explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

895: Teaching Physics

2022-09-19T14:57:28Z

172.70.134.191:

{{comic
| number = 895
| date = May 6, 2011
| title = Teaching Physics
| image = teaching_physics.png
| titletext = Space-time is like some simple and familiar system which is both intuitively understandable and precisely analogous, and if I were Richard Feynman I'd be able to come up with it.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic makes fun at the idea that physics is only interesting because teachers use interesting analogies, despite the fact that they are over-simplified and don't help when more complex theory is taught. The comic refers to the classic "Ball on a rubber sheet" metaphor as a way to explain {{w|general relativity}}, even though the metaphor breaks when trying to explain what causes gravity. The fourth panel highlights this with the statement that space-time is a {{w|Einstein field equations|set of equations}}, for which no analogy can fully explain.

The title text continues the teacher's frustration with coming up with an analogy by stating that there is some analogy that is both understandable and precise, and if he were the famous physicist/teacher {{w|Richard Feynman}} he could come up with it. Professor Feynman was famous for his physics lectures and their ability to both entertain and educate his students, from the beginning student to the more advanced graduate students. Recordings of his lectures are still available and applicable to today's audience.

Another comic shows how to play with this [[1158: Rubber Sheet]].

==A similar, but slightly different explanation==

Laws of physics (with General Relativity being one example) are expressed mathematically; any description in English is by necessity an analogy. To really understand the physics, you have to understand the mathematics, since any analogy will always fail at some level. However, many people find mathematics to be boring and the analogies to be interesting. The strip highlights the irony of finding the incorrect explanation (the analogy) interesting and the real explanation (the mathematics) boring.

The title text refers to Richard Feynman's almost unique ability to find really good analogies, which in some cases were exact and precise. One of the best and most famous examples of the latter is [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feynman_diagram Feynman Diagrams], which allows people to visualize and intuitively understand extraordinarily complex mathematical expressions (specifically, S-matrix elements that form transition amplitudes in quantum field theory).

==Transcript==
:Cueball: Understanding gravity: Space-time is like a rubber sheet. Massive objects distort the sheet, and-
:Student: Wait.

:Student: They distort it because they're pulled down by... what?

:Cueball: ''sigh''

:Cueball: Space-time is like this set of equations, for which any analogy must be an approximation.
:Student: ''Boooooring.''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]

Talk:2625: Field Topology

2022-05-28T17:48:17Z

172.70.134.191: 4-hole sport

First [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.64|172.70.86.64]] 12:50, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

Why is football on the two-hole field? Where are the holes? I don't think the goal posts in American football introduce any since they're not closed. Maybe it's soccer? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.88|172.69.68.88]] 12:58, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

: I think it is because the goal posts extend into infinity and the topological definition of a hole: something you can draw a circle around that you cannot contract to a point. [the user placed a horizontal rule instead of a signature by accident.]

:Well, you might still be able to call them holes. They would be if they were fully rectangles. --[[User:BlackBeret|BlackBeret]] ([[User talk:BlackBeret|talk]]) 12:59, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

: Gridiron football's field contains two areas (the endzones) that can be thought of as not being part of the "normal" field of play, for lack of a better way of saying that pre-coffee. Association football likewise has the areas within the nets. [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 13:05, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

: My immediate thoughts were also that football (soccer) and football (gridiron) are the same, or indeed the other way round. In both cases the closed hole (assuming not a Y-like vertical holder, but H-like as per rugby football) plays no more or less topological part. Threading through the hole from behind has no relevence in either, and in fact defining it as a region that is 'a special enclosed gap with meaning' (which doesn't really matter in the topology sense, just like golf would be a topologically hole-less surface and as a coffee-cup's inside 'dimple' doesn't count, just its handle-hole that makes it equivalent to a doughnut) actually counts for something in association football. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.155|172.70.162.155]] 13:32, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

:: It's not the space bounded by the goal that is the 'hole' - it's the goal post itself (or in the case of the high jump, it's the bar, not the space under it). The reason soccer doesn't have 'holes' where the goals are is that they're positioned on the edge of the playable area - you can't play around the bars, because as soon as you cross the goal line you're out of play. And it doesn't matter whether it's a Y-shaped or H-shaped goal - topologically, they both form one continuous 'hole'. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.80|172.70.91.80]] 13:37, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

::: I don't think that's the reason why soccer doesn't have holes. The goalposts in football are also outside the playable area, and so are the poles in volleyball. I think soccer is listed as zero-holes because soccer goals are typically not fixed to the field, and are instead separate objects that can be dragged around and removed from the field. On the other hand, the same is true of volleyball and badminton nets (and those nets contain many holes!) so the comic seems a bit inconsistent.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.175.146|172.70.175.146]] 14:05, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

:::: Speaking from a "football is soccer" nation (well, mostly, the exceptional subregions would argue that it's rugby) a soccer goal is typically ''not'' draggable around the field, but permanent (or a unit frame that has to be painstakingly hoisted out of the ground if you ''don't'' want them in your football stadium, when you repurpose it for other purposes) and it's only the optional net that gets added to the park's permanent goalposts for the official five-aside competition evening or day of the weekend. Draggable goalposts need a further level of intermediate organisation that goes beyond the typical "shipping container with windows cut in it (with shutters bolted over them) as a cheap changing room/officials' cabin" that might be found near the edge of the field but rarely even has as much as a corner flag left in them, between games".
:::: I presume that US 'football' posts are considered holes because they are an infinitely-tall window (even though the delineating poles only reach so high) that is a meaningful slice (where the goal is, you have to loop around it in mutually different unsimplifiable paths to reach the other side), but then that should make for ''two'' holes per end, if you count getting a field-goal and then returning round the sides (or vice-versa) as another valid surface-path.
:::: ...but, yeah, I can imagine the problem of definition (and cultural famiarity) here is going to produce more problems even than the understanding of topology. One of the less internationally-accepted comics, this. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.177|172.70.85.177]] 18:51, 27 May 2022 (UTC)
: O_O . Randall is united-statesian, so football means the thing where you tackle each other and hold the ball in your hands. I've never been into football, and I've always seen it with two large goal posts with a horizontal bar between them. The hole is formed under the horizontal bar. When I played football in computer games, you had to get the ball over the horizontal bar. After this, I'll search the web to see if the horizontal bar still exists. Regarding soccer, there aren't two holes because the nets are closed at the back. You cannot pass through the field structure by going through a goal: you bump into the net the ball bounces off of when a goal is made. So, Randall is considering soccer fields topologically equivalent to a plane (ignoring all the holes in the netting). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.229|172.70.114.229]] 14:58, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
: I looked up the goal thing and found that what I was imagining are called H-frame or H-style goal posts. Not the norm; the have two posts instead of one. I'm a weirdo that I thought they were what was up. But Randall could have been thinking of H-frame goals. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.63|172.70.230.63]] 15:04, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
::Many high school and amateur football fields still use H-frame goals. The resulting space can be used as a goal in some other sports. That does raise the question of why they didn't just have one field with lots of holes, and just plug the ones up that aren't needed for the sport being played. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.191|172.70.134.191]] 15:57, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

Tetherball, in many variants, does contain an obstruction -- the pole, which you're not allowed to touch. The Topology Department is getting tired of having to switch out the fields. [[User:Noëlle|Noëlle]] ([[User talk:Noëlle|talk]]) 13:05, 27 May 2022 (UTC)
:But you can surely jump over it, so it's topologically the same as a zero-height pole... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.155|172.70.162.155]] 13:32, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

Croquet has six hoops and a peg. How does that make for nine holes? Is it including the opponents' two balls as holes? And if so, why aren't opposing players counted as holes in the other sports? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.80|172.70.91.80]] 13:26, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquet#Nine-wicket] 'Nine-wicket croquet, sometimes called "backyard croquet", is played mainly in Canada and the United States, and is the game most recreational players in those countries call simply "croquet".' (Wikipedia) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.215|172.70.126.215]] 18:58, 27 May 2022 (UTC)

American football goals are Y-shaped. Rugby goals are H-shaped. Did... did Randall get those confused? Also, I fail to see how basketball and American football get two, croquet gets a bunch, but soccer gets zero. Aren't soccer goals (in-game at least) basically the same shape as croquet wickets, just waaaay bigger? Granted, I don't know anything about topology and I came to this wiki specifically cuz I'm dumb, so I'd love if someone could splain this all for me ;) --mezimm [[Special:Contributions/172.69.69.170|172.69.69.170]] 13:37, 27 May 2022 (UTC)
:The soccer goal has a net, so the ball can't go through it. Topologically it's just a wall (Randall seems to be ignoring all the tiny holes in netting, presumaby because they're smaller than the balls so they're insignificant to the sports). [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:10, 27 May 2022 (UTC)
::I agree with that explanation - the net is the only thing that makes the soccer field not to have holes. It should be included in the comic explanation.
::The hole for the volleyball only makes sense taking in account that the bottom of the net doesn't reach the floor, although this space is not used in the game.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 14:18, 27 May 2022 (UTC)
::I agree about soccer; the explanation should be that soccer goals (with net) are topologically part of the plane. The same is true of ice hockey, even though you can travel "around" the net, it is topologically part of the field with no holes. As for (American) football, the topology only makes sense for H-shaped goals, which are more often seen on primary/secondary play fields than in higher level play. [[User:Aramisuvla|Aramisuvla]] ([[User talk:Aramisuvla|talk]]) 16:03, 27 May 2022 (UTC)
::Agreed. Soccer goals are shaped such that their bottoms connect smoothly to the ground in a single continuous piece. So they are topologically equivalent to the plane. This wouldn't be the case if not for the back part holding the net. That's unlike basketball hoops, which are actual holes. The holes in football must be referring to the H-shaped uprights that were standard until 1967 in professional leagues and are still seen in some high school fields and even a couple college fields. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.128|172.70.131.128]] 03:08, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
::EDIT: I should point out that the net actually has, like, hundreds of holes. But I think the net here is being treated as a continuous sheet. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.215|172.70.126.215]] 03:10, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
:::I mentioned all the little holes in the net in my comment that you're replying to. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:43, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

The group link pointing to group (mathematics) doesn't bear any relation with the sentence or the comic. I would remove the link.--[[User:Pere prlpz|Pere prlpz]] ([[User talk:Pere prlpz|talk]]) 14:18, 27 May 2022 (UTC)
: The joke seems important to me because their no consideration of the word 'field' being a math pun, and it raises the idea in readers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.79.74|162.158.79.74]] 15:11, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
:When I first saw the comic title I assumed that part of the joke would be a pun on the word "field" being used for both sports and math. And even though the comic doesn't explicitly make this joke, I'll bet it inspired Randall. It's worth mentioning. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:43, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

In rugby (both League and Union) the goalposts are within the field of play: significant game activity takes place behind them. This is not the case with soccer. I have no clue what difference this makes topologically.{{unsigned ip|}}

I've been thinking about this classification system, and can't quite work out the baseline for it. I think we're supposed to assume that the whole 3d manifold is represented in a 2d 'field', or at least any path through the air flattened to an arbitrarily thin surface 'bulge' during topological rationalisation. But there are several possible field-of-play definitions we can be using...
* A single valid 'play' or traversal
** For ball-sports (or indeed other play-objects) this could be where the item can travel. But in this case I think almost 'all' codes of football are Type 1 (first of the topologies) as almost every football code deals with both 'goal' and 'endzone' (where valid) as the same as a hole (dimple) in golf... It goes into it and it might as well come out of it again, there's no continuation of play 'through the defined' space, and so the topological hole (the barrier defined the scoring membrane's edge) never comes into play. Unlike in Gridiron, where a touchdown doesn't even need the 'ball' to touch the ground, rugby (league and/or union, and possibly further derivatives) requires this and a player can fail to score a Try if (s)he passes bodily over the line but is unable to plant the ball (not allowed to throw/drop it) and I'd have to check what happens if the defending player(s) keeping them sufficiently off the ground (assuming that's done in an allowable fashion) returns the intended scorer back over the line via a circuitous route around /back-through the suspended goal-mouth (above the cross-bar, between the verticals)... They keep changing those kinds of technical rules, so I can't be sure of the current technicalities involved. Likewise, a volleyball or shuttlecock that passes under the net-top-edge is out of play, so it is really a Type 1 under this definition. (Might as well be a solid barrier, floor-to-top-height, rather than a thin bar or a partial net.) The basketball case is interesting. Although a dunk ends the play of the ball, I'm not sure if the path of a ball ''up'' through the hoop does not. In that circumstance I could believe it is a Type 3 case, but if that's a game-stopping thing then Type 1. Croquet is indeed a varying number of paths through (I ''think'') an unordered set of holes, or at least nothing to say that they can be taken out of order (or 'un-passed-through'), and you can't necessarily restrict a 'play' to one shot at a time if certain conditions allow you to play on, so dodging in and around all scoring zones defined by the hoops gives you something like.
** For player/competitor/participant movement, similarly passing under the bar is not valid for the High Jump. I don't think there's anything to stop such transitions upon the Parallel Bars, but it is much more a feature of the ''Uneven'' Parallel Bars, whereas from what I've seen of the sport, the even-variety tends to be topologically used much as the pommel-horse. Players of football (American variations certainly, rugby of course, proper football if you don't bother with the nets) are not restricted from passing through the scoring area (either way) on a circuitous path that may be off the field of play but isn't off the field ''of players''. For the Olympic Swimming, I'm not suring porpoising over and under the lane-delineations is a thing, so I would have said that (under this definition), it should be a number of entirely disconnected Type 1 'zones', with no valid movement between them at all. So far as I'm aware, there are no rules for/against croquet ''players'' passing through hoops (intentionally or perhaps because they severely annoyed an opponent) so maybe that stands in this case, too. Ditto for basketball, if hoisted. Although in both cases it may prevent the balls passing through immediately afterwards, without game-stoppage to resolve the issue.
* If it's a game's-worth of play, then the status of the basket in basketball (unlike the pocket in snooker/pool/some-versions-of-billards) might be defined by the topological-hole-that-is-the-physical-hole's-edge, rather than treat it as the old basket-with-bottom from which the precusor to the net-ring almost immediately evolved. And the same could be said about the suspended scoring-hole (whether supported as Y-post or an H-post, the lower limb(s) are merely physical necessities that play little part in the gameplay specifics except as a general hazard to avoid, it is the crossbar and verticals-to-infinity (and the infinity itself) that is the gap through which a circular path cannot be rationalised back to a point). For most of the rest (including the participant-paths, with there being nothing to stop the traversal of a footballer of whatever stripe jumping the cross-bar, but that may only mean something in the topology of some variations, as far as the game is concerned...) it seems meaningless. Even in an Aussie Rules field with four 'posts' per end, and probably more interest in whether jumping onto an opposing player is against the rules or indeed an entirely legitimate and expected tactic.
* The general arena-wide area is a further superset (perhaps with no additional complications, i.e. exactly congruent) of the field-of-play(er) definition. For coin-operated table-top games (foosball/table-football) the path from each goal may (additionally to any on-top topological loop-disconnections) force passage of the ball underneath and out into the new-play insertion spot. So add a couple more (unidirectional) paths, at least. Or six for a coin-operated pool/etc table, and I assume the Skeeball (not something I'm familar with, at least by that name) is defined that way already...
Sorry, I found I needed to say a lot more than I thought I did, so the first point (and sub-points) went on a bit and I cut down what I might have said for the following points. I may come back to re-edit this. I've got a handy little table, in mind, but I'm not sure it'll work much better to summarise everything I've been cogitating about for most of today while away from the keyboard... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.5|172.70.162.5]] 15:57, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
:The "hole" in the goalpost in American football is relevant for field goals, not touchdowns. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:43, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

As has been alluded to, this must be an American university's topology department. A rest-of-the-world university would include four holes for cricket. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.191|172.70.134.191]] 17:48, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2625: Field Topology

2022-05-28T15:57:11Z

172.70.134.191:

2551: Debunking

2021-12-07T13:26:18Z

172.70.134.191: formatting error

{{comic
| number = 2551
| date = December 6, 2021
| title = Debunking
| image = debunking.png
| titletext = Mark Zuckerberg has only neutral feelings toward Peppa Pig, who he understands is a fictional character, and he blames the coronavirus pandemic on other factors.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WEIGHTLESS VACCINATED CHIP DUST WHO CAN TAKE THEIR HAT OFF- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When writing a news article that "debunks" a claim (shows why it is false), writing its headline in the form "X is false" is [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/words-matter/201807/when-correcting-lie-dont-repeat-it-do-instead-2 discouraged]. The reason is that just repeatedly seeing "X", even if negated or followed by "is false", can make readers subconsciously believe it.

To avoid this, Journalist Randall has worded his debunking articles in a positive sense. This makes for a confusing read if the reader has not heard of the original claim. The "original claims" allegedly being debunked here don't actually appear to have been made anywhere, and can only be inferred from the debunking.

Much of the debunking relies on setting simple facts straight, making for bizarrely banal headlines.

===Table===
{| class="wikitable"
!Article Headline
!Possible claim being debunked
|-
| AP Photos show that Dr. Fauci's office contains a normal amount of microwaves
| That {{w|Anthony Fauci}}'s office is subject to excessive microwave radiation (or placement of microwave ovens). Fauci is the head of the {{w| National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases}} in the US and is seen as the public face to the COVID-19 response in that country. US diplomats have been altering their lives due to an unexplained {{w|Havana syndrome}}, an early theory for which has been use of a microwave weapon. Microwaves can be part of a number of conspiracy theories ranging from health problems or manipulation of the public.
|-
| Singer Billie Eilish was born years after the TWA Flight 800 Explosion.
| A conspiracy theory linking {{w|Billie Eilish}} (born December 2001) with the {{w|TWA Flight 800}} crash in July 1996.
|-
| Vaccinated people can remove their hats without trouble by tugging upward, say doctors.
| Possible theories include:

That vaccination causes one's head to swell, making hats become tight.
That vaccination causes one's hat to become tighter.
That vaccination causes one's inability to raise one's arm high enough to tug one's hat upward
|-
| Physicists say Dorito powder is affected by gravity.
| A claim that {{w|Doritos}} powder is not affected by gravity. For example, an anecdote around a local businessman discovering that objects levitate when sufficient powder is applied to them.
|-
| Steering wheels will work normally on Dec 12th
| Faults (perhaps due to failures in the power steering system, triggered for example by solar storms) will cause cars to steer erratically on that date
|-
| Santa's skin is dry and healthy this year, with the same amount of oil as before.
| Santa is suffering from oily skin, which can cause acne.
|-
| ''(Title Text)'' Mark Zuckerberg has only neutral feelings toward Peppa Pig...
| That the founder of Facebook ({{w|Mark Zuckerberg}}) has paranoia concerning the character {{w|Peppa Pig}}, believing her to be a real talking pig and the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. May be a reference to a [https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-pm-johnson-briefly-lost-words-speech-business-2021-11-22 recent speech] by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which he expressed admiration for Peppa, much to the bewilderment of journalists.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Several news headlines shown in boxes]

:[Box 1] AP photos show Dr. Fauci's office contains a normal number of microwaves.

:[Box 2] Fact check: singer Billie Eilish was born years after the TWA Flight 800 explosion.

:[Box 3] Vaccinated people can remove their hats without trouble by tugging upward, say doctors.

:[Box 4] Physicists say Dorito powder is affected by gravity.

:[Box 5] Steering wheels will work normally on Dec 12th; make left and right turns as usual.

:[Box 6] CNN investigation; Santa's skin is dry and healthy this year, with the same amount of oil as before.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I don't know whether the "Don't repeat the claim in the headline debunking it" thing works or not, but it definitely makes reading the news weird.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]

2551: Debunking

2021-12-07T13:25:11Z

172.70.134.191: added more theories for hats

{{comic
| number = 2551
| date = December 6, 2021
| title = Debunking
| image = debunking.png
| titletext = Mark Zuckerberg has only neutral feelings toward Peppa Pig, who he understands is a fictional character, and he blames the coronavirus pandemic on other factors.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WEIGHTLESS VACCINATED CHIP DUST WHO CAN TAKE THEIR HAT OFF- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When writing a news article that "debunks" a claim (shows why it is false), writing its headline in the form "X is false" is [https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/words-matter/201807/when-correcting-lie-dont-repeat-it-do-instead-2 discouraged]. The reason is that just repeatedly seeing "X", even if negated or followed by "is false", can make readers subconsciously believe it.

To avoid this, Journalist Randall has worded his debunking articles in a positive sense. This makes for a confusing read if the reader has not heard of the original claim. The "original claims" allegedly being debunked here don't actually appear to have been made anywhere, and can only be inferred from the debunking.

Much of the debunking relies on setting simple facts straight, making for bizarrely banal headlines.

===Table===
{| class="wikitable"
!Article Headline
!Possible claim being debunked
|-
| AP Photos show that Dr. Fauci's office contains a normal amount of microwaves
| That {{w|Anthony Fauci}}'s office is subject to excessive microwave radiation (or placement of microwave ovens). Fauci is the head of the {{w| National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases}} in the US and is seen as the public face to the COVID-19 response in that country. US diplomats have been altering their lives due to an unexplained {{w|Havana syndrome}}, an early theory for which has been use of a microwave weapon. Microwaves can be part of a number of conspiracy theories ranging from health problems or manipulation of the public.
|-
| Singer Billie Eilish was born years after the TWA Flight 800 Explosion.
| A conspiracy theory linking {{w|Billie Eilish}} (born December 2001) with the {{w|TWA Flight 800}} crash in July 1996.
|-
| Vaccinated people can remove their hats without trouble by tugging upward, say doctors.
| Possible theories include:
|
| That vaccination causes one's head to swell, making hats become tight.
| That vaccination causes one's hat to become tighter.
| That vaccination causes one's inability to raise one's arm high enough to tug one's hat upward
|-
| Physicists say Dorito powder is affected by gravity.
| A claim that {{w|Doritos}} powder is not affected by gravity. For example, an anecdote around a local businessman discovering that objects levitate when sufficient powder is applied to them.
|-
| Steering wheels will work normally on Dec 12th
| Faults (perhaps due to failures in the power steering system, triggered for example by solar storms) will cause cars to steer erratically on that date
|-
| Santa's skin is dry and healthy this year, with the same amount of oil as before.
| Santa is suffering from oily skin, which can cause acne.
|-
| ''(Title Text)'' Mark Zuckerberg has only neutral feelings toward Peppa Pig...
| That the founder of Facebook ({{w|Mark Zuckerberg}}) has paranoia concerning the character {{w|Peppa Pig}}, believing her to be a real talking pig and the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. May be a reference to a [https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-pm-johnson-briefly-lost-words-speech-business-2021-11-22 recent speech] by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in which he expressed admiration for Peppa, much to the bewilderment of journalists.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Several news headlines shown in boxes]

:[Box 1] AP photos show Dr. Fauci's office contains a normal number of microwaves.

:[Box 2] Fact check: singer Billie Eilish was born years after the TWA Flight 800 explosion.

:[Box 3] Vaccinated people can remove their hats without trouble by tugging upward, say doctors.

:[Box 4] Physicists say Dorito powder is affected by gravity.

:[Box 5] Steering wheels will work normally on Dec 12th; make left and right turns as usual.

:[Box 6] CNN investigation; Santa's skin is dry and healthy this year, with the same amount of oil as before.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I don't know whether the "Don't repeat the claim in the headline debunking it" thing works or not, but it definitely makes reading the news weird.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theory]]

Talk:2550: Webb

2021-12-05T21:37:24Z

172.70.134.191: JWST is as fixable as Hubble, if you have Starships. Which NASA is already counting on (and funding) for Artemis.~~~~

Ah, without edit-conflict being indicated (probably because subsequent new paragraphs could be considered as not 'treading on the toes' of the first one posted), I seem to have added repetitious information. Also I can see that I misbalanced the paragraph sizes as I went into increasingly more detail as I got into the edit. Was going to go back to wikilink/fix/etc, but I should probably leave it to a new eye to better re-edit the whole think 'nicer', taking how much or little inspiration the current mess of text might provide. Have fun! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.41|172.70.85.41]] 04:49, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
: I tried to restructure it a bit (grouping related info, rebalancing paragraph sizes) and resolve the duplication without losing any important information. Hope it looks okay? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.99|172.68.133.99]] 05:46, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
:: wtg guys for clearly describing these abstract issues and addressing them [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.227|172.70.110.227]] 16:38, 5 December 2021 (UTC)

Could someone explain why the numbers are arranged the way they are?
: It looks like the mirror on the telescope. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.171|172.70.110.171]] 14:04, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
: If a magic hexagon was possible, he would have done it. However, the numbers add up to 243, and with 5 rows, this makes it impossible for each row to add up to the same number. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.173|172.70.110.173]] 16:29, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
: I know some advent calendars go in exact order, but a lot of them are actually ordered randomly. I've got one in my living room where the top row is "2, 17, 8, 10" [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.237|172.70.210.237]] 23:42, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

Alternate explanation: all the astronomers are Moldovian Orthodox Catholics, and they timed the telescope to launch on Christmas Eve in their slightly out-of-sync calendar in which Christmas replaced days 2 & 3 of their week long Winter Solstice Party.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 17:28, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

Why does it have the small hexagons oriented "pointy side up"? I know this is generally considered a good thing, as far as rocket launches are concerned, but in this case? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.88.91|162.158.88.91]] 20:28, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

The cells on the calendar go from 5 to 22, which I assumed was a reference that astronomers have been waiting since 2005 (when the current mission was replanned) until 2022 (the year the telescope will become active). Rather than counting down 25 days until Christmas, astronomers are counting down 18 years (inclusive) until they get their new toys to play with. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.23|172.70.134.23]] 00:29, 5 December 2021 (UTC)
: It's also just the number of mirrors the telescope has, and the day it launches. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.227|172.70.110.227]] 16:38, 5 December 2021 (UTC)
JWST is as fixable as Hubble, if you have Starships. Which NASA is already counting on (and funding) for Artemis.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.191|172.70.134.191]] 21:37, 5 December 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2549: Edge Cake

2021-12-02T20:31:28Z

172.70.134.191: :(~~~~Bumpf

The cake being all edges is a reference to everything about her birth being an edge case.
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.227|172.70.110.227]] 03:41, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
: It seems likely that the title of the comic is a related pun: her birthday is an edge case, and so she has an edge cake.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.221|162.158.106.221]] 04:22, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
So is Hairbun officially named Emily now, sort of like how all instances of Megan are Megan even though she's only called that once? I know all the names here are just placeholders of convenience, but even then I've never know what the rules for naming are. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 06:11, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Edge pieces on cake are often sought after because they hold more frosting, for cakes which are frosted while out of the pan. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.23|172.70.134.23]] 06:37, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
: I have an impression that Cueball is delighted by having only edge pieces, however some cakes edge pieces may be either sought for or avoided, depending on one's tastes. E.g. tarts have more crispy base cake content and less filling at the edges. One person may go for the filling, another for the crispy base. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.11|162.158.102.11]] 09:50, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

So it seems the events in the comic happened on Apr 1., as the "last month" birthday could be either Feb 28. or 29. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.11|162.158.102.11]] 09:50, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
:Not necessarily. Remember, Emily can have her birthday ''whenever she wants'', so the date this comic is set as is entirely arbitrary. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.51|172.70.178.51]] 12:26, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Are there any particular existing arctic international flights that could have been the one Emily was born on? -- [[Special:Contributions/256.256.256.256|256.256.256.256] 15:51, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
:There are a few possibities (at least pre-COVID, and obviously we'd be looking historically in this case anyway) as [https://interestingengineering.com/polar-routes-flights-that-go-over-earths-poles might be shown here]. There's two possible (but neither definite) International Datelines on the comic diagram, in case they help orient which from/to directions might have been diverted further in or out of their own kinks in the flightpath to coincide with 90°N. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 16:21, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2549: Edge Cake

2021-12-02T20:31:08Z

172.70.134.191: :) ~~~~Bumpf

The cake being all edges is a reference to everything about her birth being an edge case.
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.227|172.70.110.227]] 03:41, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
: It seems likely that the title of the comic is a related pun: her birthday is an edge case, and so she has an edge cake.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.221|162.158.106.221]] 04:22, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
So is Hairbun officially named Emily now, sort of like how all instances of Megan are Megan even though she's only called that once? I know all the names here are just placeholders of convenience, but even then I've never know what the rules for naming are. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 06:11, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Edge pieces on cake are often sought after because they hold more frosting, for cakes which are frosted while out of the pan. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.23|172.70.134.23]] 06:37, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
: I have an impression that Cueball is delighted by having only edge pieces, however some cakes edge pieces may be either sought for or avoided, depending on one's tastes. E.g. tarts have more crispy base cake content and less filling at the edges. One person may go for the filling, another for the crispy base. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.11|162.158.102.11]] 09:50, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

So it seems the events in the comic happened on Apr 1., as the "last month" birthday could be either Feb 28. or 29. -- [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.11|162.158.102.11]] 09:50, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
:Not necessarily. Remember, Emily can have her birthday ''whenever she wants'', so the date this comic is set as is entirely arbitrary. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.51|172.70.178.51]] 12:26, 2 December 2021 (UTC)

Are there any particular existing arctic international flights that could have been the one Emily was born on? -- [[Special:Contributions/256.256.256.256256.256.256.256] 15:51, 2 December 2021 (UTC)
:There are a few possibities (at least pre-COVID, and obviously we'd be looking historically in this case anyway) as [https://interestingengineering.com/polar-routes-flights-that-go-over-earths-poles might be shown here]. There's two possible (but neither definite) International Datelines on the comic diagram, in case they help orient which from/to directions might have been diverted further in or out of their own kinks in the flightpath to coincide with 90°N. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 16:21, 2 December 2021 (UTC)