Editing 2775: Siphon

{{comic
| number    = 2775
| date      = May 12, 2023
| title     = Siphon
| image     = siphon_2x.png
| imagesize = 310x378px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = ADDITIONAL NOTES: Fixed a bug that caused some rocks to generate virtually infinite heat while just sitting there.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIPHONIC WINDS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Cueball and Megan have a demonstration of a {{w|siphon}}, by which the gravitational force on an upper reservoir of liquid and molecular cohesion move a liquid upward through a tube, traversing a higher peak to reach a lower exit.  Randall has also mentioned siphons in his book, "how to," section "how to make a pool."

Siphons are commonly used in modern society (e.g., most American residential toilets are flushed by siphon action).

Siphons are separate from a similarly counterintuitive phenomenon of {{w|capillary action}}, where a liquid flows through narrow spaces (even upwards, entirely against gravity) in that a siphon need not be of such small diameter. Capillary action will also move liquid into an initially empty channel, whilst a siphon must be 'primed', by filling the tube, in order to draw liquid over a high point to ultimately always drop down into a lower container. Capillary action is caused by surface tension and attractive forces between the liquid and the walls of the channel; the liquid level will rise until the weight of the column of liquid matches the attractive forces. A siphon requires that the weight of the liquid column on the "higher" side of the channel peak not exceed atmospheric pressure, or else the liquid will split, leaving a {{w|Torricelli's_experiment|partial vacuum}}.  That partial vacuum will consist of the liquid in its gaseous form, at the partial pressure it exerts at the temperature of the liquid's surface in the tube, along with whatever gases may have been dissolved in the liquid before escaping.

Apparently, even though Cueball and Megan have probably set up the experiment correctly, the water no longer demonstrates a siphon by flowing from the upper bucket to the lower. Cueball observes in surprise that "it's true," meaning that this is a very recent development, and Megan remarks that it was honestly weird in retrospect that scientists had ever tried to rationalise this admittedly counterintuitive phenomenon in the first place.

The punchline of the comic is in the caption, which delivers a piece of physics news that the "2023 update to the universe" finally fixed this phenomenon, dubbed "the siphon bug". The joke here is that the entire complex and multifaceted system of {{w|physics}} in and of itself is treated as though it's simply the logic (or perhaps the sometimes unintentional result of various default [[1620: Christmas Settings|configuration options]] combined) to a video game, and that siphoning (rather than being an interesting physical phenomenon worth studying) was nothing more than a bug unintentionally created by the "devs" (whoever that may be). In reality, siphons still very much exist in our universe,{{citation needed}} though {{w|simulation hypothesis|the idea that we live in a computer simulation}} is also prevalent in {{w|the matrix|our modern pop culture}}.

The title text is a reference to [[2115: Plutonium]]. It expands on the joke surrounding the idea of an "Earth dev log" by referencing {{w|nuclear power}}, and how it's apparently another bug that some nuclear elements (notably {{w|uranium}} and {{w|plutonium}}, among others) can be and have been harnessed by humanity in order to generate practically everlasting amounts of energy, all while the elements themselves are simply sitting there in the core of some {{w|nuclear reactor}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[There are two buckets: the one on the left is on a stool and is filled with water, the other on the right is on the ground and has a small amount of water. Cueball is standing on the left and holding a tube between the buckets. No water is flowing through the tube, which appears to have just emptied from both ends.<!-- ok, a bit of supposition, but infered from how it emptied a little into the low bucket, but not actually maintained a siphon - reword, if you can think of a better catch-all description that covers what we see of what has happened... --> Megan is standing on the right and watching the proceedings.]
:Cueball: Wow, it's true—the water doesn't flow up the tube anymore.
:Megan: Honestly, it's weird that it ever did.
:Megan: Why did we think that was normal?

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Physics news: The 2023 update to the universe finally fixed the "siphon" bug.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Physics]]