explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1764: XKCDE

2016-11-25T07:45:31Z

141.101.104.72:

The title text reminds me of the Dust Theory in Greg Egan's _Permutation City_. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.72|141.101.104.72]] 07:45, 25 November 2016 (UTC)

1551: Pluto

2016-11-23T16:10:26Z

141.101.104.72:

{{comic
| number = 1551
| date = July 14, 2015
| title = Pluto
| image = pluto.png
| titletext = After decades of increasingly confused arguing, Pluto is reclassified as a "dwarf Pluto."
}}
When the image is clicked the corresponding [http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-spacecraft-displays-pluto-s-big-heart-0 NASA post] opens up.
==Explanation==

This comic was posted on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in honor of the {{w|New Horizons}} deep space probe making its flyby at {{w|Pluto}}, thus breaking the typical Monday/Wednesday/Friday cycle for the [[xkcd]] comics. Also on this day he released the first [[what if?]] in over three months, and it was called [http://what-if.xkcd.com/137/ New Horizons]. Luckily it did not end up back on Earth, as depicted in [[1532: New Horizons]] releases 1½ month before closest approach.

[[Randall]] has taken one of the probes images of Pluto, and outlined humorous examples of {{w|Pareidolia|pareidolia}} on top of it.

It can be compared to preliminary descriptions by geologists, e.g. [http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/07140911-new-horizons-best-look-at.html?referrer=http://t.co/ExQJ6cKS1Q New Horizons' best look at Pluto before close approach|The Planetary Society].

The comic probably winks at {{w|Percival Lowell}} whose observatory photographed Pluto in 1915 "known" as Planet X. Unfortunately Percival Lowell is most famous for are his drawings of the {{w|Martian canal|Canals on Mars}} which are widely misunderstood as channels based on wrong translations from Italian to other languages.

The title text refers to the debate as to whether Pluto should be classified as a full or dwarf planet. This debate was particularly brought into the public eye, and came to be seen as a matter of controversy, following the 2006 {{w|IAU definition of planet}}. The text may imagine that this debate winds on, with definitions being created and revised until a ridiculous state is reached whereby Pluto has a special class of celestial body named after it called a 'Pluto', but fails to fulfill the arbitrary criteria set up for it, and hence is called a 'dwarf Pluto'.

There actually exist the terms {{w|Plutoid}} and {{w|Plutino}}, that relate directly to groups that Pluto belongs to, but see those pages for details of their use and usage.

===Details on Randall's discoveries===

;Candy shell
Suggests Pluto is a confection, like [http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Minmus Minmus]. May also be a reference to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_%28chocolate_bar%29 Mars] candy bar.

;JPEG plumes
The {{w|JPEG}} image format has the common issue of slightly distorting an image with {{w|Compression artifact}}s. The artifacts shown here do not appear in the official version of this image, but all data sent from New Horizons is compressed and artifacts are common — the full resolution images will be submitted to earth over the next 16 months. There have been tweets about people seeing plumes associated with active volcanoes and the like, which were explained as being artifacts.

;Frontal bone
Interpreting Pluto as a head, the {{w|frontal bone}} could be the light-colored region next to the darker top, just above the north pole facing to us.

;Grease stains
The area above Pluto's north pole is attributed to grease.

;Bugs
Could refer to possible extraterrestrial life on Pluto in the form of {{w|insects}}, or "bugs". In the animated TV series ''Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles'', an adaptation of Robert Heinlein's novel ''Starship Troopers'', the first battles with the alien "Bugs" took place on Pluto. Maybe it also refers to a software bug at the probe.

;Bullet holes
A string of small round features which Randall suggests were the result of Pluto getting shot repeatedly, probably by meteorites.

;New Netherlands
Reference to the what if?, [https://what-if.xkcd.com/54/ Drain the Oceans: Part II], about draining the Earth's oceans onto Mars. In the previous what if?, [https://what-if.xkcd.com/53/ Drain the Oceans], the Netherlands took over the Earth once their problem with the risk of flooding disappeared. And then they continued to issued forth from the portal that drained the oceans on Earth pouring them onto Mars, to claim Mars as New Netherlands. Presumably something similar happened on Pluto. This was already again references in both an entry in the table and in the title text of [[1555: Exoplanet Names 2]].

;Disputed territory
Since the base photograph is identified as "today's ''New Horizons'' image," this indicates that a section of Pluto has immediately become the subject of some controversy, possibly a territorial claim or one of several references to the fact that Pluto was demoted from full planet status in 2006.

;Snake pit
A generic map hazard.

;{{w|Pareidolia|Full text of the Wikipedia article on pareidolia}}
Pareidolia is the human brain's tendency to see patterns where they don't exist. While probably a reference to Pluto's heart, the joke is also recursive: You'd be seeing the text of a Wikipedia article explaining to you that you couldn't actually be seeing the text of a Wikipedia article.

;Tadpole
One of a number of pareidolic features Randall has outlined.

;Kuiper Belt loops
The {{w|Kuiper belt}} is a region in our solar system that contains an unknown amount of icy bodies, one known is Pluto. Randall jokingly refers to Kuiper Belt as the same kind of belt that's used to fasten clothing, and identifies features on Pluto's surface as loops for the belt.

;Serenity
An outline of the ''Firefly''-class spaceship ''Serenity'', which was the titular vessel from the 2002 TV series ''{{w|Firefly (TV series)|Firefly}}''. One of a number of pareidolic features Randall has outlined.

;Dinosaur
Nobody can see a dinosaur unless Randall did do this painting on Pluto's surface. And a complex comic needs at least one dinosaur.

;The good part
A section of Pluto that is objectively better than the rest.

;Moon bud
This could be interpreted as a moon growing/emerging out of pluto, as a bud is "a compact knob-like growth". A round growth is seen at the location marked, resembling a small, emerging moon.

;Ghost
A reference to the classic video game ''{{w|Pacman}}'', wherein the primary antagonists are one of four Ghosts. The Ghost on Pluto appears to have a mouth, however, unlike most depictions of the ''Pacman'' Ghosts. One of a number of pareidolic features Randall has outlined.

;Pluto dinosaur extinction crater
Suggests Pluto had dinosaurs and lost them the same way Earth did.

;{{w|The Heart (Pluto)|Heart}}
One of a number of pareidolic features Randall has outlined, and the only one (currently) also informally named as such by NASA.

;Coronary artery disease
Also known as {{w|ischemic heart disease}}, which causes degradation of heart tissue. The region identified in the comic looks less 'healthy' (is darker and more ragged) compared to the rest of the 'Heart', which Randall suggests is caused by the disease.

;Mount Mons
Referring to the general practice of naming extraterrestrial mountains {{w|Mons (planetary nomenclature)|"X Mons"}} (e.g. {{w|Olympus Mons}}, a mountain on Mars and the largest mountain in the Solar System), as well as naming terrestrial mountains "Mount X". Since "mons" is Latin for "mountain", the feature's suggested name translates as "Mount Mountain".

;Charging socket
A terrain feature suitable for connecting an outside source of electricity for the benefit of implied internal batteries. Compare "dock connector," below.

;Cracks (beginning to hatch)
Implying that Pluto is some manner of giant egg. Possibly a reference to the ''Doctor Who'' episode ''Kill the Moon'', in which the Moon is revealed to be an egg from which a monster is hatching. A 2014 article from ''The Onion'', [http://www.theonion.com/article/moon-finally-hatches-36414 "Moon Finally Hatches,"] makes the same joke. Also possibly a reference to ''The Light Fantastic'', a ''Discworld'' novel in which similar objects are revealed to be the eggs of the world turtle. A similar idea appeared in Jack Williamson's 1934 short story "Born of the Sun".

;Plug (inflating/deflating)
Balls often have a "plug" or opening to insert a needle to inflate or deflate them.

;Scars from predator attacks
Since it's all-caps, we can't tell if "PREDATOR" is a proper noun, but this is possibly a reference to the movie series ''{{w|Predator (franchise)|Predator}}'', about a race of aliens who hunt other beings for sport. Alternatively, a planetary predator (such as comic book villain {{w|Galactus}}) may have previously scarred Pluto.

;Reset button
The structure indicated is a small black dot (at least at this distance this picture was taken). Reset buttons on home electronics are often small buttons or holes used to reset the software of the electronic device.

;Megaman
One of a number of pareidolic features Randall has outlined, this one in the shape of a {{w|Mega_Man_(character)|popular video game protagonist.}}

;Debate Hole - Where we're putting all the people still arguing about Pluto's planet status
Pluto was reclassified as a {{w|dwarf planet}} rather than a {{w|planet}} following the latter term's controversial {{w|IAU definition of planet|redefinition in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union}}. Arguments about the classification continue to pop up. The same argument is referenced in the title text. The name implies a proposal to put all the people still arguing about it in this hole on Pluto. This proposal further implies that the continued debate is very annoying by 2015, except perhaps to the debaters themselves.

;Area missed during ironing
The area indicated is near the {{w|Terminator (solar)|terminator}} and shows some intriguing topographic relief.

;Probably Benign
A {{w|neoplasm}} or tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue. Randall is suggesting that the abnormal region near the heart has been evaluated by a doctor and determined to be {{w|Benign tumor|benign}}.

;Chocolate frosting
Suggests the discrepancy in color over Pluto's surface may be a function of what cake frosting was used where. This area is the "dark spot" at the head of the "whale" (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/14/science/space/pluto-flyby.html). The so-called "whale's tail" (http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/find-heart-whale-new-horizons-picture-pluto-n388816), is on the other hemisphere and is not visible in this image, it lies east about 90 degrees from the chocolate frosting/dark spot here.

;Vanilla frosting
As above, suggests the discrepancy in color over Pluto's surface may be a function of what cake frosting was used where.

;Border of pride lands
A reference to the Disney animated feature ''The Lion King.'' In the movie, the Pridelands is the bright and prosperous region ruled by the Lion King while a dark territory beyond its border is controlled by hyenas.

;Hyena country
A continuation of the ''Lion King'' reference above.

;Dock connector
From the point of view of the photograph, this feature of Pluto is at the planet's "bottom," where iPod dock connectors are. Compare "charging socket," above.

==Transcript==
:'''PLUTO'''
:Some of the features already identified in today's ''New Horizons'' image

:[Many marks on the image of Pluto follow:]

:Candy shell
:Frontal bone
:Grease stains
:Bugs
:JPEG plumes
:Full text of the wikipedia article on pareidolia
:Bullet holes
:New Netherlands
:Disputed territory
:Snake pit
:Tadpole
:Pluto dinosaur extinction crater
:Kuiper beltloops
:Serenity
:Ghost
:Dinosaur
:The good part
:Moon bud
:Scars from predator attacks
:Reset button
:Megaman
:Charging socket
:Cracks (beginning to hatch)
:Plug (inflating/deflating)
:Heart
::Mount Mons
::Coronary artery disease
:Debate hole
::Where we're putting all the people still arguing about Pluto's planet status
:Chocolate frosting
:Probably benign
:Vanilla frosting
:Dock connector
:Border of pride lands
:Hyena country
:Area missed during ironing

:Image credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI - click for original

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Firefly]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Wikipedia ]]
[[Category:The Lion King]]

1097: A Hypochondriac's Nightmare

2016-10-11T23:10:11Z

141.101.104.72: /* Trivia */ changed ref to normal external link

{{comic
| number = 1097
| date = August 20, 2012
| title = A Hypochondriac's Nightmare
| image = a_hypochondriacs_nightmare.png
| titletext = BUT WHAT IF I REASSURE MYSELF WITH A JOKE AND THEN DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE RASH AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE DEATH MITES AND I COULD HAVE CAUGHT IT
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Hypochondriac}}s are people who worry obsessively about their health, often looking up symptoms on the Internet and convincing themselves that they have some deadly disease. The situation depicted in this comic is described as a "hypochondriac's nightmare" because [[Cueball]], expecting that the rash on his arm was some mysterious undiagnosed disease, spent several hours on {{w|WebMD}} (an online health symptom reference) looking up symptoms, yet ends up dying by slipping on a banana and getting sucked into an airplane engine. Thus he regrets wasting so much time on an ultimately fruitless task rather than something more productive to survival, such as, say, watching out for banana peels lying in front of jet engines, or at the very least, attempting to enjoy life.

The title text (in ALL CAPS thus shouting in despair) adds another level of hypochondriasm. [[Randall]] drew this particular joke to soothe his fears and reassure himself that the rash is nothing. But what if that reassurance just makes him not check out the rash, and then it turns out the rash is caused by (nonexistent) "death {{w|mite}}s" and ultimately kills him when he could have prevented it?

==Transcript==
:[Cueball at an airport slips on a banana peel and gets sucked into a nearby jet engine.]
:Cueball (thinking): Seriously!? '''''This''''' is what gets me? I wasted so many hours on WebMD worrying about the rash on my arm!

==Trivia==
*When originally published, "Hypochondriac" was misspelled as "Hypochrondiac".
*ICD-10 code for this situation is V9733xA [http://fulldecent.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-medical-bill-theres-code-for-that.html]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:1701: Speed and Danger

2016-07-03T19:55:24Z

141.101.104.72:

;Worst Comic
I think this might be a strong contender for worst comic on xkcd. Although [[1384: Krypton]] definitely makes for stiff competition. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.102|108.162.216.102]] 14:28, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
:Perhaps "in worst taste" might be a better term than simply "worst". Certainly the fatality '''rate''' (in fatalities/crash) for rocket crashes is higher, but placing motor sports crashes to the extreme end of the safety-danger axis is a bit suspect in light of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_deaths_in_motorsport . [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.242|108.162.237.242]] 02:25, 2 July 2016 (UTC)
::This is a great comic, but taste differs. It's not like he is making a joke of people who die in NASCAR crashes, but on this scale it is just not dangerous compared to crashing with a rocket heading for space. This is exactly the same as if he had put in the coconut in on of his most controversial comics, and another scatter plot [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]]. In the title text of that comic he mentions that the whole charts would have lost meaning if he included the coconut. But here he did put it in (the rocket) since he likes rockets and will not use the F word on those like he did with grape and coconuts. It may not be one of the best, but I like it :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:55, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

The worst? Have you looked at the first few hundred? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.119|108.162.246.119]] 15:09, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

I think this comic is actually enlightening on a certain (albeit narrow level). People frequently lack a proper sense of perspective, and this comic illustrates this fact. While we might say "Wow, that Indy car is really moving fast!", it pales in comparison to other vehicles that some fortunate few travel in. {{unsigned|BobTheMad}}
:And I totally wanted to learn that from a '''comic''' that's supposed to be humorous... --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 16:50, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

[[1699]] and [[1680]] would like to have a word with you. Also [[1675]].
Actually, all of the last 25 or so comics would. I really don't know how the xkcd forums put up with being 500x smarter than all the comics they praise every day. [[User:Youforgotthisthing|Youforgotthisthing]] ([[User talk:Youforgotthisthing|talk]]) 17:18, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

; Referencing Something?
Is there something this is referencing? [[User:Saklad5|Saklad5]] ([[User talk:Saklad5|talk]]) 14:41, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

I believe this is in response to the recent crash of a Tesla car while running on autopilot - possibly the first recorded fatality of an autonomous car. {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.156}}
:Seems unlikely, as there is no mention of normal cars or Tesla. And although Elon Musk also do rockets launches (so far without humans as far as I know), there seem to be no relation to Tesla. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:55, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

To me the reference seems to be the Formula 1 "Halo" discussion. The last month I saw a few news articles about prominent F1 people calling this new safety measure "too safe" etc. To me this is a ridiculous argument and the comic is spot-on about it. The title text also seems to refer somewhat from that discussion. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.72|141.101.104.72]] 19:55, 3 July 2016 (UTC)

;Sarcasm
Is sarcasm to be encouraged in explanations? “Here, Randall makes the '''truly astounding''' observation that the danger of a crash is directly proportional to its speed….” [Emphasis mine.] ''— [[User:Tbc|tbc]] ([[User talk:Tbc|talk]]) 15:29, 1 July 2016 (UTC)''
:In this case it's definitely warranted...Jesus Randall, this wouldn't exactly have been hard to make funny/interesting. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.7|108.162.219.7]] 15:51, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
:No it should not be in the explanation. Keep the sarcasm here ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:55, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

Well a rocket to achieve orbit hits about 18,000 MPH http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/basics/launch.html
Where as NASCAR is only ~200 MPH https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_car_racing
Formula 1 is only ~257 MPH https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_One_car#Top_speeds
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.68.71|162.158.68.71]] 16:51, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

I'm kinda shocked Randall didn't reference Star Trek for this comic, considering the number. - Michael C. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.85|141.101.98.85]] 17:00, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

;Why only 4 examples?

Why not put things like biking, driving a regular car, WWI planes, WW2 planes, supersonic jets, satellites, Apollo, New Horizons... {{unsigned ip|108.162.244.67}}
:It was not interesting as they would all overlap and there would be not enough place for labels. The whole idea is that any sport bound to Earth is slow compared to a rocket launch. 100 m dash or Formula one is on the same scale when comparing. Reminds me of when he compared the speed of New Horizon to the speed of a bullet, which would also have been in the left side if New Horizon had been entered... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:55, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

;Sports or Sports Cars?
I don't think the comic intended to say "Normal Sports CARS," as the explanation currently says, I think it means what it says, "Normal SPORTS" like foot ball, or hockey. On the linear scale of 0-to-rocket, running or walking is close to race car speed, compared to how fast a rocket is, and the graph illustrates that. Also, crashing a normal sports CAR is far more dangerous than crashing a professional race car because of all the safety equipment, so a sports car would be more toward the dangerous side. {{unsigned ip|108.162.219.81}}
:Agreed. I was assuming the reference was to various contact sports such as football, hockey, and quidditch where collisions between players regularly happen. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.132|108.162.237.132]] 20:52, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
::Yes of course. My bad, I just read the three dots like different types of car, and did not think further about it. For sure I see now that it is any sports not using motor powers (maybe also not anything about going fast down-slope like bobsleigh etc.) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:55, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

;What is the point of this comic and where is the fun

I don't know, I feel like people is missing the point of the comic, where is the funny on it.

I think finding Formula one on the slow an secure quadrant of the chart is surprising, so near to regular sports, until you understand that it is only compared to a rocket launch. People sure think of F1 as fast and dangerous, so this comic plays with our expectations.

Not exactly hilarious, but neither the worst XKCD comic.

[[User:Inconexo|Inconexo]] ([[User talk:Inconexo|talk]]) 20:19, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

<hr>
One thing I think it might be interesting to indicate is how this is the first one of these plots where everything is in only two quadrants. There is no slow but dangerous crash nor fast but safe crash. Usually at least one these quadrants would have an entry, and probably a facetious one.
:True but there has only been three (with this) comic with a four quadrant scatter plot, the other being [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]] and [[1501: Mysteries]]. The other scatter plot are either in one square or not really scatter plots that can be compared to this one. So it may be too slim a data set to say this is special for xkcd. But still interesting enough that there are no fast safe or slow dangerous crashes. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:22, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

I also think the part about scale could be expanded to more than just the "relative to the speed of light." Something like "While we tend to speak of race cars as going fast, they are slow compared to rockets." --[[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 22:27, 1 July 2016 (UTC)
:Please feel free to improve with better examples. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 11:55, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

Fatality rate is not 100% as shown by [[wikipedia:List_of_spaceflight-related_accidents_and_incidents#Non-fatal_incidents_during_spaceflight|Non-fatal incidents during spaceflight]] [[User:Wyrme|Wyrme]] ([[User talk:Wyrme|talk]]) 03:22, 2 July 2016 (UTC)
:None of those events resulted in a crash. All crashes have been fatal as far as I can see. A crash involves the rocket hitting something. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 12:04, 2 July 2016 (UTC)
::By that definition, has there ever been a fatal rocket crash (excluding rockets fired as weapons hitting their target)? Thinking of the US space program: Apollo 1 was a fire in the capsule on the ground, not a crash. Challenger was an explosion in mid air, not a crash. Columbia was a break up on re-entry, not a crash. [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 13:05, 2 July 2016 (UTC)

When I saw this comic, I immediately though of Little Bobby Tables (https://xkcd.com/327/) {{unsigned ip|141.101.70.193}}