explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2982: Water Filtration

2024-09-07T06:11:16Z

172.69.22.196:

{{comic
| number = 2982
| date = September 6, 2024
| title = Water Filtration
| image = water_filtration_2x.png
| imagesize = 593x467px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You'd think the most expensive part would be the quark-gluon plasma chamber, but it's actually usually the tube to the top of the atmosphere to carry the cosmic rays down.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a REVERSE ELECTROLYSIS RUBE GOLDBERG FILTERING MACHINE SEASONED WITH LOVE (OR AT LEAST MORE WELL WATER) - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic seems to be a diagram of how well water is purified, a common procedure done to make said water safe to drink. However, this well water is "purified" through a series of increasingly unnecessary, expensive, and possibly hazardous steps.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Step
!Real?
!Explanation
|-
|Water softener
|Real
|{{w|Water softening}} is the removal of calcium, magnesium, and certain other metal cations in hard water. The resulting soft water requires less soap for the same cleaning effort, as soap is not wasted bonding with calcium ions. Soft water also extends the lifetime of plumbing by reducing or eliminating scale build-up in pipes and fittings. The comic shows the water being passed through some granulated material; presumably, {{w|ion-exchange resins}} are being used to treat the water.
|-
|Reverse osmosis
|Real
|{{w|Reverse osmosis}} is one of the main steps used in modern water-purification systems. It relies on using osmotic membranes and high pressures to separate water molecules from dissolved solutes and biological substances.
|-
|Ultraviolet Sterilization
|Real
|{{w|Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation|Ultraviolet sterilization}} uses UV lamps at short wavelengths to kill micro-organisms in the water.
|-
|Autoclave
|Fake
|{{w|Autoclaves}} are devices that sterilize items with high temperatures and pressures. While they are commonly used in hospital and laboratory settings to sterilize equipment, it is not normally used to purify water, as it would generate steam by the end of it. Furthermore, it would be extremely energy-intensive to convert the large volumes of water required for human consumption to steam.
|-
|Condenser
|Fake
|This isn't a purification step, but rather condenses the steam generated by the autoclave back into water.
|-
|Regular osmosis
|Fake
|Regular osmosis is the reverse of the previous Reverse Osmosis step. Oddly enough, this wouldn't directly contaminate the water, since the water is extremely pure as of this moment. Instead this step would simply remove water from the from the main stream, leaving the filtrate unchanged.
|-
|X-Ray Sterilization
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Carbon Filter
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Neutron Source
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Activated Carbon Filter
|Real
|RO
|-
|Gamma Ray Sterilization
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Cosmic Ray Sterilization
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Electrolysis
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Oxygen Spallation
|Fake
|The oxygen is apparently broken down, by some means, back into hydrogen (the opposite process from the fusion reactions that created it in the first place, inside stars). The oxygen nuclei contained neutrons; either these are expelled (not shown), or the hydrogen includes deuterium or tritium (to use the neutrons), or the neutrons are further broken down to give protons, electrons, and antineutrinos (not shown).
|-
|Ionizer
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Condenser
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Quark-Gluon Plasma Chamber
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Hydrogenation
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Nucleosynthesis
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Reverse Electrolysis
|Fake
|RO
|-
|Adding Well Water
|Fake
|A second pipe is linked to the first that simply feeds untreated well water into the pipes, undoing the entire process. Even if the well water is only a small portion of the faucet water, its presence has now contaminated the now incredibly pure water, making it potentially unsafe to drink if the original well water was contaminated with toxins or pathogens. This act of putting well water into the faucet after treating it may be a riff on the cultural interest in "spring water" or "pure glacial water" that is said to have additional minerals or beneficial properties but is oftentimes not meaningfully distinct from properly treated tap water.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:515: No One Must Know

2024-09-04T04:30:52Z

172.69.22.196:

The "Trivia" about her name is silly. By that logic black hat should be called ''pie''. [[Special:Contributions/184.66.160.91|184.66.160.91]] 19:40, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

:How can you say the truth is silly?? It just *is*. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.223|108.162.219.223]] 08:11, 22 December 2013 (UTC)

::And in this case the truth is trivial! :¬D [[User:ExternalMonolog|ExternalMonolog]] ([[User talk:ExternalMonolog|talk]]) 15:28, 22 January 2014 (UTC)ExternalMonolog

:That, and the internet already HAS a psychopath with "pie" in their name. Has anyone here even read Cupcakes? ...I just realized that this alludes to the pastry terms in the comic. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.218.101|108.162.218.101]] 21:05, 12 February 2014 (UTC)
::Cupcakes? The best known 'Pie'-named character is fiction is the assassin (sic! Though not a psycho) in ''Imajica''. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.4|141.101.104.4]] 19:14, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

He calls her a cake (Danish pastry) and she calls him a pie. It is part of the joke. It is thus obviously not her name. But as she looks too much like Megan to not have another name than ''evil girl with long hair'' - it is as good a name as any on these wiki pages. This is not Randall's thruth - just explain XKCD's name. [[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:04, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

It's probably not meant to be cueball, IMO. [[User:Mr FJ|Mr FJ]] ([[User talk:Mr FJ|talk]]) 06:47, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
:For the same reason as explained in my comment above Cueball is just a name used in this wiki. So any bald character is per definition Cueball. Randall uses this charachter in many different settings and there are often more than one of "him" in a given cartoon.--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:03, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Is it possible that the victim is actually Cueball, and the girl is Megan, so they (Megan and Black Hat) would want to kill Cueball because he found out about them? [[Special:Contributions/10.25.42.185]] 11:06, 9 April 2018
:I think the title text pretty firmly rules this possibility out. Megan wouldn't want to torment Cueball first if the only reason she wanted to kill Cueball was because he found about her affair. [[User:Jrfarah|Jrfarah]] ([[User talk:Jrfarah|talk]]) 03:30, 27 February 2022 (UTC)

Oh, my god, did they ACTUALLY kill him? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.34.60|172.68.34.60]] 14:57, 19 March 2024 (UTC)
: I hope so, because beating him so badly he bleeds out of the sack at several different points, then burying him while alive is far less happy. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.196|172.69.22.196]] 04:30, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2967: Matter

2024-08-04T13:06:11Z

172.69.22.196: Revert explanation

This one is a head-scratcher. Do skateboarders call "anti-" things goofy? What's the deal with that Dirac statistic? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.31|162.158.154.31]] 23:47, 2 August 2024 (UTC)
:It's like being a 'southpaw' boxer (or at least being able to stand the opposite way, maybe in order to flip/spin the board the opposite way from what you would end up kicking it normally).
:The Dirac thing is... well, quantum physics has various uses/restrictions upon spin (and colour, etc) that isn't really physical spin (or colour) as we know it, but sort of means a kind of particle-based rotational momentum, which has to be conserved/transfered/agree in various quantum interactions (and is a quantised state, meaning that only certain spin-values can exist in a given situation).
:Both the skateboarding and the elementary physics issues are (in their own way) rather technical matters, and I know a lot more about one than the other (but think I understand the other a lot more, from just reading up on it, than I know I actually understand the original one based on what I actually was taught). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.186|172.70.162.186]] 00:03, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
:''"Do skateboarders call "anti-" things goofy?"'' FWIW, I first heard 'goofy' in the 1960s skateboard fad, using your left foot where the right foot normally goes. It appears this was 2 or 3 years before Mr Hawk was born, so it isn't his invention. I would wonder if surfers (Hawaii and California) got goofy even earlier. [[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]])
:: Looks like a fair summary: [https://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/where-does-the-term-goofy-footed-surfer-come-from Goofy Foot] --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 02:21, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
::: I first heard the term "goofy foot" back in Skate or Die on the NES. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.212.133|162.158.212.133]] 07:59, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

I'm way over the hill, and that linked 20 minute video on spin was the first explanation of that quantum number which seemed fully satisfactory and didn't leave me feeling like I was missing something crucial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYeRS5a3HbE&t=18m30s "The spin number characterizes how fast the state of a particle changes when we rotate it in space." WHERE HAS THAT EXPLANATION BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.90|172.68.22.90]] 04:56, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
:Spin is a terrible name, it should be "twist factor" for example. It's a derivative unit error, like calling acceleration in terms of speed. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.198|162.158.90.198]] 07:58, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

Problem loading previous comic, I get MediaWiki error. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 17:15, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
:Can't replicate that, and doesn't sound like the kind of errors I might get (504s, "sorry too busy"-style message, etc). Is it still happening for you? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.18|172.70.85.18]] 19:23, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

This part doesn't make any sense to me; was this section AI generated? "That is why it is very difficult to compress matter based on fermions and even to get goofy matter (which are not identical particles), as they should be brought in contact with in the comic, near enough or mixed enough with the normal matter."
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 21:15, 3 August 2024 (UTC)
:Reverted as an incorrect and confusing attempt to extend the panel joke into the title text explanation. That never goes well. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.237|172.71.150.237]] 21:47, 3 August 2024 (UTC)

So in skateboard, does goofy just mean "left foot" or does it mean "non-dominant foot". Like, would a left handed skater be skating goofy "normally", or is goofy for them, using right foot?
:Left, because it's described in the frame of reference of observers. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.34|172.70.214.34]] 07:35, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

Have made a new [[:Category:Skateboard]]. There have for a long time been one for Electric Skateboard but I found 10 with regular skateboards being referenced. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:08, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

The extra spacing in the Feynman diagram on the blackboard explains why most antimatter was annihilated. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.135.89|172.69.135.89]] 10:00, 4 August 2024 (UTC)
:Given an initial universe with equal parts matter and antimatter plus a slight asymmetry (50% + e), the mutual annihilation of matter and antimatter would leave behind a residual amount of matter proportional to the asymmetry e. In the extremely dense early universe, this annihilation would be nearly complete, ensuring that almost all antimatter and a corresponding amount of matter annihilated into energy, leaving a tiny excess of matter. Thus, the observed baryon asymmetry today can be explained by this initial slight asymmetry, as even a minuscule e would result in a predominantly (anti)matter-filled universe post-annihilation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.52|172.70.210.52]] 10:33, 4 August 2024 (UTC)
::It does mean that mass-energy conservation (or ways to feed that energy into other things, e.g. the expansion of space itself?) gives us a different initial distribution to the kind of initial universe where the imbalance was never just a residual (anti-particals just naturally being rarer to find/be created), and still begs the question of where such an imbalance came from (however small) from a spontaneously created universal 'seed' that one would imagine ought to be 'property neutral' in combining all essentially symmetric measures. But I added a little something about this to my own edit. (My edit being an attempt to stop huge run-on sentences with comma asides (and other dubious usages of comma), in a key section. So much so that I gave up trying to work out what some of it was intended to mean and just gave my own version. Still with plenty of commas, but not relying quite so heavily upon them alone.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.231|172.69.195.231]] 11:53, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

I reverted https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2967:_Matter&diff=348077&oldid=348076 because reality. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.196|172.69.22.196]] 13:06, 4 August 2024 (UTC)

User talk:42.book.addict

2024-03-19T02:51:32Z

172.69.22.196:

Just replying to your message (also dw no big deal for bothering me)
You click on your username and there should be an edit box. --[[User:1234231587678|1234231587678]] ([[User talk:1234231587678|talk]]) 04:58, 7 February 2024 (UTC)
:it says that i dont have permission to create the page…
: There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, or search the related logs, but you do not have permission to create this page. it says [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 19:33, 7 February 2024 (UTC)

I think you might have to wait some time (like a timer) until you can edit your own page... I think I only got to edit my page after 1 month of creating my account.--[[User:1234231587678|1234231587678]] ([[User talk:1234231587678|talk]]) 21:31, 7 February 2024 (UTC)
:ok, thx [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 21:52, 7 February 2024 (UTC)

My guess on where you live is somewhere in the GMT zone, so United Kingdom.--[[User:1234231587678|1234231587678]] ([[User talk:1234231587678|talk]]) 03:43, 8 February 2024 (UTC)
:nope, im a california girl :)

lol you never know with utc times --[[User:1234231587678|1234231587678]] ([[User talk:1234231587678|talk]]) 16:52, 8 February 2024 (UTC)

You seem to be taking to heart the punctuation-before-the-Citation-needed standard (which is good, only sometimes it's even more complicated{{Citation needed}}),{{Citation needed}} but I see you recased an example of {{template|citation needed}} to {{template|Citation Needed}}, earlier. Now, it doesn't really matter because there are templates for "citation needed" and "Citation Needed". And also "cn" plus "fact" for the really lazy editors. ;) Anyway, all of these (maybe more, I'd have to check) redirect to the ''main'' "Citation needed" one. (Reflected in {{template|Actual citation needed}}, where "actual citation needed" ''plus'' "acn" redirect there, although {{template|Actual Citation Needed}} - "for completeness" - is actually a 'copy' template in its own right.) I wouldn't bother ''only'' changing various CN variations to "Citation needed"s (there ''is'' also a {{template|Citation neededs}}, but that's a '''s'''truckthrough version of "Citation needed" rather than an ungrammatical "Citation''s'' needed"!), but if you're already editing anything else, it would not at all hurt to get everything to capital-C small-n version. It gives the server ''very very slightly'' less work to do. ;) Probably. Not that it matters. But, as you seem to be a 'details person', I thought I'd pass on a detail you may not have already known... :p [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.156|172.69.195.156]] 02:11, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
:You have not read the above (properly, at least). The {{template|Citation needed}} is the 'proper' one (for xkcd version of 'proper'), whilst {{template|cn}} is a lazy version that redirects. There's no reason at all to change "Citation needed" to "cn". (Not much reason to change the other way, either, but could be justified if one is editing something else..)
:I reverted the one where you made the "SIGHTation needed" into a CN, as that was clearly a deliberate variation by some past wag. No point changing it to the (not-quite-)standard one. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.115|172.69.194.115]] 17:31, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
::Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t read your message until now. I’ll start using “Citation needed” instead of cn. Thanks for the heads up! [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 17:35, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
:::And if you expect me to reply to you immediately, sorry! I’m at school right now, and it’s completely impractical to be listening to a lecture and editing ExplainXKCD at the same time. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 17:35, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
::::No worries. I was busy myself, and already a bit slow to jump in and let you know, just knowing you'd probably see the above better/sooner than a revert-edit summary. ;)
::::Functionally, all identical. Just the practical need for it was balanced the other way. Can't fault you for identifying the need to shift the punctuation. (I may do that in passing, with some other edit in mind... had to specifically redo it on the reverted SIGHTation article, i.e. on the true Citation one that was wrong, because I'd meant to keep ''that'' valid change but got distracted by a phone-call...)
::::Anyway, welcome to the community, I just hope you do more helpful things than troublesome ones. (Heck, I still hope *I* do that, even after a number of years. ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.207|172.71.242.207]] 18:00, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
:::::thanks! (btw, are you saying that my edits are troublesome?) [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:01, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
::::::Well, I wasn't. Just hoping that (through errors/misunderstandings) you still end up on the right side of trouble/not-trouble, on average. But just would like to point out that creating Jupitale's home page was ''not'' a good move. See [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:Jupitale&oldid=335943 my edited comment]. I'm willing to believe you did it accidentally (visited their non-existing page, thus ended up creating it), and some mod or other may be along to clean it up at some point. Before or after that whole login is 'looked sternly at'. But shouldn't concern you if you're just being helpful and don't do too much of that. Anyway, enjoy your time here. (Not ''too'' much, obviously. Y'know, do your scholwork/don't vandalise wikis/all the other usual social necessities. :p ) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.220|172.71.242.220]] 18:20, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
:::::::oh shit ok I didn’t realise that Jupidale’s was a vandal ill be more mindful [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:30, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
::::::::My homepage is now fine thank you very much [[User:Jupitale|Jupitale]] ([[User talk:Jupitale|talk]]) 18:34, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Alright, who the FUCK added a Soviet flag to my talk page? BTW, thanks to Asdf for reverting it. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 20:26, 1 March 2024 (UTC)
:It's one of the occasional vandalisers. Don't worry, we generally pick these things up.
:As far as your noticing the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1156:_Conditioning&oldid=336318 fox-instead-of-pope] vandalism, we also pick that up (I reverted it the previous two times). You'll work out how to use the Undo functionality, at some time, but maybe you'll want to also check the page histories to see what recent edits a page might have been through, note what has been done (for good or ill) and get some more idea of what happens and how we generally handle these things. All a learning process, of course! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.55|172.71.178.55]] 20:50, 1 March 2024 (UTC)
::Thank you! [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 20:51, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

== What are your thoughts on the Soviet Union? ==

Hi! What do you think about the USSR? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.37|108.162.245.37]] 00:18, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:oh, uh, it was oppressive, absolutely authoritarian, and cold. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:32, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::but, why, though? [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:32, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::oh, and if i think that I’m going to listen to you anymore now that I’ve realised that you’re a troll, then you are mistaken [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:35, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::::btw please stop adding soviet flags everywhere. They’re disruptive, unnecessary, and you’re just being an asshole and douchebag [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:36, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::::btw I'm the crap spammer [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.80|172.71.147.80]] 00:53, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::::::that’s not really something to brag about… [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:53, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::::::I don't think you were here for the crap spam; it was quite extensive [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.79|172.71.147.79]] 00:55, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::::::::even if I wasn’t here for the crap spam, i think that you are an motherfucker who doesnt have a life, needs to GET a life, and should really stop spamming and disrupting this wiki. Please go fuck yourself, jump off a bridge, and set yourself on fire if you still are defiant. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:56, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::::::::Okay, I'll follow the wiki part of your advice, but not the bridge part. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.79|172.71.147.79]] 00:58, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::::::::::THANK YOU! Also, i only said to jump off a bridge if you refuse to get a life [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 00:58, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::::::::::You're welcome. I'll look for ways to contribute constructively. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.80|172.71.147.80]] 01:01, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
:::::::::::tbh this has been one of the less bad things I've done; the crapping was way worse [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.80|172.71.147.80]] 01:07, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::::::::::::i have no idea why you’re still bragging about how you were so good at vandalising this wiki before[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 01:07, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
::::::::::::: okay why are there so many colons on this thread premium chromium both Cote'di Ivore and Suriname look like potato wedges I will fill out by saying JACKSEPICYOUTUBECHANNELFULLOFFUNTIMESANDHIRICKX turdboiturdboiturdboi69420 {{unsigned|Jupitale|18:29, 11 March 2024}}

== New User and User Talk pages ==

You're trying to be helpful, but... Anyone who ''really'' wants them will probably ask (or wait until they have page-creation rights themself). Looking at all the ones you've made for people, how many have even then been used (by the user concerned)? I suggest you don't need to create them, not even to un-redlink someone's [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?limit=50&title=Special%3AContributions&contribs=user&target=Cleonis&namespace=&tagfilter=&start=&end= comic discussion] .sig links. It's normally not a big concern, and there's enough people who can help out if someone actually asks for it when you're not paying attention.
 As for the rest of us: ironically, I slightly wanted to drop a note to a long-term user the other day. (Comparatively, i.e. that they've been around for a bit longer than yourself.) They didn't have a User Talk page, so I resorted to a different way of commenting. They can create their own pages, if they want (and, if I was a username myself, I definitely could have by now). Yet I definitely wouldn't consider it valid to give the whole historic userbase any such 'missing' user-spaces.
 I'm no authority on this matter, or even a 'real user' in any properly identifiable way, but please do consider my advice that comes from long but informal experience of this kind of matter. You're not the first eager new contributor to try to help out like this. And you're not the first to have made the odd error (giving a spam-only account a Welcoming page ...which thankfully never got used to further the spamming, the account seemingly abandoned by that point ''anyway''), but of course this was probably before you even started lurking here (certainly before your current username, perhaps even prior to any IP-only-editing you might have done before that). Heck, some 'helpful' people even created the occasional User and/or User Talk spaces for IPs (don't do that, either, it's at best neutrally useless - even from my own IP-wise perspective).
 You at least seem to be doing it from a genuinely helpful position. For that, I thank you, and maybe also some of those actual new users do (if they've notice. But maybe no more. Unasked for, at least? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.29|172.71.242.29]] 16:13, 11 March 2024 (UTC)
:postscript - even while I was writing this, it seems that one of the users who ''hadn't'' seemed to want to use their page actually went and did so. And, elsewhere, proclaimed they weren't vandalising any more. I leave it up to others to make judgements on what's happening there, and the timing with respect to other recent interactions, but still not being particular auspicious. Time will tell how this all turns out. Anyway, just to note this. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.29|172.70.90.29]] 16:29, 11 March 2024 (UTC) (Same contributor as above, regardless of what the IP may have changed to.)

:Someone crapped [[User:1234231587678|1234231587678]] ([[User talk:1234231587678|talk]]) 's talk page. that guy who is 11 and used to be jupitah and is now jupitale because jupitah got banned and wishes you could change your username in this, SIGNING OUT WITH A LIKE A WEIRDO! generated at 12:09 PM mar 12 2024 16:43, 12 March 2024 (UTC)
== weirdest comic name ==

[[2614: 2|comic no. 2614: 2]] not to be confused with [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)| comic no. 2: Petit Trees (sketch)]]
that guy who is 11 and used to be jupitah and is now jupitale because jupitah got banned and wishes you could change your username in this, SIGNING OUT WITH A LIKE A WEIRDO! generated at 12:09 PM mar 12 2024 16:26, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

==Is cis a slur?==
[[User:HouseSizedJupiter|HouseSizedJupiter]] ([[User talk:HouseSizedJupiter|talk]]) 17:00, 13 March 2024 (UTC)
::no [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:27, 13 March 2024 (UTC)
:::CORRECT! whoever commented that up there ^, please sign out with tilda tilda tilda tilda. [[User:HouseSizedJupiter|HouseSizedJupiter]] ([[User talk:HouseSizedJupiter|talk]]) 19:08, 13 March 2024 (UTC)
::::you too [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 18:27, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

2875: 2024

2024-01-02T07:16:36Z

172.69.22.196: /* Explanation */

<noinclude>:''This page refers to the comic named "2024". For comic #2024, see [[2024: Light Hacks]].''</noinclude>
{{comic
| number = 2875
| date = January 1, 2024
| title = 2024
| image = 2024_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x553px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It wasn't originally constitutionally required, but presidents who served two terms have traditionally followed George Washington's example and gotten false teeth.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by OBAMA'S TEETH - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In what starts off almost like a "[[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|doesn't time fly?]]" scene, the unstoppable progression of the calendar is observed, as [[Ponytail]] points out that it's now 2024. [[Cueball]], in response, notes that it is an election year, in this context a {{w|President of the United States#Election|US ''Presidential'' election}} year, which occurs every four years and has (in one form or other) since 1788. Ponytail then replies in some form of exasperated tone that they "keep on happening", which is true but (normally) unsurprising, even/especially with other major elections happening every two years, presumably not compared to how [https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/youre-joking-not-another-one/ some other democracies] might be less predictable/more frequent.

On top of this, Ponytail seems to have not been aware (or maybe has chosen to forget) the passing of two whole election cycles (and two newer incumbents) as the discussion focuses upon {{w|Barack Obama}}, the ''former'' US President. Ponytail seems to be quite behind the times as she asks if Obama is still president (he left office January 20th, 2017, which was 7 (!) years ago, a fact that Cueball cannot quite believe Ponytail is ignorant of). Ponytail states that she liked him, and wonders if he'll be up for taking on the position again. But Cueball states that he ''can't'' be made President again, having already served two terms, which Ponytail confirms by checking for herself the details of the {{w|Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution}}.

The humor in the comic comes in the second half; Cueball and Ponytail discuss whether Obama is the same person (like the mythical {{w|Ship of Theseus}}, most of his constituent cells are frequently replaced), with Ponytail looking into the possibility of Obama's re-election based upon philosophical/biological technicalities (as applied to the Constitution's words), rather than as legal/political convention might normally suggest. But when even that approach is seen to be wanting, requiring a wait significantly exceeding 30 years, Ponytail suggests negating that issue by having all of Obama's teeth removed and replaced with false teeth.

In order to facilitate the latter goal, Ponytail announces her intention to consult a dentist and (for exact reasons that can only be guessed at) a lawyer. Seeing where her current misplaced, and {{w|Dunning–Kruger effect|less than informed}}, zeal might be leading her, Cueball gives his prediction that the probable {{w|Supreme Court of the United States|ultimate legal arbiters}} of her plan might be unanimous in rejecting its validity (if not dissuading its attempt). SCOTUS being unanimous on an issue is now a [https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/07/as-unanimity-declines-conservative-majoritys-power-runs-deeper-than-the-blockbuster-cases/ comparatively rare event].

The title text references {{w|George Washington's teeth|George Washington's (in)famous 'false teeth'}}. Washington's dentures are often falsely claimed to be made of wood; in truth they were ''real'' teeth procured from other sources. Regardless, this would have likely resolved the rather specific problems established in the philosophical conundrum, and the title text claims that other presidents used this plan to get around the Constitutional limitations concerned in case they wanted to serve more than two terms.

As already stated, however, no one has yet even ''needed'' to carry out this plan. Only one President has exceeded the limit; {{w|Franklin D. Roosevelt}} died in office during his ''fourth'' term, but he served prior to the 22nd Amendment and was thus unaffected by the rule, which was enacted six years after his death. (FDR did have a partial denture, but given that he retained some of his natural teeth, he did not engage in Ponytail's proposed scheme.) Presidents since then have definitely tried various schemes aimed at securing a second term, with both successes and failures, but nobody has yet planned ''this particular plan'' to achieve a third or beyond. Or at least one can assume that those that perhaps did (including, as noted, all those who were not yet 'required' to go to these lengths) failed to attain their goals for entirely different reasons.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Ponytail and Cueball are walking.]
:Ponytail: So this is 2024.
:Cueball: Yup. Guess it's an election year now.
:Ponytail: Again? Man, those just keep happening, huh?

:[Ponytail and Cueball now standing.]
:Ponytail: Who's the president these days, anyway? Is it still Obama?
:Cueball: What? No? He hasn't been... How do you not...

:[Ponytail and Cueball still standing.]
:Ponytail: Darn, I liked him. Is he running this time?
:Cueball: No, he's not allowed to.
:Ponytail: He's not? Why?
:Cueball: Constitution.

:[Ponytail checks her smartphone.]
:Phone: ''Amendment 22''
:Phone: No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice
:Ponytail: What?? C'mon...

:[Ponytail talking to Cueball.]
:Ponytail: Don't all your cells get replaced every seven years, Ship of Theseus-style? Is he even the same person?
:Ponytail: Maybe "no person shall be elected more than twice" isn't a prohibition, it's more of an observation, like "you can't step in the same river twice."

:[Zoom in on Cueball.]
:Cueball: Isn't the cell thing a myth?
:Cueball: I think tooth enamel has a turnover half-life of 30+ years. His teeth molecules are probably the same.

:[Ponytail heads off with a finger raised.]
:Ponytail: So if Obama just gets false teeth, he can run again! I need to talk to a dentist and a lawyer!
:Cueball: The Supreme Court is about to vote 9-0 to block your number.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Biology]]

2783: Ruling Out

2023-05-31T23:14:57Z

172.69.22.196: Undo revision 314686 by 172.71.211.13 (talk) not true, for example, merging galaxies usually have multiple quasars, neither of which is near the center

{{comic
| number = 2783
| date = May 31, 2023
| title = Ruling Out
| image = ruling_out_2x.png
| imagesize = 295x396px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We were able to replicate and confirm prior authors' detection of a moon orbiting the Earth with high confidence.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TECTONICALLY-ACTIVE BOT WITH SUBSURFACE OCEANS. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Most science studies are intended to discover new things. In astronomy, the goal is often to find different types of objects in space, or learn how astronomical objects are formed and behave. But often from studying things that exist, we also learn about limits in the kinds of things that 'can' exist; when this happens, we say that we've ruled out these other phenomena.

[[Cueball]] lists a number of obviously impossible{{fact}} objects.

* "Earthlike stars": A play on "Earth-like planets" which scientists are very interested in finding. The Earth is not a star, hence stars cannot be Earthlike.
* "Exoplanets in our solar system": {{w|Exoplanet}}s are by definition not in our solar system.
* "Habitable zone quasars": while not certain by any means, {{w|habitable zone}}s around some {{w|quasar}}s have absolutely '''not''' been ruled out.[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab1b2f/meta][https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/2364/1/012057/meta] Perhaps Cueball is referring to quasars in the habitable zones of stars, which are also feasible depending on the criteria for classifying a {{w|black hole}} with an active {{w|accretion disk}} as a quasar.[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/728/1/26]
* "Stars with subsurface oceans": Because the temperatures inside stars are higher than that which can support the existence of liquids as we understand them, stars cannot have subsurface oceans. After many billions of years, a {{w|white dwarf}} will cool to the point where it no longer emits significant heat or light, becoming a {{w|black dwarf}}, and eventually cooling to the point where it might develop subsurface liquids.{{acn}} However, the universe is not old enough for any black dwarfs to exist yet,[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/375341/pdf] and sufficiently cool black dwarfs might not even be considered stars according to the conventional definition.
* "Tectonically active black holes": Black holes do not have {{w|tectonic plate}}s, so they cannot be tectonically active. There are theories that neutron stars can exhibit tectonic-like movements, but the physics of the 'inside' of a black hole is thought to be so much different.

The joke is that you don't actually have to study anything to come to these almost patently obvious conclusions. The counter-proposals would need far more effort to even justify them as valid theories, by common understanding, and greater still to try to observe any supporting proof.

Some studies are also done to confirm the results of previous studies, to ensure that the conclusions were not mistaken or a fluke. The title text describes a study that was done to confirm the existence of a moon orbiting Earth, although the existence of the moon has been known for at least as long as humanity has existed, and the fact that it orbits the Earth has been assumed or known for upwards of 3000 years.{{acn}} The ancient Greeks and Babylonians, for example, thought that the Moon orbited the Earth, though they lacked a detailed physical understanding of the system. {{w|Anaxagoras}} (c. 500–428 BC) is credited with the correct explanation of lunar eclipses, and reportedly was the first to explain that the Moon shines due to reflected light from the Sun. However, it was not until the work of {{w|Nicolaus Copernicus}} in the 16th century that a detailed and accurate model of the Moon's orbit around the Earth was developed. Regardless, at this stage, a study to confirm the validity of Copernican orbits would contribute nothing to the scientific process, much less a study confirming the mere existence of the Moon.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball is talking to Megan.]
:Cueball: So far our astronomy group has published studies ruling out the existence of Earthlike stars, exoplanets in our solar system, habitable-zone quasars, stars with subsurface oceans, and tectonically active black holes.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Science got way easier when we realized you were allowed to do studies just to rule stuff out.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2466: In Your Classroom

2023-05-12T07:40:44Z

172.69.22.196:

{{comic
| number = 2466
| date = May 21, 2021
| title = In Your Classroom
| image = in_your_classroom.png
| titletext = Ontology is way off to the left and geography is way off to the right.
}}

==Explanation==

[[Randall]] has created a thought experiment and corresponding chart about school courses. The idea is, "the subject of the class appears in the classroom" and the chart compares how dangerous and how unusual that would be.

In the title text two points that are off the chart to the left and right are also mentioned. See details about all the subjects in the [[#Table of subjects|table]] below.

Note that Randall uses similar diagrams in each of [[388: Fuck Grapefruit]], [[1242: Scary Names]] and [[1501: Mysteries]], which also contain different items. They also have extra points mentioned in the title text. In the first two comics the points are also off the chart, whereas for the last the description of the point is too long to fit on the chart. Extra info outside the chart is also used in the title text of [[1785: Wifi]], but this is a line graph.

==Table of subjects==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Breakdown of Subjects
|-
!Course Topic
!Weirdness
!Badness
!Explanation
|-

!scope=row|Atmospheric Physics
|0%
|0%
|Absent very strange and unprecedented circumstances, every classroom on Earth has an atmosphere (although going by the exact wording of the starting hypothesis, "The thing you study just showed up in your classroom", the implication is that up until that point, the room in which the class is being held contained a vacuum, which in and of itself is interesting to physics students.)
|-

!scope=row|Ethics
|25%
|0%
|Ethical thinking and behavior are widely considered good and should normally be present in education, but are sadly not universal.
|-

!scope=row|Education
|0%
|10%
|Learning usually goes on in classrooms, so education as a concept is both being learned about and present in the form of learning itself.
|-

!scope=row|Bibliography
|25%
|7%
|Bibliography is the study of books, and books are normally present in classrooms, particularly bibliography classrooms. Although, more commonly speaking academically, a bibliography is a list of all sources used to compose a research paper, considered mandatory in all branches of academics but occasionally falsified or written in an incorrect style.
|-

!scope=row|Human Physiology
|0%
|20%
|This comic assumes that there are humans learning in the classroom, which was true at the time this comic was published, although in many places at the time the comic was published, many classrooms were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
|-

!scope=row|Public Speaking
|25%
|15%
|Some classes require students to present things in front of the class, which is likely a requirement in a public speaking class. Thus, public speaking itself would be present in the class.
Some classes also have a teacher talking or presenting to the students from the front of the class, another form of public speaking.
|-

!scope=row|Architecture
|0%
|30%
|All buildings can be considered architecture, and most classes take place in buildings. This comic also refers to a class''room'', which is a room, and therefore considered architecture.
|-

!scope=row|Library Science
|25%
|25%
|Library science is concerned with the organization of knowledge, and is useful for finding information. Many classes require [https://papersowl.com/pay-for-research-paper research papers] that require the use of books and other sources of information to complete them. This would be even more appropriate for a class actually taught in the school library.
|-

!scope=row|Furniture Design
|0%
|40%
|Most rooms have furniture,{{Citation needed}} so this would probably be present in a classroom. May also be implying the classroom furniture has not been assembled yet, making it not as good and a lesson in furniture design.
|-

!scope=row|Culinary Arts
|40%
|30%
|Most studies of culinary arts include the teacher and/or students preparing food using the tools and/or techniques that have been taught, so it would be fairly normal for food to be a result of classroom activities. How ''good'' it is, however, can be a mixed bag, especially for student cooking attempts.
|-

!scope=row|Ergonomics
|5%
|45%
|Ergonomic equipment and workspaces promote comfort and efficiency, while non-ergonomic ones may be unpleasant, unhealthy, or even immediately dangerous.
|-

!scope=row|Botany
|40%
|40%
|The near-neutral position of botany (aka plant biology) suggests that the most likely reason for plants to be present would be something like a potted plant, which is not uncommon, and usually not unpleasant, but not very noteworthy. There are other potential reasons for plants to be present, but those are generally less likely.
|-

!scope=row|20th Century Authors
|65%
|10%
|Literature classes would benefit greatly from an open discussion or interview with the author themself. Sadly such things are rare, but not unheard of, putting it slightly on the "weird" side of the spectrum. Well-known authors of the 20th century have an increased likelihood of being dead by 2021, but there are still some authors of the 20th century who were well-established enough to be studied and still alive at the time this comic was published.
|-

!scope=row|Exobiology
|100%
|0%
|Exobiology is the study of extraterrestrial life. This would mean that an alien lifeform was in the classroom. This is extremely weird but very good for people to investigate and research the alien.
|-

!scope=row|21st Century Authors
|60%
|20%
|21st century authors have the advantage (over 19th and 20th century authors) of typically being alive and active at the time this comic was published. However, most authors who were primarily active in the 21st century are still developing their body of work, and/or still awaiting the judgment of history. The better availability of such authors, as compared to 20th century author probably explains the slightly lower "weirdness" score, while the limited body of truly prominent authors probably explains the lower "goodness" score.
|-

!scope=row|19th Century Authors
|100%
|15%
|No author who was active in the 19th century was alive at the writing of this comic,{{Citation needed}} hence, having one of them show up in class would be extremely weird. The opportunity to interact with such a person would be utterly unique, meaning that it scores pretty high on the "goodness" metric, though interestingly not as high as a 20th century author. Possibly, the potential "badness" of having a zombie or other reanimated being show up in your class is weighed against the advantage of having a historical figure there in person. It may also be that someone from the 19th century has an increased danger of having outdated ethics, which may result in discomfort on the part of the students.
|-

!scope=row|Paleontology
|100%
|25%
|Paleontology is the study of the history of life on Earth as based on fossils. In geology classes, it would be normal to have some fossils in the classroom. However, fossils are not usually found in other classrooms, and especially below the college level. Randall is also probably implying the weirdness of finding a live ''Jurassic Park''-style dinosaur.
|-

!scope=row|Robotics
|55%
|30%
|A course on robotics would often be expected to have some form of working models of the robots being discussed. However, for it to have "showed up" in your classroom could imply an actual functioning robot prototype walked into the classroom. While not cause for concern (as long as nobody in the class is named Sarah Connor), this would be a bit weird.
|-

!scope=row|Martian Soil Chemistry
|100%
|35%
|Martian soil only reaches Earth in small amounts, so it would be unusual to find a meaningful amount anywhere, except Mars.
|-

!scope=row|Tourism
|75%
|40%
|Tourists coming into an active classroom would be quite unusual; while tourists sometimes visit university campuses, it would generally be rude for a tour guide to lead them into a classroom when class is in progress. This could also refer to the students leaving to become tourists in another location.
|-

!scope=row|Child Psychology
|60%
|45%
|Children are rarely students in classrooms advanced enough to teach child psychology. In order for child psychology to be on display, presumably someone would have to have brought a child (either for a demonstration, or for some other reason), which is slightly weird, but not unheard of. This is considered slightly "good", presumably because it would give students some opportunity for firsthand observation, and because most people like, or at least tolerate, children.
|-

!scope=row|Entomology
|15%
|55%
|Entomology is the study of insects. Insects getting into a classroom is a very common event, even putting aside the possibility of someone bringing insects specifically to study. Most insects that might get in are relatively benign, but some (such as mosquitoes) might sting or bite, and many people simply don't like insects, even when they're not harmful, pushing this slightly into "bad" territory.
|-

!scope=row|Occupational Therapy
|10%
|62%
|Injury, illness or mental health problem that hinder your participation in life/school. Many students who have significant physical injuries and conditions that require occupational therapy would generally not engage in those activities during a class, although volunteers may be brought in as a demonstration of a particular health problem or method of treatment.
|-

!scope=row|Hydraulic Engineering
|40%
|62%
|Likely in the form of flooding or plumbing problems.
|-

!scope=row|Pest Control
|25%
|70%
|This is not dissimilar to entomology, but pest control tends to involve larger infestations, as opposed to individual insects, and also includes non-insect animals, such as rats. Such events in classroom are not as common as individual insects getting in (especially in a well-maintained building), but are far from unheard of, and risk many negative effects, from bug bites to structural damage, and may require evacuation and fumigation to deal with.
|-

!scope=row|Foodborne Illness
|15%
|80%
|Sometimes students in a culinary arts class do not properly observe hygiene standards and the food they present would lead to illness in those that consume the food. Thankfully, this is rare if the teacher is paying enough attention to proceedings. Students could also be ill from food eaten outside of class.
|-

!scope=row|Criminal Law
|45%
|85%
|This might happen if a crime occurs in the class. While an armed robbery is unlikely, incidents involving theft or drug use are not particularly uncommon. Regardless, such an incident would be very bad.
|-

!scope=row|Physiology of Stress
|0%
|90%
|Stress in a classroom, even stress that's bad enough to manifest itself in physical symptoms, is all too common. Stress that bad is very harmful, and a student realizing that they were manifesting the symptoms they're studying should take it as a warning sign.
|-

!scope=row|Oncology
|25%
|100%
|Oncology is the medical practice of treating cancer. For someone in a classroom full of students to have cancer is, unfortunately, not an uncommon event, putting it on the "normal" side of the scale. While not abnormal, it's clearly very bad.
|-

!scope=row|Ornithology
|60%
|55%
|Ornithology is the study of birds. A bird getting into a classroom would be somewhat strange, but there are circumstances under which it would happen. In most cases, that's not especially dangerous, but it would be disruptive, and introduce the possibility of the bird making a mess, and possibly getting hurt (or even hurting others), which makes it slightly bad.
|-

!scope=row|Animation
|100%
|56%
|Presumably Randall isn't referring to examples of animated works being displayed to the students in an animation class, as that would be normal. However, it would be very weird for animated characters to appear physically in the classroom instead of being projected on screens. Possibly a reference to movies such as ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' in which cartoon characters actively interact with the live action cast. As many of the characters abide by different physics, and a couple are depicted as insane, this would be very weird and potentially bad.
|-

!scope=row|Petroleum Geology
|65%
|60%
|Crude oil coming up through the floor of the classroom would be ''very'' weird. Any potential for hands-on learning experience would be limited, and quickly outweighed by classes being disrupted entirely (be it damage to the building, or oil companies trying to negotiate for the land).
|-

!scope=row|Highway Engineering
|75%
|65%
|A highway being built through an active classroom would be very unusual and not that safe.
|-

!scope=row|Toxicology
|55%
|75%
|Most likely, a toxic substance is present in the room. This is not very weird if the room is in a building that has {{w|asbestos}}-containing insulation (typically associated with buildings constructed before the 1990s, although it has not been specifically outlawed in the United States due to industrial lobbying) or lead paint (which was fully outlawed in 1978 in the United States, so any paint must have been applied prior to that date). However, toxic substances are unsafe for humans.{{Citation needed}}
|-

!scope=row|Hematology
|75%
|70%
|Hematology is the study of blood. Given that there should be blood in each of the students present,{{Citation needed}} we should probably assume Randall means "large quantities of blood outside of one's body ([[:Category:Comics with blood|click here]])", which would indeed be both bad and weird.
|-

!scope=row|Hostage Negotiation
|70%
|85%
|Reasons as to why there would be hostage negotiations taking place at a school have horrifying implications for the students and teacher. The 'weird'ness rating of this occurence would presumably change depending on location, school shootings and hostage situations being (unfortunately) much more 'normal'ised in the USA than any other country.
|-

!scope=row|History of Siege Warfare
|100%
|80%
|This would be an exceptionally strange event. Given that the topic is "history", having it show up implies that either historical figures have the classroom under siege (possibly through time travel or reanimation) or at least that the besiegers are using traditional weapons and methods in their attack. In either case, it would be a very weird event, and also very bad.
|-

!scope=row|Trauma Surgery
|55%
|95%
|An injury severe enough to require trauma surgery would be rare in a classroom, but there are circumstances under which it could realistically happen. Such an injury would be, by its very nature, a very bad thing.
|-

!scope=row|Volcanology
|75%
|95%
|Having a live volcano in one's classroom is both very dangerous and very weird {{Citation needed}}. Volcanoes mature over very long time frames, but even the earliest stages are highly disruptive and potentially deadly, as seen in the {{w|Parícutin#Formation|1943 eruption of Paricutín}} and the {{w|2018_lower_Puna_eruption#Eruption|2018 flank eruption of Kilauea}}. Note this also applies to [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar | baking soda and vinegar volcanoes that are offshoots of much larger vinegar hotspots]].
|-

!scope=row|Quasar Astronomy
|75%
|100%
|{{w|Quasars}} are distant astronomical objects that release large amounts of energy. Not only would the power of a quasar destroy the classroom (as well as the rest of Earth), quasars are too large to fit inside any known classroom. For example, {{w|ULAS J1342+0928}} has a mass of 8*10^8 solar masses. This means the event horizon of the black hole is almost 16 AU in radius, and this size does not include the accretion disk.
|-

!scope=row|Ontology (title text)
|<0%
|?
|Ontology is the philosophical study of existence and being. Since there must be ''something'' learning in the classroom, it is unsurprising that ontology is a normal subject to appear in the classroom. It would, in fact, be more bizarre to have a lack of ontology in the classroom.
|-

!scope=row|Geography (title text)
|>100%
|?
|Geographers study the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of the Earth. While each classroom classroom contains a small portion of the Earth's surface (normally not enough of it to be interesting to geographers), having the ''entire Earth'' appear inside a classroom would likely demand explanation. In particular, if this is an ordinary classroom (i.e. located ''on'' the Earth), the planet's simultaneous appearance within its walls would both defy our current understanding of spacetime, and risk [[1515: Basketball Earth | disastrous consequences at the hands of curious students.]] This could also be implying the classroom is suddenly being located on top of a geographic border, which would be highly unlikely, especially if it happened without warning.

|}

==Transcript==

:[Caption above scatter plot with labeled axes]
:Caption: The thing you study just showed up in your classroom! That's...
:Top: good
:Bottom: bad
:Left: normal
:Right: weird

Items are listed row by row, left to right, top to bottom.

:[First quadrant (good and weird)]
:20th century authors
:Exobiology
:21st century authors
:19th century authors
:Robotics
:Paleontology
:Martian soil chemistry
:Child psychology
:Tourism
:[Second quadrant (good and normal)]
:Atmospheric physics
:Ethics
:Education
:Bibliography
:Human physiology
:Public speaking
:Architecture
:Library science
:Furniture design
:Culinary arts
:Ergonomics
:Botany
:[Third quadrant (bad and normal)]
:Entomology
:Occupational therapy
:Hydraulic engineering
:Pest control
:Foodborne illness
:Criminal law
:Physiology of stress
:Oncology
:[Fourth quadrant (bad and weird)]
:Ornithology
:Animation
:Petroleum geology
:Highway engineering
:Toxicology
:Hematology
:Hostage negotiation
:History of siege warfare
:Trauma surgery
:Volcanology
:Quasar astronomy

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Rankings]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Cancer]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]]
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]

2767: Recipe Relativity

2023-04-25T19:31:52Z

172.69.22.196: /* Explanation */ qualify

{{comic
| number = 2767
| date = April 24, 2023
| title = Recipe Relativity
| image = recipe_relativity_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x332px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It says to cut the onions into 1/4" slices, but I'd better correct for length contraction.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EDITOR MOVING AT 94% OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Randall]] is cooking a recipe found online. It took him much longer than the recipe said it would, and he concludes that this was due to {{w|time dilation}} as described in the theory of {{w|special relativity}}; that is, the recipe author was moving at 94% of the speed of light, causing relativistic effects, so that only 35 minutes passed for the author while 105 minutes passed for Randall. To calculate the 94% figure, he takes the recipe’s official duration (t’) and his actual duration (t), and then calculates what speed of light fraction would account for the cooking time difference.

Randall is poking fun at online recipes that state an optimistic cooking time. The recipe author may assume an ideally equipped kitchen, a skilled chef, and the availability of prepared ingredients, such as canned or frozen cooked black beans instead of dried beans which take over an hour to soak and cook.[https://i.ibb.co/sWJR8Vq/Screenshot-2023-04-25-6-28-35-AM.png]

The title text takes this even further, saying that because of {{w|Length contraction|Lorentz contraction}} caused by the recipe author moving close to the speed of light, he should use different sizes for the ingredients. In all likelihood, this wouldn't benefit the outcome of the recipe: in the case of the 1/4" onion slices in the title text, Randall would end up with 0.09" onion slices (≈3/32" or 2.2mm)—far too thin for most people's liking.

==Transcript==
:[In a small square panel the top part is written in black. It looks like a search from the internet and most of the top part of the browser is too small to be read. There are three small squares and a long rectangular address bar. To the right of the first small square which has a triangle inside it pointing down, there are two lines with unreadable text. Then followed by the second square, which are empty, and the address bar with a long line of unreadable text. Finally there are two lines of unreadable text before the last square which has a symbol inside it. Beneath this is a large header which can easily be read:]
:<big>Black bean burrito bowl</big>

:[Beneath this header there is a line with unreadable text, and below that line a thin empty rectangle. Beneath this are the second line of readable text. The last part indicating a time is circled in red. The readable black words are written in normal letters, as opposed to the standard of xkcd with all small caps.]
:Total time: 35 minutes

:[Beneath this there are three more lines of text, but this has all been written in red. Also it uses the standard xkcd all caps text format. The first line is normal text. And the last indication of time is also circled in red as the one above it, and a small double arrow goes between those two red lines around the time.]
:My actual time: 1h 45m
:[Below this there are two lines with equations written in math version, but here given here in text. The second equation is split over two lines. The last result is also circled in red.]
:t=t'/√(1-v2/c2)
:v=c*√(1-(t'/t)2) = c*√(1-(35/105)2) = 0.94c

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I think this recipe author is moving past me at 94% of the speed of light.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Comics with lowercase text]]