explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

968: Everything

2025-04-01T11:48:38Z

172.70.160.252: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 968
| date = October 24, 2011
| title = Everything
| image = everything.png
| titletext = I wanna hold your hand so I don't fall out of your gyrocopter.
}}

==Explanation==
In traditional western cliches of romance, men are expected to give women particular gifts (including flowers, candy and stuffed animals) and make declarations about how that woman is the sole focus of his life. This strip deliberately subverts those expectations by renouncing those sentiments and giving a decidedly non-traditional set of gifts, but making clear that this is a touching expression of love between these two parties.

[[Cueball]] is gathering a lot of different sorts of random things, including a {{w|parasol}}, a miniature {{w|Eiffel Tower}}, what appears to be a small round bomb with a short fuse and the bust of a {{w|mannequin}}. He adds these to an already immense pile of weird things including balloons and a cage with a bird.

While this happens Cueball narrates in short sentences. The first three are statements that at first seems similar to what you would find on a birthday or anniversary card from one person in a relationship to another, but in this case, all the statements ends up reversed. This can be interpreted as negative, neutral, or simply dismissing the idea that ones' romantic interests should be their sole focus in life.
*Normal sentence: You are the light of my life.
*Cueball's sentence: You are '''not''' the light of my life.
*Normal sentence: Making you happy is my greatest dream.
*Cueball's sentence: Making you happy is'''n't''' my greatest dream.
*Normal sentence: Your smile is all I live for.
*Cueball's sentence: Your smile is '''not''' all I live for.

The fourth sentence emphasizes this, but Cueball then says that he does appreciate how this person is "strange and fascinating" like no one else he's ever met.

It turns out to be [[Megan]] he is talking about who is shown applying a hammer to the front of a large and strange vehicle while standing on one of its huge wheels. She seems to have built this giant super tank/machine from anything Cueball supplies her with, having several huge pigged wheels, a mounted gun, satellite dish, a crane and smoke coming out of an exhaust pipe at the top, implying it is already running. But Cueball is very fascinated by her strangeness.

Cueball's final statement changes the meaning of the cliched sentiment ''I want to give you everything''. Instead of out of blind devotion, he wishes to give Megan the world just to see what kinds of things she would create (like the contraption shown in the final panel).

Some of the objects in the piles in the second panel can easily be determined, like the two balloons. But most others are more difficult to recognize. To the left there is what appears to be a cage with an animal inside, could be a bird. To the right there appears to be the hilt of a sword (maybe stuck in a stone, see [[1521: Sword in the Stone]]). Finally the tall thin thing sticking out of the top left of the right pile could be the stuffed giraffe from [[604: Qwertial Aphasia]]. There are other distinct things, like the tall "cylinder" and the three "cannonballs" in a pyramid pile to the left, and something with a peculiar shape between the "giraffe" and the sword hilt. But it seems impossible to determine what they are.

The title text similarly starts with the conventional Beatles love song "{{w|I Want to Hold Your Hand}}", but only in order to not fall out of a gyrocopter. A {{w|gyrocopter}} is a flying machine that has a rotor like a {{w|helicopter}}, but the rotor is not powered by a motor. Rather, the motor of the gyrocopter drives a propeller that accelerates the machine forward, while the air rushing past the rotor drives the rotor like a helicopter during {{w|autorotation}}. It is normally a comparatively safe kind of aircraft (unless you [[1972: Autogyros|fly it strictly like you would a plane]], but this may not account for aerobatics done in it, and possibly the lack of seatbelts (or passenger seats).

==Transcript==
:[Cueball drags a small wagon and a bag full of various items.]
:Cueball: You are not the light of my life. Making you happy isn't my greatest dream.

:[Cueball places the items in an even bigger pile of even more random items.]
:Cueball: Your smile is not all I live for. I've got my own stuff going on. But you're strange and fascinating and I've never met anyone like you.

:[Cueball stares in awe as Megan assembles the items into a gargantuan, intoxicatingly complex machine.]
:Cueball: I want to give you everything just to see what you would ''do'' with it.

A larger version can be found here:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
:[Cueball is walking right while carrying a huge bag, full to the brim, over his shoulder and he is also dragging a small wagon behind him. On top of the wagon are six visible items: the bust of a mannequin with a foot to stand on which stands on the next object, a square white box, a miniature Eiffel Tower which is partly hidden behind the first two objects and the next, a deck umbrella which is leaning on the next item, a box wrapped like a present and on top of this box is what appears to be a small round bomb with a short fuse.]
:Cueball (narrating): You are not the light of my life.
:Cueball (narrating): Making you happy isn't my greatest dream.

:[The next two panels only shows silhouettes and are both zoomed far out. In the middle of this panel sits the wagon with the items still in place and as visible as they can be in silhouette. The lever that Cueball held on to has been lifted up so it rests near the present. Cueball stands to the right of the wagon and lifts the bag up on top of a large pile of items taking up the rest of the right part of this panel. Only a few items in this pile are visible as they stick out of the top. There is a stick with a head to the left, then three things protruding from the middle and finally to the right what may appear as the hilt of a sword. To the left of the wagon is a smaller pile with many other objects, but here some of them can be recognized. To the far left of the foot of the pile is what appears to be a cage which may contain an animal, possibly a bird. Above the cage to the right is a tall structure, like a pipe, with a wider section at the top. The central part of the pile looks like the tip of a pyramid, and two helium balloons are tied to strings at this tip, so they float above the pile. At the base of the pyramid tip there is a ledge on which lies three round objects in their own 1, 2 pyramid shape. Below this ledge the pile falls straight down to a low layer going from there to just where the wagon stands.]
:Cueball (narrating): Your smile is not all I live for.
:Cueball (narrating): I've got my own stuff going on.
:Cueball (narrating): But you're strange and fascinating and I've never met anyone like you.

:[Cueball stands to the left leaning back and looking up at Megan and the giant vehicle/tank she is assembling. Megan is standing to the left of the three visible huge pigged wheels (almost two times higher than Cueball). She seems to be hammering something onto the top of the front of the tank. She obviously used the items Cueball delivers to build some sort of super tank with huge wheels, a mounted gun (above her head), satellite dish at the rear and a crane in the middle. It appears to be running as there is smoke coming out of the top exhaust pipe of the tank and there is also a smaller pipe with a rounded top next to this high exhaust.]
:Cueball (narrating): I want to give you everything
:Cueball (narrating): Just to see what you would ''do'' with it.
</div>

{{comic discussion}}

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

User talk:Bb777

2025-03-26T21:29:57Z

172.70.160.252: /* Redirect pages. */ new section

There you go --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 05:03, 3 March 2025 (UTC)
:thx - [[User:Bb777|Bb777]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 19:00, 8 March 2025 (UTC)
finally got autocomfirm :) [[User:Bb777|Bb777]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 00:37, 16 March 2025 (UTC)
== put anything in this section ==

yes, that's right. - [[User:Bb777|Bb777]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 23:16, 15 March 2025 (UTC)

== Signature ==

Heya, could you please change your signature to comply with {{w|WP:CUSTOMSIG/P}}. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 08:28, 23 March 2025 (UTC)
:there. sorry about the unmatched left parenthesis.--[[User:Bb777|hi]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 14:28, 23 March 2025 (UTC)
::Oh that's what it was haha. Thanks. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 15:13, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

== Redirect pages. ==

Hi, Bb. Do you need advice on how to link to things? I've seen two lots of times that you've created new redirect pages in non-useful ways (left a message of my own, in the second case, but maybe you'll see this here first). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.252|172.70.160.252]] 21:29, 26 March 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3058: Tall Structures

2025-03-05T13:52:10Z

172.70.160.252:

:''This is not actually possible, since a knit garment is not made from one long thread of yarn, but many interwoven threads.''
This is actually wrong; knitting is a technique for entangling a single yarn with itself in such a way that it forms a fabric. (It's not to be confused with ''weaving'', which does indeed use many, shorter threads.) In practice, a large, complex item like a sweater is made from multiple pieces sewn together, but it would have something like a single digit number of separate yarns.
 Incidentally, a sweater contains on the order of a kilometer of yarn, which is also about the minimum safe distance for skydiving, so this scenario passes the Fermi estimate sniff test. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.100|162.158.159.100]] 00:55, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

:Wouldn't the yarn snap at some point from acceleration due to gravity and the tightness of the weave pattern? [[User:TomtheBuilder|TomtheBuilder]] ([[User talk:TomtheBuilder|talk]]) 01:56, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

:Usually, the plane you are skydiving from won't remain circling above you ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 03:22, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

:1000m is the height where you should start considering opening your chute, so you wouldn't do much skydiving if you jumped from that height. Beginners will start aroung 1500m to have a few seconds of free fall before opening, advanced skydivers somewhere between 3000m and 5000m.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.151.30|172.68.151.30]] 11:59, 5 March 2025 (UTC)
::Reminds me of the old (often retold, often varying, probably more apocryphal than not) about the Gurkhas, the British 'overseas' branch of the army which is rightfully honoured and feared for its bravery and tenacity and basically being a compact bundle of badass.
::At some point (typically in WW2), the idea arises that it would be useful to drop a regiment or two of them behind enemy lines. They are approached with the idea of undergoing training, which they readily volunteer for, and then they get the full briefing.
:::British Officer: We'll take you up in the plane and drop you from <given height>, on your first training flight.
:::Gurkha Officer: That sounds rather high, can we perhaps try <slightly lower height> for our first attempt?
:::British Officer: I wouldn't advise that, you need a bit more height just to make sure your parachutes open properly.
:::Gurkha Officer: Oh, we'll have parachutes? Ok then, no problem!
::... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.252|172.70.160.252]] 13:52, 5 March 2025 (UTC)

This is kinda random, but does this wiki have a page for xkcd.com/no and xkcd.com/yes?? I didn't see any and I think they at least deserve a page {{unsigned ip|172.69.23.94|04:32, 4 March 2025}}
:Huh that's cool, didn't know those pages existed. Do you know anything about why they exist? (also please sign your posts with <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>) [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 05:50, 4 March 2025 (UTC)
::Weird. Here with active links: [https://xkcd.com/yes/ yes] and [https://xkcd.com/no/ no]. Not sure where to put this, maybe under the explanation of xckd or the structure of the page? Hmmm --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:30, 4 March 2025 (UTC)
:::Still no idea why they exist? I was hoping somebody had already sleuthed it out. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.167.65|162.158.167.65]] 15:04, 4 March 2025 (UTC)
::::I'm about 80% sure it's for What If. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.10.242|172.71.10.242]] 13:43, 5 March 2025 (UTC)
Nice to see the UK officially represented, there, but it's not even the {{w|Emley Moor transmitting station|tallest tower in the UK}} (and that's not counting the seven or eight latticework masts that range from merely taller than The Shard to even taller than EMTS). I suspect similar absences feature in the rest of the list, which I note yet features other freestanding towers-but-not-buildings (plus the 'joker' neither-tower-nor-building that is the aerostat). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.142|172.70.163.142]] 07:06, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

Should we delete the mention of a tall structure left out or make a list? Moved it to a trivia section and removed the personal "On the woeful lack of Ostankino TV tower" section heading. But I feel it should be left out and the one making that change should have posted it in this discussion page in stead. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:30, 4 March 2025 (UTC)
:I'm sure there's a definitive list of "tallest artificial structures (not shown in the comic)", which we can decide the full criteria for (a number of additional broadcasting masts, self-supporting alone ''or'' guy-roped, plus maybe various oil-platforms that are sufficiently tall if you measure from the subsurface base). The (now-Triviaed) Ostankino intormation should not really sit there alone, ''without'' various other absences noted (see just above your comment, in this Talk/Discussion section).
:If we were to add other examples, though, we could do without a lot of the extra information, just keep it no more complicated than the table with the comic-depicted structures. (One option is, indeed, to open up the comic's table to off-comic examples, those lines being given a light grey cell background to distinguish any which aren't on the comic, and distinguish masts, towers, buildings, rigs(?) and (the lone example of) tethered aerostat.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.253|172.70.160.253]] 12:20, 4 March 2025 (UTC)
:Postscript: became confused as to why the table I'd originally seen here no longer was. It got {{diff|367814|removed}}, but I don't understand why. Anyway, if it really doesn't belong in the Explanation, put it into the Trivia section instead and then add any desired relevent Otsankino/etc lines in as well...? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.178|141.101.98.178]] 12:35, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

Comment thread for the inclusion of the table, if you have an opinion, state your opinion first with '''"KEEP"''' or '''"REMOVE"''' and then explain your position below. [[User:TomtheBuilder|TomtheBuilder]] ([[User talk:TomtheBuilder|talk]]) 12:38, 4 March 2025 (UTC)
:As the above IP (in double-reply to Kynde), ''KEEP'' because we have (or should have) plenty of similar tables-of-things-in-the-comic, and this is exactly in line with that. If there's any serious reason why it is superfluous in the Explanation, it'll go in the Trivia, but I can't currently see why it needs to be moved. But I look forward to the (twice-?!)removing IP, or any other individual, justifying the "we don't need" attitude. (Also, as I can't provably change my vote, even if ever persuaded otherwise, don't try to count this or any other IPs in the tally. This is an indicative statement only.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.248|141.101.98.248]] 12:53, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

You could add a Wikipedia link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostankino_Tower. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.175.72|162.158.175.72]] 13:45, 4 March 2025 (UTC)

3047: Rotary Tool

2025-02-06T09:45:01Z

172.70.160.252: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3047
| date = February 5, 2025
| title = Rotary Tool
| image = rotary_tool_2x.png
| imagesize = 528x468px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It was great until my thumb slipped and I accidentally launched my telescope into the air at Mach 8.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a NEWLY LAUNCHED ORBITAL TELESCOPE BOT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

It is common to find multipurpose handheld tools that can function as higher-speed drills and lower-speed screwdrivers, switching between modes with a slider. The tool in this comic appears to have extended that concept to the extreme, covering both very high-speed and very low-speed tools. Presumably the tool has a rotating part at one end that can accept multiple attachments to facilitate the different uses.

All of these speeds are sensible for the specified uses. However, engineering a single tool to perform reliably across the required range of speeds is likely to be deeply impractical. Equally, designing the base unit such that it can be usefully employed to all these purposes would be a substantial challenge. For example, a household drill needs to be both portable and reasonably bulky, whereas a record player needs good stability, and a dental drill needs to be small enough to moved flexibly and delicately. In any case, it's highly unlikely that any individual would have a need for all these uses, so the market for such a tool would be extremely limited.

The speed of the dental drill might seem excessive, but according to [https://sableindustriesinc.com/what-is-a-high-speed-handpiece-how-it-works-speed-more/ Sable Industries], a manufacturer of high-speed dental drills, they can run "at speeds of between 300,000 and 450,000 RPM." They squirt water as they rotate to cool the bits down, so they don't overheat.

The precession setting refers to the {{w|precession of the equinoxes}}, which happens on a 26,000-year cycle that corresponds to the RPM rate shown. The average person does not need to adjust their telescope for such minor shifts, certainly not on a constant basis.{{cn}} This may be beneficial for scientists making precise measurements but they would have more powerful and dedicated tools to this end. For commercial use by the public, this would not be remotely necessary.

The latter case is referenced in the title text, as the user's finger slipped and accidentally changed the tool to a higher speed setting while attempting to use the "sidereal telescope mount" option with an actual telescope, launching it into the air at a {{w|hypersonic speed}}.

The speeds labeled "record player" are intended to correspond to standard rotational speeds of {{w|Phonograph record|phonograph records}}. The intended playback speed standardized at 78 rpm (not 72 rpm as depicted in the comic) in the 1920s, with a diameter of 10 inches. The speed and size, as well as the required width of the groove encoding the music, dictated a playing time of about 3 1/2 minutes per side. Beginning in the late 1940s, records designed to be played back at 33 1/3 rpm (close enough to the 33 rpm in the comic) were produced, to allow longer play times (hence the LP designation, for "long play") on similar-sized records, which standardized on a 12 inch diameter. This was commonly used to release an "album" of songs, totaling about 22 minutes per side. Concurrently, an alternate format, 7 inch diameter records designed to be played at 45 rpm, was produced, allowing about 5 minutes per side. This was often used to release "singles" (a single song on each side of the record). The 33 1/3 and 45 rpm playback speeds supplanted 78 rpm, and remain the standards today.

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

:Multi-function rotary tool

:[A slider on the side of a tool with various settings.]
:Speed (rpm) Function
:0.000000000073: Sidereal mount precession adapter
:0.00070: Sidereal telescope mount
:[Following three are labeled "clock hands":]
:0.0014: h
:0.017: m
:1: s
:[Following three are labeled "record player":]
:33: 33
:45: 45
:72: 72
:300: Screwdriver [Current setting]
:1500: Drill
:2500: Airplane propeller
:35 000: Dremel
:60 000: Uranium enrichment centrifuge
:300 000: Dental drill

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Telescopes]]

Talk:3044: Humidifier Review

2025-02-03T09:19:58Z

172.70.160.252:

Somehow, the text here makes me think of the air-source heat pump equivalent, i.e. ''Why shouldn't it be the case that humidifiers condense outside air and suck the water out of it, and then pump that water into the conditioned space and re-disperse it?'' Of course, the obvious answer is that doing so would be frightfully expensive and entirely unnecessary given the cost of that kind of condensation compared to the cost of water. And, of course, the capital cost for the minor plumbing to install a domestic water line to the humidifier is going to be far smaller than the capital cost of a heat pump apparatus (or whatever) to generate condensation outdoors and then pump it into the conditioned space. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 00:13, 30 January 2025 (UTC)
:Also it would still need that amount of water, just that the operator doesn't need to add it manually. --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 12:43, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

This reminds me of the whole thing with the VTuber Sakura Miko where she was using a humidifier without knowing she had to fill the tank with water for at least a year [[Special:Contributions/172.70.223.184|172.70.223.184]] 01:10, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Related to that, just a week ago Sharp announced a humidifier collaboration with Sakura Miko, and as part of the PR they made a formal apology for "Not being able to use magic to make a waterless humidifier" {{unsigned ip|198.41.236.162|02:01, 30 January 2025}}

I'm waiting for the HydroPro High-Efficiency Electric Kettle™ which is connected to a heat pump to heat your tea water. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.170.192|172.71.170.192]] 04:39, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

: ''High-Efficiency Electric Kettle™ which is connected to a heat pump to heat your tea water'' You jest; but in the US we get hot water at the sink faucet. There is a push to do it all with heat-pumps, save a hundred bucks a year! (They say more, but I've compared our use.) But the heatpumps are $2K. A dumb resistor tank is $500. Payback is well in excess of 5 years. And it would make my cold cellar even colder, thus damper. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 06:17, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

:: A heat pump water heater would (if properly installed) make the cellar colder and dryer. Essentially, it's air conditioning the cellar and that's what A/C does. In detail water will condense on the cold coils (giving up latent heat which helps heat the water) and the condensate should go down a drain reducing the amount of water in the cellar.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.107|162.158.62.107]] 16:02, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

:: Just install a dehumidifier. And feed the water that the dehumidifier into the water heater. Infinite hot water! Also, enormous electric bills. Also legionnaire's disease. [[User:RegularSizedGuy|RegularSizedGuy]] ([[User talk:RegularSizedGuy|talk]]) 06:22, 30 January 2025 (UTC)
::: All dehumidifiers and all humidifiers must be connected together for the ultimate harmony! (If there turns out to be a net need/excess, we can work out what to do... We probably have a whole load of piping leading all over the planet, by this time, so we can find the most optimal source/sink.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.33|172.70.162.33]] 13:32, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Another device which is often getting negative reviews for not breaking laws of physics is car. Not only that, EU laws for 2035 are basically making against the EU law for a new car to not break laws of physics. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:08, 30 January 2025 (UTC)
: The only two transportation options that do not either break the laws of physics or ultimately prove either unfeasible or useless against carbon dioxide spiking and resulting anthropogenic climate change have five toes on each one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.42.87|162.158.42.87]] 15:34, 30 January 2025 (UTC)
:: Cycling burns about half the calories per mile as walking. Which one has the lower overall carbon footprint depends on a lot of factors, including the carbon created for food production, bicycle production, the lifetime and maintenance requirements for the bike, the health benefits leading to a longer life (and hence more carbon production) for the walker/rider, etc. But if you already have a bike, it's probably more efficient to ride than it is to walk. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.169|162.158.62.169]] 17:59, 30 January 2025 (UTC)
::: Except that this isn't how humans work. Just because you reduce your calorie expenditure on transportation doesn't mean you reduce your calorie expenditure overall - it will just get expended somewhere else. Besides which, calorie expenditure isn't tied to calorie consumption. Even if you were able to reduce your overall expenditure, it would make no difference at all to your carbon footprint. To do that you'd need to reduce how much you eat (or change its composition).[[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.7|141.101.98.7]] 09:33, 31 January 2025 (UTC)
:::: You would burn fewer calories if you cycled for a while (instead of walking) though. Maybe cycling a mile compared to walking it wouldn't really make any difference, but cycling 20 miles as opposed to walking that definitely would burn fewer calories. Walking 20 miles is already going noticeably over your regular calorie expenditure, which is going to require more food no matter what, so cycling instead would definitely require less food. Although the difference is probably not too big compared to what you would usually burn. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] [[User talk:Beanie|talk]] 10:09, 31 January 2025 (UTC)
:::::Be sure we're talking of the same things. Cycling twenty miles might be accomplished in an hour (allowing for sympathetic terrain/roads, bike and degree of fitness), with some effort and therefore raised metabolism, but should normally take less than two hours just by keeping the wheels turning at a decent rate. Walking twenty miles might be six to twelve hours of walking (including stops, which I don't bother to assume that the rider will take).
::::: (...assuming you are physically/mentally capable of either. I regularly walk a nine-mile (rugged) path from A to B every week, taking about 3.5 hours unless I'm rushed (faster) or it is/has been raining (the 'direct' route gets muddy, either slowing me down or I divert by longer roadside routes around sections). For the purposes of the trip (for which I know I have a handy lift back), I know I have a reason to get there. (''Ocasionally'' with a diversion to a handy geohash!) I probably wouldn't walk in a nine-mile circuit, without something to do at the extremities of the point. Even though I ''have'' walked 20+ miles, I'd need even more incentive. Meanwhile, I wouldn't go cycling for 'just' nine miles of circuit, that's a waste of time in the other direction. The pleasure of the ride (balanced with the effort of it, and preparing for it) means that 20 miles of no other purpose is at the lower end. But then I was brought up as a cyclist used to weekly 50+ mile rides via at least one cafe-stop, or similar. I know some people wouldn't/couldn't/daren't walk maybe half a mile (total) to the shops and back, ''or'' ride there. Others (not me!) will happily ride as fast as they can for 12 or 24 hours, [http://www.rra.org.uk/Records-Place-to-Place.html or more], for their own reasons.)
:::::...Anyway... Having saved enough time to have five hours for every hour of travel, you don't then flatline your activity and consider it done, but continue to exist. Even if that's vegging out in front of the TV. 20 miles on the bike should probably include the hours (and the meals) you spend pre- and/or post-trip, which map to the equivalent time you'd spend for the same walk ''without'' the bicycle. Also, as you might or might not also have the bike, whatever the reason you can't/shan't use it, hard to factor in the 'investment' carbon footprint for equipment you might or might not use, and which might amortise its 'cost' across an indeterminate number of actual uses. Much like you could have a car or any other vehicle but can only reliably compare fuel/charging costs, between alternative modes of travel, not usually the capital costs...
:::::And even wear-and-tear-based upkeep is also a somewhat variable relationship. I wear out walking shoes within a year or two. I typically expect my bike tyres (and inner-tubes) to last much longer, but are subject to unrepairable damage at any time (I've had to deal with three separate punctures in a single day, before, luckily was easy to patch), which can badly mess with the running average.
::::: The point being that comparison is difficult. And even if you're sure you've tied down what you mean, someone else may think it applies to their own (different) understanding. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.246|172.70.91.246]] 17:47, 31 January 2025 (UTC)
::::: You would burn less calories ''doing the cycling'' vs ''doing the walking'', but you wouldn't burn less calories ''overall'', because the calories you 'saved' would simply end up being burnt elsewhere. Even if you drove the journey, your overall calorie expenditure would still end up being the same. And in any case the food you consume doesn't tend to have much relationship to how much you 'require' — just because you walk rather than cycle doesn't mean you're then going to have a smaller portion at dinner — so how much you're burning is fairly irrelevant to carbon footprint.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.124|172.71.178.124]] 09:14, 3 February 2025 (UTC)
::Actually, climate activists are trying to avoid mentioning it, but humans are TOTALLY significant producers of CO2 considering how many of them are. But mentioning it reveals the uncomfortable truth: we can't REALLY get to zero carbon dioxide emission. It's not realistic goal. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 06:43, 3 February 2025 (UTC)

Zero stars:

Dried out my house when I was already dehydrated

- BButton1869
[[User:PotatoGod|PotatoGod]] ([[User talk:PotatoGod|talk]]) 20:42, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

I'm not sure conservation of mass is the right law here. It would be possible to increase humidity without using water or violating the conservation of mass, such as by burning hydrogen. The relevant law here is the conservation of ''molecular quantity''. Except . . . that's not a law (hence my hydrogen combustion counterexample). What's going on here is that you cannot change the amount of water ''without a chemical reaction'', essentially by definition. So any humidifier that operates in a purely mechanical manner without reacting any chemicals will "conserve water" in this sense.

In the real world, every humidifier works this way, and it would rarely make sense to do it any other way. In fact, you are more likely to see oxygen made from water (e.g. in a submarine or space station) than vice-versa. However, if you have a natural gas furnace, that will produce water, and in principle, there's no reason that produced water could not be fed into a humidifier, thus saving on the water bill. Highly efficient furnaces capture the water without letting it out the flu, not because they want to salvage the water, but to increase efficiency. Still, the water is there, so this isn't a physically or even practically impossible demand. [[User:EebstertheGreat|EebstertheGreat]] ([[User talk:EebstertheGreat|talk]]) 01:28, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

: "''...a natural gas furnace, that will produce water, .....could ...be fed into a humidifier,''" There are gas appliances, cookers and room heaters, also gas clothes dryers, which can vent damp exhaust directly to the room. But even when I paid for water, I never fretted about the cost of humidity. And I already run a dehumidifier 7 months a year. And the hi-eff gas burners and the dehumidifier in a damp basement already force me to maintain a non-ignorable pump infrastructure to lift water out of the cellar. -- So unlike the joker in the cartoon, I am hyper-aware of my humidity.--[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 04:39, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

3041: Unit Circle

2025-01-27T11:35:30Z

172.70.160.252: /* Explanation */ Slip of the finger?

{{comic
| number = 3041
| date = January 22, 2025
| title = Unit Circle
| image = unit_circle_2x.png
| imagesize = 325x259px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = They're continuing to search for a square with the same area as the circle, as efforts to construct one have run into difficulties.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Constructed by an IMAGINARY NUMBER OF COMPASSES AND CURVED EDGES. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A {{w|unit circle}} is a mathematical concept which is a circle whose radius is one (with no units). Or put another way, the unit circle's radius is itself a unit of measure, hence the name. Thus when doing math problems with a unit circle, all other distances are therefore in terms of the circle's radius: a line with length 3 is three times the radius, a line of length 1/2 is half the radius, and so on. This is very useful in many geometry problems.

This comic shows an expedition of some experts ([[White Hat]], [[Ponytail]], [[Miss Lenhart]] (the mathematician), [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]]) having located a "real unit circle": a physical object which somehow is this mathematical idea. Cueball is holding a set of {{w|Calipers#Vernier caliper|vernier calipers}}, precise instruments used to provide an exact measurement of the unit circle. By measuring the "real unit circle", mathematicians could then provide its measurement in whatever ordinary unit they choose, such as centimeters or inches, to textbooks which describe the unit circle. The notion of defining a unit in terms of an actual physical object is actually quite reasonable, as the meter was {{w|Metre#Timeline|officially defined as a length of a specific platinum–iridium bar}} from 1889 to 1960 and the kilogram was defined by the mass of a {{w|International_Prototype_of_the_Kilogram|specific physical object}} until 2019. Doing so with the unit circle would be entirely pointless, however, as the entire purpose of the unit circle is to define mathematical relationships, which can be generalized to any unit, rather than being restricted to a given length.

The title text refers to the old geometry problem of {{w|squaring the circle}}, where one starts with a circle with a known area - for a unit circle, π - and tries to create a square with the same area, traditionally using nothing more than an idealized compass and straightedge. Such a square would have edges measuring √π units in length, and once it was proven that π is a transcendental number, it was definitively known that squaring a circle is impossible. This causes problems for the comic's team of mathematicians, who wished to create such a square to go along with its unit circle but must instead rely upon finding one, presumably using the same approach they used to find this circle.

Note that this is not the definition of a {{w|unit square}} in mathematics: a real unit square, should one ''also'' exist in the comic's context, would have edges the same length as the unit circle's radius, and not have the same area as the unit circle or the conceptual equal area square that this comic mentions. Having found a physical unit square artefact would have been as useful as this unit circle, for many purposes (it would have defined the length of the unit identically; or better, as it seems that the circle's diameter will be measured, which then needs to be halved to discover its radius, although sufficiently accurate measurement of its perimeter also reveals something about the nature of [[1292: Pi vs. Tau|pi and/or tau]]), whereas the square counterpart of the unit circle would only be useful for 'unit' purposes already specifically involving the root of pi (as length) or pi (as related to area). Though conspicuously equipped to measure the archetypal unit circle's diameter, or a square's edge-length, the expedition is not so clearly prepared to check the circumference (e.g. with a surveyor's {{w|Tape measure|steel tape}}) or directly quantify its (or ''any'' square's) area.

==Transcript==
:[White Hat, Ponytail, Miss Lenhart, Cueball, and Megan are standing in a field. White Hat stands behind Ponytail who is holding a notebook and taking notes while looking down at Miss Lenhart who is kneeling and holding her hands on a circular object with the radius marked on it. The radius is pointing away from her towards Cueball standing on the other side. He is holding a large vernier caliper-like measuring instrument with the two arms poised over the object ready to measure its diameter. Behind him Megan is taking a photo of the object with her phone turned sideways.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Math breakthrough: Dimensional analysts have discovered a real unit circle. Once they measure it, units can finally be added to all our geometry textbooks.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Geometry]]