explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2302: 2020 Google Trends

2020-05-04T23:57:42Z

Avi m: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2302
| date = May 5, 2020
| title = 2020 Google Trends
| image = 2020_google_trends.png
| titletext = As the 'exotic animals in homemade aprons hosting baking shows' YouTube craze reached its peak in March 2020, Andrew Cuomo announced he was replacing the Statue of Liberty with a bronze pangolin in a chef's hat.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BRONZE PANGOLIN STATUE. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is another comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] related to the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}, which causes {{w|COVID-19}}.

Randall wants to go back in time to show a 2019 person a Google Trends graph. The coronavirus has massively impacted everyone's lives and what they search for. This graph shows how people have been impacted, albeit in an awful representation.

All of these trends are attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
* "Sewing machine" refers to people making their own {{w|cloth face mask}}s.
* "Webcam" refers to the massive increase in virtual meetings and video conferencing.
* "{{w|Andrew Cuomo}}" is the governor of {{w|New York (state)|New York}}, the state hit hardest by the pandemic in the United States.
* "Flour" refers to an increase in baking due to people staying at home. This is also referred to in [[2296: Sourdough Starter]]. The little lump at the end of November and December can probably be attributed to people baking for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
* A {{w|pangolin}} is a mammal found in Africa and Asia. This search term refers to the claim that the virus originated in wild animals sold in {{w|wet market}}s in {{w|Wuhan}}, China.

The title text is a possible "guess" by the 2019 person for these search terms having an increase together: a YouTube craze of exotic animals (which includes pangolins) in homemade aprons hosting baking shows which leads to a response by New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A line chart plotting the popularity of various search terms from May 2019 through April 2020: sewing machine (blue line), webcam (red), Andrew Cuomo (yellow), flour (green), and pangolin (purple). The yellow line starts at the bottom of the chart, and rises about halfway up at the end of March 2020 before decaying to about 20 percent by the end of April. The purple line starts at the bottom of the chart, and has a small lump in February 2020 and a slightly bigger lump in March 2020 before trending back down. The blue line starts at about 10 percent up the chart, and then spikes up to 50 percent at the beginning of April before decaying to 40 percent at the end of April. The red line starts at about 20 percent up the chart, has a small lump in September 2019, and then jumps up to 40 percent in March 2020 before trending back down. The green line starts at about 30 percent up the chart, has a small lump in December 2019, and then spikes up to the top of the chart at the end of March 2020.]

:[Caption below comic:] I want to show someone from 2019 this Google Trends graph and watch them try to guess what happened in 2020.
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]

2290: Homemade Masks

2020-04-07T03:58:34Z

Avi m:

{{comic
| number = 2290
| date = April 7, 2020
| title = Homemade Masks
| image = homemade_masks.png
| titletext = I'm going to change the sign so the pole is horizontal and the sign is mounted on the front like a plunger, so I can carry it around like a lance to gently push people back if they try to approach.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a HOMEMADE MASK. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is the 15th comic in a series of comics about the 2019-20 outbreak of COVID-19.

In this comic, Cueball wonders if Megan's mask will be of any use, because he has seen many different points of view and is unsure which one is correct.

Megan then reveals that she only wants to deter people from being close to her, and that her previous method (that being a sign with small writing) was ineffective. Megan does not indicate if she knows whether or not her mask can actually block infection, but it is beneficial to her regardless.

The title text indicates an alternate method, where Megan could change the sign into a device for pushing people back in order to maintain distance.

Cueball has previously encountered signs that are so interesting that they lead people into peril in [[356: Nerd Sniping]], although in that comic strip, [[Black Hat]] was specifically designing his signs with the intent to cause harm.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands next to Megan, who is wearing a face mask]
:Cueball: Homemade mask, huh? You think they help?
:Cueball: I've read so many conflicting things.

{{comic discussion}}

2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-03T17:55:18Z

Avi m: /* Hints */

{{comic
| number = 2288
| date = April 3, 2020
| title = Collectors Edition
| image = collectors_edition.png
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. This Space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real-time. Multiples of the same item are often seen.

There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.

The sticker images can be seen at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom urls, for example the periodic elements can be found at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-XX.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-X.png, where X is the sentence.

===Hints===

{| class="wikitable"
!Hint
!Comic
!Unlocked item
!Item image
!Notes
|-
|Doctors in a row||[[1529: Bracket]] ||Cory Doctorow || loot_019.png ||
|-
|Get out the (US) vote|| [[2224: Software Updates]] || Statue of liberty || loot_246.png ||
|-
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] || Signpost || loot_126.png ||
|-
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]] || || loot_228.png ||
|-
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || Cat licking laser point || loot_090.png ||
|-
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] || || ||
|-
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock || ||
|-
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] ||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works
|-
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]] ||Ufo || ||
|-
|Bleeped|| || || ||
|-
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[1022: So It Has Come To This]] || First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart || ||
|-
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[409: Electric Skateboard (Double Comic)]]||An electric scooter|| loot_006.png ||
|-
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle from [[889: Turtles]] || loot_095.png ||
|-
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] ||Man carrying parentheses from [[297: Lisp Cycles]] || loot_031.png ||
|-
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699: Local News]] || || ||
|-
|Participation trophy|| [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Server rack || loot_096.png ||
|-
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover || ||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] ||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || ||
|-
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || ||
|-
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove || ||
|-
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| [[1071: Exoplanets]] || Little girl from [[2264: Satellite]] || ||
|-
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
|-
|Critical mass elements|| [[235: Kite]] || || loot_203.png ||
|-
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| [[390: Nightmares]]? || Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.
|-
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist || ||
|-
|Call the plumber|| [[290: Fucking Blue Shells]] || || loot_058.png ||
|-
|Was it a rat I saw?|| [[1632: Palindrome]] || Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || loot_103.png || or [[1503: Squirrel Plan]] for cueball holding a balloon caught in a ceiling fan.
|-
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda || loot_045.png ||
|-
|Keep coming back|| || || ||
|-
|A new model released each year|| || || || https://xkcd.com/1363/ ? and/or other XKCD Phone comics?
|-
|Tea Time||[[581: The Race: Part 5]] ||Floor tea ||loot_232.png||
|-
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || || ||
|-
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] || Hilbert Curve || loot_021.png ||
|-
|Science fiction fetish|| || || ||
|-
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||Falling feather || ||
|-
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!||[[1941: Dying Gift]] || Megan on a tire swing || ||
|-
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though||[[2233: Aurora Meaning]] || || ||
|-
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame || ||
|-
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl || ||
|-
|Never going to give you up||[[351: Trolling]] || || ||
|-
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]]|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || ||
|-
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]] or [[1021: Business Plan]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash || loot_115.png ||
|-
|Read the fine manual|| [[1343: Manuals]] or [[293: RTFM]] || "Configure the network" window with a prompt for hostname || loot_106.png ||
|-
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] || Floating tentacled alien || ||
|-
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]]||Expensive bottle || ||
|-
|You don't have to find all 99|| [[121: Balloon]] ||Balloon copter || loot_002.png || Or [[51: Malaria]] ?
|-
|Going in circles|| || || ||
|-
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]]||Phishing License sign|| loot_158.png ||
|-
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? || ||
|-
|Fool me twice|| [[880: Headache]] || Raptor Attack || loot_033.png ||The second April fools' comic
|-
|oOOOoooo|| || || || https://xkcd.com/316/ ? definitely not https://xkcd.com/1393/- I got that hint while On that page. ?
|-
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]] ||Genie and his bottle ||loot_004.png ||
|-
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] || Crash and Burn in the pool from the end of ''Hackers'' || loot_130.png ||
|-
|Monetization haute couteur||[[20: Ferret]]||Two bags of money ||loot_162.png||
|-
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| || ||
|-
|Go big to go small|| [[1365: Inflation]] || || loot_245.png ||
|-
|Are you projecting||[[850: World According to Americans]] or [[977: Map Projections]]||Squirrel on a gun||loot_237.png||
|-
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8: Red spiders]] || || ||
|-
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]] ||Cephalopod || ||
|-
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]||Wizard in a chair || loot_037.png ||
|-
|Moooooon|| [[1300: Galilean Moons]] || MOOOOOON || ||
|-
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || || ||
|-
|Everyone deserves a second chnace|| || || ||
|-
|Community contribution|| [[826: Guest Week: Zach Weiner (SMBC)]] || [Citation Needed] protester from [[285: Wikipedian Protester]] || loot_035.png ||
|-
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| [[665: Prudence]] or [[969: Delta-P]] or [[2218: Wardrobe]] ||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled || ||
|-
|Today's your lucky day|| [[1053: Ten Thousand]] || Ms. Frizzle || loot_105.png ||
|-
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]|| [[1005: SOPA]] || || ||
|-
|Try a different approach|| [[55: Useless]] || || loot_times.png ||
|-
|The cake is a lie!|| [[606: Cutting Edge]] || Cake || ||
|-
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]] || Joanna with EMP cannon || loot_026.png ||
|-
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||
|-
|90KG x 300M|| [[382: Trebuchet]] || Trebuchet || loot_041.png ||
|-
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade|| [[344: 1337: Part 4]] || || loot_046.png ||
|-
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka||[[1500: Upside-Down Map]] || || ||
|-
|Take a ride in a barrel|| || || || ('''not''' any of the comics in the barrel series)
|}

==Trivia==
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.
<blockquote>
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
</blockquote>
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from the origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:April fools' comics]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Interactive comics]]

2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-03T15:08:25Z

Avi m: /* Hints */

{{comic
| number = 2288
| date = April 3, 2020
| title = Collectors Edition
| image = collectors_edition.png
| titletext = I'm sure you can find some suitable worldbuilding material if you scavenge through the archives.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is an April 1st comic. It is a large image, of which only part is visible, but it can be dragged around. The space acts as a virtual common sandbox where viewers can interact. "Items" (small, often humorous images) can be 'collected' from other comics and then placed in this image by viewers. The collection then updates for all viewers in real time. Multiples of the same item are often seen.

There is a "backpack" at the bottom, similar to "backpacks" in video games containing items collected by the player. Items can be found by visiting different XKCD comics/pages. Randomly, some pages will have a treasure chest which will contain the sticker related to the page. It is believed that the hint represents what page currently has a chest.

The sticker images can be seen at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot_XXX.png, where XXX is a number from 001-253. Additionally, some images can be found at custom urls, for example the periodic elements can be found at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/element-XX.png, where XX is the element, and text loot at https://xkcd.com/2288/collectors/static/loot/loot-words-X.png, where X is the sentence.

===Hints===

{| class="wikitable"
!Hint
!Comic
!Unlocked item
!Item image
!Notes
|-
|Doctors in a row||[[1529: Bracket]] ||Cory Doctorow || ||
|-
|Get out the (US) vote|| || || ||
|-
|Find a box of nice stuff on a picture with words like these|| [[1133: Up Goer Five]] || Signpost || ||
|-
|Plug in or find another power source||[[1373: Screenshot]] || || loot_228.png ||
|-
|Sweet dreams, kitty||[[729: Laser Pointer]] || Cat licking laser point || ||
|-
|What is this hint pointing to? Hell if I know.||[[28: Elefino]] || || ||
|-
|Somebody set up us the bomb||[[286: All Your Base]] ||Exploding rock || ||
|-
|Cowabunga||[[1412: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] ||Women Science Fiction Authors || loot_175.png || [[197: Ninja Turtles]] also works
|-
|I want to believe||[[2156: Ufo]] ||Ufo || ||
|-
|Bleeped|| || || ||
|-
|why waste time say few word when lot word do trick||[[1022: So It Has Come To This]] || First Annual Award for Excellence in Being Very Smart || ||
|-
|Cooler than electric scooters||[[2195: Dockless Roombas]]||An electric scooter|| || ||
|-
|Take it from the top||[[1: Barrel - Part 1]] ||I am a turtle || loot_095.png || ||
|-
|I accept the yucca gnocchi, this meal is a success!||[[1713: 50 ccs]] ||Scientist carrying Cs || ||
|-
|Catch up on the news|| [[1699: Local News]] || || ||
|-
|Participation trophy|| [[2288: Collectors Edition]] || Server rack || ||
|-
|Find an opportunity for a sojourn||[[1504: Opportunity]] ||Opportunity Mars rover || ||
|-
|Tastier than tau day||[[179: e to the pi times i]] ||First annual award for excellence in being very smart || ||
|-
|418 I'm a teapot||[[1866: Russell's Teapot]] ||S.S. NASA: Space is Hard || ||
|-
|26th September, 1983||[[2052: Stanislav Petrov Day]] ||White dove || ||
|-
|There are 4241 as of Apr 1, 2020|| || || ||
|-
|asableiK|| [[645: RPS]] || A reverse Polish hotdog || || "Kielbasa" backwards, which is "sausage" in Polish
|-
|Critical mass elements|| || || ||
|-
|Some Februarys are more equal than others|| [[390: Nightmares]]? || Cueball wheelie from [[272: Linux User at Best Buy]] || || Comic-hint connection largely conjectural; 390 was the first comic published on a leap day.
|-
|Five spice||[[1554: Spice Girls]]|| Rock guitarist || ||
|-
|Call the plumber|| || || ||
|-
|Was it a rat I saw?|| [[1632: Palindrome]] || Cueball with a large sack, pulling a wagon || ||
|-
|Churchill's gonna have to seriously rehydrate||[[1148: Nothing to Offer]]|| Bottle of soda || ||
|-
|Keep coming back|| || || ||
|-
|A new model released each year|| || || ||
|-
|Tea Time||[[579: The Race: Part 3]] ||Floor tea || ||
|-
|Try pattern-matching! Look for comic 'bout alphabet?||[[1045: Constraints]] || || ||
|-
|Where's Hilbert?||[[195: Map of the Internet]] ||maze || ||
|-
|Science fiction fetish|| || || ||
|-
|The first one was funnier||[[11: Barrel - Part 2]]||Falling feather || ||
|-
|It's up to over 260 million cycles!|| || || ||
|-
|Sleeping Beauty is the same everywhere though|| || ||
|-
|On the internet, nobody knows you're an arachnid|| [[1530: Keyboard Mash]] || Cobwebbed frame || ||
|-
|Did James Cameron pay for the rice cooker too?||[[1598: Salvage]] ||Rice bowl || ||
|-
|Never going to give you up||[[351: Trolling]] || || ||
|-
|If red touches yellow, that's 24 ohms||[[1604: Snakes]]|| Yoda with an mp3 player from What If || ||
|-
|An enthusiastic but questionable business opportunity||[[1533: Antique Factory]] or [[1021: Business Plan]]|| Beret guy with a goat on leash || ||
|-
|Read the fine manual|| [[1343: Manuals]] or [[293: RTFM]] || || ||
|-
|That thing's undecimodal!||[[1347: t Distribution]] || Floating tentacled alien || ||
|-
|Actually, it's Myanmar-Shave now||[[491: Twitter]]||Expensive bottle || ||
|-
|You don't have to find all 99|| || || ||
|-
|Going in circles|| || || ||
|-
|Couldn't you try knitting, or maybe stamp collecting?||[[2123: Meta Collecting]]||Phishing License sign|| ||
|-
|It's the ciiiiircle of HONK||[[537: Ducklings]] ||DUCKLOOP'D? || ||
|-
|Fool me twice||[[880: Headache]] ||Raptor Attack || ||
|-
|oOOOoooo|| || || || https://xkcd.com/316/ ?
|-
|Maybe we can ask for new wishes||[[879: Lamp]] ||Genie and his bottle || ||
|-
|HACK THE PLANET||[[1337: Hack]] || || ||
|-
|Monetization haute couteur|| || || loot_162.png ||
|-
|Maybe writing a script would help||[[1319: Automation]]|| || ||
|-
|Go big to go small|| || || ||
|-
|Are you projecting||[[977: Map Projections]]| |Squirrel on a gun| || ||
|-
|Do spiders really have six legs||[[8: Red spiders]] || || ||
|-
|Istanbul or Constantinople or St. Trimble's Island?||[[1688: Map Age Guide]] ||Cephalopod || ||
|-
|Another rulebook?||[[393: Ultimate Game]]||Wizard in a chair || ||
|-
|Moooooon|| [[1300: Galilean Moons]] || MOOOOOON || ||
|-
|Take a flight from LOL to FFS|| [[1937: IATA Airport Abbreviations]] || || ||
|-
|Everyone deserves a second chnace|| || || ||
|-
|Community contribution|| || || ||
|-
|On the other side of the wardrobe|| [[969: Delta-P]] ||Authentic Reindeer pulling sled || ||
|-
|Today's your lucky day|| || || ||
|-
|[This hint has been redacted due to a copyright claim]|| [[1005: SOPA]] || || ||
|-
|Try a different approach|| || || ||
|-
|The cake is a lie!|| [[606: Cutting Edge]] || Cake || ||
|-
|Joanna, fire.||[[322: Pix Plz]] || Joanna with EMP cannon || loot_026.png ||
|-
|Everything changes from time to time when the fire nation attacks|| [[965: Elements]] || Symposium || ||
|-
|90KG x 300M|| [[382: Trebuchet]] || Trebuchet || ||
|-
|Copyright Enforcement Brigade|| || || ||
|-
|Where Cape Town meets Chukotka|| || || ||
|}

==Trivia==
* This comic is the 2020 April Fools comic, and was supposed to be released April 1st. However, the below message was displayed on the top of the page until early Friday (April 3rd) morning, when the comic finally went live. It remains to be seen if Friday's intended comic will be published later.
<blockquote>
Note: For technical reasons Wednesday's comic will be posted Thursday instead. Apologies for the delay!
</blockquote>
* Placement is limited to 10,000 units from origin. Users will receive no messages if they try placing something outside the boundary.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball stands to the left of a vibrating box.]
:[The words "Collector's Edition" are written above him and boxed.]

{{comic discussion}}

Talk:2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-03T04:20:33Z

Avi m:

... is this going to be like [[1190: Time]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.63|162.158.74.63]] 04:08, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
: I hope so, otherwise I don't get the joke [[User:Forresthopkinsa|Forresthopkinsa]] ([[User talk:Forresthopkinsa|talk]]) 04:15, 3 April 2020 (UTC)
: The page just went down for me so maybe what we've seen isn't what it's supposed to be? [[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 04:20, 3 April 2020 (UTC)

2288: Collector's Edition

2020-04-03T04:18:59Z

Avi m: /* Transcript */

2285: Recurring Nightmare

2020-03-27T04:30:15Z

Avi m: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 2285
| date = March 25, 2020
| title = Recurring Nightmare
| image = recurring_nightmare.png
| titletext = Oh thank goodness, I forgot my clothes, so now everyone's looking embarrassed and backing away.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created IN ISOLATION. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is the tenth comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus pandemic|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}.

[[Megan]] states to [[Cueball]] that she keeps having the same nightmare. She begins to explain that she shows up at school only to panic as she realizes something. Cueball interrupts her cause he believes he knows she dreams she has turned up at school naked. But no! Megan's dream is that she finds herself in a crowded room at school.

It is an allegedly {{tvtropes|NotWearingPantsDream|frequent dream-trope}} to be in a situation of otherwise polite company and discover oneself naked in the midst of the crowd. This can be added to something such as a general "[https://www.dreamdictionary.org/common/test-dreams/ forgotten to prepare for the exam you're sitting]" to build upon various levels of worst-case scenario anxieties amongst your peers, parents or other persons who ''will'' judge you badly for your ''faux pas''.

In light of the current [[:Category:COVID-19|Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic]], Megan is obviously dreaming up her problem of being in a crowd (at school), as most schools have stopped holding in-person classes (at the time of this comic, most schools in many countries had switched to online instruction or have completely closed due to the pandemic).

{{w|Physical distancing}}/{{w|Social distancing}} has been widely practiced around the world as a way to slow the spread of the virus. In fact the nudity, perhaps similar to the actual real-life 'health tip' of eating excessive garlic, has the unintentional but beneficial effect of having neighbouring crowd-members stand back and out of your personal space out of shock and/or mutual embarrassment - which may somewhat mitigate ''some'' of the issues of viral transmission, if not others.

==Transcript==
:[Megan, standing next to Cueball, is gesturing with her arms wide.]
:Megan: I keep having nightmares that I show up at school, and then suddenly panic as I realize–

:Cueball: –That you're naked?

:Megan: '''''That I'm in a crowded room!'''''

==Trivia==
*Nightmares about school were also the topic of [[557: Students]], specifically stating that people have dreams about school, even when not going to school anymore.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Dreams]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

2285: Recurring Nightmare

2020-03-25T19:00:09Z

Avi m: /* Transcript */

2277: Business Greetings

2020-03-16T19:48:14Z

Avi m: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2277
| date = March 6, 2020
| title = Business Greetings
| image = business_greetings.png
| titletext = We have email and social media now, so we probably don't need to keep exchanging business cards by pressing them gently against each others' faces with an open palm and smearing them around.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an EYEBALL LICKER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic is the third comic in a [[:Category:COVID-19|series of comics]] (with at least seven in a row) about the {{w|2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|2020 pandemic}} of the {{w|coronavirus}} - {{w|SARS-CoV-2}}. With this comic also on that topic, all comics of that week were about the virus outbreak.

As a reaction to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, people are refraining from personal contact. This leads to changes with customs in the workplace, such as {{w|handshake|shaking hands}} at the beginning of a meeting.

The comic shows [[Beret Guy]] addressing his employees at [[:Category:Beret Guy's Business|his eccentric company]] ([[Ponytail]], [[Hairy]] and [[Hairbun]], see also [[1997: Business Update]]). He states that although they should not overreact to the coronavirus, they should at least stop their custom of beginning meetings by "licking each others' eyeballs". Virus or not, it is not common for people to lick anyone's eyeballs at meetings {{Citation needed}}, but it could be an extreme stretch of intimate behavior to make an analogy to some cultures' norm of kissing acquaintances in greeting.

Humorously, his employees state that they will miss this human contact, but that they at least understand.

Contact between saliva and eyes are a very common way to spread the virus. However, this usually occurs from one infected person sneezing and airborne particles randomly coming in contact with an uninfected bystander's eye, or people touching their own faces and eyes after having touched an infected surface, not by applying the saliva directly to a person's eyeball by means of another person's tongue.

The title text refers to an actual business custom (exchanging {{w|business card}}s), but one which is absurdly altered to promote the spread of disease by touching cards and hands to faces. It is not clear whether this is safer or more dangerous than Beret Guy's previous practice of eating business cards, see [[1032: Networking]].

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy is standing to the left addressing Ponytail, Hairy and Hairbun sitting in office chairs at a table. Hairbun is at the end of the table. All three have one arm on the table.]
:Beret Guy: I don't think we should overreact to the coronavirus,
:Beret Guy: But it might be time to put an end to the custom of starting business meetings by everyone licking each others' eyeballs.
:Hairy: I'll miss the human contact, but that's fair.
:Hairbun: Gotta change with the times.

==Trivia==
*When the comic was first published, it did not have a title-text; it was added later during the day of release.
**This has almost exclusively occurred previously with special interactive or dynamic comics.
***Absence of title-text is so unusual that it broke at least one xkcd client ([https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.floern.xkcd Browser for xkcd by Floern]).
*The phrase "each other" is actually singular. It should be "each other's eyeballs" (the eyeballs of each other person) and "each other's face" (the face of each other person).

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Beret Guy's Business]]
[[Category:Social interactions]]

[[Category:COVID-19]]

2271: Grandpa Jason and Grandpa Chad

2020-02-26T01:32:05Z

Avi m: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2271
| date = February 21, 2020
| title = Grandpa Jason and Grandpa Chad
| image = grandpa_jason_and_grandpa_chad.png
| titletext = The AARP puts the average age of a first-time grandparent close to 50, and the CDC has some data. But I don't have first-parent age distributions for specific names, or generational first-child age correlations, so the dotted line is just a guess. Still, let's be honest: No further research is really *needed.*
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by THE '''CHAD''' GRANDPA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic contains three separate curves, with the x-axis being the date and the y-axis being the frequency of three separate sets of data:
* The number of people in the US with the name "Jason", a curve that reaches its maximum in 1977, when Jason became the [http://www.babynames.it/top100/1/year-1977.html second most common name] and reached the [https://www.everything-birthday.com/name/m/Jason maximum number of babies born with that name]
* The number of people in the US with the name "Chad," a similar curve that reaches its maximum in 1973, when [https://www.everything-birthday.com/name/m/Chad the number of babies named Chad reached ''its'' maximum]
* An estimate of the birth years of people that are becoming grandparents, with its maximum in 1968, 52 years ago. The title text explains this is the age at which, on average, most people become grandparents, citing an [https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/surveys_statistics/life-leisure/2019/aarp-grandparenting-study.doi.10.26419-2Fres.00289.001.pdf AARP study]

The graph shows that the names "Jason" and "Chad" were extremely uncommon in the US prior to the 1960's, but then experienced a surge in popularity, peaking in the late 1970's, and falling off thereafter. There are a couple of interesting effects when certain names become temporarily trendy. It means that those names become closely associated with a particular age cohort, so one can guess a person's age range based solely on their first name, and therefore predict other tendencies associated with age (this is also explored in [[1950: Chicken Pox and Name Statistics]]). A side effect of this is that, when this cohort first comes of age, those names enter the public consciousness as being associated with youth, trendiness and irresponsibility. Of course, that cohort continues to age, and eventually becomes the adult cohort, then the senior cohort, but stereotypes are often slow to change. [[2165: Millennials]] is similarly about how a label has outlived the demographic that it was used to describe, while the people described by the label have outgrown the traits that the label entails.

In addition to dealing with with the inertia of our assumptions and stereotype, this comic also continues a long XKCD tradition of [[:Category:Comics to make one feel old|pointing out how quickly time is passing, and how slow we often are to realize it.]] In this case, those of us in Randall's general age range are used to thinking of "Jason" and "Chad" as names for young, trendy, party animals. The fact that only a small fraction of people with these names are under the age of 30, and a growing number of them are now grandparents (and that trend is likely to increase rapidly in the next few years), forces us to acknowledge that quite a bit of time has passed since we first formed our world views, and that means we've aged, even if we haven't noticed it.

The title text adds a caveat to the assertion, mentioning the lack of any real evidence for the distribution of ages of Grandparents, but tacitly admits that the matter is not sufficiently important to seek any further precision.

Other possible caveats of the data:
* The Y-axis is in percent of the highest year, not absolute numbers. So while it jokingly implies that, in a few years, all grandparents will be named Jason and Chad, in actuality it will probably be in the order of the hundreds of thousands of people (less than 2% of [https://www.aarp.org/home-family/friends-family/info-2017/record-number-grandparents.html all grandparents]), but still common enough compared to other "ages" to be "the age of Grandpa Jason and Grandpa Chad"
* There are many fewer [https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/C/CH/CHAD/index.html people whose legal name is Chad] than [https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/J/JA/JASON/index.html people who's legal name is Jason], so "Grandpa Jason" will probably be much more common than "Grandpa Chad"

The title text ends with the text "No further research is really *needed,*" referencing [[2268: Further Research is Needed]]. This is also a joke in itself. The emphasis on *needed* is an admission that although more research is *possible*, it's simply not warranted, given the fairly trivial nature of the topic.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A progression chart covering the period of years between 1950 to 1995. One line, representing the birth years of people becoming grandparents, is dotted and begins low at the start, climbs, then steeply declines. Two solid lines, representing the birth years of people named "Chad" or "Jason", begin in the early 1960s, rise almost concurrently, however one declines steadily while the other has a curve almost before the end of the chart. The overlapping area between the dotted and solid lines is shaded. The lines show the following data:]

:Birth years of people becoming grandparents this year (United States, very rough estimate)
:[A dotted line which begins at 1950, rises to its peak at 1970, then steeply declines to zero by the late '70s.]

:Birth years of people named "Jason" and "Chad" (Social Security data)
:[Chad: A solid line beginning at 1962, rises to its peak by 1975, then drops through the '80s and '90s. Jason crosses underneath it in 1985, but then re-crosses it in 1993.]
:[Jason: A solid line beginning at 1963, rises to its peak between 1977-80, then declines, dropping beneath Chad around 1985 but climbing above it again in 1993.]

:[Caption below the comic:]
:Fun fact: We have now entered the era of "Grandpa Jason" and "Grandpa Chad."

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Fun fact]]

User:Avi m

2020-02-26T01:19:30Z

Avi m: Created blank page

Talk:2269: Phylogenetic Tree

2020-02-17T05:23:08Z

Avi m:

Talk:2269: Phylogenetic Tree

2020-02-17T05:19:37Z

Avi m:

I'm honestly not quite sure how to transcribe the tree itself. How much detail should be included? [[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 05:19, 17 February 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2269: Phylogenetic Tree

2020-02-17T05:19:19Z

Avi m:

I'm honestly not quite sure how to transcribe the tree itself. How much detail should be included?--[[User:Avi m|avis_magpie]] ([[User talk:Avi m|talk]]) 05:19, 17 February 2020 (UTC)

2269: Phylogenetic Tree

2020-02-17T05:14:56Z

Avi m: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2269
| date = February 17, 2020
| title = Phylogenetic Tree
| image = phylogenetic_tree.png
| titletext = And I was kicked out of my March Madness pool because I wouldn't shut up about the evidence for NBA/ABA endosymbiosis.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A circular phylogenetic tree is shown, with various parts of the tree colored red, green, blue, and black.]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I was kicked off the biology project after I secretly replaced all the phylogenetic trees in our new paper with March Madness brackets.

{{comic discussion}}

2263: Cicadas

2020-02-05T02:47:00Z

Avi m: /* Tried to fix up the grammar issues and weird wording in the transcript, sorry if I missed any. I've revised the description of the layout of the comic as well, which I felt was unnecessarily detailed. */

{{comic
| number = 2263
| date = February 3, 2020
| title = Cicadas
| image = cicadas.png
| titletext = After a while you adjust to the new cicadian rhythm.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Cicada|Cicadas}} are a species of insect whose nymphs burrow underground and emerge as adults to reproduce several years later. One common species in North America is the 17-year cicada, also known as the {{w|periodical cicada}}. These cicadas form distinct {{w|Periodical_cicadas#Map_of_brood_locations|broods}} which burrow and emerge as a group every 17 years, with different broods starting the cycle at different times. This results in a couple of weeks every 17 years when the cicadas swarm in huge numbers, then vanish just as quickly when the adults die off. Cicadas also make a distinctive buzzing sound, which makes their periodic appearance even more memorable.

The widely-accepted scientific explanation for the long and seemingly arbitrary 17-year lifecycle is that seventeen is a {{w|prime number}} - it's believed that this is an evolutionary adaptation to prevent the lifecycles of predator populations from synchronizing with the cicada's, since 17 cannot be divided by anything other than itself and 1. This would also explain why some broods of cicada have 13-year lifecycles (the next lowest prime number).

In the comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] have accidentally created 17-''second'' cicadas using {{w|genetic engineering}}. This means that rather than seeing a massive swarm every 17 years, they have to deal with a swarm every 17 seconds. This makes it very difficult for them to do their work, especially to figure out how the cicadas were created, because the swarm keeps interrupting their work. Note that the comic has been drawn differently than most other straight four panel comics, probably to highlight the interruptions of the buzzing swarm - see the [[#Transcript|Transcript]].

It is not explained why Cueball and Ponytail are tinkering with cicada genes, but their wings are {{w|superhydrophobic}} and antibacterial due to nano-scale structures on their surfaces. Their ability to hibernate may also be of interest in medicine. One technique for understanding which genes are responsible for various traits is by "{{w|gene knockout|knocking out}}" genes and seeing what is affected. In this case, it looks like a gene has had a nucleotide duplicated, which would change every amino acid in that protein after the duplication error, and the resulting malformed protein has caused the hibernation period of the modified cicadas to be extremely short. Perhaps the protein is involved in the "year counting" function, so that the cicadas wake up almost as soon as they enter hibernation, rather than waiting seventeen years.

The title text is a pun on "{{w|circadian rhythm}}." In particular, it might resemble something said to someone getting adjusted to a new sleep schedule. But here it is the 17 seconds interruption not a time zone shift that has to be adjusted for.

This entire comic seems to only have been a lead-up to the "cicadian rhythm" punchline. This is an interesting suggestion since [[Randall]] has mentioned in an interview that he makes up the title text after completing the comic.{{Citation needed}} Seems like he made an exception here; unless he didn't.

==Transcript==
:[This comic is laid out in a variation of a regular four-panel comic. One wide panel is overlaid by two smaller panels, which are placed where the second and fourth panels would be. These panels are slightly offset so they extend above the wide panel.]

:[Cueball and Ponytail are facing each other across a desk while having a conversation. Cueball is holding up a tablet in his hand while Ponytail is typing at a laptop on the desk.]
:Cueball: What can you tell from genome comparison?
:Ponytail: I think there's a duplication on the -
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[An overlaid panel shows that the air is full of flying cicadas, many of which have landed on Cueball, Ponytail, the laptop, the tablet, and the desk. Ponytail and Cueball have their arms up in a futile attempt to shield themselves from the bugs, with Cueball having put the tablet down on the table.]
:<big>'''''Bzzzzzzz'''''</big>

:[The cicadas are gone, and Cueball and Ponytail resume their conversation. Cueball has picked up the tablet again]
:Ponytail: - a duplication on the gene right before the cleavage site, so the resulting protein -
:Ponytail: ''Look out!''

:[An overlaid panel shows that the air is again full of flying cicadas, which have once again landed on Cueball, Ponytail, the laptop, the tablet, and the desk. Ponytail and Cueball have raised their arms to shield themselves again.]
:<big>'''''Bzzzzzzz'''''</big>

:[Caption below the large panel:]
:Our genetics work has produced 17-second cicadas, but we're having a hard time figuring out how.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Puns]]

2260: Reaction Maps

2020-01-28T02:28:45Z

Avi m: /* Improvements to transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2260
| date = January 27, 2020
| title = Reaction Maps
| image = reaction_maps.png
| titletext = If Google Maps stops letting you navigate to (Clay County District) A in West Virginia, you can try Jump, OH -> Ina, IL -> Big Hole, TX.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a Google Maps Server. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The {{w|Treaty of Edinburgh}} was a treaty drawn up in 1560, which falls during the {{w|Tudor period}} of the history of England, while a compact is another word for a treaty. A {{w|Honda Civic}} is a compact car with a {{w|coupé}} body model and only two doors. The joke is thus a pun on the similarity of the words "Tudor" and "two-door", as well as a pun on the words "treaty" and "compact."

The [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Truly,+MT+59421/Saari,+L'Anse+Township,+MI+49946/Toulouse,+Kentucky/A,+Clay+County,+WV/Friendship,+South+Carolina/This+Way,+Lake+Jackson,+TX+77566/@37.9396464,-104.4176717,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m38!4m37!1m5!1m1!1s0x53424d6552eab029:0xb7fcd8937da3ec25!2m2!1d-111.4413578!2d47.3557881!1m5!1m1!1s0x4d50e1468af1ce9b:0xb02e7ce99f9e641a!2m2!1d-88.3092692!2d46.8784933!1m5!1m1!1s0x8844b40da22762bf:0xee4cd8dba67a2afa!2m2!1d-83.3269444!2d37.1766667!1m5!1m1!1s0x884943786da899b1:0x5eb17b45f77f3480!2m2!1d-81.0533854!2d38.5410076!1m5!1m1!1s0x88ffff04df8a3dc1:0x2e50cd1fdf10df52!2m2!1d-79.4353317!2d34.0168293!1m5!1m1!1s0x864043e6372e0009:0x1372621459655543!2m2!1d-95.4597276!2d29.0382495!3e0 list of map destinations], Truly, Saari, Toulouse, A, Friendship, This Way is a way of saying, "Truly sorry to lose a friendship this way".
The [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Hope,+NY+12134/Yoe,+PA/Fallin+Lake,+Magnolia+Township,+AR/@38.214792,-88.0772473,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x89df00206dc519a7:0x8c095186fc80dee1!2m2!1d-74.2431907!2d43.3036812!1m5!1m1!1s0x89c8886da851113b:0x96fa3e47edbd1953!2m2!1d-76.6369116!2d39.9089887!1m5!1m1!1s0x8633c43fa49e5997:0x864650e233fea97b!2m2!1d-93.3167015!2d33.2840166!3e0 list of map destinations], Hope, Yoe, Fallin Lake is a way of saying, "Hope you fall in [a] lake".

In this comic, [[Ponytail]] texts the above car joke, to which [[Cueball]] gets mad and replies that their friendship is over. In the title text, [[Randall]] offers [https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Jump,+McDonald+Township,+Ohio,+USA/Ina,+IL,+USA/Big+Hole,+Texas,+USA/@35.8263797,-93.8102845,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x883edadb5282cd7d:0xbd26e9e97ce76762!2m2!1d-83.79438!2d40.6158849!1m5!1m1!1s0x8876cfd2b9f24b79:0xa00498b7be5e90c4!2m2!1d-88.9039554!2d38.1511606!1m5!1m1!1s0x863813224a969417:0x61e1c3c664eadc63!2m2!1d-94.8453391!2d31.1918015!3e0 another map option]: Jump, Ina, Big Hole ("Jump in a big hole".)

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Caption to the left of the comic:]

:Texting Tip

:Is your reaction too intense to be expressed in an emoji or gif?
:Try using driving directions!
:The extra research it requires shows how strongly you feel.

:[A split panel, showing Ponytail texting Cueball with her text messages shown above in gray and Cueball reading the texts angrily below]

:Ponytail: You should name your new Honda Civic ''The Treaty of Edinburgh''
:Ponytail: Because it's a tudor compact

:[Ponytail continues to text Cueball]
:Ponytail: Get it

:[Cueball replies to Ponytail, with his text messages shown above him. He sends Ponytail a screenshot of driving directions that go through Truly, Saari, Toulouse, A, Friendship, and This Way]

:[Cueball continues to text Ponytail, with his text messages shown above him. He sends Ponytail a screenshot of driving directions that go through Hope, Yoe, and Fallin Lake]

{{comic discussion}}

2242: Ground vs Air

2019-12-17T03:11:00Z

Avi m: /* More on the transcript */

{{comic
| number = 2242
| date = December 16, 2019
| title = Ground vs Air
| image = ground vs air.png
| titletext = Water is thinner than both, and fire is *definitely* thicker.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a THICK FIRE. Needs a title text explanation and more about the actual data portrayed}}

This is a map comparing the thickness of the ground, apparently referring to the lithosphere, and the thickness of the atmosphere.

Apparently, Randall uses {{w|Kármán line}} (the altitude of 100 km ≈ 62 mi) as the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space. An alternative definition of the atmosphere boundary (at 50 mi ≈ 80 km) used by US Air Force and NASA would result in a significantly different picture where the ''air'' is thicker than the ''ground'' only inside small areas around mid-ocean ridges.

The title text possibly a joke referring to the four elements. The lithosphere, or ground, is earth, with fire being the various magma layers underneath the crust.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

: [Caption above the comic]:
: Which is thicker—the ground or the air?

: [A Winkel tripel projection of the Earth. The map is mostly unlabeled, with only the outlines of the landmasses present. Various parts of the map are labelled with "Air" or "Ground." Areas marked as "Ground" are differentiated with gray shading.]

: [A small diagram is present in the Pacific Ocean left of South America. The diagram depicts several labelled layers of Earth and its atmosphere, listed below. Cueball, a body of water, and several mountains are shown on the surface part of the diagram. Two arrows representing the thickness of the atmosphere and lithosphere are marked with a question mark.]
: Space
: Atmosphere
: Lithosphere
: Asthenosphere

: [Gray text in the bottom right corner of the comic]:
: Based mostly on Conrad and Lithgow-Bertelloni (2006) DOI.1029/2005GL025621

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]

2242: Ground vs Air

2019-12-17T03:01:21Z

Avi m: /* Got started on the transcript. I can't really make out the part of the gray text before the slash so this is my best approximation */

{{comic
| number = 2242
| date = December 16, 2019
| title = Ground vs Air
| image = ground vs air.png
| titletext = Water is thinner than both, and fire is *definitely* thicker.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a THICK FIRE. Needs a title text explanation and more about the actual data portrayed}}

This is a map comparing the thickness of the ground, apparently referring to the lithosphere, and the thickness of the atmosphere.

Apparently, Randall uses {{w|Kármán line}} (the altitude of 100 km ≈ 62 mi) as the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space. An alternative definition of the atmosphere boundary (at 50 mi ≈ 80 km) used by US Air Force and NASA would result in a significantly different picture where the ''air'' is thicker than the ''ground'' only inside small areas around mid-ocean ridges.

The title text possibly a joke referring to the four elements. The lithosphere, or ground, is earth, with fire being the various magma layers underneath the crust.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript}}

: [Caption above the comic]:
: Which is thicker - the ground or the air?

: [A Winkel tripel projection of the Earth. The map is mostly unlabeled, with only the outlines of the landmasses present. Various parts of the map are labelled with "Air" or "Ground." Areas marked as "Ground" are differentiated with gray shading.]

: [Gray text in the bottom right corner of the comic]:
: Based mostly on Conrad and Lithgow-Bertelloni (2006) DOI.1029/2005GL025621

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Maps]]

1262: Unquote

2019-09-17T01:59:26Z

Avi m: /* Transcript */

{{comic
| number = 1262
| date = September 9, 2013
| title = Unquote
| image = unquote.png
| titletext = I guess it's a saying from the Old Country.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Randall]] is musing that even such a popular film as ''{{w|Star Wars}}'' will likely one day be forgotten. The comic ponders how long that may take to occur.

"{{w|May the Force be with you}}" is one of the many famous phrases from the ''Star Wars'' movies. ''Star Wars'' has become popular enough to remain part of today's popular culture almost forty years since its initial release, and the source and meaning of the quote is commonly recognized. This comic suggests that eventually even the enormously popular Star Wars will fade into obscurity — by which time, ironically, Star Wars-like hovercraft will have been invented.

It is not uncommon for once-popular sayings to lose popularity and come into disuse; particularly when the sayings are sourced from a pop-culture reference such as a book or film. In fact, there are entire [http://www.amazon.ca/Lets-Bring-Back-Collection-Forgotten-Yet-Delightful/dp/1452105308 books] dedicated to such topics. Each generation generally develops its own pop culture references which frequently become unrecognized to the next generation. Only a handful of pop-culture quotes tend to survive for decades. For example, the phrase "Sit on it", coined by the creators of "{{w|Happy Days}}" as a TV-friendly but derogatory-sounding comeback for the character Fonzie. The phrase was very popular during the show's 1970s-80s heyday, but today is far less recognizable to those born after that era, and is not commonly referenced today.

The title text indicates that the characters will write off the phrase as a saying from the "old country" (the foreign country or place where one's ancestors emigrated from). This is a play on the fact that ubiquitous film and TV quotes have not been around long enough for society to generally forget their origins, and the most common source for unfamiliar sayings in today's world are sayings from other countries where one's ancestors originated. The use of the expression in this comic implies that the speaker has no idea about the origins of the phrase. To him it might be a translation of a foreign expression, or from a long left-behind homeland.

A similar topic was addressed in [[493: Actuarial]], with [[Black Hat]] predicting when the last of the original Star Wars cast would die, and in [[1093: Forget]], predicting when the release of ''The Return of the Jedi'' would be forgotten. Also, [[794: Inside Joke]] is about how much pop culture of centuries past has been forgotten.

A lot has changed since this comic came out {{Citation needed}} . Now with Disney controlling Star Wars and releasing a movie a year, it is very possible that this saying would never die out. This doesn't change the meaning of the comic, but it shows how even a few years of time passing causes massive changes.

==Transcript==
:[Two figures with spiky hair and backpacks are conversing. One is riding in a hover-car, or similar.]
:Future Hair: Bye!
:Friend: May the Force be with you!
:Future Hair: Huh?
:Friend: It's just something my grandma used to say. No idea what it means.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:I wonder on what date ''Star Wars'' will be quoted for the last time.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Star Wars]]

2201: Foucault Pendulum

2019-09-16T00:21:28Z

Avi m: /* small spelling/grammar edits */

{{comic
| number = 2201
| date = September 11, 2019
| title = Foucault Pendulum
| image = foucault_pendulum.png
| titletext = Trust me, you don't want to get on the wrong side of the paramilitary enforcement arm of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Black Hat]] is attending what appears to be a guided tour of a museum with a {{w|Foucault pendulum}}. [[Megan]] is explaining to him, [[Cueball]] and [[Ponytail]] about the device which demonstrates the rotation of the Earth.

Black Hat, being himself, immediately sees an opportunity to cause chaos and seizes it with both hands, quite literally — as he grabs the pendulum which causes the others to shout after him to stop. At first this would seemingly be for fear of ruining the delicate demonstration. However, in the final panel, the [[:Category:News anchor|news anchor]] [[Blondie]] reveals to us that by arresting the motion of the pendulum, Black Hat has somehow stopped the rotation of the Earth. However it was only briefly since the local {{w|geophysicist}} managed to wrestle him down, and then it must be assumed they quickly restarted the pendulum and thus the Earths rotation.

This of course is blatantly impossible since the Foucault pendulum's motion is tied to the earth's rotation, not the other way around. That is except for this specific one, which does seem to control the Earths rotation. This must thus of course be located at one of the Earths poles, that is it must be the [http://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/00s/southpolefoucault.html one at the South Pole], as there is no place that stays fixed over the North Pole. Also it has to have been close to either pole, else no one would have been able to stop Black Hat afterwards and restart the pendulum. Because if the Earth suddenly stops rotation, then every loose object would continue with their normal rotation speed, which would move them fast across the surface. Thus had this been at the Equator, no one would have been able to stop him afterwards, as everyone would have been killed instantaneously! See more below.

A Foucault pendulum is a regular {{w|pendulum}} that swings from a bearing that allows rotation in any direction, like your shoulder joint instead of your elbow. But has been set up to display the Earth is rotating beneath it. If the Earth were stationary, it would continue to swing over the same portion of the Earth as when it was released, but any pendulum will continue to swing in the same plane in space compared to the distant fix stars. So because the Earth moves beneath it (and in comparison to those distant stars), over the course of the day the pendulum's motion gradually changes direction relative to the room. The low-resistance bearing doesn't allow the rotation of the Earth to affect the motion of the pendulum, so it stays aligned to its original inertial reference frame according to the fix star (far away in space) rather than to the rotating surroundings which follow with the Earth's rotation. If the pendulum is at one of the poles, it will take a full day to move one full round. At the equator there is almost no movement, and in between it will take longer than 24 hours.

The fact that the Earth's rotation does not influence the motion of the pendulum does NOT mean that other things can't affect it - for example, by running up and manually repositioning the pendulum. Of course, the apparent rotation of the pendulum's plane relative to the Earth is an effect of the planet's motion, rather than the cause of it. Thus, stopping a Foucault pendulum manually does not entail pausing the rotation of the Earth.

[[Randall]] covered this scenario in detail in his [[what if?]] book, see [https://io9.gizmodo.com/xkcds-creator-explains-what-would-happen-if-earth-stopp-1625068208 XKCD's Creator Explains What Would Happen If Earth Stopped Spinning].

If it were somehow possible for a Foucault pendulum to control Earth's rotation (see above), Black Hat would probably not want to alter the momentum of the pendulum if he where not at one of the Earths poles. That is assuming he was told that it was related to Earth's rotation and assuming that he would prefer to preserve his own life over making chaos (unless due to his advanced technology, he can resist being slammed into a nearby wall at the speed of sound). The reason why is because if the rotation of Earth were to be stopped for even very short amounts of time (a few seconds), it would cause everything on Earth that wasn't bolted/fastened to the ground to move eastward compared to the now stationary ground. If they are near the Equator it would be at a speed of 300-360 meters per second, likely causing the death of most lifeforms on Earth beneath a certain latitude almost instantaneously. Those close enough to the poles may survive though. Also this will cause massive windstorms, tsunamis, volcanic and tectonic events on a scale not previously observed on Earth. This would likely cause a mass extinction event and wipe out 99% of humanity in the initial events (which would eventually lead to our extinction). It is possible that Black Hat's grabbing the pendulum would cause a gradual slowing prior to stopping, minimizing the issue (though this doesn't seem to be the case), but the results would still be catastrophic, as the aforementioned events are still likely to occur (specifically the tsunamis and volcanic events). However, as mentioned above, if this pendulum was located at the South pole, then Black Hat and other people around him would not be affected immediately, and he could both do it, survive and be stopped again. The question is if there would be any more news stories to cover this given what would happen to the rest of the world! If there was no-one to readjust the pendulum's rotation, then certain events would happen after the initial damage (see this video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_T7L8rt1Ec])

In the title text the [https://www.iers.org/IERS/EN/Home/home_node.html International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service] is mentioned. It is an organization providing standards for global time and reference frames; this organization would have a very rough day after the fiasco with Black Hat. The title text refers to a (probably) fictional paramilitary enforcement arm of this organization and the foolishness of tangling with such a force. If Foucault pendulums were somehow able to influence the rotation of the Earth in any measurable way, the IERS enforcers would probably strictly control their installation and monitor their use (and misuse). Black Hat is likely in for a rough day as well. It seems like some on this team are geophysicist since they where the one that took Black Hat down.

==Transcript==
:[Megan is addressing Cueball, Black Hat and Ponytail as they are looking a pendulum, which consists of a large swinging sphere with a spike beneath it hanging on a string coming down from above with seven small markers under it. Megan is pointing at it while it is swinging towards them, as indicated with lines behind the sphere and the string.]
:Megan: This Foucault pendulum demonstrates Earth's rotation. It stays in a fixed plane while the Earth rotates under it.

:[Close-up on Black Hat holding a hand to his chin.]
:Black Hat: Hmm, really.
:Black Hat: So that means...

:[Zoom out to Black Hat running to the pendulum grabbing it with both hands. He knocks over two of the seven markers that can now be seen to be small pegs standing up on he floor beneath the pendulum. A line goes from his hand on the pendulum up to a sound bubble. Two people off-panel yell at him.]
:Character off-panel 1: Hey!
:Character off-panel 2: Stop him!
:Sound:''Grab''

:[Blondie as a news anchor uses her held out hand to indicate Black Hat who is shown on a screen next to her. There is a caption in two lines above it. The first line in normal text, the second line in white in a black rectangle. There are further unreadable text below the picture.]
:Blondie: The Earth's rotation was briefly halted today until geophysicists wrestled the intruder to the ground...
:Breaking
:''news''

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Physics]]