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<p>108.162.241.248: Replaced content with &quot;*INFO SERVICE EXPIRATION FOR explainxkcd.com Attention: Accounts Payable / Domain Owner / Editing 2659: Unreliable Connection - explain xkcd Your Domain: www.explainxkc...&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>*INFO SERVICE EXPIRATION FOR explainxkcd.com<br /> <br /> Attention: Accounts Payable / Domain Owner / Editing 2659: Unreliable Connection - explain xkcd <br /> <br /> Your Domain: www.explainxkcd.com <br /> Expected Reply before: Jan 26, 2023.<br /> <br /> This Notice for: www.explainxkcd.com will expire on Jan 26, 2023. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> *For details and to make a payment for explainxkcd.com services by credit card:<br /> <br /> Visit: https://whats-ip.com/?web=explainxkcd.com<br /> <br /> <br /> 01262023222647662-501-8038</div>

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<p>108.162.241.248: Replaced content with &quot;Dear, I came across explainxkcd.com and wanted to share this great free AI tool. With this tool, you write content 10 times faster and with much higher conversion rates....&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>Dear,<br /> <br /> I came across explainxkcd.com and wanted to share this great free AI tool.<br /> With this tool, you write content 10 times faster and with much higher conversion rates.<br /> You can use the tool for free via https://aiwritingmeta.com/<br /> <br /> The AI can write blogs, advertising copy, youtube videos, and even entire books.<br /> We would love to hear your feedback.<br /> <br /> Kind regards,<br /> Bram</div>

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<p>108.162.241.248: Replaced content with &quot;Dear, I came across explainxkcd.com and wanted to share this great free AI tool. With this tool, you write content 10 times faster and with much higher conversion rates....&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>Dear,<br /> <br /> I came across explainxkcd.com and wanted to share this great free AI tool.<br /> With this tool, you write content 10 times faster and with much higher conversion rates.<br /> You can use the tool for free via https://www.aiwritingmeta.com/<br /> <br /> The AI can write blogs, advertising copy, youtube videos, and even entire books.<br /> We would love to hear your feedback.<br /> <br /> Kind regards,<br /> Bram</div>

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<p>108.162.241.248: Summary of newest comic and details of examination</p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--&gt;<br /> Whatever image is supposed to be in the center isn't showing up for me! D: Tried on both Safari and Chrome but it gives me the little broken picture icon. Hopefully it's fixed soon! (The comic's been up for about 10 minutes going by when the bot updated this page.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.117|172.70.126.117]] 22:28, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : The center image is trying to load this link, but there's nothing there: https://xkcd.com/tile/ship1/ship_gliding_2x.png. I hope that gets fixed soon. The &quot;ship&quot; seems to rotate a bit unpredictably over time. At first I thought it was responding to my mouse movements, but I don't think so anymore. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:34, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : Ah, the center image is controlled by the javascript, of course: https://xkcd.com/2712/comic.js. So this is some sort of interactive comic? [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:36, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : Okay, left/right arrow keys seem to control the rotation. I'll check back in later in hopes of seeing the ship so I have some idea what the point of it all is. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:39, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : And now it's working. You fly a little spaceship around the little planet. Luckily you have shields if you slam into the ground too hard. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:43, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : Catch the cannonball for a spaceship upgrade. Also, not so easy to find a stable orbit around this little planet. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 22:49, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> You can transform the ship into a different (seems faster to me) one by running into the last cannon ball.<br /> [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.249|108.162.241.249]]<br /> <br /> Rough summary: The comic is an interactive space flight game, starting landed on an origin planet. The planet is static, and the player starts in a ship controlled by WASD or Directional keys. The ship can go up and down, and rotate left and right. Game simulates orbits and gravity, making navigation tricky. Around the player ship there are dots which indicate nearby planets - there are numurous planets, each with what seem to be drawings related to the What If book. Within the browser, planets are loaded in PNG format by chunk, names formatted as &quot;planet_0_0&quot; with numbers incrementing as grid co-ordinates. Planets and objects found: &quot;origin&quot; &quot;europa&quot;, &quot;road&quot;, &quot;b612&quot;. NOTE: Several hazards exist, such as a field of black holes - if flown into, the ship can become stuck if let to be pulled close to the surface, locking in place. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.230|172.70.110.230]] 23:13, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : Within browser dev console exists the objects &quot;Ship&quot; and &quot;Comic&quot;, the latter containing a list of all objects and coordinates, as well as various setting for the game physics and settings. Comic contains the sub-object &quot;Voyager&quot;, which contains the details and settings for the player ship, including location, speed, etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.230|172.70.110.230]] 23:13, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :: There are 5 ship types in the game code, each with their own consumable transformative found in the world. The ship alternatives are (ship1, ship2, ship-tintin, ship-figure, ship-soccerball). These can be changed with console command [Comic.ship = &quot;ship1&quot;]. Note: At current, &quot;ship-soccerball&quot; returns an error and does not load correctly. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.230|172.70.110.230]] 23:13, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :: The &quot;ship.shields&quot; is a boolean value that defaults to true, and when set to false, makes the game behave in a lunar lander mode (bad landing black screens the whole page). The &quot;ship.engine&quot; types I see in the code are &quot;warp&quot; (very fast speeds) and &quot;infinite improbability drive&quot; (teleports to 'improbable' places). Default engine is &quot;standard&quot;, but it seems any value that is not the former two has the same effect. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.165|172.70.254.165]] 23:32, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : In addition to Europa, the space road, and B-612, there is the &quot;Edge of the Universe&quot; (complete with Milliways restaurant nearby), a... tree (which is extremely hard to land on), a planet populated by the characters from Dinosaur Comics (and the main cast of Jurassic Park), the USS Enterprice (NCC 1701-C), and likely quite a bit more. Orbital mechanics make it tough to land on the smaller targets. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.46|172.71.254.46]] 23:07, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> :: Plus what appears to be Earth, complete with the LHC. There's a 2nd &quot;cannonball&quot; there for an additional ship upgrade, but at the time I found it, that graphic was unavailable. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.232|172.70.126.232]] 23:15, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> : I went out a long ways away, and eventually found The Great Attractor. It attracts really hard. I couldn't leave the surface. (I wasn't able to leave the center of Europa either, though, so, not saying much.) There are also some terrifying black holes (a binary system?), though something's weird about their gravity; you kinda bounce off of them a quarter screen away or so? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.77|108.162.216.77]] 23:10, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> :: I *think* thats a wormhole, you go in one and then out the other. I got stuck right between them. Speaking of getting stuck, there is a bug where if you hit a planet with enough gravity fast enough, the ship is inside the planet. Holding W makes you go backwards (or at least towards the center maybe?) and you can get all the way to the other end of the planet where you slow down a lot, but can eventually leave. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.82.166|172.70.82.166]] 23:19, 16 December 2022 (UTC)Bumpf<br /> <br /> ::There's one planet that's supposed to be the &quot;remnant of the sun&quot;, is that what you mean with The Great Attractor? (It has a bridge on it with a coin(?) blocking part of the way, and a space ship actively crashing into its surface, drawn as several frames.) You can leave that by skidding over the surface like a skipping stone to gather momentum - it's tricky, due to various obstacles, but possible! (It's possible you need two ship power-ups?! If they're indeed power-ups and not just aesthetic changes, I didn't pay attention.)<br /> <br /> :::No, it's labeled &quot;The Great Attractor&quot;. It's big and white and has strong gravity. Lemme see if I have a screenshot. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.25|108.162.216.25]] 00:20, 17 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> :::Here: https://github.com/Erhannis/random_garbage/blob/main/Screenshot%20from%202022-12-16%2017-47-48.png [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.25|108.162.216.25]] 00:24, 17 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ::Screenshot of [https://imgur.com/a/NZulBlb the Enterprise] and [https://imgur.com/2VSZYp7 Dinosaur Comics planet]. Sorry for the broken image in the middle, I picked up two powerups and [https://xkcd.com/2712/tile/ship-soccerball/ship_landing_down_2x.png my current ship image is broken]. -(pinkgothic) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.143|172.68.110.143]] 23:22, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> :::[https://i.imgur.com/fLU1cWy.png Dog Park planet] [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.114|172.71.254.114]] 23:28, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Using a tablet (no keyboard, but seems to respond to touch), controls are confusing. Presuming that touching bottom left activates left-rotate and touching bottom right does right-rotate (can't see the presumably white-lije controls over the white planet) but I can't get ''thrust'' anything but 'reverse' into the planet centre. No obvious top-edge hotspots, either. Maybe I need to do a &quot;You will not go to space today&quot; and then reverse ''upward''... BRB, after a bit more testing, though... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.79.185|172.69.79.185]] 23:39, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> :Ok, the next go went 'better'. The browser keeps wanting to load &quot;simplified content&quot;, but if I ignore that I can get full-screen, at one point I changed rocket-type (no idea how, can't do it again) and I ''easily'' get off the planet (hard to thrust just enough to get to the Hooke comment/cannon), with plenty of targets coming in range (but cannot slow down enough to not have it glitch and rebuild a totally new set of targets that I never can reach). Will try desktop version when I'm next on a suitable one... Looks to be a lot of interesting content. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.30|162.158.74.30]] 23:53, 16 December 2022 (UTC) <br /> <br /> Using the developer console, the ship can be teleported to different coordinates via console command [Comic.voyager.pos.x = 0, Comic.voyager.pos.y = -1461], provided here with start location coordinates. This can be used for manual navigation to known coordinates. List of locations per game code added below, append landing X,Y to each as determined. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.230|172.70.110.230]] 23:42, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> b612: [5280,-7601] dogplanet: [2598,-23168] earth: [33803,-32974] enterprise: [1898,-61215] europa: [24930,8022] goodhart: [-23372,5928] greatattractor: [-594782,248510] japanmoon: [x,y] maw1: [x,y] maw2: [x,y] maw3: [x,y] maw4: [x,y] maw5: [x,y] maw6: [x,y] maw7: [x,y] maw8: [x,y] maw9: [x,y] maw10: [x,y] maw11: [x,y] maw13: [x,y] maw14: [x,y] nojapan: [x,y] origin: [0, -1461] peeler: [x,y] pigeons: [x,y] present: [x,y] remnant: [x,y] roads: [x,y] soupiter: [x,y] steerswoman: [x,y] sun: [x,y]<br /> <br /> Note: For ease of teleportation, reference the ''Comic.planetRects'' array and use the first two numbers as X,Y. This will get the ship close enough to the object to then land and determine a landed location, via ''Comic.voyager.pos''<br /> <br /> <br /> In your developer console, enter &lt;code&gt;window.ship.engines = 'infinite improbability drive'&lt;/code&gt; and pressing up will randomly teleport you to interesting places.<br /> &lt;code&gt;window.ship.engines = 'warp'&lt;/code&gt; will let you escape normally inescapable objects.<br /> <br /> <br /> ; Proposal<br /> It seems the most explanatory thing we can do is replace the blank starfield with the starting image screenshot, and label its four corners with their x and y coordiates, and then make a table of all the objects with their coordinates, a screenshot, and a description of their behaviors. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.204|172.70.206.204]] 23:55, 16 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> : A map with insets would be better than coordinates since the frame rotates. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.231|172.71.158.231]] 00:17, 17 December 2022 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Got images for all the locations: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CVADHsRgBtDPYca-gdfVwNW_nEsrJ-zj?usp=share_link [[User:Clam|Clam]] ([[User talk:Clam|talk]]) 00:03, 17 December 2022 (UTC)</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=7:_Girl_sleeping_(Sketch_--_11th_grade_Spanish_class)&diff=300457 2022-12-04T00:20:31Z

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crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2275:_Coronavirus_Name&diff=300414 2022-12-03T23:32:03Z

<p>108.162.241.248: </p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2275<br /> | date = March 2, 2020<br /> | title = Coronavirus Name<br /> | image = coronavirus_name.png<br /> | titletext = It's important to keep the spider from touching your face.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> This comic is the first comic in a long [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] about the {{w|COVID-19 pandemic}}. For several weeks in a row, all comics were related to this pandemic.<br /> <br /> This is thus [[Randall|Randall's]] first take on the COVID-19 pandemic. As of the publication date (March 2, 2020), the pandemic had infected more than 90,000 people, and had caused more than 3,000 deaths. <br /> <br /> Coronavirus is a category of viruses named for their appearance, which is similar to a halo or crown, and includes four different viruses which can cause the common cold in humans. However, the virus itself is not called COVID-19, but is called {{w|severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2}} (SARS-CoV-2). So calling the virus or disease &quot;coronavirus&quot; is like calling a specific strain of flu ''The Influenza virus''. However, since the new coronavirus is so hyped in the media it has attracted so much attention, so the name &quot;coronavirus&quot; has become associated with COVID-19, making it difficult to discuss other types of coronaviruses later on.<br /> <br /> As of March 2, 2020, COVID-19 in China has a 20% hospitalization rate and a 2% death rate by current estimates, compared to a [https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-myths.html typical rate of around 0.1% for the flu in the US].<br /> <br /> In this comic, researchers [[Ponytail]], [[Megan]] and [[Cueball]] are discussing that it is by now too late to try calling the disease its official name COVID-19, as the name coronavirus has stuck. [[Cueball]] reacts with dismay, since there are many other types of coronaviruses.<br /> <br /> To illustrate that Cueball's complaint is excessively pedantic and inconsequential, Ponytail &amp;mdash; rather than using a more real-world analogy &amp;mdash; compares the coronavirus naming to a giant car-eating spider living on top of the skyscrapers of the town, which people similarly refer to generically as simply &quot;The Spider,&quot; even though that is not the most technically-accurate name (it is technically a mutated ''{{w|Tigrosa annexa}}'' {{w|wolf spider}}). Everyone knows what you mean when you say &quot;Coronavirus&quot;, as they do when you mention &quot;The Spider&quot;.<br /> <br /> The comic then goes on to poke fun at itself by treating Ponytail's example as a real concern, as [[Megan]] then asks if they should not also do something about the spider. But Ponytail and Cueball agree that they can only tackle one problem at a time, and coronavirus takes up all their time. Ponytail further notes that she simply began altering her route to circumvent the location where The Spider has taken up residence, as evidence that the Spider issue can be easily avoided, and is therefore not an immediate concern.<br /> <br /> The title text references the health advice that people avoid touching their face with unwashed hands, in order to prevent infections that they picked up by touching things from entering their mucous membranes. (It's a lot easier for an infection to enter the body through the inside of your nose than your hands.) It is likewise quite important to keep the giant spider from touching your face, but for the dissimilar reason that it might bite and eat you.<br /> <br /> Notably, the rename to COVID-19 did eventually catch on as the default description of the disease caused by &quot;The Coronavirus&quot; SARS-CoV2.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Megan is carrying a box with biohazard symbols on it towards a desk where Ponytail (wearing safety glasses) is working on a laptop, across from Cueball (also wearing safety glasses) who is putting a test tube into a PCR machine. There's also a flask on the desk.]<br /> :Ponytail: Feels like we missed the window for the &quot;COVID-19&quot; renaming. &quot;Coronavirus&quot; is just too catchy.<br /> :Cueball: But it's not specific! There are a lot of coronaviruses.<br /> <br /> :[In a frameless panel, Ponytail (still wearing safety glasses) is pointing at a screen or picture showing a modern city skyline with a large spider crawling across three of the high-rise buildings.]<br /> :Ponytail: I think it's fine. It's like, you know the giant spider downtown that sits on the buildings and sometimes eats cars? I think ''technically'' it's a mutant ''T. annexa'' wolf spider, but everyone is just calling it &quot;the spider&quot; and we all know what they mean.<br /> <br /> :[Back to the setting from the first panel. Megan is standing and Ponytail had turned towards her and Cueball has stepped back from the machine.]<br /> :Megan: I've been meaning to ask, what's '''''with''''' that spider? Should we...do something?<br /> :Ponytail: Honestly I've been too busy with the virus stuff to look into it-I just changed my commute to avoid Main St.<br /> :Cueball: Yeah, that's fair. One thing at a time.<br /> <br /> [[File:Angry_beaver_soyboy_wojack.png]]<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:COVID-19]]<br /> [[Category:Science]]<br /> [[Category:Spiders]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=492:_Scrabble&diff=299962 2022-11-27T06:24:57Z

<p>108.162.241.248: </p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 492<br /> | date = October 22, 2008<br /> | title = Scrabble<br /> | image = scrabble.png<br /> | titletext = A veteran Scrabble player will spot the &quot;OSTRICH&quot; option.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> This comic depicts a game of {{w|Scrabble}}, a popular board game where the goal is to form words with the letters in your hand. The joke here is that the obvious option here is the word &quot;{{w|clitoris}},&quot; which is an inappropriate word for a family Scrabble game, but gives a 50-point bonus for using all seven tiles. The title text points out that the letters in the hand can also form the word &quot;OSTRICH,&quot; which is family friendly, but much lower scoring and not as obvious.<br /> <br /> As the H appears to be on the center star square, the narrator will score 63 points if he plays &quot;CLITORIS&quot; (however he uses the two Is, as three of the tiles will fall on double letter scores), and 13 points if he plays &quot;OSTRICH.&quot; The highest-scoring play is to hook the C and play &quot;HIC&quot; and &quot;LICTORS,&quot; scoring 71 points.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[A first-person view of a family Scrabble game at a table. The other players are a juvenile Cueball to the left, Hairbun across from you, and Ponytail to the right. The two letters on the board are 'HI', with the 'H' on the center star, and the letters in your hand are 'CLTORIS.']<br /> :This always happens to me in family Scrabble games.<br /> <br /> ==Trivia==<br /> * A player has an approximately 1-in-200000 chance of drawing &quot;CLTORIS&quot; as the starting hand, or a 1 in a billion chance for drawing it in that exact order. <br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]<br /> [[Category:Language]]<br /> [[Category:Board games]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2414:_Solar_System_Compression_Artifacts&diff=205142 2021-01-21T14:05:05Z

<p>108.162.241.248: </p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2414<br /> | date = January 20, 2021<br /> | title = Solar System Compression Artifacts<br /> | image = solar_system_compression_artifacts.png<br /> | titletext = Most of our universe consists of dark matter rendered completely undetectable by our spacetime codec's dynamic range issues.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Created by a MISSING PHYSICAL PHENOMENON LOST DUE TO HIGH COMPRESSION. More on the title text - Dark matter and dynamic range issues need to be explained in more detail. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> <br /> {{w|Voyager 1}} is a [[:Category:Space probes|space probe]] launched by the United States in 1977. Originally designed to study the outer planets of the {{w|Solar System}}, it is now several decades into an extended mission beyond Neptune.<br /> <br /> When images are compressed by a {{w|lossy compression}} format (e.g. {{w|JPEG}}), visual artifacts are created. The Voyager probe has made history for passing many milestones of our solar system. Randall here is suggesting that the probe has passed the artifacts, as if the artifacts were an actual feature of the solar system rather than a consequence of our technology. The solar system does not have compression artifacts (unless we're living in a simulation, a theme Randall has explored from time to time). However, the slightly discolored regions often created by compression could also be a metaphor for the region of space that that solar radiation prevents from being a complete vacuum. Voyager 1 has passed through numerous such boundaries, as mentioned previously in [[1189: Voyager 1]].<br /> <br /> Compression artifacts are often caused by large changes in coloration over a short distance, and Randall could feel that the drastic change in coloration from bright sun to dark vacuum could be creating a compression artifact around the Sun, somewhat like the Sun looking blurry due to low video quality. However, there is no definite region where solar radiation stops, only a boundary where it fades to a level lower than that of radiation from other sources. Some compression methods result in compression artifacts that behave in the same way, fading as the distance from the color boundary increases but never completely disappearing.<br /> <br /> The 'solar system' in the snapshot appears to be a 4-bit greyscale-plane at a more pixelated level than the image given. It can be picked out as being in 16 'banded' levels from the brightest (closest zones, within this image, to the Sun) to darkest (the furthest illustrated expanses, heading into interstellar space), with irregular or non-trivial transitional edges but no obvious or dominant dithering/speckling or 'noise'. The Voyager image (and track) is overlaid at finer resolution in the white 'line drawing' format.<br /> <br /> The 'apparent pixels' seem to be at a resolution of close to the order of 1AU². A rough count of the pixelation boundaries from the craft to the leftmost edge, plus an additional allowance for the likely radius of the 'sun' (or, rather, its solar wind density, or similarly represented measure) still beyond the edge, is surprisingly close to to the 150 AU or so of distance that Voyager 1 is at, currently.<br /> <br /> For perspective, the Earth is then ''by definition'' within/adjacent to the single lower-resolution 'pixel' that holds the Sun, and currently over on its far side. But the Sun itself is not even visible. It would be a dotted so far beyond the left boundary of the image that Neptune, at around 30 'pixels' distance, may only ''just'' be placable within the leftmost extreme of this view at its own rightmost point in its orbit. - The overlaid Voyager 'sketch' (in its more native resolution/bit-depth and antialiasing) stretches out over maybe a dozen such low-res pixels/AUs, which is equivalent to slightly more than the radius of Saturn's orbit or the entire diameter of Jupiter's!<br /> <br /> In the title text the mystery of the undetectable {{w|Dark Matter}}, which current mainstream physics supposes makes up most of the mass in the universe, is explained since this dark matter is rendered completely undetectable by our spacetime codec's {{w|dynamic range}} issues (thus brushing against the theme of a simulated universe).<br /> <br /> Artifacts are evident in [[1683: Digital Data]], and mentioned in the title text of [[331: Photoshops]].<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Irregular bands of gray are shown, shading from a white circular segment on the bottom left side of the panel to completely black on the right. The bands have pixelated edges. A small white space probe is shown just outside the last dark gray band, in the completely black area. A dotted line starting from inside the dark gray area and ending at the space probe indicates that it is moving to the right, out of the gray area. Close to the white area there are many bands packed closely together and with hard to define edges. But there are five gray areas clearly separated from the white, with a tendency to be elongated in the space probe's direction.]<br /> <br /> :[Caption below the panel:]<br /> :Milestone: '''''Voyager''''' has passed through the streaming video compression artifacts that mark the edge of the solar system<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Space probes]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2214:_Chemistry_Nobel&diff=181217 2019-10-13T21:20:39Z

<p>108.162.241.248: Smart Aleck Remark</p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--&gt;<br /> <br /> No Discussion yet? REALLY?!!? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.82|162.158.214.82]] 15:23, 12 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> This may be a reference to SCP-2046. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.34|162.158.146.34]] 15:40, 12 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> :Or something else. From the beginning, what are the ten radical isotopes? -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 21:36, 12 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Couldn't this potentially involve exotic isotopes of hydrogen that behave similarly to elements in the same group? --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 16:02, 12 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Oh gods, I needed this laugh. Have my Chemistry exam on Monday, this does put a smile on my face.<br /> <br /> ''&quot;misconception that the empty space at the top of the periodic table represents undiscovered elements&quot;''... [citation needed]. Is that really a thing? Never heard of it. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 16:53, 12 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> :Somehow I did not think about that the entire time I was editing this thing, because I don’t believe it is. I guess I’ll fix it. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.56|172.69.34.56]] 18:32, 12 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> ::I guess my point, if I had any, is that I have a hard time believing there's such a &quot;misconception&quot; to begin with in real life. Of course, there is in Randall's strip universe, which is what makes the joke work in his usual out-of-this-world humor. [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 07:40, 13 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Some uninvited pedantry (unlike all my other didactic discourse here, which you guys bring on yourselves): Referenced in the comic is not THE periodic table, just ''a'' periodic table. And it isn't really objectively scientific. It's better to call it the ''most popular'' periodic table. Such tables are a rather ham-handed attempt to explain the patterns of the elements in an &quot;intuitive&quot; (or at least heuristic) way. But the popular one we learn in school is actually far from the best one even in that sense. [[wikipedia:Alternative periodic tables|Check out the alternatives]], many of which are more scientifically sound and logical...but aren't as simplistic for the easy-minded, so they haven't caught on. —[[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 23:37, 12 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> :Do you mean the one that looks like a candyland board game (Benfey's) or the one that looks like the worst Tetris level ever (Tsimmerman's)? [j/k]... If I had seen that in school, I'd have been too distracted to ever pay attention ;-) [[User:Ralfoide|Ralfoide]] ([[User talk:Ralfoide|talk]]) 07:35, 13 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> <br /> Did Mendeleev really design his table to represent the way electrons are arranged in atoms? In 1869, he must have been quite a visionary! Zetfr 09:23, 13 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> :Oh no, he didn't. He did by patterns of their properties. Also by atomic weights, but those were imprecisely known then, also note the isotope paradox problem (e.g. K and Ar must be swapped). The first sorting already guarantess to represent the electronic arrangement to some degree. BTW, lanthanides and actinides need more love. For starters, I PhD'ed on them. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.55.22|172.69.55.22]] 15:20, 13 October 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Clearly these new elements are fractional elements, with elements having - for instance - 1 3/16 protons, etc. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.248|108.162.241.248]] 21:20, 13 October 2019 (UTC)</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Characters_with_hats&diff=180821 2019-10-03T18:47:10Z

<p>108.162.241.248: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>*[[Randall]] frequently uses hats as a distinguishing feature for his stick figures. <br /> **'''Click''' to expand for a more detailed explanation:<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign&quot; style=&quot;width:100%&quot;&gt;<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> Especially well known are three of his major characters [[Black Hat]], [[White Hat]] and [[Beret Guy]]. These three characters do not often appear together in the same comic, except in large comics where they can appear without interacting.<br /> <br /> They have all three appeared in the [[:Category:Large_drawings|large drawing comics]] [[1000: 1000 Comics]], [[1110: Click and Drag]] and [[1608: Hoverboard]] and also in the [[:Category:Interactive comics|interactive comic]] [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] and on the cake in [[1581: Birthday]]. But in those instances they do not interact. <br /> <br /> Black Hat and White Hat has only ever spoken together in three comics: [[1708: Dehydration]], [[1881: Drone Training]], and [2174: First News Memory]], yet they only speak directly to each other in the second comic; in the other two, they only speak in the same setting.<br /> <br /> Similar Beret Guy has also only twice spoken to White Hat in [[291: Dignified]] and [[1772: Startup Opportunity]]. White hat replies in the title text of the former comic, but White Hat has never spoken directly to Beret Guy in the main comic. However, the same can't be said for the latter.<br /> <br /> Beret Guy has though been in at least six other comics together with Black Hat and two others with White Hat. He has, however, never interacted directly with Black Hat!<br /> <br /> White Hat and Beret Guy also appeared in [[1028: Communication]], where they showed two different examples of communication, and thus did not appear together, and similar in [[1645: Toasts]] where there is no reason to believe that they toast at the same party.<br /> <br /> Black Hat and Beret Guy appear together in both [[785: Open Mic Night]] and [[804: Pumpkin Carving]] but in both comics they talk to other people and not to or with each other. The open mic stage is the same, but they are not on it at the same time, and the pumpkin carving could be done in different locations. In [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]] and [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]] they appear in different panels showing situations taken out of context with each other and finally there are two special comics where both appear; [[1037: Umwelt]], where they appeared in two different versions of the comic, not visible from the same location; and [[1663: Garden]] where both characters can grow out of the ground, but of course they do not interact here either.<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics by characters]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Characters_with_hats&diff=180820 2019-10-03T18:43:11Z

<p>108.162.241.248: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>*[[Randall]] frequently uses hats as a distinguishing feature for his stick figures. <br /> **'''Click''' to expand for a more detailed explanation:<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign&quot; style=&quot;width:100%&quot;&gt;<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> Especially well known are three of his major characters [[Black Hat]], [[White Hat]] and [[Beret Guy]]. These three characters do not often appear together in the same comic, except in large comics where they can appear without interacting.<br /> <br /> They have all three appeared in the [[:Category:Large_drawings|large drawing comics]] [[1000: 1000 Comics]], [[1110: Click and Drag]] and [[1608: Hoverboard]] and also in the [[:Category:Interactive comics|interactive comic]] [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] and on the cake in [[1581: Birthday]]. But in those instances they do not interact. <br /> <br /> Black Hat and White Hat has only ever spoken together in two comics: [[1708: Dehydration]], where Black Hat talks to White Hat and [[1881: Drone Training]], where Black Hat visits a store run by White Hat.<br /> <br /> Similar Beret Guy has also only twice spoken to White Hat in [[291: Dignified]] and [[1772: Startup Opportunity]]. White hat replies in the title text of the former comic, but White Hat has never spoken directly to Beret Guy in the main comic. However, the same can't be said for the latter.<br /> <br /> Beret Guy has though been in at least six other comics together with Black Hat and two others with White Hat. He has, however, never interacted directly with Black Hat!<br /> <br /> White Hat and Beret Guy also appeared in [[1028: Communication]], where they showed two different examples of communication, and thus did not appear together, and similar in [[1645: Toasts]] where there is no reason to believe that they toast at the same party.<br /> <br /> Black Hat and Beret Guy appear together in both [[785: Open Mic Night]] and [[804: Pumpkin Carving]] but in both comics they talk to other people and not to or with each other. The open mic stage is the same, but they are not on it at the same time, and the pumpkin carving could be done in different locations. In [[434: xkcd Goes to the Airport]] and [[442: xkcd Loves the Discovery Channel]] they appear in different panels showing situations taken out of context with each other and finally there are two special comics where both appear; [[1037: Umwelt]], where they appeared in two different versions of the comic, not visible from the same location; and [[1663: Garden]] where both characters can grow out of the ground, but of course they do not interact here either.<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics by characters]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1403:_Thesis_Defense&diff=180433 2019-09-25T15:03:05Z

<p>108.162.241.248: No Citation Needed</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 1403<br /> | date = August 4, 2014<br /> | title = Thesis Defense<br /> | image = thesis_defense.png<br /> | titletext = MY RESULTS ARE A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT ON THE STATE OF THE AAAAAAAAAAAART<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> In the comic, [[Megan]] is presenting evidence on her {{w|thesis}}, a theory on the evolution of threat defense in mammals, in front of a panel of some people. To conclude her exposition she charges at the audience, shouting a {{w|battle cry}}, and brandishing a sword. The audience flinches. As the audience is composed of mammals and is responding to a threat, we should assume that this response provides some key evidence about the threat defense in mammals.<br /> <br /> This comic is a play on a thesis defense and the {{w|adage}} &quot;{{w|The best defense is a good offense}}&quot;. The adage means that a strong offensive action will preoccupy the opposition and ultimately hinder its ability to mount an opposing counterattack, leading to a strategic advantage. A thesis defense generally involves an oral exam on the topic she has chosen, and should involve no physical violence.<br /> <br /> For added humorous effect, in the title text Megan extrapolates how she improved the state of the art, i.e. what she has added to her field of study, while screaming the word art.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Megan runs towards a desk with two microphones on it, waving a broadsword high in the air. Cueball, Ponytail, and one other sitting behind the desk are taken aback, while Ponytail standing off to the side holds an arm in front of her face protectively. A slide is projected on a screen behind the sword-reading woman, reading &quot;The evolution of threat defense in mammals&quot;.]<br /> :Megan: In conclusion, AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!<br /> :The best thesis defense is a good thesis offense.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2203:_Prescience&diff=180240 2019-09-20T17:33:51Z

<p>108.162.241.248: Titanic Deterioation News and Comment added</p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--&gt;<br /> I can't remember the last time a sitting President has been struck by lightning. &lt;!-- And, going for the sneaky double, I haven't won the Lottery yet! --&gt; [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.145|162.158.154.145]] 16:09, 16 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> You know, they still haven't attained world peace. &lt;!-- I would say it's been a while since the explain xkcd servers shut down, but it hasn't!--&gt; [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.213|172.69.68.213]] 16:34, 16 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> :Don't risk it: there is one remarkably easy way to attain world peace. Just fire all nukes. It will be very peaceful some time after they detonate. The mentioned giant meteor impact would also attain world peace ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:26, 16 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> ::I'm sceptical. First of all there's not enough carriers (~4k worldwide, maybe much less; the number is for deployed warheads, not necessarily the deliverable ones) to launch all of the nuclear charges (~14k, deployed + in storage). Second, there's far not enough charges themselves, to cover all population centers, from huge to small, much less all habitable areas. One charge is able to destroy a biggish city or a town and contaminate a considerable area - but there's much more than 14k population centers in the world, even if you somehow manage to plant these 10k warheads that don't have an immediate means of delivery. And there are huge rural and sparsely populated areas. ~14k warheads won't scorch all the lands on Earth. Quite many people out of 7.5 billions will survive - and immediately start wars over scarce resources decimated by the nuclear war. What would be the final outcome including long-term effects of all-out nuclear war is very hard to predict. Maybe humans will go extinct, maybe not. Most certainly, life as such would continue to exist. It would take much more energy to sterilize all the biosphere. -- [[User:Malgond|Malgond]] ([[User talk:Malgond|talk]]) 08:24, 17 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I can't find it right now, but reminds me of the (probably apocryphal) story of a Stanford professor who was on the phone to a colleague at Berkeley. Berkeley guy suddenly says &quot;I gotta go, there's an earthquake!&quot;, and hangs up. Stanford walks out into the hall, takes a sip of his coffee, looks at his watch and says &quot;hey, aren't we about due for an earthquake?&quot;, right before the tremors hit.[[User:UStralian|UStralian]] ([[User talk:UStralian|talk]]) 16:49, 16 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> : +1. I came here explicitly to relate this anecdote! [[User:John.Adriaan|John.Adriaan]] ([[User talk:John.Adriaan|talk]]) 02:02, 17 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> : I found a more formal telling of this story in Randall's blag at https://blog.xkcd.com/2011/08/24/earthquakes - &quot;I once heard a story (originally told by Kevin Young) about Gerson Goldhaber, who was a physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. He was talking on the phone with another physicist at SLAC near Stanford University near the end of the day on Tuesday, October 17, 1989...&quot; It turns out the SLAC physicist is the one that reported the earthquake and hung up, and Gerson Goldhaber at Berkeley was the one that impressed others with his earthquake prediction powers. [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 04:19, 18 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I love the pun in the title between _prescience_ (awareness of the future) and _pre-science_ (before science)... [[User:Gidds|Gidds]] ([[User talk:Gidds|talk]]) 17:17, 16 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> This is the way most tech bloggers operate these days. Throw enough mud up against the wall, and some of it will stick.  Print enough rumors and suppositions, and eventually one of them will prove to be correct.[[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 20:46, 16 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> :The worst example is actually economists. There are some who always predict a downturn. They keep saying it and being proven wrong, year after year...until when one finally comes they're suddenly on all the talking head shows with the host saying &quot;this guy predicted the recession. Now he's going to tell us what's coming next and how to get out of it.&quot; — especially if the way to get out of it involves the broken window fallacy of &quot;stimulus spending&quot;. — [[User:Kazvorpal|Kazvorpal]] ([[User talk:Kazvorpal|talk]]) 21:52, 16 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Not sure about unsinkable, but there were several ''{{w|HMS Invincible|Invincible}}'' ships ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:48, 16 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> I saw [https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1171930/Asteroid-news-chance-of-impact-asteroid-hit-earth-Lembit-Opik-asteroid-warning this article] awhile ago, which I feel like may have inspired this comic? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.42.4|172.69.42.4]] 22:53, 16 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> :Given that Randall has made other comics both like this (see [[#Trivia]]) and with [[1159: Countdown|end of the world scenario]], I do not think he was inspired by some random article from a week before. But it is fine to have it mentioned here in the discussion. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:19, 18 September 2019 (UTC) <br /> :Recent news of the continued deterioration of the Titanic wreck may have inspired the title text - of course, that ship was deemed &quot;virtually unsinkable&quot;. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.248|108.162.241.248]] 17:33, 20 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> Saying something that have more importance if you are correct reminds me of [[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/525:_I_Know_You%27re_Listening this]] [[Special:Contributions/172.68.154.22|172.68.154.22]] 04:50, 17 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> :What about connecting this and https://xkcd.com/628/, which also discussed Cueball using random coincidence to impress people. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.74.70|172.68.74.70]] 19:35, 17 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> ::I have added both [[525]] and [[628]] and Lupo has since added [[858: Milk]] to a trivia. And all these other three now also have this trivia connecting them. Thanks for remembering. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:15, 18 September 2019 (UTC)<br /> <br /> ESP style prescience can and has been measured by science. The measured value is zero, with tight bounds.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.206.22|172.68.206.22]] 16:50, 20 September 2019 (UTC)</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2120:_Brain_Hemispheres&diff=170651 2019-03-06T20:04:37Z

<p>108.162.241.248: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--&gt;<br /> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_hemisphere#Hemisphere_lateralization [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.248|108.162.241.248]] 20:04, 6 March 2019 (UTC)</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2113:_Physics_Suppression&diff=169802 2019-02-18T18:33:54Z

<p>108.162.241.248: /* Explanation */</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2113<br /> | date = February 18, 2019<br /> | title = Physics Suppression<br /> | image = physics_suppression.png<br /> | titletext = If physics had a mafia, I'm pretty sure the BICEP2 mess would have ended in bloodshed.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Created by the Physics Mafia. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> <br /> [[White Hat]] is mad at physicists in general and directs his fury at [[Megan]], a physicist. He has a theory and blames physicists for suppressing it. He believes that no one takes it seriously because his theory would disrupt the standard model in physics. He believes they do this because his theory would be inconvenient to accept, causing them to have to change their current models. <br /> <br /> Megan is not taking him seriously{{Citation needed}} and instead states that she did not know that physicists had a Mafia that was able to suppress anyone from publishing annoying results. She continues that if such a group were there to do so, then why were they not there to stop the people who published results about dark energy? <br /> <br /> Although she must admit that they (physicists) later gave them a {{w|Nobel Prize}} (in {{w|List_of_Nobel_laureates_in_Physics#Laureates|2011}}), she's still mad at them for the &quot;trouble&quot; this new concept caused for other physicists, including her.<br /> <br /> {{w|Dark energy}} is an unknown form of energy which is hypothesized to permeate all of space, tending to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Even though &quot;dark energy&quot; is a direct consequence of {{w|Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein's}} &quot;{{w|cosmological constant}}&quot; in the field equations of {{w|general relativity}}, its actual discovery was still seen as a surprise within the physics community. Einstein called the cosmological constant his &quot;greatest blunder&quot;{{Citation needed}}, but the concept was revived after the observation that cosmic expansion was accelerating. In the comic, Megan says that if scientists were able to suppress inconvenient ideas, dark energy would likely have been such a case.<br /> <br /> She also indirectly says to White Hat that if he actually had some results, not just a theory that contradicts known physics, then the results would not have been suppressed. The reason the &quot;dark energy people&quot; got a Nobel Prize is that the experiments and measurements show that they were onto something real. It seems like White Hat currently only has a model, and not data, to back his theory up. This is the real joke.<br /> <br /> The title text mentions {{w|BICEP2}} (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) which was part of a series of instruments used to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). On 17 March 2014, it was announced, to much fanfare, that BICEP2 had detected B-modes from gravitational waves in the early universe (called primordial gravitational waves). A few years later, this announcement had to be backtracked as it was found that most, if not all, of the reported signal was actually due to interstellar dust within the Milky Way.{{Citation needed}}<br /> <br /> The title text notes that if there had been a physics mafia, then those results would have ended in bloodshed due to the controversy they caused.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[White Hat, with his hands balled into fist and held up above him, is talking with Megan.]<br /> :White Hat: You physicists are suppressing my theory because it's inconvenient for your models!<br /> :Megan: Wait, we have a mafia that can suppress annoying results?<br /> :Megan: ''Why didn't they do something about the dark energy people?!''<br /> :Megan: We gave them a Nobel prize but I'm still mad at them!<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Physics]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2113:_Physics_Suppression&diff=169801 2019-02-18T18:32:29Z

<p>108.162.241.248: </p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2113<br /> | date = February 18, 2019<br /> | title = Physics Suppression<br /> | image = physics_suppression.png<br /> | titletext = If physics had a mafia, I'm pretty sure the BICEP2 mess would have ended in bloodshed.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Created by the Physics Mafia. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> <br /> [[White Hat]] is mad at physicists in general and directs his fury at [[Megan]], a physicist. He has a theory and blames physicists for suppressing it. He believes that no one takes it seriously because his theory would disrupt the standard model in physics. He believes they do this because his theory would be inconvenient to accept, causing them to have to change their current models. <br /> <br /> Megan is not taking him seriously{{Citation needed}} and instead states that she did not know that physicists had a Mafia that was able to suppress anyone from publishing annoying results. She continues that if such a group were there to do so, then why were they not there to stop the people who published results about dark energy? <br /> <br /> Although she must admit that they (physicists) later gave them a {{w|Nobel Prize}} (in {{w|List_of_Nobel_laureates_in_Physics#Laureates|2011}}), she's still mad at them for the &quot;trouble&quot; this new concept caused for other physicists, including her.<br /> <br /> {{w|Dark energy}} is an unknown form of energy which is hypothesized to permeate all of space, tending to accelerate the expansion of the universe. Even though &quot;dark energy&quot; is a direct consequence of {{w|Albert Einstein|Albert Einstein's}} &quot;{{w|cosmological constant}}&quot; in the field equations of {{w|general relativity}}, its actual discovery was still seen as a surprise within the physics community. Einstein, the cosmological contstant his &quot;greatest blunder&quot;{{Citation needed}}, but the concept was revived after the observation that cosmic expansion was accelerating. In the comic, Megan says that if scientists were able to suppress inconvenient ideas, dark energy would likely have been such a case.<br /> <br /> She also indirectly says to White Hat that if he actually had some results, not just a theory that contradicts known physics, then the results would not have been suppressed. The reason the &quot;dark energy people&quot; got a Nobel Prize is that the experiments and measurements show that they were onto something real. It seems like White Hat currently only has a model, and not data, to back his theory up. This is the real joke.<br /> <br /> The title text mentions {{w|BICEP2}} (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) which was part of a series of instruments used to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). On 17 March 2014, it was announced, to much fanfare, that BICEP2 had detected B-modes from gravitational waves in the early universe (called primordial gravitational waves). A few years later, this announcement had to be backtracked as it was found that most, if not all, of the reported signal was actually due to interstellar dust within the Milky Way.{{Citation needed}}<br /> <br /> The title text notes that if there had been a physics mafia, then those results would have ended in bloodshed due to the controversy they caused.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[White Hat, with his hands balled into fist and held up above him, is talking with Megan.]<br /> :White Hat: You physicists are suppressing my theory because it's inconvenient for your models!<br /> :Megan: Wait, we have a mafia that can suppress annoying results?<br /> :Megan: ''Why didn't they do something about the dark energy people?!''<br /> :Megan: We gave them a Nobel prize but I'm still mad at them!<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Physics]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2034:_Equations&diff=169482 2019-02-11T23:48:38Z

<p>108.162.241.248: /* Explanation */ that isn't part of the joke. there are plenty of physics equations that simplify to that.</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2034<br /> | date = August 17, 2018<br /> | title = Equations<br /> | image = equations.png<br /> | titletext = All electromagnetic equations: The same as all fluid dynamics equations, but with the 8 and 23 replaced with the permittivity and permeability of free space, respectively.<br /> }}<br /> ==Explanation==<br /> <br /> This comic gives a set of mock equations. To anyone not familiar with the field in question they look pretty similar to what you might find in research papers or on the relevant Wikipedia pages. Most of the jokes are related to the symbols or &quot;look&quot; of most equations in the given field.<br /> <br /> The comic makes jokes about the fields of kinematics, number theory, fluid dynamics, quantum mechanics, chemistry, quantum gravity, gauge theory, cosmology, and physics equations. Of course, all of the equations listed are not real equations (&lt;math&gt;\pi-\infty&lt;/math&gt; and H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;EAT are clearly jokes and making a mockery of the given field). As always, Randall is just having a laugh.<br /> <br /> :&lt;math&gt;E=K_{0}t+\frac{1}{2}\rho{}vt^2&lt;/math&gt;<br /> ;All kinematics equations<br /> Most kinematics equations tend to make heavy use of constants, addition, powers, and multiplication. This specific equation resembles the actual kinematics equation d = vt + 1/2at^2, but replaces a (acceleration) with v (velocity) and replaces velocity with &quot;K&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;&quot;, which is not a term used in kinematics.<br /> <br /> :&lt;math&gt;K_{n}=\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}\sum_{\pi=0}^{\infty}(n-\pi)(i+e^{\pi-\infty})&lt;/math&gt;<br /> ;All number theory equations<br /> Randall jokes about how number theory often involves the use of summations. The use of ''&amp;pi;'' as an integer variable in the double summation is a joke, as ''&amp;pi;'' is essentially always used for the well-known constant 3.14159..., not a variable. The use of ''i'' as a summation variable '''is''' common, though it can also be confused with the imaginary unit &amp;radic;-1. The constants ''e'', ''i'', and ''&amp;pi;'', as well as the theoretical upper bound &lt;math&gt;\infty&lt;/math&gt;, often appear in number theory equations.<br /> <br /> :&lt;math&gt;\frac{\partial}{\partial{t}}\nabla\!\cdot\!\rho=\frac{8}{23}\int\!\!\!\!\int\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\!\subset\!\!\supset\rho\,{ds}\,{dt}\cdot{}\rho\frac{\partial}{\partial\nabla}&lt;/math&gt;<br /> ;All fluid dynamics equations<br /> Fluid dynamics equations often involve copious integrals, especially those over closed contours as done here, which are often the main telling factors of those equations to an outsider. The time derivative and gradient operator &lt;math&gt;\nabla&lt;/math&gt; are common in fluid dynamics, mostly via the Navier-Stokes equation, and the fluid density &lt;math&gt;\rho&lt;/math&gt; is one of the functions of central importance. The fraction 8/23 is a comically weird choice, but various unexpected fractions do pop up in fluid dynamics. The ds and dt go with the double contour integral (s is probably distance, t is time), but the derivative with respect to &lt;math&gt;\nabla&lt;/math&gt; at the end is very much not allowed.<br /> <br /> :&lt;math&gt;|\psi_{x,y}\rangle=A(\psi)A(|x\rangle\otimes|y\rangle)&lt;/math&gt;<br /> ;All quantum mechanics equations<br /> Quantum mechanics often involves some of the foreign-looking symbols listed, including {{w|Bra–ket notation|bra-ket notation}}, the {{w|Tensor product|tensor product}}, and the Greek letter Psi for a quantum state. Specifically, the left side of the equation is a ket state labeled Psi that depends on x and y (probably positions), while the right-hand side may be an operator A that depends on the state Psi (it is very unusual to have such a dependence) acting on what looks like another copy of that operator which depends on the outer product of states labeled by x and y (again strange). A charitable interpretation could be that the second A is the eigenfunction A of the operator A. Normally this is clearly indicated by giving the operator a “hat” (^ symbol) or making the eigenfunction into a ket eigenstate, but since the equation is intentionally nonsense both A’s are left ambiguous. Also note that the bra-ket math is inconsistent here, as the left side is a ket, but the right side is just two A’s, which are either operators or functions but are definitely not kets.<br /> <br /> :&lt;math&gt;CH_4+OH+HEAT\rightarrow{}H_2O+CH_{2}+H_2EAT&lt;/math&gt;<br /> ;All chemistry equations<br /> Chemistry equations use formulas of chemical compounds to describe a chemical reaction. Such equations show the starting chemicals on the left side and the resulting products on the right side, as displayed. Sometimes such an equation might optionally indicate that an {{w|activation energy}} is required, for the reaction to take place in a sensible timeframe, e.g. by heating. A reaction requiring heating is usually indicated by a Greek capital letter Delta (''&amp;Delta;'') or a specified temperature above the reaction arrow, however this comic uses the &quot;+ HEAT&quot; term on the left side instead. The joke is that Randall interprets &quot;HEAT&quot; to be another chemical, which reacts with Hydrogen (H) to H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;EAT, which is nonsensical, as heat is transferred energy here, not added matter. Regardless of this, Randall gets the {{w|stoichiometry}} of this equation correct, with the same number of all types of 'atoms' on each side of the equation.<br /> <br /> :&lt;math&gt;SU(2)U(1)\times{}SU(U(2))&lt;/math&gt;<br /> ;All quantum gravity equations<br /> Quantum gravity uses mathematical {{w|Group (mathematics)|groups}} denoted by uppercase letters, as shown. {{w|Special unitary group|SU(2)}}, {{w|Unitary group|U(1)}}, and {{w|Unitary group|U(2)}} are all well-studied groups, though 'SU(U(2))' makes no sense. The lack of relator means this expression isn't an equation. Here is a possible pun, on &quot;Sue you too... you won&quot;... &quot;Sue you, you too&quot;, though it's unclear how it fits in here.<br /> <br /> :S&lt;sub&gt;g&lt;/sub&gt;=(-1)/(2&amp;epsilon;&amp;#x0304;) i&amp;eth;(&amp;#x302; &amp;xi;&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt; &amp;#x2a22; p&lt;sub&gt;&amp;epsilon;&lt;/sub&gt; &amp;rho;&lt;sub&gt;v&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;abc&lt;/sup&gt;&amp;sdot;&amp;eta;&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;)&amp;#x302; f&amp;#x0335;&lt;sub&gt;a&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;0&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;lambda;(&lt;span style=&quot;display:inline-block; -ms-transform:rotate(180deg); -webkit-transform:rotate(180deg); transform:rotate(180deg);&quot;&gt;&amp;xi;&lt;/span&gt;) &amp;psi;(0&lt;sub&gt;a&lt;/sub&gt;)<br /> ;All gauge theory equations<br /> Gauge theory is a subset of field theory. Most gauge theory equations appear to have many strange-looking constants and variables with odd labels.<br /> <br /> :&lt;math&gt;H(t)+\Omega+G\!\cdot\!\Lambda...\begin{cases}...&gt;0\mathsf{\ (Hubble\ model)}\\<br /> ...=0\mathsf{\ (Flat\ sphere\ model)}\\<br /> ...&lt;0\mathsf{\ (Bright\ dark\ matter\ model)}<br /> \end{cases}&lt;/math&gt;<br /> ;All cosmology equations<br /> Cosmology is the science of the development and ultimate fate of the universe. The joke here may be pertaining to the different models accepted in the field of cosmology. H is the {{w|Hubble's law#Time-dependence of Hubble parameter|Hubble parameter}}, &amp;Omega; is the universal {{w|Friedmann equations#Density parameter|density parameter}}, G is the {{w|gravitational constant}}, and &amp;Lambda; is the {{w|cosmological constant}}.<br /> <br /> :&amp;#x0124; - u&amp;#x0327;&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt; = 0<br /> ;All truly deep physics equations<br /> The joke about the &quot;truly deep physics equations&quot; is that most of the universal physics equations are simple, almost exceedingly so. One example is Einstein's ''E = mc²''.<br /> <br /> The title text is referencing the fact that the electric and magnetic fields are often explained to physics students using an analogy with fluid dynamics, as well as the fact that they do share some similarities (only in terms of mathematical description as three-dimensional vector fields) with fluids. The permittivity constant (represented with ''&amp;epsilon;''&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;) and the permeability constant (represented with ''&amp;mu;''&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;) are coefficients that relate the amount of charge required to cause a specific amount of electric flux in a vacuum and the ability of vacuum to support the formation of magnetic fields, respectively. They appear frequently in Maxwell's equations (the equations that define the electric and magnetic fields in classical mechanics), so Randall is making the joke that any surface integral with them in it automatically is an electromagnetism equation.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :[Nine equations are listed, three in the top row and two in each of the next three rows. Below each equation there are labels:]<br /> <br /> :E=K&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;t+1/2 &amp;rho;vt&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;<br /> :All kinematics equations<br /> <br /> :K&lt;sub&gt;n&lt;/sub&gt;=&amp;sum;&lt;sup&gt;&amp;infin;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;i=0&lt;/sub&gt;&amp;sum;&lt;sup&gt;&amp;infin;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&amp;pi;=0&lt;/sub&gt;(n-&amp;pi;)(i-e&lt;sup&gt;&amp;pi;-&amp;infin;&lt;/sup&gt;) [K sub n = the summation from i = 0 to infinity of the sum from pi = 0 to infinity of (n - pi) * (i-e^(pi-infinity))]<br /> :All number theory equations<br /> <br /> :&amp;#x2202;/&amp;#x2202;t &amp;nabla;&amp;sdot;&amp;rho;=8/23 (&amp;#x222F; &amp;rho; ds dt &amp;sdot; &amp;rho; &amp;#x2202;/&amp;#x2202;&amp;nabla;)<br /> :All fluid dynamics equations<br /> <br /> :|&amp;psi;&lt;sub&gt;x,y&lt;/sub&gt;&amp;#x232a;=A(&amp;psi;)A(|x&amp;#x232a;&amp;#x2297;|y&amp;#x232a;)<br /> :All quantum mechanics equations<br /> <br /> :CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;+OH+HEAT&amp;rarr;H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;O+CH&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;+H&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;EAT<br /> :All chemistry equations<br /> <br /> :SU(2)U(1)&amp;times;SU(U(2))<br /> :All quantum gravity equations<br /> <br /> :S&lt;sub&gt;g&lt;/sub&gt;=(-1)/(2&amp;epsilon;&amp;#x0304;) i&amp;eth;(&amp;#x302; &amp;xi;&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt; &amp;#x2a22; p&lt;sub&gt;&amp;epsilon;&lt;/sub&gt; &amp;rho;&lt;sub&gt;v&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;abc&lt;/sup&gt;&amp;sdot;&amp;eta;&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt;)&amp;#x302; f&amp;#x0335;&lt;sub&gt;a&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;sup&gt;0&lt;/sup&gt; &amp;lambda;(&lt;span style=&quot;display:inline-block; -ms-transform:rotate(180deg); -webkit-transform:rotate(180deg); transform:rotate(180deg);&quot;&gt;&amp;xi;&lt;/span&gt;) &amp;psi;(0&lt;sub&gt;a&lt;/sub&gt;)<br /> :All gauge theory equations<br /> <br /> :H(t)+&amp;Omega;+G&amp;sdot;&amp;Lambda; ... <br /> :[There is a brace linking the three cases together.]<br /> :... &gt; 0 (Hubble model)<br /> :... = 0 (Flat sphere model)<br /> :... &lt; 0 (Bright dark matter model)<br /> :All cosmology equations<br /> <br /> :&amp;#x0124; - u&amp;#x0327;&lt;sub&gt;0&lt;/sub&gt; = 0<br /> :All truly deep physics equations<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Science]]<br /> [[Category:Physics]]<br /> [[Category:Math]]<br /> [[Category:Chemistry]]<br /> [[Category:Astronomy]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=936:_Password_Strength&diff=169400 2019-02-09T00:59:47Z

<p>108.162.241.248: &quot;a&quot; before consonants, &quot;an&quot; before vowels</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 936<br /> | date = August 10, 2011<br /> | title = Password Strength<br /> | image = password strength.png<br /> | titletext = To anyone who understands information theory and security and is in an infuriating argument with someone who does not (possibly involving mixed case), I sincerely apologize.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> This comic says that a password such as &quot;Tr0ub4dor&amp;3&quot; is bad because it is easy for password cracking software and hard for humans to remember, leading to insecure practices like writing the password down on a post-it attached to the monitor. On the other hand, a password such as &quot;correcthorsebatterystaple&quot; is hard for computers to guess due to having more entropy but quite easy for humans to remember.<br /> <br /> In simple cases the {{w|Entropy (information theory)|entropy}} of a password is calculated as ''a^b'' where ''a'' is the number of allowed symbols and ''b'' is its length. A dictionary word (however long) has a password space of around 65000, i.e. 16 bits. A truly random string of length 11 (not like &quot;Tr0ub4dor&amp;3&quot;, but more like &quot;J4I/tyJ&amp;Acy&quot;) has 94^11 = 72.1 bits. However the comic shows that &quot;Tr0ub4dor&amp;3&quot; has only 28 bits of entropy. Another way of selecting a password is to have 2048 &quot;symbols&quot; (common words) and select only 4 of those symbols. 2048^4 = 44 bits, much better than 28. Using such symbols was again visited in one of the tips in [[1820: Security Advice]].<br /> <br /> It is absolutely true that people make passwords hard to remember because they think they are &quot;safer&quot;, and it is certainly true that length, all other things being equal, tends to make for very strong passwords and this can confirmed by using [http://rumkin.com/tools/password/passchk.php rumkin.com's password strength checker]. Even if the individual characters are all limited to [a-z], the exponent implied in &quot;we added another lowercase character, so multiply by 26 again&quot; tends to dominate the results.<br /> <br /> In addition to being easier to remember, long strings of lowercase characters are also easier to type on smartphones and {{w|Virtual keyboard|soft keyboards}}.<br /> <br /> xkcd's password generation scheme requires the user to have a list of 2048 common words (log&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;(2048) = 11). For any attack we must assume that the attacker knows our password generation algorithm, but not the exact password. In this case the attacker knows the 2048 words, and knows that we selected 4 words, but not which words. The number of combinations of 4 words from this list of words is (2&lt;sup&gt;11&lt;/sup&gt;)&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt; = 2&lt;sup&gt;44&lt;/sup&gt; bits. For comparison, the [http://world.std.com/~reinhold/dicewarefaq.html#calculatingentropy entropy offered by Diceware's 7776 word list is 13 bits per word]. If the attacker doesn't know the algorithm used, and only knows that lowercase letters are selected, the &quot;common words&quot; password would take even longer to crack than depicted. 25 ''random'' lowercase characters would have [http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=log2%2826^25%29 117 bits of entropy], vs 44 bits for the common words list.<br /> <br /> ;Example<br /> Below there is a detailed example which shows how different rules of complexity work to generate a password with supposed 44 bits of entropy. The examples of expected passwords were generated in random.org.(*)<br /> <br /> If ''n'' is the number of symbols and ''L'' is the length of the password, then ''L'' = 44 / log&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;(n).<br /> <br /> {|class=&quot;wikitable&quot;<br /> !Symbols<br /> !Number of symbols<br /> !Minimum length<br /> !colspan=&quot;2&quot;|Examples of expected passwords<br /> !Example of an actual password<br /> !Actual bits of entropy<br /> !Comment<br /> |-<br /> |a||26||9.3||mdniclapwz||jxtvesveiv||troubadorx||16+4.7 = 20.7||Extra letter to meet length requirement; log&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;(26) = 4.7<br /> |-<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|a 9<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|36<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|8.5<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|qih7cbrmd<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|ewpltiayq<br /> |tr0ub4d0r||16+3=19||3 = common substitutions in the comic<br /> |-<br /> |troubador1||16+3.3=19.3||log&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;(10) = 3.3<br /> |-<br /> |a A||52||7.7||jAwwBYne||NeTvgcrq||Troubador||16+1=17||1 = caps? in the comic<br /> |-<br /> |a &amp;amp;||58||7.5||j.h?nv),||c/~/fg\:||troubador&amp;amp;||16+4=20||4 = punctuation in the comic<br /> |-<br /> |a A 9||62||7.3||cDe8CgAf||RONygLMi||Tr0ub4d0r||16+1+3=20||1 = caps?; 3 = common substitutions<br /> |-<br /> |a 9 &amp;amp;||68||7.2||_@~&quot;#^.2||un$l&amp;#x7c;!f]||tr0ub4d0r&amp;amp;||16+3+4=23||3 = common substitutions; 4 = punctuation<br /> |-<br /> |a A 9 &amp;amp;||94||6.7||Re-:aRo||^$rV{3?||Tr0ub4d0r&amp;||16+1+3+4=24||1 = caps?; 3 = common substitutions; 4 = punctuation<br /> |-<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|common words<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|2048<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|4<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|reasonable&amp;#8203;retail&amp;#8203;sometimes&amp;#8203;possibly<br /> |rowspan=&quot;2&quot;|constant&amp;#8203;yield&amp;#8203;specify&amp;#8203;priority||reasonable&amp;#8203;retail&amp;#8203;sometimes&amp;#8203;possibly||11&amp;times;4=44||Go to random.org and select 4 random integers between 1 and 2048; then go to your list of common words <br /> |-<br /> |correct&amp;#8203;horse&amp;#8203;battery&amp;#8203;staple<br /> |0<br /> |Because of this comic, this password has no entropy<br /> |}<br /> <br /> :a = lowercase letters<br /> :A = uppercase letters<br /> :9 = digits<br /> :&amp;amp; = the 32 special characters in an American keyboard; Randall assumes only the 16 most common characters are used in practice (4 bits)<br /> <br /> :(*)&amp;nbsp;The use of random.org explains why &lt;code&gt;jAwwBYne&lt;/code&gt; has two consecutive w's, why &lt;code&gt;Re-:aRo&lt;/code&gt; has two R's, why &lt;code&gt;_@~&quot;#^.2&lt;/code&gt; has no letters, why &lt;code&gt;ewpltiayq&lt;/code&gt; has no numbers, why &quot;constant yield&quot; is part of a password, etc. A human would have attempted at passwords that looked random.<br /> <br /> ==People who don't understand information theory and security==<br /> <br /> The title text likely refers to the fact that this comic could cause people who understand information theory and agree with the message of the comic to get into an infuriating argument with people who do not — and disagree with the comic.<br /> <br /> If you're confused, don't worry; you're in good company; even security &quot;experts&quot; don't understand the comic:<br /> <br /> * Bruce Schneier thinks that dictionary attacks make this method &quot;obsolete&quot;, despite the comic ''assuming'' perfect knowledge of the user's dictionary from the get-go. He advocates his own low-entropy &quot;first letters of common plain English phrases&quot; method instead: [https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/03/choosing_secure_1.html#!s!xkcd Schneier original article] and rebuttals: [http://robinmessage.com/2014/03/why-bruce-schneier-is-wrong-about-passwords/ 1] [http://security.stackexchange.com/a/62881/10616 2] [http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1yxgqo/bruce_schneier_on_choosing_a_secure_password/cfp2z9k 3] [http://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/232uch/ysk_how_to_properly_choose_a_secure_password_the/cgte7lp 4] [http://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/232uch/ysk_how_to_properly_choose_a_secure_password_the/cgszp62 5] [http://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/232uch/ysk_how_to_properly_choose_a_secure_password_the/cgt6ohq 6]<br /> * Steve Gibson basically gets it, but calculates entropy incorrectly in order to promote his own method and upper-bound password-checking tool: [https://www.grc.com/sn/sn-313.htm#!s!math%20is%20wrong Steve Gibson Security Now transcript] and [https://subrabbit.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/how-much-entropy-in-that-password/ rebuttal]<br /> * Computer security consultant Mark Burnett ''almost'' understands the comic, but then advocates adding numerals and other crud to make passphrases less memorable, missing the point: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150319220514/https://xato.net/passwords/analyzing-the-xkcd-comic/ Analyzing the XKCD Passphrase Comic]<br /> * Ken Grady incorrectly thinks that user-selected sentences like &quot;I have really bright children&quot; have the same entropy as randomly-selected words: [http://blog.hellersearch.com/Blog/bid/141527/Is-Your-Password-Policy-Stupid Is Your Password Policy Stupid?]<br /> * Diogo Mónica doesn't understand that the words have to be truly random, not user-selected, like &quot;let me in facebook&quot;: [https://diogomonica.com/posts/password-security-why-the-horse-battery-staple-is-not-correct/ Password Security: Why the horse battery staple is not correct]<br /> <br /> Sigh.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> :The comic illustrates the relative strength of passwords assuming basic knowledge of the system used to generate them.<br /> :A set of boxes is used to indicate how many bits of entropy a section of the password provides.<br /> :The comic is laid out with 6 panels arranged in a 3x2 grid.<br /> :On each row, the first panel explains the breakdown of a password, the second panel shows how long it would take for a computer to guess, and the third panel provides an example scene showing someone trying to remember the password.<br /> <br /> :[The password &quot;Tr0ub4dor&amp;3&quot; is shown in the center of the panel. A line from each annotation indicates the word section the comment applies to.]<br /> <br /> :Uncommon (non-gibberish) base word<br /> :[Highlighting the base word - 16 bits of entropy.]<br /> :Caps?<br /> :[Highlighting the first letter - 1 bit of entropy.]<br /> :Common Substitutions<br /> :[Highlighting the letters 'a' (substituted by '4') and both 'o's (the first of which is substituted by '0') - 3 bits of entropy.]<br /> :Punctuation<br /> :[Highlighting the symbol appended to the word - 4 bits of entropy.]<br /> :Numeral<br /> :[Highlighting the number appended to the word - 3 bits of entropy.]<br /> :Order unknown<br /> :[Highlighting the appended characters - 1 bit of entropy.]<br /> :(You can add a few more bits to account for the fact that this is only one of a few common formats.)<br /> <br /> :~28 bits of entropy <br /> :2&lt;sup&gt;28&lt;/sup&gt; = 3 days at 1000 guesses/sec<br /> :(Plausible attack on a weak remote web service. Yes, cracking a stolen hash is faster, but it's not what the average user should worry about.)<br /> :Difficulty to guess: Easy<br /> <br /> :[Cueball stands scratching his head trying to remember the password.]<br /> :Cueball: Was it trombone? No, Troubador. And one of the O's was a zero?<br /> :Cueball: And there was some symbol...<br /> :Difficulty to remember: Hard<br /> <br /> :[The passphrase &quot;correct horse battery staple&quot; is shown in the center of the panel.]<br /> :Four random common words {Each word has 11 bits of entropy.}<br /> <br /> :~44 bits of entropy<br /> :2&lt;sup&gt;44&lt;/sup&gt; = 550 years at 1000 guesses/sec<br /> :Difficulty to guess: Hard<br /> <br /> :[Cueball is thinking, in his thought bubble a horse is standing to one side talking to an off-screen observer. An arrow points to a staple attached to the side of a battery.]<br /> :Horse: That's a battery staple.<br /> :Observer: Correct!<br /> :Difficulty to remember: You've already memorized it<br /> <br /> :Through 20 years of effort, we've successfully trained everyone to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember, but easy for computers to guess.<br /> <br /> ==External links==<br /> *Some info was used from the highest voted answer given to the question of &quot;how accurate is this XKCD comic&quot; at StackExchange [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/6095/xkcd-936-short-complex-password-or-long-dictionary-passphrase].<br /> *Similarly, a question of &quot;how right this comic is&quot; was made at AskMetaFilter [http://ask.metafilter.com/193052/Oh-Randall-you-do-confound-me-so] and [[Randall]] responded [http://ask.metafilter.com/193052/Oh-Randall-you-do-confound-me-so#2779020 there].<br /> *Also the Wikipedia article on '{{w|Passphrase}}' is useful.<br /> *In case you missed it in the explanation, GRC's Steve Gibson has a fantastic page [https://www.grc.com/haystack.htm] about this (and may have prompted this comic, as his podcast [http://www.grc.com/sn/sn-303.htm] about this was posted the month before this comic).<br /> * This comic inspired [http://blog.acolyer.org/2015/10/29/how-to-memorize-a-random-60-bit-string/ How to memorize a random 60-bit string] scientific paper (link is to the article about paper, wth paper itself linked)<br /> * [https://github.com/dropbox/zxcvbn zxcvbn password strength estimator] thanks this comic for the inspiration in acknowledgements.<br /> * CMU paper: [http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/soups/2012/proceedings/a7_Shay.pdf Correct horse battery staple: Exploring the usability of system-assigned passphrases]<br /> * [http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/265143/Microsoft_Password_Guidance.pdf Microsoft Password Guidance] (page 8)<br /> * [http://gizmodo.com/the-guy-who-invented-those-annoying-password-rules-now-1797643987 The Guy Who Invented Those Annoying Password Rules Now Regrets Wasting Your Time], August 8, 2017 (this comic is reproduced in the article).<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Math]]<br /> [[Category:Computers]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2105:_Modern_OSI_Model&diff=169142 2019-02-05T18:37:00Z

<p>108.162.241.248: Undo revision 169133 by 162.158.106.180 (talk)</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2105<br /> | date = January 30, 2019<br /> | title = Modern OSI Model<br /> | image = modern_osi_model.png<br /> | titletext = In retrospect, I shouldn't have used each layer of the OSI model as one of my horcruxes.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Created by a seven-layered BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> The {{w|OSI model|Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Model}} is a computing model for network communications that abstracts a communication between two services like a Facebook client and Facebook servers all the way from the application layer on the server, down to the wire on which the data is transmitted, and back up to the application layer where the user views the data. As Facebook is one of the most used websites in the world with more than a billion users, Randall claims that the &quot;application&quot; layer (what the client sees and uses) is mostly {{w|Facebook}}.<br /> <br /> A light gray shape labeled &quot;Google &amp; Amazon&quot; surrounds all seven layers of the model in an irregular shape indicating that Google and Amazon, by dint of their size and dominance at multiple layers of the model influence the entire structure. An example of Google's influence would be their introduction of new protocols like {{w|QUIC}} and {{w|SPDY}} as replacements for the existing HTTP protocol that was a foundation of the web.<br /> <br /> The significance of the irregular pattern of the &quot;Google &amp; Amazon&quot; blob isn't clear. It is likely that it is in reference to the irregular way in which their modifications to the OSI stack have evolved. Potentially with extensions to the left representing the influence of Google, and extension to the right representing the influence of Amazon. However, it is also notable that the irregular structure of the stack is reminiscent of a {{w|Jenga}} tower. Jenga is a game in which blocks are removed from a vertical stack and added back to the top until the whole collapses. This may be a commentary on the instability of the network stack in general, or on how Google and Amazon's additions and changes to it have destabilized the networking protocols. Or, the specific blocks to be pulled out (presentation, session, and network) may be the ones whose removal collapses the tower while the other ones can be easily removed and replaced (like the center blocks in Jenga), implying that between Google and Amazon, even if these were pulled out, the tower would remain standing. What this says about the three layers that would destabilize the tower is unclear.<br /> <br /> The title text refers to {{w|Magical_objects_in_Harry_Potter#Horcruxes|Horcruxes}} used by {{w|Lord Voldemort|Voldemort}} in the ''{{w|Harry Potter}}'' book series. A Horcrux is a magical artifact used to house a wizard's soul, preventing them from dying if their body is destroyed. Since they can only be created by murdering other people, they are heavily forbidden, and before Voldemort it was unheard of for a wizard to use more than one. Voldemort used seven -- the same number of layers in the OSI model. However, while Voldemort hid his seven Horcruxes in different places to make himself that much harder to kill, Randall's have all been collected in Google and Amazon, defeating the purpose of using more than one. Alternatively, transforming each layer of the OSI model into a horcrux may be regarded as a strategy to prevent them from being destroyed since doing so would destroy networking. This strategy would fail in the modern world, since some of the envisioned layers were not used in the more common modern TCP/IP networking model and in the case of cloud infrastructure potential exists to provide even more shortcuts.<br /> <br /> The title text may also be a reference to a [[1417|prior comic]] about Randall mixing up things that come in groups of seven, like data layers and Horcruxes.<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> <br /> :'''Modern OSI Model'''<br /> <br /> :[A light gray shape that surrounds seven stacked dark gray rectangles, all with labels.]<br /> <br /> ::Application (Facebook) [supported by the light gray shape on both sides]<br /> <br /> ::Presentation [pulling out would collapse the tower]<br /> <br /> ::Session [pulling out would collapse the tower]<br /> <br /> ::Transport [supported on both sides]<br /> <br /> ::Network [pulling out would collapse the tower]<br /> <br /> :Google &amp; Amazon [label of the light gray shape]<br /> <br /> ::Data link [supported on both sides]<br /> <br /> ::Physical [supported on both sides]<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2095:_Marsiforming&diff=169141 2019-02-05T18:35:55Z

<p>108.162.241.248: Undo revision 169132 by 162.158.106.180 (talk)</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2095<br /> | date = January 7, 2019<br /> | title = Marsiforming<br /> | image = marsiforming.png<br /> | titletext = It has so many advantages--it preserves Martian life, requires fewer interplanetary launches, and makes it much easier to field-test Mars rovers.<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> {{incomplete|Created by a MARS ROVER IN MAZATLAN, MEXICO. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> <br /> {{w|Terraforming}} is the (so far only suggested) process of changing a planet, usually to make it more habitable for humans or other Earth life. A very common example is {{w|Mars}}, which is known to harbour water ice and believed to have previously been warm enough to have liquid water. Normally, plans for terraforming try to adjust temperatures to be compatible with liquid water, and an atmosphere containing significant amounts of oxygen but little carbon dioxide. The word {{w|Terra}} is the Latin name for {{w|Earth}}, so terraforming would be &quot;Earth Forming&quot;.<br /> <br /> In this comic [[Cueball]] is suggesting doing the opposite: change Earth to be more like Mars, i.e. extremely dry, cold, and with a very thin atmosphere, approximately 1/160 of Earth's surface pressure. In addition, Mars has no magnetic core, so it is possible that Cueball wants to remove the magnetic field from Earth. The comic title combines Mars with Forming (with a linking &quot;i&quot;) to create the new word Marsiforming. He is having trouble getting the enthusiastic response to his proposal that he expects.<br /> <br /> The title text provides examples of how this could improve things: preserving Martian life (a proposed reason to terraform Mars would be to provide a second planet to preserve Earth life at the cost of destroying any potential [undiscovered] Martian organisms, so by marsiforming Earth, we would provide a second planet to preserve Martian life, if there is any life on Mars), needing fewer interplanetary launches (no need to leave this planet's atmosphere in order to visit itself, and Martians who might otherwise need to return to their home planet could instead settle on Earth), and making it easier to field-test Mars rovers (field-test means to test in the environment of actual use, which would readily be available on Earth).<br /> <br /> Unstated in the comic are the extreme costs such a proposal would incur, which would surely be grounds for rejection. Between the thin atmosphere, harsh solar radiation, and other changes, Earth would become uninhabitable for most life currently on Earth, most notably humans. Almost all humans value the continued existence of the human race far more than Martian exploration{{Citation needed}} (if nothing else, it is for the benefit of humans that Mars is being explored, so exterminating the human race would render the benefits moot).<br /> <br /> There are known extremophile species that would survive underground on Mars. If similar life is hiding on Mars, marsiforming the Earth would benefit their possible eventual interplanetary efforts. There is an existing project to begin experimental terraforming on Mars by nurturing some of our extremophile species on it.{{w|Terraforming_of_Mars#Funded_research:_ecopoiesis}}<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> <br /> :[Cueball is on a stage giving a presentation, with a diagram behind him. The diagram shows Earth and Mars side-by-side, along with some writing below the two.]<br /> :Cueball: Earth and Mars may look different now, but with some orbiting mirrors and atmospheric adjustments, we could change that.<br /> <br /> :[Caption below the panel:]<br /> :I'm having trouble selling people on my proposal to terraform Earth to resemble Mars.<br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br /> [[Category:Space]]</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=explain_xkcd:Editor_FAQ&diff=169140 2019-02-05T18:35:14Z

<p>108.162.241.248: Undo revision 169130 by 162.158.106.180 (talk)</p> <hr /> <div>'''Frequently Asked Questions for editors'''<br /> <br /> This FAQ is a short description about editing pages at this wiki. Please read this carefully and if you have any further questions do not hesitate to enter them into this [[explain xkcd talk:Editor FAQ|talk page]].<br /> <br /> For general questions please read first the MediaWiki help pages about [[mw:Help:Editing pages|Editing pages]] or look at the full overview here: [[mw:Help:Contents|Help Contents]]. You also can use your preferred search engine by entering &quot;MediaWiki mytopic&quot;. Change mytopic to the theme you're searching for, i.e. &quot;MediaWiki tables&quot; will show you many useful sites about editing tables.<br /> <br /> Please always use the preview button to verify your edit before finally pressing the save button.<br /> <br /> This FAQ focuses only on topics related to this specific Wiki.<br /> <br /> ==What is the general layout of a comic page?==<br /> In general you don't have to care about this because the pages are generated by a bot nearly immediately after a new comic is released. If the bot fails please follow exactly the instructions here [[User:dgbrtBOT]] to do all the needed actions.<br /> <br /> The layout and order is always this:<br /> *Comic ''picture'' with the ''title text'' below<br /> *''Explanation''<br /> *''Transcript''<br /> *''Trivia'' (optional)<br /> *''Discussion'' (embedded Talk page)<br /> *List of non standard ''categories''<br /> <br /> ==What should I include in the explanation?==<br /> Everything is welcome as long as it explains the content of the comic. Everybody can edit here and when others disagree about your contributions they may change it.<br /> <br /> ==In which cases are tables meaningful, and when are they not?==<br /> At the transcript tables should never be used, even when there is a table in the comic image it should be described by text.<br /> <br /> At the explanation tables only make sense when the content is compact. When a single row contains more than a small item like a number, a small phrase, or something similar a table isn't the proper layout because it's hard to read. Instead it should be written in floating text chapters with distinct headers above (see next section below.)<br /> <br /> Instead of using a two-column table (e.g. &quot;sentence from comic&quot;, &quot;explanation&quot;), consider using a description list (''bold text''). Place a semicolon (&lt;code&gt;;&lt;/code&gt;) at the beginning of the sentence to be explained and a colon (&lt;code&gt;:&lt;/code&gt;) at the beginning of each paragraph of the explanation, like this (from [[1987: Python Environment#Explanation|1987]]):<br /> ; Anaconda Python<br /> : Anaconda is a Python distribution for data science and machine learning related applications.<br /> : A second paragraph for the explanation.<br /> <br /> The Wikipedia's {{w|WP:WHENTABLE#Appropriate use|Manual of Style/Tables}} describes it best:<br /> &lt;blockquote&gt;Often a list is best left as a list. Before reformatting a list into table form, consider whether the information will be more clearly conveyed by virtue of having rows and columns. If so, then a table is probably a good choice. If there is no obvious benefit to having rows and columns, then a table is probably not the best choice. &lt;/blockquote&gt;<br /> <br /> ==What is the proper layout for headers?==<br /> For headlines you have to use Wiki-style code. The simplest way is a preceding semicolon at the beginning of the line which causes the entire line to be rendered in bold.<br /> <br /> On large explanations it can be handy to divide it into subsections. In this case the header is written like this: &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;===Sub header===&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt;. But in most cases the simple semicolon is just enough.<br /> <br /> ==What is the format of the transcript section?==<br /> The transcript should describe the content (think about explaining the comic to a visually impaired person, or to someone on phone). It should do this in a compact manner, and cite all written words. Every line should begin with an indent (a simple &lt;code&gt;:&lt;/code&gt; at the beginning), and every panel from the comic should be separated by a blank line. The transcript must not contain any links, nor rich math markup, which once again relies on visuals. Tables should generally be avoided, although not all transcripts comply with this. Furthermore the title text is not included in the transcript. Checking the pages for the older comics will help understand this.<br /> <br /> ==One or two spaces after a period? And what about newlines?==<br /> There is a controversy if one or two spaces after a period ending a sentence should be used. The fact is that even three or more spaces are rendered as only one.<br /> Furthermore a single newline is also just rendered as a space.<br /> <br /> A new paragraph like this needs an empty line before, not just a single newline. Click the edit/source button to see how this chapter is written.<br /> <br /> ==What belongs to the trivia section?==<br /> As implied by the section name, it's just trivia, consisting of unimportant odds-and-ends related to the comic. Since this wiki focuses on explaining this section is not part of the default layout. If a word has been misspelled in the comic or title text, or the image was originally broken at xkcd and reuploaded... basically the things that don't belong in the explanation but should still be mentioned, then it should be mentioned in the trivia section.<br /> <br /> ==How do I behave on the talk page (discussion)?==<br /> Everybody can add here any thoughts about the comic and more. Please follow the common netiquette and don't be rude. Unless you are replying to a previous comment, in which you should add a colon before your comment, you should add comments at the bottom. Every comment has to be signed at the end with &lt;nowiki&gt;~~~~&lt;/nowiki&gt; or just click the sign button [[File:Button sig.png]] at the top of the editor.<br /> <br /> ==What does the incomplete tag mean?==<br /> There are two templates to indicate that an explanation or the transcript do need further rework. Just enter &lt;nowiki&gt;{{incomplete|YOUR REASON}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; or respectively &lt;nowiki&gt;{{incomplete transcript|YOUR REASON}}&lt;/nowiki&gt; and don't forget to enter a proper reason to replace the filler text left by the bot (Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.), or if the reason said in the tag has been dealt with. The reason at the transcript is not shown to the viewer.<br /> <br /> ==How do I enter links to other pages?==<br /> The three mostly used options are:<br /> *an internal link like &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;[[Cueball]]&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; which renders like this: [[Cueball]]<br /> *a link to the English Wikipedia should use this template: &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;{{w|Page}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; links to the Wikipedia article on &quot;Page&quot; or &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;{{w|Page|Display}}&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; prints &quot;Display&quot; which links to the Wikipedia article on &quot;Page&quot;<br /> *other external links can be done in three ways:<br /> **just write the URL and it will be shown like this: http://www.example.com<br /> **put it into single brackets: &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;[http://www.example.com]&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; and you will see this [http://www.example.com] (please avoid this)<br /> **and add a text: &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;[http://www.example.com Example Homepage]&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; everything after the first space is shown: [http://www.example.com Example Homepage]<br /> <br /> ==Why can't I upload pictures or create pages?==<br /> Only registered and trusted users can create pages or upload images. After the registration you have to wait at least three days and you must have done a small amount of edits, then you will be able to create pages and upload images at will. <br /> <br /> ==How do I embed images?==<br /> This Wiki isn't a picture book, use this feature only sparingly and reduce the size as much as possible. An example can be seen here: [[1400: D.B. Cooper]]. The syntax in this case is &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;[[File:DBCooper.jpg|thumb|150px|Cooper]]&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; and the picture is taken from Commons, the main source for Wikipedia images. The full syntax can be found at [[mw:Help:Images|MediaWiki]].<br /> <br /> You also can upload pictures directly to this Wiki by using the [[Special:Upload]] link from the menu. But do not violate any copyright rules or it will be deleted. And when the picture is available at Commons there is no need to upload it here.<br /> <br /> ==The picture at xkcd was updated, how do I upload this here?==<br /> Sometimes the initial picture at [[xkcd]] contains typos or other errors. When that has been fixed the comic picture here should also be updated. Save the picture from xkcd to your local PC but be careful, there are two versions available. We here use only the smaller version ''picture.png'' and not the larger one ''picture_2x.png''. So change &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture_2x.png&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; to &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/picture.png&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; when your browser shows the 2x version.<br /> <br /> To update it here just click the image in the comic page and then click &quot;Upload a new version of this file&quot; below the file history. And please be patient, you wont see your upload immediately because it still comes from the cache at the server. But when you see your upload in the file history everything is OK. Just wait...<br /> <br /> ==How do I enter mathematical or chemical formulas?==<br /> You can use the Math markup &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;math&gt;...&lt;/math&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt;. The other known code from Wikipedia &lt;code&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;&lt;chem&gt;...&lt;/chem&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;/code&gt; is NOT supported yet. It's based on LaTeX syntax and a general overview can be found at this {{w|Help:Displaying a formula|Wikipedia help page}} -- don't use it unless you understand what you are doing.<br /> <br /> Furthermore never use this markup at the ''transcript'' because that math code is rendered to a picture -- at the transcript we try to describe the comic ''image'' by ''words'', a picture there wouldn't be helpful.<br /> <br /> ==Is the ''Citation needed'' template here similar to the analog at Wikipedia?==<br /> Simple answer: NO. In fact that template just links to [[285: Wikipedian Protester]], a comic from July 4, 2007 and was meant to be a joke. Adding this template to every comic doesn't explain anything at all (that's what this Wiki aims to do) and should be placed only when there is a deeper sense of humor.</div>

108.162.241.248 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2107:_Launch_Risk&diff=169138 2019-02-05T18:21:30Z

<p>108.162.241.248: Undo revision 169136 by 162.158.106.180 (talk)</p> <hr /> <div>{{comic<br /> | number = 2107<br /> | date = February 4, 2019<br /> | title = Launch Risk<br /> | image = launch_risk.png<br /> | titletext = Don't worry--you're less likely to die from a space launch than from a shark attack. The survival rate is pretty high for both!<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Explanation==<br /> This comic deals with statistics based on a large population, such as all Americans, when the people in question are in a smaller group with vastly different statistics, such as astronauts.<br /> <br /> A capsule is about to be launched into space. On the left side, there is an announcement: &quot;T-MINUS 20...19...&quot; The &quot;T&quot; stands for the time at which the rocket is scheduled to be launched. T minus 20 indicate 20 seconds before the launch, so it's basically a countdown for 20 seconds before the rocket is launched. In the capsule, one astronaut asks another how they are feeling. The second one admits that they feel nervous. The first one offers the supposedly reassuring observation that they are more likely to be struck by lightning than to be selected as an astronaut. Such &quot;more likely to be struck by lightning&quot; comparisons are commonly used to illustrate that a particular risk is very remote, and thus should not be considered particularly frightening. <br /> <br /> The second one agrees with the first one for a moment, but then realizes that something is wrong with the argument. He says &quot;Oh, that's a good-&quot; which is likely &quot;Oh, that's a good comforting comparison&quot;. Presumably, they realize that the likelihood of being ''selected as an astronaut'' is a moot point -- they are there because they ''already have'' been selected as an astronaut. That's why the first one's intention is more likely trolling than being really caring about the second one's nervousness. His words are only causing more confusion for the second one, that highlights the humorousness of the comic. The relevant concern is the risk level faced by an astronaut, given that they already hold that position. Unfortunately, the historical record shows that this risk is somewhat high, certainly far above the minuscule risk of being struck by lightning.<br /> <br /> The lifetime odds of being struck by lightning are approximately 1 in 14,600 (approximately 10% of those struck by lightning are killed) [https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-odds How Dangerous is Lightning?]. <br /> <br /> The title text refers to another common comparison, the risk of a shark attack. In addition to shark attacks being rather rare, they are also not as likely to kill the victim as is commonly assumed. Most people attacked by sharks, and most people launched into space, live through the experience. However, it remains true that both are considerably riskier than most common activities like car accident (1 in 583 deaths) or unintentional poisoning (1 in 70 deaths).<br /> ([https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-mortality-risk])<br /> Of the 557 people who who have been in Earth orbit, 18 (3%) have died in related accidents, not specifically at launch([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight-related_accidents_and_incidents List of spaceflight-related accidents and incidents], [https://www.worldspaceflight.com/bios/stats.php Astronaut/Cosmonaut Statistics]). Of the 93 incidents logged for 2018 in the [http://www.sharkattackfile.net/index.htm Global Shark Attack File], 4 (4.3%) were fatal, but the statistic has been higher in the past when there has likely been less education against provoking sharks.<br /> <br /> A tall rocket, such as depicted would be more likely to be struck by lightning than nearby structures. However launch controllers monitor weather carefully to reduce the chances of attempting to launch when lightning is likely.<br /> <br /> A spacecraft launch can trigger lightning, by creating a conductive path through charge bearing clouds. Apollo 12 was struck by triggered lightning twice during launch phase. Thankfully backup systems allowed the flight to proceed. For more information, see [https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/9-12/features/F_Lightning_and_Launches_9_12.html NASA: Lightning and Launches]<br /> <br /> The perceived value of risk is a recurring topic and is also featured in [[795: Conditional Risk]] and [[1252: Increased Risk]].<br /> <br /> ==Transcript==<br /> {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br /> <br /> :[A rocket is about to launch.]<br /> :Astronaut 1: How you feeling?<br /> :Astronaut 2: Honestly, pretty nervous.<br /> :Astronaut 1: I know it seems dangerous, but just remember: you're more likely to be struck by ''lightning'' than to be selected to become an astronaut.<br /> :Astronaut 2: Oh that's a good-<br /> :Astronaut 2: ...Wait.<br /> :Countdown: T-Minus 20...19...<br /> <br /> <br /> {{comic discussion}}<br /> [[Category:Statistics]]<br /> [[Category:Space]]</div>

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