explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

640: Tornado Hunter

2015-12-27T17:55:23Z

199.27.129.101: /* Explanation */ Added title text explanation.

{{comic
| number = 640
| date = September 23, 2009
| title = Tornado Hunter
| image = tornado hunter.png
| titletext = The Fujita scale was replaced by the enhanced Fujita scale in 2007, but I think 'EF-5' sounds stupid, so I vote we just use the new measurements for assigning number but still call them 'F-whatever'.
}}

==Explanation==
This is a play on the occupations/hobbies "{{w|tornado chaser}}" - someone who, instead of evacuating the area like normal people, actually goes in to get a closer look at the tornado - and "{{w|big game hunter}}", who often kill for trophies. Tornado chasers are typically, but not always, {{w|meteorologists}}. Here, the tornado chaser actually hunts the tornado with a gun like big game, the joke being that this is not possible in real life{{Citation needed}}.

The "F-3" is a reference to the {{w|Fujita scale}} used to classify tornado intensity. It goes from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, with an updated {{w|Enhanced Fujita scale}}, as mentioned in the title text, being used in the US since 2007.

The title text is an aside from Randall, saying that he finds the notation for the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF-#, for example EF-5 for a level 5 tornado,) to be stupid, and suggests that we continue to use the Enhanced Fujita scale to measure the strength of tornadoes, but abbreviate it to F instead, leading to the non-stupid "F-whatever" notation, whatever signifying the number of the tornado on the scale.

==Transcript==
:[Two people are in a car, which is driving past a cactus. The passenger has a pith helmet and a mustache.]
:Cueball: The tornado's three miles west, moving northeast at 15 mph.
:Passenger: Go right; get ahead of it.

:[A tornado is visible. The passenger pulls out a gun, and stands up in the car.]
:Passenger: Okay, we're in range! Stop here!

:[The passenger fires the gun at the tornado.]
:''BANG''
:Tornado: AUGH!

:Passenger: Big one! Must be an F-3!
:Cueball: I'm not sure we're doing this right.
:Passenger: Help me mount it on the hood.
:[The passenger is holding the tornado by its tail.]

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

975: Occulting Telescope

2015-12-17T05:23:19Z

199.27.129.101: /* Explanation */ Edited quote to make grammatical sense and added incomplete tag so someone who knows this wiki's coding can fix the broken image

{{comic
| number = 975
| date = November 09, 2011
| title = Occulting Telescope
| image = occulting_telescope.png
| titletext = Type II Kardashev civilizations eventually completely enclose their planetary system in a Dyson sphere because space is way too big to look at all the time.
}}

==Explanation==

{{incomplete|RIP image of Dyson Sphere. I don't know how this wiki is coded, so I'm not sure how to get it back. Only reason I can see to mark this incomplete.}}

[[File:Dyson Swarm.png|thumb|A relatively simple arrangement of multiple Dyson Rings of the type pictured above, to form a more complex Dyson Swarm. Rings' orbital radii are spaced 1.5 x 10^7 km with regard to one another, but average orbital radius is still 1 {{w|Astronomical unit|AU}}. Rings are rotated 15 degrees relative to one another, around a common axis of rotation. (from Wikipedia Commons)]]

[[Cueball]] takes the useful practice of {{w|occulting}} stars beyond its intended purpose. Occulting is used to block the light from a star under observation so that adjacent dim objects, such as any {{w|extrasolar planets|surrounding planets}}, might be more easily detected and examined. Instead of blocking the light of a single star for the purposes of observation, Cueball proposes blocking the light from all stars, for the purpose of making him feel comfortable with the night sky. Cueball feels, some might say irrationally, that "there are too many stars, and it's been ''freaking [him] out''".

The title text refers to both a {{w|Kardashev scale|Type II Kardashev civilization}} and a {{w|Dyson sphere}}.

A Dyson sphere is a theoretical construction consisting of a network of satellites that orbit and completely surround a star. The purpose to capture and transmit all of the available solar energy back to a planet.

A Type II Kardashev civilization is a theoretical civilization that has advanced to the point where it has harnessed the energy radiated by its own star (for example, the stage of successful construction of a Dyson sphere).

For comparison purposes:
*A Type I Kardashev civilization is one that has harnessed the energy of their entire planet.
*A Type III Kardashev civilization is one that has harnessed the energy of their entire galaxy.
*We are currently less than I.

The title text reveals that Type II Kardashev civilizations construct Dyson spheres not for the purposes of capturing all solar energy, but merely to block the view of all that hideous space.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is giving a lecture in front of a white board, pointing to a diagram with a pointer.]
:Cueball: The occulting observatory consists of two parts—the telescope and the discs.

:When the telescope sees a star, a disc is carefully steered to block its light.
:[A diagram of a satellite labeled "telescope" with waves going from it on the left, across to the other side of the diagram (labeled "light from star") on the right. In the middle is a small vertical line labeled "disc", stopping some of the light waves from the right traveling to the left of the diagram.]
:This procedure is repeated until all stars are covered.

:[Cueball looks down at a student.]
:Student (off screen): Wait, all? Why?
:Cueball: I'll feel better.

:[Close-up on Cueball.]
:Student (off-screen): I thought the point was to image extrasolar planets.
:Cueball: The point is that there are ''too many stars.'' It's been freaking me out.
:Student: What?
:Student #2 (in smaller letters): He has a point...

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

Talk:1607: Supreme Court

2015-11-25T01:30:53Z

199.27.129.101:

Made some additions, since I'm the first person up at this ungodly hour. Well, it's ungodly in my time zone, anyway. (Why is it that the time changes depending on where you live, but the months don't?) I am a first-time editor, so please correct any mistakes in formatting. {{unsigned ip|108.162.221.5|05:32, 23 November 2015‎}}
:I'm awake, it's 11:26 PM. PS, you forgot to sign, but IDK how to fix. [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 05:36, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
::I do - I've added a signature. --[[User:Sophira|Sophira]] ([[User talk:Sophira|talk]]) 06:11, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
He just might be... THE LAW! [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.41|108.162.221.41]] 06:17, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Isn't the joke that xkcd people are stick men, so the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libra_(constellation)#History_and_mythology libra] could just be a man with a tiny head carrying two buckets..? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.159|162.158.91.159]] 10:00, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Currently there's nothing in the explanation of the titletext that addresses that Justice X is claiming to be ''either'' of two individuals, not even trying to properly impersonate a specific individual. Of course, logically, if they claimed to be a specific person then this specific person they claimed to be could so easily counter-claim. So that approach shouldn't work. But being vague would ''also'' be strange. Unlike a game of Mafia, when there might (occasionally) be reasons to be vague in this manner about one's role (and yet accept that this can look utterly Scummy, if this approach is directed at the Townies) to try to offset targetting by the opposing camp, this should ''still'' not work in a group where everyone already knows each other. So who knows how 'relatively illogical' the two approaches are, to each other... ;) But can anyone explain this better than me? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.5|162.158.152.5]] 11:32, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Although there are nine justices, 10 votes were counted... it is possible that the mysterious tenth person voted along with the majority, and one of the original justices has voted against. The supreme court rarely votes unanimously on anything regardless of how reasonable the majority seems.[[User:Swordsmith|Swordsmith]] ([[User talk:Swordsmith|talk]]) 11:50, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
:Not sure where you're getting your information. For the 2014 term, fully 2/3 of the decisions decided were unanimous 9-0 decisions. The most common splits are 9-0 and 5-4. Most unanimous decisions are on smaller, less widely important matters. Larger more important and notable decisions are more likely to be concerned with a disagreement of law or interpretation and therefore to not be unanimous. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.48|108.162.216.48]] 14:32, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Just a guess, but it could be in reference to [http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/11/20/obama-administration-appeals-immigration-ruling-supreme-court/76103084/ this article], where the nine represents the actual justices and the single is the President. [[User:Jarod997|Jarod997]] ([[User talk:Jarod997|talk]]) 14:35, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

In my opinion, "this guy" is the picture in the background. It looks like an emoticon with eyes/eyelids, eyebrows, and a nose. It seems to have two sides in balance, which could explain the Alito/Ginsburg reference.
[[User:Tlane|Tlane]] ([[User talk:Tlane|talk]]) 20:20, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
:That is the "scales of justice", a symbol of the weighing of arguments or the weighing of justice vs mercy, depending on the viewpoint. [[User:GonzoI|GonzoI]] ([[User talk:GonzoI|talk]]) 02:35, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

This is slightly funnier knowing there should be only nine on the panel. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.238.32|198.41.238.32]] 21:05, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

Also, the thing in the picture is a symbol representing justice. So it is "justice," but it is not "a justice." [[User:Tlane|Tlane]] ([[User talk:Tlane|talk]]) 23:16, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

[[User:Atreides]] has mentioned at [[1600: MarketWatch]] that identifying the newsreader as [[Ponytail]] is questionable, but if she is there, she should be here too. [[User:Markhurd|Mark Hurd]] ([[User talk:Markhurd|talk]]) 00:19, 24 November 2015 (UTC)
:It is not Ponytail either places, and I have corrected [[1600]]. She has no tail! But it is interesting that he uses the same appearance for a news presenter/newscaster in two comics so close. Maybe he has used her before? New character? We already have blonde character [[Miss Lenhart]]. But she was a teacher not a presenter... If anyone can find and collect more of these presenters it could be interesting. So far [[1607]] and [[1600]] are two very similar comics with same presenter! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

It may be worth noting somewhere that not only are Alito and Ginsberg different genders, they also have very different judicial philosophies. A "surprisingly compelling" argument that the interloper could be either would make an interesting read simply because the two write very different opinions. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 23:08, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

I feel it's very shady still. "The supreme court ruled 9-1 ..." -- isn't that an admission that the 10th IS a justice? Because if he's not his vote should not be counted at all. [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.101|199.27.129.101]] 01:30, 25 November 2015 (UTC)