explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3083: Jupiter Core

2025-05-01T02:28:38Z

108.162.246.82: #5 minor grammar fixes

{{comic
| number = 3083
| date = April 30, 2025
| title = Jupiter Core
| image = jupiter_core_2x.png
| imagesize = 581x443px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Juno mission data suggests that Jupiter actually contains Matryoshka doll-style nested copies of every other planet in the Solar System.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by A PLANET WITH FEELINGS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{w|Jupiter}} is the largest planet in the {{w|Solar System}}, the fifth planet from the Sun, and the closest-in {{w|gas giant}}. The core of the planet is hidden by an enormous gaseous atmosphere, and this comic lists a number of theories about the structure of that core. The first two are theories that are or have been held by reputable planetary scientists (they can be found in the Wikipedia entry), while the rest are ridiculous ideas from Randall's mind.

{|class="wikitable" style="margin:auto"
|-
!Number Jupiter!!Caption of Jupiter!!Explanation
|-
|1||Diffuse mix of heavy elements and metallic hydrogen||This is the current leading theory suggested by measurements taken by NASA's {{w|Juno (spacecraft)|Juno}} probe, a spacecraft orbiting Jupiter since 2016.
|-
|2||Rocky core with metallic, hydrogen mantle||This was one of the leading proposals prior to the Juno mission.
|-
|3||Valuable treasure|| Indecipherable objects that may be gemstones or precious metals, surrounded by dollar signs. May be a reference to the occasionally proposed idea that gas giant cores might be composed of diamond, famously used in Arthur C. Clarke's ''{{w|2010: Odyssey Two}}''.
|-
|4||Emergency backup Earth||This would be a copy of the Earth that can be put into place once we finish destroying our planet. In popular science Jupiter is often described as a "protector" of Earth since its large gravitational field attracts asteroids that could otherwise hit Earth. This could be Randall's take on this claim in that it has a backup Earth in case everything else fails. Randall has previously proposed "Emergency Backup Earth" as an [[1253|exoplanet name]], and updated its location [[1555|later]]. Jupiter's core is not an exoplanet{{cn}}.
|-
|5||Regular planet pretending to be a gas giant to avoid attention||The joke here is that there is secretly a regular planet hiding inside Jupiter that is shy and does not want attention, so it pretends to be a gas giant. Of course, planets are not shy in real life, as they do not have feelings.{{citation needed}} The planet inside of Jupiter appears to be earth-like, most likely with people on it due to the large support structures and the large surrounding structure itself. They're probably quite annoyed at us considering we've [[1727|destroyed multiple satellites using Jupiter.]]
This might be a reference to [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/At_Attin At Attin], a fictional planet in the {{w|Star_Wars|Star Wars}} Cinematic Universe. At Attin is a planet that has an artificially created protective barrier designed to hide it from discovery to conceal its production of [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/At_Attin_Mint Republican credits]. The [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Barrier barrier] makes the much smaller planet within look like a gas giant and has artificial electrical storms produced by electrical mines that destroy any unauthorized ships from approaching the inner planet. At Attin appears in the Star Wars show {{w|Star_Wars:_Skeleton_Crew|Skeleton Crew}} which was released only a few months prior to this comic.
|-
|6||Hard ball from avocado|| This theory proposes that Jupiter's core is a giant avocado pit, which is the large seed located in the center of an avocado. The outer layers of Jupiter also appear to be the flesh of an avocado in the drawing, thereby creating a very, very large avocado. If the total mass of Jupiter in metric tons was converted to avocados, as seen in the image, Jupiter would represent over 95 quadrillion years' worth of global avocado production as of 2023.
|-
|7||Baby Jupiter, still gestating||This theory proposes that Jupiter is pregnant with a baby version of itself, which composes its core. While this is obviously not the case{{cn}}, it could provide large hints as to how the solar system originated if true. This also provides questions as to Jupiter's sexuality, as well as who the father is.
|-
|8||No core; flat Earth conspiracists are wrong about Earth but right about Jupiter||{{w|Modern_flat_Earth_beliefs|Flat Earth}} is a debunked{{cn}} conspiracy theory that the Earth is not actually spherical, but flat, with some believing that world leaders are actively trying to hide this fact from the general public. This version of Jupiter proposes that while Earth may not be flat, Jupiter is, thereby not having a core at all.
|-
|9||{{w|Matryoshka doll}} (title text)||Since Jupiter is by far the largest planet of the solar system (and in fact larger by both mass and volume than all other Solar System planets combined), it could hypothetically contain all other planets nested inside one another. The order from largest to smallest would be Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Mercury.
|}

==Transcript==
{{Incomplete|better phrasing needed}}

:Current leading theories for what's in the center of Jupiter:

:[Variations of Jupiter, except for the last are shown with about 1/8 of the planet chopped off to show the core.]

:[Jupiter with liquid material at its core]
:Diffuse mix of heavy elements and metallic hydrogen

:[Jupiter with a rocky core]
:Rocky core with metallic, hydrogen mantle

:[Jupiter with a pile of coins for a core, with multiple dollar signs shown]
:Valuable treasure

:[Jupiter with Earth for a core]
:Emergency backup Earth

:[Hollow Jupiter with a rocky planet in the middle, the outer layer held in place by inner supports]
:Regular planet pretending to be a gas giant to avoid attention

:[Jupiter with a smooth ball for a core]
:Hard ball from avocado

:[Jupiter with a small version of Jupiter for a core]
:Baby Jupiter, still gestating

:[Jupiter as a flat circle, with nothing chopped off]
:No core; flat Earth conspiracists are wrong about Earth but right about Jupiter

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]

Talk:3076: The Roads Both Taken

2025-04-15T14:40:10Z

108.162.246.82:

I just saw on Google's Doodle: "''...today’s Doodle shows an illustration of quantum superposition. April 14 is World Quantum Day, and this year is also the International Year of Quantum — celebrating 100 years since the discovery of quantum mechanics.''" https://blog.google/technology/research/world-quantum-day-doodle-superposition-thaumatrope/ --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 05:25, 15 April 2025 (UTC)
:Added World Quantum Day to the article. Thanks. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 13:25, 15 April 2025 (UTC)

I think "Photon poetry" is a reference to Vogon poetry in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (notoriously the worst poetry in the universe). [[Special:Contributions/104.23.172.2|104.23.172.2]] 07:19, 15 April 2025 (UTC)

Pretty sure the title text is a parody of a song lyric that I can't remember the original of. "When you something something something, that's something". Damn it, its on the tip of my tongue, but it isn't quite coalescing!
: When a grid's misaligned with another behind, that's a moiré! Biran4454 10:07, 15 April 2025 (UTC)]
::When the spacing is tight
and the difference is slight,
That's a moiré. [[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]] ([[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al|talk]]) 13:56, 15 April 2025 (UTC)
: I think it's more likely a slightly clunky way to reach the punchline that is a twist on photon-superposition-fomo being ''phomo'' [[User:Xseo|Xseo]] ([[User talk:Xseo|talk]]) 10:15, 15 April 2025 (UTC)
: The original was {{w|That%27s_Amore|a hit for Dean Martin in 1953}}. [https://arnoldzwicky.org/2015/10/17/thats-a-moray/ Parodies featuring moray eels came later]. I agree with Xseo that Martin's song is unlikely to have been an inspiration for the title text. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.82|108.162.246.82]] 14:40, 15 April 2025 (UTC)

Talk:493: Actuarial

2022-08-07T06:06:31Z

108.162.246.82: Add comment about "Hat guy"

I have no time for searching right now, but I'm sure there is a graph comic related to this sentence: "2038: Last of the original Star Wars cast dies." BTW: please create only pages with an proper explanation. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 16:45, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

While I'm not the guy/gal who created the page, I thought I'd supply a short explanation, to be refined as necessary. BTW, the linkies at the bottom suggest that this is a "Comic with colour", but I only see monochrome. Is this a human error, or is it an automated response to the supplied image (while being black on white, or maybe greyscale) 'officially' having a colour palette or something in its header? [[Special:Contributions/178.107.63.150|178.107.63.150]] 23:35, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

His choice of year 2038 could be related to the year 2038 problem. If we assume that C3PO and R2D2 run Unix, then the year 2038 would be the end of Unix time, and they would therefore die. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.80.212|141.101.80.212]] 11:18, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

No, Randall wrote an actual Python script to calculate these. I'd give a link, but he's since removed them from the site. He made a blog post, though.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.113|108.162.216.113]] 01:24, 22 June 2015 (UTC)

Found a github copy of the script at [https://gist.github.com/snipsnipsnip/3730576]. [[User:Bronze2018|Bronze2018]] ([[User talk:Bronze2018|talk]]) 03:18, 4 August 2016 (UTC)

Randall called Black Hat "Hat guy" so maybe we should, too.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.111.217|162.158.111.217]] 07:37, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

"Hat guy" is too ambiguous, considering [[White Hat]] and [[Beret Guy]]. That said, I think it's at least noteworthy that Randall calls him this by name. I'm not sure when else he's done that, but I'm not an expert. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.82|108.162.246.82]] 06:06, 7 August 2022 (UTC)