explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2886: Fast Radio Bursts

2024-01-28T02:22:32Z

172.70.46.85: /* Explanation */ pointing a link precisely 1 second into the video is weird and likely unintentional

{{comic
| number = 2886
| date = January 26, 2024
| title = Fast Radio Bursts
| image = fast_radio_bursts_2x.png
| imagesize = 469x524px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Dr. Petroff has also shown that the Higgs boson signal was actually sparks from someone microwaving grapes, the EHT black hole photo was a frozen bagel someone left in too long, and the LIGO detection was just someone slamming the microwave door too hard.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an ENERGETIC OVEN-SIZED STAR - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] is at a convention, stating the different sources of {{w|fast radio burst}}s, which are short high-energy signals which have been detected by astronomers, but whose source is not known. His team is pretty sure that most of these bursts are energetic stellar objects in space - that is, astronomical phenomena.

He then says that some of them are caused by {{w|microwave oven}}s, citing Dr. Emily Petroff's work on identifying the apparent source of "{{w|Peryton (astronomy)|peryton}}s" at the {{w|Parkes Observatory}}.<ref>E.Petroff et al. (2015). "[https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/451/4/3933/1119649?login=false Identifying the source of perytons at the Parkes radio telescope]". ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''451'''(4):3933–3940.</ref> These are signals similar to fast radio bursts, but which originate on Earth and not in space; initial hypotheses included atmospheric effects related to {{w|lightning}}, and passing aircraft, but they were eventually identified as a much closer range signal from microwaves escaping as the oven door was opened inside the observatory.

After that, he explores two further options, combining attributes of the previous two:

* Energetic stellar-sized microwave ovens; this is unlikely since microwaves typically are not stellar-sized and they do not float in space{{Citation needed}}
* An energetic stellar-sized object in the break room, which would be surprising, as we have yet to see a break room being able to contain an energetic stellar-sized object. Although unlikely, he says he is sending a grad student there to double-check. Presumably the student is being sent rather than Cueball himself both because it is unlikely to give useful data, and because if there is indeed energetic stellar plasma in the break room, the million-degree temperatures would probably kill anyone who enters it.

The title text references a number of other discoveries, and suggests explanations based on microwave ovens for each of them:

* The apparent detection of the {{w|Higgs boson}} at the Large Hadron Collider was actually someone [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCrtk-pyP0I microwaving grapes], which generates plasma
* The [https://science.nasa.gov/resource/first-image-of-a-black-hole/ image of a black hole] captured by the Event Horizon Telescope was actually a burning bagel (a notably ring-shaped bread product)
* {{w|LIGO}} (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) did not detect gravitational waves, but was instead disturbed by someone slamming the microwave door too hard

In each case, these are highly improbable - for instance, LIGO used a complex suspension system, and two sites (one in Louisiana and one in Washington State) comparing signals, to rule out such interference.

See [[2289: Scenario 4]] for a similar situation.

==References==
<references/>

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

:[Cueball standing behind a lectern, with a poster hung from the ceiling behind him]

:Potential sources of fast radio bursts:
:(1) Energetic stellar-sized astrophysical objects floating in space
:Cueball: We're pretty sure this is what most of them are.

:(2) Microwave ovens in the observatory break room
:Cueball: This was definitely some of them, oops. (Petroff et. al., 2015)

:(3) Energetic steller-sized microwave ovens floating in space
:Cueball: We think this one is unlikely.

:(4) Energetic stellar-sized astrophysical objects in the observatory break room
:Cueball: This is almost certainly not it, though we're sending a grad student to double-check.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Space]]

2742: Island Storage

2023-02-24T17:50:44Z

172.70.46.85: /* Explanation */ very basic

{{comic
| number = 2742
| date = February 24, 2023
| title = Island Storage
| image = island_storage_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x435px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I always hate dragging around the larger archipelagos, but I appreciate how the Scandanavian peninsula flexes outward to create a snug pocket for the British Isles.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN EDITOR PUTTING THE BOT INTO STORAGE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is another world map vandalized by Randall, similarly to the [[:Category:Bad Map Projections|bad map projection series]]. This time, every major island is relocated into similarly-sized bays on the continents. The caption implies it's Earth's intended "storage mode".

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
A map of Earth with the largest continents (except Antarctica) in their usual locations, but all of the major islands have been moved into various bays and seas.

[Caption below the comic]

Reminder: If you're the last one using the Earth, please put the islands away when you're done.

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2734: Electron Color

2023-02-07T06:10:41Z

172.70.46.85: This is not in college.

Electrons have no color?! BUt lIgHTnIng strIKeS aRe YEllOw, aND LigHTNing IS MaDe uP of eLECTrOns.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.115|172.71.254.115]] 22:43, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
: Actually most colors are emitted by electrons orbiting atoms after absorbing light. The color electrons emit depend on their kinetic energy and available places they can travel, a tiny bit similar to how things change color as they get hotter, but more extreme and general. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.198|172.70.114.198]]

It may refer to the Greek etymology of the word "electron". Originally it meant amber, a yellow gem. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.118.146|172.68.118.146]] 23:20, 6 February 2023 (UTC)

I can't do formatting, I'm new. Sorry! (no signature left on comment)

To me, this is 1000% building on the idea of debating the colors of school subjects. I've added a bit of explanation to the text about it. I used my own color associations & reasons (science = green, history = red) as an example, and I'm sure people will disagree with me. Leave your color/subject associations in a reply to this comment, could be a fun little debate! (also, English = blue)
[[User:Zman350x|Zman350x]] ([[User talk:Zman350x|talk]]) 23:50, 6 February 2023 (UTC)

: SocStud is yellow, Math is red, Science is green?, ELA is gray, French is blue, and orange is my least favorite subject out of the rest. I have gotten into many arguments with my friends.
:[[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.157|172.70.230.157]] 00:10, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

: Science = Green (green flask bubbling)
: Social Studies = Blue (blue and green globe, green is taking)
: Math = Red (math is reliable, red is a strong color so i associate it with reliability)
: English = Yellow (all other colors are taken)
: Also electrons are blue
:[[User:Iffy|Iffy]] ([[User talk:Iffy|talk]]) 23:53, 6 February 2023 (UTC)

: Hm! I've never heard of school subjects having any assigned colors; much less any debate about it! If we're identifying them by the folders they're kept in, my favorite subject was Ferrari & my least favorite was Porsche.
: [[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 04:41, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

I believe this comic was made in response to a book talk Randall did in Seattle, where this question was actually asked to him in person! If you want to hear it yourself, someone recorded the talk here: https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/xjuc4i/a_recording_and_autotranscript_of_randalls_latest/
[[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.6|172.71.142.6]] 00:45, 7 February 2023 (UTC) A random new user
: Was it the dorky randall with red hair or the photogenic one with brown hair and blue eyes or am I going wildly mad? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.198|172.70.114.198]] 00:51, 7 February 2023 (UTC)
Am I crazy, I always thought of electrons as blue to contrast with the protons which are red[[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.89|172.70.211.89]] 04:47, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

"This comic appears to "elevate" that discussion to the college level." - considering that the students are considerably smaller than the teacher (notice the heads), I seriously doubt this is meant to be set in a college classroom - high school at most, IMHO. Also, "One common debate among schoolchildren is over the "color" of various subjects. Because of the brightly colored folders commonly used to separate subjects in the binder of a young student, the students tend to associate those colors with the subject." - well, not in any school I ever attended, nor with any school class I've ever worked with. I'd be inclined to dispute that this is at all common. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.46.85|172.70.46.85]]