explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3224: Centimeter Wavelengths

2026-03-26T07:42:43Z

Broseph:

As an I.T. people trouble-shooting wifi issues, I deserve at *least* $10 per hour. [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 03:45, 26 March 2026 (UTC)
As an incompetant guy who know nothing a8out computers and internet, i deserve to not 8e people's go-to troubleshooting guy [[Special:Contributions/216.25.182.141|216.25.182.141]] 03:54, 26 March 2026 (UTC)
April fools comic soon 🙏 [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 07:42, 26 March 2026 (UTC)

Talk:32: Pillar

2026-03-19T17:19:50Z

Broseph:

I have oft wondered about the color thing. [[Special:Contributions/71.178.11.180|71.178.11.180]] 21:49, 23 October 2012 (UTC)
:14 years late, but I solved it. Most people agree that certain colours go well together, so I think they are the same. [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 17:19, 19 March 2026 (UTC)
Bigger problem- how do you know there are other people? {{unsigned ip|2.103.38.42|19:42, 1 March 2013 (UTC)}}

The incessantly thumping bass from your neighbour's "music" is a bit of a clue. :-)
[[User:BinaryDigit|BinaryDigit]] ([[User talk:BinaryDigit|talk]]) 09:23, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

Is that Comic Sans (the font) in the top left? [[User:Caagr98|Caagr98]] ([[User talk:Caagr98|talk]]) 15:06, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
:Augh, it is Comic Sans! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.29|173.245.52.29]] 21:00, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Also, it could be that Righty doesn't see a pole, but a pillar, as suggested by the title of the comic. That's why he asks, "What pole?", implying, "I only see a pillar". {{unsigned ip|173.245.62.75}}

The song "Shpadoinkle" from Trey Parker and Matt Stone's "Cannibal! The Musical" begins with the line, "The sky is blue, and all the leaves are green." [[User:Trueflint|Trueflint]] ([[User talk:Trueflint|talk]]) 17:15, 4 June 2015 (UTC)

Anecdotally, I don't even perceive colors the same between my eyes. When I stare at a white wall, my left eye perceives it as tinted red, and my right eye perceives it as tinted green. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.141.34|172.68.141.34]] 03:18, 15 August 2017 (UTC)
:That's really interesting. Was it ever investigated why that is the case? And could that maybe be scientifically relevant? [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 09:12, 24 August 2017 (UTC)
:Does this mean you don't need special glasses to watch a 3D film ?. Just kidding, I hope you get it fixed if you want to or are happy with it as it is. [[User:EditorGonk|EditorGonk]] ([[User talk:EditorGonk|talk]]) 12:34, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

My wife, who's an artist, perceives the sky as purple. We originally thought she was partially colorblind. But after finding out that she sees photographs of the sky inside as the same light blue / cyan as other people, and flowers turn different colors outside, and asking her if a blacklight was the same color as the sky (yes it is), I determined that she sees Ultraviolet Light that the rest of us cannot. Interestingly, this development happened at the same time as she developed a persistent "smear" across her vision, and it's correlated with that time she fell through the ice while skateboarding. [[User:Dartania|Dartania]] ([[User talk:Dartania|talk]]) 10:34, 10 June 2021 (EST)

Talk:3217: Home Remedies

2026-03-10T08:13:18Z

Broseph:

Fist
Ha.
[[Special:Contributions/94.234.78.79|94.234.78.79]] 08:13, 10 March 2026 (UTC)


Wow that came out late. I guess it is still technically Monday in California? Or at least was when it came up on explain xkcd half an hour ago? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:03, 10 March 2026 (UTC)
Very late comic [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 08:13, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3167: Car Size

2025-11-12T19:45:11Z

Broseph:

It is I, broseph. [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 19:45, 12 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3132: Coastline Similarity

2025-08-22T18:13:40Z

Broseph:

Lol what [[User:SectorCorruptor|SectorCorruptor]] ([[User talk:SectorCorruptor|talk]]) 16:20, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Lol what --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[Special:Contributions/DollarStoreBa'al|'''''My life choices''''']] 17:30, 22 August 2025 (UTC)
Lol what [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 18:13, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3115: Unsolved Physics Problems

2025-07-15T12:44:55Z

Broseph: Comment

I didn't notice that the linked paper on zink whiskers was from NASA at first, but it was immediately apparent that an American wrote it... The style is super American. "Oh, no! People who ''chose'' to read this paper won't get it unless I write really big and '''EMPHASISE''' words." It's a very "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" style of naming margarine, so to say. [[User:Kapten-N|Kapten-N]] ([[User talk:Kapten-N|talk]]) 07:23, 15 July 2025 (UTC)
:The linked pdf is not a scientific paper, but a slide presentation. I think especially for safety-related presentations it is not uncommon to go a bit over the top with "be aware that this seemingly harmless effect can have serious consequences" -- especially if the risk is seemingly low, but the possible damage is really high. --[[Special:Contributions/134.102.219.31|134.102.219.31]] 08:25, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

It seems that there is a typo on the second panel about the Gallium anomaly. According to Wikipedia "The resulting production of 71Ge was calculated in 2005 to be 79% of expected", not 75%. Should this be mentioned? [[User:Rps|Rps]] ([[User talk:Rps|talk]]) 12:12, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

Unremoved background on the middle title: The middle title has unerased lettering with a slightly different style.{{unsigned ip|92.40.191.220|08:41, 15 July 2025 (UTC)}}

You know, Hair Metal is a thing. Just sayin'. [[Special:Contributions/92.184.140.165|92.184.140.165]] 12:39, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

If you look closely where it says ‘precise’, it looks like Randall traced it! [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 12:44, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3104: Tukey

2025-06-18T20:42:00Z

Broseph:

i dont get this comic :( [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 20:42, 18 June 2025 (UTC)\

Talk:3103: Exoplanet System

2025-06-18T06:18:02Z

Broseph:

"Faint dust cloud that will cause several papers to be retracted" could refer to either Fomalhaut b (former proposed exoplanet that turned out to be a dust cloud) or Tabby's Star (star with odd irregular dimming pattern likely due to a dust cloud, but was briefly thought by some to be an alien megastructure the speculation of which caused the media to lose their shit). [[User:Erika lovelace|Erika lovelace]] ([[User talk:Erika lovelace|talk]]) 19:53, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

Somebody should word it better but the idea of a black hole accretion disk having a habitable zone is pretty typical for Randall brand humor. [[Special:Contributions/130.76.187.35|130.76.187.35]] 20:12, 16 June 2025 (UTC)
:I think it's actually a reference to [[wikipedia:Interstellar (film)|''Interstellar'']]. In that movie three planets are sort of in the habitable zone of a giant black hole's accretion disk. Whether that means they have to be in the accretion disk, or whether they can be outside it but still in the habitable zone of the disk's radiation, I'm not sure. -- [[User:Ken g6|Ken g6]] ([[User talk:Ken g6|talk]]) 00:17, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:An alternative reading of #18 is that the planet may or may not be too hot for rocks to solidify at the surface. (Even if this turns out to be implausible, Randall does stretch the bounds of plausibility on occasion.) [[Special:Contributions/87.75.45.216|87.75.45.216]] 08:36, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:An accretion disk is also found around a star. So the exoplanet may be in the zone where planets may actually form. (talking about the title text) [[Special:Contributions/129.27.217.99|129.27.217.99]] 08:59, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:: An accretion disk forms around my desk. Whether or not it counts as habitable is debatable, though. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:15, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:Yeah, the Earth is thought to have formed from the accretion disk of the Sun 4.5b years ago. It probably has nothing to do with black holes. [[User:Robisodd|Robisodd]] ([[User talk:Robisodd|talk]]) 12:12, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:My read of this is that the planet is habitable but perhaps it "doesn't like" life. [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 13:36, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:Weird side note: isn't Anne McCaffrey's PERN technically a Habitable planet that passes trough an accretion disk? There's a whole subplot about doing some weird magic-science to stabilize the orbit and stop the inspiraling in the later books. [[Special:Contributions/104.129.192.49|104.129.192.49]] 22:33, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

I'm a little unsure of this so could someone help me confirm my theory? There is a shape in xkcd: Escape Speed that looks quite similar to the "faint dust cloud that will cause several papers to be retracted" shape (in xkcd: Exoplanet System). I'm wondering if xkcd: Exoplanet System might be a map of the xkcd: Escape Speed world? [[User:RedDragon|RedDragon]] ([[User talk:RedDragon|talk]]) 14:53, 17 June 2025 (UTC)RedDragon

I assumed the "fist-sized rock" was something relatively close to the observatory, which is not calibrated properly so it seems to be at the star's distance. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:09, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMiKyfd6hA0 [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.228|92.23.2.228]] 20:17, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

Could the ‘fist-sized rock’ be a reference to Welcome To Night Vale, in which a character, named Sarah Sultan is a ‘fist-sized river rock’? [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 06:18, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3103: Exoplanet System

2025-06-18T06:17:34Z

Broseph:

Talk:3089: Modern

2025-05-14T19:04:35Z

Broseph:

Hate to be that guy, but wow, it’s empty [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 19:04, 14 May 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3085: About 20 Pounds

2025-05-07T07:04:23Z

Broseph:

Wow - first here! I can't help thinking 'about 20 pounds' could be exactly 10 kg! 0r even one Newton?! [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 05:50, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:"One Newton" and "10 kg" are totally different things. "10 kg" would cause 1 Newton of gravitational force if you were in a world with about 1% of Earth's gravity, though. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.109.86|172.69.109.86]] 09:53, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
::Oops! In my rush I should have checked and put 100 Newtons. I was relying on 10kg being about 22 pounds, or rather the other way around, and then a particle having mass not weight and Science using Metric units. Apologies. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 11:41, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
::(Moved your reply up a bit. You seemed to respond to "20 pounds are...", below, ''and'' split their timestamp signature from their message. And forgot to sign properly, at first, so I got edit-conflicted ''twice'' whilst trying to post myself and correct your initial error. Please take a bit more care, everybody. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.53|172.70.163.53]] 11:52, 6 May 2025 (UTC))
:20 pounds are approximately 9.072 kg, so not exactly 10 kg (in fact, it rounds to 9). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.55|172.70.134.55]] 10:02, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
::That's the wrong way to think about it. "Exactly 10kg" is "exactly 22.0462lbs", but that (to the nearest single significant figure) is legitimately "about 20lbs". See any given step in [[2585: Rounding]], especially where that 'disagrees greatly' with an adjacent step.
::As with any Oracle (that's worth its omphalos), it may be giving an ''entirely true'' answer which nevertheless is deliberately phrased as ambiguous and misinterpretable, the possible supernatural complement to the 'exact words' genie contract. As with the [[2741: Wish Interpretation]] genie, the Oracle ''may'' slip into less "unhelpfully helpful" mode immediately after, though for different reasons. However, "burritos are ''pretty'' good" also suggests that there's some other thing that is ''more'' good, so — again — it's giving a sufficient response to what they (now) should do, but not a perfect one.
::As I write, the explanation (probably needs a general rewrite) doesn't mention anything about the burritos except as title text, or I would have ensured the famed exact-words/vague-detail was noted in that bit. (Shorter than here.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 11:46, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.55|172.70.134.55]] 10:02, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:Nobody said anything about "exactly 20 pounds". 20 pounds is about 10 KG and about 100 Newtons when considered as a force rather than a mass. The comic says "about 20 pounds". [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.63|172.70.230.63]] 22:36, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
Though I don't think it at all merits being described as a reference, I am minded of the {{w|The Usenet Oracle}} (at least when I knew of it). Though, if it ''was'' to be a deleliberate shout-out, I'd expect a few more actual in-jokes. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.130|172.70.86.130]] 06:10, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

I bet Randall is in some kind of force-interaction-related, What-if-induced rabbit hole right now (or has been at the time of writing). Wondering what the next comic will be about. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.144.175|172.71.144.175]] 08:39, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

"Nature of ... 20 pounds" is a reference to the koan "A monk asked Tozan, 'What is the nature of Buddha?' He replied, 'Three pounds of flax.'" Someone can add this to the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.115|172.70.111.115]] 08:57, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:There is a similar story in the Principia Discordia. When asked what is the meaning behind POEE, a Discordian cabal, Malaclypse the younger answered "five tons of flax." [[User:FlavianusEP|FlavianusEP]] ([[User talk:FlavianusEP|talk]]) 16:26, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

"something that doesn't interact with electromagnetism cannot be 'seen', as photons will pass through it completely unaffected": is this supposed to be true ? I thought photons interacted with gravity, and even the phrase before states that gravity is believed to affect everything. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.151.93|172.68.151.93]] 09:17, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:: Indeed, photons do interact with gravity. What I had in mind when writing that were ''direct'' interactions -- of course everything interacts with everything else via a second-order interaction, <X> -> gravity -> <X> for any particle/field <X>. I can clarify that if nobody gets to it before I get around to it. [[User:Linkhyrule5|Linkhyrule5]] ([[User talk:Linkhyrule5|talk]]) 21:45, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:We can ''infer'' Dark Matter (and, for that... *ahem* ...matter, also Dark Energy) from what the photons in the universe are telling us that does not look anything like what 'light(-interacting) matter' ''should'' be doing. As with some searches for black holes (most particularly, when the theory is that the unseen mass of the universe is a lot of small black holes drifting in the void, not acreting enough to create secondary visible effects), whether or not light is being gravitationally lensed by things (that we cannot directly see) is part of the way that we're narrowing down what-and-where DM is.
:And, I think, currently it seems to be considered that it's residing in a webwork of DM tendrils, at extragalactic (indeed, cosmological) scales, such that where the tendril cross is where they draw 'normal' matter together enough to be any given galaxy. But that's in an "explains all(/many) known facts" way, and might yet be incorrect. e.g. if there's side-dimensions (equally undetectable, at least visually) that change the inverse-square dropoff of gravity at large enough scales to govern galactic rotation rates by just enough to fit observations, or we have some other misunderstanding/scientific blind spot that further study may correct.
:Or, in short, think Brownian Motion. We can't see a handful of air molecules (not by normal, even microscope-enhanced, human vision), they might as well be invisible. But, by what we see of more visible particles, suggests that they exist as something. Conversly, the æther, a proposed medium for light, was thought to exist in a similar all-pervasive manner (insofar as trivial human experience, though less physically 'interactive' than wind), but deeper checks (as to whether its effects on light were as they should have been) dismissed it as a possible concept.
:Depending upon interpretation of the comic (I originally read it as "all dark-matter particles are ~20lbs in mass WIMPs/nano-MACHOs/whatever", but it seems that others take it as "''all of'' dark-matter particles is a single ~20lbs mass particle"; and that's make the oracle-invokers' attitudes more logical, if not the universe), there actually being Dark Matter, but it being just 20lbs of 'something' ''somewhere'' in the whole universe, makes it a needle in a galactic-supercluster-sized haystack.
:Detecting ''that'' would be difficult in the extreme. Even if it's somehow within a few hundred metres of the experimenters. There are ways to {{w|Cavendish experiment|observe the movements of small masses at small distances}}, but when you don't even have a clue ''if'' it exists (or is moving/has moved, and how), it's fairly hopeless. Gravitational lensing of light would be impractical at such distances/masses. LIGO may be very clever, insofar as merging high-mass objects at long distances, but not really for this. Event Horizon Telescope's ability to see a black hole('s accretion disk) via Very Long Baseline Interferometry is also totally useless here.
:I think I'd ''also'' settle for the burritos, given that certainty that I wasn't going to find what I'm looking for via any obvious route. (Assuming I couldn't ask the Oracle to ''show me'' the Dark Matter, rather than just answer questions about it. And noting that, if not for the indicated progression of the conversation, I might have assumed the oracular voice were really from the pentagram (more usual for demonology, not oracularities!) and that the dark blob ''was'' the 20lbs of Dark Matter. Which, of course, it ''does not deny'', so maybe my headcan[n]on ''is'' that the summoned Oracle ''is'' the DM, being deliberately evasive, and successfully so. That would satisfy it being both that which Ponytail seeks, ''and'' the entity of which Ponytail summons in order to seek it! Cueball, however, is currently just seeking food, which (one assumes) the DM-slash-Oracle is not.) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.229.25|172.68.229.25]] 12:48, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

My physics skills are rusty but 20 pounds is much more than the Planck mass. Doesn't this imply that Randall's dark matter particles would be black holes? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.243.107|172.68.243.107]] 10:05, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:Yes, you are right that 9 kg is about 417,000,000 times more than the Planck mass (21.76 μg), but no, that doesn't imply that 9 kg dark matter particles would be black holes, for that particle can be larger than 417,000,000 Planck lengths (1 Planck length is c. 1.616255×10–35 m, so above 7 rm, this particle would not collapse into a black hole). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.245.81|172.68.245.81]] 10:23, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
Since it's Star Wars day and the 20 lbs. reference would be causing a massively large amount of mass, would it be safe to say that they "sense a great disturbance in the force?"
[[Special:Contributions/67.84.20.42|67.84.20.42]] 10:20, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Back in 2005, when the kg was an actual object's mass, there was an article about what a five pound (~2.268 kg) electron is, but it was deleted, for it is a "trivial result of special relativity". [[Special:Contributions/172.68.245.81|172.68.245.81]] 10:23, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Since pounds are a measure of weight, and weight is a measure of the gravitational attraction between an object and its "planet", what is the reference planet that is being used to define the weight of the Dark Matter particle?
 Should we assume that Earth's surface is being used as the reference, even though we have no measurements that suggest DM particles are around us, and no reason to assume that the particles would even notice that Earth has a "surface"?
 If Randall wanted to use mass, then he should have used the imperial unit of slug, but I suppose saying that a DM particle is 0.62162 slugs might not give the readers quite the same impression as using 20 pounds. [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 13:38, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:I might be missing some humour here, but the pound is actually a measure of mass, just like the gram, so it doesn't vary from a planet to another. You might have fallen prey to the second paragraph of the {{w|pound-force|wikipedia article about the pound-force}}, which states: 'Pound-force should not be confused with pound-mass (lb), often simply called "pound"' [[Special:Contributions/172.71.127.160|172.71.127.160]] 14:35, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Is this, by chance, the Internet Oracle? [[Special:Contributions/104.23.187.126|104.23.187.126]] 13:49, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:I don't see anything like the pentagram with candles at its web site. The comic seems more like they're summoning a daemon. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:10, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Any idea where Randall came up with "20 pounds"? Why not 19 or 21 (blackjack!)? Why not use Newtons (too figgy?)? Only thing I can think of is that, in America at least, many people think they are "about 20 pounds overweight." I think that's too much of a stretch (pants???) to be the answer here. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.27.170|172.68.27.170]] 14:07, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:I think it's just humorous, adding to the imprecision / casualness of "about 20". Imperial measurements feel "less scientific" than metric. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.124|162.158.146.124]] 16:26, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:The amount of people confusing mass and weight/force in this thread is pretty disappointing for an xkcd forum. You can't convert pounds into Newtons. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.172.143|162.158.172.143]] 16:38, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:The poster meant Kilograms rather than Newtons I assume. Under the assumption that the oracle is satire for large language models and AI chats, the "20 pounds" shows the kind of tone and data the AI has been tuned to provide. It's a way they behave when outside the core domain they are well-trained for, producing a certain brand of mistakes, awkwardnesses, and uncanny valleys, that may be quite humorous when first encountered. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.77|172.70.111.77]] 22:33, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
I don't think it's accurate to say (as the explanation does right now) that 20 lbs is too little to detect through gravitational interaction. Throwing some numbers together: a 20lbs-sphere of Osmium, the heaviest stable element, is about 4.5cm in radius. If a 20lbs point mass flies by just above the surface of that sphere, it would generate a gravitational force of about 2.5 micronewtons (hooray for Gauss's theorem). That's the weight of a few grains of salt - small, but definitely detectable. If they're all really really fast, or there's always lots of them around at any given time or something, that might wash out any measurements (someone more knowledgeable about dark matter can probably comment what the expected velocity and flux density of 20lbs-dark-matter-particles would be where we are). But in principle, rather measurable! [[Special:Contributions/162.158.172.142|162.158.172.142]] 17:00, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

"A particle that interacts with nothing except gravity, could only be detected by a gravitational telescope." -- Detected by a whatnow? Is that a thing which exists? Google had nothing for "gravitational telescope" when I searched for it. 
Additionally, are there any theoretical physicists out there who can weigh in on how plausible the "20 pound particle that doesn't interact with anything else" theory is? [[User:MeZimm|MeZimm]] ([[User talk:MeZimm|talk]]) 19:33, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:Well, we haven't seen any such thing. But... that is of course the point. So, by logical extension, it ''must'' be true! :o [[Special:Contributions/172.70.58.130|172.70.58.130]] 21:05, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

There’s a few places online that I’ve seen people ''frustrated'' about dark matter because it’s been so hard to detect, even hoping that it turns out to be experimental error or otherwise not real (for example, [http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/005665.html this collectSPACE thread]) just because it has been so “annoying” to readers of science news to not have a solution for so long. I think this comic could be kind of a joke along those lines (“what if it turns out dark matter ''doesn’t'' matter at all and we’ve been wasting our time?”) but played out in a ridiculous way because dismissing any scientific research, however frustrating, as “a waste of time” would be very un-XKCD.{{unsigned ip|104.23.90.225|21:32+22:01, 6 May 2025}}

Sounds an awful lot like a primordial black hole (a genuine dark matter hypothesis), doesn't it? Anyone who knows what the Hawking temperature of a black hole of that mass would be? (A black hole with a Hawking temperature less than 2.7 K would absorb more energy than it gives off in Hawking radiation and would therefore be stable in the current age of the universe.)

EDIT: answering my own question, apparently about 10²² K.
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.110|162.158.91.110]] 23:20, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
Shouldn’t there be a comma after ‘well’ (when it is said by the oracle in the last panel), because there’s a comma after ‘dear oracle’ in the first panel? You can’t say that because there’s a break you don’t need a comma because there’s one in dear oracle [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 07:04, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3083: Jupiter Core

2025-05-03T15:58:33Z

Broseph:

NOOO RANDALL USED ‘DATA’ AS SINGULAR NOOOO I HOPE HE FIXES IT. [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 15:17, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:Used with an information science perspective as it is here, it is usually used as a singular (https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/data-is-or-data-are/). At least, that's what I found while clicking around with one of my computer mouses :P [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 15:39, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:: From your source: "In academic and scientific writing, the word data is almost always treated as a plural word, as in ''The data collected by the research team suggest that the water supply has been contaminated''." [[Special:Contributions/172.71.144.179|172.71.144.179]] 18:49, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
::: Umm... Isn't that that statement contradictory? If it was being treated as a plural, wouldn't that say, "The data ... ''have'' been contaminated"? [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 14:23, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
:::: Never mind. Bad parsing on my part... [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 14:30, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
::::((Had written the following. See you've already recanted, making me edit-conflict. But for the sake of anyone else that's got it wrong and needs a nudge back the right way.)) That IP's quote ''was'' subtle, but what you have to look at was "The data(pl.) ... suggest...", rather than "The data(sing.) ... suggest''s''...", for grammatical agreement.
::::The "... [has/have] been contaminated" is a separate element that relates to "the water supply ..." (only "have" if it had been "water suppl''ies''").
::::I think you were reading it as "the data {having been} contaminated", which is not an unlikely connection to have made, but not what this quote says. Not the most straightforward exemplar to use, though. I spotted the potential confusion when I first saw it, nearly added a note to try to forestall any such, but left it to fate instead. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.176|141.101.98.176]] 14:40, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

:English is not Latin. Latin words work differently in English than they do in Latin. In English, "data" is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun mass noun] (a.k.a., an uncountable noun). For almost as long as the English language has existed, folks have been trying to "correct" people into using Latin rules of grammar, but that's not correct and never has been. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 16:43, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
::Exactly. English doesn't say noun adjective either only a few things continued that aspect of Romance grammar i.e. fee simple and surgeon general (I'm surprised it's alloidial title not title alloidial!) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.195.74|172.71.195.74]] 20:20, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
::If "data" aren't countable, then they probably aren't data... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.20|172.68.205.20]] 00:35, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
: ‘Data’ is not a mass noun. The singular of ‘data’ is ‘datum’. People treat it as a mass noun when it is not. Also, it directly comes from Latin, and is a Latin word, and should be treated as one. Same reason why the plural of octopus is octopi. [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 07:02, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
::I suspect you're trolling, but if so you got me. Octopus is from Greek, not Latin. English has stolen and mangled words from many languages. "Data" is just one you happen to be familiar with. Your familiarity doesn't mean the usage should differ. [[User:DaBunny42|DaBunny42]] ([[User talk:DaBunny42|talk]]) 09:07, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
:::Also, it's "octopodes". ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.179|172.69.195.179]] 09:47, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
::::It's 'octopussies'.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.139|172.70.160.139]] 14:33, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
:::::If there’s two it’s a hexadecapus, three is a tetricosapus, etc. The number of heads is irrelevant.
:::I looked it up, and it turns out we are both right… octopus is a latin word which was derived from the Greek. It was the only example I could think of from the top of my head. However, ‘data’ should be plural the same way flagella is plural of flagellum [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 15:58, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
Can someone fix the formatting for the table, it’s annoying on mobile and shrinks the page because its 1 row [[User:Commercialegg|Commercialegg]] ([[User talk:Commercialegg|talk]]) 15:35, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
: Nevermind, it wasn’t loading properly [[User:Commercialegg|Commercialegg]] ([[User talk:Commercialegg|talk]]) 15:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
: Sorry, that was on me. Just figuring out how to use tables. [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 17:07, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

I think it contains nougat. Perhaps with further study of Jupiter, humanity will finally be able to learn what, exactly, nougat is. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 16:35, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jupiter_diagram.svg This image] has always given me the impression it's actually a delicious frozen cake. [[User:Zmatt|Zmatt]] ([[User talk:Zmatt|talk]]) 18:08, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:Nonsense - it's obviously a toy/choking hazard.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.89|141.101.99.89]] 08:21, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Two things:

1: It looks like Jupiter is made of avocado flesh in the avocado pit image.

2: If jupiter were a giant avocado with the same mass, it would represent 95 quadrillion years' worth of global avocado production.
--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 19:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:Sounds like a solution to the quacamole crisis since Trump's tariffs on Mexico. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:14, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
:There's probably some pun to be made about a mole of guacamole, but you would actually need several thousand moles of avocados to equal the mass of jupiter. {{unsigned|Dextrous Fred|01:45, 2 May 2025}}

Also, the baby Jupiter raises questions about it's sexuality. Also who the father is. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 19:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

: Jupiter's parents are Saturn and Opis. Seems as if Saturn is a single parent since Opis is nowhere to be found in the solar system. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.109.86|172.69.109.86]] 21:51, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

:: It looks to me like Velikovsky confused Aphrodite with Athena. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.150.94|172.69.150.94]] 17:58, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

In an Arthur C. Clarke novel, I think ''2010: Odyssey Two'', it was postulated that the core of Jupiter is diamond. I have since seen articles from others with a similar theory. It is apparently plausible, given the extreme pressures and presence of carbon. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:40, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Who else didn't know the movies and thought 2010: Odyssey Two was a comic (probably just me) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.89|172.71.166.89]] 15:19, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
: Ignore the movies. They butchered the stories. Read the novels. And after 2010, there is ''2061: Odyssey Three'' and ''3001: The Final Odyssey''. They get a bit weird, but great stories. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:09, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

What's up with the description "Hard ball from avocado" rather than "Avocado pit"? The only results from a Google search for "Hard ball from avocado" reference this XKCD, so it doesn't seem to be some commonly-used term for an avocado pit that I'd never heard. Did Randall just have a brain fart and forget the word "pit"? Seems unlikely. If not, if there some hidden meaning to "Hard ball from avocado"? [[User:SethML|SethML]] ([[User talk:SethML|talk]]) 15:51, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
:Presumably it's because the joke rests on the fact that it's roughly spherical, so makes a decent analogy with a planetary core (and if you cut in to the avocado in the right way you could make it look sort of like one of those cutaway planetary layer diagrams). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.14|172.70.162.14]] 15:59, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
: Gemini [https://g.co/gemini/share/3341d4e56595 seems to have] a better understanding of humor than I do: "The phrase highlights the mundane, everyday nature of an avocado pit and the unsophisticated way it's described ("hard ball"), making its inclusion as a "leading theory" for the core of a gas giant planet ridiculous and therefore funny. It's unexpected and breaks the pattern of the more scientific-sounding labels, contributing to the overall แหย่ (yae - playful teasing) tone of the strip." [[User:SethML|SethML]] ([[User talk:SethML|talk]]) 15:55, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
:: Hmm - well it's very good at sounding confident, but I think here it's confidently wrong. There's nothing particularly 'scientific-sounding' about "Valuable treasure" and "Emergency backup Earth", for example. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.107|172.71.26.107]] 15:08, 2 May 2025 (UTC)

Apparently, if Jupiter really were an avocado it would be about 1/4 less dense. Weirdly, googling the two gave me avocado density in kg/m^3, and Jupiter density in g/cm^3... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.13|172.70.162.13]] 16:06, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3084: Unstoppable Force and Immovable Object

2025-05-03T06:52:18Z

Broseph:

lol, i remember this explanation from a minutephysics video. however, the version of the problem i heard, which is actually paradoxical, is "what happens when an immovable object meets an '''irresistible''' force?" [[User:Not without text|Not without text]] ([[User talk:Not without text|talk]]) 00:03, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
:That was also literally my first thought. [[169]], anyone? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 05:37, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Come on, it's just an arrow made of W- bosons, right? [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 03:22, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
Is there no joke here? Is it just the solution? [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 06:52, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3083: Jupiter Core

2025-05-02T07:02:14Z

Broseph:

NOOO RANDALL USED ‘DATA’ AS SINGULAR NOOOO I HOPE HE FIXES IT. [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 15:17, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:Used with an information science perspective as it is here, it is usually used as a singular (https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/data-is-or-data-are/). At least, that's what I found while clicking around with one of my computer mouses :P [[User:SammyChips|SammyChips]] ([[User talk:SammyChips|talk]]) 15:39, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:: From your source: "In academic and scientific writing, the word data is almost always treated as a plural word, as in ''The data collected by the research team suggest that the water supply has been contaminated''." [[Special:Contributions/172.71.144.179|172.71.144.179]] 18:49, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

:English is not Latin. Latin words work differently in English than they do in Latin. In English, "data" is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun mass noun] (a.k.a., an uncountable noun). For almost as long as the English language has existed, folks have been trying to "correct" people into using Latin rules of grammar, but that's not correct and never has been. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 16:43, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
::Exactly. English doesn't say noun adjective either only a few things continued that aspect of Romance grammar i.e. fee simple and surgeon general (I'm surprised it's alloidial title not title alloidial!) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.195.74|172.71.195.74]] 20:20, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
::If "data" aren't countable, then they probably aren't data... ;)
: ‘Data’ is not a mass noun. The singular of ‘data’ is ‘datum’. People treat it as a mass noun when it is not. Also, it directly comes from Latin, and is a Latin word, and should be treated as one. Same reason why the plural of octopus is octopi. [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 07:02, 2 May 2025 (UTC)
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.20|172.68.205.20]] 00:35, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
Can someone fix the formatting for the table, it’s annoying on mobile and shrinks the page because its 1 row [[User:Commercialegg|Commercialegg]] ([[User talk:Commercialegg|talk]]) 15:35, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
: Nevermind, it wasn’t loading properly [[User:Commercialegg|Commercialegg]] ([[User talk:Commercialegg|talk]]) 15:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
: Sorry, that was on me. Just figuring out how to use tables. [[User:BobcatInABox|BobcatInABox]] ([[User talk:BobcatInABox|talk]]) 17:07, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

I think it contains nougat. Perhaps with further study of Jupiter, humanity will finally be able to learn what, exactly, nougat is. [[User:Equites|Equites]] ([[User talk:Equites|talk]]) 16:35, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jupiter_diagram.svg This image] has always given me the impression it's actually a delicious frozen cake. [[User:Zmatt|Zmatt]] ([[User talk:Zmatt|talk]]) 18:08, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:Nonsense - it's obviously a toy/choking hazard.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.89|141.101.99.89]] 08:21, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Two things:

1: It looks like Jupiter is made of avocado flesh in the avocado pit image.

2: If jupiter were a giant avocado with the same mass, it would represent 95 quadrillion years' worth of global avocado production.
--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 19:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)
:Sounds like a solution to the quacamole crisis since Trump's tariffs on Mexico. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:14, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
:There's probably some pun to be made about a mole of guacamole, but you would actually need several thousand moles of avocados to equal the mass of jupiter.

Also, the baby Jupiter raises questions about it's sexuality. Also who the father is. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al |DollarStoreBa'al]][[User talk:DollarStoreBa'al |'''''Converse''''']][[DSBContribs |'''''My life choices''''']] 19:37, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

: Jupiter's parents are Saturn and Opis. Seems as if Saturn is a single parent since Opis is nowhere to be found in the solar system. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.109.86|172.69.109.86]] 21:51, 30 April 2025 (UTC)

:: It looks to me like Velikovsky confused Aphrodite with Athena. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.150.94|172.69.150.94]] 17:58, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

In an Arthur C. Clarke novel, I think ''2010: Odyssey Two'', it was postulated that the core of Jupiter is diamond. I have since seen articles from others with a similar theory. It is apparently plausible, given the extreme pressures and presence of carbon. [[User:Shamino|Shamino]] ([[User talk:Shamino|talk]]) 13:40, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Who else didn't know the movies and thought 2010: Odyssey Two was a comic (probably just me) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.89|172.71.166.89]] 15:19, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

What's up with the description "Hard ball from avocado" rather than "Avocado pit"? The only results from a Google search for "Hard ball from avocado" reference this XKCD, so it doesn't seem to be some commonly-used term for an avocado pit that I'd never heard. Did Randall just have a brain fart and forget the word "pit"? Seems unlikely. If not, if there some hidden meaning to "Hard ball from avocado"? [[User:SethML|SethML]] ([[User talk:SethML|talk]]) 15:51, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
:Presumably it's because the joke rests on the fact that it's roughly spherical, so makes a decent analogy with a planetary core (and if you cut in to the avocado in the right way you could make it look sort of like one of those cutaway planetary layer diagrams). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.14|172.70.162.14]] 15:59, 1 May 2025 (UTC)
: Gemini [https://g.co/gemini/share/3341d4e56595 seems to have] a better understanding of humor than I do: "The phrase highlights the mundane, everyday nature of an avocado pit and the unsophisticated way it's described ("hard ball"), making its inclusion as a "leading theory" for the core of a gas giant planet ridiculous and therefore funny. It's unexpected and breaks the pattern of the more scientific-sounding labels, contributing to the overall แหย่ (yae - playful teasing) tone of the strip." [[User:SethML|SethML]] ([[User talk:SethML|talk]]) 15:55, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Apparently, if Jupiter really were an avocado it would be about 1/4 less dense. Weirdly, googling the two gave me avocado density in kg/m^3, and Jupiter density in g/cm^3... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.13|172.70.162.13]] 16:06, 1 May 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3083: Jupiter Core

2025-05-02T07:01:36Z

Broseph:

Talk:3083: Jupiter Core

2025-04-30T15:17:36Z

Broseph:

2803: Geohydrotypography

2025-04-28T06:57:40Z

Broseph:

{{comic
| number = 2803
| date = July 17, 2023
| title = Geohydrotypography
| image = geohydrotypography_2x.png
| imagesize = 339x389px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The Atlantic is expanding at about 10 ppm (points per month).
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is another entry in the "[[:Category:My_Hobby|My Hobby]]" series of comics.

{{w|Plate tectonics}} is the understanding that the Earth's lithosphere is divided up into separate 'plates', which carry the continents and (in the case of the Atlantic) are slowly moving apart under geological action that mostly drives the respective coastlines away from the deep center of the ocean. Here, Randall explains that if the surface of the Atlantic Ocean were covered in a certain size of printed text (as if its surface were a giant sheet of printed paper, which it is not),{{citation needed}} the shifting of the continents would increase the amount of text by about 100 words per second.

[[Randall]] says that his hobby is geohydrotypography, which is a compound of 'geo' (from the Greek for earth), 'hydro' (water), 'typo' (type, as in printing) and 'graphy' (a descriptive science) - in other words, the arrangement of letters, words and symbols on the water surfaces of the earth. He may mean that he enjoys studying such arrangements, and/or that he likes arranging such text himself.

The title text is a pun on "ppm," which is generally understood to mean "parts per million" (a dimensionless unit of concentration). Here, it instead describes the rate of the ocean's expansion, about 40 millimeters per year, in "points per month." A point in typography is 1/72 of an inch, or 127/360 ≈ 0.3528 millimeters. The expansion sideways would steadily allow more characters on the first line (and thus intermittently more words, 'unwrapping' the first word seen on the next line) and cascading this effect onto every subsequent line spread out vertically along the roughly 13,000km (depending upon your choice of limits) North/South 'height' of the writing medium.

The exact calculation needs various assumptions. Font families of a given well-defined vertical size/separation can each exhibit varying general widths of character, and be subject to various possible degrees of [[kerning]], depending upon what precise choice of text is made (unless using a strictly a fixed-width font). The spacing between successive lines would need to be chosen. The word that does (or does not) have to be wrapped at the first line-break can affect which groups of words may (or may not) need to wrap on subsequent lines, in a cascading effect that can create almost chaotic changes from just a single reassessment. However, the {{w|law of large numbers}} would likely minimize the effect of this variability, such that an estimate from known averages would yield a result with a very small amount of relative error. It is not known which (ballpark) number Randall assigned as the current word count as of posting the comic.

The exact extent of the Atlantic Ocean can also be differently interpreted: where it meets the Southern and Arctic oceans, whether to include bordering 'seas' such as the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, what to do where the 'text' may have to cross/break-across islands (e.g., the Bahamas, Azores, etc., some of these being treated as Atlantic boundaries with the comic's relatively much larger size of "ocean text"), possibly even whether to track the precise tidal inundations at the coastlines at any particular moment, which would make the resulting word count per second probably fluctuate with the tides (unless high-/low-/median watermarks were actually chosen as standard). All these factors, and more, make it difficult to precisely define the total number of characters (and thus words) that would fit, though the annual increase in the approximate area of the ocean could allow us to assume some approximately greater number of characters (based upon an approximation of their average page-area requirements) which could be divided by the approximate number needed for a general corpus of words (and its spacing) to determine the approximate additional text that could now be added for any given span of time. Knowing Randall, he has used the best approximations that he could find and determined that the possible cumulative errors were not unacceptable.

Note that the text as it appears on the globe in the comic is not 12 point, but instead is close to 1.5 billion point.

==Transcript==
:[A depiction primarily of the Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding landmasses. The land is black, leaving the oceans and seas white except for the following words written in sixteen lines of text (from just below the tip of Greenland/Arctic Ocean down to slightly above the Falkland Islands/Southern Ocean) that are, for the most part, wrapped between the Atlantic coastline 'margins' (as defined by the Americas on the left and Europe/Africa on the right, or significant island groups:]

:If you
:covered
:the surface of
:the Atlantic Ocean
:with twelve-point
:printed text,
:with the lines
:wrapping at
:the coasts, the
:expansion of
:the ocean basin
:due to plate
:tectonics would
:increase your word
:count by about 100
:words per second.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:My Hobby: Geohydrotypography

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:My Hobby]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:3079: Air Fact

2025-04-21T15:26:12Z

Broseph:

average person eats 3 spiders a year" factoid actualy just statistical error. average person eats 0 spiders per year. Spiders Georg, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted” [[Special:Contributions/172.68.7.184|172.68.7.184]] 15:19, 21 April 2025 (UTC)
:🔥🔥🔥🔥 [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 15:26, 21 April 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3079: Air Fact

2025-04-21T15:25:46Z

Broseph:

Talk:3074: Push Notifications

2025-04-10T08:01:03Z

Broseph:

So...this is the April Fool's comic, if I'm not mistaken... Oh ye of little faith! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.106|172.71.26.106]] 20:00, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

I turned this on thinking it would just be a few every so often but I quickly realized how this is xkcd and it doesn't "joke". I had to turn this off because it disrupted my schoolwork by popping up every fricking 5 minutes

Apparently my employer (or ublock) is keeping me from experiencing the full effect of any notifications. All I get is "An *actual* error has occurred. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.173|162.158.91.173]] 20:52, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:Yeah, I'm confused too. I've tried Chrome and got nothing. I've tried Edge and got effectively nothing. I progressed one message further, but nothing showed up. No notifications, popups, or whatever. And I have never installed an add-on for Edge. Edge did give me access to the game over screen by disabling notifications, but when I tried to re-enable them, nothing happened.
:
:Is this a mobile-only thing? [[User:EebstertheGreat|EebstertheGreat]] ([[User talk:EebstertheGreat|talk]]) 02:51, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:
:I'm having the same issue. Firefox doesn't work, which I understand, but neither does Safari. I haven't gotten a single notification. [[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 06:57, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
::Problem solved! Turns out I *was* getting notifications, I just wasn't seeing them. --[[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 07:07, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

What the heck are the "Zoom Notification" ones, with just a pair of numbers? Now that I've been sitting with this for a little bit, they're by far the most common notifications, and the most mysterious. What is "zoom"ing or should be zoomed-in-on or whatever, and what do the two numbers signify? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.75|172.68.22.75]] 20:35, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:I think they're coordinates. So far (x,y) has had x from 4 fo 73 (that I've seen) and y from 2 to 28. That gives a tad over 2000 possible combinations, but omething tells me there won't be more than 500 or so in total. Quite a few y=24 (not yet adjacent by x), and any given x has 0 to 3 different y partners (so far). They ''do'' repeat (I'm not recording how many times, but I'm scatterplotting what I get). The ones prefixed with "oh look!" are tightly clustered in x=6..13 and y=4..11, so far, with no non-"oh look!" ones there, so I'm plotting them in a different marker. I ''suspect'', after many many more Zoom Notifications, I'll be left with (enough of) a pixelated image's pixels (of two types, background colour excluded), or else I'm doing it wrong and I should be drawing lines between the dots, but I never managed to grab them all, so I'm relying on it being a random "spraygun droplets" sort of image-reveal. (Still some way to go...) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.241.66|172.71.241.66]] 23:08, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
: Also, Zoom is a video chat app, if you didn't know that. That's the joke. [[User:EebstertheGreat|EebstertheGreat]] ([[User talk:EebstertheGreat|talk]]) 02:53, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Made a new page called [[3074: Push Notifications/Table of Notifications]], much like [[1506: xkcloud/List of Permalinks]]. I’m hoping that we can put all of the possible notifications into the table, along with any possible images that go along with it and an explanation (if necessary). '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:26, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:I think it might be a good idea to make the table something more like source/name/notification, because there are chains of notifications where the name changes, like the How Many Times Can You Click This? notification. --[[User:Magicalus|Magicalus]] ([[User talk:Magicalus|talk]]) 23:19, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
::Might even want to track the URL that the notification leads to in the cases where it opens a new tab. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.142.57|172.71.142.57]]
:Did you mean a page much like [[1506:_xkcloud/List_of_Permalinks]]? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.175.171|162.158.175.171]] 01:25, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:: Weird, someone changed that. I just reverted it. --[[User:Jacky720|Jack]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|t]]|[[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|c]]) 02:07, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

I clicked on the silence notifications at a cost button a lot and it set Cueball's PC on fire?

I found what is presumably the source code (?) of the comic through the transcript. It’s all JS pages. No idea what they mean (I’m not good with code), but I’m sure that there are some on here that can help dissect it. '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 21:50, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/manifest.json
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/42.4f5b21b3.js
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/index.js?v=1

: I found this list of states in there, saved to the "iU" variable: intro, wordgame, gameover, biglaptop, boat, default, floating, longdesk, missing, nekotree, nekotree2, nekowater, nodesk, onfire, peek, shark, spinning, squirrel, squirreldesk, squirrelplant, standing, sword, tallchair, tentacle, water, wizard, bigplant, catchair, catonhead, compiling, floor, plant, reverse. Presumably, this is all the images we're looking for. I'll get back to you if I identify what chooses them or all their actual filepaths. --[[User:Jacky720|Jack]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|t]]|[[Special:Contributions/Jacky720|c]]) 00:43, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

: I found more urls:
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/async/marconi-sw.e9d36d05.js
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/async/491.7b4e7556.js
:https://xkcd.com/3074/marconi/static/js/async/491.7b4e7556.js --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.45|172.69.23.45]] 03:11, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

I have a sneaking suspicion the Zoom Notifications are sketching out an image of some sort
(Update: after plotting like 60 of them no apparent pattern is to be found) [[User:SkiesShaper|SkiesShaper]] ([[User talk:SkiesShaper|talk]]) 22:24, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
: I've plotted 397 and it seems to be forming some kind of animal. Maybe a cat, given the comic theme? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.119|172.68.35.119]] 23:24, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
:That could make sense yeah - there is definitely an organic sort of pattern emerging from the points I've been plotting out [[User:SkiesShaper|SkiesShaper]] ([[User talk:SkiesShaper|talk]]) 00:35, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
: I'm pretty sure it's a turtle. I have 311 points so far and while it isn't clear, it looks like a turtle. [[User:IMW|IMW]] ([[User talk:IMW|talk]]) 01:51, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
:: After plotting more I think the "Oh look" coordinates help with drawing out a butterfly sitting on the left side of the turtle. [[User:IMW|IMW]] ([[User talk:IMW|talk]]) 03:36, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
: when the image is saved, it appears to have a hex code as a file name. could be some other thing though [[User:Pncak|Pncak]] ([[User talk:Pncak|talk]]) 04:07, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Apparently one of the notifications is: "The Earth is spinning at a rate of 1 rpd" This is true if you round it, but not exact. The time it takes to rotate is called a sidereal day, and there's one extra sidereal day a year. Basically, there's one solar day removed in a year, because the Earth's motion around the sun cancels it out. Think of it with a tidally locked planet. It spins around once a year, but the sun never moves. Really there's 1.0027379 rotations per day. [[User:DanielLC|DanielLC]] ([[User talk:DanielLC|talk]]) 23:02, 9 April 2025 (UTC)
: then it is rotating at 1 revolution per ''sidereal'' day, which could still be written as 1 rpd [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 05:23, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

This is the most chaotic comic I've seen in a while. Part of me wants to keep notifications on to see what happens, and part of me wants to turn it all off and throw my phone in a lake [[User:Alcatraz ii|Alcatraz ii]] ([[User talk:Alcatraz ii|talk]]) 00:40, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

I am making a sheet with the cordinates: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/133jGfOM6EVuEco4j2NumOAOv6pEealyZpbDoMkESXvs/edit?usp=sharing
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.81|108.162.216.81]] 01:31, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Should we start uploading different images? [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 03:48, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
: And should we create a new page for the images or put them all on the same page, like with umwelt. [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 03:49, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Underneath the "Silence Notifications at a Cost" button, it says "Temporarily pause your notifications at the cost of notifying two random people". Does anyone know how for how long notifications stay silenced, or if there is a way to "unsilence" notifications? Also, when I click on the cats they just disappear. [[User:PDesbeginner|PDesbeginner]] ([[User talk:PDesbeginner|talk]]) 04:09, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
: When I click on the cats I get a push notification with a cat fact.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.127.58|172.70.127.58]] 05:35, 10 April 2025 (UTC)
Just like any other button, you can click it really fast by clicking the button and then holding "enter" or spacebar. [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 04:35, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Someone should probably comment on "April 1st (observed)". I assume it's a reference to the fact that the comic is late? --[[User:Mushrooms|Mushrooms]] ([[User talk:Mushrooms|talk]]) 07:53, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Is it morally wrong to spam the temporary silence button, just because I want to give other people notifications? [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 08:01, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

3070: Orogeny

2025-04-01T06:57:41Z

Broseph: Added more explaination

{{comic
| number = 3070
| date = March 31, 2025
| title = Orogeny
| image = orogeny_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x303px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Most properties can only boast INDOOR heated floors.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a OUTDOOR HEATED FLOOR - Needs someone who knows geology to add stuff. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is about an {{w|orogeny}}. The mountain range that Ponytail and Cueball are looking at was formed a billion years ago, but the mountains themselves have been eroded away and replaced. This could reference the Theseus’ Galleon thought experiment. Ponytail changed this into a business opportunity.

The title text talks about how magma is technically a heated floor. While most houses only have indoor heated floors, the volcanic seamounts can heat the ground outside.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Cueball and Ponytail are standing together on a mountain and look out at a mountain range.]
:Cueball: I hear these mountains are a billion years old.
:Ponytail: Well, sort of.
:Ponytail: An ancient collision created the mountain belt, but the actual rock layers have been continually uplifted and eroded away.
:Cueball: So it's an old mountain range, but it's been fully renovated?
:Ponytail: Yessir, torn down to the roots. This is good solid plutonic bedrock, freshly uplifted. Great value.
:Ponytail: You in the market?
:Cueball: I dunno, I was looking for new construction. You got any emerging volcanic seamounts?
:Ponytail: Nah, that market is a little too hot right now.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Home Inspections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]

Talk:2682: Easy Or Hard

2025-03-22T07:56:56Z

Broseph: /* This whole "hair and baloon" thing */ to balloon

For other people not in US: active ingredient of Tylenol is {{w|Paracetamol}}. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 12:51, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

"Now paleontologists have pinpointed during what time of year that millions of years event happened, all thanks to new fossil evidence" (from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okOnVovooeM SciShow]) It is probably what's referenced in the "What time of year did the cretaceous impact happen?" [[User:Ppete pete|Pete Ratchatakul]] ([[User talk:Ppete pete|talk]]) 13:36, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

Paper cited in the title text: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360674587_Derivation_of_a_governing_rule_in_triboelectric_charging_and_series_from_thermoelectricity
[[User:Victor|Victor]] ([[User talk:Victor|talk]]) 13:39, 7 October 2022 (UTC)
:AKA https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.4.023131 [[Special:Contributions/172.70.210.49|172.70.210.49]] 14:17, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

Papers related to the time of the year of the impact:

"... reveal that the impact occurred during boreal Spring/Summer, shortly after the spawning season for fish and most continental taxa." - [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-03232-9 Seasonal calibration of the end-cretaceous Chicxulub impact event]

"Here, by studying fishes that died on the day the Mesozoic era ended, we demonstrate that the impact that caused the Cretaceous–Palaeogene mass extinction took place during boreal spring." - [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04446-1 The Mesozoic terminated in boreal spring]

[[User:Ppete pete|Pete Ratchatakul]] ([[User talk:Ppete pete|talk]]) 13:46, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

Isn't mechanisms of Tylenol well known?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4912877/
:No - that's still a fairly new theory and it isn't fully accepted yet, or confirmed that there isn't anything else going on. It's been an area of controversy for a long time - when I graduated it was still thought it was a cox-3 inhibitor and that wasn't that long ago. (I'm a pharmacist.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.77|172.70.162.77]] 12:07, 9 October 2022 (UTC)
: I remember reading that the analgesic effect of Tylenol is not significantly greater than placebo, according to some RCTs. So the solution to "how Tylenol works" could simply be that it doesn't. (it's also not that great for treating fever either). USA people are missing out big time for not having approved metamizole/dypirone. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.238.9|172.71.238.9]] 22:06, 6 March 2023 (UTC)

I can't vouch for the long-period accuracy of the software that I just used (nor have I cross-checked with any other list or interactive app), but my quick research shows that on 31st March 1889 (dignitaries were officially taken to the top of the Eiffel Tower), Mars was in Pisces, and that in-between then and 6th May (the public got to do the same) it had drifted through Aries (IIRC, forgot to note that explicitly!) and into Taurus, where it was still on 26th May (the lifts opened, and the journey didn't have to be by the stairs!). Although you would have been unlikely to get a good view of Mars as it was quite close to conjunction with the Sun, getting well past Mercury's furthest extent. (In mid-June, it was practically on top of (or over but behind, as it were) the Sun, out of sight for all practical purposes.) I'm sure someone can do a more thorough check than myself, before we set this down properly/succinctly, but it was the first thing I thought of checking for myself. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.245|172.70.90.245]] 15:56, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

Top right reminds of [[2501: Average Familiarity]]: I guess that for many people relativity and quantum mechanics might fall in the middle right cell, not the top right. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.3.238|172.69.3.238]] 16:07, 7 October 2022 (UTC)
:I agree. It takes some familiarity with physics to realize that reconciling them is hard. Lay people may not understand these things at all, but they might assume that they're known well enough by scientists that this is at worst a hard problem. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:28, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

Isn't there a category for these types of grids? There should be, he does lots of them. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:28, 7 October 2022 (UTC)

I got 2.125*10^-17 m/s^2, or 3.18*10^-18 N, for the gravitational force/acceleration from the Eiffel Tower on a baseball on Fenway Park. Someone might want to check my calculations, though.--[[User:Account|Account]] ([[User talk:Account|talk]]) 23:42, 7 October 2022 (UTC)
: How did you get those numbers? I was trying to figure it out (for shits and giggles), but I got a different number. What equations/calculations did you use? --[[Special:Contributions/72.138.76.186|72.138.76.186]] 14:04, 11 October 2022 (UTC)
: It occurred to me that the Boston to Paris gravity question might not be quite as easy as it seems, since the relevant distance would be not “as the crow flies,” but more “as the mega-gopher digs.” (I think?) [[User:Miamiclay|Miamiclay]] ([[User talk:Miamiclay|talk]]) 21:11, 9 October 2022 (UTC)
:: I already edited it away from the (implied) suggestion of Great Circle distance (as a trivial understanding of 'distance between', and probably what most searches for a value would turn up). But using latitude, longitude and radius (local, +altitude if you're into the detail) from a sufficiently accurate geophysical model (at least an oblate spheroid) as spherical coordinates leads quickly to true-ish straight-line length. And probably doesn't need to be sigbificantly further adjusted by the small dimple in spacetime that the Earth puts there, or even the fringe distortions of other tide-inducing (and therefore variable) gravitational bodies.
:: You might even get away with a mere spherical model (and altitude is surely less significant a factor than the difference between that and the spheroid), for a given necessary accuracy level. But I thought that was too much to explain, so left it a bit vaguer. But if further edits are needed, feel free! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.49|172.70.85.49]] 08:27, 10 October 2022 (UTC)
::: An oblate spheroid is probably overkill. The difference between the polar and equatorial radii is 20 km, about 0.3% of the radius. Certainly, if you're down to the accuracy where you care about the elevation above sea level, this is going to be important, but otherwise it's not going to change your result much to just use a sphere with the mean radius of the Earth. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.34.213|172.70.34.213]] 20:15, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

I can attest to the anesthesia one... Near the beginning of Covid I had to get my foot amputated, something they obviously would knock you out for. However, it was felt that it would be risky in light of Covid so they wouldn't, instead numbing me with a needle to the spine (as I understand it, same idea as the epidural women might get while giving birth). So I was awake and feeling nothing while getting a body part cut off me (both times, I had to get cut twice due to the first cut getting infected). Just shows how delicate even an anesthesiologist's understanding is. [[User:NiceGuy1|NiceGuy1]] ([[User talk:NiceGuy1|talk]]) 04:03, 8 October 2022 (UTC)

Is it actually a bigger medical mystery how Tylenol works than how general anesthesia works? I figure the latter has had more research dollars spent on it, at the very least. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.65|172.70.178.65]] 21:17, 10 October 2022 (UTC)

Calculating how much does the Eiffel Tower's gravity deflect baseballs in Boston is easy, but direct observation is insanely hard. [[User:Lamty101|Lamty101]] ([[User talk:Lamty101|talk]]) 02:09, 11 October 2022 (UTC)
:But just to observe the force, one only needs a {{w|Torsion_spring#Torsion_balance|torsion balance}} and some means of entirely relocating the tower to an equidistant point on the Earth's surface but on a plane at right-angles to that of the original vector (for comparative purposes)... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.26|172.70.86.26]] 08:53, 11 October 2022 (UTC)
:I think it might be nitpicky to include in the description, but it's worth noting here that acceleration is a vector, so you'd need to know not just the masses of the two bodies and the distance between them, but also the direction from one to the other. This would affect the direction in which the baseball would be deflected. But if you know the two locations then you already have both distance and direction. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 08:40, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
::Can also likely ignore relativistic effects. [[User:Jkshapiro|Jkshapiro]] ([[User talk:Jkshapiro|talk]]) 08:40, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

Why is the transcript marked as incomplete? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.238.143|172.70.238.143]]
:: Missing title text? New poster/editor didn't know/bother to remove the tag? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.241.51|108.162.241.51]] 15:19, 11 October 2022 (UTC)
::: If it has title text it is ''over''complete and TT details would need to be removed from it. Title text is already given verbatim. The Transcript is there to support access to screen-reading/text-searching of information only otherwise available in graphical form, and therefore does not do anything useful by providing the TT (and could be so eadily made to give a ''different'' TT). That's my general understanding of the evolved 'policy' on this, anyway. If it changes, I'd suggest that a <nowiki>{{Template}}</nowiki> be inserted below the initially empty Transcript (and above the Discussion insertion) that grabs the <nowiki>{{comic}}</nowiki> field of title text, on the calling page (or optionally another, by numeric parameter, if that would be ever useful) and repeats it verbatim. But, that aside...
::: If someone has an idea that they have now truly completed the Transcript, they can remove that tag. If someone else believes there are no further worthwhile improvements, they can remove that tag. But someone else might make it 'better', ''anyway'', two minutes or ten years later. And rather than worry about detagging the very latest comic (or even the prior couple, from within the last two) ASAP, I'd personally think about looking at anything untouched for a while from the older comics. And either tweaking (but leaving the tag a little longer for others to review, finishing the job a few days later if no further issues) or finalising as complete rather than polish the turd/gild the lilly.
::: But I know some people have blitzed all Incomplete tags, and many others clearly consider it not so clear cut and leave them in order to give the benefit of the uncertainty. – Between all our crowd-edits, there seems to be a fairly reasonable concensus, although vanishing Incompletes rarely get replaced by others who disagree but can't themselves (properly) Complete them so it probably biases towards more premature Completing. Which doesn't freeze it, and if the community-accepted 'transcript formatting' hasn't even been done yet it can still be done. (Perhaps the only time I'd reinsert the Incompleteness tag while "finishing" it.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.26|172.70.86.26]] 18:09, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

== This whole "hair and balloon" thing ==

According to a fan theory, hair have a lot of microscopic imperfections like cracks, that tend to rub against things in "microrough" manner.
 Meanwhile, ballons, that are made of elastic matter, will have to interact with the hair's ... microscopic stuff.
 As a result, there will be quite a surface for interactions on molecular level to bump a lot of molecules one against another without scratching/damaging.
 Same thing in lesser proportions happened to me in 2009, when I magnetized my Philips screwdriver by revolving its edges against edges of holer in my PC case.
 So, in my opinion, "hair agaist baloon" is a good clue: it takes very little effort unlike revolving a 6mm screwdriver agaist 5 mm holes {{unsigned ip|162.158.203.40|Latest revision as of 13:10, 14 October 2022}}
:The big thing about balloon/whatever charge redistribution is (the last I heard) why charges preferentially travel in one direction upon rubbing. Given the complicated mix of surface-molecules, you can't ascribe it to ready-donor/ready-recipient tendencies, such as in an electrolytic cell specifically designed to promote electron/proton exchange from an amorphous mass. And, if nothing else, having been transfered then the force of newly accumulated charge syould want to flow at least as readily in the other direction upon more dynamic contact, so whatever 'incidental' bias from your particular choice of material-pairing (amber/cloth, latex/keratin, or however the charge differential is established in thunderclouds) there's going to quickly be a limit whereupon the charge-per-subunit is hit by diminishing returns (presumably intra-molecular charge distribution 'soaks' some chare distribution away frm the 'skin' of the respective substances).... So it's more complex than just the above, and definitely does [[2268: Further Research is Needed|need further study]], the last I heard. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.58|172.70.91.58]] 15:07, 14 October 2022 (UTC)

: FYI, the effect has a name. It's called ''triboelectricity'' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboelectric_effect). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.135.224|172.70.135.224]] 00:18, 18 October 2022 (UTC)

3066: Cosmic Distance Calibration

2025-03-21T18:13:30Z

Broseph: Lectern instead of podium

{{comic
| number = 3066
| date = March 21, 2025
| title = Cosmic Distance Calibration
| image = cosmic_distance_calibration_2x.png
| imagesize = 317x409px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = This is the biggest breakthrough since astronomers noticed that the little crosshairs around red giant stars starting to burn helium are all the same size.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by AN ASTRONOMER BOT - MILKY WAY GALAXY - 0 LIGHT YEARS AWAY - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
The comic interprets the UI labels next to the stars as actual objects in space, which is absurd.{{cn}} If these labels were to become astrophysical objects in reality, it would quickly result in major changes to the universe. As each of these labels would need to be clearly visible from an observatory, they would require monstrous size, maybe even big enough to collapse into black holes when pointing to stars farther away. They would also create a sudden lack of need for the stars they point to, as the stars would shortly be gravitationally attracted to their respective labels and promptly destroyed.

The label on the billboard appears to be pointing to a star in the spiral Galaxy M106, located between 22 and 25 million light-years away from earth.

This comic was released the same week as cosmologists revealed [https://www.quantamagazine.org/is-dark-energy-getting-weaker-new-evidence-strengthens-the-case-20250319/ news] that dark energy appears to be weakening, a result based on measurements of distances to many galaxies across the universe. No mention of distance labels was made in the announcement.{{cn}}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Ponytail is at a lectern, pointing at an image of intergalactic space. There is an image that shows a zoomed-in label beneath a star with 4 points. The zoomed-in label shows three lines of text, some of it partially cut off:]
:M106 0-06 [cut-off]
:Distance:
:23.6163 MLY

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Cosmology News: New telescopes are finally powerful enough to read the little labels next to stars showing how far away they are.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]
[[Category:Telescopes]]

dot

2025-03-17T17:09:45Z

Broseph:

{{comic
| title = Dot
| image = xkcd dot.gif
| imagesize = 512x512px
| noexpand = true
| lappend = dot
| extra = yes
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Hey all, Cal here. No clue what this page is for, at all. First full page creation though!}}
This page shows a black dot blinking in the center of the screen at a tempo of 150 BPM. This is the entirety of the page, and its purpose is currently unknown.

==Transcript==
:[A flashing black dot in the center of the image, which is all white.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:No date]]

Talk:dot

2025-03-17T17:07:53Z

Broseph: Dot.

As the one who made this page (and probably the only one aware of it), this is [[technically]] the [[TCMP|"F1RST P0ST!!"]] [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 13:49, 17 March 2025 (UTC)
Dot. [[User:Broseph|Broseph]] ([[User talk:Broseph|talk]]) 17:07, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

3062: Off By One

2025-03-12T20:26:37Z

Broseph:

{{comic
| number = 3062
| date = March 12, 2025
| title = Off By One
| image = off_by_one_2x.png
| imagesize = 202x337px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It does come at the small cost of a LOT more off-by-40-or-50 errors.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 40-50 BOTS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In programming, {{w|off-by-one errors}} are very common. An off-by-one error is an error where the value of a variable differs from the intended or expected value by 1. This can arise from a number of sources, including mistakenly using a ≤ (less than or equals) comparison where a < (less than) comparison was needed, or vice versa (or ≥ / >); confusion between zero- and one-based indexing of arrays in code, either by convention or by definition in the code; or fencepost errors (needing the number of values in the range, say, 4 to 6, inclusive, but using 6 - 4 = 2 as the number instead of 3).

[[Cueball]] has attempted to combat off-by-one errors by introducing off-by-40-to-50 errors, which is arguably even worse{{cn}} and may actually lead to off-by-39-to-51 errors, depending on whether "between" here is inclusive or exclusive. For example, when trying to loop over an array, it will miss many elements, not just possibly the endpoints. It may also completely leave the bounds of the array, causing out-of-bounds errors.

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

:[Cueball faces Megan and Hairy. Cueball points towards a computer behind him]

:Cueball: Any time an integer is stored or read, its value is adjusted upward or downward by a random amount between 40 or 50.

:[Caption below the panel]
:My new language almost completely eliminates off-by-one errors.

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

3062: Off By One

2025-03-12T20:25:57Z

Broseph:

2494: Flawed Data

2025-03-07T16:17:23Z

Broseph: Grammar Changes

{{comic
| number = 2494
| date = July 26, 2021
| title = Flawed Data
| image = flawed_data.png
| titletext = We trained it to produce data that looked convincing, and we have to admit, the results look convincing!
}}

==Explanation==

This is another comic about what is the right or wrong way to perform research when data are not adequate.

In the first frame, [[Cueball]] presents a report on a poster (two graphs with data points and possible fitted curves), admitting that all of the data anre actually flawed. He doesn't explain if it's contrary to some outcome or revelation, or perhaps a systematic error in the data-gathering process.

From there, three different reactions to this is displayed in order of how good a decision they make based on this realization.

;Good
In the first scenario Cueball states they are no longer sure about the conclusions they had drawn from the flawed data. This is, of course, the scientifically appropriate decision. The less reliable data are, the less reliable the conclusions that can be drawn. Ideally, flawed data would be discarded altogether, but there are situations in which better data are not available, so a compromise may be to draw tentative conclusions, but make clear that those are uncertain, due to issues with the data.

;Bad
In the second scenario Cueball then explains that after heavy manipulation ("doing a lot of math") of their flawed data, they decided they were actually fine. There are a number of methods that can be used to manipulate or "clean" data, with varying levels of complexity and reliability. Some of these methods may be valid in certain situations, but applying them after the initial analysis failed is highly suspect. The likelihood, in such a case, is that the researchers tried different methods of data manipulation, one after another, until they found one that gave the results they wanted. This is clearly highly subject to the biases of the researchers (both conscious and unconscious) and is much less likely to result in accurate conclusions. Hence, this approach occurs in research more often than it should, and [[Randall]] is making clear that it's "bad".

;Very bad
In the third and final scenario, Cueball explains that they scrapped all the flawed data. However, instead of trying to make some new data by correctly redoing research/measurements/tests, they instead trained an {{w|Artificial Intelligence}} (AI) to generate better data from nothing but a desire to match a target outcome. These are of course not real data,{{cn}} but just a simulation of data, selectively sieving statistical noise for desirable qualities. And since they are probably looking for a specific result, they are training the AI to generate data that support this. This approach is "very bad", as it not only produces no useful science, but means that future researchers will be working from entirely artificial data. Doing so would be destructive to science and would be considered incredibly unethical in any research body or association. The only purpose of such a method would be to convince others that you'd proven something interesting, rather than determining what's true (and possibly gain some experience in AI programming). AI is a recurring [[:Category:Artificial Intelligence|theme]] on xkcd.

In the title text, the results from the very bad approach are mentioned and the fact that they got the data they were looking for is made clear when they state that ''We trained it to produce data that looked convincing, and we have to admit, the results look convincing!'' The AI was of course trained to provide data that look convincing, which is why they are so convinced of the results.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is pointing a stick at a poster hanging behind him while addressing an unseen audience. There are two graphs on the poster with data points and fitting curves.]
:Cueball: We realized all our data is flawed.

:[The three next panels all have a label in a frame going over the top of each panels frame. The poster can no longer be seen in the rest of the panels.]
:Label: Good
:[Cueball has taken the stick down.]
:Cueball: ...So we're not sure about our conclusions.

:Label: Bad
:[Cueball holds the pointer almost as in the first panel.]
:Cueball: ...So we did lots of math and then decided our data is actually fine.

:Label: Very bad
:[Cueball holds the pointer so it point upwards. Also he lifts his other hand a bit up.]
:Cueball: ...So we trained an AI to generate better data.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Statistics]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]

3059: Water Damage

2025-03-05T17:54:25Z

Broseph:

{{comic
| number = 3059
| date = March 5, 2025
| title = Water Damage
| image = water_damage_2x.png
| imagesize = 612x329px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Your homeowner's insurance might cover it, but be sure to check the subductible.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT BEING SUBDUCTED BY ALIENS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

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

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Volcanoes]]

1796: Focus Knob

2025-03-04T08:14:16Z

Broseph: Fixed spelling mistakes

{{comic
| number = 1796
| date = February 8, 2017
| title = Focus Knob
| image = focus_knob.png
| titletext = Maybe if I spin it back and forth really fast I can do some kind of pulse-width modulation.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic is a pun. Normally, a rotary {{w|control knob}} is used for adjusting parameters in instruments, and the parameter "focus" is used to adjust the {{w|focal length}} on microscopes, telescopes, and other lens-based equipment. Here, however, the "focus knob" is used for Randall's {{w|Attention|personal sense of focus}} -- that is, how focused he is on his work and productivity, with the extremes of focus being towards ''Detail-Oriented'' (small details) and the ''Big Picture'' respectively. (A similar knob was used in [[1620: Christmas Settings]]).

The healthy balance, Randall suggests, is focusing mostly towards the ''Big Picture'' (two thirds of the way towards the ''Big Picture'' between ticks 24 and 25 out of 37), while keeping an eye on the details by still staying one third ''Detail-Oriented''. Focusing too much on the big picture can ensure nothing gets done, leading to {{w|panic}} and existential {{w|paralysis}}. Unfortunately, the range of healthy balance appears to be vanishingly small and difficult to reach; additionally, if we assume the knob can only stop at the little ticks marked along the outside and that the boundaries are not inclusive, there is no way to set it in the window of ''Healthy Focus''.

While performing any task, it is easy to get so lost in the details that you forget the big picture. It is also equally easy to think too much about the big picture and make vague plans while missing out on the details. It is clear that at the moment Randall is mainly focusing on the small details fiddling with his e-mail settings as the knob is set to the 13th tick only just past one third away from ''Detail-Oriented''. He thus seems to try to avoid seeing the big picture right now, since it is his personal knob to set as he wishes.

The joke in the title text relates to Randall's use of an old fashioned analog control, probably a {{w|potentiometer|potentiometer}}, in the graphic versus a more electronically modern and efficient switching system. Randall imagines a replacement control using {{w|pulse-width modulation}} (PWM), which is a technique often used to control the {{w|Switched-mode_power_supply|regulation in electronic power supplies}} or the [http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/blog/pulse-width-modulation.html speed of electric motors] with far greater power efficiency than simpler analog controllers. This technique consists of rapidly shifting between {{w|Bang–bang control|fully on and fully off states}} so that the average is the expected output, but no power is wasted by holding the control mechanism "partially on". For example switching back and forth between 0 and 1, spending half the time in each position will lead to a mean value of 0.5. To code 0.67 (the ''healthy balance''), Randall would have to spend more time in the extreme big picture position (67% of the time) than in the detail-oriented position. In the real world of course, a person switching so radically and completely between attention states might get diagnosed with some sort of {{w|Mania|mania}}. But the knob might just be switched between the dividers bordering the healthy zone, creating the perfect balance.

==Transcript==
:[Caption above the drawing:]
:Personal Focus

:[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by small ticks on a black arc. The knob has a black line that indicates that the knob's setting. At the bottom left and right where the semi circle begins and ends there are two labels in normal black text:]
:Left: Detail-Oriented
:Right: Big Picture

:[Above and all along the black semi circle with the range, another semi circle is drawn in light gray. This has been divided into three sections, with two large sections left and right forming the actual semi circle with double arrow lines. There is a short section with no tick inside it between the two other sections. There are three labels for each of these section, with a line from the label down to the small section. All described here are drawn light gray color.]
:Left section: Fiddling with email settings
:Right section: Panic and existential paralysis
:Small section: Healthy balance

*'''Click''' to expand for a more detailed image description without any more text:
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed leftAlign" style="width:100%">
 
:[A gray rotary control knob with the range of options divided by 37 small ticks on a black arc that extends over 270 degrees from 45 degrees past "6 o'clock" and around to 45 degrees before that "time" on the other side. The first and last tick are a bit larger than the other 35. The knob has a black line that indicates that the knob's setting is on the 13th line from left. This also seem to indicate that the knob can only point to the ticks and not in between them. At the bottom left and right where the arc begins and ends there are two labels in normal black text.]

:[Above and all along the black semi circle with the range, another set of arcs are drawn in light gray. These has been divided into three sections, with two large sections left and right forming most of the major arc, which here consist of two double ended arrows pointing to four stopping lines orthogonal to the gray arrows pointing at them. The left and right stopping lines are above the larger left and right end ticks below. The other two stops are very near each other, the left just slightly past the 24th tick (from left) and the next is just short of the next 25th tick (but not as near as the other line was to the 24th tick). There is no line or arrow between these two very close stopping lines. There are three labels. The labels for the first section (spanning slightly more than 24 ticks) and the second section (spanning a bit more 13 ticks) have their labels written next to the arrows, which has been broken in order to have the text written next to the black arc. The remaining small space lies between the 24th and 25th tick, and it thus have no possible settings within it - i.e. no tick is inside this section, and it is the only part not encompassed by the two double arrows. It is labeled to the right of it, and a line goes from the label down to indicate this small section. All the above including the text is drawn in the same light gray color.]
</div>
 

==Trivia==
In the [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/8/8c/20170608162730%21focus_knob.png original version of the comic], Randall had misspelled "existent'''i'''al" as "existental", with only one "i". This was later fixed.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]

3043: Muons

2025-01-27T20:28:06Z

Broseph: made explaination

{{comic
| number = 3043
| date = January 27, 2025
| title = Muons
| image = muons_2x.png
| imagesize = 284x388px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Update: I've been banned from the physics department for the way I pronounce "Doppler effect."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Time dilation is the concept where faster moving objects feel like time is slowing down. Because the ‘regular speed’ muons are moving at a relatively normal speed, Cueball pronounces it properly, but because time slows down for the faster moving muons, Cueball adjusts this, and pronounces it much slower, as if he is being slowed down from talking about them.

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

{{comic discussion}}

3028: D&D Roll

2024-12-24T07:59:16Z

Broseph: Fixed spelling mistakes

{{comic
| number = 3028
| date = December 23, 2024
| title = D&D Roll
| image = dnd_roll_2x.png
| imagesize = 312x313px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Under some circumstances, if you throw a D8 and then a D12 at an enemy, thanks to the D8's greater pointiness you actually have to roll a D12 and D8 respectively to determine damage.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a D20 FORGED IN THE CAVES OF MALRON. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a scene from a tabletop roleplaying game, probably {{w|Dungeons & Dragons}}. The player [[Cueball]] announces "I roll D20... 18," referring to rolling a 20-sided die and getting the relatively high score of 18, presumably while in a fight with a {{w|kobold}} (a small reptilian humanoid creature in D&D.) The {{w|gamemaster}}, [[Ponytail]], responds that the kobold is unaffected, but humorously suggests using a sword instead, pointing out the absurdity of trying to defeat an enemy by rolling dice at them.

Cueball made the mistake of assuming that Ponytail would understand which of his weapons or other {{w|melee}} attacks he intended to use, but she had no way of knowing that, so she decided to gently tease him about the omission. This is a common mistake, and being gently made fun of is a common result. The player will usually be allowed to state the specific attack intended and roll again.{{cn}}

However, the possibility exists that the players' characters have actual dice, such as those which were role-played as being produced in [[244: Tabletop Roleplaying]]. The title text suggests that if you literally threw dice as weapons, an eight-sided die (D8) would do more damage than a twelve-sided die (D12) because of its pointier shape, so ironically, you might need to roll the D12 to determine the D8's damage and vice versa, in "some circumstances."

In D&D Combinatorics, the same people (Cueball, Megan, Ponytail, White Hat and Knit Cap) are seated playing D&D in the same seats as this comic. In D&D Combinatorics, Cueball seems to be Randall, so it is likely that he is Randall here

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

:[Cueball, Megan, Ponytail, White Hat, and Knit Cap are sitting around a table in a tabletop gaming session. Objects such as dice, miniatures, a map, and papers are on the table.]

:Cueball: I roll D20... 18.

:Ponytail: The kobold is unaffected.

:Ponytail: Honestly, I don't know why you thought dice would help. You should probably try a sword or something instead.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Dice]]
[[Category:Games]]

3028: D&D Roll

2024-12-24T07:58:12Z

Broseph: Extra info about D&D Combinatronics.

{{comic
| number = 3028
| date = December 23, 2024
| title = D&D Roll
| image = dnd_roll_2x.png
| imagesize = 312x313px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Under some circumstances, if you throw a D8 and then a D12 at an enemy, thanks to the D8's greater pointiness you actually have to roll a D12 and D8 respectively to determine damage.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a D20 FORGED IN THE CAVES OF MALRON. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic is a scene from a tabletop roleplaying game, probably {{w|Dungeons & Dragons}}. The player [[Cueball]] announces "I roll D20... 18," referring to rolling a 20-sided die and getting the relatively high score of 18, presumably while in a fight with a {{w|kobold}} (a small reptilian humanoid creature in D&D.) The {{w|gamemaster}}, [[Ponytail]], responds that the kobold is unaffected, but humorously suggests using a sword instead, pointing out the absurdity of trying to defeat an enemy by rolling dice at them.

Cueball made the mistake of assuming that Ponytail would understand which of his weapons or other {{w|melee}} attacks he intended to use, but she had no way of knowing that, so she decided to gently tease him about the omission. This is a common mistake, and being gently made fun of is a common result. The player will usually be allowed to state the specific attack intended and roll again.{{cn}}

However, the possibility exists that the players' characters have actual dice, such as those which were role-played as being produced in [[244: Tabletop Roleplaying]]. The title text suggests that if you literally threw dice as weapons, an eight-sided die (D8) would do more damage than a twelve-sided die (D12) because of its pointier shape, so ironically, you might need to roll the D12 to determine the D8's damage and vice versa, in "some circumstances."

In D&D Combinatronics, the same people (Cueball, Megan, Ponytail, White Hat and Knit Cap) are seated playing D&D in the same seats as this comic. In D&D Combinatronics, Cueball seems to be Randall, so it is likely that he is Randall here

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

:[Cueball, Megan, Ponytail, White Hat, and Knit Cap are sitting around a table in a tabletop gaming session. Objects such as dice, miniatures, a map, and papers are on the table.]

:Cueball: I roll D20... 18.

:Ponytail: The kobold is unaffected.

:Ponytail: Honestly, I don't know why you thought dice would help. You should probably try a sword or something instead.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Dice]]
[[Category:Games]]