Talk:3153: Hot Water Balloon

First time making the first draft, so hopefully I did a decent job. KelOfTheStars! (talk) 21:01, 10 October 2025 (UTC)

I know they're friends and sometimes spend time chatting in fields or hiking together, but has it ever been implied that Cueball and Megan are a romantic couple before? Barmar (talk) 21:38, 10 October 2025 (UTC)

Cueball and Megan have been stand-ins for Randall and his wife before, specifically during the cancer comics. Does that count? 199.247.247.123 22:18, 10 October 2025 (UTC)

How hot is the water? 2603:800C:1200:596A:67A8:C96F:56F6:2AE6 00:39, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

Water has a lower molar mass than air. So long as it's hot enough to actually boil the water, it might work better. Of course, it will also take a lot of energy to boil the water. And you'd need it significantly hotter than traditional hot air. DanielLC (talk) 01:56, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

If you heat air to the temperature at which water remains a vapor, it's going to give enormous lift, even if there is nitrogen in it. Nitpicking (talk) 12:41, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

NTSB? What NTSB?!? 2605:59C8:160:DB08:980B:60EB:D7DF:1DC0 04:07, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

I like to imagine XKCD takes place in a world that uses up their collective insanity on innocuous things like a hot water balloon instead of what we use it for. 209.52.88.167 18:23, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

I imagine the Germans in 1934 said similar things about their petty amusements. Those who were still alive in 1945 had a chance to reflect on their sentiments. Any who remain alive in 2025 have a chance to reflect on how their experiences have taught us exactly nothing. 205.175.118.102 23:08, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

Far more romantic if you think of the balloon as a giant water-bed... 203.123.67.147 (talk) 09:31, 11 October 2025 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I am imagining a submersible craft that flies through the ocean currents like a hot air balloon floats through air. A large bag of warm water with a bathysphere suspended beneath it, perhaps with some kind of flame apparatus between the two to heat the water in the bag, even though that sounds impractical. JohnHawkinson (talk) 22:55, 11 October 2025 (UTC)

The Hot Water Bottle comment feels a bit superfluous? If we started listing things that remind any of us of other things it will be a long list indeed. 2A0E:1D47:D400:6000:7967:640C:CD3A:2A84 07:23, 13 October 2025 (UTC)

Agreed. If anything, the 'hot water balloon' is more reminiscent of a water bed than a hot water bottle. 82.13.184.33 09:02, 13 October 2025 (UTC)