e. "The problem with 3, 4, 5, 6, ... , N dimensional chess is", and that his objection is that you always only get one number for N. His board, of course, is designed to give you as few as two dimensions up to five dimensions available for any particular piece depending upon the row.<br />
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True n-dimensional chess, where there are an unlimited number of dimensions, would probably be unplayable by any Turing machine, including, of course, humans. [[User:Geek Prophet|Geek Prophet]] ([[User talk:Geek Prophet|talk]]) 23:58, 19 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:If you have an infinite number of dimensions to work with, there is a straightforward means for a king to escape forever - just alternate linear moves with diagonal moves, always away from the opposing pieces, and always along a dimension not previously traversed (there are an infinite number of these, so always one more). Any opposing piece will be one dimension behind, at the very least. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.4|108.162.237.4]] 01:45, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
::That surely only works if you don't end up stuck in an infinitely-dimensioned corner (infinite dimensions but still finite+nonwrapping extent in each dimension).<br />
::I'm not sure if there's a foolproof way not to find yourself in that corner, by evading through heretofor unused dimensions strictly around the centre of the board (where a finite number of pieces may not be able to coordinate an all-sides trap) but once there a single infinitely-dimensional queen moved one square away from all the relevent edges, protected by some handy rearward piece, could force the endgame.<br />
::If the king itself is in that one-space-out position (not yet immediately restricted by the edge, ''any'' edge) I ''think'' it can still be considered corralled by a suitably-placed finite smattering of sufficiently-positioned (for their respective powers of projection) pieces, so even if the centre squares are freely dodgable round (which they might not be, if the opposing king is already safely stationed there, denying 3x3x3x...3 spots to the victimised king) there's a potential to be tactically/psychologically forced towards a definitely entrapping position the moment you stray towards any edge.<br />
::(If the queen/etc is '≤2D in movement, like a 2D queen except throughout the ∞D of choice' (i.e. confined to a planar diagonal), then it may be less potent for a given distance and not be able to project a no-king-may-pass barrier even without confounding pieces, so might not be the key to the corner-shoving tactic. But then the king would surely be 'choose your single plane' too, in the moves available in its attempt to escape.)<br />
::Boundaryless arenas (including wrap-around finite boards, or at least 'only' 8<sup>∞</sup> in their infiniteness) might well be trivially always in an escapable position. But I have my doubts even about the fully-wrapping version, as the attacker's 'left behind' pieces may be considered significant danger again as they are then actually ''ahead'' of any king's fleeing move, and the question now is whether the king can still dodge ever-'sideways' against a concerted and sufficiently analytic opponent still with enough (2? 16? However-many-you-can-initially-start-with-on-such-a-board?) pieces of the right kinds.<br />
::That said, whatever my proficiency with dimensional projections, I'm definitelt rubbish at chess in its standard form. So ICBW. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.60|141.101.98.60]] 09:24, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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It looks like the 3rd row adds a cube on a stack of alternating colored squares, and then the 4th row does something similar with a tesseract. It gets a little crowded, so hard to be sure. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 01:36, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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It might make sense to just add a link to chessvariants.com, since there are a surprising number of multidimensional chess variants in existence besides the aforementioned 5D chess with time travel. [[User:JakobWulfkind|JakobWulfkind]] ([[User talk:JakobWulfkind|talk]]) 02:38, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
: That site's pretty hard to navigate. Do you know how to enumerate all existing variants of chess that are infinitely dimensioned, or at least >3 dimensioned? Additionally, this is a pretty exciting topic, is there any capacity for the wiki to dedicate additional pages to it? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.78|162.158.63.78]] 20:15, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Ah yes, the Ra̷s̵̡̡̛͍̖̗͖̟̞͊̀̓̉͂̈́̇̉p̵̛̤̔̂͐͗̄̿̋͛̿͗͒͒̚͘̚̚͝u̵̞̿̒̃̾̑͒̎ṱ̶̨̧̡͍̜̙͖̣̗͙̥͈̳̱̼̫͗͊̌͑̇̆͝i̵n opening. A good choice!<br />
Also, when is someone going to make a playable version of this??? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.74|108.162.249.74]] 04:58, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I don't think the explanation really needs anything to do with intelligence. "Fourth-dimensional chess" is lingo for complexity or cunning, so I think the comic is a joke based on that phrase. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.142.50|172.69.142.50]] 05:36, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I was disappointed that Randall did not include two odd squares - one on either side of the board - for the one-dimensional chess starting point. Of course since he does things by rows, this would necessarily limit the number of 1D starting points to one per player - and it would break the symmetry of an 8x8x? board and make it tough to pick which piece starts on the 1D row. [[User:SteveBaker|SteveBaker]] ([[User talk:SteveBaker|talk]]) 13:14, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:My (nearly) initial thoughts, too. Row0: Square; Row1: Lateral line of squares (7 or 9 wide, to centre?); Row2: Stacked array of squares (7||9 x 5||7?); Row 3: A cube(/tesseract-slice) of oportunities; then Row4 either Row3 from the other side or a further hyper-version (singular, or doubled with anti-Row4, leading onto anti-Row3, etc...)<br />
:Another thought I had was that every enhanced-Manhattan step from the home-row should lead to additional spread into a new dimension - to keep that consistent arrange for the branches out from each side to 'kiss' exactly in (non-euclidean) perfect contact. As with 2D chess, any four moves away from the back row (not backwards, not the most basic sideways movement) puts you onto the opponent's half. Or make it Euclidean but then it'd be on one ''several'' opponents' 'halves'. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.251|141.101.99.251]] 14:54, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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::You can probably get away with the board being exactly a 8-cube of squares; row 0 will be one square, row 1 will be 8 squares, row 2 will be a 2-dimensional mess (triangle?) of squares where each square connects to exactly two row 1 squares, and so on until row 8, which will again be a square. 9-cube works too, though rows 1 and 8 will have to consist of 9 squares instead of 8. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.78|162.158.63.78]] 16:53, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Couldn't you play some of the middle parts with components from 5D chess with time traveling and multiverses or whatever it was(forgot the name)? [[User:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)]] ([[User talk:Sarah the Pie(yes, the food)|talk]]) 13:53, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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If a king can move to any other space that's the same or adjacent in any dimension, then a king on the fourth or fifth row would have 188 possible moves (80 in its own row, 81 in the other high-D row, and 27 in the adjacent lower-D row). This would probably make it near-impossible to get a checkmate in this situation. Getting trapped between a neighboring (protected) queen and a 2-steps-away king would do it, of course; and you could maybe replace the queen in that arrangement with a combination of pawns and/or bishops, depending on how those generalize; but it seems it would be trivially easy to foresee any of those traps and avoid it. So I think this game would be unwinnable. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.95|162.158.62.95]] 18:45, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
: The king can't invent new dimensions if they're threatened, obviously! 20:15, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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I'm imagining a form of chess, with computer opponents, where players can add new rules so long as the rules are consistent, and there's like a public wiki of rules to draw from. I'm thinking an infinitely large board where players can invent secret dimensions and move along them [maybe in a limited manner for chess], but if observed or if a player guesses the dimension, the pieces can be found. 20:15, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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My interpretation: the outermost rows are 1D. Within them, you can only move back and forth within the row. The next rows are 2D. Within them, you can move within the row as well as up and down. The next rows are 3D. In addition to the previous moves, you can move to different levels on each square. The innermost rows are 4D. Within each square, there are two ways to move (which level and which vertical plane). So obviously I'm not counting moving between the inner and outer rows as an extra dimension, though of course you may.[[User:CityZen|CityZen]] ([[User talk:CityZen|talk]]) 23:09, 20 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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The notation in the transcript is confusing: since we are looking at the board from the side, the front left square in the center plane should be h1. So white knight from g1 seems to be moved to (two above g2). There also appears to be a white piece in some dimension around h4. The knight from g7 seems to have managed to get into some dimension around (three above f3). --[[User:Icksehdi|Icksehdi]] ([[User talk:Icksehdi|talk]]) 09:26, 21 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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The rules for piece movement as I know them are rooted strongly in two dimensions. How would you state them for this version of the game? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.221|172.68.189.221]]<br />
:Two main options (before getting into silly amounts of options)...<br />
:1) 2D moves can be taken in any 2 dimensions. Bishops go equal amounts in any two possible perpendiculars (where not blocked); Knights go 1 in one axis, 2 in another; Pawns must go forward (but may take their diagonals where allowed).<br />
:2) Extend to N dimensions as completely as possible (for the starting row?). Bishops can (and must) move equal amounts in ''every'' axis that applies; Knights have 1(+1,+1,..)+2 moves (or, by 2001 Monolith rules, without the squaring, 1+2+3+...etc); Pawns must diagonalise in ''every'' non-forward axis.<br />
:Rooks, of course, likely just choose an axis (any single axis) to move along. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.152|141.101.98.152]] 00:08, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
::Or 3) Any combination of (1) and (2) above (i.e. do 2 above, but you can ignore any dimensions you don't like). But with both (2) and (3) we have an interesting issue: if white starts with B(d,2,+1)?!, (i.e. the queen's bishop moves to space d2, one floor up), then we have a bishop moving from a white square to a black square.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.152|108.162.216.152]] 17:39, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:::My best play is to try a variant of this for six white moves (which is a variant of the scholar's mate). N(c,3,0,0)?! N(d,5,0,0,0)?! B(c,4,+3,0,0)?! Q(f,3,+2,0)?! Q(f,5,0,0,0)?! Q(f,7,0)?! If black is not paying attention, and if I'm thinking about dimensions correctly, then this could result in checkmate.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.94|162.158.75.94]] 17:56, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
::::If the game progresses too far (e.g. king hiding in the middle of the board), then it appears that it will either end in a draw or never end.--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.94|162.158.75.94]] 17:56, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Seemingly necessary rule clarification: if a pawn can no longer move due to dimensional limitations (not blocking pieces), then it becomes a queen (e.g. white pawn moves to a position which is 3 spaces above one of the starting positions for black pawns). --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 18:04, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Question 1: how easy is it to make all your pawns into queens?--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 18:04, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:Question 2: is it much easier to checkmate if you have 9 queens? As an extreme example, if white has 9 queens, black has only a king, and black's king is in the middle (high-dimensional) area of the board.--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.62|108.162.216.62]] 18:04, 22 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
::Seems to me the pawn can still move then. Towards the opponents end of the board. The top and bottom of the board is not the opponents side and also not the end of the pawns ability to move. So to me this seems obviously to not be an issue. The question is if it can become a queen in any dimension when reaching the opponents side of the board. Since it can likely only go up and forward, this should be so. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:53, 23 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
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Is it possible Randall is just having fun with the Explain XKCD crowd. Making an extremely complicated illustration that looks legitimate but is really just random to suggest that some things are not knowable even if they seem finite and therefore solvable. I just discovered there is no equation to find the exact perimeter of an ellipse: okay, there are many, but they are just close approximations or require infinite series of calculations. [[User:NerillDP|NerillDP]] ([[User talk:NerillDP|talk]]) 13:08, 23 May 2021 (UTC)<br />
:As discussed, there is a method in Randall's "madness". As far as the perimeter of the ellipse equation, note that the same is true for the perimeter of a circle. We get around it by defining a special symbol that requires either approximation or summing an infinite series (or a similarly complex calculation). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.164|162.158.255.164]] 19:57, 25 May 2021 (UTC)</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1031:_s/keyboard/leopard/&diff=203493Talk:1031: s/keyboard/leopard/2020-12-18T03:28:52Z<p>162.158.255.164: </p>
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<div>My mechanical leopard's been working out for me, just the feeling of my fingers hitting it is amazing. '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 08:35, 21 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Why does it say "s/keyboard/leopard/" in the url of this page, but title of this comic is "s/leopard/leopard/"?[[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 17:57, 15 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Now I see "s/leopard/leopard/" twice in my previous comment. I forgot that I have an extension installed that was inspired by this comic. :) [[User:DiEvAl|DiEvAl]] ([[User talk:DiEvAl|talk]]) 18:00, 15 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I swear I read every instance of leopard as keyboard. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.89|173.245.54.89]] 23:33, 14 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
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Shouldn't the title of the comic end in "g" since it's a global replace, like "s/keyboard/leopard/g"? [[User:Kroq-gar78|Kroq-gar78]] ([[User talk:Kroq-gar78|talk]]) 18:56, 23 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
:I have no idea, but I do know that the current title matches the one on xkcd. We're not changing it, even if there was an error. [[User:NealCruco|NealCruco]] ([[User talk:NealCruco|talk]]) 03:50, 19 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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:I just bought my new leopard today! It's working great, but it's a bit hard to use. Is there such a thing as a leopard-repair shop? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.47|108.162.219.47]] 21:03, 3 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
some[http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-leopards-keypads] leopards even have touch screens[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.45|108.162.216.45]] 05:58, 8 March 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
You sure it's not a sed command? Regexps just matches! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.97|108.162.215.97]] 13:44, 8 September 2014 (UTC)<br />
:actually, it's an ed command.[[User:Taibhse|Taibhse]] ([[User talk:Taibhse|talk]]) 12:10, 12 February 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
If the first user's leopard now produces language in Chinese, why is the message in English? {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.155}}<br />
:This is more like a joke to me (as a Chinese) because there isn't a real Chinese keyboard as far as I'm concerned... Chinese characters are usually typed using an IME and a standard English keyboard. We type in the pronunciation romanized and select from a list of characters with the same pronunciation. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.164|162.158.255.164]] 03:28, 18 December 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The first add-on looks like google translate. {{unsigned ip|108.162.222.159}}<br />
<br />
KEYBOARD. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 06:58, 12 August 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I have an extension that does quite this, so I have no idea who is actually saying "leopard". [[User:Cody Hackins|Cody Hackins]] ([[User talk:Cody Hackins|talk]]) 01:37, 9 March 2016 (UTC)<br />
: Everyone except the person right above you (in allcaps) is just saying leopard. Here. Does this work? K E Y B O A R D?[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.115|108.162.245.115]] 21:55, 3 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
The first extension is Translate; the third is Wolfram|Alpha. [[User:Papayaman1000|Papayaman1000]] ([[User talk:Papayaman1000|talk]]) 07:15, 5 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
As far as I know, 's/old/new/' only replaces the first instance of 'old' with 'new'. One would gace to use the g flag after the last slash to enable replacement of all instances of 'old'<br />
[[Special:Contributions/141.101.91.223|141.101.91.223]] 23:42, 28 June 2016 (UTC)<br />
<br />
My leopard doesn't seems to be working well since I didn't insert my leopard's USB port into my computer.Boeing-787lover 14:03, 22 November 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Can anyone think of a regex replacement someone might want to do that would be reasonably typo'd into s/keyboard/leopard/g? It's been bugging me since the comic came out. [[User:Undergroundmonorail|Undergroundmonorail]] ([[User talk:Undergroundmonorail|talk]]) 19:01, 21 July 2019 (UTC)<br />
<br />
No speculation on Leopard being a reference to the Apple codename? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.161|108.162.238.161]] 15:28, 15 September 2019 (UTC)</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1058:_Old-Timers&diff=203060Talk:1058: Old-Timers2020-12-12T16:32:58Z<p>162.158.255.164: </p>
<hr />
<div>Wouldn't the heat from the servers have thawed the egg and killed her early? '''[[User:Davidy22|<span title="I want you."><u><font color="purple" size="2px">David</font><font color="green" size="3px">y</font></u><sup><font color="indigo" size="1px">22</font></sup></span>]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 13:44, 8 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
* What? That... ''What''? The egg isn't actually sent through the internet, if that's what you mean. The information from the parents' genes was taken from their proteins, encoded in digital format on the computer at the lab, sent to another lab, then re-encoded into protein format to be implanted in an egg. In that context, the egg was an entirely separate part of the process. If you mean the egg would have been thawed by the people at the Venter institute holding the egg up next to the servers, unprotected, while they implanted the synthesized genome (or the people at the lab doing the same thing with the unfertilized egg while sequencing the DNA), that's... well, simply not how that works. As for "killed her early": I'm not sure of a good way to ''start'' asking what you mean by that. As opposed to killing her at the intended time? As opposed to killing the unfertilized egg before they could sequence the DNA? Or even killing the physical egg while it was somehow being transported via the internet? [[User:JET73L|JET73L]] ([[User talk:JET73L|talk]]) 11:07, 19 January 2013 (UTC)<br />
**Sincerely, Summer Glau {{unsigned|Wotpsycho}}<br />
To me the title text seems to be referencing something completely different, as it seems to be coming from Neckbeard, to Buns, saying that he was on the internet before he was born as well, possibly in the form of pornography while his mother was pregnant. Just my idea. [[User:Tyman2651|Tyman2651]] ([[User talk:Tyman2651|talk]]) 20:43, 12 May 2013 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I was thinking along those lines, except maybe the conception was on the Internet. lol [[Special:Contributions/173.245.63.180|173.245.63.180]] 21:26, 12 November 2013 (UTC)<br />
::The title text is clearly from Buns' perspective. [[User:Tharkon|Tharkon]] ([[User talk:Tharkon|talk]]) 20:39, 25 July 2014 (UTC)<br />
<br />
I cringe when I see her sit like that. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.161|108.162.238.161]] 16:44, 2 April 2015 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:I sit like that. I'll hazard that odd personalities go with odd sittings. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.38.120|172.68.38.120]] 02:35, 26 July 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
:: I thought it was just emphasizing her lack of height [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.164|162.158.255.164]] 16:32, 12 December 2020 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Another important part of the joke is that BBSes have nothing to do with the Internet. While there were some that morphed into ISPs, e.g. Prodigy and AOL, mostly they were self contained and reached peak popularity after the modern internet was created. --[[User:Rhmcoff|Rhmcoff]] ([[User talk:Rhmcoff|talk]]) 04:25, 28 May 2017 (UTC)<br />
<br />
Actually not true that BBS had nothing to do with the internet, as many were on networks that had connections to email servers to send and <br />
receive email from any domain, like today. When I was assisting running a system I sent and received such emails regualrry though my own <br />
email address was a long cluster of text since it was used to direct the email to right BBS on the network on this side of gateway. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.231|162.158.62.231]] 13:21, 29 August 2017 (UTC)</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2397:_I_Just_Don%27t_Trust_Them&diff=2030332397: I Just Don't Trust Them2020-12-12T01:45:29Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2397<br />
| date = December 11, 2020<br />
| title = I Just Don't Trust Them<br />
| image = i_just_dont_trust_them.png<br />
| titletext = I believe in getting immunity the old-fashioned way: By letting a bat virus take control of my lungs and turn my face into a disgusting plague fountain while my immune system desperately Googles 'how to make spike protein antibodies'.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a BAT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
The joke is that whilst anti-vaccine protestors don't like the idea of putting a vaccine in their body, he is unwilling to put something made by bats into his body. <br />
<br />
The Covid19 likely originated in bats, so the act of getting the virus would mean having something developed in bats infect his body.<br />
<br />
The Title text refers to getting immunity the old fashioned way, I.e. catching the disease and waiting for your immune system to build up a response. This can be dangerous and sometimes deadly and so should not be taken if it can be avoided. The joke here is that many Anti-vaxers claim that it is more natural to not take a vaccine.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[Cueball, with his arms to his sides, standing next to Megan]<br />
:I just don't trust them, and I don't want to put something they developed into my body.<br />
<br />
:[Caption below the panel]:<br />
:How I feel about bats<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Biology]]<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2397:_I_Just_Don%27t_Trust_Them&diff=203030Talk:2397: I Just Don't Trust Them2020-12-12T01:19:04Z<p>162.158.255.164: </p>
<hr />
<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
<br />
Is this a parody of anti-vaxxers? that's what my first thought was, but the way Cueball seems so polite about it just being his opinion makes me think otherwise. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.164|162.158.255.164]] 01:19, 12 December 2020 (UTC)</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1573:_Cyberintelligence&diff=2025951573: Cyberintelligence2020-12-02T23:50:38Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1573<br />
| date = September 4, 2015<br />
| title = Cyberintelligence<br />
| image = cyberintelligence.png<br />
| titletext = We had gathered that raw information, but had yet to put it all together.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[Ponytail]] presents a FY2015 ({{w|Fiscal Year}} for 2015) budget for [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cyberintelligence cyberintelligence], but is then interrupted with a snide remark about the prefix ''{{w|cyber}}''. Although it is not specified what organization the budget is for, the size of the budget ($8.1 Billion) is large enough to suggest that it must be a large government organization such as the United States Department of Defense.<br />
<br />
This comic illustrates that some organization spends obscene amounts of money on their "cyberintelligence" budget, yet all that spending appears not to have informed them that the prefix "cyber-" fell out of fashion years ago. That the prefix could annoy experts were already used in the title text of [[1084: Server Problem]].<br />
<br />
The prefix "cyber" is derived from "{{w|Cybernetic}}," which comes from the Greek word {{w|Cybernetics#Etymology|κυβερνητικός}}, meaning skilled in steering or governing. Cyberintelligence could also be called {{w|cyber spying}} i.e. spying in the digital world, one of many "new" [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:English_words_prefixed_with_cyber- words with the cyber- prefix]. Many were invented in the 1980s and 1990s, following the example of "{{w|cyberspace}}", popularized by {{w|William Gibson}} in 1982.<br />
<br />
If cyberintelligence departments were given names today, they might be called Internet Intelligence, Virtual Intelligence, Data Intelligence or Online Intelligence departments.<br />
<br />
This may be due to the fact that government organizations are typically named by middle-aged or senior officials who are generally less likely to be familiar with the current trends in technology language. They are more likely to stick to the words that were used when they first learned about the technology. Such organizations, being bureaucracies, are also unlikely to change their name.<br />
<br />
The title text continues the joke by implying the organization learned about the demise of "cyber-" yet failed to process or analyze that data. It is a common problem among intelligence organizations to gather "raw information" (such as photos, or reports from spies) but be unable to make use of it because there wasn't time to process the information into intelligence by determining what it means. This is particularly true for intelligence gathered by or relating to computers, as they can generate data far faster than people can review it. It may also be a reference to the previous comic, which was a link to a survey for xkcd readers.<br />
<br />
"Cyberspace" and "{{w|cybernetics}}", illustrated [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cyberspace%2Ccybernetics&year_start=1990&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=0&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ccyberspace%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ccybernetics%3B%2Cc0 here], are two of the most common words with that prefix (Cyberspace 6 times as prevalent as cybernetics at their peaks). "Cyberintelligence" is shown [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cyberintelligence&year_start=1990&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=0 here]. Cyberspace was used 4000 times more often, although the more common spelling splitting it in two words "Cyber intelligence" was 1.35 times more [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cyber+intelligence&year_start=1990&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=0 used] than in one word. But even combining these two versions cyberspace is still used more than 1700 times as often.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Ponytail, pointing at a chart to her left, with text and two curves on a graph, is talking to someone off-screen to the right.]<br />
:Ponytail: Our overall FY2015 cyberintelligence budget was $8.1 billion-<br />
:Off-screen voice: -Yet it wasn't enough to pick up on the fact that no one else has used the prefix "cyber-" for like a decade?<br />
:Ponytail: Shut up.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Computers]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]<br />
[[Category:Line graphs]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2392:_Cyber_Cafe&diff=2025332392: Cyber Cafe2020-11-30T20:11:26Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */ last edit</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2392<br />
| date = November 30, 2020<br />
| title = Cyber Cafe<br />
| image = cyber_cafe.png<br />
| titletext = Since we haven't really settled on a name for those online hangout/work spaces that try to recreate the experience of cafes, and I love confusion, I'm going to start calling them 'cyber cafes' or 'internet cafes.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a DATED CYBER BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A {{w|Internet cafe|cybercafe, or Internet cafe}}, is a cafe or other restaurant with good internet access, so that people can use their computers while at the cafe. "Cyber" is a prefix meaning something relating to computers, but this comic suggests that it sounds dated. However, in 2020, he jokes that "cafe" actually sounds more dated. This is a result of lockdowns related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}} preventing people from going to cafes.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall indulges his love of ambiguity by proposing that the term "cyber cafe" be re-used to refer to online hangout spaces that try to feel like cafes. This would change the meaning from "a cafe where computers are available for use by patrons" to "a setting or activity in cyberspace that feels like a cafe" (which would at least be inline with similar terms, like {{w|cyberbullying}}, {{w|cybersex}}, etc.).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Which word in the name "cyber cafe" sounds more dated?<br />
----<br />
2015 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2016 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2017 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2018 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2019 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2020 - Cafe<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2392:_Cyber_Cafe&diff=2025322392: Cyber Cafe2020-11-30T20:10:58Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */ finally the links are ok</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2392<br />
| date = November 30, 2020<br />
| title = Cyber Cafe<br />
| image = cyber_cafe.png<br />
| titletext = Since we haven't really settled on a name for those online hangout/work spaces that try to recreate the experience of cafes, and I love confusion, I'm going to start calling them 'cyber cafes' or 'internet cafes.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a DATED CYBER BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A {{w|Internet cafe|cybercafe, or Internet cafe}}, is a cafe or other restaurant with good internet access, so that people can use their computers while at the cafe. "Cyber" is a prefix meaning something relating to computers, but this comic suggests that it sounds dated. However, in 2020, he jokes that "cafe" actually sounds more dated. This is a result of lockdowns related to the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall indulges his love of ambiguity by proposing that the term "cyber cafe" be re-used to refer to online hangout spaces that try to feel like cafes. This would change the meaning from "a cafe where computers are available for use by patrons" to "a setting or activity in cyberspace that feels like a cafe" (which would at least be inline with similar terms, like {{w|cyberbullying}}, {{w|cybersex}}, etc.).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Which word in the name "cyber cafe" sounds more dated?<br />
----<br />
2015 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2016 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2017 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2018 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2019 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2020 - Cafe<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2392:_Cyber_Cafe&diff=2025312392: Cyber Cafe2020-11-30T20:10:36Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */ comma</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2392<br />
| date = November 30, 2020<br />
| title = Cyber Cafe<br />
| image = cyber_cafe.png<br />
| titletext = Since we haven't really settled on a name for those online hangout/work spaces that try to recreate the experience of cafes, and I love confusion, I'm going to start calling them 'cyber cafes' or 'internet cafes.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a DATED CYBER BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A {{w|Internet cafe|cybercafe, or Internet cafe}}, is a cafe or other restaurant with good internet access, so that people can use their computers while at the cafe. "Cyber" is a prefix meaning something relating to computers, but this comic suggests that it sounds dated. However, in 2020, he jokes that "cafe" actually sounds more dated. This is a result of lockdowns related to the {{COVID-19 pandemic}}.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall indulges his love of ambiguity by proposing that the term "cyber cafe" be re-used to refer to online hangout spaces that try to feel like cafes. This would change the meaning from "a cafe where computers are available for use by patrons" to "a setting or activity in cyberspace that feels like a cafe" (which would at least be inline with similar terms, like {{w|cyberbullying}}, {{w|cybersex}}, etc.).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Which word in the name "cyber cafe" sounds more dated?<br />
----<br />
2015 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2016 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2017 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2018 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2019 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2020 - Cafe<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2392:_Cyber_Cafe&diff=2025292392: Cyber Cafe2020-11-30T20:09:51Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */ w|</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2392<br />
| date = November 30, 2020<br />
| title = Cyber Cafe<br />
| image = cyber_cafe.png<br />
| titletext = Since we haven't really settled on a name for those online hangout/work spaces that try to recreate the experience of cafes, and I love confusion, I'm going to start calling them 'cyber cafes' or 'internet cafes.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a DATED CYBER BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A [[w|Internet cafe|cybercafe, or Internet cafe]] is a cafe or other restaurant with good internet access, so that people can use their computers while at the cafe. "Cyber" is a prefix meaning something relating to computers, but this comic suggests that it sounds dated. However, in 2020, he jokes that "cafe" actually sounds more dated. This is a result of lockdowns related to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall indulges his love of ambiguity by proposing that the term "cyber cafe" be re-used to refer to online hangout spaces that try to feel like cafes. This would change the meaning from "a cafe where computers are available for use by patrons" to "a setting or activity in cyberspace that feels like a cafe" (which would at least be inline with similar terms, like {{w|cyberbullying}}, {{w|cybersex}}, etc.).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Which word in the name "cyber cafe" sounds more dated?<br />
----<br />
2015 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2016 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2017 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2018 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2019 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2020 - Cafe<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2392:_Cyber_Cafe&diff=2025282392: Cyber Cafe2020-11-30T20:09:28Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */ correct brackets</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2392<br />
| date = November 30, 2020<br />
| title = Cyber Cafe<br />
| image = cyber_cafe.png<br />
| titletext = Since we haven't really settled on a name for those online hangout/work spaces that try to recreate the experience of cafes, and I love confusion, I'm going to start calling them 'cyber cafes' or 'internet cafes.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a DATED CYBER BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A {{Internet cafe|cybercafe, or Internet cafe}} is a cafe or other restaurant with good internet access, so that people can use their computers while at the cafe. "Cyber" is a prefix meaning something relating to computers, but this comic suggests that it sounds dated. However, in 2020, he jokes that "cafe" actually sounds more dated. This is a result of lockdowns related to the {{COVID-19 pandemic}}.<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall indulges his love of ambiguity by proposing that the term "cyber cafe" be re-used to refer to online hangout spaces that try to feel like cafes. This would change the meaning from "a cafe where computers are available for use by patrons" to "a setting or activity in cyberspace that feels like a cafe" (which would at least be inline with similar terms, like {{w|cyberbullying}}, {{w|cybersex}}, etc.).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Which word in the name "cyber cafe" sounds more dated?<br />
----<br />
2015 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2016 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2017 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2018 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2019 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2020 - Cafe<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2392:_Cyber_Cafe&diff=2025272392: Cyber Cafe2020-11-30T20:09:02Z<p>162.158.255.164: skeleton explanation</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2392<br />
| date = November 30, 2020<br />
| title = Cyber Cafe<br />
| image = cyber_cafe.png<br />
| titletext = Since we haven't really settled on a name for those online hangout/work spaces that try to recreate the experience of cafes, and I love confusion, I'm going to start calling them 'cyber cafes' or 'internet cafes.'<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a DATED CYBER BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
A [[Internet cafe|cybercafe, or Internet cafe]] is a cafe or other restaurant with good [[internet]] access, so that people can use their computers while at the cafe. "Cyber" is a prefix meaning something relating to computers, but this comic suggests that it sounds dated. However, in 2020, he jokes that "cafe" actually sounds more dated. This is a result of lockdowns related to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<br />
<br />
In the title text, Randall indulges his love of ambiguity by proposing that the term "cyber cafe" be re-used to refer to online hangout spaces that try to feel like cafes. This would change the meaning from "a cafe where computers are available for use by patrons" to "a setting or activity in cyberspace that feels like a cafe" (which would at least be inline with similar terms, like {{w|cyberbullying}}, {{w|cybersex}}, etc.).<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
Which word in the name "cyber cafe" sounds more dated?<br />
----<br />
2015 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2016 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2017 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2018 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2019 - Cyber<br />
<br />
2020 - Cafe<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:COVID-19]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2387:_Blair_Witch&diff=2021202387: Blair Witch2020-11-19T23:35:17Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */ fix time and rationale</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2387<br />
| date = November 18, 2020<br />
| title = Blair Witch<br />
| image = blair_witch.png<br />
| titletext = "Are you concerned the witches won't breed in captivity?" "Honestly, we're more concerned that they WILL. We don't know what it involves, but our biologists theorize that it's 'harrowing.'"<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by an INFANT BLAIR WITCH. Needs general cleanup/expansion..? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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''{{w|The Blair Witch Project}}'' is a {{w|found footage}} horror film released in 1999. For the marketing campaign of the film, the producers created the legend of the Blair Witch, a supernatural being whose legend originates in {{w|Burkittsville}}, MD. As was common in Protestant societies in the {{w|colonial era}}, a woman was ostracized from the community after having been accused of {{w|witchcraft}}. This woman, who tends to conflict in name with various versions of the lore, would supposedly attempt to inflict revenge upon the community that exiled her, and these fearful people fled from the town. <br />
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The comic takes a humorous turn on the legend, suggesting a conservation program to save the Blair Witch. While the film was confirmed as 'faked/misrepresented footage', the Blair Witch is postulated as separate species that is being tracked by the {{w|IUCN Red List}}. With the rise of camera-phones in the modern age, sightings of {{w|List of cryptids|beings that are most likely fictitious}} (such as Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster) are becoming rarer over time, due to [[1235: Settled|lack of credibility of a reported sighting without visual evidence]]. A species which has not been notably documented for a long time would indeed be moved to the "possibly {{w|extinct in the wild}}" category, as [[Megan]] notes.<br />
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In attempting to understand this in a way that does not involve refuting the existence of the Blair Witch, Megan cites {{w|habitat loss}} as the reason why encountering a Blair Witch might be more difficult. Habitat loss is in fact one of the most prominent and concerning reasons for extinction in recent years. Megan claims that suburban projects have fragmented the witch's "spooky forest" ecosystem, a reference to the many species that are dying off due to encroachment, logging, and similar human activities. Migration due to {{w|climate change}} is also an observable phenomenon in animal populations (and some plant populations, depending on their mode of travel while in seeds; those that rely on animals to germinate will migrate as well).<br />
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Megan then proposes a plan to catch and breed Blair Witches in an attempt to resurrect the species. This final panel is more obviously humorous, as even if the Blair Witch ''did'' exist separate from humans, there is only one,{{fact}} and thus any attempt to breed and repopulate would be futile. It may be possible that {{w|Parthenogenesis|this is not a problem}}, but if it is, it could also raise the objection that any pair of Blair Witch may both be female, and thus unable to reproduce. This could be resolved by (a) assuming that Witches can ({{w|Sequential hermaphroditism|sometimes?}}) be male as well, or (b) assuming that, much like Tremblay's salamander, where females can reproduce with a male of a related species (most likely human, in which case the project might have difficulty obtaining approval from an {{w|Institutional review board|ethics review board}}.) The phrase "Blair Witch Reintroduction Project" is a reference to ''The Blair Witch Project''.<br />
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The title-text suggests that the comic is a lecture, as Megan's whiteboard and baton/pointer/whatever would suggest. A (presumed) student asks whether Megan is concerned that witches won't breed in captivity (a serious real-world concern to the IUCN). If this is a press conference, the question would be asked by a reporter instead. Megan replies that they are worried that there ''will'' be breeding, but biologists are unsure how the breeding occurs, calling it "harrowing" (presumably because they have captured the Blair Witch and it has set a curse on their laboratory as she supposedly did in Burkittsville).<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Megan is standing in front of a screen looking away from it at an audience off-panel. She is holding a stick, pointed at the chart behind her. The chart shows the stick figure from ''The Blair Witch Project''. Above is an unreadable line of text, and below are two smaller rectangles a smaller one above the other, the small seems to be empty, but there seems to be some kind of graph in the bottom one.]<br />
:Megan: Other than the fake 1999 video, there have been no Blair Witch sightings in 30+ years.<br />
:Megan: The IUCN redlist says the witch is "possibly extinct in the wild."<br />
<br />
:[A close-up of Megan's face. The screen now shows a habitat map, with four separate shaded areas enclosed in a dotted line. The dotted line and one of the areas goes to the upper edge op the screen indicating they continue beyond the shown area. Beneath the dotted line and to the right there are three small squares, one of them clearly shaded the same way as the areas above. Next to each there is an unreadable label.]<br />
:Megan: Development in the Maryland suburbs has fragmented the spooky forest habitat.<br />
:Megan: Climate change will push any remnant populations north.<br />
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:[Back to the original setting, Megan is standing with the stick pointing downwards, and the chart is out of frame.]<br />
:Megan: That's why we plan to capture any surviving witches and establish a breeding population.<br />
:Megan: Then, in time, the Blair Witch Reintroduction Project can begin.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Fiction]]<br />
[[Category:Biology]]</div>162.158.255.164https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1744:_Metabolism&diff=1284761744: Metabolism2016-10-11T00:57:35Z<p>162.158.255.164: /* Explanation */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1744<br />
| date = October 10, 2016<br />
| title = Metabolism<br />
| image = metabolism.png<br />
| titletext = I have this weird thing where if I don't drink enough water, I start feeling bad and then die of dehydration.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Surely there is more to be said.}}<br />
Eating is fundamentally a process where energy from food gets absorbed into the body in order to drive muscle movement, growth, and other bodily functions. Energy that is absorbed but not needed in the short term gets converted and stored as body fat. Consuming too much food and not exercising enough are major factors for {{w|obesity}}, which is a problem in many first world countries today, {{w|Obesity in the United States|especially in the United States}}.<br />
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For obese people, losing weight is often an enormously difficult task. Standing in stark contrast, there are also lean people who do not seem to ever gain any weight even though they appear to eat whatever and however much they want. This leads some people (including the lean people themselves) to believe that one can have a special {{w|metabolism}} where excess food energy somehow does not affect the body. This belief is common, though not supported by scientific evidence. The comic makes fun of that kind of notion. While [[Cueball]] describes to [[White Hat]] how his metabolism is "special", he is in fact only describing the normal case: no matter what he eats, his body converts the food to energy and stores any excess food as fat which stays in his body for future use.<br />
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The title text stretches this further, telling about the normal habit of drinking water (and the consequences of not drinking it) as something odd. Starting to feel bad at first and eventually dying if refraining from drinking for too long a time are perfectly normal consequences of dehydration (however, how could Cueball know that he would die if he didn't know it was a common trait?). It is less than three months ago that Randall referred to dehydration and the 8 glasses of water a day rule in [[1708: Dehydration]]. In that comic [[Megan]] found out she began feeling bad if she did not drink for a a full day. That comic also began with Cueball and White Hat talking.<br />
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Obesity has only fairly recently become a public health issue due to lifestyle changes brought on by technologies such as industrialization and trade. Human bodies evolved under conditions where it was hard to ever find enough to eat, so to store as much excess energy as possible as fat was a beneficial adaptation. Historically, stored fat would be consumed during hard times that was sure to come. The act of collecting food through farming or hunting/gathering also demanded physical labor which limited the amount of excess energy that would remain. In comparison, people nowadays hardly need to expend any energy to buy their food from a nearby market. They also have much more sedentary lifestyles and rarely ever go hungry. Without an active commitment to exercise more or eat less, there would almost never be a shortage of energy and no chance for body fat to be used. [[Randall]] has previously shown how bad his health becomes when he starts eating lots of fat (or sweet) food in [[418: Stove Ownership]].<br />
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There are many rational explanations for why some people might not gain weight despite eating a lot. For example, it's possible that they only eat a lot during special occasions and social gatherings, where they are easily '''seen''' eating. On more private occasions when no one is watching, they could just as well eat much less or even skip entire meals. They might also lead a much more active lifestyle and thus require more energy than an average person despite their thin appearance. Other less pleasant reasons might include chronic diseases or parasite infections.<br />
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This is the second comic in a row about food, the previous being [[1743: Coffee]].<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball, on the left, and White Hat are sitting on chairs on either side of a table, facing each other. They each have plates of food and glasses of some beverage set in front of them. Each has picked up a portion of food on a fork to eat it.]<br />
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:Cueball: I have one of those metabolisms where I can eat whatever I want and my body converts it to energy and stores the excess as fat.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]<br />
[[Category:Food]]</div>162.158.255.164