explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1221: Nomenclature

2013-06-05T06:25:33Z

188.177.87.188: /* Explanation */ a bit more detail, wikilinks

{{comic
| number = 1221
| date = June 5, 2013
| title = Nomenclature
| image = nomenclature.png
| titletext = [shouted, from the field] 'Aunt Beast hit a pop fly to second! Dive for it, Mrs Whatsit!'
}}

==Explanation==
Reference to the Abbot & Costello "Who's on first" routine and Doctor Who.

The comic references the famous "{{w|Who's on First?}}" skit by American comedy duo Abbott and Costello, in which a person named "Who" is confused with the question "Who?"

{{w|Doctor (Doctor Who)|The Doctor}} from the long-running British television series ''{{w|Doctor Who}}'' has been incorrectly referred to as "Who." He often introduces himself as "The Doctor" which elicits the response "Doctor who?". His response to this question is "Just 'The Doctor'."

The title text references the Madeleine L'Engle novel ''{{w|A Wrinkle in Time}}'', which has characters with similarly ambiguous names. The book's {{w|A Wrinkle in Time#Mrs Who|Mrs. Who}} is apparently on first, while {{w|A Wrinkle in Time#Mrs Whatsit|Mrs. Whatsit}} is on second base, much like how a person named "What" is on second in the skit.

==Transcript==
:

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

1214: Geoguessr

2013-05-20T07:58:26Z

188.177.87.188: wikilink Legolan

{{comic
| number = 1214
| date = May 20, 2013
| title = Geoguessr
| image = geoguessr.png
| titletext = I'm not sure if you can get Epcot, but my friend just got LegoLand. He guessed California but it was the one in Denmark. Meanwhile, I'm rapidly becoming a connoisseur of unmarked dirt roads over flat, barren landscapes.
}}

==Explanation==
[//Geoguessr.com Geoguessr] is a game in which the player is given a location in {{w|Google Street View}} and asked to guess precisely where in the world they are, by clicking on a map of the world, based only on the 360 degree view in the Street View display.

Cueball is upset because he keeps making his guesses based on landmarks and his guesses end up being wrong because the landmark he based his guess off of was actually a replica of the real one.

Of course, from a statistical perspective, this makes sense: For every famous object, there are countless replicas, and the vast majority of famous objects (except a few notable works of art) exist in only one place in the world. Take the {{w|Statue of Liberty}}, for instance, which has {{w|Replicas of the Statue of Liberty|hundreds of replicas all over the planet}}.

However, as the alt text alludes to, you're far more likely to find a dirt road than to find anything recognizable, since Google Street View maps roads more than anything else (hence its name).

Anyone who's ever played with Geoguessr knows, also, that seemingly helpful clues can sometimes be useless. For instance, if you recognize Japanese characters on a sign, the nation of Japan actually encompasses an enormous area, so unless you can recognize a specific region, there's no obvious place to guess where you can hope to get high points. (Unlike somewhere like England, where guessing London is guaranteed to put you within reasonable distance from a global perspective.) {{w|Legoland}} is a good example of this: If you can't tell if you're in Denmark or California, it's not like you can just guess halfway between and do well.

==Transcript==
:

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

1214: Geoguessr

2013-05-20T07:14:03Z

188.177.87.188: /* Explanation */ +links

1204: Detail

2013-04-26T11:20:47Z

188.177.87.188: /* Explanation */ nothing about "tunnelling" in text (+ STMs generally have significantly better than nm resolution)

{{comic
| number = 1204
| date = April 26, 2013
| title = Detail
| image = detail.png
| titletext = 2031: Google defends the swiveling roof-mounted scanning electron microscopes on its Street View cars, saying they 'don't reveal anything that couldn't be seen by any pedestrian scanning your house with an electron microscope.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Google Earth}} is mapping software provided by Google that allows people to see the Earth from a birds-eye-view perspective. If you zoom in close enough, you can see individual streets – or in this case, a neighborhood.

{{w|Optical resolution|Resolution}} is a term (roughly) representing the scale of the smallest identifiable feature in an image. In the context of terrestrial image mapping, this would correspond to the area occupied by a single pixel in a terrestrial satellite image. In this strip, Randall points out that the resolution of images available to Google Earth has been decreasing (improving) at an exponential rate for the past decade. This is due to the improving quality of satellite imaging technology, as well as integration of additional data sources, such as aerial photography and street-level roaming cameras. Each tick in the scale represents a resolution improvement by three orders of magnitude.

The {{w|Planck length}} is a unit of length and in principle the shortest measurable length, thus making it effectively the "resolution" of our reality. It is around 1.6×10-35 m, close to 10-20 times the diameter of a proton. The comic shows how the current growth trend in resolution of Google Earth will hit the Planck length around the year 2100, even though such result is currently considered impossible to achieve.

The title text refers to the fact that the trendline predicts an available resolution in the nanometer range by 2031, which would necessitate (using today's technology) the use of {{w|scanning electron microscope}}s to achieve.

==Transcript==
:My Neghborhood's Resolution in:
:[A chart showing the Resolution of Google Earth increasing on a logarithmic scale towards the Planck Length, with resolution on the y-axis and time in years on the x-axis.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics from 2013]]
[[Category:Comics from April]]

1204: Detail

2013-04-26T08:33:41Z

188.177.87.188: oops, 1E-35 m

{{comic
| number = 1204
| date = April 26, 2013
| title = Detail
| image = detail.png
| titletext = 2031: Google defends the swiveling roof-mounted scanning electron microscopes on its Street View cars, saying they 'don't reveal anything that couldn't be seen by any pedestrian scanning your house with an electron microscope.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Google Earth}} is mapping software provided by Google that allows people to see the Earth from a birds-eye-view perspective. If you zoom in close enough, you can see individual streets – or in this case, a neighborhood.

{{w|Optical resolution|Resolution}} is a term (roughly) representing the scale of the smallest identifiable feature in an image. In the context of terrestrial image mapping, this would correspond to the area occupied by a single pixel in a terrestrial satellite image. In this strip, Randall points out that the resolution of images available to Google Earth has been decreasing (improving) at an exponential rate for the past decade. This is due to the improving quality of satellite imaging technology, as well as integration of additional data sources, such as aerial photography and street-level roaming cameras. Each tick in the scale represents a resolution improvement by three orders of magnitude.

The {{w|Planck length}} is a unit of length and in principle the shortest measurable length, thus making it effectively the "resolution" of our reality. It is around 1.6×10-35 m, close to 10-20 times the diameter of a proton. The comic shows how the current growth trend in resolution of Google Earth will hit the Planck length around the year 2100, even though such result is currently considered impossible to achieve.

The title text refers to the fact that the trendline predicts an available resolution in the nanometer range by 2031, which would necessitate (using today's technology) the use of {{w|scanning tunneling microscope}}s to achieve.

==Transcript==
:My Neighborhood's Resolution in:
:[A chart showing the Resolution of Google Earth increasing on a logarithmic scale towards the Planck Length, with resolution on the y-axis and time in years on the x-axis.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics from 2013]]
[[Category:Comics from April]]

1204: Detail

2013-04-26T08:28:46Z

188.177.87.188: formatting tweaks, and additional detail

{{comic
| number = 1204
| date = April 26, 2013
| title = Detail
| image = detail.png
| titletext = 2031: Google defends the swiveling roof-mounted scanning electron microscopes on its Street View cars, saying they 'don't reveal anything that couldn't be seen by any pedestrian scanning your house with an electron microscope.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Google Earth}} is mapping software provided by Google that allows people to see the Earth from a birds-eye-view perspective. If you zoom in close enough, you can see individual streets – or in this case, a neighborhood.

{{w|Optical resolution|Resolution}} is a term (roughly) representing the scale of the smallest identifiable feature in an image. In the context of terrestrial image mapping, this would correspond to the area occupied by a single pixel in a terrestrial satellite image. In this strip, Randall points out that the resolution of images available to Google Earth has been decreasing (improving) at an exponential rate for the past decade. This is due to the improving quality of satellite imaging technology, as well as integration of additional data sources, such as aerial photography and street-level roaming cameras. Each tick in the scale represents a resolution improvement by three orders of magnitude.

The {{w|Planck length}} is a unit of length and in principle the shortest measurable length, thus making it effectively the "resolution" of our reality. It is around 1.6×10-30 m, close to 10-20 times the diameter of a proton. The comic shows how the current growth trend in resolution of Google Earth will hit the Planck length around the year 2100, even though such result is currently considered impossible to achieve.

The title text refers to the fact that the trendline predicts an available resolution in the nanometer range by 2031, which would necessitate (using today's technology) the use of {{w|scanning tunneling microscope}}s to achieve.

==Transcript==
:My Neighborhood's Resolution in:
:[A chart showing the Resolution of Google Earth increasing on a logarithmic scale towards the Planck Length, with resolution on the y-axis and time in years on the x-axis.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics]]
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics from 2013]]
[[Category:Comics from April]]

1189: Voyager 1

2013-03-22T20:58:47Z

188.177.87.188: /* Explanation */ mention "The Crystal Spheres"

{{comic
| number = 1189
| date = March 22, 2013
| title = Voyager 1
| image = voyager_1.png
| titletext = So far Voyager 1 has 'left the Solar System' by passing through the termination shock three times, the heliopause twice, and once each through the heliosheath, heliosphere, heliodrome, auroral discontinuity, Heaviside layer, trans-Neptunian panic zone, magnetogap, US Census Bureau Solar System statistical boundary, Kuiper gauntlet, Oort void, and crystal sphere holding the fixed stars.
}}

==Explanation==
''{{w|Voyager 1}}'' is a U.S. space probe launched in 1977 to study the outer reaches of the Solar System and beyond. Popular press has on several occasions announced that it “has left the solar system” – at each point when a boundary has been confirmed or a major event has taken place – the fact is that there is no strictly defined and recognizable boundary of the solar system.

The alt-text lists several such possible boundaries, together with fictive humorous ones:

*The {{w|termination shock}} – the point in the heliosphere where the solar wind slows down to subsonic speed (relative to the star) because of interactions with the local interstellar medium.
*The {{w|heliopause}} – the theoretical boundary where the Sun’s solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium.
*The {{w|heliosphere}} – a region of space dominated by Earth’s Sun, a sort of bubble of charged particles in the space surrounding the Solar System.
*The {{w|heliosheath}} – the region of the heliosphere beyond the termination shock.
*Heliodrome – yet another composition of ''helios'' "sun," here together with ''dromos'' "course". There is no astronomical object with this name, but it has been used variously in other contexts. One that became famous is a sports hall which was used as a concentration camp in the Bosnian war, see {{w|Heliodrom camp}}.
*Auroral discontinuity - another fictitious astronomic object, for ''auroral'' see {{w|Aurora (astronomy)}}.
*{{w|Heaviside layer}} – a layer of ionized gas occurring between roughly 90–150 km (56–93 mi) above the ground in the Earth's atmosphere. Popularly recognized for its use as a reference to Heaven in the writings of {{w|T. S. Eliot}} adapted into {{w|Andrew Lloyd Webber}}'s musical ''{{w|Cats (musical)|Cats}}''.
*Trans-Neptunian panic zone – this fictional zone combines the word from two subject: “Trans–Neptunian” is used in astronomy to describe stuff that occurs beyond the planet Neptune. In {{w|Outdoor education}} the “panic zone” is the opposite of the {{w|comfort zone}} when trying to learn new stuff.
*{{w|Ignition magneto|Magnetogap}} – part of an {{w|ignition system}}.
*US Census Bureau Solar System statistical boundary – a fictive boundary defined by the {{w|United States Census Bureau}}, similarly to how it defines {{w|Census tract|census areas}} for the purpose of processing statistical data about regions in the United States.
*Kuiper gauntlet – this is a play on the {{w|Kuiper belt}}, which is region of the Solar System beyond the planets, extending from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun, notable for being full of asteroids; replacing the word “belt” with “{{w|gauntlet (glove)}}” (often spelled 'gantlet') which is a protective glove as well as “{{w|gauntlet (punishment)}}” which is a medieval punishment where one would be forced to run through two lines of men who would hit the punishee.
*Oort void – refers to the {{w|Oort cloud}}, a gigantic “cloud” of materials (mainly composed of ice) which ends around a light-year from The Sun and is deemed the (current) “edge” of the solar system.
*Crystal sphere holding the fixed stars – this refers to historical ideas about the universe, particularly the {{w|Ptolemaic system}}, in which the stars were supposed to be fixed on a {{w|Celestial spheres|large crystal sphere}} around the Earth. It might also be referencing "{{w|The Crystal Spheres}}", a short story by David Brin, in which humanity's first interstellar ship shatters a previously undetected, protective barrier around the solar system.

==Transcript==
:Number of times ''Voyager 1'' has left the Solar System
:[22 tally marks.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Charts]]