explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1437: Higgs Boson

2024-03-05T22:15:33Z

108.162.237.83:

They can lose the DATA about Higgs Boson. To help prevent such possibility, I would like to mention that the found Higgs Boson energy is between 125 and 126 GeV/c^2 [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:18, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

:It may be nitpicking because of the 'equivalancy of mass and energy', but isn't the term ''GeV/c2'' usually used to describe a particle's mass while ''GeV'' is used to describe its energy?--[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 15:29, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

:: You are right with the terms. However, when speaking about mass the "/c^2" term is implicit. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.217.125|108.162.217.125]] 03:46, 24 October 2014 (UTC)BK201

Sorry, felt it better to change "play 'hide and seek' with" to "know the current location of", because it read too as too anthropomorphic for the tone of the explanation. Like I don't play hide-and-seek with my house-keys, when they're temporarily unlocated. (Unless the world is weirder than I'm aware of, and the voices in my head are right after all!) Apologies if the hyperbole was the intent, and feel free to revert. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.247|141.101.98.247]] 14:53, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

The 4th paragraph begins with "Meagan's mention that "The death isn't even very serious"...". Shouldn't it be Ponytail, not Meagan? --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.111|108.162.216.111]] 16:28, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

:Or Cueball. Changing to "The comment..." [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.195|173.245.54.195]] 17:36, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

Though of course this is a comic and not an actual transcript of a news conference or proceedings determining actual grant money, is there something significant missing or unanswered about the Higgs Boson that would require significantly more money (for e.g. a BIGGER COLLIDER!!!!!!!!)? Or is this rather a play at the "Find/Found" difference, and Randall just used the Higgs to make the point? I believe last I heard they found something that must be it, but I suppose further study was required to confirm it (or something)... [[User:Brettpeirce|Brettpeirce]] ([[User talk:Brettpeirce|talk]]) 20:37, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

I am like 99% sure that "the death isn't even that serious is a reference to one of the hitchhiker's guide books. {{unsigned ip| 173.245.48.135}}

Maybe they just precisely determined it's momentum? {{unsigned|Craignelson7007}}

I don't read the "just one" reference as being just one death - "... to build a death ray.' 'Just one, though.'" certainly sounds like they built just one death ray. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.62.74|173.245.62.74]] 03:11, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

:In the phrase "the death isn't even very serious", "the death" is singular. I read this to mean "we didn't even kill someone important." It is likely ambiguous intentionally. It could also mean "the death ray doesn't cause very serious death." as though you could cause a mild death. "Don't worry he's only dead. He won't mind." [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.79|173.245.48.79]] 04:31, 24 October 2014 (UTC)BLuDgeons

In the explination they mention that they caused the eventual death of a helicopter. It hasn't been proven (as of yet) that helicopter cancer caused the helicopter's early death. There are plenty of human cancers that that can smolder on for years. Prostate cancer comes to mind.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.198|173.245.56.198]] 14:36, 24 October 2014 (UTC)
:"Prostate cancer comes to mind" - ouch. Brain tumors are pretty lethal.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.228.179|108.162.228.179]] 14:34, 27 October 2014 (UTC)

Hey at least now they know its momentum! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.85|162.158.166.85]] 04:17, 26 August 2020 (UTC)

I think it would be good to mention the unusual use of "The" in "the Higgs boson" as opposed to "Higgs bosons" or "a Higgs boson". This allows the comic to suggest that the Higgs boson is a singular entity which the LHC was meant to find (and perhaps capture).
--[[Special:Contributions/199.27.128.175|199.27.128.175]] 02:26, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

I was going to find the image on Wikimedia Commons, but no amount of research could allow me to find that image. So I just deleted the 'image' and removed the incomplete bar. --[[User:JayRulesXKCD|JayRulesXKCD]] ([[User talk:JayRulesXKCD|talk]]) 11:38, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

The last sentence previously said "cause the eventual death of a helicopter". I changed it to "give a helicopter cancer."[[User:R3TRI8UTI0N|R3TRI8UTI0N]] ([[User talk:R3TRI8UTI0N|talk]]) 03:52, 26 March 2022 (UTC)
== The thing is WHAT? (reopened)==
Don't make a self-referential joke like in the last version of this section. EVER. Or else your comment will be deleted.
This is a topic about the cliffhanger at panel 3. Don't unsign this. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.63|108.162.237.63]] 04:07, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

:It's not a cliffhanger. In panel 4 when they say "Don't tell us you lost it already'", that's what Cueball was going to say. They lost the Higgs Boson and need a grant to go find it again. You can imagine panel 3 ending with "See, the thing is... we kinda lost it." [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 06:10, 29 February 2024 (UTC)
::reply deleted, preserved here:
::
::The commentator abovs is just being silly, they don't have any relevent comments about the comic, they're just persistent in not saying anything (and ''finally'' took the hint about at least adding a signature), just see the Talk page history. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.184|172.71.178.184]] 11:58, 29 February 2024 (UTC)
::
::[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.83|108.162.237.83]] 22:15, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2661: Age Milestone Privileges

2022-08-24T18:52:35Z

108.162.237.83:

Who is God empress?{{unsigned ip|172.68.50.207|23:05, 19 August 2022}}
:I reminds me of the God-empress of Missouri from an earlier comic about nested WWII speculation.{{unsigned ip|172.69.69.207|23:17, 19 August 2022}}
::That's comic [[2149]], yeah. There's also "I Swear Allegiance To The God-Empress In Life And In Death" in comic [[1413]], a phrase that will suddenly be very familiar in the year 2038.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.46|172.70.111.46]] 03:28, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
: The age to learn about Her Majesty, the God-empress is accurate, you kids will just think he's joking before you turn 45 and hear Her voice in your head.{{unsigned ip|162.158.62.167|23:56, 19 August 2022}}

The age must be stored in a 7 bit number because it wraps back to zero when 128 is reached. - Brian K {{unsigned ip|172.70.174.159|23:52, 19 August 2022}}
:''(Hey, you eager lot, you've all forgotten to (''properly'', if at all) sign your discussion contributions...)''
:...if it were 8-bit signed, unchecked bitwise rollover could be awkward. Especially in 1's Compliment. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.5|172.70.85.5]] 00:23, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Make sure the explanations you’re putting in the table are explanations, not reviews of the comic! I agree with the fact that the comic is “America-centric,” but things like that should be stripped of opinion before being put into the article. A better way to put that might be (before the table) “Since Randall lives in America, many of the entries in this comic are specific to the U.S.” [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 01:39, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Image has been updated, a new line item at age 50 for shingles vaccine. Whosoever knows how to fix the image on this site, please do so. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 05:24, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
:I think perhaps the 125 item was meant to be (17+21+35+50) but Randall got it wrong. [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 05:51, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

I think 118 means thereafter you get to vote 100 times in each election, not that you have voted 100 times ever. Not correcting the table yet, as I may be the only one who thinks this. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 06:34, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
:I thought that, for what it's worth (there wasn't even a table when I first was here, though, and left everyone else to get on with it). If nobody else mentions it ('officially'), I may do so later. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.225|141.101.98.225]] 08:47, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
:I assumed a joke about getting to cast 100 votes in each subsequent election, but the explanation could be what he meant. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.73|172.71.146.73]] 09:05, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
:I agree it's much funnier, but I believe Randall would have thought to write "Vote 100 times per election". [[User:Mrob27|Mrob27]] ([[User talk:Mrob27|talk]]) 07:10, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
:On further thought, I realized that ''every'' other item in the list is a ''privilege'' gained at a particular age, rather than an accomplishment, so the alternative explanation makes no sense and should probably be deleted. If anyone agrees, feel free to do so. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.21|162.158.106.21]] 17:59, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
: It could also be a one-off benefit - you get to vote 100 times in the next election after you reach this milestone, or in any election falling in the year that you are this age. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.193|141.101.98.193]] 10:06, 24 August 2022 (UTC)

I don't think it was deliberate, but I think a certain editor ended up globally deleting some words (without going back to check the Diffs: car, election, Senator, years) from the text when adding something new. Be careful. Easy to restore, and hopefully I did that even whilst retaining the legitimate-looking edit that coincided with that error, but seems like something I need to mention as having happened. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.173|172.69.79.173]] 20:31, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

I suspect that the "age rolls over" idea came from the Wikipedia search excerpt using Duck Duck Go in Firefox (haven't checked anywhere else) -
[https://ibb.co/grL7032 Screenshot] --[[User:Steve|Steve]] ([[User talk:Steve|talk]]) 02:10, 21 August 2022 (UTC)

128 is also where the accumulated lives of Super Mario roll back over to zero. [[User:L-Space Traveler|L-Space Traveler]] ([[User talk:L-Space Traveler|talk]]) 00:59, 22 August 2022 (UTC)

The Age 18 title is "buy alcohol" but the discussion is all about drinking alcohol. They are different things. [[User:Jgharston|Jgharston]] ([[User talk:Jgharston|talk]]) 11:24, 22 August 2022 (UTC)

There's no particular reason why a God-Empress should have to be in power for life. They might serve a given term, or simply until they choose to hand over the title, and then retire to a life of retreat in their temple, or something. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.34|172.70.86.34]] 15:54, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
:Well, it could indeed be [https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0021.html something very like that...]. (Everyone less than 45 will have to continue to think this is just a joke, of course.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.201|172.69.79.201]] 16:33, 22 August 2022 (UTC)

I take it whoever wrote the skip captcha entry is barely out of short trousers if they think that over-52s are 'old' and 'move slowly'? I'd suggest Randall probably chose this age because it (roughly, and currently) aligns with the start of the Unix epoch - these are people 'born before computer time'. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.34|172.70.86.34]] 08:16, 23 August 2022 (UTC)

The reference to the Ambassador car seems a bit of a stretch - an ambassador is quite a different thing to a senator.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.147|172.70.162.147]] 08:23, 23 August 2022 (UTC)

Are we sure people don't get letters from the president at 100? My great grandma lived to be 103 and she got one at 100 and each year after. That was back in the early 90's and might not still happen.-RatedArgh
:You can still request a presidential greeting at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-greeting/ for a birthday or other personal milestones, and I would be surprised if such requests were ever refused. Of course, one might argue that there is a distinction to be made between a letter from the President and a robosigned form letter from the White House Communications Agency (?).[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.83|108.162.237.83]] 18:52, 24 August 2022 (UTC)

I wonder if the privileges at 85 and 90 are a reference to changing ''perception'' not ''reality''. I certainly know old people with hearing & CNS irregularities who will perceive an ad as positive or negative depending much more on their current mood than the actual content in the ad. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.15|172.71.160.15]] 08:35, 24 August 2022 (UTC)