explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3230: Overton

2026-04-15T19:41:53Z

174.53.211.85:

4 January 1960 – 30 June 2003 {{unsigned ip|77.87.241.9|18:34, 8 April 2026}}

Someday this cartoon will be politically inappropriate. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 19:16, 8 April 2026 (UTC)
: ^ Absolutely. [[Special:Contributions/66.154.219.123|66.154.219.123]] 21:16, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

randall posting a politics-related comic? which could be construed as discontent with the current political landscape? inb4 somebody <s>bashes</s> complains at kynde again - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 22:15, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

I think it's worth noting that the window keeps updating to the right. [[Special:Contributions/50.47.108.55|50.47.108.55]] 02:22, 9 April 2026 (UTC) Ale10ander
: Only if you consider dates to go from left to right instead of any other direction. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:C7C:7344:4C00:BC19:A5A4:14E8:E888|2A02:C7C:7344:4C00:BC19:A5A4:14E8:E888]] 08:27, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

What's the next death date? 2027? (Just guessin) [[User:Cream Starlight|Cream S.L.]] ([[User talk:Cream Starlight|talk]] / [[Special:Contributions/Cream_Starlight|contribs]]) 03:33, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

Does he keep dying because he's gone over a ton? (1 ton = 2000 lbs) {{unsigned ip|2607:fb91:bd8a:8e2f:858d:1e1b:f461:5f6e|04:35, 9 April 2026 (UTC)}}
:Too heavy even the time is altered, i see [[User:Cream Starlight|Cream S.L.]] ([[User talk:Cream Starlight|talk]] / [[Special:Contributions/Cream_Starlight|contribs]]) 05:53, 9 April 2026 (UTC)
:F.Y.I.: 1 ton = 2,000 ''or'' 2,204.6 ''or'' 2,240 pounds, at least.
:Also it can be 40, 42 or 60 cubic feet (amongst others). Or 12,000 British Thermal Units-per-Hour. And, at least colloquially, I might use it to describe 100 ''miles per hour'' or GB£100. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.238.115|82.132.238.115]] 16:02, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

Reincarnation - Can someone suggest a suitable Buddhist or Hindu text as citation for them multiple lifes? [[Special:Contributions/87.129.222.20|87.129.222.20]] 06:39, 9 April 2026 (UTC)
:The windows are overlapping, so no this is not a reference to reincarnation. [[User:Zmatt|Zmatt]] ([[User talk:Zmatt|talk]]) 16:00, 9 April 2026 (UTC)
:: Are they French windows, or sash windows? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:00, 10 April 2026 (UTC)
::I only read this in relation to the Dalai Lama so idk if it changes in other forms of Buddhism, but [https://tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Emanation_before_the_passing_away_of_the_predecessor_(ma-dhey_tulku) You can have multiple reincarnations in overlapping windows] in certain cases, although I doubt those cases apply here [[User:Brontosaurus|Brontosaurus]] ([[User talk:Brontosaurus|talk]]) 22:24, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

For what it's worth, though Wikipedia currently describes Overton as a "political scientist," that is likely to shift soon. (That is to say, unless someone makes a compelling case on the Talk page, I'm going to change his description to "political activist," which I think is more accurate to someone who never had a political science degree, never had academic employment, and worked as an electrical engineer before working at an activist think tank.) [[Special:Contributions/38.69.197.145|38.69.197.145]] 12:33, 9 April 2026 (UTC)
: Does that mean that the Overton Window Overton Window has moved? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 13:16, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

In case anyone wants to check: [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122681438/joseph_paul-overton/photo#view-photo=94839436 Here's a pic of his grave] {{unsigned ip|74.87.89.226|18:04, 9 April 2026 (UTC)}}

Just want to say that I think the title text is true. Randall will probably find that, in a few months time, the Sun will no longer be in his face, but the cycle will repeat on an annual basis. I have a similar window. [[User:Jeremyp|Jeremyp]] ([[User talk:Jeremyp|talk]]) 19:18, 9 April 2026 (UTC)

;Significance of the Dates

Many of the dates in listed correspond to major geopolitical events concerning US military and diplomatic policy. They may also correspond to milestone events in US domestic politics. This is an attempt to compile some of the key events that the comic may be referencing.

*1965:
**The beginning of Operation Rolling Thunder, the US ground invasion of Vietnam.
**President LBJ signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965
*- 2011:
**US special forces kill Osama Bin Laden
**NATO forces without the US intervene in the Libyan Civil War leading to the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.
**More widely, protests spread accross the Middle East and North Africa, dubbed the Arab Spring
**The last of the US combat forces stationed in Iraq are withdrawn.
**The Occuppy Wall Street movement begins.
*1973:
**The United States signs the Paris Peace Accords, withdrawing from the Vietnam conflict and claiming the war was over
**The United States Congress overrides a presidential veto to pass the War Powers Resolution, limiting the ability of future presidents to wage war without Congressional approval
**The Watergate Scandal breaks.
**Roe v Wade.
*- 2018:
**President Donald Trump unilaterally withdraws the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aka the Iran Nuclear Deal.
**Congress reverses many of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act's reporting and compliance requirements for all but the largest US banks.
*1982:
**Israel violates a 1981 U.S. Brokered ceasefire agreement and invades Lebanon. In response the United States spearheads the establishment of a peacekeeping force to protect Beirut, the Multinational Force in Lebanon.
{{unsigned|In-Sanity|22:16, 8 April 2026}}
:Unfortunately, I suspect that you could easily find such events for absolutely ''every'' year across that range... Unless you narrow down the choices to just something current (i.e. specifically the ones related to current Middle East events, I suppose), which are going to be less frequent but perhaps specifically in Randall's mind.
:(Oh, and I slightly re-reformatted your amended contribution, presuming that you meant it to look a bit more like it is now.)
:I was wondering if there was a mathematical pattern to the numbers, myself. [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 23:00, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

"sunlight is not generally influenced by social attitudes" - Please tell that to the people sitting by the windows and controlling the shades on the airplane and in my workplace. [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 22:05, 13 April 2026 (UTC)

What is the basis for the claim that "the most recent updated death time should be in 2023"? I think that paragraph should be removed. [[Special:Contributions/174.53.211.85|174.53.211.85]] 19:41, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

3204: Dinosaurs And Non-Dinosaurs

2026-02-07T16:01:07Z

174.53.211.85: /* Creatures that seem like dinosaurs, but are not */ Plesiosaurs (not "pleisosaurs") were aquatic

{{comic
| number = 3204
| date = February 6, 2026
| title = Dinosaurs And Non-Dinosaurs
| image = dinosaurs_and_non_dinosaurs_2x.png
| imagesize = 370x283px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Staplers are actually in Pseudosuchia, making them more closely related to crocodiles than to dinosaurs.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a webserver that is often described as being a dinosaur, however it is definitely not. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic explores the seeming paradox that certain extinct prehistoric species which are popularly thought of as being "dinosaurs" are, from a strict taxonomic viewpoint, not. It also takes into account the fact that all bird species are descended from dinosaurs and thus - again, from a strict taxonomic viewpoint - are themselves dinosaurs as well (see [[1211: Birds and Dinosaurs]]). To illustrate this, [[Randall]] provides silhouettes of dinosaurs, of entities that are widely thought of as dinosaurs but are not, of entities that are ''not'' widely thought of as dinosaurs but ''are'' (i.e., birds), and, lastly, of entities that are neither dinosaurs nor thought of as dinosaurs (which is funny because it's so all-encompassing as to be practically meaningless, just like it would be if you replaced the word "dinosaurs" by any other plural noun, or adjective).

In reading order from upper left in each quadrant of the image:
* Silhouettes in "seem like dinosaurs / are dinosaurs": {{w|Stegosaurus}}, {{w|Triceratops}}, {{w|Tyrannosaurus}}, {{w|Diplodocus}} and {{w|Velociraptor}}
* Silhouettes in "seem like dinosaurs / are not dinosaurs": {{w|Mosasaur}}, {{w|Quetzalcoatlus}}, {{w|Dimetrodon}}, {{w|Plesiosaur}} and {{w|Pteranodon}}
* Silhouettes in "don't seem like dinosaurs / are dinosaurs": {{w|Penguin}}, {{w|Egret}}, {{w|Falcon}}, {{w|Pigeon}} and {{w|Ostrich}}
* Silhouettes in "don't seem like dinosaurs / are not dinosaurs": {{w|Squirrel}}, {{w|Stapler}}, {{w|Bicycle }}, {{w|Human}} (here depicted as [[Cueball]]) and {{w|Pineapple}}

The title text is a further joke about taxonomy, seemingly predicated on the assumption that staplers are biological organisms, and can thus be sorted into taxa. ''{{w|Pseudosuchia}}'' is in fact the clade that encompasses all crocodilians, and staplers bear a certain resemblance to the open mouth of a crocodilian. Also, "suchia" sounds a little like "sutures," and in some sense staples are pseudo sutures.

The original {{w|Linnaean taxonomy}} ''did'' at first have a top-level classification for "mineral" taxonomy, in addition to those for animal and plant, which {{w|Twenty questions#Popular variants|in its broadest sense}} might allow one to assign a stapler a taxonomic relationship with dinosaurs.

=== Creatures that seem like dinosaurs, but are not ===
Dinosaur is a paleonotology term which refers to a specific group of reptiles, based upon evolutionary lines, bone structure and living domain. However, it is also a popular science/cultural term which refers to extinct large reptiles, hence the confusion between what is scientifically included and what is culturally assumed to be included.

The creatures listed are:
* A mosasaur is an extinct aquatic reptile, looking similar to a dolphin, that existed at the same time as the dinosaurs. Whilst it appeared in {{w|Jurassic World}}, momasaurs had a different ancestor than dinosaurs
* Plesiosaurs
* Pterodons are flying reptiles
* Dimetrodon
* Quetzalcoatlus

==Transcript==
:[A 2x2 chart where each of the four quadrants contains five silhouettes. These depicts various animals a few objects and a human. Above each column and to the left of each row there are a label:]
:Left column: Are dinosaurs
:Right column: Are not dinosaurs
:Upper row: Seem like dinosaurs
:Lower row: Don't seem like dinosaurs

:[Here follows a list of what are in each of the four quadrants:]

:[Top left (seem like dinosaurs, are dinosaurs):]
:[Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Diplodocus and Velociraptor.]

:[Top right (seem like dinosaurs, are not dinosaurs):]
:[Mosasaur, Quetzalcoatlus, Dimetrodon, Plesiosaur and Pteranodon.]

:[Bottom left (don't seem like dinosaurs, are dinosaurs):]
:[Penguin, Egret, Falcon, Pigeon and Ostrich.]

:[Bottom right (don't seem like dinosaurs, are not dinosaurs):]
:[Squirrel, Stapler, Bicycle , Human (here depicted as Cueball) and Pineapple.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3194: 16 Part Epoxy

2026-01-16T16:30:07Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3194
| date = January 14, 2026
| title = 16 Part Epoxy
| image = 16_part_epoxy_2x.png
| imagesize = 511x595px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Some surfaces may seem difficult to glue. But if you research the materials, find tables of what adhesives work on them, and prepare your surfaces carefully, you can fail to glue them in a fun NEW way that fills your house with dangerous vapors.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by boiling down a gorilla glue gorilla. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic refers to {{w|epoxy}} — substances used as adhesives, sealants, and coatings, named for the chemical substructure {{w|Epoxide|epoxide}}, which is key to these substances turning from liquids to solids. Many types of epoxy are multi-part (usually two-part), where the components, such as {{w|resin}} and a {{w|Epoxy#Curing|hardener}}, are stored separately. For ease of use, this can be in parallel syringes (of equal volume, or proportionately different widths to maintain the correct mixing ratio) such that the user simultaneously squeezes out the separate chemicals onto the initial surface or into a container, by depressing both syringes at once. The user then thoroughly mixes the components, as quickly as possible. The mixture is spread evenly (or as necessary) over the surface(s) to be joined or protected, and if there are multiple parts they are quickly positioned. The combined epoxy quickly cures, usually within a few minutes. This comic presents a fictitious 16-part epoxy, with the same apparent logic of parallel deposition in mind, with many components that are implausible or make fun of common problems people have when using epoxy in real life.

The title text references how not all epoxies and glues work on every material, and that applying them on some can require special techniques or products. Some industrial or industrial-grade adhesives contain solvents (e.g. {{w|tetrachloroethylene}}, which is used in E6000 glue) that release harmful vapors as they cure. If used improperly, this can result in the release of chemical vapors in an enclosed space along other dangerous side-effects, while also not working as a glue as intended.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Type
!Real?
!Explanation
|-
|Resin
|{{Yes}}
|A liquid which turns into a polymer when mixed with a hardener.
|-
|Hardener
|{{Yes}}
|A thick liquid which is mixed with resin to create a durable polymer which is commonly used as a glue.
|-
|Filler
|{{Yes}}
|An optional addition to the hardener and resin which changes the properties of the polymer.

Some epoxies are sold as products known as 'fillers', used to repair and cover cracks, holes, and imperfections.
|-
|Softener
|{{Yes}}
|The word is probably being used in humorous contrast to the "hardener" component, and perhaps also by analogy with laundry products that contain a fabric softener alongside a detergent. However, {{w|plasticizer|plasticizers}} are often added to polymers to make them more pliable, and thus to increase their impact resistance. These plasticizers tend to be lost over long periods of time (e.g. by evaporation or degradation), which contributes to old plastic becoming brittle.
|-
|Rosin
|{{Yes}}
|While this looks like a joke entry, this is actually a different kind of resin which is extracted naturally rather than synthesized from other chemicals. Rosin (a kind of '{{w|Flux (metallurgy)|flux}}') is one of two parts that make up rosin-core solder, used in electronic work, where the rosin is located in the center (the "core") of the wire-like solder, similar to how graphite is in the core of a pencil. When heated hot enough to melt, it {{w|Soldering#Flux|cleans corrosion and oxides from the surfaces}} of the metal parts to be joined, creating bare metal surfaces that can be 'wet' by the solder. In rosin-core solder, the two substances are touching rather than kept completely separate, since they're both in solid form, and don't react with each other even when they're heated to melt them. In this respect they differ from common combination epoxy chemicals that will be both liquids that cure together on contact even at room temperature. Rosin is also frequently applied to the bows of string instruments like violins or cellos to improve the sound, as immortalized in the famous song "{{w|The Devil Went Down to Georgia}}" or the folk song {{w|Old Rosin the Beau}}.
|-
|Stuff that bonds permanently to skin and nothing else
|{{No}}
|One key annoyance with sticky substances is the difficulty of removing them when they are inadvertently applied to skin. In this case, the polymer bonds solely to skin instead of anything else, making it mostly only really useful for a practical joke. Some epoxies are specifically designed for gluing skin, usually for medical purposes, but none are known to bond to skin exclusively.{{acn}} This may be a reference to {{w|cyanoacrylate|cyanoacrylate adhesives}} ("super glues"), which famously bond quite aggressively to skin while often failing to bond the target materials.
|-
|Stuff that will crack and turn white over a few days, for decorative appearance
|{{Maybe|Not effective as epoxy}}
|'Crackle effect' is a real thing for crafters, and can be created by mixing paint and glue, but is not recommended if you want two surfaces to adhere, since most paint is made to be non-adherent in order to be durable{{acn}}. Poor finish, where an intended smooth uniform surface cracks or discolors, can be a frustrating problem when applying epoxy mixtures to visible surfaces, especially when the problem only appears some time after you've congratulated yourself on a job well done.
|-
|Placebo
|{{Maybe|Not in the field of adhesives}}
|The {{w|placebo effect}} happens when somebody is told that something has a certain effect, when in reality it has no mechanism of action to produce that effect. This is commonly used in medical studies to determine whether a medication actually does something, as opposed to simply having a {{w|psychosomatic effect}}. Using this term to describe a type of polymer suggests it would make someone believe it is gluing things together without actually doing anything, which is unlikely. Alternatively, this could refer to a component or filler that claims to serve a specific purpose while having no true benefit, causing the perception of benefit to the consumer (presumably causing better reviews).
|-
|Minced duct tape
|{{Maybe|Not intentionally}}
|{{w|Duct tape}} is widely used as a way to join and/or cover things, sometimes in contexts where an epoxy might provide a more high-quality solution. [[Randall]] is pretending that having very small pieces of tape in the mix would add to the epoxy's ability to hold things together. In reality, cutting duct tape into small pieces would weaken it and make it ''less'' effective at sticking things together. In the UK, the word 'minced' can also mean 'made worthless', which would also not bode well for the adhesive.
|-
|Acetone fragrance
|{{No}}
|{{w|Acetone}} is a volatile solvent used in a number of glues and paints (including nail polish), but it weakens epoxy and can even be used to remove uncured epoxy. It has a strong, distinctive smell, and is actually toxic, making fragrance an odd reason for adding it to any product. It ''would'' give the epoxy a familiar "chemical smell" that people associate with industrial compounds. The use of 'X fragrance' in an ingredient list, instead of simply listing the ingredient X, usually implies that the actual ingredient is some (cheaper) substitute for X with a similar scent. Since acetone is already inexpensive, perhaps some substitute has been discovered that provides the smell without weakening this glue, though other joke entries value humour over adhesion.
|-
|Powdered bar magnets
|{{Maybe|Yes, but not in resin}}
|This might still work if the pieces could somehow be aligned correctly, as each tiny piece of magnet would still be a magnet in its own right, capable of attracting the other tiny magnets, and thus resisting tension forces. However, it would be much worse than a normal bar magnet, since the magnetic force would be weaker than those that held the original bar together. The micro-magnets would tend to clump together, which might strengthen the glue, but wouldn't help it to bond to surfaces very much unless the surfaces themselves were strongly magnetic.
|-
|Polyethylvinylesteracetate
|{{Maybe|Not in epoxy}}
|This appears to be a reference to {{w|ethylene-vinyl acetate|Poly (ethylene-vinyl acetate)}}, some formulations of which can be used as the adhesive in hot-glue guns. Vinyl acetate is an ester, so the inclusion of that term is redundant. The cadence of the constructed word may also be a reference to the television episode {{w|Lucy Does a TV Commercial}} and its memorable product "Vitameatavegamin". It also resembles the kind of thing often seen in ingredients lists for common household products such as soaps and cleaners, which are fairly meaningless to the average person buying them.
|-
|2-Polyethylvinylesteracetate
|{{Maybe|Unclear}}
|This sounds almost exactly the same as the above item, but {{w|2-Polyprenyl-6-hydroxyphenol methylase|a name with a "2-" prefix}} generally indicates that the initial bit of the name is a {{w|functional group}} attached to the ''second'' position along a chemical chain (often being the carbon-carbon 'spine' of a molecule, in large-molecule organic chemistry), rather than attached to its end. Because the molecule name is (possibly deliberately) malformed, it's hard to tell what is supposed to be attached to the second carbon of what subunit.
|-
|Salt and pepper to taste
|{{Maybe|Not for taste, but salt can be useful}}
|Salt and pepper are two incredibly popular condiments which are used to enhance a dish's flavor, and "salt and pepper to taste" is a phrase found in many food recipes. But the taste of your epoxy should not be your concern. Do not eat epoxy. However, salt, sand or other fine grains are sometimes recommended to add a bit of grit to an adhesive. Generally glues or epoxies need the bonded materials to be firmly held together while the glue cures. But when first pressed together, any excess glue is squeezed out and can cause the surfaces to slip around and need to be re-aligned. Any extra friction in the epoxy can help alleviate that.
|-
|Blood sample from the Gorilla Glue gorillas
|{{No}}{{Citation Needed}}
|{{w|Gorilla Glue}} is a popular brand of superglue which uses {{w|gorillas}} as its mascot. In this case, the blood of the gorillas would be extracted and placed in the polymer, which would dilute and possibly weaken it. Insofar as Gorilla Glue gorillas exist, they are depicted as ordinary gorillas who just happen to carry glue everywhere, so the effect would be the same as with blood from any other gorilla. Extracting and consuming the blood of a creature or person in an attempt to inherit some of the qualities of the 'donor' is a kind of {{w|sympathetic magic}}, so this may be suggesting that including this will give the epoxy 'the strength of a gorilla', commonly considered a powerful animal.

Blood has been [https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/blood-glue historically used in glue], though not typically that of gorillas.
|-
|Stuff that bonds to every known material except yours
|{{No|Probably not}}
|Another common annoyance when using an adhesive is that each glue type only forms an adhesive bond with certain materials. In this case, the polymer would bond with every material except for the one you were using, causing great distress and leaving you in a fix. This is similar to "Stuff that bonds permanently to skin and nothing else" above.
|}

==Transcript==

Standard 16-Part Epoxy

[An epoxy applicator with a single push bar and sixteen differently-colored chambers, each labeled]

Resin (coloured beige)

Hardener (mango yellow)

Filler (darker yellow)

Softener (cream)

Rosin (very light red)

Stuff that bonds permanently to skin and nothing else (yellow-dark green)

Stuff that will turn white and crack over a few days, for decorative appearance (light blue)

Placebo(white)

Minced duct tape(grey with a tint of green)

Acetone Fragrance(beige-yellow)

Powdered bar magnets(brown)

Polyethylvinylesteracetate(blue-white)

2-Polyethylvinylesteracetate(blue-white but slightly darker)

Salt and pepper to taste(light grey)

Blood sample from the Gorilla Glue gorillas(red)

Stuff that bonds to every known material except yours(beige)

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with color]]

3192: Planetary Alignment

2026-01-12T19:32:48Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

. {{comic
| number = 3192
| date = January 9, 2026
| title = Planetary Alignment
| image = planetary_alignment_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x327px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're going to need to modify the surface to mount it on the test stand. Which ocean basin do you like the least?
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by SLARTIBARTFAST, CARVER OF FJORDS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In this comic, Ponytail (presumably a planetary mechanic) is informing Cueball of the results of a planetary inspection.

According to her, the planet needs to be re-aligned, as the magnetic and rotational axes of the planet are 400 miles (640 km) offset from each other, which could create a number of problems with the planet, such as unbalanced magnetic fields. This is presented in the same casual manner as a car mechanic might regarding {{w|wheel alignment}}, or perhaps even the {{w|tire balance}}.

Ponytail mentions radiation anomalies over the South Atlantic ocean. This is a real phenomenon, known as the {{w|South Atlantic Anomaly}}, where satellites experience increased malfunctions and solar radiation is higher than average due to the alignment of the magnetic field as well as {{w|Large low-shear-velocity provinces|a massive rock structure underneath Africa}}.

In the final panel, Ponytail says that they will provide a loaner planet while Earth is in the shop. This is typically done with vehicles, not planets,{{Citation needed}} but perhaps this particular shop has a [https://www.clivebanks.co.uk/THHGTTG/THHGTTGradio3.htm very large back room]. Ponytail then asks if a gas giant is okay, as they are out of solid surface planets. This is likely alluding to the practice of car dealerships offering replacements or loaner vehicles that are very different from those brought in for service, which can greatly frustrate and inconvenience the customer.

The title text continues the mechanic metaphor, stating that they (the shop) will have to modify Earth to fit it on the test stand, asking Cueball which ocean basin he likes the least, implying that they intend to remove or alter one of the Earth's oceans to mount it for adjustment and retesting.

The similar previous comics [[3037: Radon]] and [[3059: Water Damage]] also had Ponytail as an inspector complaining about problems with the planet as if they were the client Cueball's fault.

This is the second comic in recent history with the word "Alignment" in the title, with [[3177: Chessboard Alignment]] being the first.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is approaching from off-screen, holding a clipboard and some sort of handheld apparatus. She is talking to Cueball, standing to the right.]
:Ponytail: The inspection revealed a few problems.
:Ponytail: Looks like your planet needs an alignment.
:Cueball: Oh?

:[Close up of Ponytail.]
:Ponytail: Yeah, your magnetic axis is 400 miles off-center from your rotational one.
:Cueball (off-panel): Is that bad?

:[The view zooms back out, showing Ponytail holding her equipment, with Cueball holding a hand to his face, as if thinking.]
:Ponytail: The unbalanced magnetic field could cause radiation anomalies over the South Atlantic. Have you noticed any spacecraft equipment failures in that area?
:Cueball: There '''''have''''' been a few, actually.

:[The final panel shows the same as the third, apart from Cueball's gestures.]
:Ponytail: We can give you a loaner while yours is in the shop. Is a gas giant OK?
:Cueball: I'd '''''really''''' prefer a solid surface.
:Ponytail: Sorry, it's all we have. But it'll just be for a few days.

{{comic discussion}}
<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Home Inspections]]

3191: Superstition

2026-01-12T19:30:18Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3191
| date = January 7, 2026
| title = Superstition
| image = superstition_2x.png
| imagesize = 275x393px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It's important to teach yourself to feel responsible for random events, because with great responsibility comes great power. That's what my wise Uncle Ben told me right before he died; he might still be alive today if only I'd said rabbit rabbit that year!
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by people who will edit this wiki or else it is their fault. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic references the {{w|superstition}}, which is known to have existed as far back as 1909, of saying "{{w|rabbit rabbit rabbit|rabbit rabbit}}" on the first day of a month in order to have good luck. There are many superstitions about actions that either cause bad luck (e.g. "step on a crack, break your mother's back", walking under a {{w|Ladder#Society and culture|ladder}}, breaking a {{w|List of bad luck signs|mirror}}, letting a {{w|Black cat#Superstition, folklore, bringer of good or bad luck|black cat}} cross your path) or protect against bad luck (e.g. carrying a {{w|rabbit's foot}}, {{w|Spilling salt|throwing salt over your shoulder}} after spilling some, {{w|knocking on wood}} after saying something).

When asked to explain it, [[Cueball]] reveals that, rather than being subject to {{w|magical thinking}}, he is fully aware that the act has no real direct power, and thus in his case this isn't really a superstition, but merely a cultural artefact. However, he suggests that acts like these have a psychological effect by making people feel guilty over random unpleasant events over which they have no control by implying that there must have been some unrelated act which could have prevented them.

"{{w|Uncle Ben}}" is a reference to the character of {{w|Spider-Man}}/Peter Parker, who is told by his uncle, Ben Parker, that "{{w|With great power comes great responsibility}}". Ben was not actually aware of Peter Parker's eventually developed super-powered abilities; his aphorism was more an avuncular life-lesson in general, regarding the possibility of far more mundane abilities to improve people's lives. This still ended up becoming the central guiding tenet for the superhero's philosophy after Uncle Ben died (in most versions of the tale, as a direct consequence of Peter having failed to act against a seemingly trivial threat).

The title text flips this and implies that, by taking on some great responsibility, one can ''gain'' power as a direct consequence. Any adherence to superstitions can be a responsibility (by how we act, or refrain to act, on the basis of such superstitions) which therefore 'leads' to the power to control fate. There is then a {{w|Post hoc ergo propter hoc|spurious conclusion}} that Uncle Ben's death only happened ''because'' the "rabbit" superstition was not obeyed.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Blondie, Cueball and a child (Hairy) are walking from left to right. The child is turning towards Cueball.]
:Cueball: Oops, I forgot to say "rabbit rabbit" on January first!
:Hairy: Why do you do that?
:Cueball: Just a superstition.
:Hairy: What's a superstition?
:Cueball: It's a way to train yourself to feel like any bad thing that happens is your fault.

==Trivia==

* On January 7th, 2026, both the 1x and 2x version of this comic had no anti-aliasing applied (1-bit black and white). It was fixed later that day.
* Mentioning "rabbits" is also considered ''bad'' luck {{w|Isle of Portland#Rabbits|in some traditions}}.
* The [[header text]] briefly disappeared when this comic was released.
* Coincidentally, the day this comic was released, Minecraft, a video game Randall has played, released new textures and animations for rabbits and baby rabbits. These updates make them look almost as cute as Randall thinks they are!
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]

3190: Tensegrity

2026-01-07T00:10:11Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3190
| date = January 5, 2026
| title = Tensegrity
| image = tensegrity_2x.png
| imagesize = 260x352px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Some people argue that the tension and compression in the human skeleton is technically tensegrity, but it's missing the defining characteristic: making people say 'wtf, how is that thing floating?' when they see it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a string. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

Tensegrity structures are structures that are suspended using a combination of rigid and compressional components, usually a series of rods and strings that give the illusion of a floating object held up by the strings. [[wikipedia:Buckminster Fuller|Buckminster Fuller]] coined the term [[wikipedia:Tensegrity|tensegrity]] from the words "tensional integrity" ([https://doi.org/10.7556%2Fjaoa.2013.113.1.34 see here]), and Steve Mould describes the mechanism in [https://youtu.be/0onncd0_0-o?si=-S-QMrZffi9L06ky this video].

[[Randall]] makes the claim that there are animals that exist which use tensegrity in their anatomy, naming the (fictional) "Buckminster's Giraffe" as an example. The panel shows each leg of the {{w|giraffe}} using a structure similar to that of a tensegrity table. Some people consider giraffe to be an example of a body form that appears to defy their expectations of physical laws because of their unusually long legs and neck as compared to the body.

The title text brings up the argument that humans themselves use tensegrity in our anatomy. Randall, however, deems that this doesn't count due to lacking the "defining characteristic" of a tensegrity structure - namely, that its stiff bits appear to be 'floating' by being suspending on a bunch of flexible bits, causing an observer to say "wtf", which is short for "what the f*ck". Humans, thanks to our skin and other various layers, outwardly look like a single solid structure, unlike the giraffe in the comic.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Cueball stands at the left of the panel, and at the right is a giraffe-like animal whose legs appear to be made of a tensegrity structure, with disconnected segments held together by strings]
:[Caption below the panel:]
:While tensegrity is rare in the animal kingdom, a few species, such as Buckminster's Giraffe, are known to employ it.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Engineering]]

3188: Anyone Else Here

2026-01-03T20:53:49Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3188
| date = December 31, 2025
| title = Anyone Else Here
| image = anyone_else_here_2x.png
| imagesize = 285x350px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Anyone else watching this Youtube video in 1954? If so, my last trip definitely messed with the timeline.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a youTuber without internet. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic makes fun of a common method that YouTube commenters use to farm likes and replies by saying "Who is watching in [year]?" The comment is considered something of a meme within YouTube, and besides that is intended as a compliment implying the video is "timeless" or otherwise a happy memory worth revisiting. These comments often are phrased similarly to the comments in the comic.

The comic, however, presents them instead as time travelers who are lost, and their preferred method of communicating with other time travelers is posting YouTube comments about watching a specific video in a specific year. This may be a somewhat ingenious way of staying incognito while still being able to relay messages, as many people don't read the comments. Even when people do read the comments, these ones are somewhat innocuous and easily overlooked, so they would cause little-to-no disruption in the timeline.{{Citation needed}}

The title text shows a time traveler stuck in the year 1954, somehow commenting on a YouTube video despite Youtube not being invented until 2005. In order to comment on a Youtube video in 1954, one would have to mess up the timeline badly enough that computers, the internet, and Youtube become common much earlier.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The bottom of a YouTube video is shown, with the play and volume icons visible.]
:[There are two lines of illegible text below the videos.]
:564 Comments
:[To the right of "564 Comments" are three parallel lines of different lengths representing YouTube's "sort by" function. A long horizontal line is below.]
:[Three YouTube comments are shown. Each one has an avatar to the left, an @ sign before an illegible name, with smaller illegible text next to it. Below each comment are the YouTube thumbs-up icon, illegible text, the YouTube thumbs-down icon, and more illegible text.]
:[Avatar: A Cueball-like person seen from the chest up, but with a wider torso than usual.] Who else is here in 2023?
:[Avatar: A double chevron pointing to the upper left.] Is anyone else watching this in 2017?
:[Avatar: A Megan-like person standing.] Anyone else here in 2025??

:[Text below the panel:]
:For some reason, confused time travelers always try to find each other using YouTube comments.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:YouTube]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3188: Anyone Else Here

2026-01-03T20:51:06Z

174.53.211.85:

{{comic
| number = 3188
| date = December 31, 2025
| title = Anyone Else Here
| image = anyone_else_here_2x.png
| imagesize = 285x350px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Anyone else watching this Youtube video in 1954? If so, my last trip definitely messed with the timeline.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a youTuber without internet. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic makes fun of a common method that YouTube commenters use to farm likes and replies by saying "Who is watching in [year]?" The comment is considered something of a meme within YouTube, and besides that is intended as a compliment implying the video is "timeless" or otherwise a happy memory worth revisiting. These comments often are phrased similarly to the comments in the comic.

The comic, however, presents them instead as time travelers who are lost, and their preferred method of communicating with other time travelers is posting YouTube comments about watching a specific video in a specific year. This may be a somewhat ingenious way of staying incognito while still being able to relay messages, as many people don't read the comments. Also, because some people actually do read the comments, the actual comment itself is somewhat innocuous, and easily overlooked, so it would cause little-to-no disruption in the timeline.{{Citation needed}}

The title text shows a time traveler stuck in the year 1954, somehow commenting on a YouTube video despite Youtube not being invented until 2005. In order to comment on a Youtube video in 1954, one would have to mess up the timeline badly enough that computers, the internet, and Youtube become common much earlier.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The bottom of a YouTube video is shown, with the play and volume icons visible.]
:[There are two lines of illegible text below the videos.]
:564 Comments
:[To the right of "564 Comments" are three parallel lines of different lengths representing YouTube's "sort by" function. A long horizontal line is below.]
:[Three YouTube comments are shown. Each one has an avatar to the left, an @ sign before an illegible name, with smaller illegible text next to it. Below each comment are the YouTube thumbs-up icon, illegible text, the YouTube thumbs-down icon, and more illegible text.]
:[Avatar: A Cueball-like person seen from the chest up, but with a wider torso than usual.] Who else is here in 2023?
:[Avatar: A double chevron pointing to the upper left.] Is anyone else watching this in 2017?
:[Avatar: A Megan-like person standing.] Anyone else here in 2025??

:[Text below the panel:]
:For some reason, confused time travelers always try to find each other using YouTube comments.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:YouTube]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3187: High Altitude Cooking Instructions

2026-01-03T13:44:55Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3187
| date = December 29, 2025
| title = High Altitude Cooking Instructions
| image = high_altitude_cooking_instructions_2x.png
| imagesize = 389x370px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 1,300,000-1,400,000 ft: Ask a crew member to show you how to use the ISS food warmer.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a crew member using the ISS food warmer. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
At very low air pressures, typical of higher altitudes, cooking involves extra complications. This was previously mentioned in [[2153: Effects of High Altitude]]. This comic imagines food preparation instructions with additional caveats specifically for high-altitude cooking.

As air pressure decreases, the boiling point of water also decreases. Such a pressure decrease would be caused by any increase in altitude, but the effect isn't usually significant except for locations that are high up on mountains or highly elevated plateaus. This has two major effects on food cooking. If the food is cooked by boiling in water, that will be happening at a lower temperature than usual. The lower temperature means that to fully cook the food, it will be necessary to cook it for longer than at sea level. Lower pressure means that water will evaporate more easily, and for foods that aren't being boiled, longer cooking times will also give any moisture in the food more time to evaporate. This would leave the food relatively dried out. In this case, it will be necessary to add more water to begin with, so that the amount of moisture left at the end of the cooking process is correct.

A part of these instructions is thus labeled ''High Altitude Cooking Instructions'', probably on the back of a food package. These types of instructions are relatively common in the real world for certain kinds of products, such as cake mixes. Alternative times are also often given for different means of preparing food, such as with ovens, stove-top cooking, and microwave ovens (of specified power).

People who live at high altitudes and cook frequently are often aware of the kinds of adjustments to instructions that they need to make to have their cooking come out "right", but it's useful to have the adjustments given explicitly. This is especially true for foods of a kind likely to be used by people who will be cooking at unfamiliar altitudes, such as dehydrated foods for backpackers and amateur explorers. This comes at a "cost" of giving non-high-altitude people more instructions to read, which can appear daunting at first glance, and occupying more space on the food's packaging, leaving less for pretty pictures or other inducements to buy the product. Or the instructions can be printed in a smaller font, making them harder to read for some users.

At the top of this comic, there are a part of these instructions that can only partly be seen; presumably, these are the "sea level" instructions mentioned later. What can be seen for sure is "remove from" and "for 3 minutes before serving." A qualified guess is that it says "remove from heat and let stand for 3 minutes before serving," but as nothing above this is visible, it is impossible to tell what the meal is, and the original cook time and temperature can only be guessed at. Below follows the separate High Altitude version, which list instructions for three different heights above sea level.

While the first two sections are reasonable accommodations, given the lower boiling point of water under less pressure, for altitudes of 3,500-6,500 ft (1-2 km) and 6,500-9,500 ft (2-3 km), the instructions - as is typical for xkcd - soon veer into absurdity.

At an altitude of 250,000-450,000 ft (approximately 76-137 km), the instructions assume the user is partaking in some kind of controlled spaceflight. The "cooking instructions", therefore, are instead instructions for reentry; basically, telling the user "You can wait until you get home". Once back on the ground it tells you to use the sea level cooking instructions. These are most likely the one that is written on the top part of the comic.

In this range of altitudes, you are ''highly'' likely to actively be either on the way down or, perhaps, still on the way up to space; cooking shouldn't be your primary concern in either case. The air-launched {{w|North American X-15|X-15}}, as did the later {{w|SpaceShipOne}}, ultimately 'flew' at around 350,000 ft, though (as with rockets, re-entry capsules or {{w|Project HARP|projectiles}}) there is no real capability to loiter at these altitudes, being well above even the unmanned balloon-flight record or that of any {{w|AeroVironment Helios Prototype#Records|sustained level flight}}. And only in the latter might you even expect to be a passenger, not too busy to enjoy a light pre-prepared snack — already cooked, as necessary, at ground level.

The title text goes a step further and assumes that the user is in orbit - specifically, on the {{w|International Space Station}} at an altitude of 1,300,000-1,400,000 (396-426 km) (The ISS is between 413-422 km above Earth's surface). Anyone on an orbiting space station is presumably going to be on that space station for an extended period, so they cannot wait until after they return to Earth for a meal, so the "cooking instructions" simply direct the user to someone who can show them how to use the on-board facilities. Even if the pressure is one atmosphere, cooking with boiling water in a microgravity environment (as one might experience on a free-falling space station) is likely not the best of ideas, so better ask someone for directions.

Interestingly, ''just'' below the 1,300,000 feet limit, you may instead be able to ask a Taikonaut how to use their {{w|Tiangong space station#Food and personal hygiene|microwave or recently installed air-fryer}}.

In 2022, spaceman extraordinaire Scott Manley uploaded a rigorously scientific presentation titled [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwf0RWXx8BY Can You Cook a Turkey by Dropping It From Space?]. A similar question was discussed in the 2013 [[what if? (blog)|What if]] blog post, "{{What If|28|Steak Drop}}".

==Transcript==
:[Two notes, of black writing on white background, are printed upon an item of grey packaging that is shown in closeup, slightly inclined and rotated within the comic panel. Only the latter parts of the top note are visible — because of the slant, only the first few characters of the penultimate line, and the entire final line of text, can be read. The bottom note is fully visible, as the bottom of the board is all within view.]

:[The readable part of the top note's two lines:]
:Remove fro[m heat]
:for 3 minutes before serving.

:[The bottom note:]
:'''High altitude cooking instructions:'''
:'''3,500-6,500 ft''': Add ½ cup water, increase cook time to 12 minutes
:'''6,500-9,500 ft''': Add 1¼ cups water, increase cook time to 18 minutes
:'''250,000-450,000 ft''': Orient reentry vehicle for aerodynamic stability. Deploy parachutes at 10,000 ft. Descend, keeping crew capsule tightly covered, for 3-4 minutes. After splashdown, follow sea level cooking instructions

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Food]]
[[Category: Space]]

3187: High Altitude Cooking Instructions

2026-01-03T13:42:00Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3187
| date = December 29, 2025
| title = High Altitude Cooking Instructions
| image = high_altitude_cooking_instructions_2x.png
| imagesize = 389x370px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 1,300,000-1,400,000 ft: Ask a crew member to show you how to use the ISS food warmer.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a crew member using the ISS food warmer. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
At very low air pressures, typical of higher altitudes, cooking involves extra complications. This was previously mentioned in [[2153: Effects of High Altitude]]. This comic imagines food preparation instructions with additional caveats specifically for high-altitude cooking.

As air pressure decreases, the boiling point of water also decreases. Such a pressure decrease would be caused by any increase in altitude, but the effect isn't usually significant except for locations that are high up on mountains or highly elevated plateaus. This has two major effects on food cooking. If the food is cooked by boiling in water, that will be happening at a lower temperature than usual. The lower temperature means that to fully cook the food, it will be necessary to cook it for longer than at sea level. Lower pressure means that water will evaporate more easily, and for foods that aren't being boiled, longer cooking times will also give any moisture in the food more time to evaporate. This would leave the food relatively dried out. In this case, it will be necessary to add more water to begin with, so that the amount of moisture left at the end of the cooking process is correct.

A part of these instructions is thus labeled ''High Altitude Cooking Instructions'', probably on the back of the food package given the limited view we have of it. These particular instructions are relatively common in the real world for certain kinds of products, such as cake mixes. Other alternative times are also often given for different means of preparing food, such as with ovens, stove-top cooking, and microwave ovens (of specified power).

People who live at high altitudes and cook frequently are often aware of the kinds of adjustments to instructions that they need to make to have their cooking come out "right", but it's useful to have the adjustments given explicitly. This is especially true for foods of a kind likely to be used by people who will be cooking at unfamiliar altitudes, such as dehydrated foods for backpackers and amateur explorers. This comes at a "cost" of giving non-high-altitude people more instructions to read, which can appear daunting at first glance, and occupying more space on the food's packaging, leaving less for pretty pictures or other inducements to buy the product. Or the instructions can be printed in a smaller font, making them harder to read for some users.

At the top of this comic, there are a part of these instructions that can only partly be seen; presumably, these are the "sea level" instructions mentioned later. What can be seen for sure is "remove from" and "for 3 minutes before serving." A qualified guess is that it says "remove from heat and let stand for 3 minutes before serving," but as nothing above this is visible, it is impossible to tell what the meal is, and the original cook time and temperature can only be guessed at. Below follows the separate High Altitude version, which list instructions for three different heights above sea level.

While the first two sections are reasonable accommodations, given the lower boiling point of water under less pressure, for altitudes of 3,500-6,500 ft (1-2 km) and 6,500-9,500 ft (2-3 km), the instructions - as is typical for xkcd - soon veer into absurdity.

At an altitude of 250,000-450,000 ft (approximately 76-137 km), the instructions assume the user is partaking in some kind of controlled spaceflight. The "cooking instructions", therefore, are instead instructions for reentry; basically, telling the user "You can wait until you get home". Once back on the ground it tells you to use the sea level cooking instructions. These are most likely the one that is written on the top part of the comic.

In this range of altitudes, you are ''highly'' likely to actively be either on the way down or, perhaps, still on the way up to space; cooking shouldn't be your primary concern in either case. The air-launched {{w|North American X-15|X-15}}, as did the later {{w|SpaceShipOne}}, ultimately 'flew' at around 350,000 ft, though (as with rockets, re-entry capsules or {{w|Project HARP|projectiles}}) there is no real capability to loiter at these altitudes, being well above even the unmanned balloon-flight record or that of any {{w|AeroVironment Helios Prototype#Records|sustained level flight}}. And only in the latter might you even expect to be a passenger, not too busy to enjoy a light pre-prepared snack — already cooked, as necessary, at ground level.

The title text goes a step further and assumes that the user is in orbit - specifically, on the {{w|International Space Station}} at an altitude of 1,300,000-1,400,000 (396-426 km) (The ISS is between 413-422 km above Earth's surface). Anyone on an orbiting space station is presumably going to be on that space station for an extended period, so they cannot wait until after they return to Earth for a meal, so the "cooking instructions" simply direct the user to someone who can show them how to use the on-board facilities. Even if the pressure is one atmosphere, cooking with boiling water in a microgravity environment (as one might experience on a free-falling space station) is likely not the best of ideas, so better ask someone for directions.

Interestingly, ''just'' below the 1,300,000 feet limit, you may instead be able to ask a Taikonaut how to use their {{w|Tiangong space station#Food and personal hygiene|microwave or recently installed air-fryer}}.

In 2022, spaceman extraordinaire Scott Manley uploaded a rigorously scientific presentation titled [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwf0RWXx8BY Can You Cook a Turkey by Dropping It From Space?]. A similar question was discussed in the 2013 [[what if? (blog)|What if]] blog post, "{{What If|28|Steak Drop}}".

==Transcript==
:[Two notes, of black writing on white background, are printed upon an item of grey packaging that is shown in closeup, slightly inclined and rotated within the comic panel. Only the latter parts of the top note are visible — because of the slant, only the first few characters of the penultimate line, and the entire final line of text, can be read. The bottom note is fully visible, as the bottom of the board is all within view.]

:[The readable part of the top note's two lines:]
:Remove fro[m heat]
:for 3 minutes before serving.

:[The bottom note:]
:'''High altitude cooking instructions:'''
:'''3,500-6,500 ft''': Add ½ cup water, increase cook time to 12 minutes
:'''6,500-9,500 ft''': Add 1¼ cups water, increase cook time to 18 minutes
:'''250,000-450,000 ft''': Orient reentry vehicle for aerodynamic stability. Deploy parachutes at 10,000 ft. Descend, keeping crew capsule tightly covered, for 3-4 minutes. After splashdown, follow sea level cooking instructions

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Food]]
[[Category: Space]]

3184: Funny Numbers

2025-12-29T03:07:10Z

174.53.211.85:

{{comic
| number = 3184
| date = December 22, 2025
| title = Funny Numbers
| image = funny_numbers_2x.png
| imagesize = 360x453px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In 1899, people were walking around shouting '23' at each other and laughing, and confused reporters were writing articles trying to figure out what it meant.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by the square root of -2. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic refers to the recent meme {{w|6-7 meme|"6-7"}}, often accompanied by moving your hands up and down. This meme is often referenced in physical space, particularly among the younger generation, often to the great annoyance of their elders. While many adults use this trend as an indication of intellectual decay among today's youth, this comic points out that there's a long history of young people having fun with random numbers, often for quasi-arbitrary reasons.

The numbers listed are:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Number!!Adopted?!!class="unsortable"|Explanation
|-
|data-sort-value="23"|23 (skidoo!)||data-sort-value="1899"|around 1899||The number relates to leaving quickly (a suggestion to go away), for indeterminate reasons.
{{w|23 skidoo|It was a death row prisoner's number}} in a then-new stage play based on ''A Tale of Two Cities'' by Charles Dickens. Soon after its coining, it was popularly combined with a term of similar use to become the phrase "{{w|23 skidoo}}".

23 gained some popularity again in the 1970s via the {{w|23 enigma}}, the suggestion that the number appears unusually often in significant contexts. This was first noticed by William S. Burroughs, and spread by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's book ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'', and by ''Principia Discordia''.
|-
|42||1978||A number made popular by {{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}, a radio play and book by Douglas Adams.
These works include a plot where a supercomputer is designed to answer {{w|Phrases from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42|"the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything"}} and reports that the answer is "forty-two" (the joke being that the answer is useless because we don't understand the question). This number became a reference among fans of the series, and passed into more common usage.
|-
|69||data-sort-value="1795"|1790s?||Refers to {{w|69 (sex position)|the sexual act of simultaneous oral gratification}}.
Described by the French as "soixante-neuf", i.e. "sixty-nine", at least as far back as the eighteenth century; though the concept itself is far older. It's not clear when the number began to be commonly referenced by young people, though it was arguably popularized by a reference in {{w|Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure}} (1989).
|-
|420||1971||This number (originally the time "4:20 pm", and later connected to April the 20th) has become {{w|420 (cannabis culture)|slang}} for smoking {{w|marijuana}}.
Randall previously made reference to this number in [[2153: Effects of High Altitude]].
|-
|1,337||data-sort-value="1985"|1980s?||"{{w|Leet}}-speak" is a form of textual obfuscation using an alternative orthography (various character substitutions and phonetic shifts) to 'spell' words. This particular type of orthography initially became popular among young computer hackers ("leet" being slang for "elite").
"1337" is the usual way to represent the term "LEET" ("1" is commonly a lower-case "L", "3"s are often used as "E"s – see 58,008's calcuator-speak examples – and "7" closely resembles a "T"). (i.e. the self-description of the in-group who are using this system).
Randall has previously referred to 1337 in the [[:Category:1337|1337]] series and in [[1337: Hack]].
|-
|58,008||data-sort-value="1975"|1970s?||The number "58008" in a seven-segment display {{w|Calculator spelling|spells}} "BOOBS" when inverted. There is also a longer version "5318008" which spells "BOOBIES". When calculators with these displays became common in schools in the 1980s, young people (particularly young men) took delight in this discovery, and in the fact that they could use an apparently inscrutable number as a salacious reference.
|-
|data-sort-value="67"|6 7||2025||{{w|6-7 meme|This meme}} originated from the song "Doot Doot" by Skrilla and quickly became an in-crowd joke, together with hand actions, among many young people.
The meme quickly became sufficiently divorced from its original meaning that even many people referencing it didn't know its origins, leading to many people seeing it as [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/67-meme fundamentally meaningless], though that hasn't stopped people from trying to assign a meaning to it.

{{w|At sixes and sevens}} is a possibly unrelated expression meaning a condition of confusion or disarray.
|}

The title text claims that the media reaction to "23-skiddoo" around the turn of the 20th century (''one'' of the oldest terms, ''possibly'' the first noted by the mathematicians of that day) was very similar to the current media reaction to "6 7". This highlights a perennial historical cycle of the Young being confusing to the Old; with the Young growing up to become the Old and being confused by a new generation of Young.

Other cartoons featuring lists of symbolic numbers include [[487: Numerical Sex Positions]]. The trend of new manifestations of long-running phenomena being treated as signs of social decay is referenced in [[1227: The Pace of Modern Life]].

==Transcript==
:[A banner is hanging from the ceiling with a large line of text above a smaller one:]
:<big>Mathematical society</big>
:2025 meeting

:[Below the banner there are four people, three of them are standing close together to the left with Hairbun leftmost addressing Cueball and Megan who is looking at her. Ponytail is standing to the far right next to a whiteboard, and is using a marker to circle round the last of several items on the board.]
:Hairbun: Any other new developments from the year to cover before we wrap?
:Cueball: Oh, the teens picked a new funny number.
:Megan: Aww, I'm glad to hear they're still doing that.
:Ponytail: I'll add it to the list.

:[The board generally contains two columns of numbers, the first row having text after its number, thus across both columns. The last pair of digits is the new 'number' circled round by Ponytail. From top, in reading order, they are:]
:23 (skidoo!)
:42    1,337
:69    58,008
:420   6 7

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Language]]

3184: Funny Numbers

2025-12-29T03:06:29Z

174.53.211.85:

{{comic
| number = 3184
| date = December 22, 2025
| title = Funny Numbers
| image = funny_numbers_2x.png
| imagesize = 360x453px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In 1899, people were walking around shouting '23' at each other and laughing, and confused reporters were writing articles trying to figure out what it meant.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by the square root of -2. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic refers to the recent meme {{w|6-7 meme|"6-7"}}, often accompanied by moving your hands up and down. This meme is often referenced in physical space, particularly among the younger generation, often to the great annoyance of their elders. While many adults use this trend as an indication of intellectual decay among today's youth, this comic points out that there's a long history of young people having fun with random numbers, often for quasi-arbitrary reasons.

The numbers listed are:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Number!!Adopted?!!class="unsortable"|Explanation
|-
|data-sort-value="23"|23 (skidoo!)||data-sort-value="1899"|around 1899||The number relates to leaving quickly (a suggestion to go away), for indeterminate reasons.
{{w|23 skidoo|It was a death row prisoner's number}} in a then-new stage play based on ''A Tale of Two Cities'' by Charles Dickens. Soon after its coining, it was popularly combined with a term of similar use to become the phrase "{{w|23 skidoo}}".

23 gained some popularity again in the 1970s via the {{w|23 enigma}}, the suggestion that the number appears unusually often in significant contexts. This was first noticed by William S. Burroughs, and spread by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's book ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'', and by ''Principia Discordia''.
|-
|42||1978||A number made popular by {{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}, a radio play and book by Douglas Adams.
These works include a plot where a supercomputer is designed to answer {{w|Phrases from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42|"the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything"}} and reports that the answer is "forty-two" (the joke being that the answer is useless because we don't understand the question). This number became a reference among fans of the series, and passed into more common usage.
|-
|69||data-sort-value="1795"|1790s?||Refers to {{w|69 (sex position)|the sexual act of simultaneous oral gratification}}.
Described by the French as "soixante-neuf", i.e. "sixty-nine", at least as far back as the eighteenth century; though the concept itself is far older. It's not clear when the number began to be commonly referenced by young people, though it was arguably popularized by a reference in {{w|Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure}} (1989).
|-
|420||1971||This number (originally the time "4:20 pm", and later connected to April the 20th) has become {{w|420 (cannabis culture)|slang}} for smoking {{w|marijuana}}.
Randall previously made reference to this number in [[2153: Effects of High Altitude]].
|-
|1,337||data-sort-value="1985"|1980s?||"{{w|Leet}}-speak" is a form of textual obfuscation using an alternative orthography (various character substitutions and phonetic shifts) to 'spell' words. This particular type of orthography initially became popular among young computer hackers ("leet" being slang for "elite").
"1337" is the usual way to represent the term "LEET" ("1" is commonly a lower-case "L", "3"s are often used as "E"s – see 58,008's calcuator-speak examples – and "7" closely resembles a "T"). (i.e. the self-description of the in-group who are using this system).
Randall has previously referred to 1337 in the [[:Category:1337|1337]] series and in [[1337: Hack]].
|-
|58,008||data-sort-value="1975"|1970s?||The number "58008", in a seven-segment display, {{w|Calculator spelling|spells}} "BOOBS" when inverted. There is also a longer version "5318008" which spells "BOOBIES". When calculators with these displays became common in schools in the 1980s, young people (particularly young men) took delight in this discovery, and in the fact that they could use an apparently inscrutable number as a salacious reference.
|-
|data-sort-value="67"|6 7||2025||{{w|6-7 meme|This meme}} originated from the song "Doot Doot" by Skrilla and quickly became an in-crowd joke, together with hand actions, among many young people.
The meme quickly became sufficiently divorced from its original meaning that even many people referencing it didn't know its origins, leading to many people seeing it as [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/67-meme fundamentally meaningless], though that hasn't stopped people from trying to assign a meaning to it.

{{w|At sixes and sevens}} is a possibly unrelated expression meaning a condition of confusion or disarray.
|}

The title text claims that the media reaction to "23-skiddoo" around the turn of the 20th century (''one'' of the oldest terms, ''possibly'' the first noted by the mathematicians of that day) was very similar to the current media reaction to "6 7". This highlights a perennial historical cycle of the Young being confusing to the Old; with the Young growing up to become the Old and being confused by a new generation of Young.

Other cartoons featuring lists of symbolic numbers include [[487: Numerical Sex Positions]]. The trend of new manifestations of long-running phenomena being treated as signs of social decay is referenced in [[1227: The Pace of Modern Life]].

==Transcript==
:[A banner is hanging from the ceiling with a large line of text above a smaller one:]
:<big>Mathematical society</big>
:2025 meeting

:[Below the banner there are four people, three of them are standing close together to the left with Hairbun leftmost addressing Cueball and Megan who is looking at her. Ponytail is standing to the far right next to a whiteboard, and is using a marker to circle round the last of several items on the board.]
:Hairbun: Any other new developments from the year to cover before we wrap?
:Cueball: Oh, the teens picked a new funny number.
:Megan: Aww, I'm glad to hear they're still doing that.
:Ponytail: I'll add it to the list.

:[The board generally contains two columns of numbers, the first row having text after its number, thus across both columns. The last pair of digits is the new 'number' circled round by Ponytail. From top, in reading order, they are:]
:23 (skidoo!)
:42    1,337
:69    58,008
:420   6 7

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Language]]

3184: Funny Numbers

2025-12-29T03:03:58Z

174.53.211.85:

{{comic
| number = 3184
| date = December 22, 2025
| title = Funny Numbers
| image = funny_numbers_2x.png
| imagesize = 360x453px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = In 1899, people were walking around shouting '23' at each other and laughing, and confused reporters were writing articles trying to figure out what it meant.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by the square root of -2. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic refers to the recent meme {{w|6-7 meme|"6-7"}}, often accompanied by moving your hands up and down. This meme is often referenced in physical space, particularly among the younger generation, often to the great annoyance of their elders. While many adults use this trend as an indication of intellectual decay among today's youth, this comic points out that there's a long history of young people having fun with random numbers, often for quasi-arbitrary reasons.

The numbers listed are:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Number!!Adopted?!!class="unsortable"|Explanation
|-
|data-sort-value="23"|23 (skidoo!)||data-sort-value="1899"|around 1899||The number relates to leaving quickly (a suggestion to go away), for indeterminate reasons.
{{w|23 skidoo|It was a death row prisoner's number}} in a then-new stage play based on ''A Tale of Two Cities'' by Charles Dickens. Soon after its coining, it was popularly combined with a term of similar use to become the phrase "{{w|23 skidoo}}".

23 gained some popularity again in the 1970s via the {{w|23 enigma}}, the suggestion that the number appears unusually often in significant contexts. This was first noticed by William S. Burroughs, and spread by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea's book ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'', and by ''Principia Discordia''.
|-
|42||1978||A number made popular by {{w|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy}}, a radio play and book by Douglas Adams.
These works include a plot where a supercomputer is designed to answer {{w|Phrases from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42|"the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything"}} and reports that the answer is "forty-two" (the joke being that the answer is useless because we don't understand the question). This number became a reference among fans of the series, and passed into more common usage.
|-
|69||data-sort-value="1795"|1790s?||Refers to {{w|69 (sex position)|the sexual act of simultaneous oral gratification}}.
Described by the French as "soixante-neuf", i.e. "sixty-nine", at least as far back as the eighteenth century; though the concept itself is far older. It's not clear when the number began to be commonly referenced by young people, though it was arguably popularized by a reference in {{w|Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure}} (1989).
|-
|420||1971||This number (originally the time "4:20 pm", and later connected to April the 20th) has become {{w|420 (cannabis culture)|slang}} for smoking {{w|marijuana}}.
Randall previously made reference to this number in [[2153: Effects of High Altitude]].
|-
|1,337||data-sort-value="1985"|1980s?||"{{w|Leet}}-speak" is a form of textual obfuscation using an alternative orthography (various character substitutions and phonetic shifts) to 'spell' words. This particular type of orthography initially became popular among young computer hackers ("leet" being slang for "elite").
"1337" is the usual way to represent the term "LEET" ("1" is commonly a lower-case "L", "3"s are often used as "E"s – see 58,008's calcuator-speak examples – and "7" closely resembles a "T"). (i.e. the self-description of the in-group who are using this system).
Randall has previously referred to 1337 in the [[:Category:1337|1337]] series and in [[1337: Hack]].
|-
|58,008||data-sort-value="1975"|1970s?||The number "58008" {{w|Calculator spelling|spells}} in a seven-segment display and inverted, spells "BOOBS". There is also a longer version "5318008" which spells "BOOBIES". When calculators with these displays became common in schools in the 1980s, young people (particularly young men) took delight in this discovery, and in the fact that they could use an apparently inscrutable number as a salacious reference.
|-
|data-sort-value="67"|6 7||2025||{{w|6-7 meme|This meme}} originated from the song "Doot Doot" by Skrilla and quickly became an in-crowd joke, together with hand actions, among many young people.
The meme quickly became sufficiently divorced from its original meaning that even many people referencing it didn't know its origins, leading to many people seeing it as [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/67-meme fundamentally meaningless], though that hasn't stopped people from trying to assign a meaning to it.

{{w|At sixes and sevens}} is a possibly unrelated expression meaning a condition of confusion or disarray.
|}

The title text claims that the media reaction to "23-skiddoo" around the turn of the 20th century (''one'' of the oldest terms, ''possibly'' the first noted by the mathematicians of that day) was very similar to the current media reaction to "6 7". This highlights a perennial historical cycle of the Young being confusing to the Old; with the Young growing up to become the Old and being confused by a new generation of Young.

Other cartoons featuring lists of symbolic numbers include [[487: Numerical Sex Positions]]. The trend of new manifestations of long-running phenomena being treated as signs of social decay is referenced in [[1227: The Pace of Modern Life]].

==Transcript==
:[A banner is hanging from the ceiling with a large line of text above a smaller one:]
:<big>Mathematical society</big>
:2025 meeting

:[Below the banner there are four people, three of them are standing close together to the left with Hairbun leftmost addressing Cueball and Megan who is looking at her. Ponytail is standing to the far right next to a whiteboard, and is using a marker to circle round the last of several items on the board.]
:Hairbun: Any other new developments from the year to cover before we wrap?
:Cueball: Oh, the teens picked a new funny number.
:Megan: Aww, I'm glad to hear they're still doing that.
:Ponytail: I'll add it to the list.

:[The board generally contains two columns of numbers, the first row having text after its number, thus across both columns. The last pair of digits is the new 'number' circled round by Ponytail. From top, in reading order, they are:]
:23 (skidoo!)
:42    1,337
:69    58,008
:420   6 7

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Language]]

3178: Hyperacute Interdynamics

2025-12-09T19:16:22Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3178
| date = December 8, 2025
| title = Hyperacute Interdynamics
| image = hyperacute_interdynamics_2x.png
| imagesize = 696x265px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our models fall apart where the three theories overlap; we're unable to predict what happens when a nanometer-sized squirrel eats a grapefruit with the mass of the sun.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A STAR WITH THE MASS OF A SQUIRREL. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Miss Lenhart]] is teaching a class, a recurring theme on [[xkcd]]. She correctly describes two of the three pillars of physics: {{w|general relativity}}, concerning very large objects, and {{w|quantum mechanics}}, concerning very small objects. The third pillar is {{w|thermodynamics}}, but she replaces this with the fictional ''hyperacute interdynamics'', which supposedly specifically covers objects 10 – 30 cm (~4" – ~12") in size and 200 – 700 g (0.44 lb – 1.54 lb) in mass.

When a student points out that the application of hyperacute interdynamics is quite limited, Miss Lenhart responds by stating that this is made up for by the fact that it is apparently very accurate and precise, and states that it is able to perfectly describe {{w|squirrel}}s and {{w|grapefruit}}, two objects which fit the necessary size and weight specifications (though see below). Her comment that there are hopes to unify this system with the other two reflects the efforts of physicists to {{w|Quantum gravity|unify}} general relativity with quantum mechanics, so far without success.

While there is no actual field called hyperacute interdynamics, there is one of {{w|mesoscopic physics}}, described as the study of materials of an "intermediate size". The upper end of mesoscopic physics studies objects whose length is measured in micrometers — much smaller and lighter than what hyperacute interdynamics would study, so the analogy is not perfect. On the other hand, it happens fairly frequently in science that two separate length scales may be studied by different fields with no overlap. In this situation, innovations are, in principle, possible by trying to fill in this gap. An example is that structural biology is concerned with proteins and protein-sized objects, while cell biology is concerned with organelles; experimental techniques for studying phenomena between these two scales were less well-established until the development, in the 2010s, of cryo-electron microscopy.

The title text extends the riff on unification, noting that, under the current system, measurements which require elements from all three pillars are impossible. The example given — when a nanometer-sized squirrel (suggesting an understanding of equivalence across both quantum mechanics and hyperacute interdynamics) eats a grapefruit with the mass of the Sun (similarly, general relativity meshing with hyperacute interdynamics) — would cover all three domains. Such objects are not known to occur in real life, so it is unknown how or why scientists would be trying to measure them. A black hole with the mass of the Sun would have a Schwarzschild radius of 2.95 km, so it would take some significant revisions to theory to accommodate a grapefruit-sized object with that mass, before even considering how a squirrel of that small size (but of more normal mass) could exist ''and'' eat the former object.

The {{w|eastern gray squirrel}}, which is the most prevalent squirrel in Massachusetts (where [[Randall]] lives), measures 16-20 inches (approx. 40-50 centimeters) on average when fully grown — outside the range of sizes given for hyperacute interdynamics to apply. It does, however, weigh between 400 and 600 grams — within the weight range. Whether hyperacute interdynamics would apply, then, would appear to depend on whether the 'and' in Miss Lenhart's statement is inclusive (a {{w|Union (set theory)|union}} of candidates from the two separately applicable ranges) or exclusive (only items within the {{w|Intersection (set theory)|intersection}} of both stipulations), though the title text suggests that the former is the more logical.

Individually, the head-and-body size and the tail size of the eastern gray squirrel are each within the hyperacute effective size (though potentially not mass). If they were modelled individually, or if the squirrel curled up, then they may become able to be effectively modelled by hyperacute interdynamics, even if the entire, stretched out squirrel cannot. This shows the absurdity of hyperacute physics, with such a strict cut-off making it easy for objects to enter and exit the hyperacute effective size. By contrast, relativity and quantum mechanics slowly become worse at describing reality as size increases/decreases.

Some squirrels, such as the {{w|Borneo black-banded squirrel}} do entirely fit into the hyperacute effective size and mass.

==Transcript==
:[Miss Lenhart is teaching a classroom holding a finger up in front of the class. Two students can be seen sitting at desks in front of her, a Cueball like boy is on the first row and Jill, taking notes, is in the second row.]
:Miss Lenhart: Modern physics rests on three main pillars:
:General relativity, which describes very massive objects,

:[Close up of Miss Lenhart.]
:Miss Lenhart: Quantum Mechanics, which describes very small objects,

:[In a frame-less panel the view zooms back out, but shows only Miss Lenhart.]
:Miss Lenhart: and Hyperacute Interdynamics, which describes objects 10-30cm in size and 200-700g in mass.

:[The panel zooms back in to a close up of Miss Lenhart.]
:Student (off-panel): That last one seems kind of limited.
:Miss Lenhart: Yeah, but over it's domain it's '''''really''''' precise. Absolutely '''''nails''''' squirrels and grapefruit.
:Miss Lenhart: Someday we hope to unify it with the other two.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Jill]] 
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Squirrels]]
[[Category:Food]]

3176: Inverted Catenaries

2025-12-07T00:29:33Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3176
| date = December 3, 2025
| title = Inverted Catenaries
| image = inverted_catenaries_2x.png
| imagesize = 317x317px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Some tires are marketed as 'all-shape tires,' but if driven in a climate with both inverted catenary falls and triangle falls, they wear out really fast.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A TRAPEZOIDAL WHEEL. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

During the winter, in snowy areas, people may replace their summer or all-season tires with winter tires made specifically for the cold environment. In this comic, instead of snow, rounded shapes called inverted {{w|Catenary|catenary curves}} fall from the skies. On a plane covered in inverted catenaries all the same size, square wheels whose side length matches the arc length of the catenary are capable of rolling smoothly, contrary to how they would act on a normal road. Regular wheels would cause a significantly bumpier ride on this terrain, so Cueball plans to swap them out with {{w|square wheel}}s to better suit the season.

Mathematicians have found [https://mathtourist.blogspot.com/2011/05/riding-on-square-wheels.html what types of roads would suit weird wheels the most], and inverted catenary curves are best suited for a square wheel. People have made real tracks demonstrating this.

Note, however, that this assumes the catenaries are arranged periodically with no spacing between them, fully cover the surface, and are consistent in shape and orientation. The orientation also would restrict the direction of travel, effectively meaning your vehicle would be traveling on rails. Changes in direction could be managed using catenaries whose arc length was consistent but whose segment length varied, with the variations in vertical size being accommodated by vehicles' suspension systems. Letting the direction changes be controlled by drivers (e.g. branching roads) would require complex 3D road surface shapes.

The title text mentions all-shape tires (as a play on all-season tires), which are advertised to supposedly fit any shape road. However, different shapes would require very different wheels; for example, falling triangles would form a sawtooth road, for which one would optimally use wheels pasted together from pieces of an equiangular spiral. The all-shape tire is said to wear out very quickly like low quality all-season tires used to. (The best modern all-season tires perform better than the average winter tire and have a 62k mile warranty.)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Megan and Cueball are walking together as inverted catenary curves fall from the sky. A few have landed in a regular formation, all flat-side down and evenly spaced, with some touching each other.]
:Cueball: Oh wow, the first inverted catenary fall of the year!
:Cueball: Time to swap out my all-season tires for square ones.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Weather]]
[[Category:Geometry]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3172: Fifteen Years

2025-11-25T21:37:33Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3172
| date = November 24, 2025
| title = Fifteen Years
| image = fifteen_years_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x2623px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "Want to feel old?" "Yes."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a STILL CANCER-FREE BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Randall]]'s then-fiancée, now wife was diagnosed with cancer in late 2010. This is a matter he has discussed in the comic [[:Category:Cancer|multiple times before]], with Randall being depicted as Cueball and his wife as Megan. At this comic's release, it had been 15 years since her diagnosis and treatments.

This comic continues previous comics in [[:Category:X Years|the series]] – [[1141: Two Years]], [[1928: Seven Years]], and [[2386: Ten Years]] – the initial parts of which are shown in the first 20 panels, which are grayed-out.

The first of the new panels shows Randall and his wife in bed, with Randall reading her {{w|Tove Jansson}}'s ''{{w|Moominland Midwinter}}''. He wants to stop because they need to get to sleep, she convinces him to read one more chapter. It didn't take much arm-twisting, her argument was simply a grunt. The choice of this particular book, which deals with the adventures of someone who should really be sleeping, might be meaningful for one or more of several reasons.

The next panel appears to depict the {{w|Covid-19 pandemic}}. [[Hairy]], Megan, Cueball, [[Ponytail]], and [[White Hat]] are all wearing masks and looking at cellphone graphs showing the progression of the virus. Happily, they both survived this.

The next panel shows them feeding birds. It's apparently winter, since Randall is wearing a knit cap and they're both wearing scarves. There are three birds around Randall, including one perched on his head; there's one bird that has landed on Megan's phone. Randall concludes that the birds like his birdseed more than hers. Megan can't figure out how to take a picture of her bird, since the phone's camera can't be pointed at the phone itself.

The next panel shows them on a kayaking expedition in a pond or river surrounded by cattails and a dense forest. They're kayaking past lily pads and turtles, with clear skies and birds above.

The next panel shows Randall in a bed, recovering from appendicitis. He has previously mentioned getting an appendectomy in [[2508: Circumappendiceal Somectomy]], in August, 2021. His wife is enjoying the shoe being on the other foot, going overboard taking care of him after a major medical procedure, but Randall tries to downplay the severity of his procedure.

The next four panels show them driving. They notice something, pull over, and get out of the car. The panel after this shows them viewing a spectacular {{w|aurora borealis}}. 2025 has been a {{w|solar maximum}}, producing a number of auroras that have been visible at unusually low latitudes, including Massachusetts, where Randall lives.

The final four panels show them sitting and talking in a field. Randall is lying down, his wife is sitting against a tree. They're celebrating her being cancer-free 15 years after her diagnosis. They do notice some other conditions, and realize they're the natural results of aging. This is good news, considering the serious medical scares they lived through.

The title text continues that ending with a play on a common conversation topic. Normally someone rhetorically asks "Want to feel old?" and then follows it with a description of a difference the conversants have with the younger generation, or how long it's been since some significant event they both experienced, as Randall has done in [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|several previous comics]]. But in this case, the question is taken literally, with a simple "Yes" response to indicate that feeling old is better than being dead and they are happy to be alive.

The finality of this new installment suggests that it may be the last in the series, as it is solely related to Randall's wife's recovery from cancer.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
'''From [[1141: Two Years]]'''
:[Randall (drawn as Cueball) and Randall's fiancée (drawn as Megan) sit on a bed, Randall's fiancée is talking on the phone. The person she is talking to, a doctor holding a clipboard, is shown inset.]
:Randall's fiancée: Oh god.

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit together while Randall's fiancée, now bald, is receiving chemotherapy. They are both on their laptops.]
:IV pump: ... Beeep ... Beeep ... Beeep ...

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (who is wearing a knit cap) are paddling a kayak against a scenic mountain backdrop.]

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée sit at a table, staring at a cell phone. There is a clock on the wall. Her head is stubbly.]
:Randall's fiancée: How long can it take to read a scan!?

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are back at the hospital again, Randall's fiancée receiving chemo. They are playing Scrabble.]
:Randall: "Zarg" isn't a word.
:Randall's fiancée: But ''caaaancer.''
:Randall: ...Ok, fine.

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée (wearing a knit cap) are listening to a Cueball-like friend. A large thought bubble is above their heads and it obscures the friends talk. The text below, split in three is the only part there can be no doubt about:]
:Friend: So next year you should come visit us up in the mounta
::ea
::and
:Randall and Randall's fiancée (thinking): '''"Next year"'''

:[Randall and Randall's fiancée are getting married, with a heart above their heads. Randall's wife's hair is growing back.]

:[Randall and Randall's wife (wearing a knit cap) stand on a beach, watching a whale jump out of water.]
:''Fwoosh''

'''From [[1928: Seven Years]]'''

:[Randall and Randall's wife (with her hair noticeably longer) are walking through a forest.]

:[Randall's wife is sitting down, not in the forest anymore.]
:Randall's wife: My toe hurts and I found a report of a case in which toe pain was an early sign of cancer spreading.
:Randall: Wait—didn’t you stub your toe yesterday?
:Randall's wife: Yes, but what if this is unrelated?

:[Randall and his wife are going spelunking. The guide is gesturing deeper into the cave while Randall and his wife are climbing down.]

:[Randall's wife stands on a rock above an alligator in a swamp, photographing the alligator. Randall is on a balcony behind safety railings.]
:Randall: When they estimated your survival odds, I think they made some optimistic assumptions about your hobbies.

:[Randall's wife sits on an examination bed, listening to a doctor holding a clipboard.]
:Doctor: This is probably nothing.
:Doctor: But given your history, we should do a full scan.
:Doctor: We'll call with the results in a few days. Try not to worry about it until then!

:[Randall and his wife stand above a deep pond full of fish and other objects. Randall's wife is piloting a wired underwater camera with lights.]

:[Randall and his wife are standing next to each other. Randall's wife has shoulder-length hair covering most of her face.]
:Randall's wife: Hard to believe—six years ago, I was bald. But today, after a long struggle, I finally look like the little girl from ''The Ring''.
:Randall: That's, uhh... good?
:Randall's wife: ''Hissssss''

:[A line of six people, including Randall and his wife, stand and watch the solar eclipse.]

'''From [[2386: Ten Years]]''':
:[Randall and his wife are sitting in a room with five bunnies sitting around and on them. The Poster on the wall reads: Rabbit rescue.]
:Randall: Do you think they're socialized enough?
:Randall's wife: This one might need one more head pat.

:[Randall is running and pushing his wife on a hand cart.]
:Someone off-panel: Has anyone seen the hand cart?
:Randall's wife: Wheee!

:[Randall and his wife walks up hill with snowy mountains near by and in the background. his wife is gesturing to something ahead of them.]

:[A large dark panel, to the right of the previous three, to the left in two rows. Randall and his wife sits, leaning back on their hands looking up, at the end of a pier going into a lake. The end is broader and they sit to each side of the middle of the pier. It is night and behind the lake there is a forest of pine trees. Above the three is a clear starlit night sky with hundreds of stars and the band of the Milky Way clearly visible. The trees and some of the stars are reflected in the water of the lake, distorted by the movements of the water. There is a box with the words "Ten Years" in the center of the image.]

'''From [[3172: Fifteen Years]]''':
:[Randall and his wife are cuddling in their bed together. Randall is presumably reading from the book he is holding in his hand, {{w|Moominland Midwinter}}.]
:Randall's wife: One more chapter?
:Randall: Don't we both have to get up early tomorrow?
:Randall's wife: ''Nnnnnggggh''
:Randall: Sure, good point.

:[Randall and his wife are walking through a city. In the background is Hairy, Ponytail, and White Hat. Everyone is wearing a face mask and looking on their cellphones. On the phone are various graphs of COVID-19 statistics.]]

:[Randall is wearing a beanie and a scarf, while his wife is wearing a matching scarf. Randall is holding out his hand to feed birds birdseed, while his wife is holding a cellphone with a bird on it.]
:Randall: Hah! They like '''''my''''' seeds best.
:Randall's wife: Wait, how do I take a picture of this one?

:[Randall and his wife are kayaking in a river. There are 3 fluffy clouds in the sky and 6 birds. A forest grows on the riverbank, which is partially covered by reeds. There are lily pads on the river and a small turtle is on one of them.]

:[Randall is lying in bed with his head propped up by 3 pillows, facing his wife. She is holding a large pile of items in her hands: a takeout box, a pillow, two blankets, a pill box, and a mug.]
:Randall's wife: I brought you honey lemon tea, more pillows, a cinnamon roll, Tylenol, another blanket, a—
:Randall: It was just appendicitis, I'm really—
:Randall's wife: '''It is my turn to take care of you and I'm going to do it right!'''

:[Randall and his wife are sitting in their car, still and in shock. Randall is in the driver's seat.]::

:[Randall and his wife are still sitting in the same position in their car.]
:Randall's wife: Oh my god.
:Randall: Oh my god.

:[The car is moving quickly and gravel can be seen bouncing up behind the car, as well as exhaust.]
:Randall's wife: Pull over!
:Randall: I am!

:[The car has been parked and Randall and his wife are scrambling to get out of the car.]

:[Randall and his wife are standing by the edge of a lake. The color is inverted, with the background geography black and their bodies white. A beautiful aurora of reds and greens is spread across the night sky.]

:[Randall's wife is leaning against a tree and Randall is lying down on the grass looking up towards the sky.]
:Randall's wife: Fifteen years. No signs of cancer.

:[Zoom in of Randall's wife's face.]
:Randall's wife: I '''''am''''' having some weird symptoms. Joint pain. Fatigue. I think I'm losing my close-up vision.
:Off panel voice: Yeah. Me too.

:[Zoom out, back to the original panel with the tree on the hill. Randall's wife is facing down towards Randall.]
:Randall: I think we're getting old.

:[Randall's wife is looking forward again.]
:Randall's wife: I guess that's okay.
:Randall: It's all I wanted.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:X Years]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Cancer]] [[Category:X Years]] [[Category:Comics featuring Randall Munroe]] [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] [[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]] [[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]] [[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

3170: Service Outage

2025-11-20T21:46:18Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */ The comic is about people in general, not one specific person

{{comic
| number = 3170
| date = November 19, 2025
| title = Service Outage
| image = service_outage_2x.png
| imagesize = 376x364px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Now, if it were the *Canon* wiki, it's possible to imagine someone with a productivity-related reason for consulting it, but no one's job requires them to read that much about Admiral Daala.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY SOMEONE WHOSE WORK RELIES ON THIS WIKI. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic compares the effects that internet service outages can have on different people's {{w|productivity}}. When the service is essential to someone's work, their productivity will clearly go down. They may initially be able to switch to alternative tasks, but the longer the outage goes on, the more of their task stack will be blocked and the less they will be able to accomplish. However, if the service (such as the {{w|Star Wars Legends}} wiki) is non-essential, their productivity improves, implying that without access to the service they are less distracted and get more work done.

The title text makes a distinction between the productivity effects of the {{w|Canon (fiction)|canon}} and non-canon {{w|Star Wars}} wikis. A writer or editor for a forthcoming Star Wars product may have a work-related reason to review a wiki containing Star Wars canon, in order to ensure consistency with the work they are developing. Star Wars Legends, on the other hand, have been considered non-canon since 2014. The character of [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Natasi_Daala Admiral] [https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Natasi_Daala Daala] is well documented, but a relatively niche line of interest.

This comic was posted the day after there was an outage at {{w|Cloudflare}}, a major {{w|Content Delivery Network}} whose failure affected this very site (among many others). This followed a few weeks after there were outages at {{w|Microsoft Azure}} and {{w|Amazon Web Services}}, which provide {{w|cloud computing}} services, and fifteen months since {{w|2024 CrowdStrike-related IT outages|another significant outage}}. These aren't sites that most non-technical users are directly familiar with, but they provide infrastructure for many popular web sites, so their failures have wide-ranging impacts even for those who had been previously unaware of their role in their online life. The same day as the Cloudflare outage, there was also a {{w|Github}} outage; this site is used mainly to support software development.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[A graph of "Productivity when a major internet service goes down" over time]
:[The productivity line starts at average. A point in time is labelled 'outage begins']
:[After that, the line splits into two lines: one labelled "People whose work relies on the service". It goes down over time.]
:[The second line is labelled "People whose work doesn't rely on the service". It jumps a little and stays roughly constant after.]
:[The second line is illustrated by Cueball seated at a desk, using a laptop computer. A thought bubble says: "Aw man, the outage took down the Star Wars Legends wiki."]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]

3168: Beam Dump

2025-11-14T22:54:44Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3168
| date = November 14, 2025
| title = Beam Dump
| image = beam_dump_2x.png
| imagesize = 309x346px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're adding some industrial flypaper to minimize reflection or scattering of customers who might complain.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a SAFELY DECELERATING BOT. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic makes a pun on the fact physics work very differently at the atomic level. In the comic, [[Cueball]], [[Megan]], and [[White Hat]] have apparently hired an accelerator physicist to design a water park, portrayed as [[Ponytail]]. Ponytail decided that, in the event an emergency stop is activated on a large waterslide, the riders would be diverted to a "beam dump", a large block of graphite which Ponytail believes would safely slow the momentum of the riders. Of course, this wouldn't work on the human scale,{{cn}} as graphite is extremely solid and not good for slowing momentum of large objects.

However, in the context of a particle accelerator, {{w|beam dump}}s are actually formed of large blocks of graphite in order to safely slow the particles without having them release large amounts of energy.

The title text adds to the joke, with the park designers apparently utilizing {{w|flypaper}} to 'minimize reflection or scattering of customers'. Of course, this would not work, as humans would be able to perceive and avoid the flypaper, unless they are fully boxed in.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[Ponytail is standing in front of a diagram on the wall, pointing at it with a pointer. The diagram has a picture of a waterslide and some untelligible text. The waterslide has two paths at the bottom; one returns to the base of the entrance tower, the other goes to a large black block. On the right stand Cueball, Megan, and White Hat facing her.]

Ponytail: If the emergency stop is activated, any riders on the waterslide will be diverted into the beam dump, a large graphite block which will safely absorb their momentum.

[Caption below comic:]

We regretted hiring an accelerator phsycist to design our water park.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

3163: Repair Video

2025-11-05T00:26:17Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3163
| date = November 3, 2025
| title = Repair Video
| image = repair_video_2x.png
| imagesize = 305x449px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The statue should be in the likeness of whatever sculptor posted the sculpting tool repair video that was most helpful during the installation of the statue.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by following a video by DenverCoder9. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Cueball]] finds a video explaining how to fix the exact problem he is currently having with his humidifier. The caption states that people who go to the effort of helping people, by creating such videos, should at least be rewarded by a statue.

Thanks to this one, Cueball finds the solution to his problem easily, unlike in [[979: Wisdom of the Ancients]]. This comic could be seen as a happier version of the events in that earlier comic, though this one concerns an appliance and the other concerns software.

It is initially unclear whether this is one statue for each individual helper, or not, but the title text implies that a single model/muse is used, perhaps to symbolically represent gratefulness for the totality of ''all'' such helpful people in a single monumental creation of appreciation. Or, otherwise, as one original statue to then be duplicated as necessary to allow each helper to have their own personal copy.

The choice of muse arises from the assumption that the sculptor who is making the statue will at some point experience the problem of having broken sculpting tools (though this depends upon the interpretation of their use in 'installation'), and so need to watch an instructional video on how to repair them and start/continue the commission. Therefore, as a representative helpful figure, the person who made the video consulted by the sculptor should be the one studied as the archetype for the final form.

This requires that the sculptee be positively identified prior to the point at which sculptor gets too far into the sculpting process. Simplicity then suggests that the nascent commemorative process starts off by the hiring of a candidate craftsman who is ''currently'' inactive due to being beset by broken (but, under guidance, fixable) implements, and proceeding in whatever manner then leads towards the final goal.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Cueball sits at his desk, on which there is a laptop computer showing a video. His hands are on his lap. Behind Cueball's chair and on the floor, there is a humidifier with "E-21" printed on it, making noise. The humidifier's cord extends to the right side of the panel.]
:Voice from computer: Hey all!
:Voice from computer: Does your E-21 humidifier make an annoying clicking noise? Mine did, but I finally figured out that there's an easy fix, so I made this video in case anyone else...
:Cueball: Oh my god. Yes. '''''Yes.'''''
:Humidifier: Click click

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I know there's more important work in the world, but I feel like these people deserve, at minimum, a statue.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3157: Emperor Palpatine

2025-10-21T20:17:05Z

174.53.211.85: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3157
| date = October 20, 2025
| title = Emperor Palpatine
| image = emperor_palpatine_2x.png
| imagesize = 538x531px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Many things about Star Wars were not well planned out, but having a 37-year-old in old-age makeup play the Emperor in Return of the Jedi was such an incredible call.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by A BOT OF UNCERTAIN AGE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic about {{w|extrapolation}} tracks the age of the {{w|Star Wars}} character {{w|Palpatine}} against the age of the actor who played him.

The primary film series of the Star Wars franchise consists of three trilogies: the original trilogy (1977-1983), the prequel trilogy (1999-2005), and the sequel trilogy (2015-2019). Palpatine is played by {{w|Ian McDiarmid}} in at least one film from each trilogy (and all three films of the prequel trilogy).

The character of Emperor Palpatine was briefly mentioned in the first {{w|Star Wars}} movie and appears briefly in {{w|The Empire Strikes Back}}, but doesn't have significant screen time until {{w|Return of the Jedi}} in 1983, which is when McDiarmid took on the role. He was presented as an elderly, withered, and physically decaying man, despite being played by an actor in his 30s. The character is killed near the end of the film.

The prequels portray Palpatine's rise from Senator to Chancellor to Emperor. He was 55 when the first of the prequels was made, and used no obvious aging (or de-aging) makeup or other effects, implying that the Palpatine of this era was approximately the same age as the actor (which fits nicely with the timeline of the universe).

{{w|The Rise of Skywalker}} was the third film of the sequel trilogy. Infamously, this film reveals that "somehow, Palpatine returned". This is somewhat vaguely explained by references to "dark signs, cloning, secrets only the Sith knew". McDiarmid, now in his 70's, played the role once again. While he appears at least as aged as the actor (and far more physically corrupted) the joke is that, if he was cloned, his new body had an "undefined age", but was was presumably younger than Palpatine had been in previous appearances.

The title text suggests that the makers of Star Wars had planned this out from the beginning, and so deliberately chose a 37-year-old actor to play an elderly character, specifically so that he could continue to play the part throughout the entire film series. In fact, the long-term direction of the films were never well-planned, and the notion that the films would be made over the course of more than 4 decades was probably not ever predicted. The idea that casting was made on that assumption is unlikely in the extreme. The fact that the same actor was able to reprise his role over such a long period of time was almost certainly just a matter of luck.

Putting all this together, [[Randall]] comes up with chart comparing the actor's age to that of the character, and concludes that they have an inverse relationship. Extrapolating this forward, he proposes that McDiarmid (81 years old, as of the publication of this strip) be brought back to play the Emperor as a toddler.

The joke, of course, is that this kind of extrapolation is ridiculous. In addition to the silliness of the subject matter, the data isn't used properly. Considering that there are only four good data points (plus a fifth where one of the dimensions is unclear, so should be excluded), there is not really sufficient data to make a proper extrapolation from here. Furthermore, three of the data points are clustered closely together, reducing their usefulness as independent markers.

This comic continues a long theme of applying graphing and extrapolation poorly, and in situations where they're not appropriate, to show the kinds of ridiculous conclusions it can lead to. [[:Category:Extrapolation|See here for other examples]]
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[:A scatter chart with the y scale from 0 to 120 and x scale from 30 to 90]

[:X axis is labeled "Emperor Palpatine character age" and Y axis is labeled "Ian McDiarmid age during filming"]

[:Point labeled "Return of the Jedi"] x value = ~39, y value = ~87

[:Point labeled "The Phantom Menace"] x value = ~50, y value = ~52

[:Point labeled "Attack of the Clones"] x value = ~52, y value = 61

[:Point labeled "Revenge of the Sith"] x value = ~60, y value = ~62

[:Hollow circle with a dashed outline labeled "Now"] x value = ~81, y value = ~4

[:Vertical Line with gradient labeled "The Rise of Skywalker (cloned body, undefined age)". The gradient is darkest around the y values from 40 to 50, and becomes lighter towards either extreme of the y axis.] x value = ~75

[:A thick black arrow trending downwards from the "Return of the Jedi" point to "The Phantom Menace" and nearby points]

[:Another thick black arrow trending downwards from "The Phantom Menace" and nearby points to the "Now" circle]

[:caption beneath panel]

To continue the trend, they should make a star wars movie where 81-year-old Ian Mcdiarmid plays the emperor as a toddler.

==Trivia==
Not depicted upon the graph are Palpatine's prior ''actors'' from the original release of Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, when Palpatine would have been 88. {{w|Marjorie Eaton}} (79) visually played the character (although some sources disagree, and have Elaine Baker, at the time 27 and married to the film's makeup designer, in the role), with similarly heavy prosthetics to McDiarmid, whilst Clive Revill (50) provided the voice. For the 2004 DVD release, the scene was reshot with McDiarmid, who was 60 at the time.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Extrapolation]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]

3157: Emperor Palpatine

2025-10-21T20:00:53Z

174.53.211.85: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 3157
| date = October 20, 2025
| title = Emperor Palpatine
| image = emperor_palpatine_2x.png
| imagesize = 538x531px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Many things about Star Wars were not well planned out, but having a 37-year-old in old-age makeup play the Emperor in Return of the Jedi was such an incredible call.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by A BOT OF UNCERTAIN AGE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic about {{w|extrapolation}} tracks the age of the {{w|Star Wars}} character {{w|Palpatine}} against the age of the actor who played him.

The primary film series of the Star Wars franchise consists of three trilogies: the original trilogy (1977-1983), the prequel trilogy (1999-2005), and the sequel trilogy (2015-2019). Palpatine is played by {{w|Ian McDiarmid}} in at least one film from each trilogy (and all three films of the prequel trilogy).

The character of Emperor Palpatine was briefly mentioned in the first {{w|Star Wars}} movie and appears briefly in {{w|The Empire Strikes Back}}, but doesn't have significant screen time until {{w|Return of the Jedi}} in 1983, which is when McDiarmid took on the role. He was presented as an elderly, withered, and physically decaying man, despite being played by an actor in his 30s. The character is killed near the end of the film.

The prequels portray Palpatine's rise from Senator to Chancellor to Emperor. He was 55 when the first of the prequels was made, and used no obvious aging (or de-aging) makeup or other effects, implying that the Palpatine of this era was approximately the same age as the actor (which fits nicely with the timeline of the universe).

{{w|The Rise of Skywalker}} was the third film of the sequel trilogy. Infamously, this film reveals that "somehow, Palpatine returned". This is somewhat vaguely explained by references to "dark signs, cloning, secrets only the Sith knew". McDiarmid, now in his 70's, played the role once again. While he appears at least as aged as the actor (and far more physically corrupted) the joke is that, if he was cloned, his new body had an "undefined age", but was was presumably younger than Palpatine had been in previous appearances.

The title text suggests that the makers of Star Wars had planned this out from the beginning, and so deliberately chose a 37-year-old actor to play an elderly character, specifically so that he could continue to play the part throughout the entire film series. In fact, the long-term direction of the films were never well-planned, and the notion that the films would be made over the course of more than 4 decades was probably not ever predicted. The idea that casting was made on that assumption is unlikely in the extreme. The fact that the same actor was able to reprise his role over such a long period of time was almost certainly just a matter of luck.

Putting all this together, [[Randall]] comes up with chart comparing the actor's age to that of the character, and concludes that they have an inverse relationship. Extrapolating this forward, he proposes that McDiarmid (81 years old, as of the publication of this strip) be brought back to play the Emperor as a toddler.

The joke, of course, is that this kind of extrapolation is ridiculous. In addition to the silliness of the subject matter, the data isn't used properly. Considering that there are only four good data points (plus a fifth where one of the dimensions is unclear, so should be excluded), there is not really sufficient data to make a proper extrapolation from here. Furthermore, three of the data points are clustered closely together, reducing their usefulness as independent markers.

This comic continues a long theme of applying graphing and extrapolation poorly, and in situations where they're not appropriate, to show the kinds of ridiculous conclusions it can lead to. [[:Category:Extrapolation|See here for other examples]]
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[:A scatter chart with the y scale from 0 to 120 and x scale from 30 to 90]

[:X axis is labeled "Emperor Palpatine character age" and Y axis is labeled "Ian McDiarmid age during filming"]

[:Point labeled return of the Jedi] x value = ~39 y value = ~87

[:Point labeled The phantom menace] x value = ~50 y value = ~52

[:Point labeled Attack of the clones] x value = ~52 y value = 61

[:Point labeled Revenge of the Sith] x value = ~60 y value = ~62

[:Large unfilled circle labeled Now] x value = ~81 y value = ~4

[:Vertical Line with gradient labeled Rise of Skywalker (cloned body, undefined age)] x value = ~75

[:A two large arrows trending downwards with some spots being near some points, and one arrow is ends at ~x=52 and the other one starts at ~x=54]
[:caption beneath panel]

To continue the trend, they should make a star wars movie
Where 81-year-old Ian Mcdiarmid plays the emperor as a toddler.

==Trivia==
Not depicted upon the graph are Palpatine's prior ''actors'' from the original release of Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, when Palpatine would have been 88. {{w|Marjorie Eaton}} (79) visually played the character (although some sources disagree, and have Elaine Baker, at the time 27 and married to the film's makeup designer, in the role), with similarly heavy prosthetics to McDiarmid, whilst Clive Revill (50) provided the voice. For the 2004 DVD release, the scene was reshot with McDiarmid, who was 60 at the time.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Extrapolation]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]

3157: Emperor Palpatine

2025-10-21T19:58:27Z

174.53.211.85:

{{comic
| number = 3157
| date = October 20, 2025
| title = Emperor Palpatine
| image = emperor_palpatine_2x.png
| imagesize = 538x531px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Many things about Star Wars were not well planned out, but having a 37-year-old in old-age makeup play the Emperor in Return of the Jedi was such an incredible call.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by A BOT OF UNCERTAIN AGE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic about {{w|extrapolation}} tracks the age of the {{w|Star Wars}} character {{w|Palpatine}} against the age of the actor who played him.

The primary film series of the Star Wars franchise consists of three trilogies: the original trilogy (1977-1983), the prequel trilogy (1999-2005), and the sequel trilogy (2015-2019). Palpatine is played by {{w|Ian McDiarmid}} in at least one film from each trilogy (and all three films of the prequel trilogy).

The character of Emperor Palpatine was briefly mentioned in the first {{w|Star Wars}} movie and appears briefly in {{w|The Empire Strikes Back}}, but doesn't have significant screen time until {{w|Return of the Jedi}} in 1983, which is when McDiarmid took on the role. He was presented as an elderly, withered, and physically decaying man, despite being played by an actor in his 30s. The character is killed near the end of the film.

The prequels portray Palpatine's rise from Senator to Chancellor to Emperor. He was 55 when the first of the prequels was made, and used no obvious aging (or de-aging) makeup or other effects, implying that the Palpatine of this era was approximately the same age as the actor (which fits nicely with the timeline of the universe).

{{w|The Rise of Skywalker}} was the third film of the sequel trilogy. Infamously, this film reveals that "somehow, Palpatine returned". This is somewhat vaguely explained by references to "dark signs, cloning, secrets only the Sith knew". McDiarmid, now in his 70's, played the role once again. While he appears at least as aged as the actor (and far more physically corrupted) the joke is that, if he was cloned, his new body had an "undefined age", but was was presumably younger than Palpatine had been in previous appearances.

The title text suggests that the makers of Star Wars had planned this out from the beginning, and so deliberately chose a 37-year-old actor to play an elderly character, specifically so that he could continue to play the part throughout the entire film series. In fact, the long-term direction of the films were never well-planned, and the notion that the films would be made over the course of more than 4 decades was probably not ever predicted. The idea that casting was made on that assumption is unlikely in the extreme. The fact that the same actor was able to reprise his role over such a long period of time was almost certainly just a matter of luck.

Putting all this together, [[Randall]] comes up with chart comparing the actor's age to that of the character, and concludes that they have an inverse relationship. Extrapolating this forward, he proposes that McDiarmid (81 years old, as of the publication of this strip) be brought back to play the Emperor as a toddler.

The joke, of course, is that this kind of extrapolation is ridiculous. In addition to the silliness of the subject matter, the data isn't used properly. Considering that there are only four good data points (plus a fifth where one of the dimensions is unclear, so should be excluded), there is not really sufficient data to make a proper extrapolation from here. Furthermore, three of the data points are clustered closely together, reducing their usefulness as independent markers.

This comic continues a long theme of applying graphing and extrapolation poorly, and in situations where they're not appropriate, to show the kinds of ridiculous conclusions it can lead to. [[:Category:Extrapolation|See here for other examples]]
==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[:A scatter chart with the y scale from 0 to 120 and x scale from 30 to 90]

[:X axis is emperor Palpatine character age and Y axis is Ian McDiarmid age during filming]

[:Point labeled return of the Jedi] x value = ~39 y value = ~87

[:Point labeled The phantom menace] x value = ~50 y value = ~52

[:Point labeled Attack of the clones] x value = ~52 y value = 61

[:Point labeled Revenge of the Sith] x value = ~60 y value = ~62

[:Large unfilled circle labeled Now] x value = ~81 y value = ~4

[:Vertical Line with gradient labeled Rise of Skywalker (cloned body, undefined age)] x value = ~75

[:A two large arrows trending downwards with some spots being near some points, and one arrow is ends at ~x=52 and the other one starts at ~x=54]
[:caption beneath panel]

To continue the trend, they should make a star wars movie
Where 81-year-old Ian Mcdiarmid plays the emperor as a toddler.

==Trivia==
Not depicted upon the graph are Palpatine's prior ''actors'' from the original release of Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, when Palpatine would have been 88. {{w|Marjorie Eaton}} (79) visually played the character (although some sources disagree, and have Elaine Baker, at the time 27 and married to the film's makeup designer, in the role), with similarly heavy prosthetics to McDiarmid, whilst Clive Revill (50) provided the voice. For the 2004 DVD release, the scene was reshot with McDiarmid, who was 60 at the time.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Extrapolation]]
[[Category:Star Wars]]
[[Category:Scatter plots]]

3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T22:20:31Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3151
| date = October 6, 2025
| title = Window Screen
| image = window_screen.png
| titletext = The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine or Home Improvement or DIY
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by user interface. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[[Cueball]] believes he should receive a {{w|Nobel Prize}} for creating a custom screen for a particularly troublesome window, due to what he considers to be the immense amount of work and consideration that went into it and the high quality of the result. He is writing to the {{w|Nobel Foundation}} to nominate himself. (The Foundation does not currently accept self-nominations, or nominations from anyone not [https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/#h-qualified-nominators appropriately qualified].)

A {{w|window screen}} is most often used to block insects, other small animals, and debris from passing through an open window, while allowing it to provide both ventiraltion and light. One can also make a light half-printed mesh that attaches to the outside of the glass to display an outward-facing image, without overly spoiling the view from the inside, or a more dense one to neutrally shade the incoming light still without significantly obscuring it. Most windows are flat and rectangular, and pre-made meshes for these can be measured and cut with basic tools. Some windows have complex shapes. It can be very difficult to design a screen that neatly matches a complex glass surface.

An {{w|Angle#Types_of_angles|oblique angle}} is any angle that is not a multiple of 90 degrees (not a right or straight angle). While right angles allow for intuitive mapping of sides to an X-Y coordinate plane, acute or obtuse angles indicate that at least one side will have endpoints that differ in both coordinates. This requires extra calculations.

Curved edges require extra care to measure and cut. Circular or semi-circular windows follow a constant curve that can be traced with limited effort, but the window in the comic is irregular.

{{w|Coplanarity|Noncoplanarity}} is a state where all elements of a system cannot be represented on the same plane. This implies that the window is not flat, suggesting that the glass is curved, and/or that the wall that surrounds the screen is not flat. The shape in the comic could possibly occur if the room featured in the first and third panels was at least partly conical, with the window narrowing to match the wall sloping inward to a central point above (this would also fit the earlier mention of multiple curved edges). The glass could also be shaped into an outward bubble. Either way, the mesh must be carefully shaped. Thankfully, for the project, there's no indication that it is not a {{w|developable surface}}, which would further complicate the work to be done.

Perfectly fitting a custom screen to such a window may be a significant technical accomplishment that the builder may wish to share with acquaintances. However, it is generally not considered near the level of one of the world's most prestigious awards, which often recognize years of effort, rather than something that Cueball did between the "this weekend" and the present (at most one week).

Since no Nobel Prize currently exists that would cover recognition of Cueball's achievement, the title text suggests extending the existing prize in "physiology or medicine" to also potentially cover "home improvement or DIY". [[Randall]] likely chose this original prize category because it is already anomalous in containing an 'or' in its title, where the other prizes have only a single-word description of endeavour. The necessity to distinguish {{w|home improvement}} from {{w|DIY}}, by specificying both options, seems somewhat more self-redundant than that between {{w|physiology}} (understanding how organisms normally operate) and {{w|medicine}} (understanding how to treat unhealthy ones). The comic's release also coincided with the announcement of the [https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2025/press-release/ 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine].

==Trivia==
At the time this comic was released, there was a technical error making it too large to fit into the page on normal desktop/laptop screens. Since [[1084: Server Problem#Trivia|1084: Server Problem]], two versions of each comic are usually available: normal (1x) and high-resolution (2x). This makes the comic look sharp even on high-DPI screens, such as phones, tablets, and some more expensive computer displays. In this case, however, the 2x version was accidentally uploaded as ''both'' versions, making the 1x comic twice as large as it should be. It is possible that Randall did this intentionally as an added punchline.

Users with this issue can zoom in with their browsers (Ctrl+mouse scroll up) to see the comic better. If the screen is large enough, you might consider always reading xkcd on 200% zoom to see the higher resolution comics.

This issue was fixed at some point between 14:57 and 15:54, 7 October 2025 (UTC).

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The text for the first panel appears above the panel itself.]
:This weekend,
:I had to make an oversized screen for a porch window.
:[Cueball is looking out through a window with a straight bottom, slanting sides and a curved upper edge.]

:[In each of the remaining panels, the text appears within the panel but above the illustration.]
:It involved countless tiny problems, each somehow way harder than it should be.
:Oblique angles. Curved edges. Noncoplanarity.
:[Cueball is shown pondering various problems involving geometry and angles.]

:... I solved them all.
:I measured precisely. I did trigonometry. I made custom parts.
:And it fit '''''perfectly.'''''
:No gaps, no ripples.
:[Cueball with slightly more hair, looking at the window covered by a bordered mesh.]

:I know that your foundation normally limits its purview to physics, medicine, peace, chemistry and literature.
:However, if you review the attached photo showing how well the screen fits into the...
:[Cueball is revealed to be sitting at a computer, typing a message.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3142: (City)-Style Pizza

2025-09-16T22:47:14Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3142
| date = September 15, 2025
| title = <City>-Style Pizza
| image = city_style_pizza_2x.png
| imagesize = 480x314px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you want to see true audacity, do an image search for 'Altoona-style pizza.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a BOT WITH SAUSAGE AND ANCHOVIES. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Many varieties of {{w|pizza}} in the US are named after a city — usually where the style originated or was popularized, such as {{w|New York–style pizza}} and {{w|Chicago-style pizza}}. A New York-style pizza is characterized by a thin, but not hard, crust. In contrast, Chicago-style pizza, or Chicago deep-dish pizza, is notoriously thick.

This comic contains a chart that compares the tastiness of pizza styles with the size of the city in the name. They generally span a broad range, but poor-tasting styles are mostly found only in small cities. The suggested reason is that these are due to restaurant owners in small towns who are bored and make up strange styles of pizza as a prank on visitors. According to [[Randall]], New York-style pizza is near the top of the tastiness axis. New York happens to be the largest city in the US, and it's also where pizza was first brought to the US by Italian immigrants.

The title text mentions an {{w|Altoona-style pizza}}. Created in the Altoona Hotel in {{w|Altoona, Pennsylvania}}, it has a thick square crust, with a slice of melted American cheese on top of tomato sauce, bell peppers, and salami. The “true audacity” of this style may include that people may not consider it pizza, and some may even see it as a sandwich. It is noteworthy that a remarkable spike in Google searches for Altoona-style pizza was observed at the publication date of this comic, as can be observed on [https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=%2Fg%2F11nmt6q5kp Google Trends].

The original comic's title has an encoding error in terms of HTML rendering, and it was copied to this wiki page. It reads "<City>-Style", which is interpreted by web browsers as containing an HTML tag and rendered as "-Style".

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[A graph.]
:[The x and y axes are unmarked. They are labeled: ]
::[X axis: Tastiness of "<city>-style pizza"]
::[Y axis: City size]

:[A shaded region is shown, initially covering nearly the whole y-axis on the left. The region's top area curves down slightly. The region's bottom area changes with a curve upwards to the right.]
:[Arrows point around to various slightly near the middle of the graph locations in this shaded region, indicating an otherwise-unmarked subregion.]

:[The region is labelled: ]
::Various controversial regional specialties

:[An arrow points to a medium-high y-value at the absolute rightmost x-axis. It is labelled: ]
::New York up here somewhere

:[An arrow points to a low x and y-value. It is labelled: ]
::Towns with bored restaurant owners who have come up with a fun prank to play on visitors

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Food]]
[[Category: Charts]]

3138: Dimensional Lumber Tape Measure

2025-09-08T13:56:51Z

174.53.211.85:

{{comic
| number = 3138
| date = September 5, 2025
| title = Dimensional Lumber Tape Measure
| image = dimensional_lumber_tape_measure_2x.png
| imagesize = 532x478px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = A person with two watches is never sure what time it is, especially if I got them one of the watches.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by A LUMBERYARD PSYCHIATRIST. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
A 2×4 is a type of dimensional lumber, meaning it is cut to a specified cross-section. In the case of a 2×4, despite implicitly specifying dimensions of 2 inches by 4 inches, its actual dimensions are 1.5 inches by 3.5 inches. The Dimensional Lumber Tape Measure "fixes" this inaccuracy by changing the length of some of its indicated inches so that a 2×4 is measured as 2 inches by 4 inches. On the dimensional tape the 1st, 2nd, and 8th division are made shorter than on the standard tape. Note that the comic states 7.125 inches as the width of a 1×8, when in reality the width is 7.25 inches.

As explained {{w|Lumber#Dimensional lumber|on Wikipedia}}, the nominal dimensions of a piece of dimensional lumber(US)/timber(UK) are those to which, in history, the wood was cut from green logs. Over time, the wood would shrink from loss of water. Consequently, a board cut to 2×4 inches would shrink to some fraction of those dimensions. The nominal dimensions also refer to the rough cut lumber - the final product is typically planed smooth, which further reduces its dimensions. The actual final dimensions would vary based on the type of wood, the amount of water lost and other such factors, with a greater or lesser amount of predictability. Over time, the actual dimensions of the wood became standardized at some regularly-achievable value less than the nominal dimensions. Different types of construction material sometimes use different measures, for instance, "1 inch" plywood is typically not 1 inch thick, but it is also not 3/4 inches thick (the thickness of a 1 inch board).

A person not familiar with this history may be puzzled at the disconnect between the nominal and actual dimensions of lumber/timber, perhaps to the point of thinking that some underhanded short-measure had gone on. To such persons, the comic's Dimensional Lumber Tape Measure makes sense, or at least addresses the disconnect. It would not, however, have any practical use, and attempts to employ it would likely lead to constructions going dangerously awry. Necessary lengths of timber, as well as other cuts that fine-tuned a supplied timber to fill a space, would be intrinsically inconsistent with the gaps they were intended to tightly fit within. At best, ''every single'' component of a construction would be measured and cut according to this particular measure and the resulting structure would be self-consistent but subtly undersized compared to the original plan.

Additionally, leaving it in someone else's toolbox without informing them would likely lead to them incorrectly measuring things, as the Dimensional Lumber Tape Measure appears visually similar to a standard tape measure and has similar enough units that it is plausible someone could use the Dimensional Lumber Tape Measure and assume it indicated full inches.

The title text is a play on the adage "A man with two watches is never sure what time it is". That adage is a rephrasing of {{w|Segal's law}}.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|So far, only the raw text was added. Needs description of the pictures and layout.}}

===Dimensional Lumber Tape Measure===

Dimensional lumber sizes are tricky. A “2×4” is actually 1½" by 3½", and a “1×8” is ¾" by 7⅛".

(A drawing of a rectangular wooden block labelled “2×4”, with notes indicating the length of the sides being 1½" and 3½".)

If you know someone into carpentry or woodworking, get them our ''dimensional lumber tape measure''.

(A drawing of two tape measures seen from the side. One is labeled <code>12'</code>, and the other is labeled <code>12'*</code>.)

(Two drawings of the tape measures’ tapes:)

Normal tape measure: (The measure is divided into inches evenly.)

Dimensional lumber tape measure: (The measure is divided unevenly, such that 1st and 2nd marked ‘inches’ are each equal to a ¾-inch but the 3rd to 7th marks each equate to a single 1 inch. The 8th mark is once again ¾-inch after the 7th.)

(Neither measure indicates the unit being used.)

'''Don’t tell them you got it'''—just leave it in their toolbox. They’ll appreciate the surprise when all their measurements work out!

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3134: Wavefunction Collapse

2025-08-28T13:41:47Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3134
| date = August 27, 2025
| title = Wavefunction Collapse
| image = wavefunction_collapse_2x.png
| imagesize = 656x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Wavefunction collapse is only one interpretation. Under some interpretations, graduate students also have souls.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A SOUlFUl PARTICLE DETECTOR. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Quantum mechanics is commonly explained by saying that observation can cause change in the system, as in the {{w|Schrödinger's cat}} and {{w|Elitzur–Vaidman bomb tester}} thought experiments.
A physical example is the {{w|Double-slit experiment}}, where observing which slit photons go through changes the behavior of the photons, compared to an experiment where this is not observed.
From this, some people can assume that human observation is what causes this, and conclude that humans must be “special”, while “observation” actually refers to detector devices, which are unable to observe particles without affecting them. While the idea that {{w|Consciousness causes collapse}} was considered seriously by earlier physicists such as Wigner, it is now very unpopular.

This comic presents three possible responses to the question: "does my consciousness affect the universe?" The 'Bad' option shows Cueball telling his student that everybody has a soul, and their individual consciousness affects reality in some way. The 'good' option shows Cueball telling his student that consciousness doesn't play a role at all, and that it is 'just a physical measurement'. The 'chaotic' option shows Cueball apparently observing that the wave function collapses when only ''he'' looks at it, because he is of a higher rank than the student in some way (in this case, Cueball is a professor while Hairy is the student).

In both [[660: Sympathy]] and [[803: Airfoil]] there is a situation where there is a given three possible replies. And just like here the first two are wrong and right (although in the other order). The last is Very Wrong as opposed to Chaotic here, but it seems like this comics interpretation called chaotic could also have been labeled very wrong. So this setup for a comic is becoming recuring on xkcd.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Hairy is sitting behind a desk with a hand on the table and Cueball is standing next to him.]
:Hairy: If the wavefunction only collapses when I observe it, does that mean my consciousness affects the universe?

:[A panel with the caption "Bad:" on the top left, zoomed into Cueball's head]
:Cueball: Yes, quantum entanglement proves that we all have souls.

:[The same scene with the caption "Good:"]
:Cueball: No, consciousness plays no role here. Its just physical measurement.

:[The same scene with the caption "Chaotic:"]
:Cueball: No, the wave function collapses when '''''I''''' look at it because I'm a full professor.
:Cueball: It won't collapse for an undergraduate.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3133: Dual Roomba

2025-08-27T15:26:31Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3133
| date = August 25, 2025
| title = Dual Roomba
| image = dual_roomba_2x.png
| imagesize = 679x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = I tried uploading it to a household appliance porn site I found, but apparently their content is limited to only fans.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a CHILD OF TWO ROOMBAS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A {{w|Roomba}} is a small household robot that was designed to clean floors. To do so, its underside is equipped with brushes and vacuums to clean the floors. Roombas are generally not meant to clean anything other than floors, but Cueball has his Roombas clean each other when they get dirty (as opposed to the simpler solution of cleaning the Roombas by hand).

When Cueball demonstrates his Roombas cleaning each other to White Hat, White Hat remarks that the cleaning Roombas look sexually suggestive. The term "{{w|Not safe for work}}" (NSFW) describes material, like pornography, which may not be appropriate for a general audience, and in particular the kind of workplace internet browsing that would normally be particularly discouraged because it's likely to offend colleagues and/or violate workplace policies regarding such offense. While the Roombas don't look at all like sexual organisms, their interaction evidently reminds people of sex, as they are going back and forth across each other's surfaces and change positions in the middle of it. When one Roomba is cleaning the top of the other, it looks like {{w|doggy style}}; when it's cleaning the bottom, it looks like {{w|missionary position}} or {{w|69 (sex position)|69}}, depending on the orientation of the front and back.

Cueball says that the {{w|YouTube}} video that he posted about this trick was demonetized, meaning that the video is not allowed to generate ad revenue. This normally happens to NSFW videos, such as those with NSFW content or a large amount of profanity.

One popular monetized pornography (porn) site is called {{w|OnlyFans}}. The title text says that Cueball tried to upload his video to a porn site dedicated to "household appliances," but was unable to because its content was limited to {{w|Fan (machine)|fans}}. This is a play on words; for the real OnlyFans site, "fans" is short for "fanatics," rather than mechanical fans. A site dedicated to household appliance porn would be an example of [[Rule 34]] (if you can imagine it, there is porn of it). The same play on words has already been made in [[1378: Turbine]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[Cueball and White Hat are facing each other. A Roomba is to the right side of Cueball, who has his arm up.]
:Cueball: The Roomba keeps my floor clean.
:Cueball: But what do I do when the '''''Roomba''''' gets dirty?

:[Cueball and White now face 2 Roombas, with Cueball gesturing towards the Roombas. One Roomba is climbing up a ramp in front of the second Roomba.]
:Cueball: Simple:
:Cueball: I got a second Roomba and a ramp, so they can clean each other.

:[Cueball kneels down to flip the first Roomba over.]
:Cueball: After the tops are clean, I flip one of them over so they can clean each others’ undersides.

:[Cueball and White Hat are now watching the Roombas clean each other.]
:White Hat: There’s nothing NSFW about this, and yet it’s the most NSFW thing I’ve every seen.
:Cueball: Yeah, my YouTube DIY video about this got demonetized.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Robots]]
[[Category:Roomba]]
[[Category:Sex]]

3128: Thread Meeting

2025-08-13T22:25:20Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3128
| date = August 13, 2025
| title = Thread Meeting
| image = thread_meeting_2x.png
| imagesize = 399x425px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hey, so did you ever finish your video series about Cassie and the caterpillar morph? I loved the first three, but never ... no, sorry, I get it, this isn't the place. Sorry! Sorry.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by Jake and Cassie ([[1380: Manual for Civilization|we finally kissed]]) ([[1817: Incognito Mode|we're posting this from Apple HQ]]). Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Many people have different sets of acquaintances from different parts of their lives, and there's not much overlap. For instance, they have colleagues at work and friends from different hobbies. People encountered in online forums are often very separate, since they may be anywhere in the world and even have quite differently eclectic tastes that they never mention. People find it surprising when there are overlaps in unrelated spheres.

In this comic, NorthLakeKayak and AntaresMike are two participants in an online thread (presumably about boating, or maybe specifically kayaking). NorthLakeKayak recognizes the username AntaresMike as also used by someone he remembers from a different forum about {{w|Animorphs}}, and apparently not a likely username to have [[1963: Namespace Land Rush|been independently claimed]] by someone else.

As children, the most striking example of this type of compartmentalization is that {{tvtropes|TeachersOutOfSchool|we think of teachers as only existing in school}}. They're actually people with real lives (as also referenced in [[2808: Daytime Firefly]]), but we find it extremely weird when we encounter them in some mundane place outside school, like at a restaurant or store. The comic makes the point that encountering the same person in two unrelated online forums is analogous to this.

Very often, the culture/rules of a particular forum will encourage relevence to the forum's ''{{w|raison d'etre}}'', at least in its main threads, and fellow users will get to know all about their on-topic obsessions but usually only see hints of other individuals' alternate pastimes and hobbies. In the title text, NorthLakeKayak starts to go drastically '{{w|off topic}}', presumably within the same conversation supposed to be discussing kayaks, and starts to {{w|Self-censorship|self-censor}} what he says, with apologies to the wider readership. And, perhaps, also to his fellow Animorph-appreciator, who may not appreciate being 'outed'/low-level-'{{w|doxing|doxed}}', even assuming they ''are'' indeed the same person; there's no indication that they have confirmed themselves as being the same AntaresMike, and not just another 'Mike' who opted to choose the exact same name from whatever independent association they choose to have with '{{w|Antares (disambiguation)|Antares}}'.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[A portion of a thread in an online forum is shown. It has one post and a reply to that post]

[First post:]

[Stylized A avatar] '''AntaresMike'''

You could also check out this kayak model. I attached a motor to mine, and it's a little but of a kludge but it works great.

[Reply (indented):]

[Cueball avatar] '''NorthLakeKayak'''

Oh, hey, AntaresMike! I know you!

Honestly I didn't realize you existed outside of the Animorphs fandom. I haven't seen you in forever!

Uh. So. How are you doing?

Kayaking, I guess.

Anyway yeah that model is great.

[Bottom caption:]

Running into someone on a thread who you know from a totally different part of the Internet feels weirdly like running into your teacher in a store.

==References==
<references />

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Animorphs]]
[[Category:Social networking]]

3126: Disclaimer

2025-08-10T02:22:20Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3126
| date = August 8, 2025
| title = Disclaimer
| image = disclaimer_2x.png
| imagesize = 346x396px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = You say no human would reply to a forum thread about Tom Bombadil by writing and editing hundreds of words of text, complete with formatting, fancy punctuation, and two separate uses of the word 'delve'. Unfortunately for both of us, you are wrong.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|If the academic integrity department asks, this page was NOT created by ChatGPT. Don’t remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic shows a message written by [[Cueball]] (likely representing [[Randall]]). The combination of a user profile image, metadata, and the body of text, suggest this is a posting on a forum. At the end—possibly as an automatically appended forum signature—he includes a disclaimer preemptively denying that the content was produced by ChatGPT, and that this is just the way he is.

{{w|ChatGPT}} is a {{w|large language model}}, a type of {{w|generative artificial intelligence}} designed to produce human-like text. In 2025, at the time of this comic’s release, tools like ChatGPT had become widely used for composing everything from professional emails to casual forum posts. Chatbots tend to be verbose. One side effect of this trend is that genuine, naturally long-form writing is sometimes mistaken for AI-generated content. People may become suspicious not only of length and thoroughness, but also of stylistic markers such as formally correct punctuation—particularly the {{w|Dash#Em_dash|em dash}}—which is uncommon among average internet users, but occasionally favored by ChatGPT.

The title text explains the context. It notes that some people claim no human would compose a meticulously organized essay—complete with bullet points—about {{w|Tom Bombadil}}, a relatively minor character from ''The Lord of the Rings'', especially if it contains the word “delve.” This word is perceived as atypical in everyday conversation yet is frequently used by ChatGPT. Randall counters that he would write such an essay, and in fact has. The choice of “delve” may be a deliberate reference to Gandalf’s line in ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' about the Dwarves who “delved too greedily and too deep,” or perhaps to “Michel Delving,” the largest Hobbit settlement in the Shire, whose name literally means “large excavation.”

The presence of the em dash in the disclaimer further fuels the joke; em dashes are seen by many as an indicator that a piece of text was AI-generated. The comic may also contain a subtle nod to GPT-5, which had been released the day before this comic was published.

==Transcript==
:[A Cueball profile picture is shown next to five paragraphs of illegible text, which contains varied punctuation marks and two square-bracketed citations.]
:[The last paragraph in the essay is separated from the other paragraphs by a line with three dashes. Its single sentence is highlighted, and lines connect that illegible sentence to a box with an enlarged, legible version of the sentence.]

:Enlarged text: Not ChatGPT output—I’m just like this.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I’ve had to start adding this disclaimer to my messages.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:LOTR]]

3125: Snake-in-the-Box Problem

2025-08-09T15:54:28Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3125
| date = August 6, 2025
| title = Snake-in-the-Box Problem
| image = snake_in_the_box_problem_2x.png
| imagesize = 359x611px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Chemistry grad students have been spotted trying to lure campus squirrels into laundry hampers in the hope that it sparks inspiration.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a popular Nokia phone game. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic makes fun of the fact that many fields of science use analogies to help visualize complex problems. One such analogy, drawn in the comic, involves a snake on the edges of an n-dimensional hypercube, which is a real problem in graph theory called {{w|snake-in-the-box}}. In this problem, a snake is coiled around the edges of an ''n''-dimensional hypercube. No two adjacent corners of the cube can be occupied by non-consecutive parts of the snake (i.e., the snake can't come near itself). The problem involves finding the longest snake for a box of a given dimension. This problem has been solved up to an 8-dimensional cube, but unsolved for 9 dimensions and up. (The proper name for this problem, as stated in [https://oeis.org/A099155 OEIS A099155], is "Maximum length of a simple path with no chords in the n-dimensional hypercube" but, as the entry acknowledges, "snake-in-the-box problem" is the name commonly used for it.)

The other thought experiment alluded to is {{w|Schrödinger's cat}}, which is used in quantum physics. In this thought experiment, a cat is put in a box which contains poison, a radioactive source and a {{w|Geiger counter}}. This aims to illustrate an apparent paradox in the principle of {{w|quantum superposition}} — a property of quantum mechanics in which objects can exist in two apparently incompatible states simultaneously, so long as no attempt is made to verify which state they are in. If an atom of the radioactive source decays, the poison is released, and the cat dies, tying its fate to the radioactive decay. Since radioactive decay obeys quantum mechanics, so long as the particle is not observed it will exist in a superposition of two states: decayed and not decayed. Therefore, the cat, too, may be considered to exist in a superposition of two states (alive and not alive) which appears to be absurd. The opening of the box collapses the superposition so that only one of those states remains.

The comic jokes that these two "cute animal in a box" thought experiments are instances of a universal rule that applies to every field of study. Other fields have simply yet to "discover" their own analogies. Whether a snake counts as a "cute animal" that would satisfy the "rule" is likely to occasion some debate.

The title text takes this further by claiming that chemistry students have been trying to fix the lack of cute-animal-in-box thought experiments in their field by attempting to trap a squirrel with a laundry basket. This is possibly a reference to {{w|Endohedral fullerene}} complexes, where an ion or atom is caged inside a spherical structure of carbon. Those students seem to hope that it will inspire them in some way, maybe similarly to what is depicted in [[1584: Moments of Inspiration]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A panel with text both above and below the illustration, with further text outside the panel below.]
:[In the panel, above the illustration:]
:A snake slithers around a hypercube. No two non-consecutive parts of its coils can be on adjacent corners.
:[Three small illustrations of 4-dimensional hypercubes, each with a snake slithering around its edges. Each illustration has a red line or lines indicating an edge or edges where two non-consecutive parts of the snake are on adjacent corners. Below each hypercube is a red X.]
:[A large illustration depicting a 4-dimensional hypercube with a snake slithering around its edges.]
:[Below the large illustration is text printed in green. To the left of the text is a green checkmark.]
:Dimensions=4
:Max length=7
:[The following text is printed in black, except for the last word "UNSOLVED" which is printed in red:]
:Snake(N) = Largest snake that can fit in an N-dimensional hypercube
:Snake(N=1, 2, 3 .. 8) = 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 26, 50, 98
:Snake(N>8) = UNSOLVED

:[Text outside the panel:]
:It turns out every scientific field has a key thought experiment that involves putting a cute animal in a weird box for no reason.
:So far, quantum mechanics and graph theory have found theirs, but most other fields are still working on it.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Cats]]

3125: Snake-in-the-Box Problem

2025-08-09T15:48:09Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3125
| date = August 6, 2025
| title = Snake-in-the-Box Problem
| image = snake_in_the_box_problem_2x.png
| imagesize = 359x611px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Chemistry grad students have been spotted trying to lure campus squirrels into laundry hampers in the hope that it sparks inspiration.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a popular Nokia phone game. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic makes fun of the fact that many fields of science use analogies to help visualize complex problems. One such analogy, drawn in the comic, involves a snake on the edges of an n-dimensional hypercube, which is a real problem in graph theory called {{w|snake-in-the-box}}. In this problem, a snake is coiled around the edges of an ''n''-dimensional hypercube. No two adjacent corners of the cube can be occupied by non-consecutive parts of the snake (i.e., the snake can't come near itself). The problem involves finding the longest snake for a box of a given dimension. This problem has been solved up to an 8-dimensional cube, but unsolved for 9 dimensions and up. (The proper name for this problem, as stated in [https://oeis.org/A099155 OEIS A099155], is "Maximum length of a simple path with no chords in the n-dimensional hypercube" but, as the entry acknowledges, "snake-in-the-box problem" is the name commonly used for it.)

The other thought experiment alluded to is {{w|Schrödinger's cat}}, which is used in quantum physics. In this thought experiment, a cat is put in a box which contains poison, a radioactive source and a {{w|Geiger counter}}, which absolutely fits the definition of a "weird box". This aims to illustrate an apparent paradox in the principle of {{w|quantum superposition}} — a property of quantum mechanics in which objects can exist in two apparently incompatible states simultaneously, so long as no attempt is made to verify which state they are in. If an atom of the radioactive source decays, the poison is released, and the cat dies, tying its fate to the radioactive decay. Since radioactive decay obeys quantum mechanics, so long as the particle is not observed it will exist in a superposition of two states: decayed and not decayed. Therefore, the cat, too, may be considered to exist in a superposition of two states (alive and not alive) which appears to be absurd. The opening of the box collapses the superposition so that only one of those states remains.

The comic jokes that these two "cute animal in a box" thought experiments are instances of a universal rule that applies to every field of study. Other fields have simply yet to "discover" their own analogies. Whether a snake counts as a "cute animal" that would satisfy the "rule" is likely to occasion some debate.

The title text takes this further by claiming that chemistry students have been trying to fix the lack of cute-animal-in-box thought experiments in their field by attempting to trap a squirrel with a laundry basket. This is possibly a reference to {{w|Endohedral fullerene}} complexes, where an ion or atom is caged inside a spherical structure of carbon. Those students seem to hope that it will inspire them in some way, maybe similarly to what is depicted in [[1584: Moments of Inspiration]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A panel with text both above and below the illustration, with further text outside the panel below.]
:[In the panel, above the illustration:]
:A snake slithers around a hypercube. No two non-consecutive parts of its coils can be on adjacent corners.
:[Three small illustrations of 4-dimensional hypercubes, each with a snake slithering around its edges. Each illustration has a red line or lines indicating an edge or edges where two non-consecutive parts of the snake are on adjacent corners. Below each hypercube is a red X.]
:[A large illustration depicting a 4-dimensional hypercube with a snake slithering around its edges.]
:[Below the large illustration is text printed in green. To the left of the text is a green checkmark.]
:Dimensions=4
:Max length=7
:[The following text is printed in black, except for the last word "UNSOLVED" which is printed in red:]
:Snake(N) = Largest snake that can fit in an N-dimensional hypercube
:Snake(N=1, 2, 3 .. 8) = 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 26, 50, 98
:Snake(N>8) = UNSOLVED

:[Text outside the panel:]
:It turns out every scientific field has a key thought experiment that involves putting a cute animal in a weird box for no reason.
:So far, quantum mechanics and graph theory have found theirs, but most other fields are still working on it.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Cats]]

3124: Grounded

2025-08-04T22:07:58Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3124
| date = August 4, 2025
| title = Grounded
| image = grounded_2x.png
| imagesize = 294x335px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We should have you at the gate in just under two hours--two and a half if we get pulled over.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a COP ASKING IF THE PILOT KNOWS WHY THEY WERE PULLED OVER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic depicts a plane that has been delayed due to unfavorable weather. The pilot and first officer have considered simply driving the plane to the destination instead of waiting for favorable weather to fly, noting that they have considered their maximum taxiing speed and bridge clearance heights. Driving a plane is illegal, due to the excessive width and height (and maybe length) of the vehicle, and impractical, since jetliners taxi at only 25-35 mph - far slower than simply taking a car or bus.

The title text further extends the joke, saying that driving might get them pulled over by police and further extend the drive time. However, the drive would probably be extended by more than 30 minutes, and the plane would most likely be stopped, resulting in the drive/flight being cancelled.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[Plane connected to airport in picture]
This is your captain speaking. As you've probably noticed, we're still grounded due to weather
but the first officer and I have been looking at bridge clearance maps and our top taxing speed, And we have an idea.
[Voice is coming from the plane]

[Title text]
We should have you at the gate in just under two hours--two and a half if we get pulled over.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

3121: Kite Incident

2025-07-29T12:24:12Z

174.53.211.85: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 3121
| date = July 28, 2025
| title = Kite Incident
| image = kite_incident_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x1610px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Detectives say the key to tracking down the source of the kites was a large wall map covered in thumbtacks and string. 'It's the first time that method has ever actually worked,' said a spokesperson.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

In this comic [[Megan]] is setting up a kite as [[Cueball]] arrives. Megan sets up the kite using a fishing line, which is unorthodox but not unheard of. Because the connection between the holding point and the lofted kite will form a {{w|catenary}} hanging down, after paying out sufficient line toward a kite increasingly far downwind, the line starts to dip and possibly touch the ground. Cueball suggests adding another kite at that point, after which they can then pay out more line and keep the line raised off the ground for additional distance.

They then get into a loop of adding more line to accommodate a stock of kites, and then more kites to support the line, until the kite chain reaches ludicrous proportions. The kites become so numerous and high-flying that they eventually blow in a circle around a significant part of the planet, following a {{w|jet stream}}. A circle on the surface of the Earth that follows the line of latitude where Randall lives is about 18,500 miles long, though a circumpolar jet-stream would curve into higher and lower latitudes to possibly add a lot more distance (as well as being at a higher altitude, which would add a more predictable fraction to its length).

The sirens in the second-to-last panel refer to a visit by some law-enforcement agency. The string of kites circling the Earth has interfered with international air travel. Although the mass of any given kite and the presence of such a relatively light and fragile tether should not cause too much difficulty for the majority of airliners if their wing or body collides with the kite-chain, the danger of a kite being ingested into the engine would ''preferably'' be avoided out of an abundance of caution. This is true even if the presence of kites is known to be not a more solid danger rather than a mystery and/or {{w|2023 Chinese balloon incident|perceived threat}} which can lead to {{w|Air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption|air travel to be shut down}}. Regardless of the actual degree of danger, the authorities react accordingly, and events culminate in Megan and Cueball being forced to issue a formal apology. Having their lawyer there might indicate they won't get away with just an apology, but maybe this is to show they meant no harm, to decrease the penalty they will face.

The title text alludes to an investigation technique seen in many types of media where the investigator {{tvtropes|StringTheory|pins text and photo evidence to a board}}, connecting related evidence with string, or possibly similarly {{tvtropes|ConnectTheDeaths|annotating a map}}. This technique is also made fun of in [[2244: Thumbtacks And String]]. Though often good enough for fictional purposes, at least to the extent that the plot demands, the text indicates that real-world uses of 'string on a map' to discover a useful result have not actually been successful. But in this case, the string on the map would be there to indicate the actual extent to the string ''in the air'', probably from various reports received from around the world, and apparently it had successfully led to the discovery of the location from which the string originated on the ground and the subsequent intervention against the duo's excessive kite-deployment activity.

Kites have been a [[:Category:Kites|recuring topic]] on xkcd since the early days.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Cueball approaches Megan from the left. Megan is flying a kite, with the line attached to a spool.]
:Cueball: Ooh, flying a kite?
:Megan: Yeah. I found this big spool of fishing line in a closet.

:[In a silent panel, Cueball and Megan are seen from further away, indicating that the kite is flying higher.]

:[Cueball and Megan are seen from yet further away, indicating that the kite is flying still higher.]
:Cueball: Are we allowed to fly a kite this high? Should we Google whether there are rules?
:Megan: Eh, it's probably fine.

:Megan: The string is really starting to sag.
:Cueball: Maybe we could attach another kite? I'll go get one.

:Cueball: It worked!
:Megan: Nice!

:Cueball: I bought another package of string.
:Megan: Oh good, these spools are almost empty.
:Megan: I think we're in the jet stream.

:Cueball: How many kites are on there now?
:Megan: I've lost count.

:[Another silent panel.]

:[A much larger panel.]
:Cueball: Uhh...

:Cueball: ...Did it blow in a circle?
:Megan: I don't know. Lemme look at a map of where the jet stream goes.
:Cueball: Hey, do you hear sirens?

:[A CNN logo is at the upper right of the panel. Megan stands at a lectern, with Cueball on one side and Ponytail, holding a briefcase, on the other. Illegible text appears at the lower left, lower right, and below them.]
:[A banner with white text on a black background:]
:Breaking: Kite Incident Duo Speaks
:Megan: On the advice of our lawyer, we would like to apologize for the events that shut down global air travel last week...

==Trivia==
Kites have been a [[:Category:Kites|recurring topic]] on xkcd since the early days. It has been three years since the last comic with kites, [[2632: Greatest Scientist]], six since Cueball put one up, and 10 since Megan did.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Kites]]
[[Category:Aviation]]

3120: Geologic Periods

2025-07-26T15:00:06Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3120
| date = July 25, 2025
| title = Geologic Periods
| image = geologic_periods_2x.png
| imagesize = 611x557px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Geologists claim it's because the earlier Cenozoic used to be called the Tertiary, but that's just a ruse to hide the secret third geologic period, between the Neogene and the Quaternary, that they won't tell us about.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a Cretaceous raptor. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{| class="wikitable"
!Period
!Dates (millions of years ago)
!My Favorite Part
!My Biggest Complaint
!Explanation
|-
|Precambrian
|4500-539
|Life develops
|Snowball Earth episodes
|The {{w|Precambrian}} (italicized in the comic since it's not a {{w|Period (geology)|geologic period}}) is the first 88% of Earth's history, including the time 4.1 to 3.4 billion years ago when life on Earth began. The {{w|Snowball Earth}} hypothesis says that during some time spans in the past, Earth became nearly or entirely frozen, with no liquid water on the surface. It's related to the idea of the {{w|Greenhouse_and_icehouse_Earth#Icehouse_Earth|icehouse Earth}}, times when the planet fluctuates between glacial and interglacial periods (such as now).
|-
|{{w|Cambrian}}
|539-487
|Trilobites!
|Evolution could stand to calm down a little
|The {{w|Cambrian explosion}} was a sudden radiation of complex life forms when nearly all important animal phyla, or precursors to them, appeared.
|-
|{{w|Ordovician}}
|487-443
|Earth might have had rings
|Scary volcanic eruption in North America
|Due to the non-random location of impact of one type of meteorite, {{w|Rings_of_Earth|it is proposed}} that those have formed a planetary ring system around Earth before colliding with it.
|-
|{{w|Silurian}}
|443-420
|First land animals
|Earth's newfound mold problem
|
|-
|{{w|Devonian}}
|420-359
|Big mountains in Boston
|Yeah, sure, what those giant killer fish needed was armor
|
|-
|{{w|Carboniferous}}
|359-299
|Cool forests
|Bugs too big
|The {{w|Carboniferous#Terrestrial_invertebrates|'bugs' in this period}} included the largest-ever known land invertebrate, a {{w|Arthropleura|2.6-m (8.5-ft) millipede-like animal}}; the largest-ever known flying insect, resembling a {{w|Meganeura|dragonfly with a wingspan of ~75 cm (30 in)}}; and a {{w|Pulmonoscorpius|70 cm (2 ft 4 in) scorpion}}.
|-
|{{w|Permian}}
|299-252
|Pangea
|Google "The Great Dying"
|{{w|Pangaea}} was the most recent supercontinent containing nearly all of Earth's landmass. The Great Dying, more formally known as the {{w|Permian-Triassic extinction event}}, occurred at the end of the Permian and is the most severe of Earth's {{w|Extinction_event#The_"Big_Five"_mass_extinctions|'Big Five' mass extinction events}}. In it, 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species were wiped out.
|-
|{{w|Triassic}}
|252-201
|Tanystropheus
|Damage to Canada still visible from space at Manicouagan
|{{w|Tanystropheus}} was a basal archosaur (not a dinosaur) with a proportionally long neck. {{w|Manicouagan Reservoir}} is a ring-shaped lake, the remains of the crater caused by a 5-km (3-mi) asteroid hitting {{w|Quebec}}.
|-
|{{w|Jurassic}}
|201-143
|Birds
|Parasitoid wasps
|Birds are cool{{Citation needed}}. Parasitoid wasps are not; their reproduction cycle is such a grisly process that it caused a {{w|Ichneumonidae#Darwin_and_the_Ichneumonidae|crisis of faith}} among 19th-century European scholars.
|-
|{{w|Cretaceous}}
|143-66
|Raptors
|Raptors
|[[:Category:Velociraptors|Raptors]]
|-
|{{w|Paleogene}}
|66-23
|Pretty horseys!!!
|Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum
|The {{w|Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum}} was a time where the global average temperature rose by around 5-8 °C in a relatively short period of time.
|-
|{{w|Neogene}}
|23-2.6
|Forests of Dracaena dragonblood trees
|Zanclean flood
|Dracaena draco and Dracaena cinnabari trees are a source of dragon's blood, a naturally occurring bright red resin with uses including as a varnish and a dye.
The {{w|Zanclean flood}} is theorized to be the flood that refilled the Mediterranean Sea.
|-
|{{w|Quaternary}}
|2.6-present
|Burrito invented
|Whoever picked the name for the third period of the Cenozoic
|Randall jokes that, in the last 2.6 million years, his favorite moment was the invention of the {{w|burrito}}, rather than many other, much more significant discoveries. The precise origin of the burrito is not known, but the {{w|Maya civilization}} used to make food resembling burritos as early as 1500 BC.
The third period of the {{w|Cenozoic}} Era is the Quaternary era, named by Jules Desnoyers in 1829. This naming is controversial; the {{w|International Commission on Stratigraphy}} is proposing to abolish it.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3120: Geologic Periods

2025-07-26T14:58:53Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3120
| date = July 25, 2025
| title = Geologic Periods
| image = geologic_periods_2x.png
| imagesize = 611x557px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Geologists claim it's because the earlier Cenozoic used to be called the Tertiary, but that's just a ruse to hide the secret third geologic period, between the Neogene and the Quaternary, that they won't tell us about.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a Cretaceous raptor. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{| class="wikitable"
!Period
!Dates (millions of years ago)
!My Favorite Part
!My Biggest Complaint
!Explanation
|-
|Precambrian
|4500-539
|Life develops
|Snowball Earth episodes
|The {{w|Precambrian}} (italicized in the comic since it's not a {{w|Period (geology)|geologic period}}) is the first 88% of Earth's history, including the time 4.1 to 3.4 billion years ago when life on Earth began. The {{w|Snowball Earth}} hypothesis says that during some time spans in the past, Earth became nearly or entirely frozen, with no liquid water on the surface. It's related to the idea of the {{w|Greenhouse_and_icehouse_Earth#Icehouse_Earth|icehouse Earth}}, times when the planet fluctuates between glacial and interglacial periods (such as now).
|-
|{{w|Cambrian}}
|539-487
|Trilobites!
|Evolution could stand to calm down a little
|The {{w|Cambrian explosion}} was a sudden radiation of complex life forms when nearly all important animal phyla, or precursors to them, appeared.
|-
|{{w|Ordovician}}
|487-443
|Earth might have had rings
|Scary volcanic eruption in North America
|Due to the non-random location of impact of one type of meteorite, {{w|Rings_of_Earth|it is proposed}} that those have formed a planetary ring system around Earth before colliding with it.
|-
|{{w|Silurian}}
|443-420
|First land animals
|Earth's newfound mold problem
|
|-
|{{w|Devonian}}
|420-359
|Big mountains in Boston
|Yeah, sure, what those giant killer fish needed was armor
|
|-
|{{w|Carboniferous}}
|359-299
|Cool forests
|Bugs too big
|The {{w|Carboniferous#Terrestrial_invertebrates|'bugs' in this period}} included the largest-ever known land invertebrate, a {{w|Arthropleura|2.6-m (8.5-ft) millipede-like animal}}; the largest-ever known flying insect, resembling a {{w|Meganeura|dragonfly with a wingspan of ~75 cm (30 in)}}; and a {{w|Pulmonoscorpius|70 cm (2 ft 4 in) scorpion}}.
|-
|{{w|Permian}}
|299-252
|Pangea
|Google "The Great Dying"
|{{w|Pangaea}} was the most recent supercontinent containing nearly all of Earth's landmass. The Great Dying, more formally known as the {{w|Permian-Triassic extinction event}}, occurred at the end of the Permian and is the most severe of Earth's {{w|Extinction_event#The_"Big_Five"_mass_extinctions|'Big Five' mass extinction events}}. In it, 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species were wiped out.
|-
|{{w|Triassic}}
|252-201
|Tanystropheus
|Damage to Canada still visible from space at Manicouagan
|{{w|Tanystropheus}} was a basal archosaur (not a dinosaur) with a proportionally long neck. {{w|Manicouagan Reservoir}} is a ring-shaped lake, the remains of the crater caused by a 5-km (3-mi) asteroid hitting {{w|Quebec}}.
|-
|{{w|Jurassic}}
|201-143
|Birds
|Parasitoid wasps
|Birds are cool{{Citation needed}}. Parasitoid wasps are not; their reproduction cycle is such a grisly process that it caused a {{w|Ichneumonidae#Darwin_and_the_Ichneumonidae|crisis of faith}} among 19th-century European scholars.
|-
|{{w|Cretaceous}}
|143-66
|Raptors
|Raptors
|[[:Category:Velociraptors|Raptors]]
|-
|{{w|Paleogene}}
|66-23
|Pretty horseys!!!
|Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum
|The {{w|Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum}} was a time where the global average temperature rose by around 5-8 °C in a relatively short period of time.
|-
|{{w|Neogene}}
|23-2.6
|Forests of Dracaena dragonblood trees
|Zanclean flood
|Dracaena draco and Dracaena cinnabari trees are a source of dragon's blood, a naturally occurring bright red resin with uses including as a varnish and a dye.
|The {{w|Zanclean flood}} is theorized to be the flood that refilled the Mediterranean Sea.
|-
|{{w|Quaternary}}
|2.6-present
|Burrito invented
|Whoever picked the name for the third period of the Cenozoic
|Randall jokes that, in the last 2.6 million years, his favorite moment was the invention of the {{w|burrito}}, rather than many other, much more significant discoveries. The precise origin of the burrito is not known, but the {{w|Maya civilization}} used to make food resembling burritos as early as 1500 BC.
The third period of the {{w|Cenozoic}} Era is the Quaternary era, named by Jules Desnoyers in 1829. This naming is controversial; the {{w|International Commission on Stratigraphy}} is proposing to abolish it.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

3120: Geologic Periods

2025-07-26T14:51:27Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3120
| date = July 25, 2025
| title = Geologic Periods
| image = geologic_periods_2x.png
| imagesize = 611x557px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Geologists claim it's because the earlier Cenozoic used to be called the Tertiary, but that's just a ruse to hide the secret third geologic period, between the Neogene and the Quaternary, that they won't tell us about.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a Cretaceous raptor. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{| class="wikitable"
!Period
!Dates (millions of years ago)
!My Favorite Part
!My Biggest Complaint
!Explanation
|-
|Precambrian
|4500-539
|Life develops
|Snowball Earth episodes
|The {{w|Precambrian}} (italicized in the comic since it's not a {{w|Period (geology)|geologic period}}) is the first 88% of Earth's history, including the time 4.1 to 3.4 billion years ago when life on Earth began. The {{w|Snowball Earth}} hypothesis says that during some time spans in the past, Earth became nearly or entirely frozen, with no liquid water on the surface. It's related to the idea of the {{w|Greenhouse_and_icehouse_Earth#Icehouse_Earth|icehouse Earth}}, times when the planet fluctuates between glacial and interglacial periods (such as now).
|-
|{{w|Cambrian}}
|539-487
|Trilobites!
|Evolution could stand to calm down a little
|The {{w|Cambrian explosion}} was a sudden radiation of complex life forms when nearly all important animal phyla, or precursors to them, appeared.
|-
|{{w|Ordovician}}
|487-443
|Earth might have had rings
|Scary volcanic eruption in North America
|Due to the non-random location of impact of one type of meteorite, {{w|Rings_of_Earth|it is proposed}} that those have formed a planetary ring system around Earth before colliding with it.
|-
|{{w|Silurian}}
|443-420
|First land animals
|Earth's newfound mold problem
|
|-
|{{w|Devonian}}
|420-359
|Big mountains in Boston
|Yeah, sure, what those giant killer fish needed was armor
|
|-
|{{w|Carboniferous}}
|359-299
|Cool forests
|Bugs too big
|The {{w|Carboniferous#Terrestrial_invertebrates|'bugs' in this period}} included the largest-ever known land invertebrate, a {{w|Arthropleura|2.6-m (8.5-ft) millipede-like animal}}; the largest-ever known flying insect, resembling a {{w|Meganeura|dragonfly with a wingspan of ~75 cm (30 in)}}; and a {{w|Pulmonoscorpius|70 cm (2 ft 4 in) scorpion}}.
|-
|{{w|Permian}}
|299-252
|Pangea
|Google "The Great Dying"
|{{w|Pangaea}} was the most recent supercontinent containing nearly all of Earth's landmass. The Great Dying, more formally known as the {{w|Permian-Triassic extinction event}}, occurred at the end of the Permian and is the most severe of Earth's {{w|Extinction_event#The_"Big_Five"_mass_extinctions|'Big Five' mass extinction events}}. In it, 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species were wiped out.
|-
|{{w|Triassic}}
|252-201
|Tanystropheus
|Damage to Canada still visible from space at Manicouagan
|{{w|Tanystropheus}} was a basal archosaur (not a dinosaur) with a proportionally long neck. {{w|Manicouagan Reservoir}} is a ring-shaped lake, the remains of the crater caused by a 5-km (3-mi) asteroid hitting {{w|Quebec}}.
|-
|{{w|Jurassic}}
|201-143
|Birds
|Parasitoid wasps
|Birds are cool{{Citation needed}}. Parasitoid wasps are not; their reproduction cycle is such a grisly process that it caused a {{w|Ichneumonidae#Darwin_and_the_Ichneumonidae|crisis of faith}} among 19th-century European scholars.
|-
|{{w|Cretaceous}}
|143-66
|Raptors
|Raptors
|[[:Category:Velociraptors|Raptors]]
|-
|{{w|Paleogene}}
|66-23
|Pretty horseys!!!
|Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum
|The {{w|Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum}} was a time where the global average temperature rose by around 5-8 °C in a relatively short period of time.
|-
|{{w|Neogene}}
|23-2.6
|Forests of Dracaena dragonblood trees
|Zanclean flood
|The {{w|Zanclean flood}} is theorized to be the flood that refilled the Mediterranean Sea.
|-
|{{w|Quaternary}}
|2.6-present
|Burrito invented
|Whoever picked the name for the third period of the Cenozoic
|Randall jokes that, in the last 2.6 million years, his favorite moment was the invention of the {{w|burrito}}, rather than many other, much more significant discoveries. The precise origin of the burrito is not known, but the {{w|Maya civilization}} used to make food resembling burritos as early as 1500 BC.
The third period of the {{w|Cenozoic}} Era is the Quaternary era, named by Jules Desnoyers in 1829. This naming is controversial; the {{w|International Commission on Stratigraphy}} is proposing to abolish it.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Velociraptors]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]

Talk:3118: iNaturalist Animals and Plants

2025-07-21T20:06:56Z

174.53.211.85:

we probably need to add something about how bacteria are more common but not observable to the average person [[Special:Contributions/72.203.83.113|72.203.83.113]] 16:36, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
:Why? Bacteria are not animals or plants. [[Special:Contributions/2600:387:4:803:0:0:0:2C|2600:387:4:803:0:0:0:2C]] 17:45, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

Why are some states missing their postal code? IA, FL, AK, HI don't have them.
[[User:Nolanmeyer|Nolanmeyer]] ([[User talk:Nolanmeyer|talk]]) 18:27, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

I am curious which animal and which plant are mentioned for the most states? [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 18:43, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
:Common Eastern Bumble Bee with 7 states [CT, IL, MD, MA, MN, VT, WI] and Common Milkweed with 6 states [IL, IA, MI, MN, NE, WI][[User:Nolanmeyer|Nolanmeyer]] ([[User talk:Nolanmeyer|talk]]) 18:53, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
:White-tailed Deer also has 7 states [IO, MI, MT, NH, PA, VI, WV] [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 19:16, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
:You're right! My python script missed Iowa because of a capitalization error in the transcription. [[User:Nolanmeyer|Nolanmeyer]] ([[User talk:Nolanmeyer|talk]]) 19:32, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

Is there a hidden joke in this one that needs explaining, or is it simply an interesting data map? [[Special:Contributions/37.19.197.233|37.19.197.233]]

Big question: what does "most-observed" mean? Most reported? Most likely for a resident to see? Most likely for a resident to pay attention to? -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 19:38, 21 July 2025 (UTC)
:The comic already answers that question: "Not the most common species in the state, just the one people have reported the most times." [[Special:Contributions/174.53.211.85|174.53.211.85]] 20:06, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

3118: iNaturalist Animals and Plants

2025-07-21T20:03:39Z

174.53.211.85:

{{comic
| number = 3118
| date = July 21, 2025
| title = iNaturalist Animals and Plants
| image = inaturalist_animals_and_plants_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x508px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Washington, DC: Eastern gray squirrel, Amur honeysuckle. Puerto Rico: Crested anole, sea grape. US as a whole: Mallard, eastern poison ivy.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created AS IT WAS MOST REPORTED, NOT AS IT MOST COMMONLY OCCURS. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic shows a map of the United States with the name of the most commonly-reported animal and plant on {{w|iNaturalist}} listed. As the comic notes, these are not the most most-encountered species, just the most reported on iNaturalist. iNaturalist is a citizen science social network, sharing observations of biodiversity. Many people believe a region's "national animal" and "national flower" to be one that can be found in abundance in that region.{{Actual citation needed}} In some cases the species most reported are an invasive species causing concern, for example great mullein and Amur honeysuckle.

For some states, the names are listed with a connector. The District of Columbia is too small to clearly print such information on the state itself, and in an awkward location for a connector; its listing is given in the title text, along with those for Puerto Rico (an unincorporated U.S. territory not normally shown on such maps) and for the U.S. as a whole.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
[The comic shows a map of the United States with state borders (including Hawaii and Alaska inset in the lower left)].
 
[Above the map]:The Most-Observed Animal and Plant in Each State on iNaturalist
 
[Below that, in parentheses]: Not the most common species in the state, just the one people have reported the most times.
 
[Each state has text of the format "Animal" on top and "Plant" below. For RI, VT, NH, MA, CT, NJ, DE, and MD, the text is outside the state border with a line connecting them.]
 
[In alphabetical order, the states have the following Animal/Plant text]:
 
Alabama: Gulf Fritillary; American Sweetgum 
Alaska: Moose; Fireweed 
Arizona: Ornate Tree Lizard; Saguaro 
Arkansas: Three-toed Box Turtle; Chinese Privet 
California: Western Fence Lizard; California Poppy 
Colorado: Mule Deer; Great Mullein 
Connecticut: Common Eastern Bumble Bee; Striped Wintergreen 
Delaware: Fowler's Toad; American Pokeweed. 
Florida: Brown Anole; White Beggar-ticks 
Georgia: Green Anole; American Sweetgum 
Hawaii: Green Sea Turtle; ʻŌhiʻa Lehua 
Idaho: Mallard; Big Sagebrush 
Illinois: Common Eastern Bumble Bee; Common Milkweed 
Indiana: American Robin; Amur Honeysuckle 
Iowa: White-tailed Deer; Common Milkweed 
Kansas: Ornate Box Turtle; Amur Honeysuckle 
Kentucky: Common Box Turtle; Amur Honeysuckle 
Louisiana: Green Anole; Bald Cypress 
Maine: American Herring Gull; Canadian Bunchberry 
Maryland: Common Eastern Bumble Bee; Eastern White Pine 
Massachusetts: Common Eastern Bumble Bee; Eastern White Pine 
Michigan: White-tailed Deer; Common Milkweed 
Minnesota: Common Eastern Bumble Bee, Common Milkweed 
Mississippi: Northern Cardinal; Pale Pitcher Plant 
Missouri: Brown-belted Bumble Bee; Amur Honeysuckle 
Montana: White-tailed Deer; Common Yarrow 
Nebraska: American Robin; Common Milkweed 
Nevada: Common Side-blotched Lizard; Creosote Bush 
New Hampshire: White-tailed Deer; Eastern White Pine 
New Jersey: Spotted Lanternfly; Common Mugwort 
New Mexico: Mule Deer; Creosote Bush 
New York: Eastern Gray Squirrel; White Snakeroot 
North Carolina: Eastern Gray Squirrel; Christmas Fern 
North Dakota: American Bison; Prairie Rose 
Ohio: Eastern Pondhawk; Virginia Springbeauty 
Oklahoma: Pond Slider; Eastern Redcedar 
Oregon: Mule Deer; Western Ponderosa Pine 
Pennsylvania: White-tailed Deer; Garlic Mustard 
Rhode Island: American Herring Gull; Rugosa Rose 
South Carolina: Northern Cardinal; American Sweetgum 
South Dakota: American Bison; Hoary Vervain 
Tennessee: American Robin; Christmas Fern 
Texas: Northern Cardinal; Pinkladies 
Utah: Mule Deer; Utah Juniper 
Vermont: Common Eastern Bumble Bee; Eastern White Pine 
Virginia: White-tailed Deer; Eastern Poison Ivy 
Washington: Mallard; Western Sword Fern 
West Virginia: White-tailed Deer; Great Rhododendron 
Wisconsin: Common Eastern Bumble Bee; Common Milkweed 
Wyoming: American Bison; Sticky Geranium 

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Biology]]

Talk:3117: Replication Crisis

2025-07-19T16:09:12Z

174.53.211.85:

I believe the current explanation is a bit missing the point. It's supposed to mean that the authors shown in the comic failed to reproduce the result of the papers claiming that there are replication crisis, and therefore the original claim that there is a replication crisis going on is unfounded (since the papers claiming it cannot be replicated), and comically the headline in the last panel takes this to the next level by saying that this means there was no replication crisis to begin with.

[[User:Justhalf|Justhalf]] ([[User talk:Justhalf|talk]]) 00:57, 19 July 2025 (UTC)

: I favor the current explanation's interpretation. "Today's studies", I think, refers to 2025 primary research papers across fields of science, and the team finds issues with their reproducibility similar to those found with 2015 primary research papers. I argue that the headline appropriate for "falsifying the replication crisis" would be REPLICATION CRISIS DEBUNKED, not CRISIS SOLVED; the latter tacitly accepts the finding of a replication crisis. I argue further that the demons responsible for the replication crisis are legion, and include the sheer mass and rapid worldwide growth of 'the literature', the 'publish or perish' demands of employers and funders especially given the inadequate money and time granted by funders (before the currently unfolding catastrophe), the rules of (usually volunteer) print-journal editors desperate to save money and space, the collapse under multiple pressures of peer review, the devolution of most actual work to the least paid and least experienced, the disastrous consequences of replacing integrity with propaganda ("don't be such a scientist"), yada. Issues that won't be addressed by publication of null results (oh goody, yet another predatory for-profit journal opportunity!) or annoying results, even if that idea does stimulate a wry chuckle on first reading. Once upon a time, there was a {{w|Journal_of_Irreproducible_Results|Journal of Irreproducible Results}}. "So what {{w|Annals_of_Improbable_Research|happened to it?}}" "That's what they all are now." [[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:160:DB08:C1B3:77CD:F0E3:3391|2605:59C8:160:DB08:C1B3:77CD:F0E3:3391]] 02:59, 19 July 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3117: Replication Crisis

2025-07-19T16:07:49Z

174.53.211.85:

3115: Unsolved Physics Problems

2025-07-15T19:31:17Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3115
| date = July 14, 2025
| title = Unsolved Physics Problems
| image = unsolved_physics_problems_2x.png
| imagesize = 699x422px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 'Tin pest' makes more sense to me. Tin just doesn't want to be locked down in a shape like that. I get it. But why would any metal want to grow hair??
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by A CURSED METAL FIGURE OF HAIRY. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic is a sequel to comic [[2529: Unsolved Math Problems]], which follows the same format.

{{w|Quantum gravity}} is the problem of determining how {{w|gravity}} interacts with {{w|Quantum_mechanics|quantum physics}}. There are {{w|General_relativity#Relationship_with_quantum_theory|contradictions}} between the two theories, as currently understood. Gravity is well characterized at large scales and is described well by {{w|General_relativity|relativity theory}}, while quantum physics is easiest to observe at very small scales. This makes it hard to conduct an experiment that includes both phenomena. This has led to a wide range of unifying theories which are difficult to experimentally confirm or refute.

The second phenomenon, the {{w|Soviet%E2%80%93American_Gallium_Experiment#Gallium_anomaly|Gallium Anomaly}}, is an example of a precise experiment to understand a specific phenomenon. The difference between the expectation and reality is small, but significant, and indicates our models of physics are inaccurate.

The third problem concerns {{w|Whisker_(metallurgy)|zinc whiskers}} — a phenomenon that, at first, sounds extremely strange, in which a piece of metal (in this case zinc) can 'grow' hair-like filaments on its surface. Hair is usually thought of as an organic structure, and spontaneous change in a block of metal is not a problem most people would expect. Thus [[Randall]] considers this phenomenon [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Comics_with_cursed_items cursed]. Metal whiskers can cause problems in a lot of electronics, where metal hairs create unwanted electrical connections, or act as antennae. It is hard to see how the other two problems affect most people. Since electronics are ubiquitous, the prevention of metal whiskers is a challenge that affects us widely. Lead has been widely used as an additive to solder for whisker prevention, however lead is toxic.

The title text mentions {{w|tin pest}} — a transformation which causes deterioration of moldable white tin into brittle powdery grey tin in cold weather. Randall considers this an understandable rebellion of the tin against being forced into shapes that we want it to take, whereas he cannot understand the motivation of zinc to grow hair. In reality, metallic elements do not have motivations and intentions.{{cn}}

All of these are real phenomena.

==Transcript==

{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
: The Three Types of Unsolved Physics Problem

: Vague
: [A Feynman diagram of two particles interacting via the electromagnetic force is to the right of Cueball. The diagram is drawn on a curved surface]
: Cueball: What is the nature of time in quantum gravity? Is it a background parameter, a dynamic aspect of spacetime, or an emergent phenomenon?

: Precise
: [A scientific instrument and a nuclear reaction equation of gallium-71 becoming germanium-71 are to Megan's left. The equation says: 71Ga + νe → 71Ge + e- .]
: Megan: Why does the ''S.A.G.E.'' Gallium Neutrino Capture Experiment produce only 75% as much germanium as predicted?

: Cursed
: [A rectangular block of zinc, with whiskers growing out of it, is visible to the right of White Hat]
: White Hat: Why does some metal randomly grow hairs?
: White Hat: It keeps causing short circuits and we have no idea what's going on.
: Voice from off-panel: Is this a joke?
: White Hat: No! Please help!

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with cursed items]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]

3108: Laser Danger

2025-06-29T14:06:27Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3108
| date = June 27, 2025
| title = Laser Danger
| image = laser_danger_2x.png
| imagesize = 684x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = To combat the threat, many airlines are installing wing-mounted spray bottles.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created TO DISTRACT A GIANT KITTEN. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Shining a laser at a plane is a federal crime in the United States, and similarly proscribed in many other locations. A sufficiently powerful laser can disorient, distract and/or blind the pilot operating the aircraft. This can prove particularly dangerous to the safety of the aircraft and its occupants during takeoff and landing, when planes are likely to have altitudes and orientations particularly susceptible to laser interference, and are phases that are already hazardous periods of flight. This 'use' of lasers was previously discussed in [[3030: Lasering Incidents]].

Megan humorously claims that there's another reason why lasering a plane is illegal: to avoid provoking cats into leaping at them. Cats are known to [[729: Laser Pointer|chase and jump onto]] the dots created by laser pointers. Cats also prey on birds, with estimates of 1.3 to 3.7 billion birds killed each year. Of course, a cat would be unable to jump to the height of a flying plane{{Citation needed}}. If the cat were able to reach the plane, it would find itself hilariously outsized, though colliding with the plane midair could cause damage akin to a bird strike (e.g. shattered windshield or engine failure).

The title text alludes to the fact that cats do not like getting wet, and one of the methods people use to discourage cats from a place or activity that is unwanted is to use spray bottles to wet their fur. The spray bottle might also emit a hissing sound, which cats associate with other cats threatening them. The "wing mounted spray bottles" on aircraft could be a reference to fuel dump tubes, which spray out fuel to lighten the aircraft, commonly used before emergency landings (especially soon after take-off, when a nearly full load of fuel is now more trouble than it should have been). To combat against actual physical threats to aircraft in real life, El Al (The Israeli national airline) and government aircraft {{w|Air Force One|used by heads of state}} often have various {{w|Flare (countermeasure)|countermeasures}} installed.

==Transcript==
: Megan: Shining laser pointers at planes is a federal crime. It's incredibly dangerous.
: Cueball: Oh, because it can blind the pilot?
: Megan: That's one reason...

: [A plane is shown, with a green laser pointer aimed at it.]

: [The laser disappears. A cat, approximately the same size as the plane, pounces on the plane and sends it tumbling.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Aviation]]
[[Category:Cats]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]

3107: Weather Balloons

2025-06-27T11:31:27Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3107
| date = June 25, 2025
| title = Weather Balloons
| image = weather_balloons_2x.png
| imagesize = 547x351px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Once you add the balloons into the model, it makes forecasting easier overall--the forecast is always 'cold and dark, with minimal solar-driven convection.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a METEOROLOGIST BOT WITH A FEAR OF PRE-COPULATORY SEXUAL CANNIBALISM. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
A {{w|weather balloon}} is a balloon that carries meteorological instruments into the high atmosphere and sends readings back to scientists, who use the information to make weather and climate predictions. Typically it will rise up until the difference between the pressure inside the balloon and that outside gets too great, and the membrane breaks. This is why the graph plots the number of balloons launched each day, rather than overall, since all balloons launched on one day would be gone from the sky the next day (the fragments of balloon falling back down).

The chart in the comic claims that weather forecasting accuracy correlates with the number of weather balloons launched each day, with accuracy increasing fast at first, with diminishing returns as the number of launches increases. However, it forecasts that if the rate of balloon launches is sufficiently high, it could provide so many balloons that they actually impact the weather by blocking out sunlight. If the balloons are not included in the weather model, the accuracy of the model based on the readings provided by the many balloons decreases. This starts to happen somewhere between 100 billion to 1 trillion weather balloons being launched each day. The accuracy of the model drops completely towards zero for around 10 trillion launched each day, where it even falls below the accuracy for just a single balloon (which may or may not be augmented by non-balloon information) at the start of the graph.

While there's correlation between number of weather balloon launches and weather model accuracy, they're not the only factor. Ground stations have been collecting and collating useful surface data for centuries. Scientific understanding of the physical processes in the atmosphere has also improved, only in part due to balloons, and the speed of computers used in analyses and simulations has increased by many orders of magnitude. The existence of weather and geophysical satellites also significantly improves forecasts, as they can continuously gain information about clouds and temperatures over huge areas, while weather balloons only capture information as they rise through a single air-column for a limited duration.

The surface area of the Earth is around 510 {{w|Trillion|(short-scale) trillion}} square metres, and a typical weather balloon (whilst smaller at launch) will expand to approximately 6 m diameter at altitude; this covers an area slightly under 30m², within a just marginally larger 'air surface area' at height. This makes it entirely possible for not far from 18 trillion standard weather balloons to potentially blanket the whole Earth; or even fewer, given the current availability of larger models each reaching more than twice the width, or four times the coverage of area. This isn't far off the implications given by the graph. On the other hand, because of the inherent translucency of the balloon material, the tendency to jostle vertically (the illustration implying that it's not just a single layer of close-packed balloons) and the need to synchronize launches and ascents to try to form any optimal single layer in one go might make it difficult to accomplish without a slightly greater magnitude of launches. (Or perhaps roughly doubling up the effect by only ever bothering to launch at local times that concentrate the coverage across the whole sunlit hemisphere at any given time.)

The joke in the title text is that when there are so many balloons that sunlight is entirely blocked, weather will always be the same: "cold and dark", so we won't need complex models to forecast it. Also, when there is not heating of the Earth's surface the solar driven convection that drives storms and weather patterns would stop. Of course, humans and most life of Earth would start to die out. However, assuming that the balloons are being launched by humans, the number of them that it would be possible to launch would fall as the population and social structures began to collapse, mitigating the impact on the weather. The pollution from the trillions of balloons would last for longer, but not prevent the sun from reaching the Earth's surface.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[A graph is shown. The X axis is labeled Number of Weather Balloon Launches Per Day. It's logarithmic, with ticks in powers of 10, and values shown at 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 1 million, 1 billion, and 1 trillion. The Y axis is labeled Weather Model Accuracy, no values are shown. The plot starts above the mark for 1 balloon, at about 40% of the maximum value of the curve, it quickly rises through a point labelled "Current Rate", at about 4000 launches per day and 85% of the maximum. The maximum value is reached at 100 million, plateaus until 10 billion, and then reduces even more rapidly down to perhaps 15% maximum accuracy above the 10 trillion mark.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Weather]]

3107: Weather Balloons

2025-06-27T01:52:41Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3107
| date = June 25, 2025
| title = Weather Balloons
| image = weather_balloons_2x.png
| imagesize = 547x351px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Once you add the balloons into the model, it makes forecasting easier overall--the forecast is always 'cold and dark, with minimal solar-driven convection.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a METEOROLOGIST BOT WITH A FEAR OF PRE-COPULATORY SEXUAL CANNIBALISM. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
A {{w|weather balloon}} is a balloon that carries meteorological instruments into the high atmosphere and sends readings back to scientists, who use the information to make weather and climate predictions. Typically it will rise up until the membrane breaks from too much pressure inside the balloon as outside in the top of the atmosphere. This is why the graph states that it is the number of balloons launches each day; because, if they were only launched on one day, they would all be gone from the sky the next day (the fragments of balloon falling back down).

The diagram in the comic claims that weather forecasting accuracy correlates with the number of weather balloons launched each day. But it forecasts that if the rate of balloon launches is sufficiently high, it could provide so many balloons that they actually impact the weather due to blocking out sunlight. So, if the balloons are not included into the weather model, the accuracy of the model based on the readings provided by the many balloons decreases. This starts to happen somewhere between 100 billion to 1 trillion weather balloons being launched each day. The accuracy of the model drops completely towards zero for around 10 trillion launched each day, where it even falls below the accuracy for just a single balloon (which may or may not be augmented by non-balloon information) at the start of the graph.

While there's correlation between number of weather balloon launches and weather model accuracy, they're not the only cause. Ground stations have been collectingband collating useful surface data for centuries. Scientific understanding of the physical processes in the atmosphere has also improved, only in part due to balloons, and the speed of computers used in analyses and simulations has increased by many orders of magnitude. The existence of weather and geophysical satellites also significantly improves forecasts, as they can continuously gain information about clouds and temperatures over huge areas, while weather balloons only capture information as they rise through a single air-column for a limited duration.

The surface area of the Earth is around 510 {{w|Trillion|(short-scale) trillion}} square metres, and a typical weather balloon (whilst smaller at launch) will expand to approximately 6 m diameter at altitude; this covers an area slightly under 30m², within a just marginally larger 'air surface area' at height. This makes it entirely possible for not far from 18 trillion standard weather balloons to potentially blanket the whole Earth; or even fewer, given the current availability of larger models each reaching more than twice the width, or four times the coverage of area. This isn't far off the implications given by the graph. On the other hand, because of the inherent translucency of the balloon material, the tendency to jostle vertically (the illustration implying that it's not just a single layer of close-packed balloons) and the need to synchronize launches and ascents to try to form any optimal single layer in one go might make it difficult to accomplish without a slightly greater magnitude of launches. (Or perhaps roughly doubling up the effect by only ever bothering to launch at local times that concentrate the coverage across the whole sunlit hemisphere at any given time.)

The joke in the title text is that when there are so many balloons that sunlight is entirely blocked, weather will always be the same: "cold and dark". So we won't need complex models to forecast it. Also when there is not heating of the Earths surface the solar driven convection that drives storms and weather patterns would stop. Of course humans and most life of Earth would die out. However, if it is humans who launches 20 trillions balloons each day, that will soon stop, and the weather would return to fairly normal once the balloons are gone in a days time after the last major launch. Of course the pollution from the trillions of balloons would last for longer, but not prevent the sun from reaching the Earths surface.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[A graph is shown. The X axis is labeled Number of Weather Balloon Launches Per Day. It's logarithmic, with ticks in powers of 10, and values shown at 1, 10, 100, 1,000, 1 million, 1 billion, and 1 trillion. The Y axis is labeled Weather Model Accuracy, no values are shown. The plot starts above the mark for 1 balloon, at about 40% of the maximum value of the curve, it quickly rises through a point labelled "Current Rate", at about 4000 launches per day and 85% of the maximum. The maximum value is reached at 100 million, plateaus until 10 billion, and then reduces even more rapidly down to perhaps 15% maximum accuracy above the 10 trillion mark.]

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Weather]]

3105: Interoperability

2025-06-22T15:34:06Z

174.53.211.85: Undo revision 380176 by FaviFake (talk) - the comic clearly mentions subways in panel 2

{{comic
| number = 3105
| date = June 20, 2025
| title = Interoperability
| image = interoperability_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x269px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're getting a lot of complaints from commuters who were routed onto a coaster, but the theme park patrons who spent hours stuck on an intercity line are also not happy.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a LOST ROLLER COASTER RIDER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[[Black Hat]] gives a presentation regarding the existence of two standards: rail systems predominantly use the {{w|Standard-gauge railway|standard gauge}} of 143.5cm (or the virtually identical 4 ft 8½ in, in the US), and associated {{w|Rapid transit|subway systems}} and their cars are built to match this standard. Meanwhile 'many' {{w|roller coaster}} tracks, and their cars, are said to use a 110cm gauge. The two standards are not compatible, without {{w|Dual gauge|some additional engineering}}; subway cars could not travel on roller coaster tracks, and vice versa, even assuming you solved {{w|List of steepest gradients on adhesion railways|other issues}}.

However, Black Hat has professed to make changes to roller coasters such that they now conform to the subway standard (i.e. 143.5cm gauge). This seemingly is Phase One of a plan, and while no details of Phase Two are forthcoming, it may superficially allow subway cars to ride on roller coaster tracks ''and/or'' roller coaster cars to ride through subway systems, apparently in the name of {{w|interoperability}} and compatibility. This would have the advantage of letting many more people ride a roller coaster at the same time and granting subways easier access to additional {{w|rolling stock}}. However, the lack of interoperability in this case is by design, since if a railroad and a roller coaster track were ever to be accidentally connected, cars routed to the other system would simply derail.

[[Cueball]] and [[Hairbun]] are the apparently unwitting audience to Black Hat's presentation, and one of them (from off-panel) objects by stating that interoperability isn't ''necessarily'' a good thing, recognising where the plan is heading. Black Hat suggests that it would be fine as long as passengers of such interoperable systems listened to the destination announcement, indicating that he does indeed plan to connect the two which may lead to various unexpected surprises.

The title text confirms that ''both'' reapplications of railcars are being used: There are commuters who find themselves traveling upon a coaster, who may not reach their intended destination or suffer unexpected {{w|g-force}}, and there are roller coaster riders who find themselves traveling down a subway line, a much longer and more boring ride. Furthermore, those expecting to experience a theme park ride were probably ''expecting'' exciting g-forces, and also to shortly return to no more than a short walk away from where they initially boarded, but find themselves outside the theme park, spending hours on an intercity line. Also, a subway line would also not usually be expected to travel between cities, but at least the interoperability of subway rail and wider rail systems ''might'' be expected, so long as the {{w|Third rail|appropriate infrastructure}} and track links can be made compatible. The roller coaster cars may also {{w|Physics of roller coasters#Energy|come to a stop}} if the cars aren't self-propelled), which may lead to the patrons being unable to leave the cars safely and will lead to the blockage of the route.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
: [A close-up shot of Black Hat from the shoulders up]
: Black Hat: Compatibility and interoperability are so important.

: [A zoom out reveals that Black Hat is standing in front of and pointing at a diagram showing a commuter subway car and a roller coaster car, and the tracks they both run on. Standing next to him are Cueball and Hairbun]
: Black Hat: For example, most subway rails are 143.5 cm apart. But many roller coasters use a narrower 110 cm gauge.

: [This panel shows only Black Hat]
: Black Hat: For the last few years, our company has been quietly retrofitting roller coasters to use 143.5 cm tracks.

: [Black Hat now has his fists raised]
: Black Hat: Soon, we can begin phase 2.
: Voice from off-panel: Maybe interoperability is actually bad.
: Black Hat: If you listen to the destination announcement while boarding, you'll be fine.
{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category: Comics featuring Hairbun]]

3103: Exoplanet System

2025-06-17T02:27:09Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3103
| date = June 16, 2025
| title = Exoplanet System
| image = exoplanet_system_2x.png
| imagesize = 623x447px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Sure, this exoplanet we discovered may seem hostile to life, but our calculations suggest it's actually in the accretion disc's habitable zone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Explanations for the planets are missing. [[explain xkcd:Editor FAQ#table|Do NOT create a table]], unless it is impossible to convey that information without it.}}
{{w|Exoplanet}}s are planets outside the Solar System. Astronomers are constantly on the look for planets that have Earth-like conditions, especially Earth-like planets that might support life. Unfortunately for many hopefuls, the conditions that made Earth suitable for life are believed to be extremely rare. Randall draws a hypothetical star system containing many exoplanets that describe (in an exaggerated fashion) the many frustrations astronomers face when analyzing planets and getting their hopes up only to discover the planets they found are sadly nothing like Earth.

Here are the explanations for each planet, in order of how far they are from the star:

# '''Giant planet orbiting so close that it's actually rolling on the star's surface'''
#: Giant planets are often gravitationally pulled close to their star. Here, the planet is literally touching the star, which, given both bodies' gaseous makeup, should cause them to merge.
# '''Hot Jupiter'''
#: A {{w|Hot Jupiter}} is typical terminology used in analyzing exoplanets, generally depicting a gas giant (of a size similar to our Jupiter or Saturn) which orbits in a much closer/hotter orbit than our own. Hot Jupiters are easier to detect than many other types of exoplanets, due to their gravitational effect on their stars.
# '''Planet that may actually be in the habitable zone, according to a very optimistic modeling paper by some desperate postdocs'''
#: The habitable zone of a star is the range at which water is liquid. Notably, planets in the habitable zone are seen as options for colonization by humanity, which would mean greater funding for research. As such, researchers will go to great lengths to determine as many habitable planets as they can.
# '''There's a pulsar here but it's probably fine'''
#: A pulsar is a neutron star, emitting beams of radiation while spinning very fast. Contrary to the label, presence of a neutron star in the system is probably not fine, since a second star would be source of gravitational instability, a lot of extra heat, and the beams of radiation pose substantial danger to the planets, rendering their surface uninhabitable. It also means, that this system is technically a binary star
# '''A waterworld paradise with beautiful oceans and warm— wait, no, we just got new measurements, it's a hellish steam oven'''
#:In any scientific field, new information may turn previously-established knowledge on its head. Exoplanet research is no different, and a planet which at first seems to be habitable might turn out to be incredibly deadly.
# '''Planet that could be habitable, if there's a form of life that hates water but loves acid and being on fire'''
#: Possibly to a reference to [https://what-if.xkcd.com/30/ What-If #30], in which Randall points out that the atmosphere on Venus is pretty survivable at 55km, except for the sulfuric acid, and way too hot at the surface.
# '''Mini Neptune'''
#: "Jupiter" and "Neptune" are rough size/mass categories for gas giants with a mass similar to Jupiter versus Neptune/Uranus. A mini Neptune would be smaller than Neptune, possibly small enough not to be a gas giant at all.
# '''Lukewarm Jupiter'''
#: A humorous extrapolation of Hot Jupiters, assuming that there are other named types of Jupiters.
# '''Planet whose atmosphere is confirmed to contain atoms'''
#: With interstellar distances, it is inevitable that some planets will be hard to get a read on. Here the astronomers can only confirm the planet has an atmosphere, not what it is made of or how thick it is.
# '''Earthlike data artifact'''
# '''Cold Jupiter'''
# '''Potentially habitable void'''
# '''Hot Mars'''
#:Continuing the joke on Hot Jupiter. This assumes that if there's hot Jupiters, there must be a "hot" variant of every planet.
# '''Faint dust cloud that will cause several papers to be retracted'''
#: This could refer to either Fomalhaut b, aformer proposed exoplanet that turned out to be a dust cloud, or Tabby's Star, a star with odd irregular dimming pattern likely due to a dust cloud which was briefly thought by some to be an alien megastructure.{{acn}}
# '''Either a gas giant or a fist-sized rock, depending upon which calibration method you use'''
#:Even if a "fist-sized rock" were detectable around a distant star (it would be difficult to spot {{w|Russell's teapot|something of this size}} around ''our own'' star), this represents a considerable range of uncertainty between tens of thousands of kilometres and a few centimetres, being perhaps five orders of magnitude. This is not particularly accurate, even for a [[2205: Types of Approximation|cosmologist]].
# '''Mini Pluto'''
#:Pluto is already significantly smaller than most planets, thus its designation as a "dwarf planet". A "mini Pluto" suggests an exoplanet that shares most of Pluto's features, but is somehow ''even smaller''.
# '''Wet Saturn'''
#: May be a reference to the 'fact' that "Saturn would float in water" {{w|Saturn#Physical characteristics|due to its density}}. The difficulties of finding a practical way to test this out, notwithstanding, perhaps someone managed it with this planet.
# '''Planet whose surface may host conditions suitable for rocks'''
#: As with planet number 9, this planet is too difficult to get a read on, and the measurements are still so vague it's still unknown if this planet is a rocky planet or a gas/ice giant.
# '''Somehow this whole system is smaller than the orbit of Mercury?!'''
#: No planet, or anything other than an orbital path, shown. But apparently an indicator that all the rest of the given orbits (for Jupiter-likes, Mars-likes, dust clouds, etc, and even semi-inconvenient pulsars) exist within a solar system that is ''extremely'' compact.
; Title text
: The title text mentions a planet within an accretion disk, which means that the planet is in the orbit of a black hole and will bombarded with X-rays and stars orbiting at close range. Nevertheless, the researcher speaking assures that the planet is in the disk's habitable zone, implying it is a worthwhile option for colonization.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Astronomy]]

3102: Reading a Big Number

2025-06-15T15:29:33Z

174.53.211.85: /* Table of thoughts */

{{comic
| number = 3102
| date = June 13, 2025
| title = Reading a Big Number
| image = reading_a_big_number_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x438px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [desperately] Maybe this is from some country where they use commas as decimal points, and also as digit separators after the decimal, and also use random other characters for decoration???
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by An Accidentally Escaped Quotation Mark. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic expresses [[Randall]]'s reactions to reading {{w|large number}}s. It starts with normal digits and commas you would find in a large number, but gradually becomes more and more chaotic. It turns out that this is not a number at all, but some sort of printing error in whatever Randall is reading.

The very start of the comic is a bit absurd. In most cases, you can tell that a number like this is very large because of how long it is when written out; you wouldn't have to completely reinterpret it at the end of ''every'' group of digits. However, to tell exactly which "-illion" the number falls into, you would have to count the groups, and the scale of such a large number would grow less familiar as you try to keep track of how large it even is. Certain sizes of numbers tend to show up in specific contexts, like {{w|astronomy}}. So, rather than literally showing Randall's developing thoughts on the evidently massive size of this number, the comic also shows how he tends to interpret numbers at each possible "-illion" scale. See detailed explanation of Randall's thoughts in the [[#Table of thoughts|table]] below, wher the title text is also explained.

There are a few possible explanations for seeing a number like this appear in a software application. It may have appeared due to an out-of-bounds read operation where the computer tries to interpret unrelated data as text. Another possible explanation is misuse of the {{w|printf}} function in the {{w|C programming language}}. If strings passed to printf do not contain a {{w|null byte}} to terminate the string, it will go further into memory, again into unrelated data. Or the programmer might have several printf statements back to back, forgetting that printf doesn't add newlines (like the println function in other programming languages), so all their debug information gets printed on the same line. If the alternating grouping into 4 and 3 digits and the double quote are left aside, it is possible that the whole number is hexadecimal and even bigger than its size indicates at first.

==Table of thoughts==
{| class="wikitable"
! Number fragment !! Thought !! Explanation
|-
| 54 || 54! Great! I know that number. Solid start. || 54 is a number with some real-world familiarity for most people. It is small enough to appear on digital clocks, and has enough factors to be listed on standard multiplication tables as 6 × 9.

Randall pretending to reckon with the start of such a large number is probably meant to draw attention to the meaninglessness of doing so. Unless the exact value is somehow important, most readers wouldn't find much of a meaningful difference between "54 zillion" or "over 50 zillion", or even "zillions and zillions". In practice, the brain {{w|Approximate number system|can only approximate}} numbers this large; the {{w|Just-noticeable difference|threshold needed to tell the difference}} between the amounts that they represent is too high. Randall expresses a similar sentiment once he gets to the trillions and quadrillions.
|-
| ,000 (thousand) || Oh, a comma and some zeros. Cool. Must be at least 54 thousand. || Underselling how long the number is with the "at least a thousand", but is a fair thought from the POV of not being able to know how long the number is.
|-
| ,000 (million) || A second comma! I wonder if we're talking population or money. || Excitement from how large the number must be. {{w|Population}}s (like the number of people in a region) and large sums of money are both often measured in millions.
|-
| ,000 (billion) || Yikes! If this is money, it's a lot of money. || Three commas means a number in the billions. That's a lot of money for one person to have. Big decisions by large corporations, such as {{w|megamerger}}s, are often measured in billions of dollars in costs.
|-
| ,000,000 (quadrillion) || Why am I reading this? Whatever this number is, I'm not going to be able to visualize it. || Five commas is a number in the quadrillions. At this point the number is too big for human minds to comprehend.
|-
| ,000 (quintillion) || All right, either someone made a unit conversion error or this is one of those incomprehensible astronomy numbers. || Astronomy often deals with extremely large numbers due to the incredible scale of the universe. For example, the distance to the Andromeda galaxy in kilometers could be numbered in quintillions. Alternatively, the person calculating the number made a mistake. Regarding the unit conversion there has recently been a comic about such a thing in [[3065: Square Units]] and similar mistakes have been used in [[2585: Rounding]].
|-
| ,0000 (!?) || Oh no. Is this a misplaced comma or an extra zero? I guess we'll see if the next group has two zeros or three. If it's two, we can at least hope the digits are right. || Commas are placed every three digits in {{w|Decimal separator#Digit grouping|typical western usage}} (although not necessarily in various other {{w|Indian numbering system#Decimal formatting|cultures}}), so something is wrong. However, it might simply be that someone misplaced the comma to the right, meaning that this group has four digits and the next one would likely have two (the next comma in the 'correct' place). If the next group is three, then either the commas are now ''all'' misplaced or possibly someone/something just doubled up a zero by accident. A mistake of any kind makes one think that the number may not actually be accurate but, if the former, at least it might just be a relatively unimportant transposition.
|-
| ,0000 || Oh no. || A second group of four zeroes means it's not a typo. Something is seriously wrong. Note that some countries like [https://www.aceninja.sg/insights/2025/01/01/understanding-chinese-cultural-nuances-numerals China] or [https://www.kanpai-japan.com/learn-japanese/how-to-count-in-japanese Japan] (where 4-digit groupings are common) or [https://www.cuemath.com/numbers/indian-place-value-chart/ India] (which uses a unique 2- and 3-digit mixed system) may use non 3-digit groupings, but have their own rules for number groupings.
|-
| ,054 || What is happening. || Big numbers are normally rounded, so it's very strange to see a non-zero value this far down in the place values. Also, "54" matches the digits at the start of the number so it could indicate the number was copied incorrectly. The non-zero digits here imply that all of the digits so far, including the zeroes, are {{w|significant figures}}; the number is not only extremely large, but implausibly precise with at least 30 sig figs. By way of comparison, the diameter of the observable universe is about 4.4 × 1026 m, and if that measurement had 30 sig figs, it would be precise to about half a millimeter.
|-
| ,000"000 || Someone messed up real bad. || The arcsecond mark " (more properly written as a {{w|double prime}} symbol, ″) indicates that this number is an angle or a distance in inches. For an angle, even accounting for how small an arcsecond is (1/3600th of a degree), this angle would be a huge number of rotations. As for inches, it would represent a distance much larger than the observable universe, though it is uncommon to use customary units like inches in conjunction with large numbers.

Alternatively, this could be "to-the-11th-power" (…00011 000…), which would make the already extremely large number extremely ridiculously big.

This could also be a sign of bad copy-pasting, where the quotation mark " was accidentally copied along with the large number but not with a matching one. Or if this number was being printed from a computer program, the mark may be a sign that the closing quote around a computer string was accidentally {{w|Escape character|escaped}}, causing it to be interpreted as a literal written quote mark character to be included in the string, rather than a special symbol marking the end of the string.
|-
| ,00c2ef46 || Someone messed up real bad and I hope it wasn't me. || Numbers normally only use the digits 0–9. The presence of the letters c, e, and f suggests that this number is written in {{w|hexadecimal}}, or {{w|Radix|base}} 16, where going up one place represents multiplying by sixteen instead of ten. Instead of ten possible digits for each place, there need to be sixteen: after 9, you count A, B, C, D, E, F, before carrying over to 10. Hexadecimal is mostly used by computers, so Randall, as a programmer, might be worried that the hexadecimal appearing is his fault. Seeing a long string of unexpected characters may indicate a memory bug, such as a ''{{w|buffer overflow}}''. These bugs can lead to crashes, data corruption, and security vulnerabilities, which Randall would rather not be responsible for.

If not for the c and f, the letter e could also be read as {{w|E notation}}, a shorthand for {{w|scientific notation}} in many calculators and computer programs. There, "e" means "times ten {{w|to the power of}}", so …00e46 (= …00 × 1046) would add 46 more zeros to the value of the preceding number. However, usually the number would be {{w|Normalized number|normalized}} to have a single digit before a decimal part, changing any extra digits into a bigger {{w|Power of 10|exponent of ten}}, such as 5.4e84 (= 5.4 × 1084). The point of normalization is to make it easier to compare the magnitudes of very large and very small numbers, so that the reader doesn't need to count digits in the first place.
|-
| (title text) || [desperately] Maybe this is from some country where they use commas as decimal points, and also as digit separators after the decimal, and also use random other characters for decoration??? || In the United States, UK, India, China, Korea, Japan, and other countries, the dot is used to separate the integer part of a number from its fractional part. However, most of mainland Europe and South America uses the comma for this purpose. In some places, one may also see the period used to group digits. Since the final number is unreadable and potentially infinite, this implies that Randall has, naturally, made up an explanation instead of trying to figure out what was really happening.
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:[A large number is written along the middle of the panel. Above and below the number there are 10 labels, (5 above and 5 below), and from each label a small curved line points to a part of the number. There is a heading above the top labels:]
:<big>Thought process while reading a big number:</big>

:[The number is continuing off the edge of the comic to the right, the last digit is missing about a third:]
:'''<big>54,000,000,000,000,000,000,0000,0000,054,000"000,00c2ef46</big>'''

:[The labels are listed below in the reading order as from where the small lines are pointing on to the number, so both those above and below the number, not first all those above. Text in the brackets indicate where on the number the line is pointing:]

:[To the first two numbers before the first comma, label above the number:]
:54! Great! I know that number. Solid start.

:[To the first zero after the first comma, label below the number:]
:Oh, a comma and some zeros. Cool. Must be at least 54 thousand.

:[To the second comma, label above the number:]
:A second comma! I wonder if we're talking population or money.

:[To the third comma, label below the number:]
:Yikes! If this is money, it's a '''''lot''''' of money.

:[To the fifth comma, label above the number:]
:Why am I reading this? Whatever this number is, I'm not going to be able to visualize it.

:[To the sixth comma, label below the number:]
:All right, either someone made a unit conversion error or this is one of those incomprehensible astronomy numbers.

:[To the middle of a group of four zeros after the seventh comma, label above the number:]
:Oh no. Is this a misplaced comma or an extra zero? I guess we'll see if the next group has two zeros or three. If it's two, we can at least hope the digits are right.

:[To the middle of a group of four zeros after the eighth comma, label below the number:]
:Oh '''''no'''''.

:[To the last two numbers of the three digits after the ninth comma, label below the number:]
:What is happening.

:[To a quotation mark, where the eleventh comma should have been, label above the number:]
:Someone messed up real bad.

:[To the first number in a group with mixed alphanumeric numbers, where the thirteenth comma should have been, label below the number:]
:Someone messed up real bad and I hope it wasn't me.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

3102: Reading a Big Number

2025-06-15T15:28:01Z

174.53.211.85: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 3102
| date = June 13, 2025
| title = Reading a Big Number
| image = reading_a_big_number_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x438px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [desperately] Maybe this is from some country where they use commas as decimal points, and also as digit separators after the decimal, and also use random other characters for decoration???
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by An Accidentally Escaped Quotation Mark. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic expresses [[Randall]]'s reactions to reading {{w|large number}}s. It starts with normal digits and commas you would find in a large number, but gradually becomes more and more chaotic. It turns out that this is not a number at all, but some sort of printing error in whatever Randall is reading.

The very start of the comic is a bit absurd. In most cases, you can tell that a number like this is very large because of how long it is when written out; you wouldn't have to completely reinterpret it at the end of ''every'' group of digits. However, to tell exactly which "-illion" the number falls into, you would have to count the groups, and the scale of such a large number would grow less familiar as you try to keep track of how large it even is. Certain sizes of numbers tend to show up in specific contexts, like {{w|astronomy}}. So, rather than literally showing Randall's developing thoughts on the evidently massive size of this number, the comic also shows how he tends to interpret numbers at each possible "-illion" scale. See detailed explanation of Randall's thoughts in the [[#Table of thoughts|table]] below, wher the title text is also explained.

There are a few possible explanations for seeing a number like this appear in a software application. It may have appeared due to an out-of-bounds read operation where the computer tries to interpret unrelated data as text. Another possible explanation is misuse of the {{w|printf}} function in the {{w|C programming language}}. If strings passed to printf do not contain a {{w|null byte}} to terminate the string, it will go further into memory, again into unrelated data. Or the programmer might have several printf statements back to back, forgetting that printf doesn't add newlines (like the println function in other programming languages), so all their debug information gets printed on the same line. If the alternating grouping into 4 and 3 digits and the double quote are left aside, it is possible that the whole number is hexadecimal and even bigger than its size indicates at first.

==Table of thoughts==
{| class="wikitable"
! Number fragment !! Thought !! Explanation
|-
| 54 || 54! Great! I know that number. Solid start. || 54 is a number with some real-world familiarity for most people. It is small enough to appear on digital clocks, and has enough factors to be listed on standard multiplication tables as 6 × 9.

Randall pretending to reckon with the start of such a large number is probably meant to draw attention to the meaninglessness of doing so. Unless the exact value is somehow important, most readers wouldn't find much of a meaningful difference between "54 zillion" or "over 50 zillion", or even "zillions and zillions". In practice, the brain {{w|Approximate number system|can only approximate}} numbers this large; the {{w|Just-noticeable difference|threshold needed to tell the difference}} between the amounts that they represent is too high. Randall expresses a similar sentiment once he gets to the trillions and quadrillions.
|-
| ,000 (thousand) || Oh, a comma and some zeros. Cool. Must be at least 54 thousand. || Underselling how long the number is with the "at least a thousand", but is a fair thought from the POV of not being able to know how long the number is.
|-
| ,000 (million) || A second comma! I wonder if we're talking population or money. || Excitement from how large the number must be. {{w|Population}}s (like the number of people in a region) and large sums of money are both often measured in millions.
|-
| ,000 (billion) || Yikes! If this is money, it's a lot of money. || Three commas means a number in the billions. That's a lot of money for one person to have. Big decisions by large corporations, such as {{w|megamerger}}s, are often measured in billions of dollars in costs.
|-
| ,000,000 (quadrillion) || Why am I reading this? Whatever this number is, I'm not going to be able to visualize it. || Five commas is a number in the quadrillions. At this point the number is too big for human minds to comprehend.
|-
| ,000 (quintillion) || All right, either someone made a unit conversion error or this is one of those incomprehensible astronomy numbers. || Astronomy often deals with extremely large numbers due to the incredible scale of the universe. For example, the distance to the Andromeda galaxy in kilometers could be numbered in quintillions. Alternatively, the person calculating the number made a mistake. Regarding the unit conversion there has recently been a comic about such a thing in [[3065: Square Units]] and similar mistakes has been used in [[2585: Rounding]].
|-
| ,0000 (!?) || Oh no. Is this a misplaced comma or an extra zero? I guess we'll see if the next group has two zeros or three. If it's two, we can at least hope the digits are right. || Commas are placed every three digits in {{w|Decimal separator#Digit grouping|typical western usage}} (although not necessarily in various other {{w|Indian numbering system#Decimal formatting|cultures}}), so something is wrong. However, it might simply be that someone misplaced the comma to the right, meaning that this group has four digits and the next one would likely have two (the next comma in the 'correct' place). If the next group is three, then either the commas are now ''all'' misplaced or possibly someone/something just doubled up a zero by accident. A mistake of any kind makes one think that the number may not actually be accurate but, if the former, at least it might just be a relatively unimportant transposition.
|-
| ,0000 || Oh no. || A second group of four zeroes means it's not a typo. Something is seriously wrong. Note that some countries like [https://www.aceninja.sg/insights/2025/01/01/understanding-chinese-cultural-nuances-numerals China] or [https://www.kanpai-japan.com/learn-japanese/how-to-count-in-japanese Japan] (where 4-digit groupings are common) or [https://www.cuemath.com/numbers/indian-place-value-chart/ India] (which uses a unique 2- and 3-digit mixed system) may use non 3-digit groupings, but have their own rules for number groupings.
|-
| ,054 || What is happening. || Big numbers are normally rounded, so it's very strange to see a non-zero value this far down in the place values. Also, "54" matches the digits at the start of the number so it could indicate the number was copied incorrectly. The non-zero digits here imply that all of the digits so far, including the zeroes, are {{w|significant figures}}; the number is not only extremely large, but implausibly precise with at least 30 sig figs. By way of comparison, the diameter of the observable universe is about 4.4 × 1026 m, and if that measurement had 30 sig figs, it would be precise to about half a millimeter.
|-
| ,000"000 || Someone messed up real bad. || The arcsecond mark " (more properly written as a {{w|double prime}} symbol, ″) indicates that this number is an angle or a distance in inches. For an angle, even accounting for how small an arcsecond is (1/3600th of a degree), this angle would be a huge number of rotations. As for inches, it would represent a distance much larger than the observable universe, though it is uncommon to use customary units like inches in conjunction with large numbers.

Alternatively, this could be "to-the-11th-power" (…00011 000…), which would make the already extremely large number extremely ridiculously big.

This could also be a sign of bad copy-pasting, where the quotation mark " was accidentally copied along with the large number but not with a matching one. Or if this number was being printed from a computer program, the mark may be a sign that the closing quote around a computer string was accidentally {{w|Escape character|escaped}}, causing it to be interpreted as a literal written quote mark character to be included in the string, rather than a special symbol marking the end of the string.
|-
| ,00c2ef46 || Someone messed up real bad and I hope it wasn't me. || Numbers normally only use the digits 0–9. The presence of the letters c, e, and f suggests that this number is written in {{w|hexadecimal}}, or {{w|Radix|base}} 16, where going up one place represents multiplying by sixteen instead of ten. Instead of ten possible digits for each place, there need to be sixteen: after 9, you count A, B, C, D, E, F, before carrying over to 10. Hexadecimal is mostly used by computers, so Randall, as a programmer, might be worried that the hexadecimal appearing is his fault. Seeing a long string of unexpected characters may indicate a memory bug, such as a ''{{w|buffer overflow}}''. These bugs can lead to crashes, data corruption, and security vulnerabilities, which Randall would rather not be responsible for.

If not for the c and f, the letter e could also be read as {{w|E notation}}, a shorthand for {{w|scientific notation}} in many calculators and computer programs. There, "e" means "times ten {{w|to the power of}}", so …00e46 (= …00 × 1046) would add 46 more zeros to the value of the preceding number. However, usually the number would be {{w|Normalized number|normalized}} to have a single digit before a decimal part, changing any extra digits into a bigger {{w|Power of 10|exponent of ten}}, such as 5.4e84 (= 5.4 × 1084). The point of normalization is to make it easier to compare the magnitudes of very large and very small numbers, so that the reader doesn't need to count digits in the first place.
|-
| (title text) || [desperately] Maybe this is from some country where they use commas as decimal points, and also as digit separators after the decimal, and also use random other characters for decoration??? || In the United States, UK, India, China, Korea, Japan, and other countries, the dot is used to separate the integer part of a number from its fractional part. However, most of mainland Europe and South America uses the comma for this purpose. In some places, one may also see the period used to group digits. Since the final number is unreadable and potentially infinite, this implies that Randall has, naturally, made up an explanation instead of trying to figure out what was really happening.
|-
|}

==Transcript==
:[A large number is written along the middle of the panel. Above and below the number there are 10 labels, (5 above and 5 below), and from each label a small curved line points to a part of the number. There is a heading above the top labels:]
:<big>Thought process while reading a big number:</big>

:[The number is continuing off the edge of the comic to the right, the last digit is missing about a third:]
:'''<big>54,000,000,000,000,000,000,0000,0000,054,000"000,00c2ef46</big>'''

:[The labels are listed below in the reading order as from where the small lines are pointing on to the number, so both those above and below the number, not first all those above. Text in the brackets indicate where on the number the line is pointing:]

:[To the first two numbers before the first comma, label above the number:]
:54! Great! I know that number. Solid start.

:[To the first zero after the first comma, label below the number:]
:Oh, a comma and some zeros. Cool. Must be at least 54 thousand.

:[To the second comma, label above the number:]
:A second comma! I wonder if we're talking population or money.

:[To the third comma, label below the number:]
:Yikes! If this is money, it's a '''''lot''''' of money.

:[To the fifth comma, label above the number:]
:Why am I reading this? Whatever this number is, I'm not going to be able to visualize it.

:[To the sixth comma, label below the number:]
:All right, either someone made a unit conversion error or this is one of those incomprehensible astronomy numbers.

:[To the middle of a group of four zeros after the seventh comma, label above the number:]
:Oh no. Is this a misplaced comma or an extra zero? I guess we'll see if the next group has two zeros or three. If it's two, we can at least hope the digits are right.

:[To the middle of a group of four zeros after the eighth comma, label below the number:]
:Oh '''''no'''''.

:[To the last two numbers of the three digits after the ninth comma, label below the number:]
:What is happening.

:[To a quotation mark, where the eleventh comma should have been, label above the number:]
:Someone messed up real bad.

:[To the first number in a group with mixed alphanumeric numbers, where the thirteenth comma should have been, label below the number:]
:Someone messed up real bad and I hope it wasn't me.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]