673: The Sun

2016-10-08T21:42:40Z

172.68.54.125: /* Explanation */ Removed a second comma in the first sentence so that "especially... 'The Core'" is no longer a nonrestrictive clause in the middle of a larger sentence.

{{comic
| number = 673
| date = December 9, 2009
| title = The Sun
| image = the_sun.png
| titletext = Obligatory bad guy: This operation is sheer foolishness, and it's not happening on my watch! Mainly because I can't figure out how to adjust the time.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic makes fun of {{w|science fiction}} {{w|disaster movies}}, especially the 2003 film "{{w|The Core}}" in which a group of scientists travel through the Earth's mantle to place a series of nuclear devices in order to speed up the slowing rotation of the Earth's core and prevent a complete collapse of Earth's magnetic field.

This comic presents the next film from the makers of The Core. In this case an astronomer [[Ponytail]] discovers the Sun's fusion is failing. The two [[Cueball]]-like guys behind her is not impressed, one is disbelieving and the other is not interested (''Whatever''). But then Ponytail rally them by threatening them with impeding doom for Earth, and they call {{w|NASA}}. A group of astronauts has taken the call at NASA and the leader a(another Cueball-like guy) describes what could happen in trailer like fashion:
*The earth bathed in eternal darkness?
*A night without a dawn? Not on my watch!
And then he tells his team of astronauts, a fourth Cueball-like guy, [[Megan]] and another Ponytail to ''Saddle up'', and the comic finished with showing the poster (a copy of the one for The Core with the Sun in place of the Earth mantle) of this new movie called '''The Sun''' (hence the title of the comic) with two taglines:
*It's Daylight saving time.
*Never fall back.

The movie described by this comic shows a scenario where the "sun's fusion is failing". This is in fact the exact plot of the British science fiction film "{{w|Sunshine (2007 film)|Sunshine}}" from 2007, released two years before this comic, which was about a group of astronauts sent on a mission to the reignite a dying {{w|Sun}} with a battery of nuclear bombs.

The {{w|sun}}'s energy comes from {{w|nuclear fusion}} reactions among the extremely hot dense hydrogen plasma in its core. The idea of the sun's fusion failing is rather ridiculous from a scientific perspective, because the fusion reactions are well understood and the sun has enough hydrogen to fuel it for about 5 billion more years. Even if the sun's hydrogen was getting low it would {{w|Star#Post–main sequence|start fusing helium}} and begin expanding into a {{w|red giant}}. This will in make the Earth uninhabitable. Even in the nearly impossible event of the sun's fusion is {{w|Supernova#Core collapse|failing in the traditional sense}}, the sun would {{w|Star#Collapse|collapse}} causing a {{w|supernova}}. In other words, if the sun stopped fusing we wouldn't have to worry about less sunlight, we would have to worry about more.

In any case, it appears to be failing and the solution is to send a team of astronauts to the sun to restart the fusion (which is analogous to sending an ant to the US Senate to break a budget deadlock). The team leader is motivated by concern that if the sun's fusion stops, there will be no more light, and so the earth will be in perpetual darkness.

The poster in the final panel gives the movies two taglines. {{w|Daylight saving time}} (DST) refers both to the policy of changing clocks, which is intended to "save" daylight for a more useful part of the day; and the scenario in this movie in which it is time for the team to literally save the sun's daylight from being extinguished. "Never fall back" is an additional word play on the {{w|mnemonic}} used (in the States at least) to remember the direction to change clocks. The mnemonic goes, {{w|Spring forward, fall back#Terminology|"spring forward, fall back"}} to indicate that in the spring season, clocks get set ahead by an hour, while in the fall the clocks are set backwards an hour. The phrase "fall back", however, can also mean to retreat from a battle.

[[Randall]] seems to believe that DST makes little sense today and he has made it clear in [[:Category:Daylight saving time|several comics]] that he is not a fan. As DST is the main joke of the comic (and the title of the next movie), it seems obvious that the comment from the astronaut about this not happening on "my watch" may be a pun relating to his wristwatch. He would not wish to have DST on his watch! This meaning is the made clear in the title text see below. Also this indicates that Randall never wish to apply DST as he never falls back, the last tagline.

The comic makes fun of these disaster movies in a couple of ways. The characters in the first panel acknowledge that the scenario doesn't make sense scientifically, but are prepared to sacrifice scientific value for the plot. Also, in the second panel the team is to be composed of {{w|NASA}}'s "hottest astronauts", which makes fun of the fact that the characters in movies are much more attractive than average, and the fact that they will be much hotter when they reach the sun. The team leader expresses his concern with a few buzz phrases often used in such films.

The title text continues the lunacy (solacy?) of the situation with the cliche of the "obligatory bad guy" — a person in the plot who acts antagonistic, often for the flimsiest of reasons. There is also the common complaint, especially among the technologically inept, that he can't figure out how to change the time, punning again on DST.

Note that while four different Cueballs in a comic is [[:Category:Multiple Cueballs|not uncommon]] it is rare that two different Ponytails are shown in one comic.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the first panel, which is lower than the rest:]
:Coming this March from the makers of ''The Core''...
:[Ponytail is standing on a raised platform looking through a huge telescope (exiting the panel to the left) in an observatory. To her right is a large station with three screens and two Cueball-like guys are standing on the floor to the of that right. Behind them is another station with a large panel showing two circles with an arrow pointing from the top left to the bottom right.]
:Ponytail: The sun's fusion is failing!
:Man 1: Does that make sense?
:Man 2: Whatever.

:[Zoom in on the scene where Ponytail throws up her arms as she turns towards the two Cueball, still standing on the platform, but the rest of the background is white. The first Cueball turns around and points to the other Cueball who has also turned around and has taken a phone of the hook, the curled cord disappearing at the panels right edge.]
:Ponytail: If we don't send a ship to restart it, it could go out completely!
:Man 1: Call NASA!
:Man 2 (into the phone): <small>Assemble our hottest astronauts.</small>

:[Another Cueball-like guy has taken the call, and still stands with the phone in hand, the cord attached to the phone hook on the panels left edge. He stands with the helmet of a space suit under his other arm, obviously being an astronaut. Behind him is a fourth Cueball-like guy, Megan and another Ponytail.]
:Astronaut: The earth bathed in eternal darkness? A night without a dawn? Not on my watch!
:Astronaut: Saddle up.

:[The same four characters are shown in silhouette on gray background (still only one with helmet under arm), casting huge shadows towards the bottom of the panel from the dim sun in the top center of the panel. Above the sun is written a tagline (for the movie) and at the bottom of the panels with shadows falling over it is a second smaller tagline:]
:It's
:<big>'''''Daylight saving time.'''''</big>
:<small>Never fall back.</small>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Daylight saving time]]

Talk:137: Dreams

2016-10-08T05:00:42Z

172.68.54.125: transcript should be changed

This seems a very short explanation that doesn't reflect the depth or passion of Cueball's speech :P. Or maybe I'm just overly affected by it. --[[User:Mynotoar|Mynotoar]] ([[User talk:Mynotoar|talk]]) 17:40, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

The mistake is that <nowiki>{{incomplete|the possibilities are countable at any fixed time}}</nowiki>. Because space-information (as opposed to space-time-information) is countable. But Who would have guess that. (there are other problems, but honestly if people expect me to fix all the worlds problems... I have some bad news)This is the algorithm now. 17:41, 12 January 2014 (UTC) {{unsigned|Anomulus}}

:What makes you think "space-information" is countable but "space-time-information" is not? Under mainstream quantum physics (and GR), space is continuous, as are many properties besides location. That means that, even if space is finite, there's uncountable information at any given slice of time. There are theories that try to quantize spacetime, some of which also lead to quantizing all other continuous values, but that leaves space-time just as countable (and, often, finite) as space. There may be some obscure theory you're aware of that I'm not that somehow has continuous spacetime despite discrete space and discrete everything else, and it's even possible that obscure theory will turn out to be true, but unless you think that's actually an established, knowable fact, there is no mistake in the comic or the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.69|162.158.255.69]] 23:19, 16 September 2015 (UTC)

I think that's white hat with the bumps on his head, even though he is hatless [[User:halfhat]], 21:46 12 January 2014 (UTC)

~ ~ ~ ~ Could the road trip be a reference to the plot of T2 I.e. travelling to destroy Skynet? {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.223}}

YOLO [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.65|108.162.221.65]] 22:51, 3 June 2014 (UTC)

If the transcripts of the comics are supposed to make the comics accessible to people who are, say, using a screen-reader, then this transcript does them a disservice by simply bolding the text "Fuck. That. Shit" I realize that the official transcript doesn't describe these three words being very large and getting their own panel, but the particular arrangement of those three words really isn't conveyed by just making them bold, especially because I'm pretty sure screen readers don't announce when a word is bold. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.125|172.68.54.125]] 05:00, 8 October 2016 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

673: The Sun

Talk:137: Dreams