explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2312: mbmbam

2020-05-27T21:53:28Z

172.69.22.236:

{{comic
| number = 2312
| date = May 27, 2020
| title = mbmbam
| image = mbmbam.png
| titletext = Hello and welcome to Millibar Millibarn Attometer, an advice show for the Planck era.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 10^47 BROTHERS. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

{{comic discussion}}

2296: Sourdough Starter

2020-05-10T16:38:00Z

172.69.22.236: Most people are in shelter-in-place, not medical quarantine

{{comic
| number = 2296
| date = April 20, 2020
| title = Sourdough Starter
| image = sourdough_starter.png
| titletext = Once the lockdown is over, let's all get together and swap starters!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Butt WITH AN EXTREMELY CONVOLUTED PARASITIC LIFE CYCLE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is another comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}.

Recently, because of the coronavirus, many people are forced to stay home under shelter-in-place orders. Shelter-in-place often leads to spare time that needs to be filled, and many people have turned to baking, which can usually be done entirely at home, is relatively time-consuming, and has the advantage of producing finished food, lessening the need to go out to buy food. This trend is common enough that baking supplies, including yeast, have seen a spike in demand, to the point where [https://www.foodandwine.com/news/yeast-supply-shortage-coronavirus many people have trouble finding it.]

As an alternative to yeast, consumers can grow their own sourdough starter, which is a symbiotic culture of yeast and bacteria naturally found in flour. Once the starter has matured, part of it can be used to make bread or other baked good rise, while the remainder can be mixed with more water and nutrients to allow the remaining yeast and bacteria to multiply once again. Because these populations need to be maintained, it's often been a practice to trade starters from house to house, with each home using starter when they need it, then setting up the remaining starter to breed more. This has historically been a social activity, allowing people who share an interest in baking to meet, share recipes, and spend time together.

The upshot of all of this is that the coronavirus pandemic has created conditions in which yeast (and symbiotic bacteria) are being bred in larger numbers, both by companies trying to fill demand, and by individuals trying to make their own. The joke is that this outcome is, in fact, the entire purpose of the coronavirus, which is in a {{w|symbiosis|symbiotic}} relationship with yeast. The entire global pandemic, by this logic, is directed to keep humans indoors and baking so that more yeast (and bacteria) is bred. The practice of swapping sourdough starters means that they're propagated more widely, increasing and distributing the yeast population (while potentially giving the virus more opportunity to spread, as people socialize).

As Randall points out, this cycle is extremely convoluted. However, it is not unknown for {{w|parasite}}s to drive the responses of other creatures in order to propagate themselves. For example, ''{{w|Toxoplasma gondii}}'' infects mice, but can only reproduce when it infects cats. The organism has therefore adapted to infect the nervous systems of mice, making them extremely reckless, increasing their odds of being caught and eaten by cats, allowing the the parasite to move to a new host. Some flatworm parasites have very complex life cycles that involve [http://olsonlab.com/resources/Publications/2003AdvParaCribb.PDF four different host animals].

Randall has previously speculated about unusual parasitic organisms in [[2246: Christmas Presents]], in which he "concluded" that Christmas presents are parasites of Christmas trees, possibly mediated by a fungus. And in [[1664: Mycology]] a fungus infects human brains making them wish to study (and thus grow more of) this fungus.

Viruses are not organisms (lacking some of the defining features of life), and it is debatable whether they would be considered parasites. Moreover, this theory is obviously implausible for a number of reasons. The most obvious being that natural responses, particularly of viruses and simple organisms, evolve over a long time scale. SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the current pandemic, has very likely been infecting humans for less than one year, certainly not long enough to evolve such a complex set of behaviors. At the same time, a symbiotic relationship would require yeast to somehow contribute to the life cycle of the coronavirus in a meaningful way, which is unlikely when the yeast is being artificially bred in isolated containers. If however, as suggested by the title text, people getting together to swap yeast starters after the lockdown ends does cause the virus to begin spreading in humans again as a result of the social contact, then the yeast would be contributing to the life cycle of the coronavirus, in an equally convoluted way. The humor, therefore, is derived from the fact that this is a comical exaggeration, but based on cycles that actually do happen in nature.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball stands in front of a kitchen counter looking down at a glass jar he is holding in both hands. The jar's flat lid is lying on the table. There is another large jar farther back on the counter with a lid, with a small handle, on. In both jars there is a substance, which do stay in the same position in the jar even though Cueball tilts the jar he is holding.]
:Cueball: My sourdough starter is coming along nicely!

:[Caption below the panel]
:Theory: The coronavirus is a yeast symbiont with an '''''extremely''''' convoluted parasitic life cycle.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Food]]

Talk:2260: Reaction Maps

2020-01-28T14:52:00Z

172.69.22.236:

I can't find Jump, OH. [[User:Jacky720|That's right, Jacky720 just signed this]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]] | [[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|contribs]]) 23:19, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

I can't find a town named "A" in Clay County WV. Is there supposed to be one? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 23:35, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Wiki sez: "Clay is a town in and the county seat of Clay County, West Virginia, United States.[6] The population was 491 at the 2010 census. It is the only incorporated town in Clay County." [[Special:Contributions/162.158.214.136|162.158.214.136]] 23:37, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

I looked for "A, Clay County, WV" and [https://goo.gl/maps/sUm6MtwEvpsBbfLX8 found this]. "B" and "C" also find places but "D" doesn't. It looks like Clay County is divided into A, B and C. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.53|141.101.99.53]] 08:11, 28 January 2020 (UTC) Update: According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_County,_West_Virginia#Geography they rationalised their old districts into "A", "B" and "C" between 1990 and 2000.

I completely missed this one! In my defence, here in southern England ‘Tudor’ sounds much less like ‘two-door’, and ‘compact’ is much less commonly applied to cars... [[User:Gidds|Gidds]] ([[User talk:Gidds|talk]]) 23:44, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

Tip if you are doing a European version, and want to avoid F-Bombs: You can [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Fucking,+%C3%96sterreich/Bad+Kissingen,+Deutschland/ replace "Fucking" by "bad Kissing"]. It is "only" a 430km reroute. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 07:47, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Does that pun actually work in US English? In UK English, Tudor and two-door have totally different vowel sounds. The former is more "tew-der". {{unsigned ip|162.158.158.179|09:58, 28 January 2020‎}}
:It does work with my weird accent (German, officially learned british English in school, tought by a German teacher who lived a while in Australia, and refined with watching Hollywood productions, travelling Ireland (and other places, but mostly Ireland), and working with Indians, Americans and Brits in an American company...) Slight difference between how I would pronounce two and "tu" of tudor. (more or less as tju(?)) --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 09:05, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
:Yes, and in fact, Ford named several two-doored body styles in the interwar period "Tudor" (and, somewhat distressingly, dubbed the corresponding four-door styles "Fordor"). [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.160|172.69.34.160]] 12:03, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

;H.ON.D.A.
This reminds of when I worked in a place with a very slow Internet connection, but I found one solution (sort of) which required about 40 minutes to get connected, but was very fast once I was connected. I called it Hurry-ON Driving Access (HONDA). The way it worked was that I got in my Honda Civic, and drove to a place with a better Internet connection... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.20|172.69.34.20]] 03:14, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

I named my Smart Fortwo "Eddie." Fortwo > 42 > Hitchhikers. And that engine was a pretty improbable size. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.236|108.162.216.236]] 13:54, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

Anyone who can make a decent argument why this joke should be bad enough to end a friendship? Or could Randall just not find anything better. Did it need to be related to driving? I like the idea of answering like this, but cannot really understand why such a joke would necessitate such a fierce response...? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:04, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
:It's kind of a cultural joke that puns are the one of the lowest forms of wit, and that especially bad or forced puns are so bad as to merit comical overreactions, such as flipping tables, throwing yourself out of a window, or expressing physical pain. It might be an internet thing, although I'm sure the sentiment pre-dates the internet. Cueball is not seriously suggesting ending their friendship - he's just suggesting that he ''should'', as penance for the terribleness of the pun. I believe the pun doesn't have to relate to driving - Randall has just found a clever way to express disapproval that happens to use driving directions. [[User:Hawthorn|Hawthorn]] ([[User talk:Hawthorn|talk]]) 14:05, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
:Possible reason: it's not that the pun itself is so bad, it's the "get it"--Ponytail (probably) knows the pun isn't very funny, *knows Cueball didn't think it was funny*, and is demanding that he acknowledge the pun. Once is nothing, but annoyance can build up. The fiftieth time someone interrupts a real conversation with a pun, and repeats the pun if nobody gives them the laugh or at least groan they want, it becomes something like "yeah, guy, we heard you. If it was funny someone would have laughed. Stop interrupting the conversation to get attention. It's not as clever as you think it is."
:As someone else mentioned, it sounds like the pun only works if you pronounce Tudor incorrectly, which could repeat a trend of Americans assuming they are right without regard to other cultures, and demonstrating that they haven't valued putting any effort in to learn this. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.236|172.69.22.236]] 14:52, 28 January 2020 (UTC)

1714: Volcano Types

2019-11-26T00:31:38Z

172.69.22.236: Undo revision 176411 by 172.68.34.118 (talk)

{{comic
| number = 1714
| date = August 1, 2016
| title = Volcano Types
| image = volcano_types.png
| titletext = It's hard living somewhere with antlions, because every time you find one of their traps, you feel compelled to spend all day constructing a tiny model of Jabba's sail barge next to it.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic presents a table of 12 different types of volcano. Split into 3 rows, the first 4 are authentic types of volcano; while the remaining 8 are parodies, one not even trying to represent a volcano but shows a real animal in its inverted trap cone.

Volcanoes have featured in many xkcd comics, [[media:1608 Entire Volcano plateau zoom out_extra.png|most prominently]] in the left part of the world (the Lord of the Rings section) of [[1608: Hoverboard]]. This comic's volcano looks like it could soon turn into a Somma volcano.

===Real volcanoes===
*{{w|Cinder cone}}: small, steep-sided volcano formed of {{w|scoria}} and ash.
*{{w|Shield volcano}}: wide, rounded volcano formed of solidified lava flow.
*{{w|Stratovolcano}}: large volcano formed of layers (strata) from multiple eruptions.
*{{w|Somma volcano}}: new volcanic cone in the middle of an old collapsed volcanic crater.

===Joke volcanoes===
*Metasomma volcano: nested layers of somma volcanos i.e. a whole set of new volcanoes (three in this situation) formed inside of old ones. "Meta" is a prefix that often denotes recursion. (Although this is a joke volcano, metasomma volcanoes do actually exist in real life, with one example being the {{w|Krakatoa}} group in Indonesia.)
*{{w|Waffle cone}}: type of pastry that ice cream is served in, related to volcano cones only insofar as they are the same shape, but typically the waffle cones are turned the other way up to keep the ice cream inside. If the tip of the waffle cone is not filled with solid chocolate or similar, then the contents may very well melt and run out the bottom like the smoke coming out at the very tip of the Waffle cone volcano.
*Science fair cone: common elementary science experiment that is often used as a project for science fairs. A structure is built to resemble a model volcano and is filled with a mix of baking soda, vinegar, and sometimes food coloring. The reaction between baking soda and vinegar quickly produces a large amount of carbon dioxide, creating a foam that overflows and mimics a volcanic eruption. In this picture, there are people running away from the volcano that are much smaller than it. This is likely a reference to [[1611: Baking Soda and Vinegar]], either the scale-model people on the first volcano, or real people running from the baking soda supervolcano (in this case two [[Cueball]]-like guys and [[Megan]]).
*Doot cone: This may likely be a reference to the meme of the [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/skull-trumpet skull-trumpet] where the trumpet playing skull [https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/39xnk2/what_is_this_doot_thing_with_the_skeletons/cs7jdsa produces the sound Doot] as a large part of the meme. Doot is also a fart sound; a doot cone could be just ejecting farts instead of lava.
**There has been some discussion about if this is likely, with someone referencing the [https://www.amazon.com/Florida-DOT-Approved-Traffic-Cone/dp/B009RUTKZA DOT cones], traffic cones approved by DOT or the {{w|Department of transportation}} in the US.
**Also there have been mention of ''{{w|Dot-com}}'' coming close to ''Doot cone''. The {{w|Dot-com bubble}} could be said to burst, just like this volcano bursts/erupts.
*{{w|Antlion}}: An antlion is the larva of an insect known as the lacewing, and is commonly called a doodlebug. These insects dig pits in the sand to use as traps; when a bug comes along and falls in, the sand collapses and falls on the bug, making it very difficult to escape. The antlion then eats the unsuspecting prey. Maybe a reference to {{w|Formica Leo}}, a small volcanic crater in the Reunion island named after the antlion. Also, a recurring boss villain in the video game Final Fantasy series. Also appears in the {{w|List_of_Moomin_(1990)_episodes|Moomin (1990) TV series}} as a literal black lion.
*Inverse Volcano: as the name implies, a regular volcano but reversed. A real volcano consists of solid rock on the outside, magma on the inside and spewing lava from the top.
*Ghost Vent: cone with ghosts coming out of it.
*Pedant's Bane: the joke is that people sometimes confuse magma and lava, which are different names for the same heated liquid rock. Magma becomes lava when it emerges from a volcano. The Pedant's Bane volcano is therefore impossible by definition, but if it were possible, then a {{w|pedant}} would have met his [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bane#Etymology_1 bane] (i.e. his downfall), because when he corrected someone's description of this volcano, the pedant would actually be wrong. Alternatively, the illustration itself could be Pedant's Bane because a pedant would be lured into pointing out how wrong it is. This is a direct reference to the pedant in [[1405: Meteor]].

The title text refers to a famous scene in ''{{w|Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi}}'' where {{w|Jabba the Hutt}} intends to feed {{w|Luke Skywalker}} to the {{w|Sarlacc|sarlacc}}, an underground creature that builds a huge funnel trap similar to that of an antlion. [[wikia:c:starwars:Khetanna|Jabba's distinctive sail barge]] features prominently in that scene, and when Randall comes upon an antlion he can't help himself starting to build a scale model next to the antlion's inverted cone. Given how small antlions are, this will be very difficult to do, see for instance [[878: Model Rail]].

==Transcript==
:[Twelve drawings in four rows of different "volcano" types, the first four real, and some not even volcanoes of any sort, real or fake. Below each panel is a caption with the name of the drawn volcano. Some of the volcanoes have labels or sound written inside the panel. Each of the volcanoes has a baseline for the ground going straight a short distance over the bottom of each panel. All 11 volcanoes lie on top of this line, but some show the inside of the volcano going further into the ground.]

:[Standard cone shaped volcano, with straight sides sloping up to a triangular shape, but with the tip of the cone cut off to form the central jagged edged crater. White smoke rises straight up and then drifts to the left forming three separate clouds.]
:Cinder Cone

:[Flat rounded shaped volcano, as a part of a circle. There is not a real crater visible but from the center a thin plume of smoke rises up, drift drifts to the left and forms a small white cloud.]
:Shield Volcano

:[This is the largest volcano. The tip of this volcano is similar to the first volcano, but with more uneven slopes and a bit smaller. The tip is clearly separated from the bottom section by a thin jagged line, and below the sides of the volcano decreases their slope, so they are less steep than the tip. Black smoke rises straight up from the crater and then drifts to the left in four thin lines.]
:Stratovolcano

:[A wide volcano spans the entire panel, with a large central crater, with a bottom baseline far above the ground level. Just left of the middle of this crater is a standard smaller volcano cone, very similar to the shape of the tip in the previous panel. Even the smoke from this cones small crater is similar to the previous panels.]
:Somma Volcano

:[The central part of this volcano is the same shape as the previous panel. This could be a zoom out, revealing that the large crater, is at the center on an even larger crater, which again is at the center of a crater that spans the panel. A plume of black smoke rises from the centeral cones crater, and drifts left as five white clouds.]
:Metasomma Volcano

:[A perfect cone-shape, triangular and steep, with checkered ice cone waffle texture, even with a line indicating where the waffle has been a folded. It looks like a road up the volcano. Black smoke drift up from the sharp tip, no crater, and drifts left forming a small cloud separated from the rest of the smoke lines.]
:Waffle Cone

:[Standard cone as in the first, but zoomed in so it fills the panel from left to right. The volcano's top has been cut much further down leaving a wide crater from which lava is pouring down the sides in large rivers of different width and length. To the left one long river has almost reached the ground. Cueball is running down the left side, and Megan is running after another Cueball with his arms up on the right side. There is a label with an arrow pointing to the lava:]
:Label: Baking soda and vinegar
:Science Fair Cone

:[Standard cone like the previous, but with more jagged sloped and crater. This volcano erupts with a large explosion with fire and smoke coming out in all directions above the crater. A large sound is written above the explosion:]
:Sound. <big>'''Doooooot'''</big>
:Doot Cone

:[This is not a volcano, but the inverse, a cone down into the ground, the ground level no above the center of the panel. The slope down into this cone hole is straight, the ground above is more jagged. At the bottom of the hole sits a small animal with six legs and an open mouth piece sticking up out of the hole. Its fat body is hidden under the ground along with its legs.]
:Antlion

:[Standard volcano cone like the previous volcano. It erupts and the central part shows how the erupting material comes up from below ground level (below the line at the bottom in which the cone it self stands). The erupting material is white rocks on black background. At the top several rocks is blown out of the crater top. The sides of the volcano is filled with blobs small and large, and stones rolling down the sides. There are two labels, each with two arrows. The first labels arrows points to the side of the volcano, the second labels arrows points to the erupting material inside and outside the volcano:]
:First label: Lava
:Second label: Solid rocks
:Inverse Volcano

:[Standard cone like the doot cone, with a crater that bends down in the middle. From this crater eight white ghosts with two black eyes are rising, like the smoke, drifting left. The highest ghost is just reaching the edge at the top left of the panel. The lowest ghost is still inside the crater with its wavy lower parts.]
:Ghost Vent

:[A standard cone like the doot cone. At the top there is lave over the outer edges, some of it running down the side. The inside of the volcano has been drawn like in the inverse volcano, so it is clear that the magma inside the volcano comes up from below ground level (below the line at the bottom in which the cone it self stands). There are two labels that contradicts the description above. The top label outside the volcano points to the lava with an arrow, and the bottom label inside the volcano points to the magma:]
:Top label: Magma
:Bottom label: Lava
:Pedant's Bane

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Food]] 
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Pedantic]]