2925: Earth Formation Site

2024-04-30T02:39:36Z

108.162.238.94: /* Explanation */ interesting but irrelevant; sign in comic specifically says formation from cloud of dust and gas

{{comic
| number = 2925
| date = April 26, 2024
| title = Earth Formation Site
| image = earth_formation_site_2x.png
| imagesize = 478x521px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's not far from the sign marking the exact latitude and longitude of the Earth's core.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TWO 4,450,002,024-YEAR-OLD PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES - Please this edit this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this historical tag too soon.}}

The historical marker that [[Cueball]] is reading amusingly claims to be where the {{w|Earth}} formed in a specific year 4.45 billion ({{w|Long and short scales|4,450 million}}) years ago.

The absurdity of sign is threefold:
# The Earth did not form on its surface
# The precise year of the Earth's formation is not knowable
# Historical markers typically refer to events within the past several centuries

'''#1: The Earth did not form on its surface'''

First, the Earth formed at its center, not anywhere on its surface, so an “Earth formed here” sign on the surface is factually incorrect.

One may argue that technically the sign is ''above'' the right spot, just as every location on Earth is above the right spot. However, the sign refers to “this location,” not to a spot underground.

If an omniscient observer wanted to mark the spot in space where the Earth started forming, they would need an historical marker floating in space, not on the surface of the (moving) Earth. That’s due to the {{w|Sun#Motion|Sun's 225-million year long orbit around the center of the}} {{w|Milky Way galaxy}} and the movement of the galaxy itself through space relative to other objects.

'''#2: The precise year of the Earth's formation is not knowable'''

Secondly, specifying a single year of formation BCE (Before the Common Era) is an amusingly precise choice. It takes [https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/how-do-planets-form/ tens or hundreds of millions of years] for a planet to form. Picking a year would require some specific definition of when a gradually-coalescing mass of proto-planet dust and gas could be considered a planet, as well as the impossible ability to determine when that mass met the definition.

The topic of what precisely makes a planet — related to the 2006 redefinition of a planet and the subsequent demotion of Pluto from the ninth planet from to the sun to a dwarf planet — has been covered before in [[473: Still Raw]] and referenced in other XKCD comics.

There is some poetry in the idea that there was a precise year, some 4.45 billion years ago, that was the first true year, the first Earth orbit around the sun. By definition, the Earth is the same age as the number of Earth orbits that have ever taken place.

Note: The date shown for the formation of the Earth, 4.45 billion years ago, also differs from the commonly accepted date, [https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html 4.54 (±0.05) billion years]. The difference lies in the transposition of two digits, 5 and 4, potentially a mistake. Although it could also theoretically take into account of Earth's years not necessarily being the same as currently seen, e.g. the mean orbit being slightly larger, originally, so early years (i.e. complete solar orbits) in the ~4.5 billion 'year' cycle actually passed slower than the current standard measure of celestial year we currently reference to indicate the effective time that has passed since then.

'''#3: Historical markers typically refer to events within the past several centuries'''

This comic satirizes US historical markers by channeling their standard tone, structure, and inaccuracies. They are placed at precise locations where historical, religious, and even mythological events are believed to have happened — such as where battles have been fought, or where famous people resided or accomplished something. Typically these signs refer to more recent events.

'''The title text'''

The title text refers to the 'exact latitude and longitude of the Earth's core,’ Of course, since the lat-long geographic coordinate system is used for locating places on the ''surface'' on the Earth, the center of the Earth does not have latitude and longitude.

Also, a historical marker referring to the Earth’s core could be placed anywhere, and its specific location in the real world wouldn’t mean anything; just as before, every spot on Earth is above the right spot.

Examples of similar historical marker signs:
* {{w|File:Equator sign kenya.jpg|Kenya Equator latitude}}
* {{w|File:Arctic Circle sign.jpg|Arctic Circle latitude}}
* {{w|File:Prime meridian.jpg|Prime Meridian longitude}}
* {{w|File:2022-06-06 18 39 21 Sign reading "Highest Point on Interstate 80 East of the Mississippi River" along eastbound Interstate 80 (Keystone Shortway) just east of Exit 111 in Pine Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.jpg|Highest Point}}
* {{w|File:World's lowest point (1971).jpg|Lowest Point}}

'''Analysis'''

The comic and its title text are actually inverse jokes of each other: The historical marker in the comic assigns an attribute of the Earth’s '''center''' (the site of formation) to a spot on its '''surface''', while the title text assigns an attribute of '''surface''' locations (latitude and longitude) to the Earth’s '''center'''.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Generated by EARTH — Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball is standing in front of a sign in a field of grass. Rocks and plants are scattered across the ground. The sign reads:]
:HISTORICAL MARKER
:<big>EARTH</big>
:FORMATION SITE
:--- 4,450,000,000 BCE ---
:At this location in the year 4,450,000,000 BCE, a cloud of dust and gas gravitationally collapsed to form the Earth.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]

Talk:1646: Twitter Bot

2016-02-22T17:22:06Z

108.162.238.94:

Technically, nothing until the actual fight is against the Three Laws -- he didn't tell the bot NOT to do those things. And self-preservation is the third law, so it's allowed to defend itself in a fight, so long as it does not harm Cueball (First Law) -- so let's assume its phaser is set on "stun" (unbeknownst to Cueball) accounting for the pew pew noises, and this is now all within the three laws. Nothing in the Three Laws says it can't *threaten* a human, after all. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 08:15, 22 February 2016 (UTC)
:Also, unless the bot changed its own e-mail -- and I think Twitter sends a verification to the *old* e-mail that must be responded to -- changing the password shouldn't keep Cueball out, as Cueball can reset the password by e-mail. If he gave the bot his e-mail password then that's his fault, as is if he used the same password for his email and Twitter.--[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 08:19, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

Perhaps, with the recent comics referring to Asimov and the Three Laws of Robotics, it's time to create a new category to collect them? [[User:Oliphaunt|Oliphaunt]] ([[User talk:Oliphaunt|talk]]) 13:20, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

== Australia ==

Might it be an allusion to the Terminator series movie? According to director's comment track and movie script, southern hemisphere wasn't hit as hard by Skynet's nuclear strikes. That's why, according to those sources, most background radio chat features NZ- and Australian accents and latin language.
Once Cueball realises that his bot attempt is going the "skynet-route", heading as far aways from the northern hemisphere makes perfectly sense. [[User:DrYak|DrYak]] ([[User talk:DrYak|talk]]) 13:51, 22 February 2016 (UTC)
* Or it could just be that Australia is on the other side of the world. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.94|108.162.238.94]] 17:22, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2925: Earth Formation Site

Talk:1646: Twitter Bot