explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1643: Degrees

2025-12-25T21:26:52Z

2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493: 24 prefixes

Rankine is a good compromise. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.56.65|173.245.56.65]] 14:11, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

0.173 rad = 10°. Now it could be 10°C (50°F) or 10°F (-12°C).--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.228.113|108.162.228.113]] 14:14, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

It should probably be noted that since 0.173 radians is equal to around 9.91 degrees, the temperature that Cueball gave is likely in 'radians Celsius', since 9.91 degrees Farenheit would be an unlikely temperature to occur, unless they're somewhere like Canada or northern Russia --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.59|162.158.152.59]] 14:17, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
:It would appear that that's already been noted since I started writing that comment. Ignore me. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.152.59|162.158.152.59]] 14:18, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
::It would appear you're not in New England. Temperature last night -14°F = -26°C = -0.244 rad F = -0.556 rad C. But others have noted this as well. [[User:Bob Stein - VisiBone|Bob Stein - VisiBone]] ([[User talk:Bob Stein - VisiBone|talk]]) 23:41, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
:::Even Manhattan, New York reached [http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KNYC/2016/2/14/DailyHistory.html -0.9°F] on Sunday, the first time it's been [http://www.weather.gov/media/okx/Climate/CentralPark/Below0DegreeDays.pdf below 0°F] there in a generation. We came within [http://www.weather.gov/media/okx/Climate/CentralPark/BiggestSnowstorms.pdf 1 part in 269] of tying the 2006 record for biggest snowstorm 3 weeks before this, broke the record for latest frost by 12 days with bitter cold 3 weeks before that, had cherry blossoms suicidally bloom on Christmas 10 days before that (because they thought it's spring) and that whole month was twice as many degrees above [http://www.weather.gov/media/okx/Climate/CentralPark/nycnormals.pdf normal] as the [http://www.weather.gov/media/okx/Climate/CentralPark/warmcoldmonths.pdf previous record warmest December]. We also broke the record for warmest November and September a few months ago. This is called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/global_weirding global weirding.] (the more accurate name for global warming) [[Special:Contributions/199.27.129.11|199.27.129.11]] 04:28, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Guys, we moved away from the Réaumur-scale: You can do the same for the Fahrenheit :-). --[[User:DaB.|DaB.]] ([[User talk:DaB.|talk]]) 14:20, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
: And we all moved away from the Rømer scale (what Reumer and Fahrenheit were both based on), 0F is 0Rø, 100C/80Reu is 80Rø). We even moved from the 100C-0C to 0C-100C since Celsius was a (half) crazy Swedish scientist who thought Reumer made sense if it was based on 100 instead of 80, and 100 was the freezing point (everybody ignores the second part of his scale).[[Special:Contributions/162.158.114.222|162.158.114.222]] 17:07, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
:: {{w|Ole_Rømer|Rømer}} was {{w|Danish}} -- Calling him Sweedish is an insult -- kind if the same insult as calling Cruz Canadian [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:14, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
:::Then it was great that it was Celsius who was called a ''crazy Swedish scientist'' above, (and he was Swedish). Rømer is luckily more known for making the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light and not for his failed temperature scale. (I'm from Denmark and like the light part: He measured the hesitation of light ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 21:31, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the only people who could possibly find "Fahrenheit" easier to spell than "Celsius" are those whose first written language was German. [[User:Promethean|Promethean]] ([[User talk:Promethean|talk]]) 01:31, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

Considering how cold New England is today, I'm pretty sure it's Fahrenheit. {{unsigned ip|108.162.218.71}}

Temperature is given in F. Look at which month it is. And how this is a darn cold winter (at least in Canada). [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.43|108.162.216.43]] 14:32, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
: its currently 10F in the Boston area where Randall lives.
:: For people from the future, see [https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KBOS/2016/2/15/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Somerville&req_state=MA&reqdb.zip=02143&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999 this historical data page for the day the comic was released] --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.59|108.162.214.59]] 19:00, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
::: Thanks, 108.162.214.59 and others! At that time of year, ''either'' temperature would be possible in Boston, Massachusetts -- 10°F (-12°C) during a cold night or a strong cold snap; 10°C (50°F) during a midwinter thaw. --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 01:19, 19 July 2020 (UTC)

What's with the "We lost a Mars probe over this" remark? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.113|141.101.104.113]] 14:33, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
: One of the Mars probes crashed into Mars because one of the NASA contractors was using US Customary units instead of SI units. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 14:39, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
:: Is there a reference for this ?? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:17, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
::: It was the Mars Climate Orbiter, it crashed in 1999 because software supplied by Lockheed Martin produced results in US customary units even though the specs called for metrics units. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter [[User:Martin|Martin]] ([[User talk:Martin|talk]]) 22:04, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

:The mars probe remark is in reference to a mistake in switching navigational numbers from American standard to metric (namely in that they didn't) which caused the probe to slam into the surface of mars. If I remember correctly that is.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.78|108.162.238.78]] 14:43, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
:: I remember when this happened, thinking "OK, Lockheed, time to get out your checkbook and cough up the entire cost of that probe and launch," though I expect their bought-and-paid-for pet legislators made sure that didn't happen. [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 21:23, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

I used to think that physicists prefer Kelvin, which is of course sort of based on Celsius. [[User:Jkrstrt|Jkrstrt]] ([[User talk:Jkrstrt|talk]]) 15:28, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
:If you're measuring a temperature ''difference'', which I think is a far more common thing than an absolute temperature, then the two are completely interchangeable. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.186|108.162.219.186]] 14:41, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

If he used Radians Fahrenheit, then 1 would be very close to earth's historical mean temperature for the period 1951 to 1980. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.55.64|173.245.55.64]] 16:19, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
: That sounds like it could almost be useful.... What is the temperature on the surface on the sun in Radians ? [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 17:20, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
:: 96.08 [https://www.google.com/search?q=5505+degrees+in+radians radians] [https://www.google.com/search?q=temperature+of+surface+of+sun+in+degrees+Celsius Celsius], or 173.5 [https://www.google.com/search?q=9941+degrees+in+radians radians] [https://www.google.com/search?q=temperature+of+surface+of+sun+in+degrees+Fahrenheit Fahrenheit]. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.214.59|108.162.214.59]] 19:00, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

"Easier to spell"? When editing, I had to correct myself from "Celcius" to "Celsius". I never get Fahrenheit wrong! [[User:Cosmogoblin|Cosmogoblin]] ([[User talk:Cosmogoblin|talk]]) 20:55, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Can someone explain to me why Fahrenheit's scale is so much more popular across the Atlantic than in his home <s>city</s> <s>country</s> continent? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.219|162.158.102.219]] 21:37, 15 February 2016 (UTC)
:Same reason that the British used it. It was there. Unlike the Brits the US just never got around to change it [[User:Spongebog|Spongebog]] ([[User talk:Spongebog|talk]]) 02:18, 16 February 2016 (UTC)
:: As a Brit. I love it that the US was at one point the last bastion of the BTU (British Thermal Unit), I still see 17th century measures in some farming contexts - bushels though I think we both still agree that "Acres" are a much better measure area than the soul-destroying "hectare". :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.34.147|162.158.34.147]] 08:22, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Not being an instinctive science type, and on a tiny screen, I initially read the comic as "51 prefixes," and thought to myself "I could probably get from peta- to pico- in my head, but there are really 51 of those?" [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 02:46, 16 February 2016 (UTC)
:As of 21:26, 25 December 2025 (UTC), there are 24 (25 if we count 1 having a null morpheme as a prefix). 1 for every power of 1000 between a nonillionth and a nonillion (subtotaling 20 or 21), 4 for powers of 10 nearer to 1 (centi-, deci-, deca- and hecto-). [[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493|2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493]] 21:26, 25 December 2025 (UTC)
Maybe one should include the explanation why both angles and temperature use the term "degree". "Degree" in measurement means, that the definition comes from a partition of a known interval. For angles, that is "a full circle is 360 degrees" and for temperature in Celsius that is "100°C is the range from freezing to boiling water". That is historical, because modern SI units are defined in terms of partitions as well.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.163|162.158.90.163]] 10:23, 16 February 2016 (UTC)
: I'm not a linguist, but I think that it to a certain degree (!) just means "partial", "part" or "step" -- I can agree with you partially by which I will agree with you to a degree -- any scale can in a similar degree be broken up where each part is a degree closer to the full outcome -- so in Temperature a degree is a step toward boiling, and your Masters degree is a step beyond your Bachelor towards your Doctoral degree -- in short it is to some degree just a duhdah word representing nothing but makes it easier to form a sentence around an abstract concept [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.109|162.158.255.109]] 20:28, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

talking about weird us customs/units i think the way trailers and such specify release dates by season is terrible. 1. there are 2 hemispheres 2. internationally seasons may vary and it is rarely specified if its north or south seasons [[Special:Contributions/162.158.177.185|162.158.177.185]] 06:37, 17 February 2016 (UTC)

Personally, I like to give temperature in meV/particle [[User:Edo|Edo]] ([[User talk:Edo|talk]]) 14:29, 17 February 2016 (UTC)
: Do you mean MeV per non-frozen degree of freedom? The nitrogen in room-temperature air carries five-sixths the MeV/atom as argon in the same air at the same temperature. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.9|108.162.216.9]] 00:21, 18 February 2016 (UTC)
: So he should have said 22.48 meV. I also prefer that as temperature shouldn't really a "base unit"

Haha, "degree of correlation". Nice. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.58.9|162.158.58.9]] 10:34, 27 December 2016 (UTC)

Wouldn't a physics major be more likely to be loyal to the Kelvin scale than to Celsius? Heck, even the Rankine scale is more scientific than celsius; it's by far the least popular of the four, but it's still more scientific than celsius due to the fact that it starts at absolute zero like Kelvin does

Another "benefit" for Fahrenheit is that it is more precise. That is, each change in degree Fahrenheit is a smaller change in temperature, so you can be a bit more precise without needing to add digits after a decimal point. I also find it noteworthy that there are 180 degrees (Fahrenheit) between freezing and boiling. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit#History This is not coincidence], but was explicitly decided by a committee in 1776. Clearly, the choice of 180 degrees is related to a half-circle, so it almost makes sense to talk about "radians Fahrenheit", where the difference between boiling and freezing is pi. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 14:03, 3 June 2020 (UTC)

When talking about US Customary versus Imperial units, is it worth mentioning that the US units are similar to the English units that were used in Britain before the Imperial system was introduced in 1824? US units mirrored British units of the late 18th century, but they didn't change in 1824 because they were already independent by that time. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.156|108.162.219.156]] 14:44, 21 July 2021 (UTC)
: So I see. US units were based largely on the pre-Imperial "[[wikipedia:Winchester measure|Winchester measure]]" units. Though since the late 1800s, US units have been defined in terms of metric units (e.g., 1 inch = 25.4 mm exactly). --[[User:Aaron of Mpls|Aaron of Mpls]] ([[User talk:Aaron of Mpls|talk]]) 19:06, 23 July 2021 (UTC)

f in the chat for the mars climate orbiter [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 12:42, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

Radians felsius. --[[User:Bb777|me, hi]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 23:12, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3102: Reading a Big Number

2025-12-25T21:05:47Z

2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493: not fully

avrayter how do you add links [[User:Avrayter|Avrayter]] ([[User talk:Avrayter|talk]]) 12:27, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

Is the final character a 6, or is it a theta? [[Special:Contributions/2A02:F6E:A36E:0:F0F1:E624:A18C:EDC2|2A02:F6E:A36E:0:F0F1:E624:A18C:EDC2]] 14:05, 13 June 2025 (UTC)
: The across line is curvy, so most likely a "6". [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 14:14, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

I would have to fire any programmer that output hex in lowercase (or put commas in triplets for hex). [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 14:14, 13 June 2025 (UTC)
: You may be firing about half of the programmers then :) I don't think there is a rule here, both forms are common, but I guess that there are holy wars to fight. [[Special:Contributions/90.73.80.27|90.73.80.27]] 15:41, 13 June 2025 (UTC)
::I don't care how it is stored in source code, either decimal, hex, binary, etc., upper or lower is fine. The output on screen, if hex, should always be in upper case. If grouped, hex is in groups of 4 and never commas. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 12:58, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

r/unexpectedfactorial Randall Monroe, shame on you! {{unsigned ip|50.195.132.249|14:58, 13 June 2025 (UTC)}}

Surely this is just one line of a CSV file... [[Special:Contributions/86.144.197.52|86.144.197.52]] 15:51, 13 June 2025 (UTC)
: That is actually a strong justification!! I'd like to see the headers, tho xD {{unsigned ip|2806:106e:19:81f2:fc2c:11d2:79fa:615c|16:31, 13 June 2025 (UTC)}}
: Also an unusual and possibly broken CSV. 000 values are uncommon (they are usually just 0), and the " (or <nowiki>''</nowiki>) may be used for quoting. There is no way to tell how it will parse as CSV is not a well defined format. There is a standard, RFC 4180, but it is not always followed. [[Special:Contributions/90.73.80.27|90.73.80.27]] 18:03, 13 June 2025 (UTC)
: could be CSFWV = comma-separated-and-fixed-width-values where the values are also 0-padded so that it works in both their CSV parsers and their fixed-width parsers for compatibility. [[Special:Contributions/74.202.210.170|74.202.210.170]] 19:19, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

Remember, kids: always end your strings with a NUL [[Special:Contributions/93.36.184.28|93.36.184.28]] 15:56, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

By my reckoning, if you set a 78RPM record playing, and waited for it to have spun the amount of arcseconds specified (by that point in the "number", you'd be waiting a tad over 7 ''billion'' times the current age of the universe. I might have erred by a magnifude or three (forgot if I divided number of days down to get number of years, etc, and I much prefer to work with Long Scale billions, so maybe I did it slightly wrong when working with the inferior kind), but... Well, it doesn't really matter ''quite'' so much, I suspect. ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.216|82.132.246.216]] 17:11, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

I remember, years ago, seeing calculators using single quotes as thousands-separators. But never a double-quote. Interestingly, the C++ standard (as of the 2014 release) permits single-quote characters as an arbitrary digit separator for numeric literals. They are ignored by the compiler, but can be useful for making code more readable (e.g. every 3 decimal digits or every 4 hex digits). See also https://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/integer_literal.html. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 19:02, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

Apart from the quotation mark, this still matches [my hex number regex](https://stackoverflow.com/a/76696505/6743127). [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 19:22, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

Oooh, looks like an IPv9 address, but they're using ',' instead of '🕴️' to separate triplets for some reason. The clusters with an extra leading 0 indicate that they're in octal instead of base64. -- [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 21:26, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

Randall, how in tarnations did you find out my password? 08:38, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

If you turn #c2ef46 into a color https://www.perbang.dk/rgb/c2ef46/, it's a brilliant lime green. [[User:Dogman15|Dogman15]] ([[User talk:Dogman15|talk]]) 10:05, 14 June 2025 (UTC)
: If you add the decimal representation of the RGB color, you get 503 - awfully close to 504.[[User:Lopped|Lopped]] ([[User talk:Lopped|talk]]) 14:38, 15 June 2025 (UTC)
: Does that mean this is a brat number? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:57, 16 June 2025 (UTC)
: The RGB is meaningless in this case as it's #'''00'''c2ef46 meaning that it's fully transparent. [[Special:Contributions/2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:51CF:BA7C:200D:2C3F|2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:51CF:BA7C:200D:2C3F]] 17:52, 16 June 2025 (UTC)
::No, according to web standards, #00c2ef46 is rgba(0,194,239,70), meaning 70/255 (= 14/51, c. 27.5%) opacity, so not "fully transparent". [[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493|2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493]] 21:05, 25 December 2025 (UTC)
Wait, why does the table jump straight from billions to quadrillions? Where's trillions? Is this an error or one of those UK-vs-US-billion situations? [[Special:Contributions/185.231.139.156|185.231.139.156]] 18:34, 14 June 2025 (UTC)
: Oh! It's because the comic doesn't comment on the 'trillions' comma. I get it now. It's 'cause I'm dumb. [[Special:Contributions/185.231.139.156|185.231.139.156]] 18:37, 14 June 2025 (UTC)
:: LOL, nice recovery! [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 16:05, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

I always start at the right and work to the left. So then when I actually start reciting what the number is, I know if it's quintillions – or whatever – that I'm dealing with. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 11:01, 15 June 2025 (UTC)
:People always read numbers RTL. Just check yourself. {{unsigned ip|185.7.43.114|14:25, 16 June 2025 (UTC)}}

Seems to me that the table format is appropriate, given the three kinds of info (number group, comic's comment, explanation). But I don't think it makes sense to have the table sortable. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 17:04, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

:That's interesting, the sorting is the only reason I could come up with for using a table instead of a list. A table is much less accessible than a list, doesn't work on phones, is harder to maintain, and I don't think it's needed here. I just converted a random table in the latest comic that was just NUMBER - RANDALL'S TEXT - EXPLANATION. I just don't see why this wiki is in love with tables. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 20:53, 16 June 2025 (UTC)
::The table format nicely organizes and separates the three data elements for each item. If it was just "item" and "explanation", I'd agree that the list format would be better. But for three elements, the only list setup I can think of that would make any sense would be "number group" (bold) and then two bulleted lines for the comic's comment and the explanation... considerably less clear, I think.
::The table is a lot more work to set up than the list would be, but I don't see it as being particularly more difficult to maintain. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 22:17, 18 June 2025 (UTC)
:::Sure, i guess in this case it's fine. I removed the notice. --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 09:01, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

It's worth noting that all the weirdness added together, there would actually be a valid scenario for this number... it possibly being an angle, the high levels of precision, the value being larger than the observable universe, hexadecimal notation after the angle notation (if we assume afterwards is a unit notated by a memory address indicating a programmatically-invented unit in a system with an extended form of memory addresses, possibly 3 sets of 4... which might be a neccesarry alteration if attempted to calculate nonobservable universe properties, but that would imply there is a missing number off panel) could be consistent with trying to mathematically explore possibilities for the shape & topology of the unobservable universe. However, directly storing memory access locations rather than references with a number implies a necessity of extreme speed over readability of code... and the concept of a situation where extreme speed in calculating the topography of the nonobservable universe is of the utmost importance is a concerning situation indeed.
[[Special:Contributions/2601:600:CB00:2080:BF41:F9D:5B90:8849|2601:600:CB00:2080:BF41:F9D:5B90:8849]] 22:51, 20 June 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3120: Geologic Periods

2025-12-25T20:49:41Z

2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493:

Discovered this explanation fresh off the griddle. The transcript doesn't even exist yet wow. Also, hi! This is my first time commenting! Did I do it right? [[User:Giraffequeries|Giraffequeries]] ([[User talk:Giraffequeries|talk]]) 22:54, 25 July 2025 (UTC)
:(Yes, looks like you did.)
:A couple of hours on, and nobody's attempted the Transcript yet. If you're still around right now-ish and you've got more time than everyone elses seems to have (including me, sorry), that could be your next thing.
:Check prior Transcripts for the right kind of way (and a few wrongs, but hey?), and imagine the words+'markup' being read through the hypothetical screen-readers. That might not know how to 'audible' a table, may at best shout/stress '''bold-strong'''/''italics-emphasis'', but perhaps not correctly.
:But just getting the words down helps the next soul with a few more minutes at hand. Any normal weekend, I'd be happy to do it right now, but I've got to be up in five hours, and I mildly regret just checking right now to see if I might have missed the latest comic popping up when it was a bit earlier and I was prepping my weekend bags. :) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.123|82.132.236.123]] 01:49, 26 July 2025 (UTC)
:Darn, forgot to say my intended actual personal comment I was just going to add. i.e.: Looks like Randall hasn't forgotten about Raptors! Anyway, goodnight/early-morning (my time).... [[Special:Contributions/82.132.236.123|82.132.236.123]] 01:53, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

I've done my part. Also, Raptors [[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 02:20, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

Did anyone else google "The Great Dying"? How about "Manicouagan"? How about "Picture of a dinosaur eating a burrito" (just to prove Randall wrong)?
: Ask and you shall receive (shitty AI pic made in five seconds): https://imgur.com/a/4lVKoqD [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:1972:32FB:7958:52D3|2A02:2455:1960:4000:1972:32FB:7958:52D3]] 18:30, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

Who wrote this? Tanystropheus wasn't a dinosaur!
[[Special:Contributions/70.115.234.146|70.115.234.146]] 03:28, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

Given that this wiki doesn't really like tables, and this one is formatted rather simply, maybe we should just transfer its content to the transcript and retain only explanations in the main part, as separate paragraphs? [[User:Cock|The Rooster]] ([[User talk:Cock|talk]]) 08:41, 26 July 2025 (UTC)
:What are you talking about. This wiki loves tables! And it is used extensively. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:07, 28 July 2025 (UTC)

Yeah I'm not sure what to do for transcript, comic 2627 is in similar style but not sure if we necessarily want it like that.--[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 09:18, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

Just a small explanation to the Quarternary/Tertiary naming issue because this has become rather obscure and is seldomly spelled out in newer geology textbooks: When the first geologists came up with a table of geologic epochs it consisted of four parts: "Primary", "Secondary", "Tertiary" and "Quarternary". Only the last two names have survived into our time, because the first two parts became split up into the systems that we still use today rather quickly. This is also the main reason that most stratigraphers want to get rid of the terms Tertiary and Quarternary and why Paleogene/Neogene were invented instead. [[Special:Contributions/2003:DD:472A:5500:35F8:1CD8:D274:E286|2003:DD:472A:5500:35F8:1CD8:D274:E286]] 14:46, 26 July 2025 (UTC)

Burrito? Surely not, everyone knows its "soft toilet tissue"
[[Special:Contributions/2A00:23C8:252D:A301:B573:A9F2:E80C:711B|2A00:23C8:252D:A301:B573:A9F2:E80C:711B]] 10:08, 27 July 2025 (UTC)

I don't know why he doesn't like the Zanclean flood. It would have been a spectacular sight had anyone been around to see it.[[Special:Contributions/2A02:8388:1701:E100:60D1:5BC3:D420:5528|2A02:8388:1701:E100:60D1:5BC3:D420:5528]] 16:44, 27 July 2025 (UTC)

Should the explanation of the Zanclean flood have some sort of reference to [[1190: Time]]? [[User:Morgan Wick|Morgan Wick]] ([[User talk:Morgan Wick|talk]]) 00:38, 28 July 2025 (UTC)
:That would be obvious and could explain his dislike mentioned above. Lots of animals would have died during this event. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:07, 28 July 2025 (UTC)

I have deleted my previous comment, as it was in response to text in the Explanation that no longer exists. [[User:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For]] ([[User talk:These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For|talk]]) 03:00, 30 July 2025 (UTC)

Randall is wrong - parisitoid wasps are ''very'' cool. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:14, 28 July 2025 (UTC)

The Quaternary is obviously so called because it's the period of Quatermass. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:46, 28 July 2025 (UTC)

If y'all disagree with my docutainment interpretation, feel free to erase it again of course, but the common denominator in Randall's table here really ''is'' each period's entertainment value as a focal point. Also, I'd like to add that it's not a bad thing at all for a documentary to be entertaining; quite the opposite. For example, I might never have studied geography if it wasn't for films about interesting foreign places and cool-looking books about volcanoes and dinosaurs and weather, all of which I devoured in my childhood. [[User:PaulEberhardt|PaulEberhardt]] ([[User talk:PaulEberhardt|talk]]) 20:54, 28 July 2025 (UTC)

: Whatever the inspiration, Randall has been using the table as a comic device for a powerful long time, see the category Charts on this wiki, and i.a. the comics 181: Interblag (20061108) and 394: Kilobyte (20080310). [[Special:Contributions/2605:59C8:160:DB08:8552:7338:3C0A:5AFC|2605:59C8:160:DB08:8552:7338:3C0A:5AFC]] 06:34, 29 July 2025 (UTC)

And thus Velociraptors return after (according to the velociraptor category) 12 years of silence, all hail the great Deinonychus! [[User:Xkcdjerry|Xkcdjerry]] ([[User talk:Xkcdjerry|talk]]) 12:13, 20 August 2025 (UTC)

Isn't the Quaternary also called "Anthropocene"? It's a really anthropocentric name, but the definition of the period is "since the advent of man". You can't get more anthropocentric than the Quaternary, or Anthropocene! {{unsigned|2a04:cec0:1207:653f:1ce3:a4ff:feb2:a5fe|16:31, 22 August 2025}}
:The Quaternary is a geologic period, from 2.58 million years ago to the present. The Anthropocene has been proposed (but never yet officially adopted) as an ''epoch'' being from various points 'post-Holocene' (an epoch that started after the start of the greater quaternary ''period''), the change-over being as late as the Trinity nuclear test (as the moment at which technogenic radionuclides started to be added to the environment). We are currently in the quaternary period ''and'' the subordinate epoch of your choice. Either still the holocene, or maybe at some point (best left to be argued with far more hindsight, presuming anyone cares to) we entered the anthropocene...
:Or, by the time anyone can be sure, they will be far more sure that every anthropocentric idea of dividing up geologic time is critically wrong and there's a much better alternative method of dividing it all up, with completely different names. ;) 20:44, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm not sure how widespread this is, but in older Czech literature at least, "Primary" is used to refer to the Paleozoic (Cambrian → Permian), "Secondary" to the Mesozoic (Triassic → Cretaceous), "Tertiary" to Paleogene and Neogene (Paleocene → Pliocene), "Quaternary" to, well, the Quaternary period (Pleistocene → Holocene). [[Special:Contributions/31.30.164.107|31.30.164.107]] 21:45, 2 September 2025 (UTC)
:"Tertiary" and "Quaternary" are very widespread as of 20:49, 25 December 2025 (UTC), actually, but different languages used different ways to name the Phanerozoic's eras, and some even extended their era naming backwards. [[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493|2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493]] 20:49, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3112: Geology Murder

2025-12-25T20:07:34Z

2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493: hæms

Is it just me, or is xkcd.com being non-responsive? Obviously, it has been successfully grabbed from by the BOT, and I even checked a few "is it down" sites... which say that it's up. But I'm getting nothing back but spinny cursors, going to either xkcd.com or any xkcd.com/<number> ...with no other reason to believe that 'it ''is'' just me', like other clearly running places also not being reachable in my own case. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:09, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
:It worked fine for me on the first attempt, so I guess it's just you. But when I was submitting the transcript here I got a "make sure you're logged in" error. Resubmitting (without having to re-login) worked. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:25, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
:And I got the same error when first submitting the above comment. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:25, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
:The transcript silently corrects the spelling error (?) in uncomformably. [[Special:Contributions/208.82.100.219|208.82.100.219]] 21:00, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
::The transcript has been fixed, and it was not a spelling error - it's a geology word. [[Special:Contributions/208.82.100.219|208.82.100.219]] 03:52, 8 July 2025 (UTC)
:It's been intermittently non-responsive and/or landing on error pages for over a month. Speculation ranges from issues with the server to issues with the content-delivery-network (CloudFlare), to a deliberate attack, to AI-scraping bots, to an iron-rich penetration from an alternate universe (just added that one to the list), and probably more. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 21:07, 7 July 2025 (UTC) [Update: I meant explainxkcd is intermittently non-responsive. xkcd seems as responsive as the rest of the web lately. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 16:08, 8 July 2025 (UTC)]
::Unless you mean explainxkcd.com (which I know is suffering, in those ways, but for longer), I actually haven't seen xkcd.com itself be like this. Recently or otherwise. Anyway, still not working for me, still ''is'' working for the "is it down" sites. Nor have I got anything strangely redirecting in my <code>hosts</code> file, etc. Also can ping (www.)xkcd.com perfectly happily, tracert gives no particular surprises (e.g. signs of being inconsistently MITMed), and I seem to get 100% connectivity with a ''different'' device at the same time as 0% with this one. So, it looks like "it's just me" in a weird way that ...I shall have to spend some personal time/effort getting a rational explanation for. Hmmm. [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 22:06, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
::: >''"100% connectivity with a different device at the same time as 0% with this one."'' This month, Cloudflare has been snooty, just at my favorite desktop. And on several sites, from APnews to odd hobby sites. All my newer laptops get in fine. I think Cloudflare is complaining about my aging O/S, which is silly ('''I''' am gonna infect '''them'''??) However I usually get the same robot-check, not a stall or spinner.
:I haven't noticed xkcd.com being non-responsive but I have noticed ''this'' site non-responsive from time-to-time. [[Special:Contributions/47.248.235.170|47.248.235.170]] 22:05, 7 July 2025 (UTC)Pat

Hmm. If material from the banded iron formations was mixed with coal, and subjected to the heat and pressure that create metamorphic rock, would iron be created? There would still be the problem of keeping it free of ground water so it didn't go back to iron oxides. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:48, 8 July 2025 (UTC)

Honestly, it feels like the level of evidence and rigor for a lot of evolutionary theory is about on par with the title text. Though I doubt that that was Randall's intent. [[Special:Contributions/2001:8003:6490:9700:66ED:199B:93A7:45ED|2001:8003:6490:9700:66ED:199B:93A7:45ED]] 06:43, 8 July 2025 (UTC)

Haemoglobin is not particularly iron-rich - it contains a single atom of iron. Blood is iron-rich because it contains a lot of haemoglobin. [[Special:Contributions/148.64.15.78|148.64.15.78]] 07:54, 8 July 2025 (UTC)
:Each {{w|Heme}} group has a single iron, but there are multiple hemes(/haemes/hæmes) in a full hemoglobin(/haemoglobin/hæmoglobin) protein structure. (Yes, vastly outnumbered by the rest of the carbons, etc, but still not a singular iron.) [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:50, 8 July 2025 (UTC)
:: The Earths crust is about 5% iron by mass. To a geologist "iron rich" would normally be somewhat over that, say 15%. In comparison the human body is below 0.01% iron (4g/50kg) and blood is perhaps 0.1% iron. Not sure if a geologist would be impressed that blood is perhaps 10 times the concentration of the surroundings, or so depleted compared to most of the materials they study.[[Special:Contributions/76.180.44.2|76.180.44.2]] 18:30, 12 July 2025 (UTC)
::…/haems/hæms ("hæm" meaning "heme" occurs as early as 1909 but English studies and book chapters with this form exist even in the 2015 stratum, and two 2025 preprints even have "hæm group"; "haem" is found in several English texts of 2024 and 2025). [[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493|2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493]] 20:07, 25 December 2025 (UTC)
Would it be worth pointing out that geologist are unlikely to act with the urgency required by a murder investigation?[[Special:Contributions/2602:FF4D:128:D56:11B8:2B25:5D50:F4D5|2602:FF4D:128:D56:11B8:2B25:5D50:F4D5]] 23:56, 8 July 2025 (UTC)
:They'll get there eventually. Implacably. Leaving no stone unturned. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 04:32, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

Where does the part about "pipes carrying iron-rich fluid" come from? I don't see that in the comic or title text or transcript. [[User:Bmwiedemann|Bmwiedemann]] ([[User talk:Bmwiedemann|talk]]) 06:40, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
: Check the title text on the comic: "After determining that his body was full of pipes carrying iron-rich fluid, our current theory is that the dagger-shaped object precipitated within the wound." [[Special:Contributions/163.116.145.31|163.116.145.31]] 14:20, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
:They are blood vessels. [[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493|2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493]] 20:07, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

Talk:994: Advent Calendar

2025-12-25T19:51:26Z

2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493:

To me this is a lesson in moderation, too much chocolate is not only a problem on x-mas, but also on Halloween. If we don't learn moderation, we will wake up on 25th with huge belly and type-1 diabetes. Enjoy responsibly (which is true for every good thing and state altering drugs). - e-inspired [[Special:Contributions/98.211.199.84|98.211.199.84]] 15:42, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:I'll have you know that type 1 diabetes has nothing to do with sugar overdose, since it's mostly an autoimmune disease. Type 2 diabetes is the fatty's version, whose only connection to type 1 is the symptoms (and sometimes the treatment [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.212|141.101.98.212]] 05:42, 20 January 2014 (UTC)
:You mean type-2 [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 12:23, 12 May 2021 (UTC)
:AAAHH!! Stop being an idiot! Type 1 diabetes... what they said. I have type 1!! Stop accusing me of making myself diabetic!!! {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.73}}
:Actually:
:*The chocolates would have an infinite total mass unless the mass of chocolate per window decreases faster than 1/(n ln n). If there is too much chocolate, it would turn one into a star or even a stellar remnant like a black hole. On the 25th, the latter would be infinite if the calendar were continuing indefinitely.
:*Even if the total mass is finite (due to the mass of chocolate decreasing by window or the calendar ending on the 162nd window), if it is too large, the diabetes would indeed be type 2, not type 1.
:[[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493|2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493]] 19:50, 25 December 2025 (UTC)
I'm glad that isn't what this is for me. [[Special:Contributions/81.135.136.159|81.135.136.159]] 10:42, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

I think the humor is too about the way most people find difficult to wait for the next day before eating the chocolate...--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.203|141.101.89.203]] 14:49, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

Advent then is the opposite of lent, when one gives up, say, chocolate {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.167}}

I don't get why people think Zeno's paradox is interesting as it relies on the stupid notion that objects somehow move by halving the distance between one and the other rather than moving in discrete amounts of distance over time. I hope Zeno got punched for being so dumb at least once in his lifetime. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 05:10, 12 January 2016 (UTC)
:No historical record left about whether he got punched about it. [[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493|2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493]] 19:51, 25 December 2025 (UTC)
It's interesting because it's not really a paradox. Of course they knew that the runner will get to his destination in finite time. The whole point was that it's absurd to claim otherwise. The reason it gets repeated so often is that, any philosophical arguments aside, it's a good story to explain that an infinite sum has a finite solution. Sigma(n=0->inf,1/(2^n))=2. 15:30, 29 October 2018 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|172.68.189.19}}

Makes me think of Thomson's Lamp. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.221|108.162.238.221]] 14:10, 15 September 2019 (UTC)

I thought this was talking about Scientology. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.24|172.68.143.24]] 18:41, 12 December 2019 (UTC)

We can hypothesise that there may be earlier doors: since there is a day between the 23rd and 24th, these would be opened 2/4/8... days apart. These would be opened on the 21st, 17th, 9th of December, 23rd Nov, 22nd Oct, 19th Aug and 13th April. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.224|162.158.38.224]] 15:33, 8 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:994: Advent Calendar

2025-12-25T19:50:01Z

2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493:

To me this is a lesson in moderation, too much chocolate is not only a problem on x-mas, but also on Halloween. If we don't learn moderation, we will wake up on 25th with huge belly and type-1 diabetes. Enjoy responsibly (which is true for every good thing and state altering drugs). - e-inspired [[Special:Contributions/98.211.199.84|98.211.199.84]] 15:42, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
:I'll have you know that type 1 diabetes has nothing to do with sugar overdose, since it's mostly an autoimmune disease. Type 2 diabetes is the fatty's version, whose only connection to type 1 is the symptoms (and sometimes the treatment [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.212|141.101.98.212]] 05:42, 20 January 2014 (UTC)
:You mean type-2 [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 12:23, 12 May 2021 (UTC)
:AAAHH!! Stop being an idiot! Type 1 diabetes... what they said. I have type 1!! Stop accusing me of making myself diabetic!!! {{unsigned ip|173.245.55.73}}
:Actually:
:*The chocolates would have an infinite total mass unless the mass of chocolate per window decreases faster than n ln n. If there is too much chocolate, it would turn one into a star or even a stellar remnant like a black hole. On the 25th, the latter would be infinite if the calendar were continuing indefinitely.
:*Even if the total mass is finite (due to the mass of chocolate decreasing by window or the calendar ending on the 162nd window), if it is too large, the diabetes would indeed be type 2, not type 1.
:[[Special:Contributions/2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493|2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493]] 19:50, 25 December 2025 (UTC)
I'm glad that isn't what this is for me. [[Special:Contributions/81.135.136.159|81.135.136.159]] 10:42, 9 October 2013 (UTC)

I think the humor is too about the way most people find difficult to wait for the next day before eating the chocolate...--[[Special:Contributions/141.101.89.203|141.101.89.203]] 14:49, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

Advent then is the opposite of lent, when one gives up, say, chocolate {{unsigned ip|173.245.54.167}}

I don't get why people think Zeno's paradox is interesting as it relies on the stupid notion that objects somehow move by halving the distance between one and the other rather than moving in discrete amounts of distance over time. I hope Zeno got punched for being so dumb at least once in his lifetime. -Pennpenn [[Special:Contributions/108.162.250.162|108.162.250.162]] 05:10, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

It's interesting because it's not really a paradox. Of course they knew that the runner will get to his destination in finite time. The whole point was that it's absurd to claim otherwise. The reason it gets repeated so often is that, any philosophical arguments aside, it's a good story to explain that an infinite sum has a finite solution. Sigma(n=0->inf,1/(2^n))=2. 15:30, 29 October 2018 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|172.68.189.19}}

Makes me think of Thomson's Lamp. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.221|108.162.238.221]] 14:10, 15 September 2019 (UTC)

I thought this was talking about Scientology. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.143.24|172.68.143.24]] 18:41, 12 December 2019 (UTC)

We can hypothesise that there may be earlier doors: since there is a day between the 23rd and 24th, these would be opened 2/4/8... days apart. These would be opened on the 21st, 17th, 9th of December, 23rd Nov, 22nd Oct, 19th Aug and 13th April. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.38.224|162.158.38.224]] 15:33, 8 January 2025 (UTC)

2895: Treasure Chests

2025-12-25T19:40:03Z

2001:4C4E:1C11:B800:1C50:1599:69DC:1493: /* Explanation */ sup instead of ^

{{comic
| number = 2895
| date = February 16, 2024
| title = Treasure Chests
| image = treasure_chests_2x.png
| imagesize = 287x488px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [earlier] "Your vintage-style handmade chest business is struggling. But I have a plan."
}}

==Explanation==
This comic features [[Black Hat]] proposing a way to create significant business for a "lawn care company", for which the comic narrator has an attachment (perhaps owner or employee), albeit in an extremely unethical and possibly illegal manner which is very much congruent with Black Hat's character of being a '[[classhole]]'.

His plan is to create the conditions for a large number of lawns all over a certain town to be dug out by random members of the public, via the motivation of a large potential reward for digging up a lawn (in this case, a chest with $1,000 in the form of silver and gold coins). By filming the burials in such a way that the subsequently posted videos are tantalizingly open to many interpretations as to where they actually were, and then waiting a year to let time obscure any obvious signs of disturbed earth and digging, he encourages feverish speculation among treasure-hunters about the location of the chests, and an incentive to dig up lawns more or less at random, with or without permission.

It is also possible that waiting a year leaves time for one or more chests to have been discovered prior to the 'start' of the deliberate competition to find them. So long as all three weren't (publicly) discovered, it leaves open the possibility that those competing to find the 'unfound' chests will continue with their efforts to find what is now unfindable, prolonging the exercise beyond the point at which all chests could be known to be discovered and that there are no more chances to gain their riches. Indeed, there is nothing to stop Black Hat from simply digging the chests back up once the videos have been filmed, so that he is not out $3000 and there is nothing to find, prolonging the search indefinitely.

The many homeowners who soon find themselves with ruined lawns would then proceed to contact the lawn care company in order to fix the broken lawns, thus making the business lots of money. For the maximum initial expenditure of $3000 (plus the cost of the containers, and other trivial overheads), a need for significant remediation work will be generated. According to the caption below the panel, the proposal set out by Black Hat turns out to be VERY profitable and EXTREMELY effective. It would be cheaper than most other forms of effective advertisement, such as {{w|Flyer (pamphlet)#Distribution and use|mass-flyering the catchment area}} or buying advertising time/space in traditional media, whilst being much more penetrating and focused than any but the most sophisticated (and expensive) forms of online advertising. As long as the 'competition' isn't actually linked to the lawn-care businesss, it also has the advantage that it can create a near maximum potential demand for the service without risking {{w|media fatigue}} and perhaps aversion to the product being advertised. There is no indication that this will be ever be promoted as the company's very own competition, which would probably actively drive the numerous victims of the scheme to find (or found!) rival businesses, not to mention risk the instigation of claims for recompense through civil liability.

The title text shows how Black Hat, before sharing his proposal in this comic, saw a struggling business that made vintage-style handmade chests and cooked up the lawn care plan as a way to boost their sales by generating demand for chests from the lawn company. Sales of three chests doesn't seem a significant uplift for the chest company, which potentially implies that Black Hat has pushed his treasure hunt scheme to multiple lawn care companies, perhaps each in a different town, each buying three chests. One can only speculate about what other companies he may have enticed to take part in this {{tvtropes|ChainOfDeals|chain of deals}}, at each point being paid for the pleasure (and keeping the accumulated proceeds), leaving arbitrary amounts of disruption in his wake.

As of the time of posting, [https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/silver-price/ silver prices] were roughly $23 per ounce / $8 per cm3, and [https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/gold-price/ gold prices] were roughly $2000 per ounce / $1250 per cm3. This means that even the fairly small chest Black Hat has procured, which appears to be around 4 litres, would be very empty if holding $1000 in pure gold or silver coins. Accounting for space between coins, a $1000 chest entirely containing silver coins would be only be filled between 1/8-1/4 liter / 1/2-1 cup, whereas $1000 would only constitute a single medium/large gold coin or a few small ones. However, 'gold' and 'silver' coins may simply refer to higher value coins made either partially from gold and silver, or from some other alloys that give gold and silver colourings. The value might also be based on the face value of gold and silver coins that differ from the market value based on the metal content, or Black Hat might be using another dollar currency rather than the US dollar. If using U.S. currency, he probably filled it with {{w|Dollar_coin_(United_States)|dollar coins}}, which currently exist in both gold (the "Sacagawea dollar", the "Native American series", and the "Presidential dollar") and silver (the "American Silver Eagle", the "Susan B. Anthony dollar", the "Morgan" and "Peace" dollars, and the extra-large "Eisenhower dollar") colorations. 1,000 dollar coins would nicely fill a small chest and look impressive enough.

==Transcript==
:[Black Hat is holding a treasure chest in one hand and pointing with a stick to a poster that features a shovel at the top, three circled X's below it, and five question marks around them.]
:Black Hat: First, I'll fill three of these chests with $1,000 each in small silver and gold coins, and take videos of them being buried in unidentified lawns around town.
:Black Hat: Next year, I post the videos.
:Black Hat: Then we sit back and let the local kids do the rest.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:The proposal for creating business for our lawn care company was unorthodox but ''extremely'' effective.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]