explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2783: Ruling Out

2023-05-31T23:26:34Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ grammar

{{comic
| number = 2783
| date = May 31, 2023
| title = Ruling Out
| image = ruling_out_2x.png
| imagesize = 295x396px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We were able to replicate and confirm prior authors' detection of a moon orbiting the Earth with high confidence.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a TECTONICALLY-ACTIVE BOT WITH SUBSURFACE OCEANS. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Most science studies are intended to discover new things. In astronomy, the goal is often to find different types of objects in space, or learn how astronomical objects are formed and behave. But often from studying things that exist, we also learn about limits in the kinds of things that 'can' exist; when this happens, we say that we've ruled out these other phenomena.

[[Cueball]] lists a number of obviously impossible{{fact}} objects.

* "Earthlike stars": A play on "Earth-like planets" which scientists are very interested in finding. The Earth is not a star, hence stars cannot be Earthlike.
* "Exoplanets in our solar system": {{w|Exoplanet}}s are by definition not in our solar system.
* "Habitable zone quasars": while not certain by any means, {{w|habitable zone}}s around some {{w|quasar}}s have absolutely '''not''' been ruled out.[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab1b2f/meta][https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/2364/1/012057/meta] Perhaps Cueball is referring to quasars in the habitable zones of stars, which are also feasible depending on the criteria for classifying a {{w|black hole}} with an active {{w|accretion disk}} as a quasar.[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/728/1/26] While typical galaxies usually have only one quasar in their center, merging galaxies often have two, neither of which is near the center, and the brightness of any is strictly dependent on the extent to which it has consumed its accretion disk.
* "Stars with subsurface oceans": Because the temperatures inside stars are higher than that which can support the existence of liquids as we understand them, stars cannot have subsurface oceans. After many billions of years, a {{w|white dwarf}} will cool to the point where it no longer emits significant heat or light, becoming a {{w|black dwarf}}, and eventually will cool to the point where it might develop subsurface liquids.{{acn}} However, the universe is not old enough for any black dwarfs to exist yet,[https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/375341/pdf] and sufficiently cool black dwarfs might not even be considered stars according to the conventional definition.
* "Tectonically active black holes": Black holes do not have {{w|tectonic plate}}s, so they cannot be tectonically active. There are theories that neutron stars can exhibit tectonic-like movements, but the physics of the 'inside' of a black hole is thought to be so much different.

The joke is that you don't actually have to study anything to come to these almost patently obvious conclusions. The counter-proposals would need far more effort to even justify them as valid theories, by common understanding, and greater still to try to observe any supporting proof.

Some studies are also done to confirm the results of previous studies, to ensure that the conclusions were not mistaken or a fluke. The title text describes a study that was done to confirm the existence of a moon orbiting Earth, although the existence of the moon has been known for at least as long as humanity has existed, and the fact that it orbits the Earth has been assumed or known for upwards of 3000 years.{{acn}} The ancient Greeks and Babylonians, for example, thought that the Moon orbited the Earth, though they lacked a detailed physical understanding of the system. {{w|Anaxagoras}} (c. 500–428 BC) is credited with the correct explanation of lunar eclipses, and reportedly was the first to explain that the Moon shines due to reflected light from the Sun. However, it was not until the work of {{w|Nicolaus Copernicus}} in the 16th century that a detailed and accurate model of the Moon's orbit around the Earth was developed. Regardless, at this stage, a study to confirm the validity of Copernican orbits would contribute nothing to the scientific process, much less a study confirming the mere existence of the Moon.

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

:[Cueball is talking to Megan.]
:Cueball: So far our astronomy group has published studies ruling out the existence of Earthlike stars, exoplanets in our solar system, habitable-zone quasars, stars with subsurface oceans, and tectonically active black holes.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Science got way easier when we realized you were allowed to do studies just to rule stuff out.

{{comic discussion}}

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

2122: Size Venn Diagram

2023-04-10T03:03:34Z

172.71.158.6: E. T. C.

{{comic
| number = 2122
| date = March 11, 2019
| title = Size Venn Diagram
| image = size_venn_diagram.png
| titletext = Terms I'm going to start using: The Large Dipper, great potatoes, the Big Hadron Collider, and Large Orphan Annie.
}}

==Explanation==

[[File:Symmetrical_5-set_Venn_diagram.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|{{w|Branko Grünbaum}}'s multi-set Venn diagram strategy from 1975, less symmetric than Randall's.]]
This comic is a {{w|Venn diagram}} illustrating the complete set of possible intersections of five different size adjectives: "little", "large", "small", "great" and “big”. Each unique intersection contains a short list of nouns that can be preceded by each of its intersecting adjectives.

For example, "flying fox" (a type of bat) appears at the intersection of "large", "small", and "great", because the species {{w|large flying fox}}, {{w|small flying fox}}, and {{w|great flying fox}} all exist, but there is no such species as a "big flying fox" or a "little flying fox". Similarly, humans have organs named the {{w|small intestine}} and {{w|large intestine}}, but no "little intestine", "great intestine", or "big intestine".

Some descriptors are applied in combination to their noun, rather than individually; for example, "planet" is placed in both the "little" and "big" groups in reference to the 2008 video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''.

In the title text, [[Randall]] declares that he will start intentionally using term combinations that don't appear in the above diagram, presumably to ensure every intersection contains at least one term. A slightly more practical solution is to publish books/songs/films/''etc'' under these titles (details needed), as many of the entries in this comic are titles.

A similar concept can be seen in [[181: Interblag]], but in a tabular form rather than a Venn diagram.

===List of items in the diagram===
The following table lists all size/noun combinations that the Venn diagram can generate, with a description of each.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Item
!Big !! Great !! Large !! Little !! Small !! # Regions
|-
|width=10%|'''Aunt'''
|width=17.5%|
|width=17.5%| [[wiktionary:great-aunt|sister of one's grandparent]]
|width=17.5%|
|width=17.5%|
|width=17.5%|
|width=2.5%| 1
|-
|'''Bang Theory'''
|currently-accepted {{w|Big Bang|scientific theory}} that explains the origin of the universe; also a {{w|The Big Bang Theory|TV sitcom}}|| || || || ||1
|-
|'''Barrier Reef'''
|
|{{w|Great Barrier Reef|world's largest coral reef system}}, off the coast of Australia
|
|
|
|1
|-
|'''Bear Lake'''
|a {{w|Big Bear Lake, California|lake and surrounding community in California}}, in the mountains
|a {{w|Great Bear Lake|lake in Canada}}, in the Northwest Territories -- the largest lake entirely in Canada, and the fourth-largest in North America
|
|
|
|2
|-
|'''Bend'''
| {{w|Big Bend|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Big Bend National Park|US National Park}} in Texas
| {{w|Great Bend (disambiguation)|several geographic locations}}, including a {{w|Great Bend, Kansas|city in Kansas}} and the description of the S-shaped curving of the {{w|Nile River}} in Egypt and Sudan
|
|
|
|2
|-
|'''Billed Seed Finch'''
|
|{{w|Great-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1851
|{{w|Large-billed seed finch|species of finch}}, described in 1789
|
|
|2
|-
|'''Blue'''
|nickname for [https://www.ibm.com IBM] and the {{w|New York Giants}}, also [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095250 a movie] and a stage in {{w|F-Zero}} and borrowed into Mario Kart
|
|{{w|large blue|various different butterflies}}
|
|{{w|small blue|butterfly}}, smallest found in the UK
|3
|-
|'''Blue Heron'''
|
|{{w|Great Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures 91–137 cm (36–54 in) long
|
|{{w|Little Blue Heron|species of heron}} that measures about 60 cm (24 in) long
|
|2
|-
|'''Board'''
| nickname for the {{w|New York Stock Exchange}} || || || ||
|1
|-
|'''Cardiac Vein'''
|
|{{w|Great cardiac vein|left coronary vein}}
|
|
|{{w|Small cardiac vein|heart vein on the right side}}
|2
|-
|'''Circle'''
|
|{{w|Great circle|largest possible circle}} that can be drawn on a sphere; the {{w|equator}} is an example of one on the Earth
|
|The {{w|Little_Circle|Little Circle}}, a group of political reformists based in Manchester, UK in the early 1800s
|{{w|Circle_of_a_sphere|a circle that lies on a sphere}} without passing through its center (which would make it a great circle)
|3
|-
|'''Claims Court'''
|
|
|
|
|{{w|Small claims court|judicial court}} that handles cases involving only relatively small amounts of money
|1
|-
|'''Depression'''
|
|{{w|Great Depression|period of prolonged economic downturn}} that affected the world economy in the 1930's
|
|
|
|1
|-
|'''Dipper'''
|{{w|Big Dipper|subset collection of stars}} in the constellation {{w|Ursa Major}}
|
|
|name for the constellation {{w|Ursa Minor}}
|
|2
|-
|'''Emerald'''
|
|
|{{w|Large_emerald|Geometra papilionaria}}, a bright green moth of the family {{w|Geometer_moth|Geometridae}}
|{{w|Jodis_lactearia|Jodis lactearia}}, a light green or white moth of the family {{w|Geometer_moth|Geometridae}}
|{{w|Hemistola_chrysoprasaria|Hemistola chrysoprasaria}}, a light green or yellow-white moth of the family {{w|Geometer_moth|Geometridae}}
|3
|-
|'''Enchilada'''
|The term "[[wiktionary:big enchilada|Big Enchilada]]" means a person or thing of great importance.
|
|
|
|
|1
|-
|'''End'''
|The {{w|Crankpin|bearing}} connecting a connecting rod to the crank shaft of a reciprocating engine.
| {{w|Great End|Mountain in England}}
|
|
|The {{w|Crankpin|bearing}} connecting a connecting rod to the gudgeon pin and hence the piston in a reciprocating engine.
|3
|-
|'''Eyed Conger'''
|{{w|Sea conger|type of eel}}, found in the western Pacific Ocean
|
|{{w|Large-eye conger|type of eel}}, found in the northwestern and eastern central Pacific Ocean
|
|{{w|Smalleye conger|type of eel}}, found in the eastern Indian Ocean
|3
|-
|'''Flying Fox'''
|
|{{w|Great flying fox}}
|{{w|Large flying fox}}
|
|{{w|Small flying fox}}
|3
|-
|'''Foot'''
|The well known folk-lore monster ''{{w|Bigfoot}}''
|
|
|{{w|List_of_The_Land_Before_Time_characters#Littlefoot|Main character}} in the ''{{w|Land Before Time}}'' film series
|''{{w|Smallfoot (film)|Smallfoot}}'' is an animated film that inverts the Bigfoot legend, focusing on a group of yetis that tell stories about humans.
|3
|-
|'''Forest Bat'''
|
|
|A common {{w|Large forest bat|bat}} found in Southeastern Australia
|A related {{w|Little forest bat|bat}} also found in Southeastern Australia
|
|2
|-
|'''Format'''
|
|
|{{w|Large format|anything larger than 4x5 inches in photography}}
|
|
|1
|-
|'''Foundation'''
|The BIG Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit charity
|May be a reference to Asimov’s Greater Foundation
|May be a typo. Could possibly be a reference to the Lange Foundation
|
|
|3
|-
|'''Frog'''
|Refers to someone who is important but only in a small group (Big frog in a small pond)
|
|{{w|Large frog|A South-East Asian frog species}}
|children's book [https://smile.amazon.com/Little-Frog-Crista-R-Stewart/dp/1616638702/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_g5171374337?_encoding=UTF8&%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0&ie=UTF8 "The Little Frog"] by Crista R. Stewart
|{{w|Small frog|An Australian frog species}}
|4
|-
|'''Game'''
|Large animals hunted for sport or food, usually referring to the African {{w|big five game}} (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, cape buffalo); can also refer to the NFL's {{w|Super Bowl}}
|{{w|Great Game|19th Century geopolitical competition}} between the British and Russian Empires over control of Afghanistan
|{{w|Game (hunting)|Large animals}} hunted for sport or food, such as bears or moose
|
|{{w|Game (hunting)|Small animals}} hunted for sport or food, such as rabbits or ducks
|4
|-
|'''Hadron Collider'''
|
|
|{{w|Large Hadron Collider|particle accelerator}}
|
|
|1
|-
|'''Hearted'''
|[[wiktionary:bighearted|kind, generous, selfless, noble]]
|[[wiktionary:greathearted|generous, selfless, noble]]
|[[wiktionary:largehearted|generous, benevolent, noble]]
|
|
|3
|-
|'''House on the Prairie'''
|
|
|
|{{w|Little House on the Prairie|novel}} (later made into a TV show)
|
|1
|-
|'''Intestine'''
|
|
|The {{w|Large Intestine}} or colon is the last part of the digestive system.
|
|The {{w|Small Intestine}} is the part of the gastrointestinal tract (gut) immediately after the stomach, where most absorption of nutrients takes place
|2
|-
|'''Island'''
|{{w|Hawaii (island)|largest island in Hawaii}}, or numerous other islands: {{w|Big Island}}
|{{w|Great Island|in Cork Harbour, Ireland}}
|{{w|Large Island|island in the Antilles, owned by Grenada}}
|{{w|Little Island|several islands named such}}, plus a song in ''{{w|Randy Newman's Faust}}''
|{{w|Small Island (novel)|novel which was made into a movie}}
|5
|-
|'''League'''
|Nickname for top-level competition
|One of the leagues in Pokemon Go
|
|{{w|Little League Baseball|Youth baseball organization}}
|
|3
|-
|'''Lies'''
|''{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}'', a novel made into a TV series; also a [[wiktionary:big lie|form of propaganda]]
|
|
|''{{w|Big Little Lies (TV series)|Big Little Lies}}'', a novel made into a TV series; also a {{w|Little Lies|Fleetwood Mac song}}
|
|2
|-
|'''Magellanic Cloud'''
|
|
|A {{w|Large Magellanic Cloud|satellite galaxy}} of the Milky Way
|
|Another {{w|Small Magellanic Cloud|satellite galaxy}} of the Milky Way
|2
|-
|'''Millimeter Telescope'''
|
|
|{{w|Large Millimeter Telescope|radio telescope}}
|
|
|1
|-
|'''One'''
|Nickname for any large natural disaster that is expected to happen in the future, such as a tsunami or an earthquake in California
|Nickname for {{w|Wayne Gretzky}}, considered by many to be the greatest ice hockey player of all time, also comedian {{w|Jackie Gleason}} and many other people ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_One Wikipedia disambiguation page]).
|
|affectionate term for a small person
|{{w|The Small One|A Disney animated short directed by Don Bluth}}
|4
|-
|'''Orphan Annie'''
|
|
|
|{{w|Little Orphan Annie|comic strip}}
|
|1
|-
|'''Planet'''
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''
|
|
|Part of the video game ''{{w|Little Big Planet}}''
|
|2
|-
|'''Potatoes'''
|
|
|
|
|[[wiktionary:small potatoes|something relatively unimportant]]
|1
|-
|'''Pox'''
|
|an old name for {{w|syphilis}}
|
|
|{{w|smallpox|a deadly disease}} which was effectively eradicated by 1977
|2
|-
|'''Professor'''
|
|
|{{w|Large Professor|rap artist}}
|{{w|Little Professor|educational math toy}} (also "Little Professor Syndrome", an informal name for autism)
|
|2
|-
|'''Richard'''
|
|
|
|{{w|Little Richard|musician}}
|
|1
|-
|'''Room'''
|
|{{w|Great room|a McMansion's signature space}}
|
|{{w|White_Blood_Cells_(album)#Track_listing|Track 6}} on "White Blood Cells," the third album by {{w|The_White_Stripes|The White Stripes}}
|{{w|May Sarton|"The Small Room", a novel by May Sarton}}, also various songs: {{w|Small Room}}
|3
|-
|'''Screen'''
|[[wiktionary:big screen|another name for movies]]
|
|
|
|[[wiktionary:small screen|another name for TV]]
|2
|-
|'''Sister'''
|[[wiktionary:big sister|older female sibling]]; also [https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Big_Sister a character from the influential video game Bioshock]
|
|
|[[wiktionary:little sister|younger female sibling]]; also [https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Little_Sister another character from the influential video game Bioshock]
|
|2
|-
|'''Soldiers'''
|
|
|
|{{w|Little Soldiers|1996 Telugu drama film}}
|{{w|Small Soldiers|1998 movie}} about sentient animated toys at war
|2
|-
|'''Sur'''
|{{w|Big Sur|coastal region of California}} famed for its mountain scenery
|
|
|
|
|1
|-
|'''Terror'''
|
|{{w|Great Terror|One of two periods of violent political repression}}; one during {{w|Reign of Terror|the French Revolution}} between 1793 and 1794, the other in {{w|Great Purge|the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin}} between 1936 and 1938
|
|
|
|1
|-
|'''Time'''
|[[wiktionary:big time|major]], the highest level of a field
|
|
|
|[[wiktionary:small time|minor]], or modest, level of achievement
|2
|-
|'''Toothed Aspen'''
|A {{w|Populus grandidentata|tree}} native to North America
|
|Another name for the same tree
|
|
|2
|-
|'''Wall of China'''
|
|{{w|Great Wall of China|Series of fortifications}} over 13,000 miles long that served to protect various Chinese empires from raids and invasion from their north
|
|
|
|1
|-
|'''White'''
|{{w|Big White Ski Resort|ski resort in British Columbia}}
|{{w|Great white shark|species of shark}} or a {{w|Great White|rock band}}
|{{w|Pieris brassicae|a butterfly}} or {{w|Large White pig|a common breed of pig}}
|
|{{w|Dixeia|multiple species}} of {{w|Pieris rapae|butterflies}} are known as small whites
|4
|-
|'''Wonder'''
|
|
|
|{{w|Little Wonder|"Little Wonder" is a song and single by David Bowie, from the 1997 album Earthling.}}
|{{w|Small Wonder (TV series)|American sitcom}}
|2
|-
|'''World'''
|Australian company {{w|BigWorld|BigWorld}} which develops development tools for MMOs; also {{w|Big_World|a 1986 live album by Joe Jackson}}.
|Reference to either {{w|Great World City|Great World City}} or {{w|Great World Amusement Park|Great World Amusement Park}}, a Chinese shopping mall or amusement park, respectively
|
|A {{w|Little World|2013 Catalan documentary film}}
|{{w|Small_World_(board_game)|Board game by Days of Wonder}}, {{w|It's a Small World|ride at Disney parks}}, type of {{w|Small-world_network|mathematical graph.}}
|4
|-
|''no items present''
|data-sort-value=""|''n/a''
|data-sort-value=""|''n/a''
|data-sort-value=""|''n/a''
|data-sort-value=""|''n/a''
|data-sort-value=""|''n/a''
|0
|-
|''no items present''
|data-sort-value=""|''n/a''
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value=""|''n/a''
|3
|-
|''no items present''
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value=""|''n/a''
|4
|-
|''no items present''
|data-sort-value=""|''n/a''
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|data-sort-value="Potentially"|???
|4
|-
!Item !! Big !! Great !! Large !! Little !! Small !! # Regions
|}

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


[A Venn diagram with five sets titled 'Big', 'Little', 'Large', 'Small' and 'Great'. Various words which can be prefixed by these titles are shown in the relevant segment.]

:Big: Bang Theory, Enchilada, Board, Sur
:Little: Orphan Annie, House on the Prairie, Richard
:Large: format, Millimeter Telescope, Hadron Collider
:Small: claims court, potatoes
:Great: Barrier Reef, Wall of China, Depression, Terror, aunt

:Big/Great: Bend, Bear Lake
:Big/Small: time, screen
:Big/Little: Dipper, Planet, lies, sister
:Little/Great: Blue Heron
:Little/Large: Professor, Forest Bat
:Big/Large: Toothed Aspen
:Large/Small: intestine, Magellanic Cloud
:Little/Small: wonder, soldiers
:Small/Great: pox, cardiac vein
:Large/Great: Billed Seed Finch

:Big/Large/Great: hearted
:Big/Small/Great: end
:Big/Little/Small: foot
:Big/Little/Great: league
:Little/Large/Great: (none)
:Big/Little/Large: foundation
:Big/Large/Small: Eyed Conger, Blue
:Little/Large/Small: emerald
:Little/Small/Great: circle, room
:Large/Small/Great: flying fox

:Big/Large/Small/Great: game, white
:Big/Little/Small/Great : world, one
:Big/Little/Large/Great : (none)
:Big/Little/Large/Small : frog
:Little/Large/Small/Great : (none)

:Big/Little/Large/Small/Great: Island

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Venn diagrams]]
[[Category:Language]]

2293: RIP John Conway

2023-04-07T03:44:33Z

172.71.158.6: Blanked the page

1663: Garden

2023-03-24T03:30:00Z

172.71.158.6: /* Mammals */

{{comic
| number = 1663
| date = April 4, 2016
| title = Garden
| image = garden.png 
| titletext = Relax.
}}
<div class="toclimit-3">{{TOC}}</div>
*'''Note:''' this is an interactive comic. Go to {{xkcd|1663|xkcd}} to try it out.
**Also '''note''' that a few weeks after the comic was released a change was made so growth only seems to appear when the gardens is actively running in a browser window!
**(This is opposed to what happened during the first few weeks after release!)

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Fill out the [[#Items in the garden|tables]] with images of all the possible items. General explanations/comment are missing as well as link to screenshots of gardens where each item "grows".}}

This was the seventh [[:Category:April fools' comics|April fools' comic]] released by [[Randall]]. The previous fools comic was
[[1506: xkcloud]] from Wednesday April 1st 2015. The next [[1818:_Rayleigh_Scattering#No_April_Fools.27_Day_comic_in_2017|did not come out in 2017]], but first in 2018 when [[1975: Right Click]] was released on Sunday April 1st 2018.

This comics represents the April fools' comic of 2016, and it is [[Randall|Randall's]] celebration of {{w|April Fools' Day}} Friday, April 1, 2016. It represents the third time in a row that user input changes the April Fools' comic. Although in the last two [[1350: Lorenz]] and [[1506: xkcloud]] it was written (or drawn) input that became part of the comics. This time the user input is like a game, as the user actively adds, moves and deletes items, and new items appear based on these actions. In this way it actually more resembles the game comic [[1608: Hoverboard]], than the previous April Fools' comics.

Due to technical problems (or to make fools of his fans, see more about the [[#April Fools' header text|header text]] below) the comic did not go live until Sunday evening (after midnight, so technically first on Monday April 4th) so there was no Friday release the week before, see [[#Monday 4th of April release|more details below]].

The comic begins with a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f1/Garden_Loading_collage.png loading screen] with a revolving tree and the text "loading..." This is because the first time a computer loads this dynamic comic it can take a while.

Once it is loaded it displays "your '''Garden'''", being a barren landscape, with a small pond to the left, some rocks at the far left and right, and a single lamp shining light yellow light on most of the ground. This is what is shown at the top of the explanation here. But if you leave the lights on and wait (or "relax", as the reader is told to do by the title text), then plants and other items will start to appear.

The reason it is correct to call it "your garden" is that every time this comic is loaded from scratch, a new garden will be created with a unique url-address. By [[#Saving garden with url|saving this link]] (making a bookmark for it), the user will be able to return to their garden again and again. As the garden only develops very slowly this is important. (If users wish to share their garden they can do it in the table on the page for '''[[1663: Garden/Users gardens|Users gardens]]''').

[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/78/1663_garden_Three_colors_over_everything_not_very_interesting.png Plants appear] one at a time, and sometimes it takes a long time. Only a few of the plants actually grow. For instance there are some large trees that begins as [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/27/1663_garden_Fast_growing_tree_-_leafless.png a large trunk] and from there [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/67/1663_garden_Fast_growing_tree_-_lots_of_leaves.png grows branches and leaves]. This can sometimes happen quite fast. Most other plants just appear, the only other exception being one type of flowers. All plants, except the cactus, clearly sway in the breeze.

Also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/5a/1663_garden_Pruned_garden_with_birds_deer_gate_cactus_turtles_snake_gate.png animals] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/de/1663_garden_Three_lamps_two_along_ground_with_pillars_not_in_blue_world_and_symmetric_gates.png building-like structures] such as [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/15/1663_garden_Megan_Monolith_Animals_and_more.png a monolith and birdbaths] appear, together with lots of other items like [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/ad/1663_garden_Office_space_with_star_plant_balloon_with_bird_and_grass_on_Cueball.png office furniture] with [http://xkcd.com/1663/#98dc3452-fcf2-11e5-8010-42010a8e0008 balloons swaying in the wind] or even one of the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/3f/1663_garden_One_color_Between_orange_red_and_red_First_thing_Mars_rover.png Mars rovers] which so [[:Category:Mars rovers|often have been featured]] in xkcd.

On top of all this, several known characters may appear in different poses including [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] (for instance with a sword, see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/6b/1663_garden_Megan_with_sword%2C_trees_octopuses_with_Cueball_bunny_ducklings.png here]), [[Ponytail]] (see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/eb/1663_garden_Ponytail_and_two_Cueballs_cat_pillar_and_trunk_sE.png here]) and [[Beret Guy]] from the torso and up (see [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/9b/1663_garden_Three_colors_more_separate_Beret_Guy_in_shrubbery_and_Octopus_on_office_desk.png here]). Megan and also Cueball can both be seen [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/06/1663_garden_Giant_planter_on_pillars_and_both_Cueball_and_Megan_with_black_hat.png with a black hat], but it is one that "grows" on top of their heads after they first appear. However, Cueball with a black hat automatically turns into [[Black Hat]], so he can also be said to be in this comic. There is also an unknown character, a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/0c/1663_garden_One_color_Between_Light_yellow_and_yellow_First_thing_stilts.png girl on stilts] with black hair in a ponytail who like plants and balloons [http://xkcd.com/1663/#e774b4b8-fcd4-11e5-8001-42010a8e0017 sways in the wind]. A possible origin of this girl could be the What If article [https://whatif.xkcd.com/97/ Burning Pollen]. The article involves a character with seasonal allergies that is trying unsuccessfully to avoid their allergen (pollen) with giant stilts.

All the [[#Items in the garden|items that can appear]] in the garden are listed below in several tables. During the first week new items kept appearing, but after the eighth day (April 12th), no new items have appeared. Also the growth rate (and thus the fun of this comic) has decreased with time (maybe due to the enormous amount of gardens that the server has to keep track of?) .

Every so often the image will refresh. You can change the number of lamps, their position, direction, beam width and the color temperature which always begins somewhere between white and yellow, but can change all the way from red to blue (See this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b8/Garden_Three_Lamp_screen_shot.png example] with one lamp selected and three colors of light). Other colors than those four may appear where two lamps' cones of different colored light overlap.

The color of light [[#Effect of light|affects the growth]] with a strong correlation for what appears in the garden depending on the [[#Colors of light|color of light]], and this is not only split between red, yellow and blue, but rather [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/4/4a/1663_garden_Numbered_color_scale_1-17.png 10 different colors].

Early on it became clear that pure red light results in a desert theme with [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/98/1663_garden_Desert_with_red_light_only.png cacti and turtles] and pure blue light gives an aquatic theme with [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/23/1663_garden_Octopus_garden_with_Cueball_hand_up_and_a_black_hat_octopus.png lots of octopuses] that may also wear a black hat. For the most interesting gardens the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/15/1663_garden_Megan_Monolith_Animals_and_more.png light colors should be mixed]; see more below under [[#Effect of light|Effect of light]].

If this comic is scientifically accurate, that correlation will be based on {{w|photosynthetically active radiation}}.

Some users manage to create fantastic gardens (by using lots of time on them, pruning them at the right time and changing the light and lamp position to get what they strive for). Especially one user have created a series of amazing gardens that is posted on another [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=114415&start=600 xkcd forum]. Here is a collection of screenshots with some of [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#Blitz_Girls_amazing_gardens|Blitz Girls amazing gardens]]!

The title text "Relax" can be debated. Is it to let the users know they should just sit back and relax as the garden grows.? Or should they relax and don't worry so much about how it works (not working here on explain xkcd though!)? Or is he teasing the users by giving them a garden that they need to tend to, and then telling them to relax? And also giving them many more colors than lamps... Given that this comic was supposed to come out on April 1st, there is a good chance that it is, also, to tease the users. There are actually [[#Trivia|two other title texts]] as well.

===Extra Garden pages===
*Since this comic is so complicated extra pages have been created to include much more information than is wished for on this main page (which is already of considerable size).
*These pages are listed here for convenience, but they are also linked in the relevant sections below:
**[[1663: Garden/Images]]. The images of items that can appear in the comic.
***This page is linked in the section below with table for ''[[#Items in the garden|Items in the garden]]''.
**[[1663: Garden/Screen-shots]]. Since there are no permalink, then in order to save a particular moment of a garden a screen shot is needed. These can be posted here.
***This page is linked in the section below about for ''[[#Saving images|Saving images]]''.
**[[1663: Garden/Users gardens]]. A place for users of explain xkcd to post links to their own garden, and also for experimental gardens.!
***This page is linked in the section below about for ''[[#Saving garden with url|Saving garden with url]]''.

==Transcript==
:[After a '''loading image''' with a rotating tree in the middle and the text "Loading..." with the three dots appearing one at a time, and then disappear when all three have been there the image shown above in the explanation will appear:]

:['''Description of the image above''': A piece of bare landscape is shown. At the edges there are some rocks or stones raising the level from the general level through the center of the panel. Above the middle, a little more than halfway to the to of the panel, is a light bulb sitting inside a lamp that reminds of the desk lamp from the movie Luxo Jr. The lamp shines a yellow light down on the landscape in a broad cone that jus reaches the first rock to the left, but not those to the right. The lamp just hovers in the air. In the top right corner are two gray icons. The top one has a black frame and shows an image of a lamp, tilted left as opposed to the straight position of the lamp in the image. There is a + sign below in the left corner. The second icon without a frame has a large white cross in the middle.]

:[This turns out to be a '''web applet''' and using the "+ lamp" icon two more lamps can be added getting up to three. They are all adjustable both regarding position, direction, color of light and beam width. When selecting a lamp a red circle appear around it with a small circle on top that can be used to control the light color from blue to the left to red to the right. In front is a red arrow that can turn the lamp and it can also be used to change the beam width by pulling it away from the lamp or pushing it back. The lamps can be moved by just clicking on it and moving it. The other icon with a X can be used to remove the lamps (and later any object that appear in the garden). When any object is selected there is a red circle around it. When this is done the gray cross icon becomes red and can the be used to delete the selected item. When no item is selected (either because it is deleted, or by clicking in a part of the screen with no items), then the cross icon turns gray again. When all three lamps are on, then the "+ lamp" icon is faded out.]

:['''If you wait''' (or relax, as in the title text), then a plant will grow or animals, humans and other items may appear. This could be birds, snakes, octopuses or turtles, Megan or Cueball or a birdbath, a monolith or a tall gate just as a few examples. Most of the items appear in one go, but at least the largest trees grow up with a big stem first and then adds parts later with leaves or empty branches. Also one item may appear on top of another item and for instance birds may fly in the air.]

:[There is but two words in the entire comic, which appears when you grow a sign:]
:Sign: Sale

==Functionality==
===Saving garden with url===
*There is no [[1350#Permalink|permalink button]] as in the last two years' April Fools' comics.
*The URL is different for every garden that is loaded, but stays the same. It links to a server-side copy of the scene, which then changes depending on what the users does with their gardens.
**Sharing a URL will connect a new browser to the same garden session, but only the original browser will be allowed to edit.
**The user can always return to change the garden with the link, but only from the same browser on the same computer.
**This means that a specific moment in a gardens life has to be [[#Saving images|saved as an image]] for future references.
*The garden itself will thus continue to develop further from the time when the url was copied, and events will happen from now on even though the garden is not opened in any browser.
**If the user doesn't keep it, it will become infested with weeds.
**So most likely the garden is serverside, as all browsers are allowed to see the development of this garden, but users following the url are not allowed to edit anything.
*Here is an example garden [http://www.xkcd.com/1663/#0d11a2c8-fa8f-11e5-8001-42010a8e000e linked by ID] versus the same garden:
**In the original [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/7f/1663_garden_tree_turtle_birdbath.png screenshot from April 4th] from when the url was created
**In a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/7c/1663_garden_Flying_birds_deer_gate_with_cactus_turtles_snake_etc.png screenshot from April 5th] the day after.
**Here [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/5a/1663_garden_Pruned_garden_with_birds_deer_gate_cactus_turtles_snake_gate.png example] after the user pruned the garden in the examples.
**Other [[1663: Garden/Users gardens|user gardens]] can be found on the link.
*Starting two browser windows or tabs pointing to the same URL will allow you to edit from either window.
**linden.xkcd.com holds all the data; the UUID just corresponds to your access key, held in your browser's local storage.

====Saving images====
*Since the [[#Saving garden with url|urls are changing]], the only way to save a particular garden is to save an image of the current garden.
**Alternatively, by deleting all lamps (or changing them to laser beams or turning them upwards) then no new growth will occur -- but then the garden will no longer develop.
*In Edge, Firefox and Chrome, the image plus light cones but minus lamps and icons elements, can be saved by right clicking in the image. (Not possible in Internet Explorer)
**They do not always save in the same way as some browsers saves the part of the background without any light cones as white, and other save it as no background, in which case it may render black, basically hiding any black items outside the light.
***For those images it depends on which viewer is used to see the image, if everything can be seen or only that in the light cones.
****See examples of how it looks with black background in these two color maps collections using [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/50/1663_garden_Single_colors.png a single lamp] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/90/1663_garden_Three_colors.png three lamps].
****See more details about how these [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#Color_maps|color maps]] have been made.
****See also (at least) two examples of saved images as the are here on explain xkcd [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#Saved_image_from_xkcd|here]].
*An image of the whole screen can be captured by pressing the PrtScn (Print Screen) key on the keyboard and then pasting the content into a blank image in an image-editing program.
**An even better solution is to use a tool like {{w|Snipping Tool}} which can take the part of the screen that are relevant. This is how most of the [[1663: Garden/Screen-shots|screen shots]] for this explanation has been acquired.
**In both ways, the lamps and icons can also be displayed, which is not an option with saved images.

===Lamps===
*Additional lamps, up to a total of three lamps, can be added by clicking the black plus lamp icon along the right of the window.
*Lamps can be removed by clicking to select a lamp, then clicking the red X icon along the right of the window, or pressing the Delete or Backspace key on the keyboard. All lights can be deleted.
*The position of the lamp can be moved by clicking and dragging the lamp within the scene.
*The angle and area of the light cone emitted by the lamp can be changed by [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/09/Garden_Red_Lamp_screen_shot.png clicking to select the lamp and to reveal the red control triangle]. Rotating the control triangle around the lamp will change the aim of the lamp to point in the direction of the triangle, dragging the control triangle towards the lamp will [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/cc/1663_garden_One_color_Light_blue.png widen the beam], and dragging the control triangle towards away from the lamp will [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/5a/1663_garden_Pruned_garden_with_birds_deer_gate_cactus_turtles_snake_gate.png narrow the beam].
*The color emitted by the lamp can be changed by clicking the lamp to reveal the colored control dot, and by rotating the dot around the lamp. The small color control circle changes color to match the color of the lamps beam of light. new lights default to a center position, emitting a pale green. '''rotating the control right''' changes the color to yellow, orange, and finally red, and '''rotating the control left''' changes the color to white, then blue.

===Colors of light===
*The color control moves in a smooth gradient between colors, along the spectrum without any set positions.
*Small changes in the color can have an effect on the garden, even though there is no clear change in the color.
*[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/50/1663_garden_Single_colors.png As many as nine colors] can be identified from the emitted light of a single lamp, and many more colors are evident when [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/90/1663_garden_Three_colors.png two or three lamps overlap].
*There is reason to believe that even half the change will create different gardens, i.e. there can be at least one more position between those nine settings that will change the effect, giving eight more settings for a total of 17 "different" colors. An experiment with such '''17 settings''' for just [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#One_lamp_one_color|One lamp with one color]].
*Several unique elements only seem to appear using the eight half-colors. Both the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/3f/1663_garden_One_color_Between_orange_red_and_red_First_thing_Mars_rover.png Mars rover] and the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1b/1663_garden_One_color_Between_Light_yellow_and_yellow_First_thing_stilts_right.png Stilts girl] might be missed.
*Colors can thus be indicated from these 17 divisions: 
**Below is a table with these 17 division shown and what to expect.
**This may change over time, but was as it about a week after release.
***If updating, please make a note that this may have only applied during the first week(s) and add new feature without deleting.
**There has been an [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#One_lamp_one_color|experiment made]] with these 17 colors, see that for more details.
***The color names links to these experimental gardens, that will never be changed after the initiation.
***But there are reasons to believe that two gardens made identical may develop quite differently, as it seems some gardens have very limited growth in spite of the same light. Some of these gardens may be of that persuasion.
****This was proven when 34 more gardens using the 17 colors where started in a [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#Second_experiment|similar experiment]].
*The debugger reveals that each light has a "temp" property which ranges from 0 (red) to 1 (blue). The default setting is 0.5.
**The RGB color corresponding to "temp" is determined by this function in linden.js:
::<tt>function u(t){return.32>t?[1,.5+.5*t/.32,.5]:.64>t?[1,1,.5+.5*(t-.32)/.32]:[.75+.25*(1-t)/.36,.75+.25*(1-t)/.36,1]}</tt>
[[File:1663 garden Numbered color scale 1-17.png]] 
{| class="wikitable"
! #
! Color
! Description of items etc
|-
| 1
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#f65c4906-fcf1-11e5-8001-42010a8e0016 Blue]
| '''Pure blue'''! Aquatic theme with octopus (some with black hat), Cueball checking for rain with hand up. Less growth after the first week and octopus only over the pond (see [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#Growth_speed_vs_blue_light|growth speed vs blue light]]).
|-
| 2
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#d5b7fed6-fd94-11e5-8001-42010a8e000a Blue -> light blue]
| Octopus over pond and boats in pond, Cueball hands up and down (the latter possibly with black hat), {{w|Cairn}}s of '''stones''' and {{w|obelisk}}.
|-
| 3
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#3afb7988-fcf2-11e5-8001-42010a8e0019 Light blue]
| Cueball hands down (but can be with [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/64/1663_garden_Color_03_8d.png hand up] as well), Cairns of '''stones''', obelisk, wading bird and boats.
|-
| 4
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#303c341c-fd95-11e5-8001-42010a8e0016 Light blue -> blue white]
| Obelisk, flower base and stems and balloon string with normal and huge balloons, Cueball hands up (and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a5/1663_garden_Color_04_2_8d.png also down] with {{w|column}} and wadding bird), fish, shark fins and boats.
|-
| 5
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#98dc3452-fcf2-11e5-8010-42010a8e0008 Blue white]
| Office landscape with desks and chairs, table, column, obelisk, pots with star plant or other flowers base and stems, Beret Guy in pond, Cueball hands up and down, balloon string with normal and huge balloons drifting far left and right on their strings in the wind. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/ac/1663_garden_Color_05_8d.png Also wadding bird], boats and shark fin
|-
| 6
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#5a45a1f8-fd95-11e5-8001-42010a8e000e Blue white -> white]
| Both kinds of Cueball, Ponytail, Beret Guy, both types of cats, office desk, table, standing bird, wading bird, heron, owl, shark fin, bunny boat, flowers base and stems, balloon string with normal and huge balloons. Also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/36/1663_garden_Color_06_2_8d.png fish] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/75/1663_garden_Color_06_8d.png flying fish].
|-
| 7
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#ba6b4ac2-fcf2-11e5-8001-42010a8e0019 White]
| Balloon string with normal and huge balloons (here '''three in one garden'''), Megan hand up, cats, bunnies, shark fin, fish, Beret Guy, flowers base and stems and trees. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/c7/1663_garden_Color_07_8d.png Also] platform in tree, beehive base, Ponytail, water bird and flying fish and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/8/82/1663_garden_Color_07_2_8d.png Heron].
|-
| 8
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#8874be6a-fd95-11e5-8001-42010a8e0016 White -> light yellow]
| Megan hands up, {{w|shrub}}s, flowers base stems, '''hilt''' and '''some blooms''', trees, bunnies, fish, shark fin, water bird, owl, bunnies. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/2a/1663_garden_Color_08_2_8d.png Also] birdbath and stilt girl.
|-
| 9
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#db338968-fcf2-11e5-8001-42010a8e0016 Light yellow]
| '''Starting color'''. Megan hands down and with sword on platform, trees, shrub, flowers base and stems, grass, platform in tree, birdbath, ducks, wading bird, pots, with star plants, tall platform. [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/c3/1663_garden_Color_09_8d.png Also] deer, stilt girl, fish and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1f/1663_garden_Color_09_2_8d.png shark fin].
|-
| 10
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#b28f8522-fd95-11e5-8001-42010a8e0013 Light yellow -> Yellow]
| Girl on stilts, Megan with swords on platform, trees, flowers base and stems, grass, reeds in pond, platform in trees, tall platforms, deer, snake, pots
|-
| 11
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#efccf292-fcf2-11e5-8010-42010a8e0003 Yellow]
| Sale signs, tall platform, snakes, armadillo, flowers base and stems, reeds in pond. Also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/ce/1663_garden_Color_11_2_8d.png deer].
|-
| 12
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#de4fd3b0-fd95-11e5-8001-42010a8e0011 Yellow -> Orange]
| Sale signs, snakes, turtles, tulips and wavy plants. Also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/bb/1663_garden_Color_12_2_8d.png tall platform] and armadillo.
|-
| 13
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#0d6bca62-fcf3-11e5-8019-42010a8e0005 Orange]
| Wavy plants, turtles, [[#Linsang_-_cat_like_animal|linsang]], flying birds and flying Megan (and thus also bird risers and their roots). Also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/98/1663_garden_Color_13_8d.png armadillos].
|-
| 14
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#578b80bc-fd96-11e5-8001-42010a8e000a Orange -> orange red]
| Snakes, turtles, linsang, armadillo, tulips wavy plants, flying birds and flying Megan (and thus also bird risers and their roots).
|-
| 15
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#28b238b0-fcf3-11e5-8001-42010a8e0018 Orange red]
| Desert landscape with turtles, cactus sale, signs, lamp post poles without lamps, platform on cactus resulting in inverted pyramids. Also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d4/1663_garden_Color_15_2_8d.png linsang].
|-
| 16
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#ad7ca596-fd96-11e5-8020-42010a8e0006 Orange red -> red]
| Desert landscape with Mars rover, turtles, cactus sale, signs, lamp post poles without lamps but no platforms. Also [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e3/1663_garden_Color_16_2_8d.png linsang].
|-
| 17
| [http://xkcd.com/1663/#46cc4e08-fcf3-11e5-8001-42010a8e0013 Red]
| '''Pure red'''! Desert landscape with turtles and cactus only.
|}

===Effect of light===
*How much the color affects the growth took some time to find out but already from the stat it was clear that there definitely was a correlation
*For instance areas under lights set to the the outer position or the starting position was very different.
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/23/1663_garden_Octopus_garden_with_Cueball_hand_up_and_a_black_hat_octopus.png Pure blue light] (left most) develop into a boring aquatic theme with only lots of octopuses (maybe with a black hat) and the Cueball holding a hand out to check for rain.
***The appearance of pure blue gardens have changed with time so octopuses now only appear over the pond [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1d/1663_garden_One_color_Blue_9d.png like this].
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/70/1663_garden_One_color_red_9d.png Pure red light] (far right) develop into a boring desert theme with only cactus and turtles.
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/9c/1663_garden_One_color_Light_yellow_9d.png Light yellow] or [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/2e/1663_garden_Color_09_3d.png starting light] grows lots of plants like trees, grass and scrubs and several animals like ducks, deer, fish and wadding bird and also birdbath, stilt girl and both standing Megan and sword Megan.
*Soon after the release of the comic some research into a single lamp with unchaining light, that covering the whole light range split into 17 divisions was undertaken.
*[[File:1663 garden Numbered color scale 1-17.png]]
**See these gardens [[1663:_Garden/Users_gardens#Locked_gardens_only_for_explanation_use|locked for explanation use only]] and also see more about the 17 split in the color range [[#Colors of light|above]].
*Mixed light seems to be able to do the same, but it is unclear if what grows only depends on the final mixed color, or if it is a mix of what would grow under those two colors.
**There are some indications that it is not a clear mix as pure blue together with pure red, does not seem to produce neither Octopuses or desert theme.
**If there are any items that can only grow under a mix of light this has not been proven. Most objects that can grow directly from the ground, has been observed in the experimental single color gardens mentioned above.
**But there may be items that needs to grow on top of other objects, and these may require a change of color from what the base needs. And thus they will not appear under one color light. Possible examples of these items could be:
***[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f3/Garden_Desk_lamp.png Desk lamp] (needing some kind of platform forming in another color range like the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/ee/Garden_Tall_platform.png tall platform], yellow or the small [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/11/Garden_Platform_1.png platform], orange).
***[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/8/88/Garden_Giant_Planter.png Giant Planter] (needing for instance a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/c4/Garden_PlatformColumn_3.png platform column], light blue light]
***[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e0/Garden_lamp-topper.png Lamp pole tops] (needing [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/8/81/Garden_Lamppost_1.png lamp poles] forming under orange light)
***[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a4/Garden_Flower_bloom_1.png Flower blooms] (any type) (needing [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d1/Garden_Flower_segment_1.png flower segments], several colors)
***[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/7e/Garden_Actual_flying_fish_1.png Actual flying fish] (needing bird raiser, orange light)
***[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/5d/Garden_Saucer.png Flying saucer] (needing bird raiser, orange light)
*What happens when using only one color (other than the two outer points red and blue and the starting light yellow color) has been explored in great depth in no less than two different [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#One_lamp_one_color|One lamp one color]] experiments with [[1663:_Garden/Users_gardens#Locked_gardens_only_for_explanation_use|51 gardens]] created using 17 different color settings.
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/27/1663_garden_One_color_Between_blue_and_light_blue_6d.png Blue light] (just right of pure blue) creates a landscape with stones forming cairns, together with monoliths, both kinds of Cueballs (with black hat on the standing one) and still octopuses.
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/75/1663_garden_One_color_Light_blue_9d.png Light blue light] (just a little farther from pure blue than above), the octopuses disappear, but the rest remains the same, although boats and wadding bird now appear in the water, and still both [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a6/1663_garden_Color_03_5d.png Cueballs] can occur. Going just slightly further away [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e4/1663_garden_Color_04_2_5d.png fish and columns] start to appear.
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d1/1663_garden_One_color_White_Blue_12h.png Blue white light] grow a sort of office theme, with desks, balloons and Cueballs. Moving towards white light [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d0/1663_garden_One_color_Between_Blue_White_and_White_5d.png Ponytail appears] with less office items together with cats (and now no Beret Guys in the pond but [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/df/1663_garden_One_color_Between_Blue_White_and_White_8d.png lots of animals]).
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/f/f7/1663_garden_One_color_White_9d.png White light] gives a forest of balloons with Megan holding her hands up.
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/3e/1663_garden_One_color_Yellow_2d.png Yellow light] (somewhat right of the starting color) produce sale signs and snakes.
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/4/4f/1663_garden_One_color_Between_orange_and_orange_red_8d.png Orange light] produce flying bird and flying Megans and on the ground snakes, turtles, linsangs and armadillos, plus tulips and wavy plants.
**[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/02/1663_garden_One_color_Between_orange_red_and_red_8d.png Orange red light] (just left of red) produce lamp posts (without the top), in addition to the same desert theme as red with cactus and turtles. If it is very close to red the Mars rover appears (as in the example above). If it is a little longer from red, the platforms can form, which can then act as a catalyst for growth and create [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/58/1663_garden_One_color_Orange_red_9d.png large towers] on top of cactus's.
*Nothing seems to be able to grow under several conditions:
**If no lamps are pointing towards the ground for instance because:
***All [http://xkcd.com/1663/#21374f9e-fbbd-11e5-8001-42010a8e0015 lamps are deleted].
***The [http://xkcd.com/1663/#4896b678-fbbe-11e5-8001-42010a8e0011 beam is laser thin.]
***The lamps points towards the sky without [http://www.xkcd.com/1663/#6a6a7be0-fbbe-11e5-800d-42010a8e0008 touching the ground.]
***The lamps are [http://xkcd.com/1663/#c75991f6-fbbe-11e5-8001-42010a8e0011 below the ground pointing down]. (In this case the one over the pond was not far enough down and a single water plant has formed anyway.)
****On the other hand if the lamps are below the ground but pointing up it can result in growth well enough as shown in this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/7c/1663_garden_Different_light_from_below_the_ground.png example] and this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/3a/1663_garden_Yellow_light_from_below_the_ground.png example].
**It was believed that if the lamps where very close to the ground pointing straight down there would be no growth.
***However this can be because only a very small area is illuminated
****In this [http://www.xkcd.com/1663/#9733dff4-fbbe-11e5-8001-42010a8e0012 example] there are turtles under the red light in the pond, plants under the yellow and octopus, column and Cueball under the blue (from the time that columns could appear under pure blue light).
****Similar in this [http://xkcd.com/1663/#357a48d8-fbbf-11e5-8019-42010a8e0006 example] there are octopus (in the pond), deer/plants and a cactus from even lower lamps.
****Of course the lamp has to be so high as not to be underground as mentioned above.
**Also if lamps point towards the ground there can still only grow something from the ground [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/3e/1663_garden_Two_light_on_small_area_nothing_outside_the_light.png where the light touches]. The growth can move outside the light cones up in the air, but the base has to be within an area with light.
**Similar with items that can grow new things on top of them like tree trunks or platforms, this will only happen if light shines on the relevant places.
***For instance the tall tree trunks can easily grow outside a light cone. Then leaves and branches will [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e9/1663_garden_One_color_Between_Light_yellow_and_yellow_3d.png only grow below] the point where the light hits
****Similar with platform, that [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/3e/1663_garden_One_color_Yellow_2d.png grows partially outside] the light cone. More items will only appear where this lamp still hits the platform.
***One exemption to the rule mentioned here seems to be the bird raisers. The bird raisers are used to hold anything that flies up in the air. And the bird raiser it self needs to grow from either another bird riser or from a bird riser root (which in the end holds all bird raisers). This root has to have light on the ground to grow and thus have light on it self. But from the top of the bird raisers growing from such a root, items are able to grow even if the tip pf the bird raiser is not in the light.
****Thus flying items can appear to grow where there has [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/4/4f/1663_garden_One_color_Between_orange_and_orange_red_8d.png never been light]!
****See much more about this under the description of bird raisers in the [[#Helper_structures|table below]].
**Of course lights can be moved and changed without destroying what has already grown there (or so it seems). So a tended garden cannot be used to determine this.
***This is why some [[1663:_Garden/Users_gardens#Locked_gardens_only_for_explanation_use|locked gardens]] have been set up where there will be no changes ever.
***Examples from above has mainly been taken from screen shots of these locked gardens.

===Grown items===
*Grown items may be highlighted by clicking on them. Selected grown items will be highlighted with a red circle, and appear slightly lighter then other items.
*Grown items may be "pruned" by the red X icon along the right of the window, or pressing the Delete key on the keyboard.
*Some items (such as the large tree) can be deleted in minor parts by selecting a branch or smaller set of leaves without deleting the entire tree.
*See the images (with links to xkcd) of all 250 items that can appear, here below in the [[#Items_in_the_garden|tables]].

===Growth development===
*'''After a few weeks''' growth not only seems to appear when the garden is actively running in a browser window (maybe only in the original users browser?)
*There continued to appear new items that was not available on the release day.
**This lasted about a week (maybe 8 days).
**For instance many new items and animals like the columns and the owls started to appear after a few days.
**Also tulips and lightning poles did not appear at first.
***A last burst of new animals occurred about a week after release (either 11th or 12th of April). This burst included the following animals:
***Herons, Wadding birds, Sharks fins, jumping fish and flying fish plus actual flying fish (flying without water), armadillos and no less than 12 different linsangs (see [[1663:_Garden#Linsang_-_cat_like_animal|Linsang - cat like animal]]).
*But it also seems to change what might appear, so that the result of a particular color will change dramatically, not only by adding new, but also by not growing what used to be.
**A clear example of this is that for the first half week pure blue light resulted in lots of octopuses all along the ground and also Cueballs cheeking for rain.
**Later also columns appeared.
***But after a week the growth rate under blue light almost stopped, and it seems that octopuses now only grow over the pond to the left, and much less Cueball and no columns under that color.
**See details here: [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#Growth_speed_vs_blue_light|Growth speed vs blue light]].

===Debug mode===
{{notice|Anyone who can explain what the debug mode is, how it works, why it is there and why there is difference between the linden and the normal xkcd?}}
*By changing the url address it is possible to get into a debug mode.
**This may not work from for internet explorer, but seems to work from Firefox and chrome.
*Normal mode: http://xkcd.com/1663/#ID
**[http://xkcd.com/1663/#98dc3452-fcf2-11e5-8010-42010a8e0008 Normal mode example].
*Debug mode works from this address http://xkcd.com/1663/?debug#ID
*http://linden.xkcd.com/?debug#ID does not work anymore.
**[http://linden.xkcd.com/?debug#98dc3452-fcf2-11e5-8010-42010a8e0008 Linden debug mode].
**In this mode each item can clearly be seen as the image is framed, and thus invisible lifter images for flying things can be seen.
***See this [http://linden.xkcd.com/?debug#d12a0932-faaa-11e5-8012-42010a8e0006 example].
**This last mode can be used to find the names of the [[1663:_Garden/Images#Images|images of each item]] in a garden.
***See this section on [[1663:_Garden/Images#How_to_find_new_links|How to find new links]].
***By preventing the browser from loading specific images (''e.g.'' with an ad blocker), all instances can be pruned temporarily.
*On the forum, [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=114415&start=600#p3959056 yan provides some jQuery] which can be entered in the javascript console to add an interactive sidebar listing the objects in the garden.

===Limitations===
*The beam produced by each lamp is normally restricted to spread between 0° (which results in no growth) and 95°. The "create new light" button chooses a random angle between 45° and 90°.
*Attempting to view several gardens simultaneously may cause some to hang on the "loading" image, likely due to the server refusing additional connections. The maximum number which can load successfully is usually six, but may be as low as three.

===Bugs===
*There have been several bugs mentioned already after the first day. Please include any spotted here:
**Also some problems that may now be fixed.
*May not run on some tablets or smart phones (i.e. touch-screen only devices).
*There are some browser versions of Chrome and Firefox where it doesn't run.
*The lamps may be invisible for a few seconds after loading.
*The whole page refreshes at random intervals. This has been patched.
**It still does on April 5th.
**Sometimes (in some browsers?) the garden is reloaded when refreshing.
***This may though be because of the url which is a [[#Saving garden with url|link to a given garden]].
***See examples of this [[1663: Garden/Users gardens|here]].
***Seems to be dependent on the browser type.
*Some lamps jumped back to their starting position after a few minutes, without the whole page reloading.
*For a few hours after its apparition, the loading didn't seem to stop for some people, making them think that the rotating tree was the whole joke, with people expected to "relax" while looking at it.
*Occasionally invisible objects are added. They can be deleted, and they have bounding boxes in the [[#Debug mode|debugger]]: [http://linden.xkcd.com/?debug#d12a0932-faaa-11e5-8012-42010a8e0006 Example].
*Doesn't work over https, you have to use http instead.
*It is possible to save the image in Chrome and in Firefox, but not in Explorer.
**It is possible to save the visible portion of the image (in any browser) by pressing the Print-Screen key to perform a screen capture.
**But in Chrome the image is black where there is no light.
**In Firefox everything is visible, wth the light cones (in color) shown.
*Appears to have a memory leak at least in some Windows/Firefox versions, as keeping the page open for a long time will cause Windows to kill Firefox for insufficient memory.
**On the forum, Weeks tries to summon davean! [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=114415&start=320#p3951923]
*Does not work in many Linux versions.
*Tree trunks will sometimes grow endlessly without leaves depending on the lights hitting them.
*If you are dragging a light, the arrow, or the color slider when a refresh happens, the refresh will enter an infinite loop.
**This seems to cause corruption of the garden because refreshing the whole page will result in a loop that never loads the page.
**Clearing your local data for xkcd.com solves the issue but also makes you unable to edit your garden.
*On April 6, gardens viewed from [http://xkcd.com/1663/#7877bdfc-fc03-11e5-8001-42010a8e000c http://xkcd.com/1663/] links began to include double-size objects, while they appeared <s>normally</s> with different objects enlarged when viewed from [http://linden.xkcd.com/#7877bdfc-fc03-11e5-8001-42010a8e000c http://linden.xkcd.com/].
**Apparently some of the server's art files were <s>misdirected to the larger versions</s> replaced with new large images. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160407054439/http://linden.xkcd.com/art/rover.png] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-rover.png]
**New giant objects are still placed according to their original sizes. [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=114415&start=320#p3951908]
**This was suddenly fixed on April 7, possibly inducing browser memory issues at that time. [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=114415&start=360#p3952207]
***However, some giant images remained cached (where?) for a long time. [http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=114415&start=400#p3952527]
*Although there are six bee images, they have not been reported in any gardens[[File:Garden_Bee_1.png]]

==Trivia==
*There are three different title text in this comic, as there are also one over each of the two icons.
**This is special as with some of the newest "game like comics" there are [[:Category:No title text|no title text]]!
**The normal one "Relax" is mentioned above in the main explanation.
**The other two are explanations for what the two icons in the top right corner does and appear when the cursor hovers over them.
***They are ''Create new light'' explaining that this icon introduces new lamps and
***''Remove selected (delete key)'', which explain that this icon can be used to remove (delete) selected items like lamps, plants or items. It also explains that the delete key can be used instead of the icon.

===Linsang - cat like animal===
*In the second week of release no less than 12 [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/38/Garden_Linsang_1.png images] of the animal called {{w|linsang}} appeared [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1d/1663_garden_My_first_linsang_cat_like_creature_in_SC.png in the garden].
**See all of them [[1663:_Garden/Images#Images|here]].
*This animal was referenced in ''[[Thing Explainer]]'' in ''Tree of life'' where the animal is drawn in the ''cat-shaped'' section with the following caption:
::'''Almost cat'''
::This animal looks like a cat with a long neck. It's the closest thing to a cat that's not actually in the cat family.
::*Next to the section another one is drawn in front of Cueball (obvsiously it's Randall).
::*The linsang says "Mrowl?" and Cueball says "I wan't one!"
*Randall has in an interview discussed these [http://www.wsj.com/articles/randall-munroe-creator-of-xkcd-on-google-search-tricks-and-cat-like-creature-videos-1447945313 Cat-Like-Creatures] and in is quoted for saying
::Q: '''An animal I’m obsessed with is:'''
::A: The linsang, which looks almost like a cat but has this weird long neck. I find them both unnerving and adorable. I found some footage of one running; it’s like watching a cat video from a parallel universe.
::*The linsang is related to the animal {{w|Genet (animal)|genet}}, and here are two videos/photos of a genet running:
::**[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRdJSVlPrGo Genet on a rhino]
::**[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehq3ssg7zwk Genet on other things]

===Monday 4th of April release===
*Due to technical problems (or to make [[#April Fools' header text|fools of his fans?]]) the comic did not go live until Sunday evening (after midnight, so technically first on '''Monday April 4th''').
**There was thus no Friday release in the week before
**So the Wednesday comic [[1662: Jack and Jill]] got a lot more attention than it would usually have had.
*This comic thus turned in to the Monday release instead, as no other comic was released later that Monday, as this would have taken attention away from this very special comic.
**But it was called the ''April 1st comic'' and later the ''Friday comic'' in the [[#April Fools' header text|header text]] displayed at the top of xkcd to explain why there was no Friday comic.
***A header text continued to stay a the top but changed two more times until the release past midnight Sunday in the US. It was even past midnight {{w|Pacific Time}}, but not yet on Hawaii.
**There were thus only two comics released in the week before this Monday, which may be the first time since xkcd went live on {{xkcd||xkcd.com}} in 2006.

===April Fools' header text===
*There is some debate as to whether this comic is an April Fools' comic or not.
**Was instead the April fools' joke the text written above the comic in the header of xkcd?
**There is reason to believe this was [[#April Fools' comic|not the case]] based on among other thing these [[xkcd Header text]], see also [[xkcd_Header_text#2016-04-01_-_April_1st_comic_-_technical_difficulties|here]].
*Below it a list of the different header text displayed from Friday until the comic was just released.
**The header text continued to change regularly [[#Header text after release|after release]] in regard to this comic at least until next Friday (April 8th).
**Here below is the different header text with info on when it appeared.
***Links are given when possible to a [[1663:_Garden/Screen-shots#Screen-shots_of_header_text|screen shots]] on the word ''message'' and to a webarchive in another link when both are available.
*On Friday, April 1st, 2016, the xkcd website changed to a new [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/8/81/1663_garden_April_1st_comic_is_currently_experiencing_technical_difficulties.png message] where the standard message "XKCD updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday." usually is. (This [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/69/1663_garden_Commercial_header_text_before_April_1st_problems.png message] had, however, up to this point and for a long time been a [http://web.archive.org/web/20160401175527/https://www.xkcd.com/ commercial] for ''[[Thing Explainer]]''). But now it [http://web.archive.org/web/20160401204749/https://xkcd.com/ began displaying] this instead:
::The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties.
::Please stand by!
*Early Saturday April 2nd the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e0/1663_garden_Calendar_systems_in_which_Saturday_is_April_1st.png message] was [http://web.archive.org/web/20160402050932/http://xkcd.com updated]:
::The xkcd April 1st comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties.
::Status update: Please stand by.
::Status update: This is fine. Everything is fine.
::Status update: Everything is on fire.
::Status update: Searching for calendar systems in which Saturday is April 1st.
*Later on Saturday the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/06/1663_garden_Delayed_until_Sunday_night.png message] was again [http://web.archive.org/web/20160402175822/http://www.xkcd.com changed] to:
::The Friday xkcd comic is currently experiencing technical difficulties
::[Editor's note: Everything is on fire] and has been delayed until Sunday night.
*The comic did not come out until past midnight in the entire North America (coming out just before midnight in Hawaii).
*It was finally released very early on Monday April 4th, and the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/53/Garden_Loading_screen_shot.png message] then [http://web.archive.org/web/20160404123555/http://xkcd.com/ returned] to the [[xkcd_Header_text#2016-04-04_-_Return_to_standard_as_Garden_came_up|old standard text]] for xkcd for a short while:
::xkcd updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

===Header text after release===
*During April 4th, after the release the [[xkcd_Header_text#2016-04-04_-_Protip_on_Garden|xkcd Header text changed]] from the old standard to display a [[:Category:Protip|Protip]]:
::'''Protip:''' If you don't like how your garden is growing, you can click to prune it.
*And then later on April 4th, the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a2/1663_garden_Protip_and_url_hint.png message] was again [http://web.archive.org/web/20160404185353/http://www.xkcd.com/#5dbfbb82-fc20-11e5-8001-42010a8e000d changed] to:
::'''Protip:''' If you don't like how your garden is growing, you can click to prune it.
::You can copy the URL to share your garden. From other browsers, it will be view-only.
*When the next comic came out, the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/61/1663_garden_Note_if_seeing_todays_comic.png message] then [http://web.archive.org/web/20160408105110/http://xkcd.com/1663/#4b04323a-fddc-11e5-8001-42010a8e0016 changed], (also for the [http://web.archive.org/web/20160406194653/http://xkcd.com/1664/ new comic]) to
::'''Protip:''' If you don't like how your garden is growing, you can click to prune it.
::You can copy the URL to share your garden. From other browsers, it will be view-only.
::Note: If you're seeing today's comic in place of your garden, change the URL from xkcd.com/#<your code> to xkcd.com/1663/#<your code>.
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20160408145017/http://xkcd.com/ After] the Friday comic came out on April 8th, the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/c5/1663_garden_Back_to_pro_tips_only_after_Friday_comic.png message] then [http://web.archive.org/web/20160408195958/http://xkcd.com/ changed] back to
::'''Protip:''' If you don't like how your garden is growing, you can click to prune it.
::You can copy the URL to share your garden. From other browsers, it will be view-only.
*The [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/c6/1663_garden_Still_pro_tip_on_Friday_22nd_comic.png message stayed] like the one above at least until Friday April 22th before that Friday's comic [http://web.archive.org/web/20160422102754/http://xkcd.com/ was released]. But either at the time of release or at least on Saturday the day after the release the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/ae/1663_garden_Back_to_normal_text_after_Friday_22nd_comic.png message returned] to [http://web.archive.org/web/20160423103108/http://xkcd.com/ the original].
::XKCD updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
:*The pro tip, however, remained as [http://web.archive.org/web/20160425022201/https://www.xkcd.com/1663/ the header text] when displaying the {{xkcd|1663|Garden comic}}.

===April Fools' comic===
*This comic '''was indeed supposed to be''' the Friday 1st of April, April Fools' comic!
**This statement is based on several things, which can can be deduced from the above header text and the subsequent issues with the many [[#Bugs|bugs in this comic]].
*It is clear that this comic did actually come out as promised, at least as promised in the third message about release on Sunday night.
**It is also clear that it is regarded as the Friday comic, even in the last update before the release, which was two days after April 1st.
*It is also clear that this was a very complex comic, and it is realistic that Randall did have problems with making it work.
**On day two there still seemed to be several minor bugs, which seemed to improve over time so Randall was still working on it after release.
***But then new bugs appeared when the next comic was released.
*Both of the last two April Fools' comics, [[1350: Lorenz]] and [[1506: xkcloud]], have had no real meaning or joke in the comic. The jokes appeared from user input, and here it comes from waiting.
**This makes people who spend too much time on these comics ''April Fools''' (or if they rather wish to be called a ''nerds'' than fools, then they can claim to have been a victim of [[356: Nerd Sniping|nerd sniping]]).
**So, even if Randall ''did'' play a joke on people who [[Talk:1662: Jack and Jill#What happened to Friday's comic|eagerly awaited the comic]], then he did deliver as promised a spectacular comic Sunday night.
*There are several reasons to believe that Randall would have preferred the comic to get out on Friday April 1st.
**Apart from it being a time consuming comic that in it self is April Fools' comic material, then by getting it out Friday this special comic, which he obviously have used a lot of time to prepare, would have had one more day as the first comic.
**Getting it out before a weekend would have let many more users spend time looking at their garden. Now many would not spend enough time to appreciate the comic, as it came out right when the new work week began.
***And it is a very complicated comic that just to get to understand how to really use it could take a days time even for someone with time.
***And this is not talking about how the comic works, but just how to use the program, i.e. the whole [[#Functionality|functionality]] of the comic is way more complex than even a game like [[1608: Hoverboard]].
**And before next weekend two more comics were released taking some of the focus away from this one too soon, and also before the next weekend.
***Of course die hard fans will not forget this one, but many xkcd fans may only come by in the weekend etc. and such a hard to come by comic like this, that demands patience and that you return does not profit from being bumped down to number three as it would be next Friday.
*Randall lives of his fans goodwill and to deliberately make a pun on them like this would probably not seem like a good business proposal, apart from the fact that the comic now gets less attention than by coming out before the weekend.

==Items in the garden==
*Below in the section are several tables displaying all the known images of items that may grow (appear) in the garden.
**They have been sorted based on type like characters, animals (by type), plants (by type), platforms, others and helper structures.
**In time each item will have a link to a screen shot where they appear.
**Also explanations for each item can be written in these tables
*For colors reference refer (also) to the numbers in this image: 
*[[File:1663 garden Numbered color scale 1-17.png]]
**The color under which a given item may grow should be noted.
***Particularly if they can grow under just one color if light (maybe a range, but with only one lamp lit as one specific color).
***But almost more important if some items needs more than one color
****Especially if the items base, the base on which they have to grow, needs another color than they do, as seems to be the case with flower blooms and the lamp to go at the top of the lamp poles.
*All the images can be seen without the table here: [[1663: Garden/Images|Images of items]].
===Characters===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! [[Cueball]] [[File:Garden Man 1a.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-man-1a.png Man 1a] 
[[File:Garden Man 2a.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-man-2a.png Man 2a]
|
*Here are the two different images of Cueball.
*The first Cueball just stands with his hands down.
**In this position he always looks left.
**Some items can grow on his head, most obviously [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/27/1663_garden_One_color_Between_blue_and_light_blue_6d.png the hat], turning him into [[Black Hat]]. But also animals like the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/92/1663_garden_Blitz_Girls_UFO_and_birds_garden.png water bird], [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/32/1663_garden_One_color_Between_Blue_White_and_White_6d.png standing bird or cats] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d4/1663_garden_Crazy_cat_peoples_garden.png owls] can perch on his head.
**He never seems to appears in pure blue light, and also only appears when the light is turned left of white.
*The second Cueball has one hand out.
**In this position he always looks right.
**He is the only character that appears under pure blue light (color 1).
**It seems like he cannot wear the hat or anything else on his head.
**Instead he can hold object on his hand, like a [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1e/1663_garden_S_shaped_empty_balloon_string_left.png balloon string] (later [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/0e/1663_garden_Office_space_with_two_herons_in_lake_and_huge_balloon_on_long_string.png with balloon] or the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/c2/1663_garden_Blitz_Girls_strong_Megan_garden.png huge balloon]), the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e5/1663_garden_Blitz_Girls_Armadillo_tower.png small platform] or some of the smaller animals like [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/32/1663_garden_One_color_Between_Blue_White_and_White_6d.png the bird], the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/09/1663_garden_Cueball_holds_a_Turtle_in_front_of_Megan_looking_like_a_cap_on_her.png turtle], or [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d4/1663_garden_Crazy_cat_peoples_garden.png cat and owls].
*There is a third version of Cueball with both hands up.
|
*Standing Cueball with color [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/92/1663_garden_One_color_Between_blue_and_light_blue_2d.png 2 blue], [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/c9/1663_garden_One_color_Light_blue_12h.png 3 light blue], [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e4/1663_garden_Color_04_2_5d.png 4 light blue] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b2/1663_garden_One_color_Blue_white_2d.png 5 Blue white]
*Hand out Cueball with color [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/bf/1663_garden_One_color_Blue_6d.png 1 blue], [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/92/1663_garden_One_color_Between_blue_and_light_blue_2d.png 2 blue], [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a6/1663_garden_Color_03_5d.png 3 light blue], [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/5e/1663_garden_One_color_Between_light_blue_and_Blue_White_6d.png 4 light blue] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/d/d1/1663_garden_One_color_White_Blue_12h.png 5 Blue white]
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/c9/1663_garden_One_color_Light_blue_12h.png Standing]
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e5/1663_garden_One_color_Blue_18h.png Hand out] 
|-
! [[Megan]] [[File:Garden Woman 1a.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-woman-1a.png Woman 1a] [[File:Garden Handfig 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-handfig-1.png Handfig 1] 
[[File:Garden Handfig 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-handfig-2.png Handfig 2] [[File:Garden Sword fig.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-sword-fig.png Sword fig] [[File:Garden Flying fig.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flying-fig.png Flying fig]
|
*Here are the images of Megan.
**Megan with sword seems to only occur on top of a platform or a piece of furniture.
***She seem to not be willing to pull out the sword when just standing on the ground.
***This means that she can only occur under a one color setting if that setting can also produce a platform. This is the case though see the color column.
|
*Standing (Yellow 9 standard)
*Hands up (L and R) (White 7)
*Sword ([http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/9c/1663_garden_One_color_Light_yellow_9d.png Yellow 9 standard] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/6d/1663_garden_One_color_Between_Light_yellow_and_yellow_2d.png Yellow 10])
*Flying (Orange 15)
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/cb/1663_garden_One_color_Light_yellow_12h.png Standing ] 
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/99/1663_garden_One_color_White_12h.png Hands up] 
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/6b/1663_garden_Megan_with_sword%2C_trees_octopuses_with_Cueball_bunny_ducklings.png Sword-tree platform] [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/cb/1663_garden_Megan_with_sword_and_owl_on_gate.png Sword-gate] [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1d/1663_garden_My_first_linsang_cat_like_creature_in_SC.png Sword-desk] 
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/8/87/1663_garden_One_color_Orange_d7.png Flying]
|-
! [[Beret Guy]] [[File:Garden Beret shrub.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-beret-shrub.png Beret shrub]
|
*Here is the image of Beret Guy.
| White 7 or mix of yellow and blue
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/99/1663_garden_One_color_White_12h.png In lake] 
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/24/1663_garden_Shark_finn_and_Beret_Guy_in_same_bird_bath_fish_boat_heron_and_more.png In birdbath] 
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/9/9b/1663_garden_Three_colors_more_separate_Beret_Guy_in_shrubbery_and_Octopus_on_office_desk.png In shrub]
|-
! [[Ponytail]] [[File:Garden Fig 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-fig-1.png Fig 1]
|
*Here are the images of Ponytail.
*She is also shown with a long stick, which she bends.
| Bendy-stick Ponytail occurs in Yellow 9.
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/eb/1663_garden_Ponytail_and_two_Cueballs_cat_pillar_and_trunk_sE.png Example]
|-
! Stilt girl [[File:Garden Stilt walker.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-stiltwalker.png Stilt walker]
|
*Here is the image of the girl on stilts.
| Light yellow 10
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1b/1663_garden_One_color_Between_Light_yellow_and_yellow_First_thing_stilts_right.png Example]
|}

===Animals===
====Mammals====
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Armadillo [[File:Garden Armadillo L.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-armadillo-l.png Armadillo L] 
[[File:Garden Armadillo R.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-armadillo-r.png Armadillo R]
|
*Here are the images of Armadillo.
| Color: Combination of 17 and 9, 15
| [ Example]
|-
! Cats [[File:Garden Cat Balanced.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cat-balanced.png Cat Balanced] 
[[File:Garden Cat Ground.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cat-ground.png Cat Ground]
|
*Here are the images of cats.
**Look similar to the cats in the mobile game ''Neko Atsume''.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Deer [[File:Garden Deer 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-deer-1.png Deer 1] 
[[File:Garden Deer 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-deer-2.png Deer 2]
|
*Here are the images of Deer.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Bunny [[File:Garden Important bun.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-important-bun.png Important bun]
|
*Here is the image of the Bunny.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Linsang [[File:Garden Linsang 1.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-1.png Linsang 1] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 2.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-2.png Linsang 2] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 3.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-3.png Linsang 3] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 4.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-4.png Linsang 4] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 5.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-5.png Linsang 5] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 6.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-6.png Linsang 6] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 7.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-7.png Linsang 7] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 8.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-8.png Linsang 8] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 9.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-9.png Linsang 9] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 10.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-10.png Linsang 10] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 11.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-11.png Linsang 11] 
[[File:Garden Linsang 12.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-linsang-12.png Linsang 12]
|
*Here are the images of linsangs.
**See more about [[#Linsang - cat like animal|Linsang - cat like animal]] in the trivia section.
| Color?
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/68/1663_Garden_Ophiocordyceps_linsang.png Linsang infected by fungus]
|}

====Birds====
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Flying birds [[File:Garden Bird 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bird-1.png Bird 1] 
[[File:Garden Bird 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bird-2.png Bird 2] 
[[File:Garden Bird 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bird-3.png Bird 3] 
[[File:Garden Bird 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bird-4.png Bird 4] 
[[File:Garden Bird 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bird-5.png Bird 5]
|
*Here are the images of flying birds.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Standing bird [[File:Garden Bird standing.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bird-standing.png Bird standing]
|
*Here are the images of Standing bird.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Duck [[File:Garden Duck 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-duck-1.png Duck 1]
|
*Here is the image of the duck.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Heron [[File:Garden Heron L.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-heron-l.png Heron L] 
[[File:Garden Heron R.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-heron-r.png Heron R]
|
*Here are the images of Herons.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Owl [[File:Garden Owl.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-owl.png Owl]
|
*Here is the image of the Owl.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Wading bird [[File:Garden Wading bird L.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-wading-bird-l.png Wading bird L] 
[[File:Garden Wading bird R.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-wading-bird-r.png Wading bird R]
|
*Here are the images of wading birds.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Water bird [[File:Garden Water bird 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-waterbird-1.png Water bird 1] 
[[File:Garden Water bird 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-waterbird-2.png Water bird 2]
|
*Here are the images of water bird.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|}

====From the sea====
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Fish [[File:Garden Fish 1.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-fish-1.png Fish 1] 
[[File:Garden Fish 2.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-fish-2.png Fish 2]
|
*Here are the images of Fish.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Flying fish [[File:Flying fish 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flying-fish-1.png Flying fish 1] 
[[File:Flying fish 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flying-fish-2.png Flying fish 2] 
[[File:Garden Actual flying fish 1.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-actual-flying-fish-1.png Actual flying fish 1] 
[[File:Garden Actual flying fish 2.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-actual-flying-fish-2.png Actual flying fish 2]
|
*Here are the images of Flying fish.
| Color?
| [http://forums.xkcd.com/download/file.php?id=51476&mode=view Flying fish in Megan's hair] [http://forums.xkcd.com/download/file.php?id=51543&mode=view Flying fish and UGO]
|-
! Octopus [[File:Garden Octopus.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-octopus.png Octopus] 
[[File:Garden Octopus hat capable.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-octopus-hat-capable.png Octopus hat capable]
|
*Here are the images of Octopuses.
| Color: Blue (Only On the Pond)
| [ Example]
|-
! Sharks [[File:Garden Shark fin L.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-shark-fin-l.png Shark fin L] 
[[File:Garden Shark fin R.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-shark-fin-r.png Shark fin R]
|
*Here is the image of the shark fins.
| Color?
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/6e/1663_Garden_Megan_there%27s_a_shark_in_the_water.png Shark in birdbath]
|-
! Tentacle [[File:Garden Tentacle 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-tentacle-1.png Tentacle 1] 
[[File:Garden Tentacle 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-tentacle-2.png Tentacle 2] 
[[File:Garden Tentacle 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-tentacle-3.png Tentacle 3] 
[[File:Garden Tentacle 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-tentacle-4.png Tentacle 4] 
[[File:Garden Tentacle 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-tentacle-5.png Tentacle 5] 
[[File:Garden Tentacle 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-tentacle-6.png Tentacle 6]
|
*Here are the images of tentacles.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|}

====Reptiles====
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Snake [[File:Garden Snake 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-snake-1.png Snake 1] 
[[File:Garden Snake 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-snake-2.png Snake 2]
|
*Here are the images of snakes.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Turtle [[File:Garden Turtle 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-turtle-1.png Turtle 1] 
[[File:Garden Turtle 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-turtle-2.png Turtle 2]
|
*Here are the images of turtles.
| Color reddish? Orange 15
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/6c/1663_Garden_octopus_turtle_capable.png Octopus turtle capable]
|}

====Insects====
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Bees [[File:Garden Bee 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bee-1.png Bee 1] 
[[File:Garden Bee 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bee-2.png Bee 2] 
[[File:Garden Bee 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bee-3.png Bee 3] 
[[File:Garden Bee 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bee-4.png Bee 4] 
[[File:Garden Bee 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bee-5.png Bee 5] 
[[File:Garden Bee 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bee-6.png Bee 6]
|
*Here are the images of bees.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Beehive 
[[File:Garden Beehive-base.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-beehive-base.png Beehive-base] 
[[File:Garden Beehive entrance a.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-beehive-entrance-a.png Beehive entrance a] 
[[File:Beehive section.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-beehive-section.png Beehive section]
|
*Here are the images that construct the beehive.
| Color?
| [http://forums.xkcd.com/download/file.php?id=51487&mode=view BlitzGirl's beehive]
|}

===Plants===
====Trees====
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Tall trunks [[File:Garden Tall trunk 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-talltrunk-1.png Tall trunk 1] 
[[File:Garden Tall trunk 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-talltrunk-2.png Tall trunk 2] 
[[File:Garden Tall trunk 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-talltrunk-3.png Tall trunk 3] 
[[File:Garden Tall trunk 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-talltrunk-4.png Tall trunk 4]
|
*Here are the images of tall trunks.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Trunks [[File:Garden Trunk 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-trunk-1.png Trunk 1] 
[[File:Garden Trunk 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-trunk-2.png Trunk 2] 
[[File:Garden Trunk 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-trunk-3.png Trunk 3] 
[[File:Garden Trunk 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-trunk-4.png Trunk 4] 
[[File:Garden Trunk 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-trunk-5.png Trunk 5] 
[[File:Garden Trunk 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-trunk-6.png Trunk 6] 
[[File:Garden Trunk 7.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-trunk-7.png Trunk 7] 
[[File:Garden Trunk 8.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-trunk-8.png Trunk 8]
|
*Here are the images of smaller trunks.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Branches [[File:Garden Branch 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-1.png Branch 1] 
[[File:Garden Branch 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-2.png Branch 2] 
[[File:Garden Branch 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-3.png Branch 3] 
[[File:Garden Branch 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-4.png Branch 4] 
[[File:Garden Branch 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-5.png Branch 5] 
[[File:Garden Branch 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-6.png Branch 6] 
[[File:Garden Branch 7.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-7.png Branch 7] 
[[File:Garden Branch 8.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-8.png Branch 8] 
[[File:Garden Branch 9.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-9.png Branch 9] 
[[File:Garden Branch 10.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-10.png Branch 10] 
[[File:Garden Branch 11.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-11.png Branch 11] 
[[File:Garden Branch 12.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-12.png Branch 12] 
[[File:Garden Branch 13.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-13.png Branch 13] 
[[File:Garden Branch 14.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-14.png Branch 14] 
[[File:Garden Branch 15.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-15.png Branch 15] 
[[File:Garden Branch 16.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-16.png Branch 16] 
[[File:Garden Branch 17.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-17.png Branch 17] 
[[File:Garden Branch 18.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-18.png Branch 18] 
[[File:Garden Branch 19.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-19.png Branch 19] 
[[File:Garden Branch 20.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-20.png Branch 20] 
[[File:Garden Branch 21.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-21.png Branch 21] 
[[File:Garden Branch 22.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-22.png Branch 22] 
[[File:Garden Branch 23.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-23.png Branch 23] 
[[File:Garden Branch 24.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-branch-24.png Branch 24]
|
*Here are the images of branches.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Leaves [[File:Garden Leaves 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-1.png Leaves 1] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-2.png Leaves 2] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-3.png Leaves 3] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-4.png Leaves 4] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-5.png Leaves 5] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-6.png Leaves 6] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 7.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-7.png Leaves 7] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 8.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-8.png Leaves 8] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 9.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-9.png Leaves 9] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 10.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-10.png Leaves 10] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 11.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-11.png Leaves 11] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 12.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-12.png Leaves 12] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 13.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-13.png Leaves 13] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 14.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-14.png Leaves 14] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 15.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-15.png Leaves 15] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 16.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-16.png Leaves 16] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 17.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-17.png Leaves 17] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 18.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-18.png Leaves 18] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 19.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-19.png Leaves 19] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 20.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-20.png Leaves 20] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 21.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-21.png Leaves 21] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 22.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-22.png Leaves 22] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 23.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-23.png Leaves 23] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 24.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-24.png Leaves 24] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 25.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-25.png Leaves 25] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 26.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-26.png Leaves 26] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 27.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-27.png Leaves 27] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 28.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-28.png Leaves 28] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 29.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-29.png Leaves 29] 
[[File:Garden Leaves 30.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-leaves-30.png Leaves 30]
|
*Here are the images of leaves.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|}

====Flowers====
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Blooms [[File:Garden Flower bloom 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-bloom1.png Flower bloom 1] 
[[File:Garden Flower bloom 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-bloom2.png Flower bloom 2] 
[[File:Garden Flower bloom 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-bloom3.png Flower bloom 3] 
[[File:Garden Flower bloom 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-bloom4.png Flower bloom 4] 
[[File:Garden Flower bloom 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-bloom5.png Flower bloom 5] 
[[File:Garden Flower bloom 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-bloom6.png Flower bloom 6] 
[[File:Garden Flower bloom 7.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-bloom7.png Flower bloom 7]
|
*Here are the images of blooms.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Hilt [[File:Garden Flower hilt 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-hilt1.png Flower hilt 1] 
[[File:Garden Flower hilt 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-hilt2.png Flower hilt 2]
|
*Here are the images of hilt.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Stem segments [[File:Garden Flower base.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-base.png Flower base] 
[[File:Garden Flower segment 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment1.png Flower segment 1] 
[[File:Garden Flower segment 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment2.png Flower segment 2] 
[[File:Garden Flower segment 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment3.png Flower segment 3] 
[[File:Garden Flower segment 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment4.png Flower segment 4] 
[[File:Flower segment 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment5.png Flower segment 5] 
[[File:Flower segment 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment6.png Flower segment 6] 
[[File:Flower segment 7.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment7.png Flower segment 7] 
[[File:Flower segment 8.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment8.png Flower segment 8] 
[[File:Flower segment 9.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment9.png Flower segment 9] 
[[File:Flower segment 10.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment10.png Flower segment 10] 
[[File:Flower segment 11.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment11.png Flower segment 11] 
[[File:Flower segment 12.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-flower-segment12.png Flower segment 12]
|
*Here is the image of the base and segments of the flower stems.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Star plant [[File:Garden Star Plant.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-starplant.png Star Plant]
|
*Here are the images the star plant.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Tulips [[File:Garden Tulip 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-tulip-1.png Tulip 1] 
[[File:Garden Tulip 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-tulip-2.png Tulip 2]
|
*Here are the images of Tulips.
| Orange 15
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/0/03/1663_Garden_tulip_Megan.png Tulip Megan]
|}

====Other plants====
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Cactus [[File:Garden Cactus 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cactus-1.png Cactus 1] 
[[File:Garden Cactus 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cactus-2.png Cactus 2]
|
*Here are the images of cactus.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Grass [[File:Garden Grass 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-grass-1.png Grass 1] 
[[File:Garden Grass 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-grass-2.png Grass 2] 
[[File:Garden Grass 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-grass-3.png Grass 3] 
[[File:Garden Grass 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-grass-4.png Grass 4] 
[[File:Garden Grass 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-grass-5.png Grass 5] 
[[File:Garden Grass 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-grass-6.png Grass 6] 
[[File:Garden Grass 7.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-grass-7.png Grass 7] 
[[File:Garden Grass 8.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-grass-8.png Grass 8] 
[[File:Garden Grass 9.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-grass-9.png Grass 9]
|
*Here are the images of grass.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Reeds [[File:Garden Reeds 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-1.png Reeds 1] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-2.png Reeds 2] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-3.png Reeds 3] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-4.png Reeds 4] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-5.png Reeds 5] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-6.png Reeds 6] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 8.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-8.png Reeds 8] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 9.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-9.png Reeds 9] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 10.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-10.png Reeds 10] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 11.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-11.png Reeds 11] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 12.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-12.png Reeds 12] 
[[File:Garden Reeds 13.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-reeds-13.png Reeds 13]
|
*Here are the images of reeds.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Shrub [[File:Garden Shrub 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-1.png Shrub 1] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-2.png Shrub 2] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-3.png Shrub 3] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-4.png Shrub 4] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-5.png Shrub 5] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 6.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-6.png Shrub 6] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 7.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-7.png Shrub 7] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 8.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-8.png Shrub 8] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 9.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-9.png Shrub 9] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 10.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-10.png Shrub 10] 
[[File:Garden Shrub 11.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-shrub-11.png Shrub 11]
|
*Here are the images of shrubs.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Wavy plant [[File:Garden Wavy plant 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-wavyplant-1.png Wavy plant 1] 
[[File:Garden Wavy plant 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-wavyplant-2.png Wavy plant 2] 
[[File:Garden Wavy plant 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-wavyplant-3.png Wavy plant 3] 
[[File:Garden Wavy plant 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-wavyplant-4.png Wavy plant 4]
|
*Here are the images of wavy plants.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|}

===Platforms===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Tree platform [[File:Garden Left platform.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-left-platform.png Left platform] [[File:Garden Right platform.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-right-platform.png Right platform]
|
*Here are the images of platforms in trees.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Platform [[File:Garden Platform 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-platform-1.png Platform 1]
|
*Here is the image of the basic platform.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Platform Column [[File:Garden PlatformColumn 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-platform-column-1.png PlatformColumn 1] 
[[File:Garden PlatformColumn 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-platform-column-2.png PlatformColumn 2] 
[[File:Garden PlatformColumn 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-platform-column-3.png PlatformColumn 3]
|
*Here are the images of platform columns.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Stone Platform [[File:Garden Stone Platform 1 Wide.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-stone-platform-1wide.png Stone Platform 1 Wide] 
[[File:Garden Stone Platform 3 Wide.png]]  [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-stone-platform-3wide.png Stone Platform 3 Wide] 
[[File:Garden Stone Platform 5 Wide.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-stone-platform-5wide.png Stone Platform 5 Wide]
|
*Here are the images of stone platforms.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Tall platform [[File:Garden Tall platform.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-tall-platform.png Tall platform]
|
*Here is the image of the tall platform.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|}

===Other items===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Balloon [[File:Garden Balloon.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-balloon.png Balloon] 
[[File:Garden Balloon Huge.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-balloon-huge.png Balloon Huge] 
[[File:Garden Balloon Segment.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-balloon-segment.png Balloon Segment] 
[[File:Balloon segment short.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-balloon-segment-short.png Balloon segment short]
|
*Here are the images of balloons and their strings.
| Color?
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/34/1663_garden_S_shaped_empty_balloon_string_right.png S-shaped balloon string]
|-
! Birdbath [[File:Garden Birdbath.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-birdbath.png Birdbath]
|
*Here is the image of the birdbath.
| Color?
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a1/1663_garden_Purple_garden_with_Heron.png Birdbath legged deer]
|-
! Boat [[File:Garden Boat 1 L.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-boat-1-l.png Boat 1 L] 
[[File:Garden Boat 1 R.png]] [http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-boat-1-r.png Boat 1 R]
|
*Here are the images of boats.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Cairn stones [[File:Garden Cairn Base 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-base-1.png Cairn Base 1] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Base 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-base-2.png Cairn Base 2] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Base 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-base-3.png Cairn Base 3] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Base 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-base-4.png Cairn Base 4] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Base 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-base-5.png Cairn Base 5] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Mid 1.png]]  [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-mid-1.png Cairn Mid 1] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Mid 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-mid-2.png Cairn Mid 2] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Mid 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-mid-3.png Cairn Mid 3] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Mid 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-mid-4.png Cairn Mid 4] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Mid 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-mid-5.png Cairn Mid 5] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Top 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-top-1.png Cairn Top 1] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Top 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-top-2.png Cairn Top 2] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Top 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-top-3.png Cairn Top 3] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Top 4.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-top-4.png Cairn Top 4] 
[[File:Garden Cairn Top 5.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-cairn-top-5.png Cairn Top 5]
|
*Here is the image of the stones used to form cairns.
| Color?
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/23/1663_Garden_An_Engineer_cairns.png Gigantic rock pile]
|-
! Furniture [[File:Garden Desk 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-desk-1.png Desk 1] 
[[File:Garden Desk lamp.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-desk-lamp.png Desk lamp] 
[[File:Garden Table 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-table-1.png Table 1]
|
*Here are the images of furniture for the office and other places.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Giant Planter [[File:Garden Giant Planter.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-giant-planter.png Giant Planter]
|
*Here is the image of the giant Planter.
| Color?
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/1a/1663_garden_Underground_light_gives_large_tub_on_top_of_pillar_then_filled_with_trees.png Giant planter with trees]
|-
! Hat [[File:Garden Hat 1a.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-hat-1a.png Hat 1a]
|
*Here is the image of the black hat.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Lamppost [[File:Garden Lamp crossbar left.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-lamp-crossbar-left.png Lamp crossbar left] 
[[File:Garden Lamp crossbar right.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-lamp-crossbar-right.png Lamp crossbar right] 
[[File:Garden Lamppost 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-lamppost-1.png Lamppost 1] 
[[File:Garden lamp-topper.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-lamp-topper.png lamp-topper]
|
*Here are the images that may form the complete lamppost.
*The lamp post looks exactly like the one in [[665: Prudence]], and that is the one from {{w|Narnia}} which actually grew up in the forest when Narnia was created in the chronologically first book {{w|The Magician's Nephew}} when Aslan created Narnia.

| Color?
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/7a/1663_garden_Blitz_Girls_lamp_posts_and_flowers_garden.png Example with lamp] [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/8/81/1663_garden_Lamp_post_poles_and_mars_rover.png Example with crossbar]
|-
! Obelisk [[File:Garden Obelisk.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-obelisk.png Obelisk]
|
*Here is the image of the obelisk.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Pot [[File:Garden Pot 1.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-pot-1.png Pot 1] 
[[File:Garden Pot 2.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-pot-2.png Pot 2] 
[[File:Garden Pot 3.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-pot-3.png Pot 3]
|
*Here are the images of pots.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Rover [[File:Garden Rover.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-rover.png Rover]
|
*Here is the image of the Mars rover.
| Color 16
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/3f/1663_garden_One_color_Between_orange_red_and_red_First_thing_Mars_rover.png Mars rover]
|-
! Sale sign [[File:Garden Sale sign.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-sale-sign.png Sale sign]
|
*Here is the image of the sale sign.
| Color?
| [ Example]
|-
! Saucer [[File:Garden Saucer.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-saucer.png Saucer]
|
*Here is the image of the flying saucer.
| Color?
| [http://forums.xkcd.com/download/file.php?id=51432&mode=view BlitzGirl's UFO garden]
|}

===Helper structures===
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |
! To see/hide images click here:
! Description of images
! Relevant colors
! Link to screen-shots
|-
! Bird riser [[File:Garden Bird riser.png]], [[File:Garden Bird riser with background.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-bird-riser.png Bird riser], and with background 
[[File:Garden Bird riser root.png]] [[File:Garden Bird riser root with frame.png]][http://linden.xkcd.com/art/2x-bird-riser-root.png Bird riser root], and with frame 
|
*Here are the images of the bird riser and it's root.
**They only seem to appear in the orange color range.
**The riser is invisible (white) and would have to have a background to be seen (both versions are shown to the left). This will never be the case in the garden as the raiser does not show up in front of other black items.
***However, the risers can be seen using the [[#Debug_mode|debug mode]], and this is used as the example to the right.
***Also using the debug mode on this [http://www.xkcd.com/1663/#1e853af8-055f-11e6-8001-42010a8e000f garden] the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e0/1663_garden_Color_13_2_5d_debug_with_count.png number of items can be counted] as shown in the link.
****From this link it is clear that there are three bird risers attached to two of the seven bird riser roots.
****Here only single bird risers are displayed, but they can be connected see below.
**The root can often be seen on the ground, but it can be hidden behind other objects.
***Also the root has the first short part of a bird riser above the root, which is invisible (by any means). The bird riser takes hold at the top of this invisible part. That it is there can best be seen by putting a frame around the image of the root, to see that it is twice as high as the root itself. Such an image is also shown to the left. (But the end can also be seen in the debug mode images).
*The riser are used to make items fly in the air.
**I.e. the five types of flying birds, the saucer, flying Megan and the two "actual flying fish", can attach them selves to the end of a bird riser.
**Whereas the risers need to have a root to begin, then more risers can attach to the end already existing risers, thus getting much higher up in the air than one riser (all the way up!).
**Risers can have any angles to each others, even going further down, which can explain birds and other flying objects touching the ground (even making an object be situated partially beneath the ground, like [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/c/cf/1663_garden_One_color_Orange_6d.png this flying Megan] from this [http://xkcd.com/1663/#0d6bca62-fcf3-11e5-8019-42010a8e0005 garden] or maybe even outside the frame, see last example below).
**As opposed to anything else the light that creates a bird (or other flying item) does not need to touch the actually bird, but rather the place from where the bird riser is rooted.
***This indicates that the birds etc. can grow from light touching the base of the risers rather than the tip.
****Since many bird risers can grow in layers above the first riser it is clear that the bird riser does not appear with a bird on them in one go!
***There are many examples with [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/4/48/1663_garden_One_color_Orange_9d.png birds] or [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/4/4f/1663_garden_One_color_Between_orange_and_orange_red_8d.png flying Megan] "growing" outside the light, where no light ever was, as seen from some of the [[1663:_Garden/Users_gardens#Locked_gardens_only_for_explanation_use|locked experimental gardens]].
*When selecting a bird riser root all bird risers and all flying things connected to these will also be selected (and deleted if the root is deleted).
**Here are two examples from the same [http://xkcd.com/1663/#578b80bc-fd96-11e5-8001-42010a8e000a garden] where two different roots have been selected:
***In this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/b/b9/1663_garden_14_Between_orange_and_orange_red_15d_selected_bird_riser_root.png example] the selected root is hidden by the tulip in the red circle. Seven birds are selected both right and left of this root. (Two of them on top of each other).
***In this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/2/27/1663_garden_14_Between_orange_and_orange_red_15d_selected_bird_riser_root_Megan.png example] the root in the red circle is completely hidden by turtles etc. It connects to three birds and one flying Megan, showing that it is the bird riser roots that also connect to her.
**In this next example [http://xkcd.com/1663/#59246c86-fcce-11e5-8001-42010a8e0010 garden] the links between a root and four birds are displayed in detail.
***The [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1663_garden_SF_final.png first image] is just the normal garden view screen-shot (lamps deleted). 10 birds can be seen; there are six birds over the lamp post; two near the ground under the high platform; one near the right crown of the tree; and one to the left that looks like it is a part of the linsang. Several bird riser roots (at least five) can be seen on the ground from the middle of the platform and right past the cat (two under it) and then at the sign.
***In the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/8/8d/1663_garden_SF_final_selected.png second image] the root at the foot of the Sale sign has been selected. Four birds have been selected, spread out over the entire section with birds, including the lowest, the highest, the left most and one over the lamp post.
***In the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1663_garden_SF_final_debug.png third image] debug mode has been used. All the long purple lines (of equal length) indicate bird risers.
***In the last [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/3/35/1663_garden_SF_final_debug_drawing.png fourth image] the links between the root and the four birds have been indicated. A zero (0) has been written under the root. Then 1 indicates the single bird riser that goes to the right bird over the lamp post. Bird riser 2, 3 and 4 connect to each other from the root up to the highest bird right of the crown. Then bird riser 5 goes from that to the bird near the linsang left of the tree, and finally bird riser 6 and 7 goes straight back and down to the lowest bird near the ground.
****Several bird risers seems to go beneath the ground!
**That bird risers can go beneath the ground has already been show with flying Megan partly under ground.
***In this last example it is made clear that birds can then appear either under ground (or under the top of other structures blocking their view) or even totally outside the frame (as indicated above the bird risers seem to be able to sprout items outside the cones of light, as long as they grow in the light them selves).
***The proof for this comes in this [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/1/16/1663_garden_Color_13_5d_debug_with_count.png example] with the debug version of this [http://www.xkcd.com/1663/#fa1b5c92-055e-11e6-8001-42010a8e000f garden] showing the count:
****At the time of [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/7/73/1663_garden_Color_13_5d.png these images] there where only 8 visible birds
****But the count lists 20 birds, indicating that no less than 12 birds are hidden from view!
| Color [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/4/48/1663_garden_One_color_Orange_9d.png 13 Orange] and [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/4/4f/1663_garden_One_color_Between_orange_and_orange_red_8d.png 14 Orange].
| [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/e7/1663_garden_Color_13_2_5d_debug_bird_risers.png Bird riser debug] 
[http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/5/5e/1663_garden_Color_14_3d.png Root]
|-
! Null [[File:Garden Null.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-null.png Null] [[File:Garden Null continue.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-null-continue-air.png Null continue] 
[[File:Garden Null continue air.png]], [[File:Garden Null continue air with background.png]] [http://xkcd.com/1663/art/2x-null-continue-air.png Null continue air], and with background 
|
*Here are the images of ''null''. They cannot normally be seen, the air version even have to have a background to be seen (both versions are shown). They are used for ??.
| Color
| [ Example]
|}

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]] 
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Dynamic comics]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics with animation]] 
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]] 
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Sharks]] 
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Protip]]
[[Category:Buns]]

[[Category:Chronicles of Narnia]]

Talk:2750: Flatten the Planets

2023-03-15T20:33:06Z

172.71.158.6: table

I have to wonder, would you slide down to the sun, or be flung outwards? [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 19:39, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
: The discs are centered on the orbit of the parent planet, and presumably rotating at the same frequency as the parent planet's orbit. That means the inner edge of each disc is going slower than you'd need to orbit the Sun at that distance, and the outer edge faster. If you moved inward from the original planet's orbit, the Sun's gravity would pull you in, but when you crossed the boundary to the next disc, you'd get flung back outward.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.61|162.158.62.61]] 19:58, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
::No Each planet fills out the space within their orbit into the next planet. Easy to see as the outer edge of Neptune's orbit is the same as with the planet flattened. There is a distance from Mercury to the Sun indicated. Maybe because it would melt if it got any closer? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:::First, they're rings not discs, but I'm skeptical of the math. And it looks to me like the rings edges are halfway between the orbits, with Neptune extended outwards the same distance as halfway to Uranus's orbit. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.4|172.69.22.4]] 20:08, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Planet !! Volume (1010 km3) !! Orbital radius (106 km) || halfway to prior || halfway to next
|-
| Mercury || 6.1 || 58 || 29 || 83
|-
| Venus || 9.3 || 108 || 83 || 129
|-
| Earth || 10.8 || 150 || 129 || 189
|-
| Mars || 1.6 || 228 || 189 || 504
|-
| Jupiter || 1431 || 779 || 504 || 1107
|-
| Saturn || 827 || 1434 || 1107 || 2154
|-
| Uranus || 68 || 2873 || 2154 || 3684
|-
| Neptune || 63 || 4495 || 3684 || 5304
|}

This makes about as much sense as other Flat Earth theories. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.200.137|172.70.200.137]] 20:00, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
:But this would actually be a flat Earth. Albeit with a rather larger surface area ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:03, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

2744: Fanservice

2023-03-02T21:21:30Z

172.71.158.6:

{{comic
| number = 2744
| date = March 1, 2023
| title = Fanservice
| image = fanservice_2x.png
| imagesize = 188x278px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I was eventually kicked out of my architectural engineering program because I wouldn't stop referring to HVAC as "the fandom."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an HVAC ROCK BAND - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is another comic on [[:Category:How to annoy|How to annoy]] people. It is similar to [[2036: Edgelord]], where [[Cueball]] annoys [[White Hat]], [[2654: Chemtrails]], where [[Ponytail]] is the target, and [[2683: Fan Theories]], where [[Megan]] is the one annoyed.

In all of these comics, modern slang terms or just commonly used words are used to describe jobs or ideas, and while the slang or word seems accurate if taken literally, it isn't normally used in that context. A graph theory Ph.D. was labeled an "edgelord", a reference to mathematical graphs having edges, trails of ant pheromones were labeled as "chemtrails", a reference pheromones being chemicals, and scientific hypotheses were referred to as "fan theories."

This time a turbine maintenance engineer is described as doing a lot of fanservice, as in literally servicing fans (with which turbines are often inaccurately conflated). A second order of dissonance is introduced from the difference between fans and turbines, which work oppositely: fans use energy to propel a fluid, while turbines use a flowing fluid to generate energy. [[Randall]] has previously touched on wind turbines ''not'' being fans, most notably in [[1378: Turbine]].

{{wiktionary|fanservice|Fanservice}} is a term used to describe decisions made in fictional media, usually TV or film productions, that are intended to make the fans happy. The term is sometimes derogatory as it implies some degree of pandering to the fans over finishing the story, and in such cases can be incredibly distracting. It can just mean inserting obscure details of the work's back-history, to spark gleeful recognition among the more devoted fans, though it also refers to the inclusion of titillating scenes — the {{tvtropes|MsFanservice|Ms. Fanservice}} trope where female characters routinely wear form-fitting outfits is a good example.

In the title text, Randall refers to HVAC (a term for the unified Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning systems of a given building) as "the fandom." Normally, "fandom" means the group of fans of something, but here refers to a domain that uses lots of fans. Randall tells that he was thrown out of his architectural engineering program because ''I wouldn't stop referring to HVAC as "the fandom."'' This is related to the many [[:Category:Banned from conferences|conferences he says he has been banned from]].

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is talking to White Hat, who has his hands balled into fists and has small lines above his head to indicate he is yelling his response back at Cueball.]
:Cueball: So, I hear you do a lot of fanservice.
:White Hat: '''''No!'''''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:How to annoy a turbine maintenance engineer

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Puns]]
[[Category:Engineering]]
[[Category:How to annoy]]

2719: Hydrogen Isotopes

2023-01-04T15:03:20Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ simplify for ease of comprehension

{{comic
| number = 2719
| date = January 2, 2023
| title = Hydrogen Isotopes
| image = hydrogen_isotopes_2x.png
| imagesize = 442x250px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Oops, All Neutrons is also known as Neutral Quadrium, Nydnonen, and Goth Tritium.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BREAK ROOM DE BROGLIE MICROWAVE USER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{W|Hydrogen}} is the simplest of the chemical atoms, usually consisting of an electron orbiting a lone proton, but with two other naturally occuring {{w|isotope}}s. This comic shows real and humorously fictional forms of hydrogen, generally depicted according the {{w|Discovery of the neutron#Proton–neutron model of the nucleus|Chadwick model}} of the atom; see [[2100: Models of the Atom]] for details.

{| class="wikitable"
! "Isotope"
! Real?
! Description
|-
|Hydrogen
|Yes
|Hydrogen-1 is the most common isotope of hydrogen, with one proton and one electron, shown with the electron orbiting the proton. It is also known as protium.
|-
|Deuterium
|Yes
|{{w|Deuterium}} is the second most common isotope of hydrogen, with one electron and both a neutron and proton in its nucleus. About one of every 6,760 hydrogen atoms in seawater is deuterium.
|-
|Tritium
|Yes
|{{w|Tritium}} is the third most common isotope of hydrogen, with one electron and a nucleus of one proton and two neutrons, for an atomic mass of about three {{w|Dalton (unit)|daltons}}. It is radioactive with a half-life of about twelve years, and is very rare (but not as rare as unbound "instant hydrogen" neutrons.)
|-
|Ium
|Yes (in the lab)
|This is an electron orbiting around nothing. Heavier hydrogen isotopes are named from a prefix designating the number of {{w|nucleons}} followed by the suffix "-ium" (which is also {{w|systematic element name|used to name newly discovered elements}} before they are given a proper name, e.g. {{w|unununium}} for element 111) so no nucleus is designated here with no prefix. A free electron will not circle around nothing, but instead will gain momentum towards positive and away from negative electromagnetic field potentials. However, intentional confinement in a {{w|Penning trap}} can cause free electrons to move in a circle.
|-
|Wheelium
|No
|This fictional form consists of a proton, electron, and neutron orbiting around nothing, shaped similarly to a wheel. The neutron could bind to the proton, but will more likely {{w|Elastic_scattering#Nuclear particle physics|elastically scatter}} away.
|-
|Instant hydrogen (ready in 15 minutes)
|Yes, but rare
|This is just a single neutron. An unbound neutron will decay into a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino, with a mean lifetime of just under fifteen minutes. The proton and electron ''can'' form into a hydrogen atom, but that [https://van.physics.illinois.edu/ask/listing/1207 only happens about four times in a million.] The name is likely a reference to "instant" food such as noodles which are reduced for convenience and can be quickly reconstituted.
|-
|Hydrogen (maximum strength)
|No
|This fictional isotope consists of a proton, an electron, and what appear to be at least 14 neutrons. This isotope's proton would not be bound to all the neutrons. It would immediately decay by {{w|Nuclear drip line|dripping}} most all of them away, producing a large amount of energy. "Maximum strength" may be a reference to over-the-counter medicines containing the largest quantity of active ingredients permitted.
|-
|Oops, All Neutrons
|Maybe
|This fictional form consists of four neutrons, a {{w|tetraneutron}}, with one orbiting around a group of three. The name is likely a reference to an American breakfast cereal called {{w|Cap'n Crunch#Variations|Oops! All Berries}}.

The title text provides three other names: 1. "Neutral Quadrium": {{w|Isotopes_of_hydrogen#Hydrogen-4|Quadrium}} is an extremely rare artificial isotope of hydrogen with a proton and three neutrons.[https://www.chem.ccu.edu.tw/~hu/Web_Lib/articles/Muonium+H2_Science_2011.pdf][https://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/GodesRcontrolled.pdf] The proton and electron have been replaced with neutrons. 2. "Nydnonen" is the word "hydrogen" with three consonants replaced by the letter 'n' so it has four of them representing the four neutrons. 3. "Goth Tritium": All the particles in the depiction are black, resembling typical {{w|gothic fashion}}, and in the same configuration as the particles of tritium.
|}

{{notice2|The Mountain View, California Public Library is hosting an online chat with [[Randall Munroe]] Tuesday, January 31 at 11am Pacific. [https://libraryc.org/mountainviewlibrary/22032 Register here to send your question(s) to the moderators.]|image=Crystal Project Agt announcements.png}} 

==Transcript==
:[Eight drawings of different versions of hydrogen atoms are shown. They are arranged in two rows of four. The depictions use the planetary model version with for instance a negative electron (with a "-" written inside a small circle) orbiting a positive proton (with a "+" written inside a larger circle) and a black neutron depicted as a circle of the same size as the neutron, as in the second atom - Deuterium. Each has a label underneath. Here, they are listed in reading order:]
:[An electron orbiting a proton:]
:Hydrogen

:[An electron orbiting a proton connected with a neutron:]
:Deuterium

:[An electron orbiting a proton connected with two neutrons, so they form a triangle:]
:Tritium

:[An electron orbiting nothing:]
:Ium

:[An electron a proton and a neutron all orbiting on the same circle around nothing. They are placed equidistant from each other forming a large triangle:]
:Wheelium

:[A single neutron:]
:Instant Hydrogen (ready in 15 minutes)

:[An electron orbiting a proton connected with many neutrons, 13 visible with six touching the proton which are in front. Four more are close to those six and mostly shown and then three are only just visible behind the others. Looking closely there are also two smaller dots near the edge indicating at least two more, for 15 that can be seen. And several more would be behind the visible neutrons if this forms a spherical shape. The electrons orbit just barely goes around the outer neutrons:]
:Hydrogen (maximum strength)

:[Four neutrons arranged like the particles in Tritium with a neutron orbiting a triangle of neutrons.]
:Oops, all neutrons

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

2719: Hydrogen Isotopes

2023-01-04T06:19:34Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ clarify

{{comic
| number = 2719
| date = January 2, 2023
| title = Hydrogen Isotopes
| image = hydrogen_isotopes_2x.png
| imagesize = 442x250px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Oops, All Neutrons is also known as Neutral Quadrium, Nydnonen, and Goth Tritium.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BREAK ROOM DE BROGLIE MICROWAVE USER. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{W|Hydrogen}} is the simplest of the chemical atoms, usually consisting of a lone electron orbiting a lone proton. This comic shows real and humorously fictional forms of hydrogen, generally depicted according the {{w|Discovery of the neutron#Proton–neutron model of the nucleus|Chadwick model}} of the atom; see [[2100: Models of the Atom]] for details.

{| class="wikitable"
! "Isotope"
! Real?
! Description
|-
|Hydrogen
|Yes
|Hydrogen-1 is the most common {{w|isotope}} of hydrogen, with one proton and one electron, shown with the electron orbiting the proton. It is also known as protium.
|-
|Deuterium
|Yes
|{{w|Deuterium}} is the second most common isotope of hydrogen, with one electron and both a neutron and proton in its nucleus. About one of every 6,760 hydrogen atoms in seawater is deuterium.
|-
|Tritium
|Yes
|{{w|Tritium}} is the third most common isotope of hydrogen, with one electron and a nucleus of one proton and two neutrons, for an atomic mass of about three {{w|Dalton (unit)|daltons}}. It is radioactive with a half-life of about twelve years, and is very rare (but not as rare as unbound "instant hydrogen" neutrons.)
|-
|Ium
|Not as shown
|This isotope depicts an electron orbiting around nothing. Heavier hydrogen isotopes are named from a prefix designating the number of {{w|nucleons}} followed by the suffix "-ium" (which is also {{w|systematic element name|used to name newly discovered elements}} before they are given a proper name, e.g. {{w|unununium}} for element 111) so no nucleus is designated with no prefix. A free electron will not circle around nothing, but instead will gain momentum towards positive electric field potentials including those created by moving magnetic fields.
|-
|Wheelium
|No
|This fictional form consists of a proton, electron, and neutron orbiting around nothing, shaped similarly to a wheel. The neutron could bind to the proton, but will more likely {{w|Elastic_scattering#Nuclear particle physics|elastically scatter}} away.
|-
|Instant hydrogen (ready in 15 minutes)
|Yes, but rare
|This is just a single neutron. An unbound neutron will decay into a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino, with a mean lifetime of just under fifteen minutes. The proton and electron ''can'' form into a hydrogen atom, but that [https://van.physics.illinois.edu/ask/listing/1207 only happens about four times in a million.] The name is likely a reference to "instant" food such as noodles which are reduced for convenience and can be quickly reconstituted.
|-
|Hydrogen (maximum strength)
|No
|This fictional isotope consists of a proton, an electron, and what appear to be at least 14 neutrons. This isotope's proton would not be bound to all the neutrons. It would immediately decay by {{w|Nuclear drip line|dripping}} most all of them away, producing a large amount of energy. "Maximum strength" may be a reference to over-the-counter medicines containing the largest quantity of active ingredients permitted.
|-
|Oops, All Neutrons
|Maybe
|This fictional form consists of four neutrons, a {{w|tetraneutron}}, with one orbiting around a group of three. The name is likely a reference to an American breakfast cereal called {{w|Cap'n Crunch#Variations|Oops! All Berries}}.

The title text provides three other names of this form: 1. "Neutral Quadrium": Quadrium is an extremely rare isotope of hydrogen with four nucleons, a proton and three neutrons.[https://www.chem.ccu.edu.tw/~hu/Web_Lib/articles/Muonium+H2_Science_2011.pdf][https://www.lenr-canr.org/acrobat/GodesRcontrolled.pdf] The proton and electron have been replaced with neutrons, making a fictional neutral atom. 2. "Nydnonen" is likely a derivation of "hydrogen" with three of its consonants replaced with the letter 'n' so it has four of them representing the four neutrons. 3. "Goth Tritium": All the particles in the depiction are black, resembling typical {{w|gothic fashion}}, and in the same configuration as the particles of tritium.
|}

{{notice2|The Mountain View, California Public Library is hosting an online chat with [[Randall Munroe]] Tuesday, January 31 at 11am Pacific. [https://libraryc.org/mountainviewlibrary/22032 Register here to send your question(s) to the moderators.]|image=Crystal Project Agt announcements.png}} 

==Transcript==
:[Eight drawings of different versions of hydrogen atoms are shown. They are arranged in two rows of four. The depictions use the planetary model version with for instance a negative electron (with a "-" written inside a small circle) orbiting a positive proton (with a "+" written inside a larger circle) and a black neutron depicted as a circle of the same size as the neutron, as in the second atom - Deuterium. Each has a label underneath. Here, they are listed in reading order:]
:[An electron orbiting a proton:]
:Hydrogen

:[An electron orbiting a proton connected with a neutron:]
:Deuterium

:[An electron orbiting a proton connected with two neutrons, so they form a triangle:]
:Tritium

:[An electron orbiting nothing:]
:Ium

:[An electron a proton and a neutron all orbiting on the same circle around nothing. They are placed equidistant from each other forming a large triangle:]
:Wheelium

:[A single neutron:]
:Instant Hydrogen (ready in 15 minutes)

:[An electron orbiting a proton connected with many neutrons, 13 visible with six touching the proton which are in front. Four more are close to those six and mostly shown and then three are only just visible behind the others. Looking closely there are also two smaller dots near the edge indicating at least two more, for 15 that can be seen. And several more would be behind the visible neutrons if this forms a spherical shape. The electrons orbit just barely goes around the outer neutrons:]
:Hydrogen (maximum strength)

:[Four neutrons arranged like the particles in Tritium with a neutron orbiting a triangle of neutrons.]
:Oops, all neutrons

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Chemistry]]

Talk:2716: Game Night Ordering

2022-12-27T10:52:51Z

172.71.158.6: ?

Should we create a category for comics about game night? It can contain at least this and https://xkcd.com/2486/. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:32, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
:I'm not going to oppose it, but keep in mind that it would overlap with [[:Category:Board games]]. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.48|172.70.178.48]] 22:50, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
::We absolutely need a general [[:Category:Games]] because we have e.g. roleplaying games under Board games. Does anyone know how to edit in a superclass category? The last time I ever did anything sophisticated with Mediawiki categories was like 2008. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.38|172.71.154.38]] 23:39, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
:::{{done}} [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 06:20, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

The rules would seem to be similar to the card game Cheat (or, at least, the version we used to play). Using an ordinary wholly-dealt pack of cards (for any number of players), it was a "blind bid and discard" game whereby each player has to state "<one to four> <card value>s" (or more than four, with merged packs, each of which might be whole or partial) was going on the discard pile, such that the card value was within one (-1, =, +1, with standard wrapping ...>10>J>Q>K>A>2>...) of the prior stated discard. And ''something'' had to be discarded, whether or not the player could technically do so. The forfeit for not continuing play ''or'' challenging, within a generally acceptable thinking time, was the same for either being successfully challenged (you stated you put down two threes, but on checking the dump pile you discarded two sevens) or for the person who wrongly challenged... to pick up the discard pile and be so much further from the ultimate goal of ending up with zero cards (the first the winner, optionally the second, third, etc to do so to earn further ranks just for the sake of continuing/last-ranking the one who ended up as the only one still with cards). - I presume this game just applies the same penalty (buying the food) to anyone who dithers over whether to challenge anything or 'play their own hand'. There doesn't need to be anything more complicated to it. Unless there's also an 'empty hand' winning state, that I can't discern from the brief discourse given in the comic. But it seems more geared to finding the eventual 'loser' (the one who pays up) than any single beneficiary. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.230|162.158.34.230]] 23:17, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
:If there is a link for Cheat you should add it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.150|172.70.206.150]] 23:20, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
::Well, I think there's far too many variations... Though, surprisingly, it does look like {{w|Cheat (game)}} actually describes ''my'' learnt version quite well. But I don't think I see any 'time out' penalties mentioned there, and that was th XXX oe key part of the "play or challenge, don't dither, or you lose" bit to my (sorry, rather long) description above... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.230|162.158.34.230]] 23:27, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
::: Never apologize for verbosity on talk; devote that energy to brevity on main. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.156|172.71.154.156]] 23:41, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
::::We need a quotes page. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.150|172.70.206.150]] 02:13, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::(Plus there's the inverted "loser finder" rather than "winner finder" primary nature of the gameplay. It makes the methodology of play a bit too different.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.231|162.158.34.231]] 23:30, 26 December 2022 (UTC)
:::My favourite tactic (knowing that I'm unlikely to identifiably play against anyone who reads this...) in Cheat is that ''when'' I have four (or more, in multipack) of a particular in-range card value, and not chosen to ignore someone else's clearly false declaration of that rank, I declare one or two of this (but dump something else, as convenient) on one pass, on the very next opportunity (fellow players tending to random-walk the ±1 bracket-change) I declare/dump 'another' one or two (for real), and then on the next opportunity I truthfully get rid of all the remainder. That adds up to greater than the possibly held number of cards. But when the suspicions are ramped up against me (I've now declared six of the four jacks in the pack!) I'm proven correct. And yet, when I was lying, I knew that nobody else could hold any (or enough) of the rank to have reasonable doubts about me.
:::As a bonus, so long as I remember what I dumped in the first bit of this tactic, I can conceivably have still had ''those'' cards if gameplay forces me to submit something in thir separate range. Meaning that now it's fairly safe to pretend to dump them (but actually dump any further different card-values as I decide), without increased suspicion. Especially when all this is slotted into a more general "honesty is the best policy" gameplay, save for some of the above traps or ''strictly necessary'' bluff, meaning it's high risk to challenge me. Even upon my having just declared the latest in a running total of ''seven'' deuces, or whatever it turns out I've apparently racked up since the last forced pickup (which I treat as opportunity, should I suffer it).
:::Though none of this relates easily to the comic's game, of course, which is more a combination of knowledge, prepartee and hutzpah... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.74|172.71.242.74]] 08:31, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::::What?? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.6|172.71.158.6]] 10:52, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

We should make a payment service for providing crowdfunded rewards to the best contributors to explanations. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.16|172.69.134.16]] 01:16, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:I love this idea but it would conflict with the ethos of completely anonymized contributions here. Unless someone can propose how it might not? I mean, if there was some way to include an SHA-256 identity-confirming hash in edit summaries? Would keeping track of them in terms of surviving text after, say, a month be a decent leaderboard scoring? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.84|172.69.33.84]] 01:42, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::My meager anonymous IP contributions to explanations have been completely dwarfed by my attempts to revert vandalism on the official main page leaderboard, but is that a good or a bad thing? The idea needs to be carefully considered. I would absolutely kick in $25 to support other explainers, but I would need some assurance that the system couldn't be gamed by, e.g. paraphrasers, which I'm not sure is even possible. [[User:Liv2splain|Liv2splain]] ([[User talk:Liv2splain|talk]]) 01:54, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::: It's easy to hijack someone else's contributions with paraphrasing and refactoring. It's a dead end. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.230|162.158.166.230]] 02:05, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:::: True, but is there a way to avoid the cheating? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.214.253|172.70.214.253]] 02:28, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::: I would probably also kick in $25 if the system was well-designed, even if it was vulnerable to paraphrasing or refactoring, as long as someone could call out such flaws as they happened. Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.173|162.158.166.173]] 02:39, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:::: The operationalism issue is how to set up actual payment flows while still allowing criticisms of them. The cost to reverse a payment is too high compared to the relative number of payments you might want to reverse. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.90|172.71.158.90]] 05:33, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

Is this about cryptocurrency scams? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.135|172.70.211.135]] 02:50, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:I want to [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlMwc1c0HRQ&ab_channel=NickKing subscribe to your newsletter.] [[Special:Contributions/172.70.206.92|172.70.206.92]] 05:20, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

Am I an idiot because I didn't know Amazon did food delivery before clicking on that first link? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.211.92|172.70.211.92]] 05:42, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
:I didn't know either until you brought it to my attention, but firstly their prices are high compared to established players, and secondly it's a dystopian vision of capitalism which everyone is trying to avoid even though we all know it's inevitable. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.158.217|172.71.158.217]] 07:39, 27 December 2022 (UTC)
::Dude! You can say that again! [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.125|172.69.33.125]] 07:45, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

Does anyone else see the food : money :: atoms : bits analogy? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.19|162.158.186.19]] 07:26, 27 December 2022 (UTC)

The strategy mentioned in the alttext might not be faecetious- consider the alternate categories of apps and services that might exist, such as randomisers, colour pickers, specialty search engines, wikis, en and decoders, photo editors, etc. I could pull off somehting like a list of encoding bits in python in a couple hours off of seventh grade computer science. ~Tanz

2714: Cold Complaints

2022-12-22T21:17:29Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ Paxlovid is effective!

{{comic
| number = 2714
| date = December 21, 2022
| title = Cold Complaints
| image = cold_complaints.png
| imagesize = 740x254px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our investigation into whining-based remedies became the first study to be halted by the IRB on the grounds that the treatment group was 'too annoying.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GIGANTIC WHINING BABY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When people are ill, they will often complain about the symptoms that they're suffering from. A common stereotype is that men will revert to infantile behavior when miserably sick. This can be annoying to the people around them, but they typically tolerate such behavior out of compassion. The joke in this comic is that [[Hairy]] spoke via a {{w|telehealth}} appointment to [[Ponytail]], a medical professional who explicitly advised him to act out, since his condition has no effective medical treatment. He takes her advice to, "act like you're the first person ever to have a cold," literally, stating it specifically when his companion asks about it.

This comic was published during a "tripledemic" in the U.S., involving {{w|COVID-19}}, {{w|influenza}}, and {{w|respiratory syncytial virus}} (RSV, a frequent cause of common colds) infections, the latter of which do not have cures, other than to wait them out with plenty of rest and fluids (provided that symptoms do not require hospitalization). It expounds on the finding that, "talking about troublesome events, including events with which one is dissatisfied, may ... result in improved physiological health." (Kowalski, R.M. (2002) [http://people.uncw.edu/hakanr/documents/whining.pdf "Whining, griping, and complaining: positivity in the negativity"] ''Journal of Clinical Psychology'' '''58'''(9):1023–35.)

The title text describes a similar study, but where the {{w|institutional review board}} (IRB) halted the study because the participants were too annoying. This is ironic since they were supposed to whine annoyingly for the sake of the experiment. IRBs are expected to review the ethics of a research project, with particular attention paid to the well-being of the subjects. Whining is not usually considered dangerous,{{citation needed}} but in this case it was presumably so intolerable to the Board (or perhaps the control group, who were presumably forbidden from whining while sick) that they had to put a stop to it.

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

:[Hairy sitting on a chair in front of a computer screen. There is an image of Ponytail on the screen speaking.]
:Ponytail: Well, it's not COVID or flu. Probably one of the other viruses.
:Hairy: Ughh

:[A zoomed out version of the image, Ponytail cannot be seen]
:Ponytail: There's not much you can do to speed up recovery other than rest, hydrate, and whine and complain and be a gigantic baby about it.

:[Same as previous panel]
:Hairy: Whine and complain?
:Ponytail: Yeah. You need to act like you're the first person ever to have a cold.

:[Hairy lying on a couch wrapped in a blanket, with a lot of paper tissues around]
:Off-screen voice: Are you '''''sure''''' that's what she said?
:Hairy: Unbelievable. Here I am, the only person ever to feel bad, and you're '''''doubting''''' me?

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Doctor Ponytail]]
[[Category:Medicine]]
[[Category:COVID-19]]

2714: Cold Complaints

2022-12-21T22:16:07Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ Paxlovid

{{comic
| number = 2714
| date = December 21, 2022
| title = Cold Complaints
| image = cold_complaints_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x254px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our investigation into whining-based remedies became the first study to be halted by the IRB on the grounds that the treatment group was 'too annoying.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a GIGANTIC WHINING BABY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When people are ill, they will often complain about the symptoms that they're suffering from. A common sterotype is that men will revert to infantile behavior when miserably sick. This can be annoying to the people around them, but they typically tolerate such behavior out of compassion. The joke in this comic is that [[Hairy]] spoke to a medical professional via {{w|telemedicine}}, when he was explicitly advised to act like this, since his condition has no effective medical treatment. He takes the advice to, "act like you're the first person ever to have a cold," literally, stating it specifically when his companion asks about it.

This comic was published during a "tripledemic" in the U.S., involving {{w|COVID-19}}, {{w|influenza}}, and {{w|respiratory syncitial virus}} (RSV) infections, the latter of which have no cure other than to wait them out with plenty of rest and fluids. It expounds on the finding that, "talking about troublesome events, including events with which one is dissatisfied, may ... result in improved physiological health." (Kowalski, R.M. (2002) [http://people.uncw.edu/hakanr/documents/whining.pdf "Whining, griping, and complaining: positivity in the negativity."] ''Journal of clinical psychology,'' '''58'''(9):1023-35.)

The title text mentions a study like that, but in this case the {{w|institutional review board}} (IRB) halted the study because the participants were too annoying. This is ironic since they'd be expected to whine annoyingly. IRBs are expected to review the ethics of a research project. Whining is not usually considered dangerous,{{citation needed}} but in this case it was presumably so intolerable that they had to put a stop to it.

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

:[Hairy sitting on a chair in front of a computer screen. There is an image of Ponytail on the screen speaking.]
:Ponytail: Well, it's not COVID or flu. Probably one of the other viruses.
:Hairy: Ughh

:[A zoomed out version of the image, ponytail cannot be seen]
:Ponytail: There's not much you can do to speed up recovery other than rest, hydrate, and whine and complain and be a gigantic baby about it.
:Hairy: Whine and complain?
:Ponytail: Yes. You have to behave like you're the first person ever to have a cold.

:[Hairy lying on a couch wrapped in a blanket, with a lot of paper tissues around]
:Off-screen voice: Are you '''''sure''''' that's what she said?
:Hairy: Unbelievable. Here I am, the first person to ever feel bad, and you're '''''doubting''''' me?

{{comic discussion}}

2712: Gravity

2022-12-21T20:54:08Z

172.71.158.6: /* Hacks */ copyedit

{{comic
| number = 2712
| date = December 16, 2022
| title = Gravity
| image = gravity_2x.png
| titletext = It's a long way down.
}}

*To experience the interactivity, visit the [http://xkcd.com/2712/ original comic].
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE UNIVERSE FROM A PIECE OF FAIRY CAKE- Please continue expanding and describing the various bodies. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this interactive comic, the viewer pilots a small spaceship throughout a vast area in space. The viewer is capable of exploring various bodies and planets within the play area, many containing easter eggs alluding to the book What If? 2 and previous xkcd comics. The flight mechanics are largely, if not entirely, Newtonian, so the vessel is capable of using the gravity of planets to alter its trajectory or even enter orbit. The spaceship has indicator circles around it which appear when a gravitational body comes into range, showing the direction towards their center of gravity and the size of the body. A circle also appears around the spaceship whenever it collides with a gravitational body, acting as a shield. The shield remains until the player orients the spaceship upright so its landing gear can deploy.

With a keyboard the arrow keys rotate the spaceship and accelerate it forward and backward. You can also use the standard first person shooter keys 'w', 'a', 's' and 'd', and the standard vi text editor navigation keys 'h', 'j', 'k', and 'l' to control the spaceship. Despite some ships having no unique backward texture, all ships can reverse. On mobile the comic will full screen, pressing either side of the center rotates the spaceship, and pressing in the center accelerates it forward.

It is fairly easy to fly between planets as long as you pay attention to orbital mechanics; don't just floor the accelerator. The background stars show your velocity and orientation relative to the nearest gravity well. If you are having difficulties navigating space, point towards a gravity orb and accelerate for only a few seconds. Wait until the background stars spin wildly, and then reduce your velocity to 0 before gently accelerating towards the object.

'''Playing on mobile:''' Various additional glitches may occur. Having a starting position slightly below the take-off pad means you're already 'glitched' inside the planet from the off. Escaping the planet may need inverted 'accelerating' (turning perpendicular to the local vertical, and thrusting ''backwards'' until you can glitch back out into more open space. You may also be trapped within the cannonball 'orbit', with seemingly inconsistent collision-detection, such that you can be sat ''with landing gear extended'' upon features (projectile tracks, etc) that seem not to count as solid for most other purposes.

There is no "universal" point of view — the bottom of the window, "down", is oriented towards the object exerting the most gravity upon the player. Multiple things found in this comic draw attention to this, such as how on Earth Ponytail says to White Hat, "I checked downforeveryoneorjustme.com and it says just me", and he replies "Yeah, I guess down isn't down for everyone."

Throughout the play area are coins that change the spaceship into different rockets and non-space based vehicles, including humans.

The comic promotes Randall's new book [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ What If? 2], which was released in September and is available for purchase. Many of the planets contain references to various What If? articles.

The comic is similar to [[1608: Hoverboard]], which celebrated Thing Explainer instead.

===Celestial Bodies===

The following is an incomplete table of features:

{|class="wikitable sortable"
!
!
!
!
! colspan="4"|References
!
|-
! ID
! Description
! Transcript
! Tiles (X, Y)
! What If
! XKCD
! Movies
! Other
! Explanation
|-
|<code>origin</code>
|'''Starting planet'''
|
Cueball: "To celebrate the world of ''What If? 2'', here is your very own tiny planet to explore!

Megan: "Welcome!"

Ground caption: "Give someone the science question-and-answer book ''What If? 2'' for the Holidays: xkcd.com/whatif2"

Cueball feeding T-Rex: "Burger?"

Isaac Newton: "Robert Hooke must be down there ''somewhere!''"

Megan to Cueball: "If you ever get lost in space, just fly down. That's where the ground is."

Beret Guy to squirrel: "Hi!"
|(0, 0)
|Y
|
|
|Y
|The starting planet. The player begins on the launch pad in a landed position. Collecting the orbiting cannonball will transform you into a different rocket, although it does not improve your abilities.

Cueball feeding the T-Rex is possibly a reference to What If #78: {{what if|78|T-rex Calories}}.

{{w|Isaac Newton}} is referencing the {{w|Newton's cannonball}} thought experiment, where a cannon is fired at greater and greater speeds until the cannonball goes into orbit. Newton's comment suggests that instead of demonstrating orbits, he is firing repeatedly to hit his rival, {{w|Robert Hooke}}.
|-
|<code>earth</code>
|'''Earth'''
|
"How am I supposed to cause the extinction of the dinosaurs if they keep moving out from under my comet?"

"Unusually high-speed squirrels."

"Jump in! The water's fine!"

"Ugh, the frame rate is really bad out today."

"I don't know why people complain about going down rabbit holes. These lil guys are adorable!"

"Ahh, the mysterious natural wonders of sailing stones"

"I'm Bananas Georg.
Every year our company publishes global per capita banana consumption numbers, so to make the printing easier, I eat enough bananas of December 31st to make sure it's a round number."

"Weird, I feel ''heavier''."

"Hey"

"I checked downforeveryoneorjustme.com and it says just me"
"Yeah, I guess down isn't down for everyone"
|(27867,-35648)
|Y
|Y
|
|Y
|A planet with among other things:
* A {{what if|162|crane dropping a comet}} onto a dinosaur,
* Unusually high speed squirrels (creating a sonic boom)
* Megan inviting Cueball into a pool
* A region where the frame rate is intentionally limited
* A flagpole
* A literal {{w|burrow|rabbithole}} referencing the figuratively speaking [[wikt:rabbit hole|rabbit hole]]
* Someone aiming at a satellite with an arrow
* A lake with an eel
* The {{what if|157|earth-moon firepole}}
* A "doot cone," a reference to [[Volcano Types]]
* Two figures being attacked by a third with a sword
* Two kids playing soccer (Catching the ball will turn the ship into a soccer ball)
* A farmer on a tractor being stuck in gooey candy
* A banana pile being consumed by "Bananas Georg" to make the per capita annual banana count round, referencing the "[https://reallyreallyreallytrying.tumblr.com/post/40033025233/average-person-eats-3-spiders-a-year-factoid Spiders Georg]" meme.
* Megan and Cueball digging a hole (in the center of this planet is the "earth's core", referenced below)
* The {{what if|147|Niagara Falls water being redirected into the LHC}} (Large Hadron Collider)
* Japan(?) leaving earth
* A tube to the bottom of the ocean
* Ponytail and White Hat making a reference to [https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com downforeveryoneorjustme.com]
* Two mini asteroid moons: A tiny version of B612 with Little Prince and the rose, plus one with just Cueball standing on it. They can be found by flying straight up from the Super Mario flagpole.
|-
|
|Earth's core
|
| (28850, -28570)
|
|
|
|
|[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] floating in a small space in the center of the planet in inverted rotations. Can be legally accessed using a high velocity collision onto the surface of the planet, although requires tapping the up arrow afterwards many, many times.
|-
|<code>europa</code>
|'''Europa'''
|
|(13180, -2540)
|Y
|
|
|Y
|Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons (in real life). A broken, icy crust has a single path into its core.
|-
|
|Europa's crust
|
"It's so unfair we don't get to compete in EuroVision."

"The region of the solar system where liquid water can exist on the surface is the habitable zone, and the region where it can exist beneath the surface of moons is the Eurozone."

"WHIRRRR"
|
|Y
|
|
|
|Europa's crust, with a single entrance into the core demarcated by an octopus leaving a hole.
Cueball states that Europa is in the Eurozone, a pun on the ''other'' Eurozone, with liquid underneath its surface.

A roomba whirs across the icy crust.

Cueball has a hairdryer and is melting the surface of the crust. A direct reference to {{what if|35|What If's Hairdryer}}.
|-
|
|Europa's core
|"We've always used neutrinos for astronomy, but if we place my 'optical telescope' in orbit above the kryosphere, we could potentially observe the universe using electromagnetic waves. Who knows what else there is out there besides stars! There could be other worlds!"

"Hi, I'm Annie. Welcome to the depths of Europa. There's some weird stuff down here."

"We were caught in a powerful November gale on the Great Lakes outside Whitefish Bay. Our ship foundered and sank here." "This is Jupiter's moon Europa." "It was a REALLY powerful gale."

"Does our book club really need this much secrecy?" "That sounds like a question a SPY would ask."
|
|
|
|
|
|A watery ocean with octopi looking out into the great unknown using telescopes. This is a reference to octopus's intelligence here on earth! It may also be a reference to (Spoilers!) a certain 2013 science-fiction film featuring Europa, if not a 1987 book. There's also a secret path leading to a book club, through the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The woman presenting herself as Annie is a reference to Annie Rauwerda, the creator of the popular social media accounts {{w|Depths of Wikipedia}}.
|-
|<code>b612</code>
|'''B-612'''
|
Probe: "Asteroid deflection mission to earth. The package is delivered. Commencing planetary threat neutralization."

Sign: "Welcome to B-612"
|(2610,3700)
|y
|Y
|
|Y
|A reference to [[618: Asteroid|Asteroid]]. In a tragic turn of events, the Earth-bound asteroid being blown up is the home of {{w|The Little Prince|the little prince}}.
|-
|<code>dogplanet</code>
|'''Dog park planet'''
|
[Dog Park]

"I want more dogs!"

"Ball! Again!"

"I hope it lands soon."

"English adjective order means that you're "Clifford the Big Red Dog" but not "Clifford the Red Big Dog""

"You can't have too many dogs!"

|(1240, 11230)
|y
|
|
|
|A planet covered in dogs, along with dog walkers, some fences, and a sign that reads "Dog Park". Two dogs watch a ball which is traveling in what appears to be a circular orbit around the planet. One dog is much larger than anything else on the planet. A hole is being dug by two dogs. Visible at the bottom, there is an empty space in the center of the planet in the shape of a dog bone.

Ponytail's explanation of adjective order was originally miswritten, saying "Clifford the Red Big Dog" twice.
|-
| <code>goodhart</code>
|'''What If? 2 scenario planet'''
|
Cueball to White Hat: "The tower over there is the Vehicle Assembly Building, and then behind it is the Vehicle Disassembly Building."

Ponytail to Cueball: "You know how tires pollute the environment with rubber particles? Well, I've developed a solution."

"MMM SPIDERS HOMF HOMF"

Shooting star caption: "THE MORE YOU KNOW"
Sauropod: "Oh no!"

Person on uncontrolled helicopter: "AAAAAA"

Geyser: "Fwoosh!"
Cueball and Megan: "Oooh!"

Giant phone crushing city: "ALERT" "Giant phone crushing city" "Dismiss" "More"

Cueball with jetpack: "Wheeeee!"

Cueball to Megan: "Do you ever look up at the night sky and think, "Wow, I bet those little white dots taste ''delicious!''"

Neighbor: "Why is my house on fire ''again?!''"
Cueball: "Dunno"
Laser captioned: "Laser"

Person with Washington Monument: "Okay, let it drop!"
|(-13300,-3260)
|Y
|Y
|
| Y
| In aerospace, a Vehicle Assembly Building is where spacecraft are constructed. Randall Munroe whimsically refers to the launchpad as the Vehicle Disassembly Building.

Contains a figure in a cave saying "MMM SPIDERS HOMF NOMF", which refers to [[1268: Alternate Universe|Alternate Universe]] and may also be a reference to the [https://reallyreallyreallytrying.tumblr.com/post/40033025233/average-person-eats-3-spiders-a-year-factoid Spiders Georg] meme.

Collecting the small dot above the mountain peak will turn your ship into a flying person figure.
|-
|<code>sun</code>
|'''The Sun'''
| "The sun is governed by magnetohydrodynamics, or 'Magic' for short"

"My countertop!"

"This will make a good soup base"

"Can I touch it yet?" "No, be patient. It's still too hot. Give it another 20 or 30 billion years."

"It's okay. I'm wearing five layers of sunscreen."

TV Anchor: "The forecast for today is lots of sun"

"This should be enough sunscreen"
|(-14950, 12080)
|Y
|Y
|
|
|Difficult to escape from if you hit the core. The description of magnetohydrodynamics is a reference to [[1851: Magnetohydrodynamics]]. Throwing a countertop into the Sun is a reference to {{what if|89|What If? Tungsten Countertop}}
|-
|
|Sun's core
| Cueball: "The core of the sun may seem hot, but it only produces about as much energy per volume as a lizard" Megan: "Wow. So how many lizards are there?" Cueball: "No-one knows."
|
|Y
|
|
|
|Difficult to escape from. Can be escaped by rotating around the sun until an escape-like velocity could be reached. Comparing the sun's heat per volume to reptiles- in this case, lizards- is a reference to {{what if|148|What If? Eat the Sun}}.
|-
|<code>soupiter</code>
|'''Soupiter'''
|"I think it's chicken noodle? Hard to tell."
|(-800, -9040)
|Y
|
|
|
|A model of the solar system filled with soup out to the orbit of Jupiter. As commented by Cueball, noodle soup.
|-
|<code>nojapan</code>
|'''Earth without Japan'''
|"Something is missing."
|(-7680, -5850)
|Y
|
|
|
|Earth, except it's missing japan.
|-
|<code>japanmoon</code>
|'''Just Japan'''
|
|(-5930, -5800)
|Y
|
|
|
|A moon with water surrounding... just Japan.
|-
|<code>pigeons</code>
|'''A blob labeled "Pigeons"'''
|
|(-9020, -2490)
|Y
|
|
|
|A reference to Chapter 6 of What If? 2, where it would take 1.6 x 10^25 pigeons to lift you and a chair up to the halfway point of Australia's Q1 skyscraper.
|-
|<code>enterprise</code>
|'''Starship Enterprise'''
|
|(2389, -60879)
|Y
|
|
|
|Star Trek reference: The Enterprise-C, yes 2344,commanded by Captain Garrett's. While defending a Klingon outpost, the weapons discharges resulted in the creation of a temporal rift, through which the badly damaged Enterprise drifted. In the comic, there is a large, invisible gravity distortion near the Enterprise-C
|-
|<code>qwantz</code>
|'''Dinosaur planet'''
|"Welcome... to Jurassic Park."
| (20403,-49559)
|
|
|Y
|
|An homage to [https://www.qwantz.com/ Dinosaur Comics], a webcomic Randall has mentioned several times before. All the dinosaurs on the planet are black-and-white versions of the clip art dinosaurs in that comic. Also references the Jurassic Park movies, with CEO John Hammond welcoming paleontologists Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant to the planet. The long grass depicted is a plot point in later films.
|-
|<code>roads</code>
|'''Cat blocking traffic flowing through portals'''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|<code>outside</code>
|'''Edge of the Universe'''
|"Welcome, traveler!" (found inside the edge of the bubble universe)
| ( 6081, 26138 )
|
|Y
|
|
|It looks like a planet labeled "edge of the universe". Outside the universe, so inside the "edge of the universe" planet, is another universe, the bubble universe, whose outside is labeled "edge of the bubble universe". Hidden entrance is between 10 and 11 'o clock. It is a reference to [[Bubble Universes]].
|-
|<code>roads</code>
|'''A tree larger than the planet it's growing on'''
|
|
|
|Y
|
|
|May be a reference to [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)|Petit Trees]]. More probably, a reference to ''The Little Prince'', a French children's novel about a traveler from a distant asteroid. In the novel, baobab trees are a serious threat to the Prince's home asteroid, as they are so large that their roots would engulf the asteroid entirely. Randall has alluded to The Little Prince numerous times before, especially in what-if articles.
|-
|<code>outside</code>
|'''Milliways'''
|
| in code: <code>[0,-14500]</code> in game: <code>[0,29000]</code>
|
|
|Y
|Y
|A reference to Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe from ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. On one side of the planet, Ponytail, Cueball, Megan, and other characters gather on the patio of the Milliways restaurant; on the other side, the Sojourner rover examines a rock.
|-
|<code>greatattractor</code>
|'''The Great Attractor'''
|
|(-596048, 247952)
|
|Y
|
|
|Beret Guy stands on the surface of a large ball labeled "The Great Attractor". The gravity is extremely strong (over 200 times that of the black holes), leading to various bugs and collision issues. It's a reference to [[Great Attractor]], in which Beret Guy is gravitationally attracted to the Great Attractor more strongly than usual.
|-
|<code>present</code>
|'''Present'''
|
"I didn't do any of my Christmas shopping yet because I was too busy drawing tiny planets."

"I'm done with my shopping! I got everyone What if? 2"

"...You got me my own book?"

"Yeah! I figured that since you wrote it, it must be right up your alley."

"It does make a good gift, though. You can get it at xkcd.com/whatif2"

"I got you this present!"

"Is it an angry bobcat?"

"It might not be."
|in code: <code>[22820,-18920]</code> in game: <code>[45640,37840]</code>
|
|Y
|
|
|The XKCD cast react to giving each other What if 2? as a present. Black Hat gives Cueball a "gift" which he claims "might not be a bobcat", a reference to [[A-Minus-Minus]] A quarter of the planet was missing on the release day, but it's fixed now.
|-
|<code>maw1</code>, <code>maw2</code>, ... <code>maw14</code>
|'''Black hole cluster'''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|A cluster of black holes with extremely high gravitational strength, set to the maximum of 2048. Not particularly easy to land on with multiple conflicting gravitational fields, but once landed on, rather difficult to escape. Likely a reference to the [[wikia:w:c:starwars:Maw Cluster|Maw Cluster]] in Star Wars.
|-
|<code>remnant</code>
|'''Remnant'''
|"All right, that's close enough"
"Oh no"

{{w|Walkin' on the Sun|"So don't delay, act now, supplies are running out"}}

"In 5 billion years, the Sun will run out of fuel and suffer gigennial burnout."

"The immense gravity of the sun's remnant means that this is the tallest possible skyscraper."
|(19620, 3800)
|
|
|
|Y
|A stellar remnant, with high gravity (making it difficult to escape, although it's possible to achieve escape velocity by flying sideways). Has various small landmarks, including a "skyscraper" and suspension bridge. There is a set of images of a rocket descending towards the planet, falling and then trying to escape by sledding. The band is performing Smash Mouth's "Walkin' on the Sun".
|-
|<code>steerswoman</code>
|'''Steerswoman Planet'''
|"As a Steerswoman, I have to answer any question anyone asks me, or I'm expelled from the order."
"What's one question that you would be unwilling to answer?"
"Oh no."

"Handle this artifact with great care. It contains a magical wizard's potion which the ancients called 'trinitrotoluene'"
|(-35070,-2500)
|
|
|
|Y
|A reference to the Steerswoman series of books by Rosemary Kirstein. Includes a number of references to the series, including a group of people observing a small object orbiting the planet.

Trinitrotoluene is better known as {{w|TNT}}, a powerful explosive.
|-
|<code>peeler</code>
|'''Peeler'''
|
|(-9270, 620)
|Y
|
|
|
|A reference to the question posed by "What If 2: Lose Weight the Slow and Incredibly Difficult Way". A large potato peeler is seen removing the earth's crust.
|}

===Ships===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Name
! Description
! Location
! Filename
! Image
|-
|Default
|The starting ship.
|It is possible to change back to this ship by collecting a dot located within the Black Hole cluster
|ship2
|
|-
| Tintin
| Ship in the shape of the {{w|Destination Moon (comics)|moon rocket from Tintin}}
| On the starting planet; can be obtained by collecting the cannonball in orbit
| ship-tintin
|
|-
| Figure
|Stick figure
|On Goodhart, atop the mountain up which Sisyphus is pushing his boulder.
|ship-figure
|
|-
| Soccer ball
| Soccer ball shaped ship
| On Earth, between two figures playing ball
|ship-soccer
|
|-
|Alternative Ship
|Default ship with KSP-style parachutes on both sides of the ship. The parachutes seem to disappear on landing.
|Only available by using console to change Comic.ship = ship1
|ship1
|}

==Data and Maps==

View the data that is embedded in the comic on [[2712: Gravity/Data|this page]].

Maps created by the Community:
*https://bacontime.github.io/xkcd2712 | A zoomable map of the universe with markers for all planets, coins and with the option to highlight secret passages
*https://www.reddit.com/r/xkcd/comments/zpe7bz/i_rendered_the_entire_what_if_2_universe_as_a/ | The whole universe rendered as one big image

==Hacks==
Various modes and hacks have been found or developed by the community, and can be activated by opening the browser console (F12, Ctrl-Shift-I or Cmd-Option-I to open your browser's developer tools, then choose the Console tab) and typing a command. 
'''Click to expand:''' 

<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
*'''Speedhack:''' <code>ship.engines = "warp"</code> - Speed hacking, sets speed to 1.4x. set to "standard" to reset to normal speed
*'''Teleport to planet:''' <code>[Comic.voyager.pos.x, Comic.voyager.pos.y] = Comic.planetRects.'''''origin'''''.slice(0,2)</code> - teleport near a planet, in this example near earth. You'll still have to fly a bit towards the nearest planet to reach it. Replace '''''origin''''' with the ID of the planet you want to go to, from the table above.
*'''Teleport to coordinate:''' <code>[Comic.voyager.pos.x, Comic.voyager.pos.y] = '''''[0, -2000]'''''</code> - teleport to an exact coordinate. <code>[0, -2000]</code> happens to take you to the starting area.
*'''Improved radar:''' <code>Comic.wayfinderFarDistance = Infinity</code> - make the direction of all objects visible. This can be hard to understand though.
*'''Chaos Mode:''' <code>ship.engines="infinite improbability drive"</code> - Seems to randomly teleports the ship. A reference to its namesake in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
*'''Insta Death:''' <code>ship.shields = false</code> - Kill the player if they land on a planet, the code never sets it to false, so it seems to be always true.
*'''No Clip:''' <code>noclip = true</code> - Enables noclip. Also disables gravity.
*'''Select ship:''' <code>Comic.ship = "ship-tintin"</code> - Select ship (use filename from list of ships)
*'''Autorotate:''' <code>Comic.cameraRotation = false</code> - View does not rotate with ship
*'''Goggles:''' <code>ze.goggles()</code> - returns a warning: "they do nothing!". This is a reference to Hoverboard, where ''ze.goggles()'' would give you the ability to see false walls. Which itself is most likely a reference to the Simpsons where Radioactive man complains that his safety goggles do nothing against a deluge of acid.
*'''Python:''' <code>python("import antigravity")</code> - reverses gravity, so the ship falls away from planets. A reference to [[353: Python]]. Reset with <code>Comic.gravityConstant = 100</code>.
*'''Light Mode''' <code>Comic.lightMode = true</code> - inverts the color of the comic. reset with <code>Comic.lightMode = false</code>
</div>
 

==Trivia==
The objects in the mini-universe of this browser game are all at fixed positions and do not interact through gravity, however, the ship controlled by the player is affected by gravity. While this makes it technically a relatively easy integration problem (of the position of the player ship forward in time), the integrator used seems to be a relatively simple one - and certainly not a symplectic one, because it does not conserve angular momentum. This can be seen when one manages to get into orbit around some object, e.g. the core of the sun. The orbit slowly decays over time.

The logic for extending the landing legs and landing is rather simple. A ship can (normally) land if it is facing away from the surface it collides with, and if its momentum is more-or-less directed towards the surface. Once landing is triggered, the ship will rotate to face directly away from the celestial body it is on, regardless of how sloped the surface is. The only way to get into space again is to accelerate forwards, as neither turning nor accelerating backwards cancels the landed state. All of this can be abused to land on almost everything. To land on the underside of an object, simply point your ship away from the object and slowly accelerate backwards to counteract the force of gravity. Landing on the side of an object is more difficult, as ships cannot accelerate sideways. The first method is to accelerate backwards to launch yourself upwards and towards the object so that at the top of your arc you will collide with the object. Then, rotate your ship accordingly to land. Method two is to just repeatedly slam your back of your ship into the object until you land. Note that with any of these weird landing methods, your ship will turn to face away from the source of gravity and can clip into objects.

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

Welcome!

To celebrate the world of what if? 2, here is your very own planet to explore!

Give someone the science question-and-answer book what if? 2 for Christmas:
xkcd.com/whatif2

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Bobcats]]

2713: Data Point

2022-12-20T09:51:30Z

172.71.158.6: /* Transcript */ reword

{{comic
| number = 2713
| date = December 19, 2022
| title = Data Point
| image = data_point_2x.png
| imagesize = 315x409px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In general you should only include your single best data point in the paper. The rest of the data can go in the supplementary materials.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a REALLY COOL DATA POINT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When scientific measurements are made, the conclusions are almost always based on many data points observed in relation to each other. The comic jokes that a single data point can somehow be of sufficient interest in isolation that the other data may be disregarded. In reality, a single datum can almost never represent what the information in the related data taken together indicate.

In this case the data point looks like a {{w|TIE fighter}} flying at you from the direction of the Sun. This is so cool that the entire focus of the scientific paper should be on this figure alone, as stated in the caption. [[Randall]] suggests this is a "science power move."

This is most likely intended as factitious satire, because the purpose of a chart or graph figure is to present multiple data which would be less clear than tabular or textual data, so there is never any reason to devote a figure to a single datum, regardless of its importance. It is could be a joke about papers which only highlight particularly interesting or significant data without including the background measurements or similar mundane information necessary to fully understand or reproduce the findings. While there are [https://www.aje.com/en/arc/data-not-shown-4-reasons-omit-figure-or-table/ accepted reasons for this practice,] it can be annoying when trying to follow an otherwise useful procedure or comparing aspects of the results the authors did not anticipate.

The title text suggests relegating all the other data to supplementary materials, presumably to avoid detracting from the single "cool" datum.

==Transcript==

:[A graph is shown. There are regularly spaced labels along both axes with. The graph itself is black with a round white center from where white lines "radiate" out in all directions, like a star or sun. In the center there is a single data point with short symmetrical vertical error bars. Beneath the graph there are two lines of unreadable caption text to the left, next to a rectangular legend box on the right with one dot, indication the data point, and a label. Above the graph it is titled:]

:Figure 2.

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:Science power move: When one of your data points is really cool, devote a whole figure to it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]

2713: Data Point

2022-12-20T09:46:58Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ tighten

{{comic
| number = 2713
| date = December 19, 2022
| title = Data Point
| image = data_point_2x.png
| imagesize = 315x409px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In general you should only include your single best data point in the paper. The rest of the data can go in the supplementary materials.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a REALLY COOL DATA POINT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When scientific measurements are made, the conclusions are almost always based on many data points observed in relation to each other. The comic jokes that a single data point can somehow be of sufficient interest in isolation that the other data may be disregarded. In reality, a single datum can almost never represent what the information in the related data taken together indicate.

In this case the data point looks like a {{w|TIE fighter}} flying at you from the direction of the Sun. This is so cool that the entire focus of the scientific paper should be on this figure alone, as stated in the caption. [[Randall]] suggests this is a "science power move."

This is most likely intended as factitious satire, because the purpose of a chart or graph figure is to present multiple data which would be less clear than tabular or textual data, so there is never any reason to devote a figure to a single datum, regardless of its importance. It is could be a joke about papers which only highlight particularly interesting or significant data without including the background measurements or similar mundane information necessary to fully understand or reproduce the findings. While there are [https://www.aje.com/en/arc/data-not-shown-4-reasons-omit-figure-or-table/ accepted reasons for this practice,] it can be annoying when trying to follow an otherwise useful procedure or comparing aspects of the results the authors did not anticipate.

The title text suggests relegating all the other data to supplementary materials, presumably to avoid detracting from the single "cool" datum.

==Transcript==
:[A graph is shown. There are two axis with bullets up along the Y-axis and unreadable labels along the X-axis. There are no ticks on the axis. The graph itself is black with a round white center from where white lines "radiate" out in all directions, like a star or sun. In the center there is a single data point with symmetrical vertical error bars. Beneath the graph there are two lines of unreadable text to the left. To the right there is a rectangular box with a dot, representing the data point, and then an unreadable label. Above the graph there is a label:]
:Figure 2.

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:Science power move: When one of your data points is really cool, devote a whole figure to it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]

2712: Gravity

2022-12-19T17:40:41Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ a couple flags

{{comic
| number = 2712
| date = December 16, 2022
| title = Gravity
| image = gravity_2x.png
| titletext = It's a long way down.
}}

*To experience the interactivity, visit the [http://xkcd.com/2712/ original comic].
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE UNIVERSE FROM A PIECE OF FAIRY CAKE- Please continue expanding and describing the various bodies. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this interactive comic, the viewer pilots a small spaceship throughout a vast area in space. The viewer is capable of exploring various bodies and planets within the play area, many containing easter eggs alluding to the book What If? 2 and previous xkcd comics. The flight mechanics are largely, if not entirely, Newtonian, so the vessel is capable of using the gravity of planets to alter its trajectory or even enter orbit. The spaceship has indicator circles around it which appear when a gravitational body comes into range, showing the direction towards their center of gravity and the size of the body. A circle also appears around the spaceship whenever it collides with a gravitational body, acting as a shield. The shield remains until the player orients the spaceship upright so its landing gear can deploy.

'''Playing with a keyboard:''' The arrow keys rotate the spaceship and accelerate it forward and backward. You can also use the 'w', 'a', 's' and 'd' keys to control the spaceship. On mobile the comic will full screen, pressing either side of the center rotates the spaceship, and pressing in the center accelerates it forward. It is fairly easy to fly between planets as long as you pay attention to orbital mechanics; don't just floor the accelerator. The background stars show your velocity and orientation relative to the nearest gravity well. If you are having difficulties navigating space, point towards a gravity orb and accelerate for only a few seconds. Wait until the background stars spin wildly, and then reduce your velocity to 0 before gently accelerating towards to object.

'''Playing on mobile:''' Various additional glitches may occur. Having a starting position slightly below the take-off pad means you're already 'glitched' inside the planet from the off. Escaping the planet may need inverted 'accelerating' (turning perpendicular to the local vertical, and thrusting ''backwards'' until you can glitch back out into more open space. You may also be trapped within the cannonball 'orbit', with seemingly inconsistent collision-detection, such that you can be sat ''with landing gear extended'' upon features (projectile tracks, etc) that seem not to count as solid for most other purposes.

There is no "universal" point of view — the bottom of the window, "down", is oriented towards the object exerting the most gravity upon the player. Multiple things found in this comic draw attention to this, such as how on Earth Ponytail says to White Hat, "I checked downforeveryoneorjustme.com and it says just me", and he replies "Yeah, I guess down isn't down for everyone."

Throughout the play area are coins that change the spaceship into different rockets and non-space based vehicles, including humans.

The comic promotes Randall's new book [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ What If? 2], which was released in September and is available for purchase. Many of the planets contain references to various What If? articles.

The comic is similar to [[1608: Hoverboard]], which celebrated Thing Explainer instead.

===Celestial Bodies===

The following is an incomplete table of features:

{|class="wikitable sortable"
!
!
!
!
! colspan="4"|References
!
|-
! ID
! Description
! Transcript
! Tiles (X, Y)
! What If
! XKCD
! Movies
! Other
! Explanation
|-
|<code>origin</code>
|'''Starting planet'''
|
Cueball: "To celebrate the world of ''What If? 2'', here is your very own tiny planet to explore!

Megan: "Welcome!"

Ground caption: "Give someone the science question-and-answer book ''What If? 2'' for the Holidays: xkcd.com/whatif2"

Cueball feeding T-Rex: "Burger?"

Isaac Newton: "Robert Hooke must be down there ''somewhere!''"

Megan to Cueball: "If you ever get lost in space, just fly down. That's where the ground is."

Beret Guy to squirrel: "Hi!"
|(0, 0)
|Y
|
|
|Y
|The starting planet. The player begins on the launch pad in a landed position. Collecting the orbiting cannonball will transform you into a more advanced rocket.

Cueball feeding the T-Rex is possibly a reference to What If #78: {{what if|78|T-rex Calories}}.

{{w|Isaac Newton}} is referencing the {{w|Newton's cannonball}} thought experiment, where a cannon is fired at greater and greater speeds until the cannonball goes into orbit. Newton's comment suggests that instead of demonstrating orbits, he is firing repeatedly to hit his rival, {{w|Robert Hooke}}.
|-
|<code>earth</code>
|'''Earth'''
|
|(27867,-35648)
|Y
|
|
|Y
|A planet with among other things:
* A [https://what-if.xkcd.com/162/ crane dropping a comet] onto a dinosaur,
* Unusually high speed squirrels (creating a sonic boom)
* Megan inviting Cueball into a pool
* A region where the frame rate is intentionally limited
* A flagpole
* A literal {{w|burrow|rabbithole}} referencing the figuratively speaking [[wikt:rabbit hole|rabbit hole]]
* Someone aiming at a satellite with an arrow
* A lake with an eel
* The [https://what-if.xkcd.com/157/ earth-moon firepole]
* A volcano
* Two figures being attacked by a third with a sword
* Two kids playing soccer (Catching the ball will turn the ship into a soccer ball)
* A farmer on a tractor being stuck in gooey candy
* A banana pile being consumed by "Bananas Georg" to make the per capita annual banana count round, referencing the "[https://reallyreallyreallytrying.tumblr.com/post/40033025233/average-person-eats-3-spiders-a-year-factoid Spiders Georg]" meme.
* Megan and Cueball digging a hole (in the center of this planet is the "earth's core", referenced below)
* The [https://what-if.xkcd.com/147/ Niagara Falls water being redirected into the LHC] (Large Hadron Collider)
* Japan(?) leaving earth
* A tube to the bottom of the ocean
* Ponytail and White Hat making a reference to [downforeveryoneorjustme.com]
* Two mini asteroid moons: A tiny version of B612 with Little Prince and the rose, plus one with just Cueball standing on it. They can be found by flying straight up from the Super Mario flagpole.
|-
|
|Earth's core
|
| (28850, -28570)
|
|
|
|
|[[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] floating in a small space in the center of the planet in inverted rotations. Can be legally accessed using a high velocity collision onto the surface of the planet, although requires tapping the up arrow afterwards many, many times.
|-
|<code>europa</code>
|'''Europa'''
|
|(13180, -2540)
|Y
|
|
|Y
|Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons (in real life). A broken, icy crust has a single path into its core.
|-
|
|Europa's crust
|
"It's so unfair we don't get to compete in EuroVision."

"The region of the solar system where liquid water can exist on the surface is the habitable zone, and the region where it can exist beneath the surface of moons is the Eurozone."

"WHIRRRR"
|
|Y
|
|
|
|Europa's crust, with a single entrance into the core demarcated by an octopus leaving a hole.
Cueball states that Europa is in the Eurozone, a pun on the ''other'' Eurozone, with liquid underneath its surface.

A roomba whirs across the icy crust.

Cueball has a hairdryer and is melting the surface of the crust. A direct reference to [https://what-if.xkcd.com/35/ What If's Hairdryer].
|-
|
|Europa's core
|"We've always used neutrinos for astronomy, but if we place my 'optical telescope' in orbit above the kryosphere, we could potentially observe the universe using electromagnetic waves. Who knows what else there is out there besides stars! There could be other worlds!"

"Hi, I'm Annie. Welcome to the depths of Europa. There's some weird stuff down here."

"We were caught in a powerful November gale on the Great Lakes outside Whitefish Bay. Our ship foundered and sank here." "This is Jupiter's moon Europa." "It was a REALLY powerful gale."

"Does our book club really need this much secrecy?" "That sounds like a question a SPY would ask."
|
|
|
|
|
|A watery ocean with octopi looking out into the great unknown using telescopes. This is a reference to octopus's intelligence here on earth! There's also a secret path leading to a book club, through the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
|-
|<code>b612</code>
|'''B-612'''
|
Probe: "Asteroid deflection mission to earth. The package is delivered. Commencing planetary threat neutralization."

Sign: "Welcome to B-612"
|(2610,3700)
|y
|Y
|
|
|A reference to [[618: Asteroid|Asteroid]]. The little prince is having his asteroid blown up as it was heading towards Earth, apparently.
|-
|<code>dogplanet</code>
|'''Dog park planet'''
|
|(1240, 11230)
|y
|
|
|
|A planet with a dog park. Covered in dogs, along with dog walkers and some fences. There's a hole being dug by two dogs and a dog bone empty space in the center.
|-
| <code>goodhart</code>
|'''What If? 2 scenario planet'''
|
Cueball to White Hat: "The tower over there is the Vehicle Assembly Building, and then behind it is the Vehicle Disassembly Building."

Ponytail to Cueball: "You know how tires pollute the environment with rubber particles? Well, I've developed a solution."

"MMM SPIDERS HOMF HOMF"

Shooting star caption: "THE MORE YOU KNOW"
Sauropod: "Oh no!"

Person on uncontrolled helicopter: "AAAAAA"

Geyser: "Fwoosh!"
Cueball and Megan: "Oooh!"

Giant phone crushing city: "ALERT" "Giant phone crushing city" "Dismiss" "More"

Cueball with jetpack: "Wheeeee!"

Cueball to Megan: "Do you ever look up at the night sky and think, "Wow, I bet those little white dots taste ''delicious!''"

Neighbor: "Why is my house on fire ''again?!''
Cueball: "Dunno"
Laser captioned: "Laser"

Person with Washington Monument: "Okay, let it drop!"
|(-13300,-3260)
|y
|y
|
| Y
| Contains a reference to Kerbal Space Program, whimsically referring to the launchpad as the Vehicle Disassembly Building.

Contains a figure in a cave saying "MMM SPIDERS HOMF NOMF", which refers to [[1268: Alternate Universe|Alternate Universe]] and may also be a reference to the [https://reallyreallyreallytrying.tumblr.com/post/40033025233/average-person-eats-3-spiders-a-year-factoid Spiders Georg] meme.
|-
|<code>sun</code>
|'''The Sun'''
| "The sun is governed by magnetohydrodynamics, or 'Magic' for short"

"My countertop!"

"This will make a good soup base"

"Can I touch it yet?" "No, be patient. It's still too hot. Give it another 20 or 30 billion years."

"It's okay. I'm wearing five layers of sunscreen."

TV Anchor: "The forecast for today is lots of sun"

"This should be enough sunscreen"
|(-14950, 12080)
|y
|
|
|
|Difficult to escape from if you hit the core.
|-
|
|Sun's core
| Cueball: "The core of the sun may seem hot, but it only produces about as much energy per volume as a lizard" Megan: "Wow. So how many lizards are there?" Cueball: "No-one knows."
|
|Y
|
|
|
|Difficult to escape from. Can be escaped by rotating around the sun until an escape-like velocity could be reached.
|-
|<code>soupiter</code>
|'''Soupiter'''
|"I think it's chicken noodle? Hard to tell."
|(-800, -9040)
|Y
|
|
|
|A planet made of soup, with a core. As commented by Cueball, noodle soup. Has several small versions of other planets floating around it.
|-
|<code>nojapan</code>
|'''Earth without Japan'''
|"Something is missing."
|(-7680, -5850)
|Y
|
|
|
|Earth, except it's missing japan.
|-
|<code>japanmoon</code>
|'''Just Japan'''
|
|(-5930, -5800)
|Y
|
|
|
|A moon with water surrounding... just Japan.
|-
|<code>pigeons</code>
|'''A blob labeled "Pigeons"'''
|
|(-9020, -2490)
|Y
|
|
|
|A reference to Chapter 6 of What If? 2, where it would take 1.6 x 10^25 pigeons to lift you and a chair up to the halfway point of Australia's Q1 skyscraper.
|-
|<code>enterprise</code>
|'''Starship Enterprise'''
|
|(2389, -60879)
|Y
|
|
|
|Star Trek reference: The Enterprise-C, yes 2344,commanded by Captain Garrett's. While defending a Klingon outpost, the weapons discharges resulted in the creation of a temporal rift, through which the badly damaged Enterprise drifted. In the comic, there is a large, invisible gravity distortion near the Enterprise-C
|-
|<code>qwantz</code>
|'''Dinosaur planet'''
|"Welcome... to Jurassic Park."
| (20403,-49559)
|
|
|Y
|
|An homage to [https://www.qwantz.com/ Dinosaur Comics], a webcomic Randall has mentioned several times before. All the dinosaurs on the planet are black-and-white versions of the clip art dinosaurs in that comic. Also references the Jurassic Park movies, with CEO John Hammond welcoming paleontologists Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant to the planet. The long grass depicted is a plot point in later films.
|-
|
|'''What If? 1 scenario planet'''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|<code>roads</code>
|'''Cat blocking traffic flowing through portals'''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|<code>outside</code>
|'''Edge of the Universe'''
|
| ( 6081, 26138 )
|
|
|
|
|It looks like a planet labeled "edge of the universe". Outside the universe, so inside the "edge of the universe planet", is another universe, the bubble universe. Hidden entrance is between 10 and 11 'o clock.
|-
|<code>roads</code>
|'''A tree larger than the planet it's growing on'''
|
|
|
|Y
|
|
|May be a reference to [[2: Petit Trees (sketch)|Petit Trees]]. More probably, a reference to ''The Little Prince'', a French children's novel about a traveler from a distant asteroid. In the novel, baobab trees are a serious threat to the Prince's home asteroid, as they are so large that their roots would engulf the asteroid entirely. Randall has alluded to The Little Prince numerous times before, especially in what-if articles.
|-
|<code>outside</code>
|'''Milliways'''
|
| in code: <code>[0,-14500]</code> in game: <code>[0,29000]</code>
|
|
|Y
|Y
|A reference to Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe from ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. On one side of the planet, Ponytail, Cueball, Megan, and other characters gather on the patio of the Milliways restaurant; on the other side, the Sojourner rover examines a rock.
|-
|<code>greatattractor</code>
|'''The Great Attractor'''
|
|(-596048, 247952)
|
|Y
|
|
|Beret Guy stands on the surface of a large ball labeled "The Great Attractor". The gravity is extremely strong (over 200 times that of the black holes), leading to various bugs and collision issues. It's a reference to [[Great Attractor]], in which Beret Guy is gravitationally attracted to the Great Attractor more strongly than usual.
|-
|<code>present</code>
|'''Present'''
|
"I didn't do any of my Christmas shopping yet because I was too busy drawing tiny planets."

"I'm done with my shopping! I got everyone What if? 2"

"...You got me my own book?"

"Yeah! I figured that since you wrote it, it must be right up your alley."

"It does make a good gift, though. You can get it at xkcd.com/whatif2"

"I got you this present!"

"Is it an angry bobcat?"

"It might not be."
|in code: <code>[22820,-18920]</code> in game: <code>[45640,37840]</code>
|
|Y
|
|
|The XKCD cast react to giving each other What if 2? as a present. Gravity at the bottom of the missing quarter of the planet is inescapable. Black Hat gives Cueball a "gift" which he claims "might not be a bobcat", a reference to [[A-Minus-Minus]]
|-
|<code>maw1</code>, <code>maw2</code>, ... <code>maw14</code>
|'''Black hole cluster'''
|
|
|
|
|
|
|A cluster of black holes with extremely high gravitational strength, set to the maximum of 2048. Not particularly easy to land on with multiple conflicting gravitational fields, but once landed on, rather difficult to escape.
|-
|<code>remnant</code>
|'''Remnant'''
|"All right, that's close enough"
"Oh no"

{{w|Walkin' on the Sun|"So don't delay, act now, supplies are running out"}}

"In 5 billion years, the Sun will run out of fuel and suffer gigennial burnout."

"The immense gravity of the sun's remnant means that this is the tallest possible skyscraper."
|(19620, 3800)
|
|
|
|
|A stellar remnant, with high gravity (making it difficult to escape, although it's possible to achieve escape velocity by flying sideways). Has various small landmarks, including a "skyscraper" and suspension bridge. There are bombs being dropped from above the planet, with one that seems to be sledding on the planet.
|-
|<code>steerswoman</code>
|'''Steerswoman Planet'''
|"As a Steerswoman, I have to answer any question anyone asks me, or I'm expelled from the order."
"What's one question that you would be unwilling to answer?"
"Oh no."

"Handle this artifact with great care. It contains a magical wizard's potion which the ancients called 'trinitrotoluene'"
|(-35070,-2500)
|
|
|
|Y
|A reference to the Steerswoman series of books by Rosemary Kirstein. Includes a number of references to the series, including a group of people observing a small object orbiting the planet.

Trinitrotoluene is better known as {{w|TNT}}, a powerful explosive.
|-
|<code>peeler</code>
|'''Peeler'''
|
|(-9270, 620)
|Y
|
|
|
|A reference to the question posed by "What If 2: Lose Weight the Slow and Incredibly Difficult Way". A large potato peeler is seen removing the earth's crust.
|}

===Ships===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Name
! Description
! Location
! Filename
! Image
|-
|Default
|The starting ship.
|It is possible to change back to this ship by collecting a dot located within the Black Hole cluster
|ship2
|
|-
| Tintin
|
| On the starting planet; can be obtained by collecting the cannonball in orbit
| ship-tintin
|
|-
| Figure
|Stick figure
|On Goodhart, atop the mountain up which Sisyphus is pushing his boulder.
|ship-figure
|
|-
| Soccer ball
| Soccer ball shaped ship
| On Earth, between two figures playing ball
|ship-soccer
|
|-
|Alternative Ship
|Slightly thicker version of default ship
|Only available by using console to change Comic.ship
|ship1
|}

==Data Dump==

View the data on [[2712: Gravity/Data|this page]].

==Hacks==
Various modes and hacks have been found or developed by the community, and can be activated by opening the Javascript Console (F12 [Or Command-Alt-I in most browsers under Mac OS X] to open Developer Tools, then Console tab) and writing corresponding commands. 
'''Click to expand:''' 

<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
*'''Speedhack:''' <code>ship.engines = "warp"</code> - Speed hacking, sets speed to 1.4x. set to "standard" to reset to normal speed
*'''Teleport to planet:''' <code>[Comic.voyager.pos.x, Comic.voyager.pos.y] = Comic.planetRects.'''''origin'''''.slice(0,2)</code> - teleport near a planet, in this example near earth. You'll still have to fly a bit towards the nearest planet to reach it. Replace '''''origin''''' with the ID of the planet you want to go to, from the table above.
*'''Teleport to coordinate:''' <code>[Comic.voyager.pos.x, Comic.voyager.pos.y] = '''''[0, -2000]'''''</code> - teleport to an exact coordinate. <code>[0, -2000]</code> happens to take you to the starting area.
*'''Improved radar:''' <code>Comic.wayfinderRadius = Infinity</code> - make the direction of all objects visible. This can be hard to understand though.
*'''Chaos Mode:''' <code>ship.engines="infinite improbability drive"</code> - Seems to randomly teleports the ship. A reference to its namesake in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
*'''Insta Death:''' <code>ship.shields = false</code> - Kill the player if they land on a planet, the code never sets it to false, so it seems to be always true.
*'''No Clip:''' <code>noclip = true</code> - Enables noclip. Also disables gravity.
*'''Select ship:''' <code>Comic.ship = "ship-tintin"</code> - Select ship (use filename from list of ships)
*'''Autorotate:''' <code>Comic.cameraRotation = false</code> - View does not rotate with ship
*'''Goggles:''' <code>ze.goggles()</code> - returns a warning: "they do nothing!". This is a reference to Hoverboard, where ''ze.goggles()'' would give you the ability to see false walls. Which itself is most likely a reference to the Simpsons where Radioactive man complains that his safety goggles do nothing against a deluge of acid.
*'''Python:''' <code>python("import antigravity")</code> - reverses gravity, so the ship falls away from planets. A reference to [[353: Python|Python]].
</div>
 

==Trivia==
The objects in the mini-universe of this browser game are all at fixed positions and do not interact through gravity, however, the ship controlled by the player is affected by gravity. While this makes it technically a relatively easy integration problem (of the position of the player ship forward in time), the integrator used seems to be a relatively simple one - and certainly not a symplectic one, because it does not conserve angular momentum. This can be seen when one manages to get into orbit around some object, e.g. the core of the sun. The orbit slowly decays over time.

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

Welcome!

To celebrate the world of what if? 2, here is your very own planet to explore!

Give someone the science question-and-answer book what if? 2 for Christmas:
xkcd.com/whatif2

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Bobcats]]

2711: Optimal Bowling

2022-12-17T07:26:17Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ prose

{{comic
| number = 2711
| date = December 14, 2022
| title = Optimal Bowling
| image = optimal_bowling_2x.png
| imagesize = 306x670px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you want to bowl a strike, the optimal place is almost certainly inside a bowling alley, although with a little luck any establishment uphill from one could also work.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SUPERMASSIVE BOWLING BALL - Need a full analysis of each graph (preferably with input from someone who understands bowling). Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This series of line graphs purports to advise players on how to improve their odds of achieving a strike in the sport of {{w|bowling}} – presumably {{w|ten-pin bowling}}, the most popular version of the sport in the United States. Among the parameters being measured — those being angle of throw, throwing speed, spinning speed, and weight of the ball — all four graphs encompass a range far larger than would be useful for reference by a bowler. The latter three in particular are on {{w|logarithmic scale}}s, leading up to values that are impossible for a human to achieve.{{Citation needed}}

The first line graph indicates that a bowler has the greatest chance of achieving a strike by aiming the ball directly at the pins, with the chance of a strike decreasing rapidly as the ball is aimed to the left or the right. The closer you aim to the pins, the more likely it is you hit them.{{Citation needed}} While a novice bowler may have difficulty achieving a 0° angle roll, their roll would still not come close to a -90° or 90° angle (due left or due right), much less a -180° or 180° angle (which, in either case, would be the opposite direction from the pins). Unlike with the other graphs, it is physically possible for a bowler to aim the ball at any angle, albeit not permissible under bowling rules; aiming the ball at an angle which deviates significantly from 0° would most likely cause the ball to end up in the gutter, while more violent or wildly aimed actions could create a risk of the ball going into one of the other lanes or missing the lanes entirely, which could annoy, anger, or even endanger other bowlers and employees of the bowling alley.

The second graph indicates that a bowler has the greatest chance of achieving a strike by throwing the ball about 5-20 m/s (11-45 mph, 18-72 kph), with the chance of a strike decreasing as the speed is increased or decreased. Most bowlers cannot throw more than 45 m/s (100 mph or 160 kph).{{Citation needed}} According to the graph, any throw faster than 100 m/s would cause equipment damage, and then widespread destruction several orders of magnitude later. (Possibly a reference to {{what if|1|Relativistic Baseball}}.) The graph ends at the {{w|speed of light}}, as it is physically impossible to throw anything faster.

The third graph concerns the rotational speed of the ball. The "ball explodes" section is a reference to one of [[Randall]]'s favorite equations, which is that an object cannot spin faster than the square root of its specific tensile strength. Spinning the ball any faster than this limit would cause the bowling ball to lose its structural integrity and explosively disintegrate. At particularly high speeds, the material of the ball would be flung outwards at a significant fraction of the speed of light, causing, as in the second graph, widespread destruction (possibly a reference to {{what if|92|One-Second Day}}.)

The fourth graph in this comic illustrates a bowler's probability of a strike with a ball whose mass ranges from 100 kg (2.2 pounds) to close to 1010 kg (over 22 billion pounds), and continues by indicating that balls even larger than that would cause "equipment damage" (up to 1020 kg) or the creation of a black hole (starting from around 1025 kg and up). The last entry on the x-axis of this graph is 1040 kg, which is about 5 billion times the mass of the {{w|Sun}}. The {{w|United States Bowling Congress}} requires all bowling balls to weigh no more than 16 pounds (that is, a mass of no more than 7.257 kg), with no minimum weight. Hence, if the x-axis of the graph ran from, say, 0 to 8 kg, the graph might actually impart some useful information.

The title text continues the trend of providing unhelpful information by stating that the optimal place to stand when trying to bowl a strike is inside the bowling alley, but mentions the possibility of "any establishment uphill from one" working, with a little luck. This suggests the possibility of rolling the bowling ball downhill, into the bowling alley and into the pins.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[The header is surrounded on either side by small drawings of two bowling pins and a bowling ball.]
:Data for Optimal Bowling

:[Four line graphs are depicted. Each has a numbered one-word general description in a box at the top, an unlabeled y-axis, and a labeled x-axis. The relevant curve and other comments on each graph are in red.]

:1. Aim
:[The graph's x-axis is labeled from -180° to 180°.]
:Release Direction
:[The red curve on the graph is just above the x-axis at all points except for a steep peak around 0°. The red curve is labeled:]
:Relative Probability of Strike

:2. Speed
:[The graph's x-axis is labeled from 10-1 to 108, with the last point on the x-axis labeled "Speed of Light".]
:Ball Speed (m/s)
:[The red curve on the graph starts at the x-axis for 10-1, reaches its peak around 10, then declines and becomes a dashed line ending around three-quarters of the peak around 102. The remainder of the curve is replaced by two labels:]
:Equipment Damage
:Widespread Destruction

:3. Spin
:[The graph's x-axis is labeled from 0 to 1012.]
:Spin (RPMs)
:[The red curve on the graph starts about halfway from its peak for 0, reaches its peak somewhere between 0 and 1,000, then declines and becomes a dashed line around 1,000, soon after which the remainder of the curve is replaced by two labels:]
:Ball Explodes
:Widespread Destruction

:4. Weight
:[The graph's x-axis is labeled from 100 to 1040.]
:Ball Mass (kg)
:[The red curve on the graph starts just above the x-axis for 100, rises steeply and drops steeply ending just above the x-axis, then becoming a dashed line, all before reaching 1010. The remainder of the curve is replaced by two labels:]
:Equipment Damage
:Black Hole Created

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Sport]]

2712: Gravity

2022-12-16T23:48:44Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ link as per comic

{{comic
| number = 2712
| date = December 16, 2022
| title = Gravity
| image = gravity_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x700px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's a long way down.
}}

*To experience the interactivity, visit the [http://xkcd.com/2712/ original comic].
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SPACE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic, you can fly a small spaceship to visit different planets using your arrow keys. Tiny spheres appear in the direction of nearby planets as a guide.

This comic was released as a promotion for Randall's new book [https://xkcd.com/what-if-2/ What If? 2], which was released in September and is available for purchase.

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

Welcome!

To celebrate the world of what if? 2, here is your very own planet to explore!

Give someone the science question-and-answer book what if? 2 for Christmas:
xkcd.com/whatif2

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2703: Paper Title

2022-11-26T02:54:30Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ unnecessary hyphen

{{comic
| number = 2703
| date = November 25, 2022
| title = Paper Title
| image = paper_title_2x.png
| imagesize = 557x261px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT: The authors hope these results are correct because we all want to be cool people who are good at science.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MICROBE TRYING TO LURE YOU WITH CLICKBAIT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Many if not most scientific research papers present a {{w|hypothesis}} and the result of testing the hypothesis. Scientific papers should also have titles which describe the content of the papers. See [[2456: Types of Scientific Paper]].

[[Cueball]] is writing a research paper with a {{w|clickbait}} and {{w|puffery}} title, "Check out this cool microbe we found." His colleague [[Megan]] asks him whether science is supposed to be about formulating a hypothesis and testing it. Cueball agrees, changing the title to, "Is our lab really good at finding cool microbes? Some preliminary data." However, that is still an overly promotional clickbait title, purporting to be a study of the authors' own competence, which would be highly unusual because of the lack of objectivity caused by the authors being the subject of investigation. [[:Category:Clickbait|Clickbait]] is a recurring theme on xkcd, recently considered within science publications in [[2001: Clickbait-Corrected p-Value]].

{{w|Emperical research|''Empirical investigations''}} and ''{{w|analysis}} papers'' almost always state and test a hypothesis, but there are many kinds of scientific papers which likely will not, including ''{{w|literature review}}s,'' which qualitatively summarize the results of other papers; ''{{w|meta-analysis|meta-analyses}},'' which quantitatively summarize the results and quality of other work; ''observational reports'' (or ''{{w|case study|case studies}}'' — not to be confused with {{w|observational study|observational studies}}, a kind of emperical analysis), which present data and a chronicle of its collection without analysis, testing, or interpretation; ''{{w|Conference proceeding|conference papers}},'' which present preliminary work without peer review; ''definition papers,'' which attempt to formalize terms used in divergent ways in prior work; ''{{w|Dialectic#Hegelian dialectic|syntheses}},'' which present alternative views combining multiple and often conflicting concepts; ''{{w|Comparison|comparative studies}},'' which compare and contrast a class of concepts; ''{{w|Interpretive discussion|interpretive}} papers,'' showing a different perspective on previous work; ''{{w|technical report}}s,'' which may present information on a specific procedural topic or progress and results in a field; ''opinion'' and ''editorial essays,'' which are intended to argue a point of view persuasively; ''book reviews,'' which summarize monographs or biographies; and ''grant proposals,'' which make the case for funding a project. Mathematical or logic research papers which don't involve emperical observations or uncertainty would be considered technical reports in other fields. Engineering work can be reported as an emperical investigation or a technical report.

Cueball seems to want to author an observational report, but Megan would prefer an emperical investigation or analysis, perhaps because they are more likely to be accepted by peer reviewed journals, and as such are more prestigious than mere conference papers, "letters," or "communications" as observational reports are usually published. However, research articles describing the discovery of new {{w|microbe}}s in prestigious peer-reviewed journals are often published as observational reports[https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.004029][http://calamar.univ-ag.fr/mangroveSAE/articles/2022/Volland%20et%20al%202022.pdf][https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10482-021-01656-x] so Megan's concerns may be unfounded; even if so, the editors of any reputable journal would almost certainly require a far more descriptive and less overtly promotional title from Cueball. The question remains whether an intial submission with a catchy clickbait title might get more prompt attention from editors and reviewers.

In the title text, the {{w|conflict of interest}} statement says that the authors hope their results are correct because, "we all want to be cool people who are good at science." A scientific publication's potential conflict of interest usually refers to the authors' financial, familial, or other external interests in the research outcomes. The disclosure statement does not describe a conflict between the authors' extrinsic motivations and factors influencing the accuracy and neutrality of their work; in fact it claims the opposite, an alignment between their intrinsic motivations and the goal of producing high quality work.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is standing behind and looking over the shoulder of Cueball who is sitting in his office chair at his desk typing on the keyboard. A line from the keyboard goes up to two boxes above them. A smaller one at the top, half the length and a third the height of the larger box below. There are text in both boxes. The bottom box is not filled out with text. At the end of the text in the bottom box the line indicating where the courser are can be seen, as in this is what Megan can see on the screen:]
:Paper title
:''Check out this cool microbe we found''|

:[Pan to only showing Megan who has taken a hand up to her chin. Cueball replies from off-panel.]
:Megan: Isn’t science supposed to be about formulating a hypothesis and then testing it?
:Cueball - off panel: Oh. Yeah, I guess.

:[Same setting as in the first panel, but now the bottom box is filled out with text, but still with the courser shown at the end:]
:Paper title
:''Is our lab really good at finding cool microbes? Some preliminary data''|

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Clickbait]]

2703: Paper Title

2022-11-26T02:18:50Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ don't forget logic

{{comic
| number = 2703
| date = November 25, 2022
| title = Paper Title
| image = paper_title_2x.png
| imagesize = 557x261px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT: The authors hope these results are correct because we all want to be cool people who are good at science.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a MICROBE TRYING TO LURE YOU WITH CLICKBAIT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Many if not most scientific research papers present a hypothesis and the result of testing the hypothesis. Scientific papers should also have titles which describe the content of the papers. See [[2456: Types of Scientific Paper]].

[[Cueball]] is writing a research paper with a {{w|clickbait}} style and {{w|puffery}} title, "Check out this cool microbe we found." His colleague [[Megan]] asks him whether science is supposed to be about formulating a {{w|hypothesis}} and testing it. Cueball agrees, changing the title to, "Is our lab really good at finding cool microbes? Some preliminary data." However, that is still an overly-promotional clickbait title, purporting to be a study of the authors' own competence, which would be highly unusual because of the lack of objectivity caused by the authors being the subject of investigation. [[:Category:Clickbait|Clickbait]] is a recurring theme on xkcd, recently considered within science publications in [[2001: Clickbait-Corrected p-Value]].

{{w|Emperical research|''Empirical investigations''}} and ''{{w|analysis}} papers'' almost always state and test a hypothesis, but there are many kinds of scientific papers which likely will not, including ''{{w|literature review}}s,'' which qualitatively summarize the results of other papers; ''{{w|meta-analysis|meta-analyses}},'' which quantitatively summarize the results and quality of other work; ''observational reports'' (or ''{{w|case study|case studies}}'' — not to be confused with {{w|observational study|observational studies}}, a kind of emperical analysis), which present data and a chronicle of its collection without analysis, testing, or interpretation; ''{{w|Conference proceeding|conference papers}},'' which present preliminary work without peer review; ''definition papers,'' which attempt to formalize terms used in divergent ways in prior work; ''{{w|Dialectic#Hegelian dialectic|syntheses}},'' which present alternative views combining multiple and often conflicting concepts; ''{{w|Comparison|comparative studies}},'' which compare and contrast a class of concepts; ''{{w|Interpretive discussion|interpretive}} papers,'' showing a different perspective on previous work; ''{{w|technical reports}},'' which usually present information on a specific procedural topic; ''opinion'' and ''editorial essays,'' which are intended to argue a point of view persuasively; ''book reviews,'' which summarize monographs or biographies; and ''grant proposals,'' which make the case for funding a project. Mathematical or logic research papers which don't involve emperical observations or uncertainty would be considered technical reports in other fields. Engineering work can be reported as an emperical investigation or a technical report.

Cueball seems to want to author an observational report, but Megan would prefer an emperical investigation or analysis, perhaps because they are more likely to be accepted by peer reviewed journals, and as such are more prestigious than mere conference papers, "letters," or "communications" as observational reports are usually published. However, research articles describing the discovery of new microbes in prestigious peer-reviewed journals are often published as observational reports[https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/ijsem.0.004029][http://calamar.univ-ag.fr/mangroveSAE/articles/2022/Volland%20et%20al%202022.pdf][https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10482-021-01656-x] so Megan's concerns may be unfounded; even if so, the editors of any reputable journal would almost certainly require a far more descriptive and less overly promotional title from Cueball. The question remains whether an intial submission with a catchy clickbait title might get more prompt attention from editors and reviewers.

In the title text, the conflict of interest statement says that the authors hope their results are correct because, "we all want to be cool people who are good at science." A scientific publication's potential {{w|conflict of interest}} usually refers to the authors' financial, familial, or other external interests in the research outcomes. The disclosure statement does not describe a conflict between the authors' extrinsic motivations and factors influencing the accuracy and neutrality of their work; in fact it claims the opposite, an alignment between their intrinsic motivations and the goal of producing high quality work.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is standing behind and looking over the shoulder of Cueball who is sitting in his office chair at his desk typing on the keyboard. A line from the keyboard goes up to two boxes above them. A smaller one at the top, half the length and a third the height of the larger box below. There are text in both boxes. The bottom box is not filled out with text. At the end of the text in the bottom box the line indicating where the courser are can be seen, as in this is what Megan can see on the screen:]
:Paper title
:''Check out this cool microbe we found''|

:[Pan to only showing Megan who has taken a hand up to her chin. Cueball replies from off-panel.]
:Megan: Isn’t science supposed to be about formulating a hypothesis and then testing it?
:Cueball - off panel: Oh. Yeah, I guess.

:[Same setting as in the first panel, but now the bottom box is filled out with text, but still with the courser shown at the end:]
:Paper title
:''Is our lab really good at finding cool microbes? Some preliminary data''|

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Clickbait]]

2701: Change in Slope

2022-11-22T00:29:44Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ example

{{comic
| number = 2701
| date = November 21, 2022
| title = Change in Slope
| image = change_in_slope_2x.png
| imagesize = 656x371px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Squinting at a graph is fine for getting a rough idea of the answer, but if you want to pretend to know it exactly, you neeed statistics.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SIDEWAYS STATISTIC. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic is a tip for detecting changes in slopes over a {{w|scatter plot}} of data. This is a common requirement in exploratory statistics for comparing trends in a series — finding the cutoff where the slope changes may reveal valuable information about the data.

The comic compares two methods. Firstly, a novice method — by 'doing a bunch of statistics', applying various statistical tools to analyze the data and figure out the quantitative change in slope. This results in two equations for the trendlines above and below a given value, a box plot, a histogram and a line chart. It is unknown exactly what methods the novice used to figure out the change in slope in the data. Possibilities include calculating the [https://stackoverflow.com/a/45063636 derivatives] (which probably won't work well on noisy data such as shown), or the [https://stackoverflow.com/a/71744293 gradients], or using a [https://stackoverflow.com/a/47522444 Savitzky-Golay filter or piecewise linear smoothing spline fits].

The other is the so-called 'expert' method, which involves [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/525939879805190154/1044395695525875712/xkcd_sideways.png tilting the page the graph is printed on to view changes in slope] better. For small changes in an underlying trend, similar to that apparently shown in the comic, direct visual inspection cannot always identify or even reveal the effect. The comic shows, however, that by taking the page and rotating it in just the right way, {{w|Perspective (graphical)|no longer flat on}} to the observer, a change in slope is more clearly visible to the naked eye. Ironically, tilting the comic to make the original' roughly resemble the perspective of the 'tilted' version graph shown in the comic shows that the right hand panel is slightly exaggerated for visual effect.

However, applying such an approach to data plots can run into errors — the primary one being parallax error from the oblique viewing angle causing the observer to not necessariy identify or clearly find the point at which the slope changes. It also does not reveal any data about the quantitative value of the change in slope, merely proving the existence of one. Furthermore, noisy data might show an apparent slope change which is not representative of an actual change in the underlying data, so even more advanced [https://www.danielsoper.com/statcalc/calculator.aspx?id=103 statistics testing the hypothesis of whether an apparent slope change is real] may likely be a good idea.

The title text then goes on to say that, while such a trick is useful to identify that there is some change in slope, in order to ''pretend'' to know it exactly one must revert to statistics (the "novice method") to obtain some form of information, defeating some of the premise of the comic. This at least produces a semblence of statistical rigor although, once an answer appears obvious, data could be interpreted to reach an answer that you are now expecting rather than revealing something of more statistically useful significance.

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

:How to detect a change in the slope of your data

:[First column, on the left]
:Novice method:
:[A graph, with dots forming a rough line, math formulas, and sub graphs]
:Do a bunch of statistics

:[Second column, on the right]
:Expert method:
:[Perspective view of the previous graph, with the legend "Hey look, it bends here" and an arrow pointing to the graph]
:Tip the graph sideways

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Scatter plots]]
[[Category:Bar charts]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Statistics]]

2697: Y2K and 2038

2022-11-12T01:39:34Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ orly?

{{comic
| number = 2697
| date = November 11, 2022
| title = Y2K and 2038
| image = y2k_and_2038_2x.png
| imagesize = 527x190px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's taken me 20 years, but I've finally finished rebuilding all my software to use 33-bit signed ints.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Y2K-BRICKED BOT (MADE JAN 1, 1970). Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[File:Year 2038 problem.gif|thumb|An animation of the 2038 bug in action. The {{w|integer overflow}} error occurs at 03:14:08 UTC on 19 January 2038.]]

The Y2K bug, or more formally, the {{w|year 2000 problem}}, was the computer errors caused by two digit software representations of calendar years incorrectly handling the year 2000, such as by treating it as 1900 or 19100. The {{w|year 2038 problem}} is a similar issue with timestamps in {{w|Unix time}} format, which will overflow their {{w|Signed number representations|signed}} 32-bit binary representation on January 19, 2038.

While initial estimates were that the Y2K problem would require about half a trillion dollars to address, there was widespread recognition of its potential severity several years in advance. Concerted efforts among organizations including computer and software manufacturers and their corporate and government users reflected unprecedented cooperation, testing, and enhancement of affected systems costing substantially less than the early estimates. A major problem had struck IBM mainframes on and after August 16, 1972 (9999 days before January 1, 2000) that caused magnetic tapes that were supposed to be marked "keep forever" instead be marked "may be recycled now."{{Actual citation needed}} But on New Year's Day 2000, few major errors actually occurred. Those that did usually did not disrupt essential processes or cause serious problems, and the few of them that did were usually addressed in days to weeks. The software code reviews involved allowed correcting other errors and providing various enhancements which often made up at least in part for the the cost of correcting the date bug.

It is unclear whether the 2038 problem will be addressed as effectively in time, but documented experience with the Y2K bug and increased software modularity and access to source code has allowed many otherwise vulnerable systems to already upgrade to wider timestamp and date formats, so there is reason to believe that it may be even less consequential and expensive. The 2038 problem has been previously mentioned in [[607: 2038]] and [[887: Future Timeline]].

The caption in this comic provides a punchline: everyone should have completed their "Y2K recovery" as it has been a full 22 years since the year 2000. It is highly unlikely that there are more than a very few consequential older systems that still suffer from this bug, and systems built since already handle years after 1999 correctly.

The title text refers to replacing the 32-bit signed Unix time format with a hypothetical new 33-bit signed {{w|Integer (computer science)|integer}} time and date format, which is very unlikely as almost all contemporary computer data structure formats are allocated no more finely than in 8-bit bytes. Taking 20 years to develop and implement such a format is not entirely counterproductive, as it would add another 68 years of capability, but it is far more counterproductive than upgrading to the widely available and supported 64-bit Unix time replacement format and software compatibility libraries.

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

[A timeline rectangle with 37 short dividing lines between the two ends, defining it into 38 minor sections, with the label "2000" above, associated with the leftmost edge, "2038" associated with the rightmost edge and "2019" directly over the centremost division that starts the section which covers that year, which is also extended to form a dotted line divided the whole height of the timeline into two equal 19-section halves. The left half has the label "Recovering from the Y2K bug" and the right half is labeled "Preparing for the 2038 bug". A triangular arrowhead labeled "Now" is also above indicating a rough position most of the way through the section that would represent the year 2022.]

[Caption:] Reminder: By now you should have finished your Y2K recovery and be several years into 2038 preparation.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Calendar]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Programming]]
[[Category:Timelines]]

2693: Wirecutter Recommendation

2022-11-05T04:23:45Z

172.71.158.6: /* Explanation */ none of this necessarily follows

{{comic
| number = 2693
| date = November 2, 2022
| title = Wirecutter Recommendation
| image = wirecutter_recommendation_2x.png
| imagesize = 430x333px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Their 'best philosophy of epistemology' picks are great, but you can tell they're struggling a little in the 'why you should trust us' section.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a WIRECUTTER DREAM — Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

''[https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter Wirecutter]'' is a product review website, owned by ''The New York Times''. As such, ''Wirecutter'' is best used for comparing brands and models of consumer products. The comic, however, lists things that ''Wirecutter'' should ''not'' recommend, or that one should not choose based on ''Wirecutter'' reviews.

The first panel shows [[Cueball]] telling [[Ponytail]] that he decided to go with ''Wirecutter'''s recommendation when buying something unspecified. The second panel shows a list of different contexts for this conversation, ranking them from "Fine" to "Very Bad".

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Thing Being Chosen!!Judgment!!Explanation
|-
|Vacuum cleaner||Fine||Vacuum cleaners are an everyday household item. Many brands and models are available offering a range of functionality at different prices. This is exactly the kind of thing where ''Wirecutter'''s reviews are helpful when deciding which kind to buy.
|-
|Headphones||Fine|||Headphones are also fairly ubiquitous, and ''Wirecutter'' would likewise be useful in such a scenario.
|-
|Electric scooter||Fine||While less common than the two above, electric scooters are still a popular electrical product, so ''Wirecutter'' is a decent choice for advice.
|-
|Favorite movie||Weird||Most people would say that your choice of favorite movie should be based on your own experiences, rather than someone else's opinions. Reviewing movies is a very different endeavor to reviewing products, and one would not expect ''Wirecutter'' to be particularly proficient with it. While a movie review website may be a reasonable source of recommendations on whether to see a particular movie at all, it would be strange to choose one's own favorite movie based on a website's recommendation.
|-
|Personal style||Weird||Not only does the term "personal style" encompass a vast range of topics, it is also (predictably) a deeply personal thing. These two factors mean that not only will ''Wirecutter'''s recommended likely not fully discuss every factor of your personal style, it also isn't the kind of service you'd use to choose something as nebulous and personal as your "personal style."
|-
|Neighborhood||Weird||It can be assumed this means "the neighborhood one lives in." In this case, it is odd to rely on ''Wirecutter'' for recommendations on where to live, as it is a product review website and since a respectable portion of that decision is up to personal circumstances, preferences, and local conditions that a national newspaper (even one with the resources of the ''New York Times'') will not be able to see. In a best case scenario, ''Wirecutter'' is recommending neighborhoods based on empirical data, such as local economic growth. There are [https://www.businessinsider.com/us-news-best-places-to-live-in-america-2016-3 publications] [https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2022/07/28/the-best-and-most-affordable-places-to-live-in-america-in-2022/?sh=566a26ca6bbf that] [https://money.com/best-places-to-live/ rank] the "best cities to live in", which could relate to this topic.
|-
|Pet||Weird||While the ''type'' of pet may be more easy to rank on a website (especially with a pro/con system), picking an ''individual pet'' is an extremely personal decision that probably can't be considered covered by a product review website like ''Wirecutter''.
|-
|College major||Bad||Your college major will influence the rest of your life significantly, and your choice should depend on your prior personal experiences. Basing your choice on ''Wirecutter'', something completely unrelated to college, is likely a bad idea. As with "Neighborhood", any recommendations can only be based on empirical data like employment availability, tuition cost vs. expected salary, etc. [https://www.princetonreview.com/college-advice/top-ten-college-majors Rankings] [https://www.mydegreeguide.com/best-college-majors/ like] [https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/save-money/best-college-majors/ this] do exist, however, and are possibly used by prospective students.
|-
|Career||Bad||One's optimal career choice is subject to a wide range of highly personal factors, including your talents, ambitions, and capabilities. It is highly unlikely that a hardware review site like ''Wirecutter'' would be capable of accounting for every one of these factors for every conceivable viewer. Could be related to [https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/the-100-best-jobs rankings] [https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-best-jobs-in-america-in-2022-ranked/ like] [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/12/these-are-10-best-us-jobs-of-2022-according-to-new-research.html this].
|-
|Religion||Bad||Do ''not'' base your religious worldview on the electronic device equivalent to Yelp. The idea of ''Wirecutter'' reviewing religion has appeared in a previous comic, [[2536: Wirecutter]].
|-
|Spouse||Very Bad|| In general, people pair off when choosing spouses. This would mean that ''Wirecutter'' would be required to either find one potential spouse for every reader (cumbersome, to say the least) or would recommend ''one'' spouse for multiple (possibly millions of) partners. Even assuming an accelerated divorce rate, it would be impossible for the choice spouse to actually accomplish the role.
Perhaps [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/24/wirecutter-recommends-the-best-partner this parody] by ''The New Yorker'' inspired this comic.
|-
|Dreams||Very Bad|| There are two possible definitions of "dream" that may be referred to here.
* When it comes to "the series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep," most people cannot consciously control what they dream about, so recommending this sort of dream is somewhat pointless. Further, as this information is largely inaccessible outside of the mind of the dreamer, ''Wirecutter'' has limited ability to make meaningful suggestions.
* On the other hand, if Cueball is relying upon ''Wirecutter'' to recommend "a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal," he is allowing one of the most personal and individual aspects of his life — something which may give life itself a sense of meaning — to be dictated by a consumer product review site. As with many entries here, this is something that most people have to come up with or discover for themselves; relying on a third party to recommend one FOR him is deeply unlikely to bring about long-term satisfaction.
|-
|Favorite child||Very Bad|| Assuming this is a reference to the reader's own children, it can be difficult and furthermore bad practice for a parent to choose their "favorite" child, and using ''Wirecutter'' to do this analysis is near impossible. And a website that purports to know more about how to judge the relative merits of your own family than you would be... interesting.
The alternative interpretation of assuming that this is from "all children, everywhere" is more difficult. There are approximately 1.3 billion persons under the age of 18, most of whom have at least one good quality,{{citation needed}} and defining a useful ranking in such a situation is functionally impossible.
|-
|Site for product recommendations||Very Bad|| This is a topic of which the authors, editors, and publishers of ''Wirecutter'' have a vested interest and clear bias. This implies that the people at ''Wirecutter'' would be self-serving when it comes to recommending recommendations, specifically.

Alternatively, they could be recommending ''another'' review site, which could call into question their judgment and make you wonder why you should trust them at all.
|-
|}

The title text references {{w|epistemology}}, a branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge and truth, for which [[Randall]] says ''Wirecutter'''s recommendations are great. Broadly speaking, epistemology attempts to answer the question "how do I know that what I know is true?" He seems skeptical, however, of their reasons that their reviews should be trusted. Perhaps the great epistemological theories don't favor the accuracy of crowdsourced product reviews when manufacturers are eager to leverage such reviews to cast their products in the best possible light, including through unethical means such as {{w|astroturfing}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball and Ponytail standing next to each other. Cueball has his palm raised.]
:Cueball: I just went with the one Wirecutter recommended.

:[A panel of four categories with topics next to them]

:[Fine category]
:Vacuum cleaner
:Headphones
:Electric scooter

:[Weird category]
:Favorite movie
:Personal style
:Neighborhood
:Pet

:[Bad category]
:College major
:Career
:Religion

:[Very bad category]
:Spouse
:Dreams
:Favorite child
:Site for product recommendations

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]