explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2669: Things You Should Not Do

2022-09-14T20:05:20Z

172.70.211.52: typo

{{comic
| number = 2669
| date = September 7, 2022
| title = Things You Should Not Do
| image = things_you_should_not_do.png
| titletext = Now I'm tempted to start telling people that I secretly don't actually know how to do any physics calculations, and so all the answers in What If are based on me actually trying to do the thing and then reporting what happened, but phrased as if it's hypothetical.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUNSCREEN BALL. Seem people forget that he learned this from writing the new book, thus no reason to assume they reference old stuff, for instance see the update to the peel the planets crust away, that clearly is a reference to a new what if in the book. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic references various questions submitted to the what if? blog, and is a promotion for [[Randall]]'s new book, ''What if? 2'' (to be released 6 days from the date of this comic publication). This comic has a list of things not to do, an extension of a previous list, and is purportedly things Randall discovered as he was doing research for his book. A visit to the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ What If? archive] shows the titles, publishing date, and a thumbnail for each article. Many of the acts described under the "new" section of the list are depicted in these thumbnails (see table below); others are references to examples or hypotheticals explored within the articles. Other entries do not seem to reference currently published ''What If?'' content and may therefore be found in the upcoming book, but this cannot be confirmed as of yet.

The title text says that Randall is tempted to tell people that all the things in the book were things that he actually tried to do, not that he calculated the solutions for their problems. Many of the questions and answers in his new book are impossible to attempt in real life.{{citation needed}}

===Table of things you should not do===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Number !! Entry !! Explanation
|-
! colspan="3" | From existing list
|-
|156,812
|Eat Tide Pods
|{{w|Consumption of Tide Pods|Tide Pod}}s are a brand of laundry detergent sold in small packets ("pods") of water-soluble gel. Many children have tried to eat them, thinking them to be candy, and have had to go to the hospital to treat poisoning. In 2017 and 2018, a satirical "challenge" originated around eating Tide Pods.
|-
|156,813
|Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm
|Taller objects are more likely to be struck by lightning, so walking on stilts outdoors would increase the risk of death by electrocution. It would also presumably risk falling and injuring oneself that way, since the ground becomes wet in a rainstorm.
|-
|156,814
|Set off fireworks at a gas station
|This has the risk of potentially causing an explosion in the gas station, from the sparks of the fireworks.
|-
|156,815
|Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand
|This probably runs the risk of the cat attempting to eat your hand, instead of a cat treat.
|-
! colspan="3" | New!
|-
|156,816
|Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it
|Geysers shoot steam and hot water upward. If a person were to lean over the geyser and look down during an eruption, they would be struck in the face by this hot liquid and gas mixture and severely injured or killed. This is a reference to a question from ''What-If? 2'' (called, appropriately enough, "Geyser"), in which it is asked what might happen to a person if they stood on top of the Old Faithful geyser as it erupted.
|-
|156,817
|Fly a hot-air balloon over a firing range
|A hot air balloon could present an irresistible target to the people firing their weapons at the range. The balloon could be shot and you could fall to your death. See image on [https://what-if.xkcd.com/81/ this entry].
|-
|156,818
|Peel away the earth's crust
|This is a reference to an entry in the new book, and an image of what it would look like is shown in [[2575: What If? 2]], where a potato peeler is used to remove the crust of the Earth. Several *What If* blog posts also result in massive damage to the earth's crust, including what happened to Texas [https://what-if.xkcd.com/153/ here].

This is a reference to a chapter from the new book, which refers to removing the Earth's mass to lose weight.
|-
|156,819
|Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand
|This would be [https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/ difficult] and require more paint than humanity has ever produced[https://what-if.xkcd.com/84/].
|-
|156,820
|Remove someone's bones without asking
|Possibly a reference to ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'', in which Professor Gilderoy Lockhart removes all the bones of Harry's arm (instead of merely fixing a broken bone).
|-
|156,821
|Spend 100% of your government's budget on mobile game in-app purchases
|A reference to one of the examples listed in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/108/ this post].
|-
|156,822
|Fill a lava lamp with actual lava
|A {{w|lava lamp}} is a glass lamp, which contains a wax mixture inside, and heats so that the wax rises and falls. Putting actual lava inside a regular lava lamp would most likely cause the lamp to melt and the glass to shatter, not to mention handling lava is very dangerous.{{citation needed}} However, in [https://what-if.xkcd.com/122/ this entry], Randall says it would be fairly easy to find a material that would be able to handle the heat of the lava and thus this would be rather anticlimactic.
|-
|156,823
|Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic (''sic'') fever
|Drinking someone else's blood is a bad idea unless you are a vampire. If someone has a {{w|viral hemorrhagic fever}}, it is much worse, as they have a very serious and likely deadly disease which can be transmitted by sharing bodily fluids, such as blood. Drinking blood is the theme of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/98/ this article].
|-
|156,824
|Eat meat from rabid animals
|Eating meat from rabid animals could give you {{w|rabies}}, a virus which is nearly always fatal if not treated prior to the appearance of initial symptoms. Pathogen contamination in cooked foods can persist on the surface of ''e.g.'' tongs, chopsticks, or a fork used to grill, which is why the USDA doesn't generally allow kitchen utensils to touch raw or ready to eat foods at all. Exceptions for utensils which touch only raw or partially cooked foods, such as grill spatulas and the like, are often allowed and can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis when they would otherwise be prohibited. The rabies virus permeates essentially all nerve tissue before symptoms appear.
|-
|156,825
|Perform your own laser eye surgery
|Refer to the end of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/82/ this article]
|-
|156,826
|Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs
|While issuing false statements to government regulators is a violation of both California and Federal law, for which prison sentences can reach ten years and fines can reach ten thousand dollars plus any compensatory damages, as per [https://california.public.law/codes/ca_penal_code_section_132 California Penal Code § 132] and [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1001 18 U.S. Code § 1001], there is some question about whether any competent regulatory authority would ever take such an assertion seriously, and whether they would be liable for greater damages for doing so than the potential liability of the original culprit involved. Actually doing this, even to county level regulators, could result in a series of events very disadvantageous to you, your farm, and your employees. However, declaring that you're producing Pokémon eggs to your local municipality is probably harmless, and likely to brighten the day of your local regulators.{{cn}}
|-
|156,827
|Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab
|Likely an oblique reference to the image near the end of [https://what-if.xkcd.com/147/ this article].
|-
|156,828
|Pump ammonia into your abdomen
|{{w|Ammonia}} is an [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPA_list_of_extremely_hazardous_substances extremely hazardous substance] and pumping it into your abdomen would result in a painful death.
|-
|156,829
|Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the Sun
|Despite its name, sunscreen only protects against some types of radiation from the sun. No amount is going to be adequate protection if you are right inside the sun.{{Actual citation needed}} Also, sunscreen, being a gel, would evaporate when exposed to vacuum. When exposed to the plasma of the coronal surface or the Sun's interior, it would quickly ionize along with anything inside it, becoming plasma like the rest of the Sun.
|}

==Transcript==

:[Caption:]
:Updates to my "Things You Should Not Do" list, based on what I learned writing ''What If? 2''
:(out 9/13, xkcd.com/whatif2)

:[The rest of the text appears in a box.]

:<big>Things You Should Not Do</big> 
:(part 3647 of ????)

:[A numbered list, the first four items in a lighter grey]

:<nowiki>#156,812 Eat Tide pods</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,813 Walk on stilts in a thunderstorm</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,814 Set off fireworks at a gas station</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,815 Feed your cat treats that are the exact shape and texture of a human hand</nowiki>

:[A horizontal divider with the text "''New!''" in the middle in black. The remaining items on the list are also in black.]

:<nowiki>#156,816 Lean over a geyser vent and try to look down into it</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,817 Fly a hot air balloon over a firing range</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,818 Peel away the Earth's crust</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,819 Try to paint the Sahara Desert by hand</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,820 Remove someone's bones without asking</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,821 Spend 100% of your governments budget on mobile game in-app purchases</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,822 Fill a lava lamp with actual lava</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,823 Drink the blood of someone with a viral hemorraghic fever</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,824 Eat meat from rabid animals</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,825 Perform your own laser eye surgery</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,826 Tell California poultry regulators that your farm is selling Pokemon eggs</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,827 Funnel the entire flow of Niagara Falls into the open window of a physics lab</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,828 Pump ammonia into your abdomen</nowiki>
:<nowiki>#156,829 Suspend yourself inside a 10-meter ball of sunscreen and fall into the sun</nowiki>

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Pokémon]]
[[Category:Cats]]

2648: Chemicals

2022-07-21T19:35:25Z

172.70.211.52: Per edit request on talk

{{comic
| number = 2648
| date = July 20, 2022
| title = Chemicals
| image = chemicals.png
| titletext = It's hard to believe, but lots of kids these days ONLY know how to buy prepackaged molecules.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by BIG ISOMER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Megan]] mentions that her company spends a lot on chemicals for which you can find formulas online. She suggests assembling chemicals from atoms "bought in bulk," holding a sheet of paper with the {{w|empirical formula}} C6H5NO2 which designates [https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/#query=C6H5NO2 hundreds of compounds] including {{w|nitrobenzene}}, {{w|niacin}}, {{w|isonicotinic acid}}, and {{w|picolinic acid}}, followed by their component elements listed with prices. The ambiguity of chemical formulae is one of the jokes in the comic.

It is true that many expensive chemicals are composed entirely of inexpensive and commonly available elements, but "assembling" those elements into specific molecules, especially considering the complexity and specificity often required, is rarely a simple task. This set of tasks is the primary purpose of the entire global chemical industry. While in-house {{w|chemical synthesis}} is sometimes cost-effective, usually it is not, because end users are often unable to leverage the {{w|economies of scale}} inherent in bulk manufacturing by specialist industrial firms.[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2880393/] However, we don't know whether Megan and [[Cueball]] work in a laboratory, factory, or some other industrial setting. If they need the chemicals in question in bulk, then synthesizing them might be cost-effective, though it remains a complex and exacting process.

In any case, producing chemicals from their constituent elements or {{w|Precursor (chemistry)|precursor compound}}s is difficult and time-consuming, requires expensive equipment, and is often fraught with peril.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QwW2owNWgc] {{w|Nitrobenzene}}, one of the C6H5NO2 compounds, is an excellent example because it is explosive and extremely toxic, and its synthesis is highly exothermic, making it one of the most dangerous syntheses in the chemical industry.[https://www.icheme.org/media/10339/xiii-paper-36.pdf] Such issues answer Cueball's question as to why more places don't manufacture their own chemicals. He and Megan appear to be envisioning 'assembling' chemicals as a much simpler process, perhaps akin to snapping together Legos or pieces of a model kit, where there is no reactivity, no energy release, and no hazardous intermediate chemicals. The characters' naivety also gives rise to the humor of the comic, which may also be mocking DIY lifehacks where the cost savings only make sense if their massive time investment is ignored. "Big Molecule" is an [[2130: Industry Nicknames|industry nickname like Big Oil or Big Pharma]], and amusing in its own right.

The title text refers to the fact that many people believe that "kids these days" don't do enough work or are spoiled. Randall has expressed that he dislikes statements like these in [[2165: Millennials|previous comics]].

This comic may have been prompted by recent news that [https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2022-07-15/for-the-first-time-in-history-we-can-modify-atomic-bonds-in-a-single-molecule.html scientists have found a way to assemble and change atoms in individual molecules] by modifying their bonds.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball standing next to each other. Megan has her palms raised.]
:Megan: You know how our company spends a lot on expensive chemicals?
:Cueball: Yeah?

:[Zoom in on Megan who is holding piece of paper up in one hand. The paper has a large chemical formula at the top. Below is a list of the atoms needed, with amount and a price tag in dollars but with unreadable amount. There is a sum total at the bottom beneath a line.]
:Megan: Well, I just learned you can look up all of the formulas online!
:Megan: We can just buy the atoms in bulk and assemble them here!
:Paper:
::<big>C6H5NO2</big>
::Carbon 6 $
::Hydrogen 5 $
::Nitrogen 1 $
::Oxygen 2 $
::Total 14 $

:[Cueball is now on the left of Megan as she is walking past him to the right holding her arms outstretched with her palms up.]
:Cueball: I wonder why more places don't do that.
:Megan: People have no idea they're getting ripped off by Big Molecule!

{{comic discussion}}

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

2648: Chemicals

2022-07-21T04:23:34Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ more than a hundred

{{comic
| number = 2648
| date = July 20, 2022
| title = Chemicals
| image = chemicals.png
| titletext = It's hard to believe, but lots of kids these days ONLY know how to buy prepackaged molecules.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by BIG ISOMER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Megan]] mentions that her company spends a lot on chemicals for which you can find formulas online. She suggests assembling chemicals from atoms "bought in bulk," holding a sheet of paper with the {{w|empirical formula}} C5H6NO2 which designates [https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/#query=C5H6NO2 more than a hundred compounds and ions], including {{w|nitrobenzene}}, {{w|niacin}}, {{w|isonicotinic acid}}, and {{w|picolinic acid}}, followed by their component elements listed with prices. The ambiguity of chemical formulae is one of the jokes in the comic.

While in-house {{w|chemical synthesis}} is sometimes cost effective, usually it is not, because end users are often unable to leverage the {{w|economies of scale}} inherent in bulk manufacturing by specialist industrial firms.[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2880393/] However, we don't know whether Megan and [[Cueball]] work in a laboratory, factory, or some other industrial setting. In-house chemical syntheses in factories using large volumes often ''are'' cost-effective, as can be laboratory syntheses of very small quantities.

In any case, producing chemicals from their constituent elements or {{w|Precursor (chemistry)|precursor compound}}s is difficult, time-consuming, requires expensive equipment, and is often fraught with peril.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QwW2owNWgc] Nitrobenzene, one of the C5H6NO2 compounds, is an excellent example because it is explosive, extremely toxic, and its synthesis is highly exothermic, making it one of the most dangerous syntheses in the chemical industry.[https://www.icheme.org/media/10339/xiii-paper-36.pdf] Such issues answer Cueball's question as to why more places don't manufacture their own chemicals. The characters' naivety also gives rise to the humor of the comic. "Big Molecule" is an [[2130: Industry Nicknames|industry nickname like Big Oil or Big Pharma]], and amusing in its own right.

This may be mocking DIY lifehacks where the cost savings only make sense if you ignore the massive time investment.

The title text refers to the fact that many people believe that "kids these days" don't do enough work or are spoiled. Randall has expressed that he dislikes statements like these in [[2165: Millennials|previous comics]].

This comic may have been prompted by recent news that [https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2022-07-15/for-the-first-time-in-history-we-can-modify-atomic-bonds-in-a-single-molecule.html scientists have found a way to assemble and change atoms in individual molecules] by modifying their bonds.

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

:[Megan and Cueball standing next to each other. Megan has her palms raised.]
:Megan: You know how our company spends a lot on expensive chemicals?
:Cueball: Yeah?

:[Megan holding up a piece of paper with a chemical formula on it, as well as some computation for the number of atoms needed]
:Megan: Well, I just learned you can look up all of the formulas online!
:Megan: We can just buy the atoms in bulk and assemble them here!
:[The paper reads as follows. The illegible items appear to be prices.]
:C6H5NO2
:Carbon 6 $[illegible]
:Hydrogen 5 $[illegible]
:Nitrogen 1 $[illegible]
:Oxygen 2 $[illegible]
:Total 14 $[illegible]

:[Cueball still standing. Megan walking off-panel to the right]
:Cueball: I wonder why more places don't do that.
:Megan: People have no idea they're getting ripped off by Big Molecule!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

2648: Chemicals

2022-07-21T00:06:32Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ elements

{{comic
| number = 2648
| date = July 20, 2022
| title = Chemicals
| image = chemicals.png
| titletext = It's hard to believe, but lots of kids these days ONLY know how to buy prepackaged molecules.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by BIG MOLECULE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Megan]] mentions that her company spends a lot on chemicals for which you can find formulas online. She suggests assembling chemicals from atoms "bought in bulk," holding a sheet of paper with the chemical formula for {{w|nitrobenzene}} and its component elements listed with prices like a {{w|bill of materials}}.

While in-house {{w|chemical synthesis}} is sometimes cost effective, usually it is not, because end users are unable to leverage the {{w|economies of scale}} inherent in bulk manufacturing by specialist industrial firms.[https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/are-medicinal-chemists-taking-it-too-easy] Producing chemicals from their constituent atoms is difficult, time-consuming, requires expensive equipment, and is often fraught with peril.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QwW2owNWgc] Nitrobenzene is an excellent example because it is extremely toxic and its synthesis is highly exothermic, making it one of the most dangerous syntheses in the chemical industry.[https://www.icheme.org/media/10339/xiii-paper-36.pdf] Such issues answer [[Cueball]]'s question as to why more places don't manufacture their own chemicals. The characters' naivety give rise to the humor of the comic. Big Molecule is an [[2130: Industry Nicknames|industry nickname like Big Oil or Big Pharma]].

The title text refers to the fact that many people believe that "kids these days" don't do enough work or are spoiled. Randall has expressed that he dislikes statements like these in [[2165: Millennials|previous comics]].

Today's comic premise may have been prompted by recent news that [https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2022-07-15/for-the-first-time-in-history-we-can-modify-atomic-bonds-in-a-single-molecule.html scientists have found a way to assemble and change atoms in a single molecule] by modifying its bonds. Or it may also be completely unrelated.

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

:[Megan and Cueball standing next to each other. Megan has her palms raised.]
:Megan: You know how our company spends a lot on expensive chemicals?
:Cueball: Yeah?

:[Megan holding up a piece of paper with a chemical formula on it, as well as some computation for the number of atoms needed]
:Megan: Well, I just learned you can look up all of the formulas online!
:Megan: We can just buy the atoms in bulk and assemble them here!
:[The paper reads as follows. The illegible items appear to be prices.]
:C6H5NO2
:Carbon 6 $[illegible]
:Hydrogen 5 $[illegible]
:Nitrogen 1 $[illegible]
:Oxygen 2 $[illegible]
:Total 14 $[illegible]

:[Cueball still standing. Megan walking off-panel to the right]
:Cueball: I wonder why more places don't do that.
:Megan: People have no idea they're getting ripped off by Big Molecule!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

2648: Chemicals

2022-07-21T00:05:54Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ I guess this is sort of a good ref

{{comic
| number = 2648
| date = July 20, 2022
| title = Chemicals
| image = chemicals.png
| titletext = It's hard to believe, but lots of kids these days ONLY know how to buy prepackaged molecules.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by BIG MOLECULE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, [[Megan]] mentions that her company spends a lot on chemicals for which you can find formulas online. She suggests assembling chemicals from atoms "bought in bulk," holding a sheet of paper with the chemical formula for {{w|nitrobenzene}} and its component atoms listed with prices like a {{w|bill of materials}}.

While in-house {{w|chemical synthesis}} is sometimes cost effective, usually it is not, because end users are unable to leverage the {{w|economies of scale}} inherent in bulk manufacturing by specialist industrial firms.[https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/are-medicinal-chemists-taking-it-too-easy] Producing chemicals from their constituent atoms is difficult, time-consuming, requires expensive equipment, and is often fraught with peril.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QwW2owNWgc] Nitrobenzene is an excellent example because it is extremely toxic and its synthesis is highly exothermic, making it one of the most dangerous syntheses in the chemical industry.[https://www.icheme.org/media/10339/xiii-paper-36.pdf] Such issues answer [[Cueball]]'s question as to why more places don't manufacture their own chemicals. The characters' naivety give rise to the humor of the comic. Big Molecule is an [[2130: Industry Nicknames|industry nickname like Big Oil or Big Pharma]].

The title text refers to the fact that many people believe that "kids these days" don't do enough work or are spoiled. Randall has expressed that he dislikes statements like these in [[2165: Millennials|previous comics]].

Today's comic premise may have been prompted by recent news that [https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2022-07-15/for-the-first-time-in-history-we-can-modify-atomic-bonds-in-a-single-molecule.html scientists have found a way to assemble and change atoms in a single molecule] by modifying its bonds. Or it may also be completely unrelated.

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

:[Megan and Cueball standing next to each other. Megan has her palms raised.]
:Megan: You know how our company spends a lot on expensive chemicals?
:Cueball: Yeah?

:[Megan holding up a piece of paper with a chemical formula on it, as well as some computation for the number of atoms needed]
:Megan: Well, I just learned you can look up all of the formulas online!
:Megan: We can just buy the atoms in bulk and assemble them here!
:[The paper reads as follows. The illegible items appear to be prices.]
:C6H5NO2
:Carbon 6 $[illegible]
:Hydrogen 5 $[illegible]
:Nitrogen 1 $[illegible]
:Oxygen 2 $[illegible]
:Total 14 $[illegible]

:[Cueball still standing. Megan walking off-panel to the right]
:Cueball: I wonder why more places don't do that.
:Megan: People have no idea they're getting ripped off by Big Molecule!

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

2648: Chemicals

2022-07-21T00:01:59Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ explain joke

2648: Chemicals

2022-07-20T23:19:52Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ link

2648: Chemicals

2022-07-20T20:15:09Z

172.70.211.52: /* Transcript */ remove title text

2648: Chemicals

2022-07-20T20:14:42Z

172.70.211.52: /* Transcript */

2648: Chemicals

2022-07-20T20:14:12Z

172.70.211.52: /* Transcript */ more

2646: Minkowski Space

2022-07-16T06:50:52Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ grammar

{{comic
| number = 2646
| date = July 15, 2022
| title = Minkowski Space
| image = minkowski_space.png
| titletext = My liege, we were able to follow the ship into Minkowski space, but now they've jumped to Hilbert space and they could honestly be anywhere.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A RELATIVISTIC QUANTUM STATE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

A spaceship is being pursued by an enemy ship. Much like in [[2577: Sea Chase]], it attempts to escape by changing the nature of the space. In this case, it goes into {{w|Minkowski space}}, a mathematical formulation of three dimensional space combined with the dimension of time to form a {{w|manifold}} originally intended to help describe {{w|electromagnetism}} in terms of {{w|special relativity}}, and which is also used in {{w|general relativity}}.

Minkowski space is no different than ordinary spatiotemporal physical reality, so the idea of traveling from regular space into Minkowski space is meaningless, providing the humor of the comic's absurdist joke. The visual depiction of the spaceships skewed diagonally is based on the graphical {{w|Minkowski diagram}} representation of objects in Minkowski space, where the {{w|world line}} of matter is bounded inside its diagonal {{w|light cone}}. The mention of distance depending on the observer's frame of reference refers to distances changing when measured in different {{w|inertial frame of reference|inertial frames of reference}}, a concept called the {{w|relativity of simultaneity}}. Here are [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asW78vToNLQ some videos] intended [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrqj88zQZJg to explain] that concept.

The title text implies hiding in {{w|Hilbert space}} is much easier. This is because Hilbert spaces can have an infinite number of dimensions, and thus are much more complicated than four-dimensional Minkowski space. However, Hilbert space is used to describe mathematical objects such as functions of various parameters and complexity, not physical spatiotemporal reality, so it is very unusual for a physical object to be represented in Hilbert space. The reference to Hilbert space could also refer to the {{w|uncertainty principle}}, as quantum states can be represented as vectors in a Hilbert space.

=== Apparent distance ===

Whether the two spaceships are getting closer to each other does not depend on the frame of reference if both the ships are moving at constant velocity.
Though if they are accelerating then depending on the frame of reference they may be getting further apart or they may be getting closer.
If the ship giving chase has higher velocity than the ship being chased but ship being chased is accelerating faster, then from the perspective of ship being chased the other ship is getting closer to it. While from perspective of something a few light years away which is moving towards both of the ships the ship being chased is getting more distant from the other ship.

This is because from perspective of something a few light years away which is moving towards the ships, the ship being chased has already accelerated and is faster from the other ship{{citation needed}} so the distance between them is increasing.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:{A spaceship is being pursued.}
:Voice 1: The enemy ship is right behind us! Prepare to jump to Minowski space on my mark.

:Voice 1: Three... two... one... MARK!
:SFX: Click

:{The panel distorts.}

:{The panel distorts further.}
:Voice 1: Are they still getting closer?
:Voice 2: I can't tell.
:Voice 3: I think it depends on your frame of reference.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2645: The Best Camera

2022-07-14T05:54:17Z

172.70.211.52: instructions

Removed the part about L2 being in Earth's umbra. Although this is true, the JWST is not actually ''at'' L2; it revolves around L2, specifically to avoid being in the Earth's umbra (and the moon's) and therefore avoid changes in temperature. [[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 17:52, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

Does anyone know whether they use [https://ds9.si.edu/doc/user/rgb/index.html SAOImageDS9] or [https://docs.astropy.org/en/stable/visualization/rgb.html Astropy] to make full color images? Both are listed under [https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/data-analysis-toolbox post-pipeline tools.] General instructions are in [https://arxiv.org/pdf/2001.02618.pdf this paper] but it's not a, software tutorial. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.213|172.70.206.213]] 05:35, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

Template talk:Citation needed

2022-07-13T02:24:24Z

172.70.211.52: reply

I added the [Citation needed], as it is generally useful for annotating incomplete descriptions as well as it is funny due to Randall's frequent use of Wikipedia and citations around both in the comics and their use in "what-if". If anybody know how to make the the template have a parameter for tool-tip text, then that could further make the template useful for stating as to what exactly is needed in each use. [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 20:40, 22 March 2014 (UTC)
:Five years later, an update for those who aren't familiar with this: this template is rarely used today to annotate the (now relatively few) incomplete explanations; if you see it on an explanation, it's probably as a joke after a painfully obvious statement.{{Citation needed}} --[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 04:00, 3 September 2019 (UTC)
::Such jokes are indeed pretty funny more often than not, as long as there aren't more than one or two per typical explanation, IMHO. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 02:24, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

2644: fMRI Billboard

2022-07-12T18:48:28Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ fix silly custom tag

{{comic
| number = 2644
| date = July 11, 2022
| title = fMRI Billboard
| image = fmri_billboard.png
| titletext = [other side] If the first word of an instruction you're given starts with the same letter as your crush's name, for that step imagine the experimenter is your crush.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by YOUR SCARIEST MEMORY - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Functional magnetic resonance imaging}}, or fMRI, is a method of {{w|4DCT|four-dimensional computed tomography}} able to record animated multi-layered images of animal brain activity by detecting blood flow changes apparent from magnetic differences between oxygenated and deoxygenated {{w|hemoglobin}}. Researchers use fMRI to try to detect deception and false memories,[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763419301873] plan brain surgery,[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158217303133] and understand the relationship between brain structures and cognition,[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763419300879] among many other investigations.

This comic shows a billboard erected by a neuroscience department in an attempt at sabotaging a rival department's volunteer subject compliance with their fMRI study instructions, by suggesting behaviors which would likely produce unexpected results, such as recalling a frightening memory after seeing similar stimulus slides, or imagining the lab technician is a romantic interest when reading words that begin with the same letter as their name. This is funny because academic department rivalries do not usually lead to sabotage,[{{w|Cessna Citation family|citation needed}}] and in the rare cases that they do, it's usually clandestine instead of so absurdly blatant.

Following such suggestions or even inadvertently remembering them during an fMRI could very well interfere with its results. fMRI experiments are often criticized because they have low {{w|statistical power}} and can easily be confounded by experiment subject error in following instructions, among many other variables. In a famous 2009 study, a dead fish was shown to have apparent evidence of brain activity when scanned with ordinary fMRI techniques.[http://prefrontal.org/files/posters/Bennett-Salmon-2009.pdf] In 2015, discovery of a statistical error invalidated at least 40,000 fMRI studies.[https://www.sciencealert.com/a-bug-in-fmri-software-could-invalidate-decades-of-brain-research-scientists-discover] Subsequently in 2017, many more fMRI results were further discredited due to poor software parameter selection.[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5487467]

The title text indicates that the sabotaging instructions are printed on both sides of the billboard, suggesting that it might have been erected on the grounds of the targeted rival department. Alternately, the instructions on the other side may be intended to disrupt research in the other institution.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A large, building-sized billboard rises over what appears to be a college campus. It reads:]
: ⚠ Student fMRI volunteers ⚠
: Remember, when you're in the scanner, if you see a slide that's similar to one they already showed you, think as hard as you can about your scariest memory.

:[Caption below panel:] A rival neuroscience department keeps trying to sabotage our experiments.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category: Science]]
[[Category: Psychology]]
[[Category: Biology]]

2644: fMRI Billboard

2022-07-12T04:26:15Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ dead salmon

Talk:2643: Cosmologist Gift

2022-07-09T09:40:41Z

172.70.211.52: Fixed

- The explanation mentions “Eight zeptograms” although Randall’s box says “4 zeptograms of dark matter.”

- The 4,800 daltons in the explanation is roughly the size of a small protein; for example, insulin is about 5,800 daltons.

- Randall’s box says it contains 4 zeptograms of dark matter. Could someone explain this? My incomplete (biologist’s) understanding of dark matter is that astrophysicists do not yet know what it is. So how could Randall claim the box contains 4 zeptograms of it?

Thanks!

:Fixed; thank you. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 01:18, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

[https://arxiv.org/abs/2204.09143 Here's] a more recent PBH DM source than those already cited which could comport with Randall's 0.4% DM particles implication, but doesn't do so explicitly. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.213|172.70.206.213]] 02:35, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

And this comic was the perfect birthday gift for me. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.203|108.162.245.203]] 02:42, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

* How was the 23,000 neutrinos/m³ figure obtained? A flux of 7e10/(s·cm²), or 7e14/(s·m²), at a speed of close to 3e8 m/s, gives 2.3e6/m³. That would correspond to a box size of about 0.013 m³, or a bit larger than a typical shoe box. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.134.89|162.158.134.89]] 07:19, 9 July 2022 (UTC)
::Corrected. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 09:40, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

2643: Cosmologist Gift

2022-07-09T09:39:55Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ easier unit

{{comic
| number = 2643
| date = July 8, 2022
| title = Cosmologist Gift
| image = cosmologist_gift.png
| titletext = These neutrinos were freshly produced by a local source just 8 minutes ago
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MUON ON SALE- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows a box labeled to indicate that it contains 30,000 fresh {{w|neutrino}}s and four zeptograms of {{w|dark matter}}. The box is intended as an inexpensive gift for a {{w|cosmologist}}. The gift giver didn't put those things in the box; both are simply passing through it. While the caption states that this would be a good gift for a cosmologist, what they or anyone else would do with such a box is uncertain.

There are about a billion neutrinos per cubic meter throughout space, produced during the {{w|Big Bang}}.[https://physics.mit.edu/news/journal/physicsatmit_14_conrad/] However, the flux of "freshly produced" {{w|solar neutrino}}s at Earth is around 7×1010/cm2/s, yielding about 2.3 million per cubic meter, implying the box is around 0.013 cubic meters.

Four zeptograms is a minuscule mass, equal to four sextillionths of a gram, or the mass of about 200 carbon-12 atoms. There is an estimated 0.011 to 0.016 {{w|solar mass}}es of dark matter per cubic {{w|parsec}} locally to the solar system,[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6633/ac24e7/meta], about 900 zeptograms per cubic meter, implying the box is closer to 0.004 cubic meters. This discrepancy could imply Randall agrees with cosmologists who believe that dark matter is at least partially composed of {{w|primordial black hole}}s,[https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.121301][https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212686418301250?via%3Dihub][https://news.yale.edu/2021/12/16/black-holes-and-dark-matter-are-they-one-and-same][https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L25][https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2010/04/023] instead of being entirely composed of pervasive subatomic particles. A billion neutrinos have a mass of only about 2×10-12 zeptograms, at about 0.1 {{w|electron volt}}s each.

The "local source" mentioned in the title text is the Sun; it takes light and neutrinos 8 minutes to reach Earth once they're emitted. However, as the neutrinos have been travelling at about 99.999% of the speed of light, they will have aged by only about two seconds,[https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/time-dilation] so are technically much fresher.

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

:[A picture of a box with writing on one side, saying as follows:]

:30,000 neutrinos
:Freshly produced
:Plus 4 zeptograms of dark matter

:[Caption below the panel]:
:Cosmologists are easy to shop for because you can just get them a box.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]

2643: Cosmologist Gift

2022-07-09T09:37:51Z

172.70.211.52: Correct math error per talk

{{comic
| number = 2643
| date = July 8, 2022
| title = Cosmologist Gift
| image = cosmologist_gift.png
| titletext = These neutrinos were freshly produced by a local source just 8 minutes ago
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MUON ON SALE- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic shows a box labeled to indicate that it contains 30,000 fresh {{w|neutrino}}s and four zeptograms of {{w|dark matter}}. The box is intended as an inexpensive gift for a {{w|cosmologist}}. The gift giver didn't put those things in the box; both are simply passing through it. While the caption states that this would be a good gift for a cosmologist, what they or anyone else would do with such a box is uncertain.

There are about a billion neutrinos per cubic meter throughout space, produced during the {{w|Big Bang}}.[https://physics.mit.edu/news/journal/physicsatmit_14_conrad/] However, the flux of "freshly produced" {{w|solar neutrino}}s at Earth is around 7×1010/cm2/s, yielding about 2,300,000 per cubic meter, implying the box is around 0.013 cubic meters.

Four zeptograms is a minuscule mass, equal to four sextillionths of a gram, or the mass of about 200 carbon-12 atoms. There is an estimated 0.011 to 0.016 {{w|solar mass}}es of dark matter per cubic {{w|parsec}} locally to the solar system,[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6633/ac24e7/meta], about 900 zeptograms per cubic meter, implying the box is closer to 0.004 cubic meters. This discrepancy could imply Randall agrees with the cosmologists who believe that dark matter is at least partially composed of {{w|primordial black hole}}s,[https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.121301][https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212686418301250?via%3Dihub][https://news.yale.edu/2021/12/16/black-holes-and-dark-matter-are-they-one-and-same][https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L25][https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1475-7516/2010/04/023] instead of being entirely composed of pervasive subatomic particles. A billion neutrinos have a mass of only about 2×10-12 zeptograms, at about 0.1 {{w|electron volt}}s each.

The "local source" mentioned in the title text is the Sun; it takes light and neutrinos 8 minutes to reach Earth once they're emitted. However, as the neutrinos have been travelling at about 99.999% of the speed of light, they will have aged by only about two seconds,[https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/time-dilation] so are technically much fresher.

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

:[A picture of a box with writing on one side, saying as follows:]

:30,000 neutrinos
:Freshly produced
:Plus 4 zeptograms of dark matter

:[Caption below the panel]:
:Cosmologists are easy to shop for because you can just get them a box.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]

No One Was Hurt

2022-07-09T02:53:32Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ copyedit

{{comic
| date = July 6, 2022
| title = No One Was Hurt
| image = no_one_was_hurt.png
| titletext = See how the smoke obscures things so you don't see the approaching tornado until the firework streamers start to swirl right before the lightning hits the launcher. Thank God Cousin Ed was filming in slow motion. And, uh, that no one was hurt.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a FIREWORK TORNADO - Please put citations into context better. Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic was originally uploaded normally on the [[xkcd]] website as number [[2642]], before being taken down and replaced by [[2642: Meta-Alternating Current]]. This was most likely done in response to the wave of shootings across the country during the celebrations, including {{w|Highland_Park_parade_shooting|a deadly mass shooting at the parade in Highland Park, Illinois}}. is video of the Highland Park parade shooting where people were injured and killed, so a comic about 4th of July celebrations where someone could have been hurt can be seen as in bad taste.

[[Ponytail]] is about to show [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] a video of a dramatic accident from a {{w|4th of July}} celebration with {{w|fireworks}}, in which nobody ended up harmed. Randall suggests that being told nobody got hurt implies such a video will be particularly interesting or exciting. This is because if the disclaimer is needed, then there would otherwise be reason for the watcher to be concered. And if the watcher could be concerned, then it was likely interesting.

The title text describes a particularly dramatic fireworks show interrupted by a tornado and thunderstorm, the joke being that the speaker seems more appreciative that it was recorded in slow-motion video than that nobody was harmed.

An example [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5QBiZIxWbA&ab_channel=BYUUniverse video] in which no one was (probably) hurt.

Citations:

The Wikipedia article {{w|Mass shootings in the United States|"Mass shootings in the United States"|m|}} lists mass shootings in the USA, {{w|List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_United_States_in_2022|"List of mass shootings in the United States in 2022"}} more thoroughly lists those that happened in 2022, {{w|Highland Park parade shooting|"Highland Park parade shooting"}} details the specific shooting in Illinois, and {{w|Mass shootings in the United States|"Mass shootings in the United States"}} discusses US mass shootings instead of just listing them. The [https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting Gun Violence Archive] website tracks mass shootings in the USA.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is showing her phone to Cueball and Megan.]

:Ponytail: Okay, first of all, no one was hurt...

:Caption: How you know you're about to see a really good 4th of July video

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Deleted comics]]
[[Category:Extra comics]]

Talk:2643: Cosmologist Gift

2022-07-09T02:50:34Z

172.70.211.52: Typo

Talk:2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-09T01:28:07Z

172.70.211.52: Reply

Is anybody going to try to calculate the amount of power such a turbine could collect? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 19:24, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Good idea; what should we use for an estimate of the geometry for https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine ? The final panel makes it look like the blade diameter is about twice the size of a fist. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] says "exhaled air velocity varies from 2.2 m/s to 9.9 m/s (5.66 ± 1.57 m/s, mean ± SD) and exhalation time varies from 2.10 s to 8.21 s (4.42 ± 1.73s, mean ± SD)."
:I guessed 10 cm radius and used that mean breath speed. I should have used the top 9.9 m/s though, shouldn't I? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 20:56, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:After a closer look at that article, the mean is more appropriate. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 21:19, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
: I'm not sure how you'd judge that it's twice the size of a fist, given that stick people don't really have fists. I would assume that they're meant to be about the same size as dandelion heads - so about 3 or 4 cm (unless US dandelions are bigger than UK ones). They certainly look about that size in the second panel. You'd also need to factor in problems of interference, given the 'planting density' of these turbines, and the sub-optimal location surrounded by grasses, etc. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.44|172.70.86.44]] 08:08, 6 July 2022 (UTC)
::The rotating diameter is shown as about a third the height of Beret Guy's head, so it's definitely not 20 cm. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 02:47, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
:::{{w|Human head}} says the average "vertical distance from the bottom of the chin (menton) to the top of the head" is about 22 cm, so perhaps we should go with 8-10 cm turbines instead? There aren't going to be enough of those to even charge a mouse cellphone. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 01:28, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

Although these miniscule wind turbines don't generate much power, mice probably don't need much. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:That's certainly a fair point. How much power would a mouse-sized fridge need? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 21:23, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
::Mice consume a lot more food per body weight (especially for body heat because heat transfer scales with surface area, not mass/volume) than humans. Mouse-sized fridge efficiency would also be poor both because of the same size issue and reduced room for insulation. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
::A 480 ml insulin travel fridge uses 5 watts on a 3% duty cycle depending on the ambient temperature and how much it's loaded, so that's in the realm of possibility, and seems large enough. I used to feed lab mice about 5 grams of Purina Lab Rodent Chow daily, which was maybe 8ml volume, but it doesn't need to be refrigerated. Googling suggests field mice can get all the water they need from a diet of seeds. It seems to me that if mice could use electricity, they'd need it more in the winter than the summer. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 22:01, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Someone please check my mouse energy needs math and assumptions. I made a couple misplaced decimal mistakes getting to where it is now, and I'm going to have another beer. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 22:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Not sure about numbers but some (if not most) energy requirements scale by surface area ({{w|Square–cube law}} or other measurements. There are also efficiency issues with at least lots of human-made miniature machines. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
::What energy requirements scale by surface area? Pumping water, cooking, and refrigerating scales by mass. Converting footcandles to lumens depends on area, but that doesn't account for much lower mouse ceilings. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.6|172.69.34.6]] 22:27, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:::Heat exchange is kind of a biggie a lot of things depend on. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 12:30, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

I'm confused by the statement that smaller turbines are less "efficient". There's nothing about efficiency at that link. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.43|172.70.114.43]] 22:33, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:The graph shows the ratio between size and output has risen from about half to 85%. What is a better term for this? I'm pretty sure one of the multiple definitions of efficiency is technically correct, but it can never hurt explaining better. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.113|172.69.33.113]] 22:42, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Changed to "relative power output" but I'm not sure that captures the idea very well either. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.113|172.69.33.113]] 22:44, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Well wind turbines may not scale down ideally but still better than nuclear power plants. I suspect those have fixed minimal size and it's pretty big. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:32, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

:Apparently nuclear power can be [https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/LAR-TOPS-294 "as small as a button cell"] but mice are vulnerable to radioactive hazards, and haven't solved the waste disposal problem. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 23:45, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

::Batteries based on radioactive decay (such as RTGs, thermionic cells, betavoltaic cells) are not nuclear power plants. That term specifically refers to power plants based on nuclear fission reactors. [[User:Zmatt|Zmatt]] ([[User talk:Zmatt|talk]]) 11:38, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

Isn't the power output of a solar panel directly dependent on its size (and wether it's covered with snow, angle to the sun, clouds? And prolly something I'll think of as soon as I hit save).[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.106|172.70.131.106]] 23:55, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Yes, but the power per size doesn't increase with size like wind turbines do. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.63|172.69.33.63]] 00:01, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

What is the smallest Tesla Powerwall available for purchase? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.163|172.70.206.163]] 02:00, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:You probably want an {{w|18650}} or similar cell, which are [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsJMj7FtroY frequently discarded on the street] and thus easily obtainable by mice. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.171|172.69.33.171]] 03:02, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Why doesn't pico hydro have the same problems scaling down as wind? They're both fluid turbines. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 02:24, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:For the same reasons that small fans have several vanes, but large wind turbines have only three. I remember reading something about the physics (it's a laminar versus turbulent thing) but I can't remember the details now. I'll update here if I can find it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 03:08, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:[https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/why-do-wind-turbines-have-three-blades/ Here's part of it,] but doesn't really get to the heart of the matter. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 03:10, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:I think it has more to do with the relative magnitude of drag in gases instead of liquids. I don't have a good source though. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 03:21, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
::Turbine efficiency (especially for very small turbines) mostly depends on pressure differential and mass throughput. Water has three orders of magnitude higher density than air. Also, even with just a meter of water column, water offers a 10 kPa pressure differential while you only rarely get that much of a pressure differential in air (at the same height) even between areas of high and low pressure usually at least dozens (and commonly hundreds) of miles apart (there may be exceptions for things like tornadoes but good luck using their wind power), certainly not between the high and low pressure sides of a turbine. Efficiency in practice mostly depends on moved mass (of turbine blades, etc) compared to moved medium (water or air), friction (mount, generator, maybe a gearbox) compared to total power input and (if electricity is desired) generator efficiency which itself depends on generator size and rotation speed (hence the need for a gearbox). For a very small turbine, all those things would need to be extremely light as well. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Who is Beret Guy telling to make a wish - Megan or the mice? -- [[User:Ken g6|Ken g6]] ([[User talk:Ken g6|talk]]) 04:48, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

[https://www.cornel1801.com/animated/Secret-of-NIMH-1982/pictures/64.jpg I must tell you about NIMH.] - [[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.81|172.70.254.81]] 16:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Sometimes the explanation is funnier than the comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.133.159|172.68.133.159]] 03:28, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

Uh, what happened to the image!? Does anyone know how to fix it? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.110.65|172.70.110.65]] 20:22, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

2643: Cosmologist Gift

2022-07-09T00:14:22Z

172.70.211.52: /* Transcript */ ce

2643: Cosmologist Gift

2022-07-09T00:14:07Z

172.70.211.52: /* Transcript */ cleanup, not all caps

Talk:2642: Meta-Alternating Current

2022-07-08T20:58:04Z

172.70.211.52: Reply

And today, we are reminded that [[Randall]] used to be a physicist (or at least has a physics degree). Not worth mentioning in the article, but while inverters can't reverse each other, transformers can. (Has Randall done the transformer/Transformer pun yet as an excuse to mock the movies?) [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 11:10, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
: I haven't picked up the physics reference yet. I see electrical engineering here. Randall strikes me as somebody who would study physics given the opportunit, though. It's notable that this webcomic started while Randall was in college, if I recall right. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.75|172.70.230.75]] 11:58, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

Long distance links, especially those between separate unsynchronized grids, use high voltage DC. There is a 2,000-mile link in China running at 1 MV. [[User:Arachrah|Arachrah]] ([[User talk:Arachrah|talk]]) 11:32, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
:That's because at great distances, relatively high frequency AC loses a lot of ("active" = actually useful) power as ... reactive power, I think (didn't learn the terminology in English, unit seems right though). A typical grid has a lot of generators and load. A long distance connection results in a phase shift according to the transmission time (speed of light in medium x distance) in about the order of magnitude of the AC period (usually somewhere between 1/10 to 1/60 seconds) wastes a portion equal to the sine of the phase shift angle (up to 90° = all of it) as reactive power. DC isn't quite as easy to use but on long distances there is no power loss to reactive power. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 12:25, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

Let's face it, the thing should be called an alternator. Of course that name's taken as a redundant word for (electrical) generator. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 12:26, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

It always bothered me that UPS battery backups take the wall AC and convert it to DC to charge the battery, but then have to turn it back to AC to send it to the computer, so the power supply can convert it to DC to run the thing. I picture some connector that goes directly from the UPS to the power supply so that if power is lost it can just pull 12V directly from the battery. [[User:Andyd273|Andyd273]] ([[User talk:Andyd273|talk]]) 12:47, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
:some UPSs do this. They normally power the computer directly from the input AC, but if there is a power failure, they use the battery to power the inverters and switch the output to the inverter. Other UPSs always power the computer from the inverter. They have the advantage that there is not even a milisecond time to start powering the computer. That can be better for some equipment, and that kind of UPS often costs more. It is also worth noting that in some data centers, they bypass the AC step and have one big DC power supply that directly powers the computers. [[User:WhiteDragon|WhiteDragon]] ([[User talk:WhiteDragon|talk]]) 16:49, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverter_(logic_gate) NOT logic gates] are also often known as inverters. An even number of those '''would''' indeed produce the same output as the (true/false) input. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.58|108.162.242.58]] 16:03, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

“Further chaining this into more inverters/rectifiers would normally not be considered.”
Well, if you take a DCC controlled model railway for camping, you get a second stage of inverter/rectifier.
The power supply of the DCC control station usually expects AC input, so you invert the DC of the car battery.
The PSU then makes DC for the control station processor, which is then made AC to generate a DCC signal.
The locomotives always have a rectifier to get a DC power supply from the DCC signal (which is confusingly AC).

You get a third stage with another plausible trick: put the battery on a car battery charger, which converts AC from the camping site power grid to DC. Then use a locomotive with a (rarely used) BLDC motor, which confusingly needs an inverter generating AC.
--[[Special:Contributions/172.71.94.181|172.71.94.181]] 18:01, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

The efficiency calculation is bogus. For the rectifier, the "efficiency" of 81% relates to voltage, not power. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectifier). I don't know what the power efficiency is, but I do note that my computer's power supply is not glowing white hot.
:Where do you propose the extra current to make up for such difference would come from? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.213|172.70.206.213]] 21:38, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
::When you convert AC to DC or DC to AC, you can't qualify either with single number for voltage OR current. You need to examine whole graph, because both voltage and current are changing with frequency of (original) AC. I'm pretty sure that 81% figure is related to the different way how voltage is computed for AC and DC. That said, regarding the gloving power supply ... usually, power supply contains fan, and while it's partially used to cool the case interior, the power supply might not like it being stopped either. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 22:24, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
:Your computer's power supply has switching H-bridge MOSFET transistors that sense and match the AC phase, not an ordinary diode rectifier. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.213|172.70.206.213]] 23:25, 7 July 2022 (UTC)
I interpreted Randall imagining "inversion" as "reciprocal" (or maybe the inversion of a function) rather than physically turning something upside-down, since mathematical inversion is typically reversible... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.121|172.70.130.121]] 03:48, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

Should the description also comment on the choice of number for this "connector". Obviously related to the fact that wall outlet voltage in the US is frequently (pun intended) 120 Volts. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 14:41, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

Two inverters *can* cancel each other out if they are the simplest type (a commutator, a.k.a. square wave inverter) *and* they happen to be synchronous. Expect glitches at the commutation points though! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 16:39, 8 July 2022 (UTC)
: Totally irrelevant to the comic. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 20:58, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

2642: Meta-Alternating Current

2022-07-08T20:56:32Z

172.70.211.52: Tangential pablum that neither explains the comic or provides anything informative for the reader

{{comic
| number = 2642
| date = July 6, 2022
| title = Meta-Alternating Current
| image = meta_alternating_current.png
| titletext = It's always bothered me that you can't cancel out an inverter by putting a second inverter after it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CHAIN OF INVERTERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{w|Direct current}} is a unidirectional flow of electrons from a power source to something being powered, through one or more conductors, before returning to the power source via one or more other conductors, thus completing the circuit. Batteries produce direct current. It is commonly used in electronics applications, including computers. {{w|Alternating current}}, on the other hand, frequently reverses the direction of electron flow, and is commonly used for longer-distance transmission (such as from the power plant to an outlet).

This comic proposes a humorous ''Meta-Alternating Current'', which uses a series of adapters to "alternate" between DC and AC current along the length of a connector. This is absurd in part because typical {{w|power inverter}} efficiency is 90%, and maximum {{w|bridge rectifier}} efficiency is 81.2%, so an {{w|extension cord}} made of in this manner would lose about 27% power per such pair. The "extension cord" shown would yield about 11% of its input power.

The title text bemoans that an inverter, which converts direct current to alternating current, does not work in the other direction, as a layman's interpretation of the word "inverter" might appear. Rather, a separate device, a {{w|rectifier}}, also pictured in the comic, must be used for this second conversion.

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

Cursed connectors #120

Drawing of a chain of rectifiers and inverters.
There are seven pairs of rectifier/inverter.
The chain starts on the left by a mains plug (type B), followed by the first rectifier. It ends with the last inverter, and a female mains plug (type B socket).

Meta-alternating current extension cord
(alternates between AC and DC)

==Trivia==
This comic replaced [[No One Was Hurt]] as comic 2642 after it was taken down from [[xkcd]]'s website.

This comic does not have a high-resolution (2x) image for high-DPI displays, making it look more blurry than usual on such devices (such as smartphones). This is probably because it was uploaded hastily to replace No One Was Hurt quickly.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Cursed Connectors]]

2642: Meta-Alternating Current

2022-07-07T08:36:19Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ .73^7

{{comic
| number = 2642
| date = July 6, 2022
| title = Meta-Alternating Current
| image = meta_alternating_current.png
| titletext = It's always bothered me that you can't cancel out an inverter by putting a second inverter after it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a CHAIN OF INVERTERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic replaced [[No One Was Hurt]] as comic 2642 after the former was taken down from [[xkcd]]'s website.

In electronics, {{w|direct current}} is a constant flow of electrons from a power source to something being powered, before doubling back along the circuit. It is commonly used for battery-powered appliances. {{w|Alternating current}}, on the other hand, frequently reverses the flow of electrons, and is commonly used for longer-distance use (such as from the power plant to an outlet).

This comic proposes a humorous interspersion, ''Meta-Alternating Current'', which uses a series of adapters to "alternate" between DC and AC current. This is funny because since typical {{w|power inverter}} efficiency is 90%, and maximum {{w|bridge rectifier}} efficiency is 81.2%, an {{w|extension cord}} made of them would lose about 27% power per such pair. The "extension cord" shown would yield about 11% of its input power.

The title text bemoans that an inverter, which converts direct current to alternating current, does not work in the other direction, as a layman's interpretation of the word "inverter" might appear. Rather, a separate device, a {{w|rectifier}}, also pictured in the comic, must be used for this second conversion.

Common understanding of "inverting" would be to turn upside-down, or reverse the input polarity in the output (something that would be easily done at near-zero inefficiency by just 'crossing' (without connecting between) the wires coupling the inputs and outputs. Two such cross-overs would indeed restore the original electrical supply. In the conversion from DC to AC it is instead an active circuit that ''periodically'' inverts, and then uninverts, the effective polarity – with a specific frequency, and usually a voltage conversion, to conform to some AC need such as using a car battery to power a standard household device designed and built for use on a mains supply. A rectifier is a nominally passive circuit that accepts either polarity (e.g. at any given moment of an AC phase) and produces a single definite polarity as output, possibly smoothed out by a buffering capacitance or with additional components to attain a given voltage and amperage.

It may in fact be the case that a campsite use of a rectifying device intended for home use (e.g. a standard phone charger that down-converts household AC to a given DC) requires it to be plugged into an inverter itself powered from a battery system (DC to AC), more inefficiently than a single converter (with the correct voltage/amperage re-regulation) might accomplish the task. Further chaining this into more inverters/rectifiers would normally not be considered.

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Cursed Connectors]]

No One Was Hurt

2022-07-07T04:09:59Z

172.70.211.52: replaced content with "my balls"

my balls

Talk:2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-05T22:02:12Z

172.70.211.52: Field mice

Is anybody going to try to calculate the amount of power such a turbine could collect? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 19:24, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Good idea; what should we use for an estimate of the geometry for https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine ? The final panel makes it look like the blade diameter is about twice the size of a fist. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] says "exhaled air velocity varies from 2.2 m/s to 9.9 m/s (5.66 ± 1.57 m/s, mean ± SD) and exhalation time varies from 2.10 s to 8.21 s (4.42 ± 1.73s, mean ± SD)."
:I guessed 10 cm radius and used that mean breath speed. I should have used the top 9.9 m/s though, shouldn't I? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 20:56, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:After a closer look at that article, the mean is more appropriate. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 21:19, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Although these miniscule wind turbines don't generate much power, mice probably don't need much. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:That's certainly a fair point. How much power would a mouse-sized fridge need? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 21:23, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
::Mice consume a lot more food per body weight (especially for body heat because heat transfer scales with surface area, not mass/volume) than humans. Mouse-sized fridge efficiency would also be poor both because of the same size issue and reduced room for insulation. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
::A 480 ml insulin travel fridge uses 5 watts on a 3% duty cycle depending on the ambient temperature and how much it's loaded, so that's in the realm of possibility, and seems large enough. I used to feed lab mice about 5 grams of Purina Lab Rodent Chow daily, which was maybe 8ml volume, but it doesn't need to be refrigerated. Googling suggests field mice can get all the water they need from a diet of seeds. It seems to me that if mice could use electricity, they'd need it more in the winter than the summer. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 22:01, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Someone please check my mouse energy needs math and assumptions. I made a couple misplaced decimal mistakes getting to where it is now, and I'm going to have another beer. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 22:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Not sure about numbers but some (if not most) energy requirements scale by surface area ({{w|Square–cube law}} or other measurements. There are also efficiency issues with at least lots of human-made miniature machines. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

I'm confused by the statement that smaller turbines are less "efficient". There's nothing about efficiency at that link. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.43|172.70.114.43]] 22:33, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:The graph shows the ratio between size and output has risen from about half to 85%. What is a better term for this? I'm pretty sure one of the multiple definitions of efficiency is technically correct, but it can never hurt explaining better. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.113|172.69.33.113]] 22:42, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Changed to "relative power output" but I'm not sure that captures the idea very well either. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.113|172.69.33.113]] 22:44, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Well wind turbines may not scale down ideally but still better than nuclear power plants. I suspect those have fixed minimal size and it's pretty big. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:32, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

:Apparently nuclear power can be [https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/LAR-TOPS-294 "as small as a button cell"] but mice are vulnerable to radioactive hazards, and haven't solved the waste disposal problem. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 23:45, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Isn't the power output of a solar panel directly dependent on its size (and wether it's covered with snow, angle to the sun, clouds? And prolly something I'll think of as soon as I hit save).[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.106|172.70.131.106]] 23:55, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Yes, but the power per size doesn't increase with size like wind turbines do. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.63|172.69.33.63]] 00:01, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

What is the smallest Tesla Powerwall available for purchase? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.163|172.70.206.163]] 02:00, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:You probably want an {{w|18650}} or similar cell, which are [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsJMj7FtroY frequently discarded on the street] and thus easily obtainable by mice. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.171|172.69.33.171]] 03:02, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Why doesn't pico hydro have the same problems scaling down as wind? They're both fluid turbines. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 02:24, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:For the same reasons that small fans have several vanes, but large wind turbines have only three. I remember reading something about the physics (it's a laminar versus turbulent thing) but I can't remember the details now. I'll update here if I can find it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 03:08, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:[https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/why-do-wind-turbines-have-three-blades/ Here's part of it,] but doesn't really get to the heart of the matter. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 03:10, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:I think it has more to do with the relative magnitude of drag in gases instead of liquids. I don't have a good source though. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 03:21, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
::Turbine efficiency (especially for very small turbines) mostly depends on pressure differential and mass throughput. Water has three orders of magnitude higher density than air. Also, even with just a meter of water column, water offers a 10 kPa pressure differential while you only rarely get that much of a pressure differential in air (at the same height) even between areas of high and low pressure usually at least dozens (and commonly hundreds) of miles apart (there may be exceptions for things like tornadoes but good luck using their wind power), certainly not between the high and low pressure sides of a turbine. Efficiency in practice mostly depends on moved mass (of turbine blades, etc) compared to moved medium (water or air), friction (mount, generator, maybe a gearbox) compared to total power input and (if electricity is desired) generator efficiency which itself depends on generator size and rotation speed (hence the need for a gearbox). For a very small turbine, all those things would need to be extremely light as well. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Who is Beret Guy telling to make a wish - Megan or the mice? -- [[User:Ken g6|Ken g6]] ([[User talk:Ken g6|talk]]) 04:48, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

[https://www.cornel1801.com/animated/Secret-of-NIMH-1982/pictures/64.jpg I must tell you about NIMH.] - [[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.81|172.70.254.81]] 16:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-05T22:01:14Z

172.70.211.52: Mice thoughts

Is anybody going to try to calculate the amount of power such a turbine could collect? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 19:24, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Good idea; what should we use for an estimate of the geometry for https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine ? The final panel makes it look like the blade diameter is about twice the size of a fist. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] says "exhaled air velocity varies from 2.2 m/s to 9.9 m/s (5.66 ± 1.57 m/s, mean ± SD) and exhalation time varies from 2.10 s to 8.21 s (4.42 ± 1.73s, mean ± SD)."
:I guessed 10 cm radius and used that mean breath speed. I should have used the top 9.9 m/s though, shouldn't I? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 20:56, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:After a closer look at that article, the mean is more appropriate. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 21:19, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Although these miniscule wind turbines don't generate much power, mice probably don't need much. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:That's certainly a fair point. How much power would a mouse-sized fridge need? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.95|172.70.206.95]] 21:23, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
::Mice consume a lot more food per body weight (especially for body heat because heat transfer scales with surface area, not mass/volume) than humans. Mouse-sized fridge efficiency would also be poor both because of the same size issue and reduced room for insulation. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
::A 480 ml insulin travel fridge uses 5 watts on a 3% duty cycle depending on the ambient temperature and how much it's loaded, so that's in the realm of possibility, and seems large enough. I used to feed lab mice about 5 grams of Purina Lab Rodent Chow daily, which was maybe 8ml volume, but it doesn't need to be refrigerated. Googling suggests mice can get all the water they need from a diet of seeds. It seems to me that if mice could use electricity, they'd need it more in the winter than the summer. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 22:01, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Someone please check my mouse energy needs math and assumptions. I made a couple misplaced decimal mistakes getting to where it is now, and I'm going to have another beer. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 22:17, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Not sure about numbers but some (if not most) energy requirements scale by surface area ({{w|Square–cube law}} or other measurements. There are also efficiency issues with at least lots of human-made miniature machines. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

I'm confused by the statement that smaller turbines are less "efficient". There's nothing about efficiency at that link. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.43|172.70.114.43]] 22:33, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:The graph shows the ratio between size and output has risen from about half to 85%. What is a better term for this? I'm pretty sure one of the multiple definitions of efficiency is technically correct, but it can never hurt explaining better. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.113|172.69.33.113]] 22:42, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Changed to "relative power output" but I'm not sure that captures the idea very well either. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.113|172.69.33.113]] 22:44, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Well wind turbines may not scale down ideally but still better than nuclear power plants. I suspect those have fixed minimal size and it's pretty big. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:32, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

:Apparently nuclear power can be [https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/LAR-TOPS-294 "as small as a button cell"] but mice are vulnerable to radioactive hazards, and haven't solved the waste disposal problem. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 23:45, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Isn't the power output of a solar panel directly dependent on its size (and wether it's covered with snow, angle to the sun, clouds? And prolly something I'll think of as soon as I hit save).[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.106|172.70.131.106]] 23:55, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
:Yes, but the power per size doesn't increase with size like wind turbines do. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.63|172.69.33.63]] 00:01, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

What is the smallest Tesla Powerwall available for purchase? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.163|172.70.206.163]] 02:00, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:You probably want an {{w|18650}} or similar cell, which are [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsJMj7FtroY frequently discarded on the street] and thus easily obtainable by mice. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.171|172.69.33.171]] 03:02, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Why doesn't pico hydro have the same problems scaling down as wind? They're both fluid turbines. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.185|172.70.214.185]] 02:24, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:For the same reasons that small fans have several vanes, but large wind turbines have only three. I remember reading something about the physics (it's a laminar versus turbulent thing) but I can't remember the details now. I'll update here if I can find it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 03:08, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:[https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/why-do-wind-turbines-have-three-blades/ Here's part of it,] but doesn't really get to the heart of the matter. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.125|172.70.210.125]] 03:10, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
:I think it has more to do with the relative magnitude of drag in gases instead of liquids. I don't have a good source though. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 03:21, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
::Turbine efficiency (especially for very small turbines) mostly depends on pressure differential and mass throughput. Water has three orders of magnitude higher density than air. Also, even with just a meter of water column, water offers a 10 kPa pressure differential while you only rarely get that much of a pressure differential in air (at the same height) even between areas of high and low pressure usually at least dozens (and commonly hundreds) of miles apart (there may be exceptions for things like tornadoes but good luck using their wind power), certainly not between the high and low pressure sides of a turbine. Efficiency in practice mostly depends on moved mass (of turbine blades, etc) compared to moved medium (water or air), friction (mount, generator, maybe a gearbox) compared to total power input and (if electricity is desired) generator efficiency which itself depends on generator size and rotation speed (hence the need for a gearbox). For a very small turbine, all those things would need to be extremely light as well. [[User:627235|627235]] ([[User talk:627235|talk]]) 11:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Who is Beret Guy telling to make a wish - Megan or the mice? -- [[User:Ken g6|Ken g6]] ([[User talk:Ken g6|talk]]) 04:48, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

[https://www.cornel1801.com/animated/Secret-of-NIMH-1982/pictures/64.jpg I must tell you about NIMH.] - [[Special:Contributions/172.70.254.81|172.70.254.81]] 16:13, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-05T08:15:22Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ clarify

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking during the summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for typical features of a summer day. He also mentions "wind turbines" put up by field mice, which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]].) However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}}, says to [https://www.dandelionpress.com/dandelion-blog/2015/4/6/how-to-wish-on-a-dandelion make a wish,] and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the power output per size of wind turbines increases with their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mouse use of wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is reported as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.11 watts from such turbines. However, a typical adult mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans in the U.S.,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mouse electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people's. The average U.S. residential customer uses 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines could be able to serve about 89% of a mouse's needs. While this figure does not account for necessary {{w|home energy storage}} efficiency (92.5% for the {{w|Tesla Powerwall}}) overhead, mice usually live much less extravagantly than typical Americans,{{citation needed}} so three turbines per mouse should be sufficient.

The title text builds on the similarities between small wind turbines and dandelions by claiming that turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}. Randall's suggestion of turbine seeds conflicts with Beret Guy's assertion that the turbines were built by field mice.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are three small trefoil structures and a tiny building on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice at ground level: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-05T08:14:23Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ reword

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking during the summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for typical features of a summer day. He also mentions "wind turbines" put up by field mice, which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]].) However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}}, says to [https://www.dandelionpress.com/dandelion-blog/2015/4/6/how-to-wish-on-a-dandelion make a wish,] and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the power output per size of wind turbines increases with their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mouse use of wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is reported as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.11 watts from such turbines. However, a typical adult mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans in the U.S.,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mouse electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people's. The average U.S. residential customer uses 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines could be able to serve about 89% of a mouse's needs. While this figure does not account for necessary {{w|home energy storage}} efficiency (92.5% for the {{w|Tesla Powerwall}}) overhead, mice usually live much less extravagantly than typical Americans,{{citation needed}} so three turbines per mouse should be sufficient.

The title text builds on the similarities between wind turbines and dandelions by claiming that turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}. Randall's suggestion of turbine seeds conflicts with Beret Guy's assertion that the turbines were built by field mice.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are three small trefoil structures and a tiny building on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice at ground level: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T23:57:33Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ needs reliable source

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for typical features of a summer day. He also mentions "wind turbines" put up by field mice, which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the relative power output of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mouse use of wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is reported as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.11 watts for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans in the U.S.,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines could be able to serve about 89% of a mouse's needs. While this figure does not account for necessary {{w|home energy storage}} efficiency overhead, mice usually live much less extravagantly than typical Amercans,{{citation needed}} so three turbines should be sufficient.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}. Randall's suggestion of turbine seeds conflicts with Beret Guy's assertion that the turbines were built by field mice.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are three small trefoil structures and a tiny building on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice at ground level: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T23:56:45Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ maybe they use pumped hydro storage

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for typical features of a summer day. He also mentions "wind turbines" put up by field mice, which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the relative power output of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mouse use of wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is reported as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.11 watts for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans in the U.S.,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines could be able to serve about 89% of a mouse's needs. While this figure does not account for necessary {{w|home energy storage}} efficiency overhead, mice usually live much less extravagantly than typical Amercans, so three turbines should be sufficient.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}. Randall's suggestion of turbine seeds conflicts with Beret Guy's assertion that the turbines were built by field mice.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are three small trefoil structures and a tiny building on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice at ground level: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T23:53:21Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ this is a precise mean

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for typical features of a summer day. He also mentions "wind turbines" put up by field mice, which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the relative power output of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mouse use of wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is reported as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.11 watts for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans in the U.S.,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines could be able to serve about 89% of a mouse's needs. While this figure does not account for necessary {{w|home energy storage}} battery efficiency overhead, mice usually live much less extravagantly than typical Amercans, so three turbines should be sufficient.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}. Randall's suggestion of turbine seeds conflicts with Beret Guy's assertion that the turbines were built by field mice.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are three small trefoil structures and a tiny building on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice at ground level: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T23:01:55Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ plural

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for typical features of a summer day. He also mentions "wind turbines" put up by field mice, which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the relative power output of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mouse use of wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is reported as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.11 watts for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans in the U.S.,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses about 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines could be able to serve about 89% of a mouse's needs, not counting their {{w|home energy storage}} battery efficiency overhead.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}. Randall's suggestion of turbine seeds conflicts with Beret Guy's assertion that the turbines were built by field mice.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are three tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice at ground level: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T23:01:11Z

172.70.211.52: Bring second significant digit through from calculator

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for typical features of a summer day. He also mentions "wind turbines" put up by field mice, which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the relative power output of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mouse use of wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is reported as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.11 watt for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans in the U.S.,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses about 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines could be able to serve about 89% of a mouse's needs, not counting their {{w|home energy storage}} battery efficiency overhead.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}. Randall's suggestion of turbine seeds conflicts with Beret Guy's assertion that the turbines were built by field mice.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are three tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice at ground level: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

Talk:2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T22:17:22Z

172.70.211.52: Please check assumptions and math

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T22:13:52Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ qualify average weight

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for the weather typical of a summer day. He also mentions "field mice's wind turbines", which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the efficiency of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mice using wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is published as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.1 watt for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans in the U.S.,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses about 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines could be able to serve about four fifths of one mouse's needs, not counting their {{w|home energy storage}} battery efficiency overhead.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice below the ground: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T22:12:17Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ less certain

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for the weather typical of a summer day. He also mentions "field mice's wind turbines", which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the efficiency of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mice using wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is published as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.1 watt for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses about 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines could be able to serve about four fifths of one mouse's needs, not counting their {{w|home energy storage}} battery efficiency overhead.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice below the ground: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T22:11:19Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ reword

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for the weather typical of a summer day. He also mentions "field mice's wind turbines", which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the efficiency of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mice using wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is published as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.1 watt for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses about 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines should be able to serve about four fifths of one mouse's needs, not counting their {{w|home energy storage}} battery efficiency overhead.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice below the ground: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T22:09:58Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ extra comma again

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for the weather typical of a summer day. He also mentions "field mice's wind turbines", which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the efficiency of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mice using wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is published as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html] or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.1 watt for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses about 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines should be able to serve about four fifths of one mouse's needs, not counting their {{w|home energy storage}} battery inefficiency.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice below the ground: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T22:09:10Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ only enough power for one U.S. mouse

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for the weather typical of a summer day. He also mentions "field mice's wind turbines", which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing a field mouse to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the efficiency of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mice using wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is published as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html], or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.1 watt for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses about 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines should be able to serve about four fifths of one mouse's needs, not counting their {{w|home energy storage}} battery inefficiency.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice below the ground: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T22:08:07Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ reword

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for the weather typical of a summer day. He also mentions "field mice's wind turbines", which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing the field mice to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the efficiency of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mice using wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is published as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html], or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.1 watt for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses about 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines should be able to serve about four fifths of one mouse's needs, not counting their {{w|home energy storage}} battery inefficiency.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice below the ground: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T22:07:29Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ reword, two sig digs

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for the weather typical of a summer day. He also mentions "field mice's wind turbines", which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing the field mice to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the efficiency of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mice using wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is published as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html], or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.1 watt for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams,[https://web.jhu.edu/animalcare/procedures/mouse.html] compared to about 81 kilograms for humans,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/] so presumably mice electricity needs would be about 0.03% of people. The average U.S. residential customer uses about 1,242 watts of electricity,[https://www.electricchoice.com/blog/electricity-on-average-do-homes/] 0.03% of which is 0.37 watts. Therefore, three such turbines should be able to serve about four fifths of one mouse's needs, less their {{w|home energy storage}} battery inefficiency.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice below the ground: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T21:41:35Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ mouse power requirements

{{comic
| number = 2641
| date = July 4, 2022
| title = Mouse Turbines
| image = mouse_turbines.png
| titletext = It's sad seeing those videos of turbine blade being torn apart in high winds, but it's the only way they can disperse their seeds.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a RENEWABLE ENERGY RODENT - Elaborate on the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Beret Guy]] and [[Megan]] are walking in summer, where Beret Guy expresses his appreciation for the weather typical of a summer day. He also mentions "field mice's wind turbines", which Megan initially assumes to be referring to dandelions (similar to the wordplay that Beret Guy utilized in [[1322: Winter]]). However, Beret Guy turns out to be speaking literally, as he picks up what is in fact a tiny {{w|wind turbine}} and blows into it. This causes the blades of the turbine to spin very rapidly, generating a lot of power for the structure it is connected to, thus causing the field mice to cheer in excitement.

Sadly, the efficiency of wind turbines is proportional to their size,[https://www.energy.gov/eere/articles/wind-turbines-bigger-better] a limitation not shared by other forms of renewable energy such as {{w|solar panel}}s and {{w|pico hydro}}. According to [https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/wind-turbine this calculator], a 10 centimeter radius wind turbine powered by a 5.7 meter/second breath[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616300830] would produce one watt at just 26% efficiency.

Further frustrating mice using wind power, {{w|Wind gradient|windspeed increases logarithmically with height}} above ground. Windspeed is published as its value 10 meters above ground, where it is 1.5 times faster than at ground level.[https://www.nooutage.com/wind.htm] In the U.S., where Randall lives, average year-round windspeed is about 15 km/h,[https://sciencing.com/average-daily-wind-speed-24011.html], or about 2.8 m/s at ground level, yielding only 0.1 watt for such turbines. However, a typical mouse weighs 25 grams, compared to about 81 kilograms for humans,[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3408371/], so presumably mice electricity needs would be 0.03% of people.

The title text claims wind turbines reproduce by dispersing their blades, in the manner of dandelion {{w|seed dispersal}}.

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

:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking on grass.]
:Beret Guy: Ahh, summer!
:Beret Guy: The clouds are big, the bugs are zooming,

:[Beret Guy stops walking. There are tiny structures on the grass in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: and the field mice have put up their little wind turbines.

:[Beret Guy picks up one of the turbines. Under the turbine there is a wire attached to the ground.]
:Megan (off-panel): You mean dandelions?
:Beret Guy: No.

:[Beret Guy holds the turbine in front of him.]
:Beret Guy: Make a wish!

:[Beret Guy blows into the turbine blades and makes them spin. The wire transfers electricity towards the ground.]
:''Puff''
:⚡ ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
:Voice below the ground: Yaaay!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T21:12:53Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ reword

2641: Mouse Turbines

2022-07-04T21:12:00Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ wind gradient

2640: The Universe by Scientific Field

2022-07-04T20:16:51Z

172.70.211.52: Missing verb

{{comic
| number = 2640
| date = July 1, 2022
| title = The Universe by Scientific Field
| image = the_universe_by_scientific_field.png
| titletext = The math and philosophy people also claim everything, but the astronomers argue that the stuff they study really only comprises a small number of paper surfaces.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A TINY PROPORTION OF A PIE CHART REPRESENTING THE UNIVERSE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Astronomy}} is the study of outer space and celestial phenomena. This comic makes a joke that most of the "universe" falls under the study of astronomy, which makes sense because it is so vast and large and is not studied directly by other fields of science.

The volume of the {{w|observable universe}} is 3.566×1080 cubic meters. The volume of Earth is 1.08321×1021 cubic meters.

1.08321×1021 m3 ÷ 3.566×1080 m3 × 100% ≈ 3×10-58%, which is scientific notation for the second of the two percentages, the first being its difference from 100%.

The information provided by {{w|Observational astronomy|astronomical observations}} of light, subatomic particles, and gravity's effects represents only a tiny fraction of the scientific properties of the extraterrestrial substances in the volume of space that astronomers study. Moreover, the adjacent fields of optics, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and geometry underpin almost all aspects of astronomy other than {{w|Astronomical naming conventions|nomenclature}}, so proponents of those disciplines may see the comic as biased. Other objections include the fact that most matter in the universe is described just as well by the laws of chemistry and physics as astronomy; and the fact that almost everyone's subjective life experiences are overwhelmingly more involved with events best described by fields other than astronomy, even in the case of professional astronomers (who often complain about how little time they can allocate to making actual astronomical observations) although this is to be expected as all but typically a handful of people are terrestrial. Finally, astronomy and astrophysics publications comprise only about 0.5% of academic science and engineering output worldwide, making them the smallest of fourteen such categories.[https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20214/table/SPBS-34]

However, astronomy, {{w|cosmology}}, and astrophysics are the only scientific disciplines that study the {{w|Big Bang}} and subsequent {{w|Inflation (cosmology)|inflation}} from which all matter, energy, and space itself arose. The ordinary laws of physics can describe neither of those events.

The title text says that mathematicians and philosophers claim that what they study also represents everything. But astronomers counter this by saying that they just study things that are written down, and this comprises just tiny amounts of "paper" on the Earth. This claim by mathematicians also appears in [[435: Purity]]. A conceivable counterargument by philosophers could rely on the fact that all the knowledge gathered by astronomers is necessarily processed by human minds, a primary subject of philosophical study.

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

:The Universe by Scientific Field

:[A pie chart is shown.]
:Astronomy
:99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999997%

:Other
:0.0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000003%

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Pie charts]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]

2638: Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond

2022-07-04T16:24:34Z

172.70.211.52: /* Explanation */ SOCl2 decomposes rapidly in the presence of any moisture including solid hydrates, so washing once would remove it all

{{comic
| number = 2638
| date = June 27, 2022
| title = Extended NFPA Hazard Diamond
| image = extended_nfpa_hazard_diamond.png
| titletext = With most labs, the hushed horror stories are about something like dimethylmercury or prions, but occasionally you'll get a weird lab where it's about the soda machine or the drop ceiling.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUBSTANCE WORTH $500 IN STREET VALUE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic depicts an extension of the National Fire Protection Association's {{w|NFPA 704|NFPA 704 Standard System for the Identification of the Hazards of Materials for Emergency Response}} "fire diamond" emblematic insignia used to warn about the properties of hazardous substances inside a building, vehicle, room, cabinet, or container that are important during an emergency or accident, such as a fire, earthquake, spill or leak, bringing the diamond from 2x2 squares to 3x3 by adding five variously useful and humorous squares along the bottom edges.

The numbers in a normal NFPA 704 diamond do not specify values of substances' properties, but rather broad categories designating characteristics of the substances of greatest interest to {{w|first responders}} and hazardous materials cleanup crews. Randall's expanded diamond breaks with this convention, with several squares (Lilac, Orange, and Black) denoting absolute values, and one square (Green) denoting an economic value. This could very easily lead to documentation update headaches if these values were ever to change, doubly so since the Lilac square is linked to political outcomes.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Squares and explanations
|-
! Square !! Color !! Comic text !! Explanation
|-
!colspan=5| Real NFPA 704 diamond [http://www.ilpi.com/msds/ref/nfpa.html square and number meanings]
|-
| Top || Red || Flammability (0) || Denotes flammability. 0 indicates "materials that will not burn."
|-
| Top Left || Blue || Health Hazard (4) || Denotes the danger that the substance(s) pose to living beings in ways other than flammability and reactivity. 4 indicates that "Very short exposure could cause death or serious residual injury even though prompt medical attention was given."
|-
| Top Right || Yellow || Instability (2) || Denotes how stable the substance(s) are when exposed to water, heat, shock, air, or other substances. 2 indicates that "Normally unstable and will readily undergo violent decomposition but does not detonate. Also: may react violently with water or may form potentially explosive mixtures with water."
|-
| Center || White || (Special Hazard) || The standard's "Special Notice" field may contain a symbol denoting additional information about the substance(s), e.g., '''OX''' for {{w|oxidizer}}s, '''SA''' for simple {{w|asphyxiant}} gases such as nitrogen and helium, and <s>'''W'''</s> for substances which react dangerously with water. Since the other squares in Randall's diamond contain values instead of descriptions, "'''(Special Hazard)'''" could conceivably be the special notice symbol for the substance depicted, instead of a description of the square's purpose.
|-
!colspan=5| After this point, all squares are made up by Randall.
|-
| Center Left || Green || Number of digits in the street value ($/gram) (2) || Describes the order of magnitude of the price (in USD) of one gram of the substance when sold illegally and informally. This is done on a logarithmic scale, with a '1' selling for $9/gram or less, a '2' selling for $99/gram, and so on. As such this is the first of several squares where the number may presumably go to 5 or above (which is not allowed on the original Blue/Red/Yellow squares, as they do not denote strict numerical values). That said it's not immediately clear how substances which command <$1/gram would be handled.

Randall's example substance apparently sells for tens of dollars per gram (which would be similar to most common illicit drugs).
|-
| Center Right || Dark Purple || How much of a hassle it is to dispose of (4) || While many things can be thrown in the trash with no additional procedures, substances that merit an NFPA 704 square often require additional procedures to avoid significant danger, damage to the environment, or hefty dumping fines. Biohazards that may carry diseases are often disposed of in special containers, and nuclear materials are notoriously difficult to safely dispose of. This square would be at least theoretically useful, though not as much as the actual disposal guidelines.

If the numbering here follows the scheme of the real categories, Randall's example substance is about as hard to dispose of as it gets. This matches the substance's rating of 4 for Blue and 2 for Yellow. Presumably it requires highly specialized handling or processing, and may also very bulky or awkward to store.
|-
| Bottom Left || Lilac || Number of federal agencies who want to know if you have any (3) || In many countries, including Randall's home country, the USA, the government has agencies dedicated to controlling or limiting the use of regulated substances, due to their use as drugs, weapons, harm to the environment, etc. While any given substance might be of interest to one agency, something that is both an environmental hazard and a chemical weapon component could interest, for example, the {{w|EPA}}, {{w|Chemical Safety Board}} and the FBI Counter-terrorism Division.
|-
| Bottom Right || Orange || How many times you have to scrub your hands after touching it before they stop smelling weird (1) || While the real NFPA 704 chart describes properties ranging from unsafe to potentially deadly, this square describes a minor but very real inconvenience. Some things are harder to wash off your hands than others, and, given that most people don't often work with dangerous substances {{Citation Needed}}, this would be a more common, but less relevant, concern for many people.

In this case, the substance, or its residue, seems to be fairly easy to wash off. This is seemingly incongruous with its ratings in the Blue and Black squares (see below), though it's possible that this substance simply doesn't have a strong odor.
|-
| Bottom || Black || Number of times it's caused one of those terrifying lab accidents that chemists tell scary stories about late at night (2) || This square might show how concerned and careful someone should be in handling the substance in question, especially if the number is more than one. However, it would be dependent not just on how inherently dangerous the substance is, but also on how commonly it occurs in labs. It's also vague as to what kind of accidents it has been involved in and what precautions therefore need to be taken. It could, for example, have caused some terrifying reaction, destroying things around it, or it could be very large and unwieldy and liable to crush people if handled improperly.

In this case, it seems the substance has caused two such accidents, presumably on account of its high health risk of 4 in the Blue square, and may also be linked to its hazardous disposal score of 4 in the Purple square.
|}

The title text (which references "scary stories" of the Black square) refers to {{w|dimethylmercury}} and {{w|prions}}. Dimethylmercury, C2H6Hg, is an organic form of mercury with an NFPA score of 4-4-3 (contact can be fatal, will burn below 73° F (22 °C), will combust if put under pressure). In 1997, an American chemist, {{w|Karen Wetterhahn}}, died 298 days after a few drops of C2H6Hg on her latex gloves were absorbed into her hand through the gloves, causing fatal mercury poisoning. Despite her having followed all safety protocols of the time, it was not then understood that the chemical was so toxic, nor that latex was so permeable to it. Prions are misfolded proteins that are responsible for a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including {{w|mad cow disease}} and {{w|chronic wasting disease}} in non-human animals and {{w|Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease}} in humans. These would indeed be the kind of substances that would scare those working with them in their labs; if an accident occurred, the results could be calamitous. See for example the case of [https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/second-lab-worker-with-deadly-prion-disease-prompts-research-pause-in-france/ Émilie Jaumain], a lab technician who died after accidentally coming into contact with prions in mouse tissue.

But a few labs have apparently had accidents involving a soda machine or {{w|dropped ceiling}}. The latter may be a reference to {{w|1978 smallpox outbreak in the United Kingdom|the death of Janet Parker}}: One inquiry found that she was infected with {{w|smallpox}} when a sample traveled upward from a lab on the floor below hers; however, other investigations have challenged that finding. There are occasional instances of vending machines causing injury or death, usually caused by people trying to shake or tilt the machines to get product out and having the machine tip and fall on them. On average, [https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/1996/CPSC-Soda-Vending-Machine-Industry-Labeling-Campaign-Warns-Of-Deaths-And-Injuries a couple of Americans per year] are killed in this way. Reagents obtained in this way tend to have more impurities than those usually used in labs, but are relatively safe to shake.

The only easily identifiable substance which could likely meet the specific insignia numbers shown in the comic is {{w|thionyl chloride}} (SOCl2), a chlorinating reagent and solvent regulated as a chemical weapons precursor and sometimes used in the production of methamphetamine, which would also be represented with the '''<s>W</s>''' symbol inside the white square, indicating reactivity with water. But if '''(Special Hazard)''' is the literal "Special Notice" classification in use then something far more exotic may be involved.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Know your extended NFPA hazard diamond:

:[The diamond is divided into 3x3 squares.]
:Flammability: 0 (top, red)
:Health hazard: 4 (top-left, blue)
:Instability/reactivity: 2 (top-right, yellow)
:Number of digits in the street value ($/gram): 2 (left, green)
:(Special hazard) (center, white)
:How much of a hassle it is to dispose of: 4 (right, purple)
:Number of federal agencies who want to know if you have any: 3 (bottom-left, pink)
:How many times you have to scrub your hands after touching it before they stop smelling weird: 1 (bottom-right, orange)
:Number of times it's caused one of those terrifying lab accidents that chemists tell scary stories about late at night: 2 (bottom, black)

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

Talk:2640: The Universe by Scientific Field

2022-07-03T06:54:05Z

172.70.211.52: Mentioning max tegmark's mathematical universe hypothesis

I have a feeling reproductions of this particular XKCD will be popular on the doors of many offices in astronomy departments around the world. A bit like Gary Larson's Far Side cartoons are found everywhere in biology departments.

I just discovered Safari's "Live Text" feature. It allowed me to copy the numbers with all the digits, so I don't have to count them to create the transcript. But then someone else beat me to creating it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:44, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

I wonder if we should mention the area of telescope apertures compared to, say, the surface area of all laboratory glassware or something like that. Too much of a stretch? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.81|172.70.214.81]] 23:18, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.117|162.158.129.117]] 00:40, 2 July 2022 (UTC)

Agreeing with the argument in the current version of the explanation as I write: it is really, really hard to argue that astronomy covers more than physics, which lays claim to including all the physical sciences as subfields. Also, is "field" a pun on the force fields of ... physics? [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:32, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
:I don't think most chemists would say that they're in a sub-field of physics, but chemistry is a huge part of astronomical spectroscopy. Similarly mathematicians relative to trigonometry. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 03:47, 2 July 2022 (UTC)

There's a bit of a problem here. Yes, Astronomy is the study of pretty much anything that isn't Earth. But the other part is pretty much limited to studies of life on earth (biology excluding exo-/astrobiology as well as pretty much all branches of social sciences), studies of earths atmosphere (meteorology and related fields), studies of earths water (e.g. hydrology as well as aspects of biology and others), studies of earths lithosphere (terrestrial geology and subfields) and various tangential branches thereof (like studies of earth's past - as part of pretty much any subject mentioned before). Fields like physics (pretty much everything "real", i.e. 100%), chemistry (any condensed matter) or geology (any rocky bits) have claims to various (already "taken") parts of the universe. Mathematics and philosophy (mentioned in alt text) don't have a claim to much of anything "real" in the universe (except maybe the pieces of data storage (paper, brain, digital) used) but have a claim to all of the (not "real, I guess) sciences mentioned before. Of course, that makes them subject to, at least, physics, chemistry, biology and social (including historical) sciences in turn. - - - TL/DR: I seem to be in a bit of a mood to kill jokes today. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.251.112|172.70.251.112]] 13:16, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
:of course to continue the joke, while all those fields may have applicability beyond earth, the vast majority of what they actually study is ON earth (although to make the stretch, you have to consider any field that studies things off earth as a subset of astronomy, which would make for many very angry scientific debates... hmmm... science thunderdome, I kinda like this idea =D [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.127|172.69.71.127]] 15:05, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
:Don't feel bad. The entire second half of the explanation at present is devoted to casting the joke as absurdist exaggeration and hyperbole. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.36|172.70.211.36]] 15:30, 2 July 2022 (UTC)

Maybe the idea of the comic is that the diagram was created by astronomers to justify their existence, which explains the bias. Many lay people wonder why we spend so much money studying "out there" when there are so many problems here that could use the money (never mind that the fraction of government budgets devoted to astronomy is miniscule, and some of the discoveries do have terrestrial uses, particularly regarding climate change). And as alluded in the title text, other researchers could probably make a similar diagram that emphasizes their discipline. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:01, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
:Climate change? Only thing astronomy can tell us about climate change is where to move to when we inevitably destroy Earths climate. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 01:03, 3 July 2022 (UTC)
:: The greenhouse effect was originally described in terms of {{w|albedo}} when the absorption spectra of CO2 was first characterized, but I can't think of any other examples. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.6|172.69.34.6]] 01:16, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

There should be a large proportion for "Dark Knowledge" to imitate those astronomical summaries that try to emphasise how much of the universe is dark matter and/or energy [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.64|172.70.86.64]] 01:38, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

As to the alt text, you also have Max Tegmark, a physicist at MIT, who believes the entire universe is literally made of mathematics: {{w|Mathematical universe hypothesis}}. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.52|172.70.211.52]] 06:54, 3 July 2022 (UTC)