explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

spiral

2025-11-12T14:46:07Z

Birdlover32767:

{{comic
| title = spiral
[[File:spiral1.jpg]]
[[File:spiral2.jpg]]
[[File:spiral3.jpg]]
[[File:spiral4.jpg]]
[[File:spiral5.jpg]]
[[File:spiral6.jpg]]
[[File:spiral7.jpg]]
[[File:spiral8.jpg]]
[[File:spiral9.jpg]]
| lappend = spiral
| extra = no
| imagesize =
}}

==Explanation==
{{misc page}}

This page is linked from [[1488: Flowcharts]].

This appears to be a selection of images with the {{w|golden ratio}} spiral superimposed to display hidden meaning in their appearance. These spirals originate from a specialised point of the subjects and continue along some meaningful lines of the subject. The humour here could be that the golden ratio is normally found in famously aesthetically pleasing objects, whereas the images Randall has provided do not quite fulfil that brief.

==Transcript==
:[9 images, each showcasing a golden spiral aligning with some element of the image included in: person wearing los angeles cap, wall object, slope truck, cat sleeping, old computers, belly button, user avatar, screenshot of google maps, a cat wearing a toy horse head on a wooden floor]
{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Extra pages]]

3142: (City)-Style Pizza

2025-09-16T17:18:08Z

Birdlover32767: Transcript

{{comic
| number = 3142
| date = September 15, 2025
| title = <City>-Style Pizza
| image = city_style_pizza_2x.png
| imagesize = 480x314px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = If you want to see true audacity, do an image search for 'Altoona-style pizza.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a BOT WITH SAUSAGE AND ANCHOVIES. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
Many varieties of {{w|pizza}} are named after a city — usually where the style originated or was popularized, such as {{w|New York–style pizza}} and {{w|Chicago-style pizza}}. A New York-style pizza is characterized by a thin, but not hard, crust. By contrast, Chicago-style pizza, or Chicago deep-dish pizza, is known for being notoriously thick.

This comic contains a chart that compares the tastiness of pizza styles with the size of the city in the name. They generally span a broad range, but poor-tasting styles are mostly found only in small cities. The suggested reason is that these are due to restaurant owners in small towns who are bored and make up strange styles of pizza as a prank on visitors. According to [[Randall]], New York-style pizza is near the top of the tastiness axis. New York happens to be the largest city in the US. It's also where pizza was first brought to the US by Italian immigrants.

The title text mentions an {{w|Altoona-style pizza}}. Created in the Altoona hotel in Altoona, Pennsylvania, it contains American Cheese on Sicilian crust, as well as bell peppers and salami. The “true audacity” of this style may include that people may not consider it pizza, and some may even narrow it down to something similar to a sandwich. Also, American cheese and Sicilian crust are very different, and probably aren't compatible. Also also, the vast amount of cheese relative to pizza may horrify some people{{citation needed}}. It is noteworthy that a remarkable spike in Google searches for Altoona-style pizza was observed at the publication date of this comic, as can be observed on [https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?q=%2Fg%2F11nmt6q5kp Google Trends].

The original comic's title has an encoding error in terms of HTML rendering, and it was copied to this wiki page. It reads "<City>-Style", which is interpreted by web browsers as containing an HTML tag and rendered as "-Style".

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:[A graph.]
:[The x and y axes are unmarked. They are labeled: ]
::[X axis: Tastiness of "<city>-style pizza"]
::[Y axis: City size]

:[A shaded region is shown, initially covering nearly the whole y-axis on the left. The region's top area barely changes. The region's bottom area changes with a curve upwards to the right.]
:[Arrows point around to various locations in this shaded region, indicating an otherwise-unmarked subregion.]

:[The region is labelled: ]
::Various controversial regional specialties

:[An arrow points to a medium-high y-value at the absolute rightmost x-axis. It is labelled: ]
::New York up here somewhere

:[An arrow points to a low x and y-value. It is labelled: ]
::Towns with bored restaurant owners who have come up with a fun prank to play on visitors

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category: Food]]
[[Category: Charts]]

1135: Arachnoneurology

2025-09-16T17:02:15Z

Birdlover32767: Citation needed

{{comic
| number = 1135
| date = November 16, 2012
| title = Arachnoneurology
| image = arachnoneurology.png
| titletext = SPIDER PSYCHOLOGY (21st Ed.) is a comprehensive overview of arachnoneurology, neuro-arachnology, forensic arachnology, neuro-arachnoneurology (the study of the brains of spider neurology experts), and arachnoarachnology (the study of too many spiders).
}}

==Explanation==
[[Beret Guy]] uses spider {{w|psychology}} (that he has obviously learned from the heavy volume of a book lying on the table with that title) to engineer a forked object in such a way that {{w|spiders}} will weave a silk shirt around it. After six weeks he can take the finished shirt off the "rack", and after optionally removing some stray spiders{{Citation needed}} it should be ready for use.

Usually extracting {{w|spider silk}} is a complicated process and getting enough to weave a shirt would take very long and be very expensive. But making such an impossible project work is a typical behavioral pattern for Beret Guy, who continues to do amazing things with animals and other things from nature.

The prefix arachno- means "(related to) spiders". {{w|Arachnology}}, for example, is the scientific study of spiders. {{w|Neurology}} is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the {{w|nervous system}}, which includes the {{w|brain}}. So the title of the comic can be translated into ''the scientific study of spider brains''.

The title text mentions the book lying on the table, giving not only the title and the edition (21st) but also summing up some more (non-existent and increasingly far-fetched) fields of science related to spiders, which may as well exist if spider psychology has such a big standard work. Apart from adding the word forensic in one case, all five fields come from combining only the same two words "arachno" and "neuro" (sometimes one of them more than once) and ending any combination with "-ology". Especially funny is the neuro-arachnoneurology, which is explained to be the field where it is the brains of the scientist who study spiders brains, that are examined. The last one seems to be related to {{w|arachnophobia}}, the fear of spiders, as {{tvtropes|SpiderSwarm|arachnoarachnology is spiders with spiders on top - i.e. too many spiders}}.

Arachnophobia seems to be a problem for [[Randall]] himself, according to the what if? {{what if|136|Spiders vs. the Sun}}. In this he links to an [http://www.entsoc.org/PDF/2010/Orb-weaving-spiders.pdf article] about a factory that was covered in plenty enough spider web silk to make shirts for a whole regiment of soldiers.

This is the first comic with special mentioning of a science related directly to spiders. The next was [[1747: Spider Paleontology]].

==Transcript==
:[Beret Guy holding a protractor and handling a fork-like stand with black knobbly protrusions. On the table is some sticks, a set square and a ruler. There is also a large book titled:
:Spider Psychology
:[Beret Guy places his creation in a cobwebbed corner.]
:[Spiders weave webs around Beret Guy's creation. One of them hangs down above it from the ceiling.]
:[Beret Guy pulls a shirt made of spider silk away from his creation. At the top of the panel is a frame that breaks the main panels frame. Inside this it says:]
:Six weeks later:

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:Spiders]]

Talk:75: Curse Levels

2025-09-16T16:28:48Z

Birdlover32767:

I'm sorry that I don't know who to attribute this to, but I once heard a comedian refer to someone as a "mother-effin' fucker". - [[Special:Contributions/108.162.242.10|108.162.242.10]] 22:32, 26 July 2014 (UTC)

It should be noted (or I feel compelled to point out) that the word "cunt" is not seen as all that bad in Great Britain. It's something closer to damn or even just a term that's used in the U.S. like "douche" or others. "Stop being such a cunt, Gary." It's not really all that bad.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.108|108.162.246.108]] 00:23, 15 September 2016 (UTC)

: I'm British. The last comment is dead wrong. Far from being “not that bad” it’s basically the polar opposite: pretty much the most shocking and vulgar swear word there is, in a class of its own far beyond other swear words. {{unsigned ip|141.101.98.208|19:35, 15 October 2017

::: I think you're talking about Australians. {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.35|00:16, 9 April 2018}}

:: Not that either perspective is particularly relevant, since Randall is American. However, for what it's worth, every reference I've ever seen to British use of the word says that it's more mild than it is in America. Maybe you just live in a weird region where that's not the case. Or maybe all those other people are wrong and it's become a weird urban myth. I guess I'll never know, unless I do, at which point I will.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.126.28|162.158.126.28]] 02:17, 21 December 2017 (UTC)

::: It may be milder than it is in America, but it's still about as strong as it gets. Maybe Brits are just generally more tolerant of swearing in general. It also depends very much on context and inflection - the offense would usually be much greater if it was said in an aggressive manner, than it would be if used in the way that the first commenter did. It also depends on where in the country - in Northern Ireland, for example (which, granted, isn't actually GB, but still) it doesn't seem to be considered anywhere near as strong as it is in most of England.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.76.16|141.101.76.16]] 15:44, 12 January 2018 (UTC)

:Going to have to disagree here. 'Cunt' is a one of the most offensive swear words, although vulgar language is probably a little less offensive in Britain given the frequency of vulgar language. [[User:Beanie|Beanie]] ([[User talk:Beanie|talk]]) 14:13, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

:It is definitely different in Australia. While it's still the rudest swearword, it is ONLY a swearword, which is why it seems less rude. Australians (and presumably Britons) don't put as much emphasis on swearwords as some sort of terrible thing, compared to Americans. This difference has been expressed quite succinctly (by @thomas_violence on Twitter) thus: "I love little cultural differences, like how Americans are super offended by the word cunt but here in Australia we're super offended by school children being slaughtered with automatic weapons". {{unsigned ip|108.162.250.106|01:51, 8 October 2021}}

Just a few minutes ago I said "fricking retarded" unironically and it reminded me of this. Thank you xkcd. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.26|172.70.134.26]] 02:51, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
:I have a question: Does "D'Arvit" count as a swearword outside the Artemis Fowl series? [[User:Z1mp0st0rz|Z1mp0st0rz]] ([[User talk:Z1mp0st0rz|talk]]) 16:55, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
::I want to know what "d'arvit" means in English so I could safely say it as a curse and not be worried I'm saying something horrible. [[User:Psychoticpotato|Psychoticpotato]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 21:33, 25 April 2024 (UTC)
:::as a former artemis fowl reader, d’arvit means a generic gnomish (faerie language) swear word [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 21:36, 25 April 2024 (UTC)

I was born and raised in the U.K. and would say there's quite marked regional variations in how the word 'cunt' is perceived. Where I come from in the south-west it's regarded as pretty offensive and not something you'd say to strangers unless you were deliberately trying to be provocative. In London, it's a different matter and far more acceptable. I remember walking through an east end market as a young man and being greeted with the friendly invitation of a stall holder in the form of "Oi, cunt, come and 'ave a look at this...". {{unsigned ip|5.132.89.181|15:17, 15 August 2025}}

This page doesn't contain any cursed items, only curse levels so I would suggest removing it out of that category--[[User:Birdlover32767|Birdlover32767]] ([[User talk:Birdlover32767|talk]]) 16:28, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Talk:75: Curse Levels

2025-09-16T16:28:36Z

Birdlover32767:

Talk:3142: (City)-Style Pizza

2025-09-16T16:25:33Z

Birdlover32767:

Altoona-style is listed first in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_in_the_United_States#Variations but that's because the list is alphabetical. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:12, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

I prefer +style pizza. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 21:16, 15 September 2025 (UTC)
: Not a fan of electrons as a topping then? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:37, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
:: Imo, positron pizza is far better. Some people won’t appreciate it though, as it disintegrates [in] your mouth. [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 15:28, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

I’m pretty sure this comic is intended to be titled “<City>-Style Pizza”, as it is labeled in the HTML of xkcd.com (notably, xkcd.com itsel uses “-Style Pizza” for the <title> elements and the rss/atom feeds, but not for the visible title. (But there, the “<city>” gets swallowed by the browser)--[[User:Nleanba|Nleanba]] ([[User talk:Nleanba|talk]]) 21:49, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Altoona-style most literally looks like a sandwich except cheese instead of a top bun《プロキシ》(XKCD中毒者) 21:54, 15 September 2025 (UTC)
:Yeah, a bunch of open-faced sandwiches side-by-side. [[Special:Contributions/47.248.235.170|47.248.235.170]] 22:07, 15 September 2025 (UTC)Pat
: It looks most like a heart attack in waiting. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:42, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

On a related note, locally (hint: absolutely nowhere near the place mentioned), there's a business advertising "genuine New York-style bagels". The juxtaposition of the "genuine" claim and yet the acknowledgement that they are only of the given ''style'' always makes me wonder what worth the genuineness truly has, with an ocean's-width of distance between any physical manifestation of New Yorkification and what we have here. [[Special:Contributions/92.17.62.87|92.17.62.87]] 23:12, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

I thought he was talking about Altoona Iowa (less than half the size of Altoona Pennsylvania). Look up “Altoona Iowa pizza” and one of the top hits will tell you it’s ranked one of the worst in the nation. You see, in Iowa, they lay out the dough, put on the ‘toppings’ (ahem) then dump on so much cheese that you can’t see any of the ‘toppings’ (ahem) anymore. When I came home from college in another state, I had to teach my mother how to make good pizza. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:1D15:883A:11:B0B6:84B2:3C0C|2607:FB91:1D15:883A:11:B0B6:84B2:3C0C]] 23:49, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Well at least THIS one was about a kind of pi. I guess pi does round to 3.142. [[Special:Contributions/138.88.96.2|138.88.96.2]] 00:16, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Shame he missed out on Pittsburgh's 'specialty' with this... since they had the sheer audacity to call it 'Ohio Valley Pizza'... Which I hadn't even *heard* of, let alone actually seen, in 40 years of living in Cincinnati! -Edit: Turns out it originates from Steubenville, which had he named it 'Steubenville style pizza' would've put it way down on the bottom left somewhere. -Tiron [[Special:Contributions/2600:2B00:934E:6200:2186:FE87:5D5E:1AB7|2600:2B00:934E:6200:2186:FE87:5D5E:1AB7]] 01:18, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia has a way of displaying article titles that have non-standard characters in them. Could something similar be done here? [[User:Dogman15|Dogman15]] ([[User talk:Dogman15|talk]]) 04:05, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
:they do, but it doesn't work. {{w|WP:DISPLAYTITLE|DISPLAYTITLE}} doesn't support <> symbols. [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 13:29, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

The article is describing the Altoona style pizza, but Randall is calling on the viewer to look it up on Google images because the picture is likely more offensive than the description. I don't know what the wiki policy is but a picture in the article would do a much better job at explaining than anything Randall may or may not like about the ingredients. [[Special:Contributions/46.144.8.194|46.144.8.194]] 06:43, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Surely it's no coincidence that XKCD 3142 is about pie. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 11:43, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
:I hope it ''is'' a coincidence, because I'd like to think that Randall knows better than to call a pizza – a dish that isn't a pie – a "pie". [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 12:53, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
:: Says the person whose name is a pancake that calls itself a pudding. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 13:54, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Randall suggests that pizza quality correlates with city size. That means Brazilians were right all along, and the best pizza is from São Paulo. [[User:MCBastos|MCBastos]] ([[User talk:MCBastos|talk]]) 14:01, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
: No - it's completely outclassed by Chongqing Pizza. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:43, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

What about moving this page to [[3142: (City)-Style Pizza]] or similar? --[[User:Birdlover32767|Birdlover32767]] ([[User talk:Birdlover32767|talk]]) 16:25, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3142: (City)-Style Pizza

2025-09-16T16:25:17Z

Birdlover32767:

Altoona-style is listed first in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_in_the_United_States#Variations but that's because the list is alphabetical. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:12, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

I prefer +style pizza. [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 21:16, 15 September 2025 (UTC)
: Not a fan of electrons as a topping then? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 08:37, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
:: Imo, positron pizza is far better. Some people won’t appreciate it though, as it disintegrates [in] your mouth. [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 15:28, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

I’m pretty sure this comic is intended to be titled “<City>-Style Pizza”, as it is labeled in the HTML of xkcd.com (notably, xkcd.com itsel uses “-Style Pizza” for the <title> elements and the rss/atom feeds, but not for the visible title. (But there, the “<city>” gets swallowed by the browser)--[[User:Nleanba|Nleanba]] ([[User talk:Nleanba|talk]]) 21:49, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Altoona-style most literally looks like a sandwich except cheese instead of a top bun《プロキシ》(XKCD中毒者) 21:54, 15 September 2025 (UTC)
:Yeah, a bunch of open-faced sandwiches side-by-side. [[Special:Contributions/47.248.235.170|47.248.235.170]] 22:07, 15 September 2025 (UTC)Pat
: It looks most like a heart attack in waiting. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:42, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

On a related note, locally (hint: absolutely nowhere near the place mentioned), there's a business advertising "genuine New York-style bagels". The juxtaposition of the "genuine" claim and yet the acknowledgement that they are only of the given ''style'' always makes me wonder what worth the genuineness truly has, with an ocean's-width of distance between any physical manifestation of New Yorkification and what we have here. [[Special:Contributions/92.17.62.87|92.17.62.87]] 23:12, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

I thought he was talking about Altoona Iowa (less than half the size of Altoona Pennsylvania). Look up “Altoona Iowa pizza” and one of the top hits will tell you it’s ranked one of the worst in the nation. You see, in Iowa, they lay out the dough, put on the ‘toppings’ (ahem) then dump on so much cheese that you can’t see any of the ‘toppings’ (ahem) anymore. When I came home from college in another state, I had to teach my mother how to make good pizza. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB91:1D15:883A:11:B0B6:84B2:3C0C|2607:FB91:1D15:883A:11:B0B6:84B2:3C0C]] 23:49, 15 September 2025 (UTC)

Well at least THIS one was about a kind of pi. I guess pi does round to 3.142. [[Special:Contributions/138.88.96.2|138.88.96.2]] 00:16, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Shame he missed out on Pittsburgh's 'specialty' with this... since they had the sheer audacity to call it 'Ohio Valley Pizza'... Which I hadn't even *heard* of, let alone actually seen, in 40 years of living in Cincinnati! -Edit: Turns out it originates from Steubenville, which had he named it 'Steubenville style pizza' would've put it way down on the bottom left somewhere. -Tiron [[Special:Contributions/2600:2B00:934E:6200:2186:FE87:5D5E:1AB7|2600:2B00:934E:6200:2186:FE87:5D5E:1AB7]] 01:18, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia has a way of displaying article titles that have non-standard characters in them. Could something similar be done here? [[User:Dogman15|Dogman15]] ([[User talk:Dogman15|talk]]) 04:05, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
:they do, but it doesn't work. {{w|WP:DISPLAYTITLE|DISPLAYTITLE}} doesn't support <> symbols. [[user:lett‪herebedarklight|raeb]] 13:29, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

The article is describing the Altoona style pizza, but Randall is calling on the viewer to look it up on Google images because the picture is likely more offensive than the description. I don't know what the wiki policy is but a picture in the article would do a much better job at explaining than anything Randall may or may not like about the ingredients. [[Special:Contributions/46.144.8.194|46.144.8.194]] 06:43, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Surely it's no coincidence that XKCD 3142 is about pie. [[User:Gmcgath|Gmcgath]] ([[User talk:Gmcgath|talk]]) 11:43, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
:I hope it ''is'' a coincidence, because I'd like to think that Randall knows better than to call a pizza – a dish that isn't a pie – a "pie". [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 12:53, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
:: Says the person whose name is a pancake that calls itself a pudding. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 13:54, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

Randall suggests that pizza quality correlates with city size. That means Brazilians were right all along, and the best pizza is from São Paulo. [[User:MCBastos|MCBastos]] ([[User talk:MCBastos|talk]]) 14:01, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
: No - it's completely outclassed by Chongqing Pizza. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:43, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

What about moving this page to [[3142: [City]-Style Pizza]] or similar? --[[User:Birdlover32767|Birdlover32767]] ([[User talk:Birdlover32767|talk]]) 16:25, 16 September 2025 (UTC)

3096: Check Engine

2025-09-15T18:04:46Z

Birdlover32767:

{{comic
| number = 3096
| date = May 30, 2025
| title = Check Engine
| image = check_engine_2x.png
| imagesize = 331x383px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = They say it's probably safe to keep orbiting for a while, but if it stays on or starts flashing we might have to call someone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Sunspot}}s are temporary, relatively small, darker and colder regions on the surface of Earth's Sun. The number of sunspots that can be observed varies over an approximately 11-year cycle. The current cycle is {{w|Solar_cycle_25|the 25th since reckoning began in 1755}}. Solar Cycle 25, which began in December 2019 and is expected to peak around mid-2025, has been more active than anticipated, raising some concerns about the impacts of recent solar flares and associated space weather events.

The joke in this comic is that the sunspot array shown has taken the form of a {{w|Check engine light|"Check engine" light}}, found on the instrument panel of most automobiles. The illumination of this light means that the automobile's onboard computer has detected an engine malfunction, which should be checked out by an experienced mechanic. For such a signal to appear among the nuclear fires and plasma of the sun would most certainly be of concern to astronomers.

Many drivers will barely notice a Check Engine light, and may hope that they ''never'' have cause to see it appear except maybe briefly during the turning of the ignition key as one of the bulb-checks. If it lights persistently before or during driving, it could mean a costly problem, or at least the inconvenience of paying someone to investigate the problem. Frequently, such investigations reveal no identifiable issue with the engine itself, resulting rather from some kind of sensor fault. In this case, the advice may be that it's probably OK to keep driving unless the behaviour of the light changes, and fixing the sensor issue may cause more expense than the small risk of a genuine engine issue arising would warrant.

As we don't appear to be cycling the Sun's ignition process (i.e., it hasn't recently stalled, which would be a worry in itself) the showing of the light/dark-patch would probably be very concerning, and hopefully someone at least has the owner's manual in order to run through any initial troubleshooting, before perhaps a more extensive check is made at the local solar-repair shop to clear the error. Given the rotating nature of the star and Earth's orbit, one might also wonder how long this, or any other warnings, might be shown before becoming visible to {{w|Solar viewer|suitably equipped}} viewers of the Sun.

The title text says that "they" (presumably the astronomers) advise that it's probably safe for Earth to continue to orbit the Sun unless and until there is a change in the nature of the "check engine light" sunspot array. Such a change, on an instrument panel, signals that the matter needs immediate attention, lest something dramatic and expensive occur, such as an [https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/l8j0ip/eli5_what_is_a_seized_engine/ engine seizure], which can be spectacular and is irreparable. The solar equivalent of an engine seizure would be a {{w|Nova|nova}}, which would definitely be of concern to astronomers (and [[1895 | everyone else]]), and for which the prospect of "calling [[673: The Sun | someone]]" that can do anything useful (a cosmic tow truck to pull Earth to a safe distance?) seems remote.

==Transcript==
:[In a black panel a large orange Sun-type sun is shown, depicted as it might look when viewed through solar eclipse glasses. A pattern in the form of a "check engine" light (as displayed on a car's instrument panel) is shown on the surface of the Sun, in the bottom right quarter. The pattern has a pictogram of a motor on the top with text below it, both in orange inside a black square, matching the orange shading of the rest of the Sun.]
:Check Engine

:[Caption below the panel:]
:This new sunspot cluster has raised concern among astronomers

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

Forums

2025-09-02T10:29:37Z

Birdlover32767: Grammar changes

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This page was created recently, help by adding what it was, when, and why it shut down, relevant Web Archive links, etc. Also add the logo. You can see a '''[https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/https://forums.xkcd.com/ history of the site here]!'''}}

The '''xkcd forums''' were available at https://forums.xkcd.com before it was shut down on August 31st, 2019 due to password leakage.

In September 2019, the xkcd forums (administered separately from [[explain xkcd|this wiki]]) were made inactive, due to ultimately unresolvable website security issues, rendering all direct links defunct. There has still been no successful move to reinstate the site even after several years and so (unless there are archived copies accessible) it can be assumed that neither fora.xkcd.com nor forums.xkcd.com links will render anything useful. However, there is [https://1190.bicyclesonthemoon.info/ott/view an archived mirror] of the "One True Thread" about Time from the xkcd forum, complete through mid 2019 when the forum system went down.

The last day it can be found on the web archive is [https://web.archive.org/web/20200803203354/https://forums.xkcd.com/ August 3rd, 2020].

:503 Service Unavailable
:The xkcd forums are currently offline. We've been alerted that portions of the PHPBB user table from our forums showed up in a leaked data collection. The data includes usernames, email addresses, salted, hashed passwords, and in some cases an IP address from the time of registration.

:We’ve taken the forums offline until we can go over them and make sure they're secure. If you're an echochamber.me/xkcd forums user, you should immediately change your password for any other accounts on which you used the same or a similar password.

:from https://web.archive.org/web/20200115041712/https://forums.xkcd.com/index.php

This stayed like this until [when?]. That is the last saved version in the archive. The page seems to have been completely deleted after that, so there is no longer anything to save.

Several [[Links#2022-01-31|other changes]] happened to the links on [when was it removed?].

[[Category:Design of xkcd.com]]{{xkcdmeta}}