explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3197: Cost Savings

2026-03-03T13:13:22Z

2603:8080:D0F0:150:C06B:6101:A1D3:1F82: Transcript looks good, removed incomplete transcript notice.

{{comic
| number = 3197
| date = January 21, 2026
| title = Cost Savings
| image = cost_savings_2x.png
| imagesize = 303x461px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Unfortunately, my scheme to trick NASA has now taken over a decade longer than planned and has run way over budget.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic depicts a ridiculous scheme, concocted by [[Cueball]], to dupe various representatives at NASA into doing a menial task for him. Specifically, he wants them to build an ordinary shed in his yard. The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) is not associated with {{w|Spruce Goose|hobbyist carpentry}} and certainly cannot be conventionally ordered to build a shed on a needy citizen's property.{{Citation needed}} Thus, Cueball tries to circumvent the expected barriers to this outcome by masking his true intentions with a long-winded cost-cutting presentation about a proposed satellite launch. Initially, it appears he is suggesting various ways to mitigate the cost/hassle of launching a satellite into orbit. This starts with a lower orbit, which requires less fuel to reach and can bring significant savings per the rocketry equation. Lower orbits can bring challenges due to satellite crowding and (in the extreme case) atmospheric drag.

Cueball then suggests replacing the satellite with an "aerial platform" (most likely a plane that flies around with the equipment, but weather balloons, blimps, or even helicopters might count). While any atmospheric flight will require some recurring effort to steer and/or repeatedly launch the vehicle, this can cost less than a space launch and communication infrastructure needed to manage a satellite. The trade-off is that an aerial platform cannot stay up for years, like a satellite, and cannot see as much of the surface at a given time.

Cueball then suggest reducing the monitoring payload by moving some equipment to a ground location that receives data from the mobile equipment. Such a change might allow the platform to be a drone or balloon, either of which could go further with less weight. Cueball's last, unfinished sentence might be continued as "Additional savings could be achieved by reusing available property instead of buying land. In fact, I have identified a property with room for a structure which would not require any expense apart from construction." Depending on Cueball's level of focus on cost reduction, the end of this reasoning might even lead to "Ditch the satellite idea and just build a shed in my yard".

The title text expands on this theme by implying that Cueball has been attempting this scheme (which may have required extensive effort and connections for the NASA project team to even hear the initial red-herring proposal) for long enough that it mirrors the setbacks a team would experience if they were actually intending to send a satellite into orbit. The {{w|Timeline of the James Webb Space Telescope|James Webb Telescope}} is one such mission which was very delayed, as already mentioned in prior comics, notably [[2014: JWST Delays]].

By taking "over a decade longer than planned", the actual time taken to (not yet) achieve his goal is far longer than would normally be expected to just build a shed without NASA's complicity, perhaps barring some particularly intransigent {{w|Zoning in the United States|zoning laws}}. The actual delay is unknown, but must have been significant. Likewise, the personal costs incurred by Cueball (at a minimum, time and travel) have probably far exceeded what most sheds (and their construction) require, even if the end-goal is a 'free' shed, paid for entirely by NASA.

And this is only during the period that NASA ''hasn't'' signed up for the project, having probably committed no more than an hour or three of meeting time for its review board. There is a saying that "if you buy a hammer it costs 6 dollars, but if the US government buys a hammer it costs 600 dollars", highlighting the implied costs of extensive bureaucracy. If NASA was ever interested enough to assign a budget, it would presumably be delayed by steps such as shed design, environmental review, contractor selection and team reallocation, sending the construction costs and timetable even further off.

==Transcript==

:[Cueball is standing in front of a framed graph on a wall, pointing at it with a short stick. The graph is a bar graph with steadily decreasing bar heights. Hairy and Megan, seated, are looking on from behind a desk.]
:Cueball: By lowering the planned satellite orbit, we can reduce the size of the launch vehicle required.
:Cueball: We can reduce costs further by eliminating the satellite entirely in favor of an aerial platform.
:Cueball: Some equipment could be moved to a ground-based facility, reducing required aircraft time.
:Cueball: Additional savings could be...

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I'm trying to get NASA to build a shed in my backyard.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Space]]

3191: Superstition

2026-03-03T13:06:53Z

2603:8080:D0F0:150:C06B:6101:A1D3:1F82: Removed incomplete transcript notice.

{{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==

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 what a superstition is, [[Cueball]] replies that they're "a way to train yourself to feel like any bad thing that happens is your fault". This suggests that, not only does [[Cueball]] not actually believe in the power of superstitions, but sees them as psychologically harmful. After all, believing that bad fortune can be prevented by taking certain actions implies that any bad outcome might have been prevented if you'd taken the right actions. Logically, of course, there's no connection between taking superstitious actions and bad things (or for that matter, good things) that subsequently happen, but superstitions condition us to believe that there is a connection. What's worse, there are so many different superstitions, across so many different cultures, that even keeping track of them, let alone following all of them, is wildly unrealistic, so there's always something you did, or failed to do, on which you can blame any bad outcome. The danger is that a person might personally blame themselves for things that they had no actual control over at all.

The title text refers to the {{w|Spider-Man}} mythology, in which (in most versions) Peter Parker's "{{w|Uncle Ben}}" famously tells him that "with great power comes great responsibility". Peter initially fails to take this lesson to heart, as he receives his superpowers but fails to stop a criminal when he has the chance, and his Uncle Ben dies as a result. This experience then leads to his determination to use his powers to help others, and Uncle Ben's advice becomes something of a mantra for him thereafter.

This text flips that message, claiming that Uncle Ben instead told him that "with responsibility comes great power". This inverts the actual lesson, and suggests that, by simply taking responsibility (even for things over which you have no control), you'll gain power over the outcomes. This is a pretty good summary of what superstitions teach, but can't really be justified rationally. Nonetheless, Cueball appears to believe this lesson, claiming that his uncle died after he failed to say "rabbit rabbit", and implied that [[552: Correlation|the death, therefore, could have been prevented if he'd followed the superstition.]] In this version of the story, it's not clear whether Peter actually had no opportunity to prevent his uncle's death, and is effectively looking for ways to blame himself, or whether he ''could'' have taken real action, but chooses to focus on superstition, rather than ways in which he could have made a real difference.

==Transcript==

:[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

2026-03-03T13:02:20Z

2603:8080:D0F0:150:C06B:6101:A1D3:1F82: Removed incomplete transcript notice.

{{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.}}

{{w|Tensegrity}} structures are structures that are suspended using a combination of rigid and compressional components, usually a series of rods and cords that give the illusion of a floating object held down by the cords, which subverts people's expectations about what is physically possible. [[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 which use tensegrity in their anatomy, naming the (fictional) "Buckminster's Giraffe" as an example. The panel shows the legs of the {{w|giraffe}} using a structure similar to that of a tensegrity table. Some people consider the giraffe to be an example of a body form that appears to defy their expectations of biophysical laws because of their unusually long legs and neck as compared to the body.

[https://www.physio-pedia.com/Biotensegrity Biotensegrity] does study the role that tensegrity plays in living organisms, such as plants and animals. However, this is at cellular level, rather than the macroscopic level shown in the comic.

The title text points out that it can be argued that humans (and other vertebrates) use tensegrity in our anatomy, since we're held up by the combination of compression in our bones and tension in our muscles. Randall, however, argues that this misses the "defining characteristic" of a tensegrity structure, which is that the mechanism support isn't immediately obvious, causing the structure to appear as though it is "floating" to a casual or uninformed observer (and making them wonder ''how'' it is floating until they learn about or self-construe the nature of tensegrity). Humans, thanks to our skin and other various layers, outwardly look like a single solid structure, making the tensional forces less obvious and less impressive.

==Transcript==

:[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.

==Trivia==
*While this comic was up the [[header text]] changed back to the [[Header_text#2025-01-07_-_Back_to_standard_text|standard header text]] for the first time in 4 years.
**It was also the first time in more than 13 months that the header text changed at all, with the previous change occurring on [[Header_text#2024-12-05_-_Special_10th_anniversary_edition_of_WHAT_IF.3F_-_order|2024-12-05]].
**There had thus been promotion for the new Special 10th anniversary edition of WHAT IF? for more than 1.5 years, and for [[what if? (blog)|what if?]] in general for more than 4 years.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

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