explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3238: Soniferous Aether

2026-04-28T05:28:11Z

Coconut Galaxy: less teasing, more linking

{{comic
| number = 3238
| date = April 27, 2026
| title = Soniferous Aether
| image = soniferous_aether_2x.png
| imagesize = 290x466px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Imagine you could ride alongside a sound wave. It would probably be pretty cool, right? We're putting in a departmental budget request to buy a really fast plane so we can check it out.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a BOT THAT BREATHES SONIFEROUS AETHER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic makes a joke on the speed of light and the speed of sound, and the way in which they travel.

Scientists beginning in the late 1690s would discuss a {{w|luminiferous aether}} to explain properties of light, especially its ability to travel in a vacuum, which should not be possible for a wave. The 1887 {{w|Michelson–Morley experiment}} disproved its existence, and nowadays, this property is explained by {{w|wave–particle duality}}, which says that light can act as both a particle and a wave.

The title text references Albert Einstein's thought experiment where he imagined riding alongside a light particle/wave (which was referenced in [[2959: Beam of Light]]), but with a sound wave instead. Travelling at the speed of sound can be accomplished with a fast airplane, usually military aircraft, however the Tu-144 and Concorde were both commericial aircraft that did manage to achieve the ability to go supersonic, [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/i-was-there-when-the-dc-8-went-supersonic-27846699/ aside from (briefly) a DC-8].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

Ponytail: We all know the speed of light is constant for all observers. But out experiments show that the speed of sound changes based on the observer's motion. Thus, we posit the existence of a Soniferous Aether, a medium that fills the space between us and carries sound waves.

Caption: Sometimes Physicists forget that air exists and rediscover it from first principles.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

Talk:3238: Soniferous Aether

2026-04-28T05:26:37Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Dunno how, but I managed to get to an XKCD comic within the first like 5 minutes of it's upload. Went ahead and added a really bare bones explanation. People funnier and smarter than me can take it from there. [[User:RG|RG]] ([[User talk:RG|talk]]) 04:24, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

managed to get to the xkcd comic before this page was even made somehow so yeah. --[[User:Utdtutyabthsc|Utdtutyabthsc]] ([[User talk:Utdtutyabthsc|talk]]) 04:49, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

ah, i have a script which polls for the new comic pages on comic days and sends a webhook to alert me as well as sending a request to another program of mine to index the new page, so i fairly often find that the wiki page has been made by the bot but is completely empty when i get to it--or on rare occasions the webhook triggers before the xkcd.com/<number> url can embed, apparently; i guess the comic metadata JSON gets filled in before the image is, or something like that? (the webhook triggers sending a message to discord with the link, which embeds 99% of the time) - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 05:03, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

"...however the Tu-144 and Concord'''é'''..." - why the rogue accent? Was the author's reasoning that, as a French word, it is ''de rigeur'' (see what I did there) for it to include accents? As errors go, it's acute one... [[Special:Contributions/50.45.232.78|50.45.232.78]] 05:21, 28 April 2026 (UTC)
: The rogue accent has been removed with the speed of sound. But what about that supersonic DC-8. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 05:26, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

3238: Soniferous Aether

2026-04-28T05:23:44Z

Coconut Galaxy: no accent on the Cóncórdé.

{{comic
| number = 3238
| date = April 27, 2026
| title = Soniferous Aether
| image = soniferous_aether_2x.png
| imagesize = 290x466px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Imagine you could ride alongside a sound wave. It would probably be pretty cool, right? We're putting in a departmental budget request to buy a really fast plane so we can check it out.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by a BOT THAT BREATHES SONIFEROUS AETHER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic makes a joke on the speed of light and the speed of sound, and the way in which they travel.

Scientists beginning in the late 1690s would discuss a {{w|luminiferous aether}} to explain properties of light, especially its ability to travel in a vacuum, which should not be possible for a wave. The 1887 {{w|Michelson–Morley experiment}} disproved its existence, and nowadays, this property is explained by {{w|wave–particle duality}}, which says that light can act as both a particle and a wave.

The title text references Albert Einstein's thought experiment where he imagined riding alongside a light particle/wave (which was referenced in [[2959: Beam of Light]]), but with a sound wave instead. Travelling at the speed of sound can be accomplished with a fast airplane, usually military aircraft, however the Tu-144 and Concorde were both commericial aircraft that did manage to achieve the ability to go supersonic, aside from (briefly) a DC-8.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

Ponytail: We all know the speed of light is constant for all observers. But out experiments show that the speed of sound changes based on the observer's motion. Thus, we posit the existence of a Soniferous Aether, a medium that fills the space between us and carries sound waves.

Caption: Sometimes Physicists forget that air exists and rediscover it from first principles.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

Talk:3237: Husband and Wife

2026-04-25T06:34:19Z

Coconut Galaxy:

As a UKian, the most obvious reference here is Papa Lazarou in The League of Gentlemen. I assume that's not what Randall has in mind though (is LoG even a thing in the US?), and I have no idea what he might be thinking of. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:37, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
: Ah, you beat me to it. XKCD's been updating quite late in the day recently, so I thought I was safe not checking for a new strip until now - only to find that apparently it's been up for hours, and the ExplainXKCD comments have likewise. Yes, Papa Lazarou was my first thought. "You're my wife now!" :) [[Special:Contributions/50.45.232.78|50.45.232.78]] 20:31, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
: Hello Dave! You want to buy some pegs [[Special:Contributions/2A02:C7C:AD6D:1900:643A:9B89:E674:2F22|2A02:C7C:AD6D:1900:643A:9B89:E674:2F22]] 17:42, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
:It's in the title text: the movie "Borat". The title character's way of saying "my wife" became an earworm. Google it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:43, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
:: Ah - OK - don't think the title text was appearing when I was initially looking at it. Found it now. Doesn't mean anything to me. Papa Lazarou is still more salient, and ''much'' worse. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:46, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
: I immediately thought of Kimura-sensei from Azumanga Daioh. [[Special:Contributions/70.40.121.82|70.40.121.82]] 16:03, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
Out of curiosity, does anyone actually use 'my wife/husband'? I've never heard about it before. Is it an American thing or something? [[User:GSLikesCats307|GSLikesCats307]] ([[User talk:GSLikesCats307|talk]]) 18:41, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
:: In the UK it's more normal to use expressions such as "my better half" when talking about your spouse to somebody that doesn't know them, other than in that role [[Special:Contributions/2A02:C7C:AD6D:1900:643A:9B89:E674:2F22|2A02:C7C:AD6D:1900:643A:9B89:E674:2F22]] 17:45, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
:::"My better half" can be said with genuine feeling or sarcasm, either way. Then there's "my other half", "(him/her) indoors", occasionally "my spouse", "my partner" (downplays the possibility of there being an actual full marriage/similar), "the first Mrs Surname" (usually for men who think it's funny to joke about a long-time relationship maybe ending one day), "the latest Mrs Surname" (for those, again, as well as any who have gone through that at least once), and "Mr" versions of those last two (on occasions). Also "the old man" (or lady/girl/lass, etc, to suit) and other regional variations. Rhyming slang versions include "the Trouble" (and Strife, ie. 'wife'), "pot" (and pan, 'old man'), even "Danger" (mouse, 'spouse') etc... [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 19:48, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
::::You forgot SWMBO, "She Who Must Be Obeyed" - from an old Edgar Rice Burroughs story, I believe (Edit: I was wrong. It's H. Rider Haggard.), and popularised by Rumpole the defence lawyer in the books/TV show. [[Special:Contributions/50.45.232.78|50.45.232.78]] 20:31, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
:: To me (an American), the phrases "my husband" and "my wife" are so common and ordinary that I'm surprised to hear someone say they've never heard them before. Out of curiosity, where is it that people ''don't'' say things like "I went to that restaurant with my wife once," and what do they say instead (assuming that the person being spoken to doesn't know the wife's name)? --[[Special:Contributions/2601:404:C300:8040:7A4A:8D8C:3378:DA33|2601:404:C300:8040:7A4A:8D8C:3378:DA33]] 19:35, 24 April 2026 (UTC)

Where does it say Megan is concerned with "My" because it's possessive? I think she's just commenting on how fancy and formal it sounds. Also, I don't see how the comic age plays into anything. I do think there is definitely a nod to the ghost in #1108 though. [[Special:Contributions/170.187.32.34|170.187.32.34]] 17:50, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
:I agree, it doesn't seem to be related to the possessive pronoun, but with the title "husband", which is deeply rooted in how traditional heteronormative families are constructed.
:I also strongly doubt this is what concerns Megan. To me it's just the connotations to traditional, since outdated, family values that worries her. (This is probably why in the UK people appear to have stopped using the term, which must be an old thing as my parents who emigrated in the 80s also do it.)
Randall is a young pup. When someone says "my wife", the first thing I thought of wasn't Borat; it was Henny Youngman. [[Special:Contributions/136.226.20.200|136.226.20.200]] 19:33, 24 April 2026 (UTC)
:When I hear the phrase "my wife" I always end up finishing it with "Morgan Fairchild ... whom I've slept with" [[Special:Contributions/66.212.184.170|66.212.184.170]] 20:05, 24 April 2026 (UTC)'
There are a few questions about usage. Just to clarify, most (many?) Americans say "''My wife, Alice is... She likes... Alice does....''" Americans tend to say "my wife" *once* in a conversation to make the listener familiar with the relationship. I've known very few people who *never* use the spouse's name, but who consistently say "''My wife is... she likes... My wife does...''". The last person I heard doing it was a xennial from South Africa, maybe 20 years ago. That feels extremely possessive and insecure to me, particularly given that I was friends with his wife. Still, I think the comic is only commenting on one-off usage, not this insecure, possessive usage. I haven't heard any slang for "spouse" ("better half", "ball and chain") from anyone born after 1960. [[Special:Contributions/84.233.216.250|84.233.216.250]] 23:10, 24 April 2026 (UTC)

Am I in the minority? When referring to spouses, especially the 1st time, I usually say "[your|my|their|the] [Mrs|Mr]" as a noun, not including any surname @ all. Avoids this whole thing neatly, while being utterly clear & a bit ''(intentionally)'' corny. --[[User:TPS|TPS]] ([[User talk:TPS|talk]]) 03:39, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

I was just around a bunch of colleagues (in America) in social settings (meals, driving around) and "my wife"/"my husband" was used frequently. Not necessarily only once per person per conversation. Though we often *did* throw in the spouses' names in too, for variety. On the question whether Megan was concerned about the possessive or the formality of "husband", it's definitely the latter. Complaining about the supposed possessive is just being dense or juvenile about language. Using the phrase when you're recently married is awkward for almost everyone. [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 03:55, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

And I feel unaccustomed to call my mom "Mom" while speaking to her [[User:Cream Starlight|Cream S.L.]] ([[User talk:Cream Starlight|talk]] / [[Special:Contributions/Cream_Starlight|contribs]]) 04:56, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

This comic is *very nice* [[Special:Contributions/99.10.82.184|99.10.82.184]] 05:06, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

In summary, it seems Randall is vastly overestimating how many people have seen and remember Borat. Really, the "most salient cultural reference"? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 06:34, 25 April 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3234: Europa Missions

2026-04-20T06:37:51Z

Coconut Galaxy:

What is the possible area a Zamboni can do? How many would be needed to cover the whole surface? [[User:SDSpivey|SDSpivey]] ([[User talk:SDSpivey|talk]]) 02:56, 18 April 2026 (UTC)
:Europa has a surface area of about 3.061×10^7 km^2. A zamboni seems to cover about a 1.2 m^2 area (about 0.6m by 2m) at any given time. So if you simply cover all of Europa in zambonis (only like 3 trillion) and then drive them all forward their own length at the same time without crashing them into each other. So probably less than 3 trillion would be my guess (Also probably more than 2).
:They probably do like 8L/h and cover about 8000 m^2/h. So if they had 30 litre tanks, you would need 1 billion zambonis (0.03 km^2 each), and they would take 4 hours. Or for 1 month : 5 million Zambonis, refueled 200 times each (30 billion litres propane total). For constant resurfacing, like a normal ice rink (~10 times a day), you would need 2 billion zambonis running constantly (90 terawatts). [[User:Sameldacamel34|Sameldacamel34]] ([[User talk:Sameldacamel34|talk]]) 08:41, 18 April 2026 (UTC)
:: I think for the complete covering option you'd need at least one zamboni to rotate in place, as a consequence of the hairy ball theorem. [[Special:Contributions/137.25.230.78|137.25.230.78]] 15:58, 18 April 2026 (UTC) 

Is Randall confusing the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter and Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer here? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Icy_Moons_Explorer wikipedia link]
Also this feels like it is probably a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/17776 17776], what with all of its topics and the recent rise in interest in that work. [[User:SkiesShaper|SkiesShaper]] ([[User talk:SkiesShaper|talk]]) 03:47, 18 April 2026 (UTC)

The hovertext leaves ambiguity between the transitive and intransitive meanings of "resurface", leading to me imagining a Zamboni Voyager mission profile that involves cracking through the ice layer just to make moonfall and then climbing out of the ocean somehow. [[Special:Contributions/108.71.212.208|108.71.212.208]] 17:09, 18 April 2026 (UTC)
: The Zamboni Voyager also has a suspiciously sharp part on the bottom side, which could conceivably support this view. Resurfacing would probaly involve 3-D manoeuvres not necessarily allowed in 2-D Hockey on Earth. But the Federation MUST EXPAND [[Special:Contributions/2001:861:3F07:A020:A19A:2BA:622D:DCA4|2001:861:3F07:A020:A19A:2BA:622D:DCA4]] 23:09, 18 April 2026 (UTC)
:: That's just a standard(-looking) Zamboni machine sat on top of a booster/lander chasis that's currently firing its main rocket... [[Special:Contributions/81.179.199.253|81.179.199.253]] 23:30, 18 April 2026 (UTC)
::: That's what they want you to think. "170 to 2 due to burrowing" was just not acceptable for the Confederacy's teams managers. [[Special:Contributions/2001:861:3F07:A020:A19A:2BA:622D:DCA4|2001:861:3F07:A020:A19A:2BA:622D:DCA4]] 23:34, 18 April 2026 (UTC)

Is this a joke about the NHL expanding to Europe? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 06:37, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

3203: Binary Star

2026-02-05T09:33:45Z

Coconut Galaxy:

{{comic
| number = 3203
| date = February 4, 2026
| title = Binary Star
| image = binary_star_2x.png
| imagesize = 353x365px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The discovery of a fully typographical star system comes with a big asterisk.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a TV star. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
While a "main sequence star" is a real celestial object, a five-pointed star is how stars are often drawn. The comic uses a drawn star shape to be a part of a celestial star system.

The title text similarly uses the * symbol, which is sometimes called a star, to be another real celestial star. A "big asterisk" is used as a metaphor for a rather large caveat, symbolizing a long footnote.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

Talk:3197: Cost Savings

2026-01-23T09:08:37Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Anyone wanna store some items in my garage? They'll be there... forever! [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 22:41, 21 January 2026 (UTC)
: Can I store nuclear waste in your garage? [[Special:Contributions/185.36.194.156|185.36.194.156]] 04:31, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

Anybody know why the random explanation button bias towards the 3000's heavily?
: 20 manual iterations, beginning 20260122 1440Z. 0-999 25%, 1000-1999 30%, 2000-2999 40%, 3000-3197 5%, 3000-3999 projected 25%. n is too small, but I don't perceive a bias. [[Special:Contributions/98.97.38.200|98.97.38.200]] 14:50, 22 January 2026 (UTC)
: I've also felt this [[Special:Contributions/66.210.7.66|66.210.7.66]] 16:02, 22 January 2026 (UTC)
: See "[[explain xkcd:Community portal/Miscellaneous#Random Explanation Button bias towards newer articles]]" for some of the prior chat about this. [[Special:Contributions/82.132.246.68|82.132.246.68]] 18:47, 22 January 2026 (UTC)

I first thought the joke that we could do anything StarLink does cheaper, simpler, more environmentally friendly and without risking Kessler syndrome by using terrestrial technology (i.e. cables and antennas) ''if we could just get our heads out of our asses''. The shed punchline was a bit of a letdown. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:40, 22 January 2026 (UTC)

: Saturn the Titan lives, and He has commanded us to create a ring system for Planet Earth so that He can feel more at home here. Recreant. [[Special:Contributions/98.97.38.200|98.97.38.200]] 14:59, 22 January 2026 (UTC)

"NASA ... certainly cannot be conventionally ordered to build a shed on a needy citizen's property." Wait, what? Haven't you been following the trajectory of the 47th Presidency of these Untied States in North America? [[Special:Contributions/98.97.38.200|98.97.38.200]] 15:03, 22 January 2026 (UTC)
: Great, yet another partisan politics interjection in an apolitical discussion. {{unsigned ip|185.36.194.156|04:32, 23 January 2026}}
:: Everything is political. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 09:08, 23 January 2026 (UTC)
: I'm not sure that falls under "conventionally ordered". --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 09:08, 23 January 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3197: Cost Savings

2026-01-22T07:40:36Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Talk:3194: 16 Part Epoxy

2026-01-15T06:32:33Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Woah, just reloaded it and new comic! Sick... I should probably read it now. [[User:Willintendo|Willintendo]] ([[User talk:Willintendo|talk]]) 20:02, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

Paint bucket fill tool strikes again. --[[User:Lycheefoxpup|Lycheefoxpup]] ([[User talk:Lycheefoxpup|talk]]) 20:18, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

TABLES! TABLES! TABLES! WOOOOOO!!!!!! --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBaal44|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBaal44|Converse]]''''' 20:21, 14 January 2026 (UTC)
:Table created. However, I am a teenager and do not work in construction, so the explanations may need some work. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBaal44|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBaal44|Converse]]''''' 20:56, 14 January 2026 (UTC)
::Every item in this table is real. Ask me how I know. [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 21:34, 14 January 2026 (UTC)
:::How does the placebo work? Does it just kinda mind control you?--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBaal44|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBaal44|Converse]]''''' 21:42, 14 January 2026 (UTC)
:Robert'); DROP TABLE Epoxy;--
:Did it work? [[Special:Contributions/2001:1998:3500:42C:0:0:0:534|2001:1998:3500:42C:0:0:0:534]] 23:27, 14 January 2026 (UTC)
Thought for placebo adhesive: Water between two microscope slides. It'll stick real good, but it's not really glue, more... fancy pressure physics. [[Special:Contributions/142.165.161.48|142.165.161.48]] 22:28, 14 January 2026 (UTC)

"Duck" tape, not "duct". Come on Randall, you know better than that. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 00:08, 15 January 2026 (UTC)
:Both spellings are used. One is trademarked. [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 03:46, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

Now I'm wondering what the properties of a powdered bar magnet would even be, if each individual piece continued to be magnetic. [[Special:Contributions/2405:201:E010:1029:2C1E:1669:FA92:85DE|2405:201:E010:1029:2C1E:1669:FA92:85DE]] 00:44, 15 January 2026 (UTC)
:A magnetic powder stops being diamagnetic. All the north poles clamp onto a south pole, so the magnetic fields essentially all cancel. You end up with "lump of magnetic powder", not "one big magnet" or "powder you can disperse in a liquid." [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:32, 15 January 2026 (UTC)
:: But all the little pieces of magnets are still full magnets with a north and a south pole. Magnetic monopoles have, so far, not been observed in practice. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 06:32, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

So, the 2-poly(etc) seems to me to suggest that instead of being "-vinyl-ethyl-vinyl-ethyly-" polimerisation, with the links between both 'ethyl-like' backbone subcomponents being from opposite ends of the respective subunit carbon-pairing, it'd more likely now be considered as a polymethyl-group with a methyl (or methylene) group as the now unused onward '1-'site, hanging free of the new polychain. I'd have to check the bond-geometries, though to see if it would even work. (Ignoring the obvious problem with the made up name.) [[Special:Contributions/92.23.2.208|92.23.2.208]] 01:44, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

I feel like the Polyethylvinylesteracetate is a joke about how polymer names are often long and gibberish-sounding. [[User:Potatocakethrow|Potatocakethrow]] ([[User talk:Potatocakethrow|talk]])

Rosin is also used soldering, which might be relevant to adhesives. Soldering is used to join pipes, among other things. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 03:32, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

:>"Rosin is also used soldering, ...to join pipes" Plumbing (pipes) soldering more often uses "acid flux" (Zinc Chloride and similar), not rosin which is used in electronics and jewelry. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 05:48, 15 January 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3191: Superstition

2026-01-08T13:35:51Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Does the comic look grainy/low-res to anyone else? [[Special:Contributions/2600:1006:B347:C663:D55A:314:CB4F:43F6|2600:1006:B347:C663:D55A:314:CB4F:43F6]]
:yeah its not just you [[Special:Contributions/2A06:5906:1412:4100:1C9B:B7E4:7419:FD67|2A06:5906:1412:4100:1C9B:B7E4:7419:FD67]] 20:04, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:not me [[Special:Contributions/2A00:23EE:1878:2422:583A:77B9:1416:97D1|2A00:23EE:1878:2422:583A:77B9:1416:97D1]]
:did you say rabbit rabbit? [[Special:Contributions/2A01:E0A:1D1:7CE0:964F:C262:A580:DE9|2A01:E0A:1D1:7CE0:964F:C262:A580:DE9]] 20:45, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:The mobile version of the comic seams to have lower then usual resolution of the image, the normal version has larger resolution. [[User:Maofgf|Maofgf]] ([[User talk:Maofgf|talk]]) 21:10, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:Omg it does. I thought it was just a side effect of my new laptop's tiny screen but it's only this comic (other ones appear fine). [[Special:Contributions/2A02:C7C:6D8A:6800:74EC:66A3:2E17:78BC|2A02:C7C:6D8A:6800:74EC:66A3:2E17:78BC]] 21:16, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:I actually prefer the 2× version without antialiasing, it prevents the blurry look. But the 1× version has not enough resolution for that font to look good. There are also different antialiasing methods, for example the one used by Windows hurts my eyes, so I put a lot of effort into disabling it on my work laptop, but the one used on my Linux computer is fine (where it would ironically be trivially easy to disable it). [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 00:02, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
:The image on xkcd looks a lot better than the one here. My guess is that it's been replaced since it was first posted. If someone who knows how could retrigger the image pull, that would likely fix the one here. [[Special:Contributions/206.193.5.5|206.193.5.5]] 00:29, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
: Seems to be a problem with the wiki. I've re-uploaded the current version from xkcd.com, <del>and it's lost its anti-alising after the upload</del> --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:06, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
:: Addendum: <del>Wiki turns the 8-bit PNG from xkcd.com into a 24-bit PNG, while paradoxically forgetting about shades of gray. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:13, 8 January 2026 (UTC)</del> Nevermind the wiki cache is just being dumb. Should eventually look right. When? Nobody knows. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:20, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
::: It's updated! --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:35, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

I wasn't the first to comment - is that bad luck? [[Special:Contributions/2401:D005:D402:7A00:F107:D318:6C4C:DCA3|2401:D005:D402:7A00:F107:D318:6C4C:DCA3]] 21:33, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:I thought the lack of anti-aliasing was just a random event but now I know it's all your fault! [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 22:28, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

The default header image is coming up blank for me. Is this the first comic for it to be so? [[Special:Contributions/206.193.5.5|206.193.5.5]] 00:32, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
:Uh that is long time ago this happened last! Almost always been some promotion of books the last many years! It is the first time in more than a year that the [[Header text]] has been changed. No changes seemes to have occured in 2025. This will be the longest stretch ever. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:39, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
::I found that it changed before this comic came up so I have added a [[3190:_Tensegrity#Trivia|trivia]] on this on the previous comic and have updated the header text page! Thanks for making this notice. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 08:29, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

Is the Rabbits thing common outside the USA?
I'm in the UK (London) and have never heard of it. --[[User:MarcusRowland|MarcusRowland]] ([[User talk:MarcusRowland|talk]]) 13:01, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3191: Superstition

2026-01-08T07:23:05Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Does the comic look grainy/low-res to anyone else? [[Special:Contributions/2600:1006:B347:C663:D55A:314:CB4F:43F6|2600:1006:B347:C663:D55A:314:CB4F:43F6]]
:yeah its not just you [[Special:Contributions/2A06:5906:1412:4100:1C9B:B7E4:7419:FD67|2A06:5906:1412:4100:1C9B:B7E4:7419:FD67]] 20:04, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:not me [[Special:Contributions/2A00:23EE:1878:2422:583A:77B9:1416:97D1|2A00:23EE:1878:2422:583A:77B9:1416:97D1]]
:did you say rabbit rabbit? [[Special:Contributions/2A01:E0A:1D1:7CE0:964F:C262:A580:DE9|2A01:E0A:1D1:7CE0:964F:C262:A580:DE9]] 20:45, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:The mobile version of the comic seams to have lower then usual resolution of the image, the normal version has larger resolution. [[User:Maofgf|Maofgf]] ([[User talk:Maofgf|talk]]) 21:10, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:Omg it does. I thought it was just a side effect of my new laptop's tiny screen but it's only this comic (other ones appear fine). [[Special:Contributions/2A02:C7C:6D8A:6800:74EC:66A3:2E17:78BC|2A02:C7C:6D8A:6800:74EC:66A3:2E17:78BC]] 21:16, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:I actually prefer the 2× version without antialiasing, it prevents the blurry look. But the 1× version has not enough resolution for that font to look good. There are also different antialiasing methods, for example the one used by Windows hurts my eyes, so I put a lot of effort into disabling it on my work laptop, but the one used on my Linux computer is fine (where it would ironically be trivially easy to disable it). [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 00:02, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
:The image on xkcd looks a lot better than the one here. My guess is that it's been replaced since it was first posted. If someone who knows how could retrigger the image pull, that would likely fix the one here. [[Special:Contributions/206.193.5.5|206.193.5.5]] 00:29, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
: Seems to be a problem with the wiki. I've re-uploaded the current version from xkcd.com, <del>and it's lost its anti-alising after the upload</del> --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:06, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
:: Addendum: <del>Wiki turns the 8-bit PNG from xkcd.com into a 24-bit PNG, while paradoxically forgetting about shades of gray. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:13, 8 January 2026 (UTC)</del> Nevermind the wiki cache is just being dumb. Should eventually look right. When? Nobody knows. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:20, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

I wasn't the first to comment - is that bad luck? [[Special:Contributions/2401:D005:D402:7A00:F107:D318:6C4C:DCA3|2401:D005:D402:7A00:F107:D318:6C4C:DCA3]] 21:33, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:I thought the lack of anti-aliasing was just a random event but now I know it's all your fault! [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 22:28, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

The default header image is coming up blank for me. Is this the first comic for it to be so? [[Special:Contributions/206.193.5.5|206.193.5.5]] 00:32, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3191: Superstition

2026-01-08T07:20:16Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Does the comic look grainy/low-res to anyone else? [[Special:Contributions/2600:1006:B347:C663:D55A:314:CB4F:43F6|2600:1006:B347:C663:D55A:314:CB4F:43F6]]
:yeah its not just you [[Special:Contributions/2A06:5906:1412:4100:1C9B:B7E4:7419:FD67|2A06:5906:1412:4100:1C9B:B7E4:7419:FD67]] 20:04, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:not me [[Special:Contributions/2A00:23EE:1878:2422:583A:77B9:1416:97D1|2A00:23EE:1878:2422:583A:77B9:1416:97D1]]
:did you say rabbit rabbit? [[Special:Contributions/2A01:E0A:1D1:7CE0:964F:C262:A580:DE9|2A01:E0A:1D1:7CE0:964F:C262:A580:DE9]] 20:45, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:The mobile version of the comic seams to have lower then usual resolution of the image, the normal version has larger resolution. [[User:Maofgf|Maofgf]] ([[User talk:Maofgf|talk]]) 21:10, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:Omg it does. I thought it was just a side effect of my new laptop's tiny screen but it's only this comic (other ones appear fine). [[Special:Contributions/2A02:C7C:6D8A:6800:74EC:66A3:2E17:78BC|2A02:C7C:6D8A:6800:74EC:66A3:2E17:78BC]] 21:16, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:I actually prefer the 2× version without antialiasing, it prevents the blurry look. But the 1× version has not enough resolution for that font to look good. There are also different antialiasing methods, for example the one used by Windows hurts my eyes, so I put a lot of effort into disabling it on my work laptop, but the one used on my Linux computer is fine (where it would ironically be trivially easy to disable it). [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 00:02, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
:The image on xkcd looks a lot better than the one here. My guess is that it's been replaced since it was first posted. If someone who knows how could retrigger the image pull, that would likely fix the one here. [[Special:Contributions/206.193.5.5|206.193.5.5]] 00:29, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
: Seems to be a problem with the wiki. I've re-uploaded the current version from xkcd.com, and it's lost its anti-alising after the upload --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:06, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
:: Addendum: <del>Wiki turns the 8-bit PNG from xkcd.com into a 24-bit PNG, while paradoxically forgetting about shades of gray. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:13, 8 January 2026 (UTC)</del> Nevermind the wiki cache is just being dumb. Should eventually look right. When? Nobody knows. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:20, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

I wasn't the first to comment - is that bad luck? [[Special:Contributions/2401:D005:D402:7A00:F107:D318:6C4C:DCA3|2401:D005:D402:7A00:F107:D318:6C4C:DCA3]] 21:33, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:I thought the lack of anti-aliasing was just a random event but now I know it's all your fault! [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 22:28, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

The default header image is coming up blank for me. Is this the first comic for it to be so? [[Special:Contributions/206.193.5.5|206.193.5.5]] 00:32, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

File:superstition 2x.png

2026-01-08T07:18:44Z

Coconut Galaxy: Coconut Galaxy uploaded a new version of File:superstition 2x.png

== Summary ==
Small size can be found at https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/superstition.png

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

[[Category:Comic images]]

File:superstition 2x.png

2026-01-08T07:17:04Z

Coconut Galaxy: Coconut Galaxy uploaded a new version of File:superstition 2x.png

== Summary ==
Small size can be found at https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/superstition.png

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

[[Category:Comic images]]

Talk:3191: Superstition

2026-01-08T07:13:25Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Does the comic look grainy/low-res to anyone else? [[Special:Contributions/2600:1006:B347:C663:D55A:314:CB4F:43F6|2600:1006:B347:C663:D55A:314:CB4F:43F6]]
:yeah its not just you [[Special:Contributions/2A06:5906:1412:4100:1C9B:B7E4:7419:FD67|2A06:5906:1412:4100:1C9B:B7E4:7419:FD67]] 20:04, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:not me [[Special:Contributions/2A00:23EE:1878:2422:583A:77B9:1416:97D1|2A00:23EE:1878:2422:583A:77B9:1416:97D1]]
:did you say rabbit rabbit? [[Special:Contributions/2A01:E0A:1D1:7CE0:964F:C262:A580:DE9|2A01:E0A:1D1:7CE0:964F:C262:A580:DE9]] 20:45, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:The mobile version of the comic seams to have lower then usual resolution of the image, the normal version has larger resolution. [[User:Maofgf|Maofgf]] ([[User talk:Maofgf|talk]]) 21:10, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:Omg it does. I thought it was just a side effect of my new laptop's tiny screen but it's only this comic (other ones appear fine). [[Special:Contributions/2A02:C7C:6D8A:6800:74EC:66A3:2E17:78BC|2A02:C7C:6D8A:6800:74EC:66A3:2E17:78BC]] 21:16, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:I actually prefer the 2× version without antialiasing, it prevents the blurry look. But the 1× version has not enough resolution for that font to look good. There are also different antialiasing methods, for example the one used by Windows hurts my eyes, so I put a lot of effort into disabling it on my work laptop, but the one used on my Linux computer is fine (where it would ironically be trivially easy to disable it). [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 00:02, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
:The image on xkcd looks a lot better than the one here. My guess is that it's been replaced since it was first posted. If someone who knows how could retrigger the image pull, that would likely fix the one here. [[Special:Contributions/206.193.5.5|206.193.5.5]] 00:29, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
: Seems to be a problem with the wiki. I've re-uploaded the current version from xkcd.com, and it's lost its anti-alising after the upload --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:06, 8 January 2026 (UTC)
:: Addendum: Wiki turns the 8-bit PNG from xkcd.com into a 24-bit PNG, while paradoxically forgetting about shades of gray. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:13, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

I wasn't the first to comment - is that bad luck? [[Special:Contributions/2401:D005:D402:7A00:F107:D318:6C4C:DCA3|2401:D005:D402:7A00:F107:D318:6C4C:DCA3]] 21:33, 7 January 2026 (UTC)
:I thought the lack of anti-aliasing was just a random event but now I know it's all your fault! [[Special:Contributions/64.201.132.210|64.201.132.210]] 22:28, 7 January 2026 (UTC)

The default header image is coming up blank for me. Is this the first comic for it to be so? [[Special:Contributions/206.193.5.5|206.193.5.5]] 00:32, 8 January 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3191: Superstition

2026-01-08T07:06:20Z

Coconut Galaxy:

File:superstition 2x.png

2026-01-08T07:04:54Z

Coconut Galaxy: Coconut Galaxy uploaded a new version of File:superstition 2x.png

== Summary ==
Small size can be found at https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/superstition.png

== Licensing ==
{{XKCD file}}

[[Category:Comic images]]

Talk:3190: Tensegrity

2026-01-06T08:29:50Z

Coconut Galaxy:

here in the first 2 minutes and before before the explanation [[User:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|Qwertyuiopfromdefly]] ([[User talk:Qwertyuiopfromdefly|talk]]) 03:52, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
congrats, i was just 3 seconds away (also don't know correctly how to reply to a comment) [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 04:00, 6 January 2026 (UTC)
:Put a colon at the beginning of your remark to indent it. [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 04:56, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

I'm wondering if there is a connection to [[wikipedia:Ruth Asawa|Ruth Asawa]], who studied under Buckminster Fuller. Some of Asawa's works were described as "earrings for a giraffe."[https://ethicaldative.com/2025/12/24/earrings-for-a-giraffe/] [[Special:Contributions/76.187.17.7|76.187.17.7]] 04:59, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

Those legs looks like something AI would come up with. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 08:29, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

3188: Anyone Else Here

2026-01-01T06:44:48Z

Coconut Galaxy: Replace markdown by proper formatting

{{comic
| number = 3188
| date = December 31, 2025
| title = Anyone Else Here
| image = anyone_else_here_2x.png
| imagesize = 285x350px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Anyone else watching this Youtube video in 1954? If so, my last trip definitely messed with the timeline.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a youTuber without internet Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
This comic makes fun of a common trick that YouTube commenters use to farm likes and replies by saying ‘Who is watching in (year)’. The comment is considered something of a meme within YouTube, and besides that is intended as a compliment implying the video is "timeless" or otherwise a happy memory worth revisiting.

These comments often are phrased similarly to the comments in the comic. The comic, however, presents them as coming from the other direction - instead of watching videos years ''after'' they have been posted, it is suggesting these comments are from watching the videos ''before'' they've been posted.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[The bottom of a YouTube video is shown, with the play and volume icons visible.]
:[There are two lines of illegible text below the videos.]
:564 Comments
:[To the right of "564 Comments" are three parallel lines of different lengths representing YouTube's "sort by" function. A long horizontal line is below.]
:[Three YouTube comments are shown. Each one has an avatar to the left, an @ sign before an illegible name, with smaller illegible text next to it. Below each comment are the YouTube thumbs-up icon, illegible text, the YouTube thumbs-down icon, and more illegible text.]
:[Avatar: A Cueball-like person seen from the chest up, but with a wider torso than usual.] Who else is here in 2023?
:[Avatar: A double chevron.] Is anyone else watching this in 2017?
:[Avatar: A Megan-like person standing.] Anyone else here in 2025??

:[Text below the panel:]
:For some reason, confused time travelers always try to find each other using YouTube comments.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:YouTube]]
[[Category:Time travel]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

3187: High Altitude Cooking Instructions

2025-12-30T08:37:53Z

Coconut Galaxy: There was also an apropos What If

{{comic
| number = 3187
| date = December 29, 2025
| title = High Altitude Cooking Instructions
| image = high_altitude_cooking_instructions_2x.png
| imagesize = 389x370px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = 1,300,000-1,400,000 ft: Ask a crew member to show you how to use the ISS food warmer.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by a crew member using the ISS food warmer. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

At higher altitudes, cooking experiences extra complications. This was previously mentioned in [[2153: Effects of High Altitude]]. This comic imagines food preparation instructions with additional caveats specifically for high-altitude cooking.

While the first two sections are reasonable accommodations, the instructions - as is typical for xkcd - soon veer into absurdity. At an altitude of 250,000 ft (approximately 76,200 meters), the instructions assume the user is partaking in some kind of controlled spaceflight. The "cooking instructions", therefore, are instead instructions for reentry; basically, telling the user "You can wait until you get home".

The title text goes a step further and assumes that the user is in orbit - specifically, on the International Space Station. Anyone on an orbiting space station is presumably going to be on that space station for an extended period, so they cannot wait until after they return to Earth for a meal, so the "cooking instructions" simply direct the user to someone who can show them how to use the on-board facilities.

In 2022, spaceman extraordinaire Scott Manley uploaded a rigorously scientific presentation titled [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwf0RWXx8BY Can You Cook a Turkey by Dropping It From Space?]. A similar question was discussed in the 28th [[what if? (blog)|What if]] "{{What If|28|Steak Drop}}".

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

[Two notes are attached to a thin grey board, only the bottom of which is visible and slightly slanted in the frame.]

[The higher note, mostly cut off:]

:[...] remove from the [...] for 3 minutes before serving.

[The lower note:]

;High altitude cooking instructions:
:'''3,500—6,500 ft''': Add 1/2 cup water, increase cook time to 12 minutes
:'''6,500—9,500 ft''': Add 1 1/4 cups water, increase cook time to 18 minutes
:'''250,000—450,000 ft''': Orient reentry vehicle for aerodynamic stability. Deploy parachutes at 10,000 ft. Descend, keeping crew capsule tightly covered, for 3—4 minutes. After splashdown, follow sea level cooking instructions.

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

Talk:3182: Telescope Types

2025-12-18T10:29:34Z

Coconut Galaxy:

no vampire jokes 🥀 ([[1791]]) [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 00:08, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

Got down some preliminary descriptions of each telescope type used [[Special:Contributions/185.132.133.218|185.132.133.218]] 01:44, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

insert that one mickey mouse meme with the caption "what a fucking narcissist"
[[User:Yaokuan ITB|Yaokuan ITB]] ([[User talk:Yaokuan ITB|talk]]) 02:33, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

abnormally low joke-to-real ratio for this format of comic! [[Special:Contributions/2601:241:8002:3E0:C0A2:9DA:ED39:D13F|2601:241:8002:3E0:C0A2:9DA:ED39:D13F]] 03:21, 18 December 2025 (UTC)
:I noticed that... I think this might've originally been 'look at all these cool telescope types', but then he realized he had to put some sort of joke somewhere. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 03:27, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

Can someone make a category for The Core (2003)? It's been mentioned often enough. [[Special:Contributions/83.245.251.49|83.245.251.49]] 09:22, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

> This would not […] end well for the drinker.

Would it though? ''Drinking'' elemental mercury, while not great on nutritional value, should be mostly safe (and I'm using that word quite loosely). The most danger would be while drinking and expelling it, when there's a danger of inhaling mercury vapors, right? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:29, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3174: Bridge Clearance

2025-11-29T07:08:35Z

Coconut Galaxy:

But when the moon is directly overhead they also have to edit the contents of the sign [[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])
:The Moon being overhead only applies to places in latitudes roughly between 28.5 degrees N and S, at its absolute most extreme inclinations. So, for the contiiguous US, that potentially affects only roads in some bits of Florida and Texas.
:Louisiana's most southern point is ''very'' close to that, such that the 'upper limb' of our satellite would 'overhead' an additional quarter of a degree of latitude, taking in this spot and a bit more. But that location is also an island. {{w|Port Fourchon, Louisiana}}, seems to be the most southerly stretch of regular (mainland) road in that state, and that's still just too far north to be affected. [[Special:Contributions/78.144.255.82|78.144.255.82]] 23:10, 28 November 2025 (UTC)

Note how the second sign extends off the panel, presumably with a warning further up for any vehicles under clearance. That’s quite the space elevator. [[User:KelOfTheStars!|KelOfTheStars!]] ([[User talk:KelOfTheStars!|talk]]) 01:21, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

Also note that in latitudes where the moon could possibly be directly overhead, the sun could also be directly overhead. This would also necessitate a change to the sign [[Special:Contributions/24.210.252.188|24.210.252.188]] 02:56, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

When I first read the title text I thought it was talking about the tide's effect on the height of the bridge. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 03:55, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

How old is the sign that needs to he updated every day? These days they have automated signs for things like travel time to important exits, that type of system could easily be used to keep the clearance up-to-date. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 03:59, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

> ''clearance of 10 feet and 6 inches, which is a realistic clearance''..... Anything less than 13'6" (in the US) will get hit frequently. Yes, we know some bridges that get hit frequently. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 06:42, 29 November 2025 (UTC)
:: It says realistic, not common. {{w|Storrow Drive}}, which should be very familiar to Randall, has a clearance of just 10 feet. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:08, 29 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3166: Big and Little Spoons

2025-11-11T08:31:18Z

Coconut Galaxy:

A spoon the size of a couch [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 03:16, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

Panel four evoked a genuine out-loud laugh when most of the time I usually only get chuckles. Still my favorite comic that's not about hornyness. [[Special:Contributions/2603:800C:1200:596A:642C:F071:BB63:22A9|2603:800C:1200:596A:642C:F071:BB63:22A9]] 03:53, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

Should there be a sentence about how sets of measuring spoons are designed to nest?
[[Special:Contributions/138.229.156.169|138.229.156.169]] 04:51, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

What's with the Royal We in the last panel?--[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 08:31, 11 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3164: Metric Tip

2025-11-06T10:35:15Z

Coconut Galaxy:

!tsrif --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] 21:08, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
:If you like to have fun with first comments, the place to do it is The Daily WTF comment pages. https://thedailywtf.com. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:25, 5 November 2025 (UTC)
Would have helped avoid the Mars Climate Orbiter [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter] feature. [[User:SubtrEM|SubtrEM]] ([[User talk:SubtrEM|talk]]) 07:41, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

I am switching from metric to imperial: I am 1m34.5" --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:18, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

Wait, what? ounce can be volume or weight? So you could give the density of a material in oz/oz? Imperial units are really weird... --[[User:Lupo|Lupo]] ([[User talk:Lupo|talk]]) 08:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:That would be highly nonstandard. Density is usually given in pennyweight/cubic barleycorn. [[Special:Contributions/209.188.63.33|209.188.63.33]] 08:52, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
:Not just that - it can be an areal density or a thickness, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ounce#Other_uses Strictly speaking, though, the imperial measure of volume is not an 'ounce', but a 'fluid ounce' - it's just that Americans have mangled the two together. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 10:21, 6 November 2025 (UTC)
: Weirdly enough, the active ingredient in something like medication is given in mg/oz (fluid ounce, presumably). That's just wrong.--[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:35, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

"...are usually effectively one or other measurement of weight..." The grammar here seems wrong and confusing. [[Special:Contributions/2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:54C4:F71B:724:CBE7|2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:54C4:F71B:724:CBE7]] 10:30, 6 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3155: Physics Paths

2025-10-16T06:38:58Z

Coconut Galaxy:

I made a Major contribution that overturns physics by making the first comment [[Special:Contributions/115.70.50.107|115.70.50.107]] 20:31, 15 October 2025 (UTC)

I cant make the first comment explainxkcd must be supressing me

I cant make the first comment explainxkcd must be supressing me
:Not only did you fail to make the first comment, you also didn't sign it properly and you posted twice. Cancel! [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:59, 15 October 2025 (UTC)

The global scientific community will RUE THE DAY it dismissed my insights! Go ahead! Start rueing!
[[Special:Contributions/2601:601:C85:EDD0:F0F1:ACFC:F3E5:6BAE|2601:601:C85:EDD0:F0F1:ACFC:F3E5:6BAE]] 22:08, 15 October 2025 (UTC)
: You could have talked about syllogisms to overturn physics even more! --[[Special:Contributions/81.96.108.67|81.96.108.67]] 02:05, 16 October 2025 (UTC)

The description of the special theory of relativity as showing that gravity is the result of curving spacetime is incorrect; that was the later general theory. The special theory only deals with the fact that measurements of space and time will be different for differently moving observers, and specifically excludes gravity.

Is it only me thinking that the unhealthy path already starts in the trial to „prove“ one‘s value?

Has Randall watched Dr. Angela Collier's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miJbW3i9qQc recent video]? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 06:38, 16 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T13:37:12Z

Coconut Galaxy:

The 'standard' and '2x' sized images had unexpected sizes, so an imagesize parameter has been added to render the image consistently with other comics on this website. See the web [https://web.archive.org/web/*/window_screen.png archive] for more details. --[[User:TheusafBOT|TheusafBOT]] ([[User talk:TheusafBOT|talk]]) 03:15, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
:Oh cool the bot can comment too [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 04:06, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
Is the comic not fitting into the section right on the original xkcd website? Is this some kind of meta joke? [[Special:Contributions/138.67.132.61|138.67.132.61]] 04:10, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
:This is Randall's mistake. Since comic [[1084: Server Problem#Trivia|1084]] from 2012, comics usually have two versions: normal and double resolution (2x). If you read on a high-DPI screen (like a phone) or zoom in, you'll see a high-resolution version of the comic, but if you read on a desktop or laptop without zooming in, you'll see the normal resolution. In this case, Randall accidentally uploaded the 2x version into ''both'' comics, making the normal one twice as big as it should be. If you zoom in just a tiny bit, it'll look normal again. <del>I'll add this in a Trivia section</del> <ins>Someone already did</ins>. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 07:35, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
:I suspect Randall was inspired by the U.S. President's outsized ego insisting he deserves the Nobel Prize for Peace when he hasn't actually solved any international problems at all, and in the view of many has made things much worse.[[Special:Contributions/68.116.0.20|68.116.0.20]] 05:33, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
::...and in ''objective reality'' has made things much worse. --[[Special:Contributions/45.143.82.106|45.143.82.106]] 06:52, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
::It's such a shame that this is true. Well, obviously, but in frivolous terms too: it would be nice to have this just as a representation of how it feels to get a tricky task right, without referencing the tangerine toddler's nonsense. I think most people know that feeling that they've maxed out their efforts and achieved something brilliant (measured in terms of the how well or how badly the project should have been expected to go). Human effort is human effort, and so it feels like any successful overcoming of a problem is legitimately comparable with any other, if measured from the perspective of the one who performs the task. I love the way this handles that feeling. It was very difficult; I did it successfully; that was an impressive achievement. "It" could be stopping a war or making a window screen. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 10:38, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

I suspect all the math could have been avoided if the screen were just carefully laid out on top of the window and cut to a matching shape. Why trig when you can trace? --[[Special:Contributions/45.143.82.106|45.143.82.106]] 06:53, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

It's easy when building a flat screen to accidentally get the tension wrong on one side and *generate* non-coplanarity--[[Special:Contributions/174.127.176.33|174.127.176.33]] 08:24, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

Is the "overly large image mistake" really a mistake, considering it’s about the "size" of an image displaying on a "screen"? {{unsigned ip|89.91.92.1|08:34, 7 October 2025 (UTC)}}
:There is the opinion that Randall made a mistake, but because Cueballs sentence just stops at "how well the screen fits... (the window)" and the panel DOES NOT fit it's window, I believe that this is intentional and the punchline of the comic [[Special:Contributions/195.49.224.20|195.49.224.20]] 09:36, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
::If so, can someone edit the image above to fit the punchline? EDIT: I did it.[[Special:Contributions/138.43.101.123|138.43.101.123]] 12:06, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
: I don't see the problem. For me (on Firefox), while the hi-res image is loaded, it's displayed in the usual size on xkcd.com. I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't read it here. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:00, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
:: Update: I see it on a different computer (also Firefox). Well that's weird.--[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:37, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

Interesting that Cueball has hair in the last two panels --[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 08:40, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
: Obviously with all the screen building he hasn't had time to shave his head. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:28, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
: In the last two panels he also wears some kind of bracelet. [[Special:Contributions/82.54.66.129|82.54.66.129]] 10:59, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

Joke's on Cueball: this problem can be seen as mathematical, and Nobel Prizes famously exclude that field in theor awards (the closest is the relatively new award on Economy). He'd have a better chance asking for a Fields Medal.--[[Special:Contributions/94.73.49.72|94.73.49.72]]

Talk:3151: Window Screen

2025-10-07T13:00:45Z

Coconut Galaxy:

The 'standard' and '2x' sized images had unexpected sizes, so an imagesize parameter has been added to render the image consistently with other comics on this website. See the web [https://web.archive.org/web/*/window_screen.png archive] for more details. --[[User:TheusafBOT|TheusafBOT]] ([[User talk:TheusafBOT|talk]]) 03:15, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
:Oh cool the bot can comment too [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 04:06, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
Is the comic not fitting into the section right on the original xkcd website? Is this some kind of meta joke? [[Special:Contributions/138.67.132.61|138.67.132.61]] 04:10, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
:This is Randall's mistake. Since comic [[1084: Server Problem#Trivia|1084]] from 2012, comics usually have two versions: normal and double resolution (2x). If you read on a high-DPI screen (like a phone) or zoom in, you'll see a high-resolution version of the comic, but if you read on a desktop or laptop without zooming in, you'll see the normal resolution. In this case, Randall accidentally uploaded the 2x version into ''both'' comics, making the normal one twice as big as it should be. If you zoom in just a tiny bit, it'll look normal again. <del>I'll add this in a Trivia section</del> <ins>Someone already did</ins>. --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 07:35, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
:I suspect Randall was inspired by the U.S. President's outsized ego insisting he deserves the Nobel Prize for Peace when he hasn't actually solved any international problems at all, and in the view of many has made things much worse.[[Special:Contributions/68.116.0.20|68.116.0.20]] 05:33, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
::...and in ''objective reality'' has made things much worse. --[[Special:Contributions/45.143.82.106|45.143.82.106]] 06:52, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
::It's such a shame that this is true. Well, obviously, but in frivolous terms too: it would be nice to have this just as a representation of how it feels to get a tricky task right, without referencing the tangerine toddler's nonsense. I think most people know that feeling that they've maxed out their efforts and achieved something brilliant (measured in terms of the how well or how badly the project should have been expected to go). Human effort is human effort, and so it feels like any successful overcoming of a problem is legitimately comparable with any other, if measured from the perspective of the one who performs the task. I love the way this handles that feeling. It was very difficult; I did it successfully; that was an impressive achievement. "It" could be stopping a war or making a window screen. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 10:38, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

I suspect all the math could have been avoided if the screen were just carefully laid out on top of the window and cut to a matching shape. Why trig when you can trace? --[[Special:Contributions/45.143.82.106|45.143.82.106]] 06:53, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

It's easy when building a flat screen to accidentally get the tension wrong on one side and *generate* non-coplanarity--[[Special:Contributions/174.127.176.33|174.127.176.33]] 08:24, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

Is the "overly large image mistake" really a mistake, considering it’s about the "size" of an image displaying on a "screen"? {{unsigned ip|89.91.92.1|08:34, 7 October 2025 (UTC)}}
:There is the opinion that Randall made a mistake, but because Cueballs sentence just stops at "how well the screen fits... (the window)" and the panel DOES NOT fit it's window, I believe that this is intentional and the punchline of the comic [[Special:Contributions/195.49.224.20|195.49.224.20]] 09:36, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
::If so, can someone edit the image above to fit the punchline? EDIT: I did it.[[Special:Contributions/138.43.101.123|138.43.101.123]] 12:06, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
: I don't see the problem. For me (on Firefox), while the hi-res image is loaded, it's displayed in the usual size on xkcd.com. I wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't read it here. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:00, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

Interesting that Cueball has hair in the last two panels --[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 08:40, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
: Obviously with all the screen building he hasn't had time to shave his head. [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 09:28, 7 October 2025 (UTC)
: In the last two panels he also wears some kind of bracelet. [[Special:Contributions/82.54.66.129|82.54.66.129]] 10:59, 7 October 2025 (UTC)

Joke's on Cueball: this problem can be seen as mathematical, and Nobel Prizes famously exclude that field in theor awards (the closest is the relatively new award on Economy). He'd have a better chance asking for a Fields Medal.--[[Special:Contributions/94.73.49.72|94.73.49.72]]

3149: Measure Twice, Cut Once

2025-10-02T12:28:44Z

Coconut Galaxy: /* Explanation */ 3 times's the charm for serial killers

{{comic
| number = 3149
| date = October 1, 2025
| title = Measure Twice, Cut Once
| image = measure_twice_cut_once_2x.png
| imagesize = 571x482px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = "Measure zero times, cut zero times." --carpenter who has achieved enlightenment and realized the wood is fine where it is
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created BY A REALLY BAD METALWORKER. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

As indicated in the comic, "Measure twice, cut once" is a {{w|proverb}}, which means that planning and checking multiple times before acting is less costly than the mistakes that can follow from not doing so. The metaphor is of marking the place on a piece of material where you plan to cut and then verifying that measurement before cutting, to avoid the later waste involved in either trimming down the cut piece, or starting again with a whole new piece, if it turns out the first measurement was in error. ([[Randall]] claims it as a "carpentry proverb", but in fact it is not clear what it specifically originates in reference to, and it could equally well apply in a literal sense to other activities such as tailoring, leather-working, and so on.)

The comic takes the proverb literally, consisting of a graph of various activities involving measuring and/or cutting, showing the number of cuts made versus measurements (though it does not provide actual values). Starting with the carpenters, these are:

; Good Carpenter
A good carpenter would measure twice and cut once, if following the archetypal proverb.

; Careless Carpenter
A careless carpenter would measure just once, then cut once, not following the proverb. This could lead to simple mistakes that create pieces that don't actually fit, and thus waste wood (and/or time) in order to fix the issues.

; Really Bad Carpenter
A particularly poor carpenter would not always even make an attempt to measure (here indicated by being ''slightly'' lower on the scale than the presumed single-measurement position) and cut twice or more, almost following the proverb in reverse. It also suggests that they may not merely have not measured correctly, but aren't even skilled enough to have tried to apply the correct measurements in the first place. While a careless carpenter might muddle through with the occasional error, it is likely that the really bad one makes even more mistakes and wastes even more wood.

: The remaining classifications are not carpenters at all.

; Surgeon
{{w|Surgery}} is a task requiring a great deal of precision, being on a living creature, not an inanimate object, and therefore having far less room for error. Extensive measurements and diagnoses must be performed prior to making cuts, but cuts are still made. The cuts are minimal (i.e. singular, as far as possible) and must be deliberate and precise. This positions the surgeon at beyond even the Good Carpenter, insofar as pre-cut measurements.

; Surveyor
Surveyors have the task of measuring land. They measure boundaries, elevations, and distances, but are rarely asked to physically cut anything themselves; they only produce measurements and maps, for which they typically would make multiple measurements to ensure accurate and thorough charts for those who will make later use of them.

Surveyors often need to clear trees and bushes from a property line to be able to see or measure from one corner to another. These are called "cuts" in some American jargon.

; Serial Killer
Would not normally require any particular attempted measurement at all, depending upon their particular ''{{w|Modus operandi#Term|modus operandi}}''. But, if this involves knives, multiple victims would necessarily require potentially large amounts of cutting, stabbing, slashing, etc. The placement at about the 3-cuts mark may also be a reference to a serial killer being characterized, among other things, by having killed at least three people.

; Title text
The title text mentions a carpenter who does zero measuring and zero cutting. This is depicted as the epitome of expertise, because they have apparently achieved a superior {{w|Zen|philosophical enlightenment}} towards their task, perhaps being able to achieve their aim with the materials exactly as already provided by fate, or to adjust their aims to align with the existing reality of the universe.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:a caption saying "measure twice cut once -carpentry proverb" with boxes around twice and once
:a scatter plot with x and y axis labeled number of cuts and number of measurements respectively, under the caption
:on the scatter plot lies 6 differently labelled points:
:surveyor: very high number of measurements, no cuts
:surgeon: high number of measurements, almost middling number of cuts
:good carpenter: middling number of measurements, same number of cuts as surgeon
:careless carpenter: a number of measurements slightly lower than the good carpenter, same number of cuts as good carpenter
:really bad carpenter: low number of measurements, high number of cuts
:serial killer: no measurements, very high number of cuts

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

3141: Mantle Model

2025-09-13T07:03:48Z

Coconut Galaxy: /* Explanation */ You forgot Iceland!

{{comic
| number = 3141
| date = September 12, 2025
| title = Mantle Model
| image = mantle_model_2x.png
| imagesize = 527x317px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Mantle plumes explain Hawaii, Yellowstone, Iceland, the East African Rift, the Adirondack uplift, the Permian extinction, the decline of Rome, the DB Cooper hijacking, and the balrog in Moria. Those little hills of sand in your yard are caused by antle plumes.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Explain why the causes for title text are mysterious .This page was created by {{w|Pele (deity)|PELE}}, THE GODDESS OF VOLCANOES AND FIRE. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

A {{w|mantle plume}} is a flow of {{w|magma}} upward from deep in the Earth toward the surface. Some plumes are thought to come close to the surface and result in hotspots that produce volcanoes, such as the hotspot that formed the {{w|Hawaiian Islands}} chain. Here Randall says the plumes account for every surface feature on Earth that we can't otherwise account for, due to the little knowledge of them, which is absurd.

The title text extends this further, suggesting with increasing absurdity that mantle plumes account for other things:
* Hawaii. A hotspot, hypothesized to sit atop a mantle plume, did indeed create the Hawaiian Islands.
* Iceland. The same as Hawaii, essentially.
* {{w|Yellowstone}}. This area of hot springs, geysers, and other geothermal phenomena is in the {{w|Yellowstone Caldera}}, which some geologists believe sits atop a mantle plume.
* The {{w|East African Rift}}. This area in East Africa is a developing divergent {{w|tectonic plate}} boundary where the African plate is in the process of splitting into two tectonic plates.
* The {{w|Adirondack_Mountains#Geology|Adirondack uplift}}. The Adirondack Mountains were raised by the collision of tectonic plates. Some geologists believe that tectonic plates are in turn driven, in part, by mantle plumes.
* The {{w|Permian extinction}}, also called the 'Great Dying' and more formally as the Permian-Triassic extinction event, is the largest of the {{w|List of extinction events|"big five" mass extinctions}} since vertebrate life appeared on Earth. There are several hypotheses as to why it happened, one of which, {{w|Siberian Traps}} volcanism, could have happened because of a mantle plume.
* The decline of Rome refers to the end of the {{w|Roman Empire}}. The decline was caused by a lot of factors, including changing social pressures, financial exhaustion after a series of wars, pressure from neighboring rivals, and siphoning of resources and attention to Constantinople. All of which had nothing to do with mantle plumes.{{Citation needed}}
* The {{w|DB Cooper}} airplane hijacking occurred in 1971 and remains unsolved. Dan B. Cooper is an alias of the hijacker, whose real name is unknown. The hijacking had nothing to do with mantle plumes.{{Citation needed}} This is one of several xkcd cartoons referring to [[D. B. Cooper]], including [[1400: D.B. Cooper]] in which Cueball suggested that Cooper might have become filmmaker {{w|Tommy Wiseau}}, and [[2498: Forest Walk]], in which Cooper is seen stuck in a tree on [[Beret Guy]]'s property.
* The {{w|balrog}} in {{w|Moria, Middle-earth|Moria}} is a fictional beast in {{w|J.R.R. Tolkien}}'s {{w|legendarium}} that first appeared in ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}''. It too has nothing to do with mantle plumes,{{Citation needed}} but it was revealed by the dwarves, who "delved too greedily and too deep and awoke a terror of shadow and flame." If we were to delve sufficiently greedily and deep that we dug into a mantle plume, we would indeed be greeted by a terrible amount of of flame,{{Citation needed}} although the shadow aspect is unconfirmed.
* Ants often create anthills, which, depending on the species, can look like little plumes of sand. The title text refers to ants as "antle plumes". The {{w|nonce word}} "antle" sounds like "ant hill" in some {{w|h-dropping}} dialects of English.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[A diagram of the Earth’s inner structure is shown with the caption “Standard geophysical model of the mantle”. Dotted lines forming structures that appear to be moving through and between various layers of the mantle are labeled with arrows. The arrows either point to the base of the structures on the inside of the planet or formations on the outside.]

:[In the center around the Earth’s core are vertical columns rising up away from the core through cracks in lower layers of mantle. At different layers the structure either branches out horizontally between layers or again vertically through additional cracks. This process might yield a single vertical column, or several branching horizontal and vertical branches.]
:[These structures are labeled:]
:Hypothesized mantle plumes

:[On the Earth’s surface are various rock formations that align with the locations of plumes just below.]
:[The formations are labeled:]
:Every feature of the Earth surface that we have a hard time explaining

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Standard geophysical model of the mantle

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Geology]]
[[Category:Biology]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Comics featuring D. B. Cooper]]

Talk:3137: Cursed Number

2025-09-04T11:28:33Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Warning! Do not read! 421827639108237885847650045004 --[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 22:00, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:Oh no, too late! bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
::Well, at least you knew that reading the string "bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf" was the only antidote! [[Special:Contributions/92.17.62.87|92.17.62.87]] 23:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:::Maybe it's safe if you read it scientifically? ~4.218276391088547650045x1029?--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 23:43, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:::Edit: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 23:44, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Not pictured - an MTF team breaking into the compound and abducting the original authors while clean-up arrives with amnestics.

Wenn ist das Nunstruck git und Slotermeyer? [[Special:Contributions/76.209.228.203|76.209.228.203]] 23:50, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
: I'm a German. You <snicker> did this on purpose <guffaw> right? AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:6CFB:CAF1:B89F:C57E|2A02:2455:1960:4000:6CFB:CAF1:B89F:C57E]] 09:00, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

This comic is the best comic in a while [[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug Pentium FDIV Bug] is a math error when handling specific rarely-encountered numbers. {footnote: over 30 years ago!!} No FDIV deaths are reported, but we might not know. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 00:20, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
* ahaha 0.1+0.2 goes brrt (e.g. = 0,30000000000000004) [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:54, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

I have a different interpretation of this comic than the one in the explanation. See, I think it makes more sense that due to the infinite nature of numbers, it can be said that there may exist one that happens to be a severe cognitohazard, rather than there certainly being one such number in the comic's universe. [[User:HoneyBadger|HoneyBadger]] ([[User talk:HoneyBadger|talk]]) 01:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

I found this number years ago, while reading a hexadecimal dump of an image file, and yes, it is just as potent, possibly more so, in hexadecimal. Want to know what it is? It starts (in hex of course) DEADFACEABEDEFACEDAFADEDBADBEADEDBEDAD before going off into more ‘normal’ digits. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB90:8B1D:C283:21DE:C9A5:72EB:C044|2607:FB90:8B1D:C283:21DE:C9A5:72EB:C044]] 03:42, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
* Oh, magic numbers. What about a ''0x31124837h'' pointer?  [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:54, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

SCP nerd here, I think the article should link to a different SCP. SCP-033 isn't really a good example of a cognitohazard, since it affects written/digital storage, not the mind/brain. [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-012 SCP-012] for example would be a closer fit. (CW: somewhat graphic self harm) --[[User:Muno|Muno]] ([[User talk:Muno|talk]]) 04:45, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

If one supposes that reading the cursed number inside another number is also bad, then for you to have at most a 1/2 chance of reading it in a string of numbers with the bounds given in the comic, you would have to read 1.8*10^21 digits strung together [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 05:15, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:Taking an average reading speed of 40 digits per second, that would take the reader a trillion years.
[[Special:Contributions/46.144.8.194|46.144.8.194]] 07:25, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
* Good. Trillion years divided by 9 billion people still gives 111.(1) years of non-stop reading. [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

* Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash features a visual "virus" that causes neurological damage to hacker's minds when they see a carefully crafted image. This XKCD might be a slight reference to this, too.

Another literary example would Max Barry's ''{{w|Lexicon (novel)|Lexicon}}''. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 11:28, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3137: Cursed Number

2025-09-04T11:28:07Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Warning! Do not read! 421827639108237885847650045004 --[[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 22:00, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:Oh no, too late! bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
::Well, at least you knew that reading the string "bdbdbalasdfsdfoiubtasdf" was the only antidote! [[Special:Contributions/92.17.62.87|92.17.62.87]] 23:35, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:::Maybe it's safe if you read it scientifically? ~4.218276391088547650045x1029?--'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 23:43, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
:::Edit: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User_talk:DollarStoreBa'al|'''''converse''''']] 23:44, 3 September 2025 (UTC)

Not pictured - an MTF team breaking into the compound and abducting the original authors while clean-up arrives with amnestics.

Wenn ist das Nunstruck git und Slotermeyer? [[Special:Contributions/76.209.228.203|76.209.228.203]] 23:50, 3 September 2025 (UTC)
: I'm a German. You <snicker> did this on purpose <guffaw> right? AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAA [[Special:Contributions/2A02:2455:1960:4000:6CFB:CAF1:B89F:C57E|2A02:2455:1960:4000:6CFB:CAF1:B89F:C57E]] 09:00, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

This comic is the best comic in a while [[User:Mathmaster|Mathmaster]] ([[User talk:Mathmaster|talk]])

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug Pentium FDIV Bug] is a math error when handling specific rarely-encountered numbers. {footnote: over 30 years ago!!} No FDIV deaths are reported, but we might not know. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 00:20, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
* ahaha 0.1+0.2 goes brrt (e.g. = 0,30000000000000004) [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:54, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

I have a different interpretation of this comic than the one in the explanation. See, I think it makes more sense that due to the infinite nature of numbers, it can be said that there may exist one that happens to be a severe cognitohazard, rather than there certainly being one such number in the comic's universe. [[User:HoneyBadger|HoneyBadger]] ([[User talk:HoneyBadger|talk]]) 01:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

I found this number years ago, while reading a hexadecimal dump of an image file, and yes, it is just as potent, possibly more so, in hexadecimal. Want to know what it is? It starts (in hex of course) DEADFACEABEDEFACEDAFADEDBADBEADEDBEDAD before going off into more ‘normal’ digits. [[Special:Contributions/2607:FB90:8B1D:C283:21DE:C9A5:72EB:C044|2607:FB90:8B1D:C283:21DE:C9A5:72EB:C044]] 03:42, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
* Oh, magic numbers. What about a ''0x31124837h'' pointer?  [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:54, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

SCP nerd here, I think the article should link to a different SCP. SCP-033 isn't really a good example of a cognitohazard, since it affects written/digital storage, not the mind/brain. [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-012 SCP-012] for example would be a closer fit. (CW: somewhat graphic self harm) --[[User:Muno|Muno]] ([[User talk:Muno|talk]]) 04:45, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

If one supposes that reading the cursed number inside another number is also bad, then for you to have at most a 1/2 chance of reading it in a string of numbers with the bounds given in the comic, you would have to read 1.8*10^21 digits strung together [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 05:15, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
:Taking an average reading speed of 40 digits per second, that would take the reader a trillion years.
[[Special:Contributions/46.144.8.194|46.144.8.194]] 07:25, 4 September 2025 (UTC)
* Good. Trillion years divided by 9 billion people still gives 111.(1) years of non-stop reading. [[Special:Contributions/81.89.66.133|81.89.66.133]] 08:55, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

* Neal Stephenson's Snowcrash features a visual "virus" that causes neurological damage to hacker's minds when they see a carefully crafted image. This XKCD might be a slight reference to this, too.

* Another literary example would Max Barry's ''{{w|Lexicon (novel)|Lexicon}}''. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 11:28, 4 September 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3124: Grounded

2025-08-06T07:33:01Z

Coconut Galaxy:

I don't get the joke at all
The idea is to simply drive the plane on the ground to the destination.
Ok, should we mention this is because they mention the taxing speed
:Taxiing speed, not taxing speed. The pilots are not mulling how quickly they can file their 1040s. [[Special:Contributions/136.226.19.75|136.226.19.75]] 21:23, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

Even if a plane could taxi at around 60 MPH (car highway speed), 2 hours is only 120 miles. Not many flights on commercial jets are so short. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:37, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

I would hope that Randall was aware of John Finnemore's radio sitcom "Cabin Pressure", as a very compatible sense of intelligent humour (with the 'u', 'cos British!). Though maybe not ('cos British radio, might be too fringe a taste), and so the fact that one of the episodes has a somewhat similar plotpoint to it (not saying which, and how, as anyone who'd like to start listening might just appreciate not knowing "this is the one where..." before it happens) probably isn't worth fully analysing (with an 's', 'cos British! :p ) in the explanation. But just mentioning it here, in passing, given that it reminds me of it.
 ...also, as well as bridge heights, I hope they have a good idea about carriageway widths, for the undercarriage, and road furniture (like lampposts/roadsigns, and telegraph/powerline poles) ''plus'' structures (buildings, and bridge-spans, and even groundworks like cuttings through an overlying grade) , for the wings. Though maybe a flight(/taxi) between two places in a relatively undeveloped landscape, having just wide surfaced roads and nothing more immediately prominent than relatively sliceable giant saguaro cactii. Which I can imagine (for the sake of the joke) in the US, but would probably rule out absolutely every possible road route here in the Uk, for any aircraft bigger than a microlight. (Or an autogyro, with the rotors tied front/back, or doing a Mad Max 2 because of prior damage, but that was also in feature-sparse desert...) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.251|82.132.244.251]] 22:22, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

American Airlines is already making their flights from Chicago O'Hare and Philadelphia do this! On busses. Yes, busses at the airport boarding gates. They're calling it American [https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/experience/landline.jsp Landline]. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 22:48, 4 August 2025 (UTC)
:KLM does this as well, with [https://www.klm.nl/information/ticket-services/air-rail trains] between Brussels (ZYR) and Antwerp (ZYR) and Schiphol Airport (AMS). However, it is a "normal" Eurostar (formerly Thalys) train journey on your flight ticket: you check in your luggage between the train and flight and you're mixed with "normal" train passengers. Annoyingly, you can not count this trip towards your Eurostar miles. There used to be a train service from Brussels Central to Zaventem Airport where you checked in at Brussels Central. [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 07:24, 5 August 2025 (UTC)
:: Antwerp is ZWE 😉 --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 09:33, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm reminded of Douglas Adams's comments on the l2th radio episode of HHGttG, about how delays in getting a flight off the ground (for reasons that were almost entirely pointless) made it slower than making the trip by train would have been, in addition to the plane travel being less comfortable and less convenient. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 23:01, 4 August 2025 (UTC)
:: All the more telling, seeing as the Late Great Douglas Adams later died of complications caused by deep vein thrombosis after a flight. [[Special:Contributions/124.150.67.115|124.150.67.115]] 22:45, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

Continuing on the ground is occasionally done when a flight is diverted to somewhere reasonably close (a few 100km). Of course, they don't take the plane, they get some buses or hand out some train tickets. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 09:33, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

Massachusetts RMV frowns at the idea of allowing anything bigger than a roller skate on Memorial Drive or Storrow Drive. Stuck trucks at the nine-foot zero inches MIT bridge (oops, HARVARD Bridge) are a regular feature of Boston driving. Airplane wouldn't fit through the Boston motorway tunnels, either. Randall will have to use alternate transport. Perhaps the airplane would fit inside a Tardis? [[Special:Contributions/174.130.100.64|174.130.100.64]] 12:30, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

Is this still an incomplete summary

I find the idea that this is Logan Airport a little presumptuous. Surely there are some airports in the Midwest where you could, theoretically, taxi from one to the other without encountering any major obstacles? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:33, 6 August 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3124: Grounded

2025-08-05T09:33:30Z

Coconut Galaxy:

I don't get the joke at all
The idea is to simply drive the plane on the ground to the destination.
Ok, should we mention this is because they mention the taxing speed
:Taxiing speed, not taxing speed. The pilots are not mulling how quickly they can file their 1040s. [[Special:Contributions/136.226.19.75|136.226.19.75]] 21:23, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

Even if a plane could taxi at around 60 MPH (car highway speed), 2 hours is only 120 miles. Not many flights on commercial jets are so short. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:37, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

I would hope that Randall was aware of John Finnemore's radio sitcom "Cabin Pressure", as a very compatible sense of intelligent humour (with the 'u', 'cos British!). Though maybe not ('cos British radio, might be too fringe a taste), and so the fact that one of the episodes has a somewhat similar plotpoint to it (not saying which, and how, as anyone who'd like to start listening might just appreciate not knowing "this is the one where..." before it happens) probably isn't worth fully analysing (with an 's', 'cos British! :p ) in the explanation. But just mentioning it here, in passing, given that it reminds me of it.
 ...also, as well as bridge heights, I hope they have a good idea about carriageway widths, for the undercarriage, and road furniture (like lampposts/roadsigns, and telegraph/powerline poles) ''plus'' structures (buildings, and bridge-spans, and even groundworks like cuttings through an overlying grade) , for the wings. Though maybe a flight(/taxi) between two places in a relatively undeveloped landscape, having just wide surfaced roads and nothing more immediately prominent than relatively sliceable giant saguaro cactii. Which I can imagine (for the sake of the joke) in the US, but would probably rule out absolutely every possible road route here in the Uk, for any aircraft bigger than a microlight. (Or an autogyro, with the rotors tied front/back, or doing a Mad Max 2 because of prior damage, but that was also in feature-sparse desert...) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.244.251|82.132.244.251]] 22:22, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

American Airlines is already making their flights from Chicago O'Hare and Philadelphia do this! On busses. Yes, busses at the airport boarding gates. They're calling it American [https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/experience/landline.jsp Landline]. [[User:Aaron Liu|Aaron Liu]] ([[User talk:Aaron Liu|talk]]) 22:48, 4 August 2025 (UTC)
:KLM does this as well, with [https://www.klm.nl/information/ticket-services/air-rail trains] between Brussels (ZYR) and Antwerp (ZYR) and Schiphol Airport (AMS). However, it is a "normal" Eurostar (formerly Thalys) train journey on your flight ticket: you check in your luggage between the train and flight and you're mixed with "normal" train passengers. Annoyingly, you can not count this trip towards your Eurostar miles. There used to be a train service from Brussels Central to Zaventem Airport where you checked in at Brussels Central. [[User:IIVQ|IIVQ]] ([[User talk:IIVQ|talk]]) 07:24, 5 August 2025 (UTC)
:: Antwerp is ZWE 😉 --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 09:33, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

I'm reminded of Douglas Adams's comments on the l2th radio episode of HHGttG, about how delays in getting a flight off the ground (for reasons that were almost entirely pointless) made it slower than making the trip by train would have been, in addition to the plane travel being less comfortable and less convenient. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 23:01, 4 August 2025 (UTC)

Continuing on the ground is occasionally done when a flight is diverted to somewhere reasonably close (a few 100km). Of course, they don't take the plane, they get some buses or hand out some train tickets. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 09:33, 5 August 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3113: Fix This Sign

2025-07-10T05:22:01Z

Coconut Galaxy:

I'm not certain, but this feels like Black Hat's doing (who's doing this for the irritation factor, not the money). [[Special:Contributions/2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:9DCE:6FD1:E813:D91B|2001:1C02:1A9D:9700:9DCE:6FD1:E813:D91B]] 20:15, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
:He could easily be doing it for both. Putting up this sign and then not fixing it when people actually pay sounds like the stunt he would pull. [[Special:Contributions/2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207|2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207]] 20:38, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
:The caption says "my," so it seems this would be Randall.--[[Special:Contributions/2600:100F:B13F:CB34:0:1E:BAC1:7001|2600:100F:B13F:CB34:0:1E:BAC1:7001]] 22:02, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
What happens when everything is bought? Does the sign just stay up? Does it reset after a while? Is it removed? [[Special:Contributions/2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207|2601:647:8500:1E09:8424:D57A:75C9:D207]] 20:40, 9 July 2025 (UTC)

the s and the i in "SIGN" are also too close to each other [[User:An user who has no account yet|An user who has no account yet]] ([[User talk:An user who has no account yet|talk]]) 22:00, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
This feels like a continuation of My Hobby, or perhaps a sequel series. Also, how do we know that the prices aren't typos? The true value could be WAY more expensive. [[User:Redacted II|Redacted II]] ([[User talk:Redacted II|talk]]) 00:18, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

This business model is reminiscent of ''their.™'' from SMBC https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/their which would suggest that once the fixes have all been bought the sign is simply replaced with a worse one. [[Special:Contributions/169.150.208.130|169.150.208.130]] 04:22, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

Where can we donate to fix the explainxkcd server? Also, those are not donations, as you get clear value for it. $1000: Change "Do(a)nate" to "Pay us". --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 05:22, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3111: Artificial Gravity

2025-07-05T13:28:02Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Note the motion lines around the main body of the spacecraft, showing that it is also shaking to a much lesser extent. [[Special:Contributions/181.214.218.76|181.214.218.76]] 15:26, 4 July 2025 (UTC)
:That is just Newton's Third Law, which is very often taken into account in space obviously. [[User:Thehydraclone|Thehydraclone]] ([[User talk:Thehydraclone|talk]]) 16:04, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

Report: Total crew bone mass remains constant.
: Now you made it sound like some bones have changed owner. Whether intentional or not, very xkcd. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:28, 5 July 2025 (UTC)

The spinning idea reminds me of the spin drive from Andy Weir's "Project Hail Mary."[[Special:Contributions/136.47.216.1|136.47.216.1]] 17:34, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

Wait, nothing about the 4th of July today? That's odd. [[Special:Contributions/2601:647:8500:1E09:55BB:EEBB:23EA:178A|2601:647:8500:1E09:55BB:EEBB:23EA:178A]] 23:04, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3105: Interoperability

2025-06-22T11:28:11Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Well, it is not interoperability that would be the potential problem, but potential interconnectedness. Some systems are just not meant to be connected to the rest of the network`21:48, 20 June 2025 (UTC)

There will be more interoperability concerns than the track gauge. Such as the up stop wheels. And side wheels. [[User:Henke37|Henke37]] ([[User talk:Henke37|talk]]) 21:55, 20 June 2025 (UTC)

> "''two standards: US rail systems predominantly have a 143.5cm gauge''" Why cite "US"? 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in was developed in England. The US got confused and Abe Lincoln is credited with ordering first 5' (won't work) then 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (most US rails were so close to 4'8.5" that they mostly changed in a weekend). Rest of world used UK or US machines, or copied them, with the main exceptions fading away over a century. (Well, Australia was still jacking cars mid-route when I was young.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge#%22Standard%22_gauge_appears
The width of two horses' asses, a Roman chariot, is often cited as if pre-industrial mechanics standardized.
--[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 05:39, 21 June 2025 (UTC)
:I 'cited' the US, for simplicity. Being British, yes (like many things) it was invented/established here, but Randall typically goes by US expectations of rail-gauge (actually 143.51cm, due to being still exactly US Customary Units-based, whilst the UK is sufficiently metricised). There'll be readers in [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_RR_Gauge_Map.agr.png non-trivially large parts of the world] where the comic mismatches ''their'' local standards, and rather than go into the whole Stephenson-and-onwards thing (noting that Brunel had a point about wider being better for at least some reasons!), I'd just "americanize" it directly. It was a direct replacement for some "(in this instance)" insertions that sort of implied that track gauges ''could'' be different from those mentioned, but seemed neither to explain the worldwide variation nor account for pretty much all railway(/railroad) track in the US, especially 'subway' systems, definitely was this (give or take a tenth of a millimetre).
:Though I spent some time rephrasing things (for example, mentioning the US Customary thing, then removing it because – again — basing it on Randall's own directly cited value of exactly 1435mm (but in cm) seemed more in the spirit of things). Possibly I didn't neaten it down as much as I might, had I not tried to shoehorn those later-removed snippets in.
:Had also thought to provide links to the roller coaster gauge (also presumed to be "those RCs that Randall considers standard", but had a hard time tracking anything down. I actually found many places with a ''different'' quoted track-width. (e.g. 120cm, unless that was maybe outside-to-outside vs. 110cm inside-to-inside, with the perfectly valid possibility of the coaster-rails being each 50mm tubing, and thus actually ''is'' the same? More research needed!) Closest I could find was something about "woodie / <some germanic name I forget>" systems being 110cm, in a search-engine summary of a reddit article, with a partial URL given (as part of that SE-Summary, cut off with ellipses). But visiting that reddit, ''I couldn't find the original full text'', and I got a browser warning on trying to go to the base 'quoted' URI (long-expired and now cybersquatted by a dodgy page-redirection thing?), so eventually gave up on that and concentrated on other little changes/restructurings that I felt improved the article flow (rightly or wrongly).
:Anyway, that is a boiled down why-and-wherefore of how it ended up said the way it was said (probably been re-edited, by the time you read this). Far too much background material to add to the article, I think, or even try to shove in Trivia (except maybe the 4'8.5"==1435.1mm thing?), but might interest the true connoisseur of such thought processes and tangential information who reads this bit... ;) [[Special:Contributions/82.132.216.63|82.132.216.63]] 08:52, 21 June 2025 (UTC)
:...I tweaked it myself (on top of the intermediate edit that I won't argue with). Not sure I'd have used the word "predominantly" for 'only' 55% of global track, if writing it fresh this morning. Definitely predominant for the US, though. Considered "mostly", etc, of course... [[Special:Contributions/82.132.216.63|82.132.216.63]] 09:17, 21 June 2025 (UTC)
::You likely know 0.1mm's tiny by standard gauge standards though right? Especially for subways I don't know if you'd notice at {{w|rocket sled|10,326kph}} like that rocket sled. How fast would you have to go on 1435.1 track in a train designed for 1435 or vice versa before you'd notice? [[Special:Contributions/2600:387:15:4B36:0:0:0:8|2600:387:15:4B36:0:0:0:8]] 01:55, 22 June 2025 (UTC)

As a coaster and rail nerd, it's basically impossible to actually do this (and not just for the obvious safety problems). The engineering between a rail line and a coaster track (and the wheels that run on them) are completely different. Rails have an I-beam shaped cross section and are fixed to the ground, and trains use steel wheels that have flanges on the inner side keeping the cars from running off the track. Steel roller coaster tracks have a circular cross section and the cars have wheels that are (usually) polyurethane, with additional sets of wheels on the side and running under the track (upstop wheels) keeping them from flying off when pulling Gs. Even if you corrected for any track spacing and shape difference somehow, a roller coaster train would immediately slam its upstop wheels into the ground and stop if you tried to transfer it onto a regular grounded rail line. Likewise, since roller coasters don't have flanges, they often have support beams crossing the inner space between the rails, so a train trying to navigate a coaster track would slam its flanges into the support beams and either immediately derail or else start shearing the entire track apart, if it didn't already derail from the wheel flanges not having any grip on the circular coaster rails. [[User:Optimore|Optimore]] ([[User talk:Optimore|talk]]) 07:07, 21 June 2025 (UTC)
:Resolving such issues would be part of Phase 2. --[[Special:Contributions/81.96.108.67|81.96.108.67]] 07:32, 21 June 2025 (UTC)

Why does the explanation repeatedly and pointedly mention "subway systems" when the comic doesn't mention subways at all (but rather intercity train lines)? [[User:Sophon|Sophon]] ([[User talk:Sophon|talk]]) 01:15, 22 June 2025 (UTC)
: Panel 2: "For example, most subway rails are 143.5 cm apart." Are you using a different definition of "at all"? Intercity lines are only mentioned in the title text. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 11:28, 22 June 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3092: Baker's Units

2025-05-22T10:45:11Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Why did he go with only 9/13ths of a Baker's List? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.65.8|172.69.65.8]] 23:48, 21 May 2025 (UTC)
:This suggests that the "expected" length of a list is 12. [[User:ISaveXKCDpapers|ISaveXKCDpapers]] ([[User talk:ISaveXKCDpapers|talk]]) 07:24, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

A ruler for a "baker's foot" is, apparently, similar to a metal casting patternmaker's {{w|shrink rule}}, although in practice those top out at 2.5%, versus 13/12ths or 8.{3}%. [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:59, 21 May 2025 (UTC)

It appears to me like g marked by the g-clef is on the second space making the notes b and c which wound be 13 semitones apart. Two compensating errors or just a bit more cleverness for lagniappe?[[User:Lordpishky|Lordpishky]] ([[User talk:Lordpishky|talk]]) 01:07, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

There's also baker's percentages. All the ingredients are defined as a percentage of the weight of the flour. So if you have 1kg (1000gr) of flour and 600ml (gr) of water then the water is said to be 60% hydration.

<blockquote>which are not Platonic solids and cannot be used as dice due to having multiple face types, rendering dice-based games unbalanced</blockquote>
Being a platonic solid is sufficient, but not necessary, for a fair die. The simplest shape for a fair 13-sided die that I can think of off the top of my head is two 6-sided pyramids joined at the base, with one of them truncated for the 13th side. To make it fair, the lengths of the pyramids and the truncation would have to be fine-tuned, but that's certainly possible. Where's John von Neumann when you need him? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:45, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3084: Unstoppable Force and Immovable Object

2025-05-05T11:52:01Z

Coconut Galaxy:

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)
::How do connect this comic with [[169: Words that End in GRY]]? I see no connection! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 16:43, 4 May 2025 (UTC)
:::Communicating poorly and then acting smug. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 11:52, 5 May 2025 (UTC)
:The MinutePhysics video: [https://nebula.tv/videos/minute-physics-immovable-object-vs-unstoppable-force-which-wins/ on Nebula] or [https://youtu.be/9eKc5kgPVrA on YouTube] --[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 09:55, 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)

I remember an explanation by Isaac Asimov in one of his books which was like "by definition, an immovable object will not move at all under any force in the universe, and an unstoppable force will move all of the objects in this way" and then explained how the definitions conflicted each other and as such prevented both from being able to register for the hypothetical at the same time [[Special:Contributions/172.64.236.161|172.64.236.161]] 06:55, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

In the first MMO games, collision was a big problem. A player could block a doorway, and nobody else could go through. It was even worse if the player had "follower" characters or pets.
One solution was to have characters automatically "push" stationary characters out of the way, but that caused other problems. Modern MMO's such as World of Warcraft simply allow characters to pass through each other, as depicted in this xkcd comic. Our eyes fool us into "seeing" that two characters somehow slid past each other. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.228.132|172.68.228.132]] 07:29, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
:Our eyes, or the programmers? I don't have that much experience with MMO's but they probably do render it in specific way to make that effect. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 02:59, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

When the two things pass through each other, at the instant where they both occupy exactly the same space, is there one object or two? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.216.159|162.158.216.159]] 08:02, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
:Given that force is not an object, one. Just like there was when they weren't colocated. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.220|172.69.43.220]] 08:29, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
::OK, but what about the 'unstoppable force carrying particles' in the title text? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.204|172.69.194.204]] 19:00, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
:::I understand it as if a particle interacting with the object counts as 'stopping', in which case an unstoppable force-carrying particle wont have any effect. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.120.157|162.158.120.157]] 20:40, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

The force could simply go around the object. The object hasn't moved, and the force wasn't stopped. [[User:Rtanenbaum|Rtanenbaum]] ([[User talk:Rtanenbaum|talk]]) 11:17, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
:Redirecting would imply the force could be redirected, allowing us to trap it inside a closed loop, effectively stopping it. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.57.132|172.70.57.132]] 15:38, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

This is like the Chinese saying the spear and the shield. Using this comic, I guess spear wins [[User:Aprilfoolsupdate!|Aprilfoolsupdate!]] ([[User talk:Aprilfoolsupdate!|talk]]) 14:02, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

Gonna be honest, I think this is my least favorite comic of the last 500 or so. It's a solution already given by minutephysics, except with all the perspective about reference frames, and what people actually mean with these terms replaced by a caption with a superiority complex. I suppose it gets pretty hard 3000 comics in, but c'mon.
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.35.83|172.68.35.83]] 19:18, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
:''--Comment by [[User:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] ([[User talk:Darth Vader|talk]]) 22:07, 3 May 2025 (UTC) deleted--''
:: Ok, as we're giving personal opinions, I can't let it stand. Some might not exactly be total belly-laughs, but I think they each still have something to them and I prefer a mix of tones (and a wider spatter of focuses and treatments) to them all being exactly the same aspect of 'high-humour'. Not that I'd care to rank them, anyway, but I'm nowhere near ready to go off and make disparaging comments as if this site was bitchaboutxkcd.com, or whatever.
:: I won't try to tell you what to think, yourself, though maybe you should just roll with it. If you really don't like a comic, there'll be another along in two or three days. That might be even 'worse', as well as 'better', but then you can be even more unchill about ''that''. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 22:45, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

All forces are irresistable. No objects are immovable. If any force acts on any object, the object moves (or deforms). [[Special:Contributions/172.68.84.145|172.68.84.145]] 22:22, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
:Can we not say that Dark Matter, if that's what we imagine it might be, entirely resists the electromagnetic force? (It's one of my possible interpretations of the comic, though without enough hint that it was intended to have me annotate the Explanation accordingly.)
:That said, it's ''unstoppable'' force (and there's are no Cavorite-like forceproof barriers), and it's rather that ''immovable'' objects are awkward to imagine under Relativity and there being no actual preferable frame of reference in the first place. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.113|172.69.195.113]] 22:50, 3 May 2025 (UTC)

I would say that, since a force is mass*acceleration, the force cannot yet be stated while passing through the immovable object, because the object have to accelerate to calculate the force. Therefore, the "force" is only potential or kinetic energy at this point.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.127.25|162.158.127.25]] 12:54, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

I would say that nothing happens. If you think of Pressure and immoveable object: An infinite force would acting on an immoveable (think infinite mass) object would lead to no movement at all.
Well, actually a black hole would be created, swallowing up the object and the force. Since the object's further behavior now cannot be seen from outside mass could be reduced anf the black hole could simply evaporate.
Result: Force and objects actual mass would simply be converted into energy, representing a bomb. [[Special:Contributions/104.23.187.224|104.23.187.224]] 16:42, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

Did someone pull out ChatGPT again for this explanation? The claim that the humor derives from the contrast between the casual meaning of "force" and its meaning in physics is ridiculous and patently false. A "force" in physics doesn't have a physical position to begin with and so it can't "pass through" anything. At this point I really feel like there should be some kind of policy on writing explanations using LLMs like ChatGPT because it almost never adds anything of value and it just complicates the explanation and makes the process of ''real'' people digging into the actual meaning and themes more difficult.[[Special:Contributions/172.71.102.223|172.71.102.223]] 18:45, 4 May 2025 (UTC)
:Looking at what it replaced, it was an improvement, if not described as well as I think it should be. I believe it means to talk of the flux from a point-originated field (e.g. the most common fields normally deplete by inverse-square rule, all the way to infinity, from the point(s) of origin, though nuclear forces are... different).
:Given the depiction of the "unstoppable force" as actually 'moving', it has to be looked at as some kind of propagating pulse of 'forceness', albeit one that does not interact with the object seen as in its path (which would therefore neither react to the 'force' nor attenuate its potential effects). But that might need to be said in similarly short fashion (if my interpretation is even agreed with). Good luck! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.52|172.70.162.52]] 20:47, 4 May 2025 (UTC)
:Agree! The physical explanation of force is plainly wrong in the explanation text. Sebastian --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.207|172.68.110.207]] 23:18, 4 May 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3084: Unstoppable Force and Immovable Object

2025-05-03T05:37:15Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Talk:3067: SawStart

2025-03-24T13:22:02Z

Coconut Galaxy:

It's weird seeing a totally empty explanation, also whats the point of sawstop, don't they just use vibrating blades? [[Special:Contributions/104.23.190.110|104.23.190.110]] 12:40, 24 March 2025 (UTC)
:SawStop is for rotating blades, like you would use for sawing wood. I'm sure there's a good reason why they don't use vibrating blades there, the most likely is "wood is harder than a plaster cast". I could also imagine that vibrating blades don't create nice cuts, which doesn't matter with a plaster cast that will be disposed of, but very much matters with wood used for construction. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:16, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

empty explanation is freaky woah [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.204|172.69.194.204]] 12:42, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

sudo systemctl stop saw-start.service [[Special:Contributions/172.69.208.132|172.69.208.132]] 13:11, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

I'm 99% sure that the system is designed to start a ''stopped'' blade up to full speed within milliseconds, not just increase the speed of a spinning blade. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:22, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3067: SawStart

2025-03-24T13:16:20Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Talk:3050: Atom

2025-02-13T07:30:25Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Hey, just wanted to let you all know we've recently discovered 2 comics that have never been published! They don't even have a name, so we used the filenames: [[ibm_hc_2]] and [[ibm_hc_3]]. You can read more about the discovery and what to do [[Category talk:A Smarter Planet|here]]. I had added them to the incomplete comics a while back, but I think not many people noticed them. The explanations are still empty, if you'd like to help! --[[User:FaviFake|FaviFake]] ([[User talk:FaviFake|talk]]) 17:55, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

----

...admittedly very barebones but at least it isn't blank. Someone smarter than me can expand it. Anyways, the Higgs boson feels like fuzzy dice you can't convince me otherwise [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.143|172.69.71.143]] 13:51, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
:Well, if they want to test that theory, they're going to have to find it [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1437:_Higgs_Boson again] [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 14:46, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
:I just added a little about wetness. I don't have time to look into this more, but perhaps the idea is the outer electrons have a low enough energy level they pull heat from the skin, and that sensation of coldness along with the little bumps the electrons would do against your skin would lead your brain to think they're wet. That's all I got for now. [[User:Gbisaga|Gbisaga]] ([[User talk:Gbisaga|talk]]) 15:11, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

I want fanart of the muons on my talk page by tomorrow. Do I make myself clear?! /j --[[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 14:58, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
:meowons. ~~(^_^)~~ [[Special:Contributions/172.68.150.7|172.68.150.7]] 03:24, 13 February 2025 (UTC)
:Sir, this is an internets. Someone has likely already made it. [[User:Firestar233|guess who]] ([[User talk:Firestar233|if you desire conversing]] | [[Special:Contributions/Firestar233|what i have done]]) 03:38, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

atom [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.65|172.70.126.65]] 15:18, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Might be worth mentioning the popculture idea of expanding a subatomic particle found in "Three Body Problem" where they unfold the '11 dimensions' of a proton to make it, apparently, a planet-sized sheet and etch microcircuitry on it. (Programming question: how many bugs can dance on the tip of a proton? but I digress.) The most annoying part of quantum expansion would be how the particle gets entangled with _everything_ [[User:Bilkie|Bilkie]] ([[User talk:Bilkie|talk]]) 15:31, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
:Such a weird story. I always felt like I was missing some cultural context. I still enjoyed it. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.155.47|172.71.155.47]] 15:52, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

So, ummm... What happens if they accidentally expanded an unstable atom to that size and it decayed? How earth shattering or otherwise is the kaboom? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.176|172.69.23.176]] 20:42, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
:Ballpark, that atom is probably max of 1 kg, based on how Cueball is holding it. If it's U235, which has a mass of about 0.4e-24 kg, then it's scaled up by a factor of 2.5e24. U235 has a decay energy of 4.7 MeV, which is 0.75e-12 joules, so scaled up that would be about 2e12 joules, about 450 tons of TNT. That's about 1/3 of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Not "big" as these things go, but certainly big enough. On the other hand, U235 has a half life of 700 million years, so the odds are low. {{unsigned ip|172.70.115.100|21:29, 12 February 2025}}
::We also don't know how the Quantum Expander affects ''all'' its physical properties. Does its mass increase to have the density of its size as if filled with 'normal' copies of it, or is it the original atom-mass (technically, that'd be like a {{w|vacuum balloon}}), or something between (mostly the mass of the nucleons scaled up to some degree, but still even more 'empty'). The resulting gravitational interaction might or might not match its inertial mass (which would be very interesting!), and parts of it that are normally point-phenomena are now probably(?) macroscopic in size, but may retain the same field-profiles (charge, etc, on top of the already considered gravitation). And how does the scale of time change, now that the speed of light (assuming ''that'' isn't increased across the interior of the Expanded quantum-realm) means that relative timings across the width of the atom must run slower for any propogated effects. (On the one hand, a 700 million year half-life may be ''vastly'' extended; on the other, when any single atom fissions, it fissions in its entirety, and who knows what 'poking and prodding' it will do, and if it works like the arrival of prompt or delayed neutrons from one fission event that might promote a neighbouring one.) We really need to know more about the <abbr title="Quantum Expanded Device">QED</abbr>, including about how it influences <abbr title="Quantum Electrodynamics">QED</abbr>, before we can declare it completely <abbr title="quod erat demonstrandum">Q.E.D.</abbr> [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.37|172.71.26.37]] 22:43, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

My first thoughts upon seeing the words "Atom" and "Electron" was "is thing going to be about text editors"? Anyway, upping my caffeine levels now. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 07:30, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3042: T. Rex Evolution

2025-01-25T08:07:59Z

Coconut Galaxy:

too soon bro 😭😭😭😭 [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 12:49, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

The next stage in T-Rex would be a massive lizard with incredible bite force and barely any limbs... an Alligator [[Special:Contributions/172.70.115.198|172.70.115.198]] 13:31, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
: Well, we do have large, legless animals with big mouths and teeth ... they're called 'snakes'. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.44|172.70.178.44]] 15:25, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
:two enter keys to form a new line [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 13:33, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

So that explains the loch ness monster?
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.250.195|172.70.250.195]] 14:47, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
: Probably not. T. Rex lived in America. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 14:50, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
::Since when has obvious contradictory facts gotten in the way of cryptids? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.238.104|108.162.238.104]] 15:04, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
::Not another CG account ''sigh'' '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 16:02, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
:::alright, calm down, it's just the person(s?) who tried to start a conscript ARG on this wiki IIRC [[User:CalibansCreations|'''Caliban''']] ([[User talk:CalibansCreations|talk]]) 17:14, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
::::I guess you’re right. I should probably follow {{w|WP:GOODFAITH}} more when it comes to matters like this '''[[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]][[User talk:42.book.addict|Talk to me!]]''' 17:47, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
::: My account name is randomly generated 🤷‍♂️ --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 08:07, 25 January 2025 (UTC)
So this is where snakes come from! {{unsigned|Petercordia|17:01, 24 January 2025 (UTC)}}

Looks like this is how the {{w|tsuchinoko}} came to be... [[User:TheGoomba98|TheGoomba98]] ([[User talk:TheGoomba98|talk]]) 17:12, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

Do we have any figures on just how strong the bite force would be? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.223|172.68.22.223]] 17:15, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

It seems like many here say that the T-Rex would become a snake, but it would have to simultaneously evolve to be able to move via the scales on its stomach, so I don't think it's guaranteed [[User:Sophon|Sophon]] ([[User talk:Sophon|talk]]) 18:45, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
:You're right. It'll become a huge slug. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.178|172.68.205.178]] 20:31, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

Isn't this how whales evolved? Of course, they lost their hind limbs first, while T Rex was losing its forelimbs.[[User:Vfp15|Vfp15]] ([[User talk:Vfp15|talk]]) 23:21, 24 January 2025 (UTC)
: Dolphins too? I remember finding a snake once with tiny non-functional legs. Surely there are some cool pics on Commons for this explanation, anyone? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.48|162.158.91.48]] 02:24, 25 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3042: T. Rex Evolution

2025-01-24T14:50:10Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Talk:3037: Radon

2025-01-14T10:05:50Z

Coconut Galaxy:

The sun is a white star. It looks yellow from within the atmosphere because blue light is scattered out of it, the same reason the sky is blue. How did physicist Randall not know that? [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 20:26, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:Randall is almost certainly a Superman fan, and we all know that Kryptonians get their powers from yellow suns. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:07, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia disagrees; The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star (G2V), informally called a yellow dwarf, though its light is actually white. It formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of matter within a region of a large molecular cloud. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.23.87|172.71.23.87]] 20:43, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:Your quote agrees with me. As @Starstar says below, it might be intentional on his part. [[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 20:53, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:: No "his quote" doesn't?? (Unless I'm understanding your meaning with "his quote") Yes the sun is White. HOWEVER, it is NOT called a "white star". Stars aren't categorized by color but by tempeture. Which I mean I guess it sorta means their catagorized by color but thats being nitpicky. Our sun is 5,772 K, which according to wikipedia means its a class-G star which is known by the not nerds as a yellow dwarf. Being a physicist means Randell is VERY aware of the category of our Sun. Repeat, the Sun is called a "yellow dwarf", therefore is Ponytail said "white star", she'd be talking about a star that is 9000 K and therfor NOT our Sun. Seriously this was like a 5 minute google search. [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 21:01, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:: At any rate, I believe it plays into Ponytail just goofing around more than being precise [[User:Starstar|Starstar]] ([[User talk:Starstar|talk]]) 22:12, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

Perhaps it is intentional? [[User:Starstar|Starstar]] ([[User talk:Starstar|talk]]) 20:36, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

Possible trivia: The effect used in the title text for "²³⁸Umbrella" does NOT use html formatting. It uses unicode for the almost-but-not-technically superscripted "238" before "Umbrella." On some systems, this renders with the "23" being larger than and slightly below the level of the "8". Whether Randall knew of this effect or not is a mystery. If he did know, his motivations are a mystery. Maybe the 8 is radioactive and emitted a non-massless particle, thereby making it smaller (less mass != less volume, but go with it here) and more buoyant (less weight) in the presence of the adjacent characters. [[Special:Contributions/198.41.227.105|198.41.227.105]] 21:19, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:You can't use HTML markup in the title attribute, so there's no other way to do super/sub-scripting there. He could have used JavaScript to emulate the title attribute, though. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:38, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

What do people think of Hairstylist Wannabe's near-total rewrite of the explanation? While they added lots of technical details about radon, I think they missed much of the humor. Ponytail's comments are typical of the kind of things a home inspector or repair person will say to the owner, not really "flippant". [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 21:48, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:I like the facts but i changed the joke explantion back. [[User:Apollo11|Apollo11]] ([[User talk:Apollo11|talk]]) 22:07, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:The rewrite has waaaaay too much detail. This site is for explaining what's going on in a comic, not repeating everything you know that's related, however remotely, to the comic. Just add wikilinks to things! Like, do we really need to have repeated here how much 238U the Earth contains? How much radiation one experiences from uranium? I vote to remove a lot of the detail and just explain the comic. [[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 23:45, 13 January 2025 (UTC)

Possible trivia: 238 Umbrella is a common weight for a patio umbrella stand. {{unsigned|TallJason|22:53, 13 January 2025}}

I started to write another paragraph:
:The primary reason why the radon is considered more deadly than the original uranium (and thorium) is its nature as a heavy gas; the earlier states of decay remain stuck in the original rock, interstitially, whereas radon more freely leaches out. This quickly disperses to extremely diluted levels in the open air but, being a gas that is denser than air, it can accumulate to low (but potentially significant) levels in a cellar or basement, having few natural air-currents to drive the heavier gas atoms out of the sump in which the radon sits. Although each atom does not last long in this state, the resulting polonium, bismuth or lead atoms (all being isotopes that are themselves radioactive) ''can'' find themselves drifting as dust particles initially (and, after settling, easily disturbed), with the potential
...but it got out of hand. Was going to edit it down (and correct anything I'd accidentally mispoken/misedited/ispunctuated, in the initial fervour) when I'd finished, but I've got to go somewhere, so leaving it as possible inspiration for someone else to use/ignore/tear part/whatever. Have fun. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.205.92|172.68.205.92]] 23:50, 13 January 2025 (UTC)
:: "possible inspiration for someone else" Good stuff, but surely it already exists (without xkcd context) many other places? Can be just linked? [[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 02:33, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

I thought, the title text was a reference to nuclear umbrella. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.200|172.68.50.200]] 07:45, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

"This process will render the Earth uninhabitable for humans within approximately 5 billion years." That seems very optimistic. Isn't it more like 1 billion years? --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 10:05, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

592: Drama

2024-12-13T14:04:51Z

Coconut Galaxy: Typo in name

{{comic
| number = 592
| date = June 3, 2009
| title = Drama
| image = drama.png
| titletext = This happens in geek circles every so often. The "Hey, this is just a system I can figure out easily!" is also a problem among engineers first diving into the stock market.
}}

==Explanation==
[[Megan]] and two [[Cueball]]-like guys discuss how irrational society's interactions about sex are. They decide to throw out all these silly societal rules to end drama forever and spread this philosophy to everyone they know, which immediately leads to a huge increase in drama as shown in the chart.

As one of the Cueballs in the comic states, people are indeed complicated and—crucially—what seems intuitive and rational to one person might seem completely irrational to someone else. This is especially true when it comes to something like sex, which involves a wide variety of implications, including emotional, physical, psychological, social, biological, personal, and even legal consequences. These impacts can be subtle or dramatic, and can interact in complex and unpredictable ways. This is presumably why every culture comes up with some set of rules and/or taboos around sex. While these rules can change over time and between cultures, the notion that they can be thrown out and replaced with something simple on a whim is extremely naive.

Furthermore, any one person's sense of what seems rational is based on {{w|Complete information|incomplete information}}. The three people are trying to change all the sex rules—like the engineers referenced in the title text who think they can "solve" the stock market—can't even begin to conceive of all the chaotic factors affecting the system they're trying to fix. This is particularly true when dealing with people, predicting human reactions and motivations notoriously difficult. As a result, it's nearly impossible to predict, just by their limited observation, which rules are truly rational and which aren't (and under what circumstances).

Geeks often fall prey to the fallacy that human interactions can be easily simplified if only a group of sufficiently qualified geeks put their minds to it as laid out in [http://www.plausiblydeniable.com/opinion/gsf.html The Geek Social Fallacies] and [http://pervocracy.blogspot.ca/2012/02/geek-social-fallacies-of-sex.html The Geek Social Fallacies of Sex].

Social rules that are adopted partly to avoid drama include laws surrounding {{w|marriage}}, {{w|childbirth}}, and {{w|alimony}}. These rules differ a large amount, but not incomparably, across different cultures. The study of them is a major concern in social science, and it is not unheard of to conjecture new ones, for example the work of the evolutionary psychologist {{w|Diana Fleischman}}.

The situation in the title text, with a bunch of engineers diving into the stock market, is also mentioned in [[1570: Engineer Syllogism]].

==Transcript==
:[Megan and two Cueball like guys are sitting together.]
:Megan: Man, sex has all these crazy social rules. They just create drama.
:Cueball: Let's agree to change them, and make sex simple!
:Friend: Okay!

:[Cueball gets up and goes out the door.]
:Cueball: Hooray! We've solved the problem of drama!
:Cueball: I'll go tell everyone!

:[There is a graph labeled drama. Below is an axis and below that an arrow marked with time. A vertical dotted line is labeled and indicates the rule change. Drama is low, although fluctuating, before the rule change, then sharply increases afterward and continues to increase.]
:Drama
:Time
:Rule change

:[Cueball closes the door and then leans against it.]
:Cueball: Holy shit
:Cueball: Guys
:Cueball: People are ''complicated!''

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Sex]]
[[Category:Line graphs]]
[[Category:Stock Market]]

Talk:3013: Kedging Cannon

2024-11-19T11:44:03Z

Coconut Galaxy:

First? [[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 02:05, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Good essay on real-life (or this-world) kedging-- http://www.sailmagazine.com/cruising/cruising-tips/the-lost-art-of-kedging-how-to-set-a-kedge-anchor/ [[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 02:07, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

:Nice. I think I managed to somehow get in first (before I logged in); first time I've done so, so apologies for not knowing all the conventions. I think the title text is the main non-obvious thing, since the simile between a windmill's mechanical function and that of tacking seems clearly intentional,but I'm sure that could be edited to be clearer than my hasty writup. [[User:Mneme|Mneme]] ([[User talk:Mneme|talk]]) 02:10, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

For a brief, brief, moment, my brain failed to swap in and dredge up the memory of what kedging was, and I wondered if they were trying to use the aft cannon as a weak propulsion mechanism (hey, if it was a spacecraft…). And then I remembered what kedigng was and—DUH! [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 02:29, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

If it wasn't for kedging, I probably wouldn't be able to make it all the way through November. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.133|108.162.245.133]] 04:25, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
:Ha ha now exactly what you mean. The three longest month of the year are November November November... :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:05, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
::Having a certain number of winches helps. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.92|172.68.23.92]] 10:44, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Wow, whoever wrote the Speed and Economic Analysis section, you are amazing! [[Special:Contributions/172.71.98.135|172.71.98.135]] 05:13, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
:Sadly is was done by an anonymous IP address... But cool analysis. Have no idea what he actually calculates or if it is correct though ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 10:05, 19 November 2024 (UTC)
::The system described doesn't need two cannons, just two anchors and winches for continuous operation. As something of an anonymous IP address editor myself, I am checking the math and intend to parameterize the assumptions for different size boats, different headwinds, and other different parameters. If I am successful, I will log in to upload a graph showing when cannon kedging is superior (if it ever is....) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.92|172.68.23.92]] 10:44, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

I've got a strong hunch that this comic is about a captain who fails to take into account '''recoil / conservation of momentum''', which is a frequent mistake.
The cannon propels the anchor with great force, but, as it is connected to the ship, the ship is pushed back with the same force (minus some heat losses) ''before the anchor can settle''. Therefore, in this setup the ship will only move forward at all if the anchor ends up at a greater horizontal distance from the ship's original position than the distance between the ship's original and post-cannonshot positions.
The third panel, where the ship is drawn further to the left, indicates that the setback is significant and the ship only moves back and forth in the same place. Like, it ''literally'' takes forever. The title text is a hint: Only if the captain manages to harness a source of power that is independent from the vessel's movement (for example: wind from the wrong direction) this cannon will have any propagating effect - using this power for the winch, however, is just as futile as the kedging cannon itself.
For manual kedging, people heave the anchor to a boat and row out to a drop site, so it's not an issue.
Or am I missing something? [[User:Transgalactic|Transgalactic]] ([[User talk:Transgalactic|talk]]) 11:07, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Maybe instead of using a cannon, we could use a ballista? Saves gunpowder, but requires human labor. I think that would still be more efficient. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 11:44, 19 November 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-23T08:19:18Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Now I'm not a fan of gas engines, but that argument is in bad faith. Gas engines have one ''very big'' advantage over electrics: Energy density, and by extension, range. Batteries can't come close to the energy density of hydrocarbons, despite the latters' overall lower efficiency. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 17:22, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

:I think that's one of the main arguments for hybrid systems. Using a gas engine to charge an electric motor, and then using the electric motor to actually power the appliance, enables significant efficiency gains. If anything, combining the technologies enables even greater ''usable'' energy density from hydrocarbons. Hybrid electric vehicles for example are extremely efficient. [[User:Eunakria|Eunakria]] ([[User talk:Eunakria|talk]]) 17:43, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
:Energy density, and the ability to move large amounts of stored energy from one place to another quickly and easily (aka pump gas, vs charge or swap a battery), from a thermal and maintenance perspective. (Which is not entirely unrelated to energy density.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.39.54|172.70.39.54]] 18:08, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
::Swapping batteries (and slowly charging the batteries in the swap station) could offer comparable "charge" times to gasoline refuelling times, while also being better for battery lifespan, but would require industry coordination and standardisation re: battery packs and install location that, sadly, simply does not exist. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.42.212|172.70.42.212]] 19:54, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
::Plug-in hybrids have been superior since 1904, but the incremental capital cost is still an issue while oil is under $100/bbl. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.129|172.71.150.129]] 19:16, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
::A litre of gasoline provides 31.5MJ of energy, and in the US a pump transfers 38 litres (10 USgal) per minute, or 0.633 litres per second. That's an energy throughput of 31.5MJ/l x 0.633 l/s = 19.95MW. And US gasoline pumps are, by law, slow. In the civilised world, petrol pumps can deliver 30% more (50l/minute). Hi-flow diesel pumps used to fill trucks and buses are much faster - between 80 and 120 litres per minute. 120 litres per minute of diesel fuel is an energy transfer rate of about 76MW. By comparison, the fastest 3-phase AC chargers for the Tesla model 3 charge at 11kW; Pumping gas is about 2,000 times faster at getting energy into a car than this. The fastest single phase chargers are 7.4kW; While a standard wall socket charger can manage a paltry 2.3kW, (around a ten-thousandth of the energy transfer rate of a gas pump). The "super" DC charging stations achieve an "impressive" 250kW, making pumping gas at a regular gas station about eighty times faster than using one of these. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.64.207|172.68.64.207]] 07:00, 21 June 2024 (UTC)
: Except of course that this isn't quite as simple as this. A Honda Civic (one the most popular US petrol cars) will go about 400 miles on a full tank, about the same as a Dodge Ram. Also about the same as a Tesla Model S. There's a pretty good reason this isn't a coincidence - people don't want more much more range, and a bigger tank is more weight. A Chevy Silverado full tank will go about 500miles. If you really want range, you need to look at a hybrid car. As the comic points out, the torque on a standard otto cycle engine is poor, but that cycle is deliberately designed to give more torque. Hybrids use an Atkinson cycle which is far more energy efficient, but could not provide enough torque - so you use the electric to do that. A Prius has a range in excess of 630 miles, more than any popular petrol car. So if you want range, you still want an electric engine, just store the energy in hydrocarbons. For similar reasons, diesel trains use the diesel to run generators which then power the electric motors on the wheels, and have done for decades. {{unsigned ip|172.70.162.186|20:47, 19 June 2024}}
:: Which brings us back to energy density: The Honda Civic has a similar range to the Tesla – at 10% the weight for its fuel (vs. the Tesla's battery), and one-third the volume. The comparison gets even worse for long-haul cargo, but that might be beyond the topic of this conversation. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 13:06, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
:How about we make an actual list, then?
:{| class="wikitable"
|+ Electric v. Gas Engines
|-
! +/- of Electric Cars !! +/- of Gas Cars
|-
| -Energy Density/Range || +Energy Density/Range
|-
| -Battery Life || -Fuel Efficiency
|-
| -Toxic Rare Earths || -Fossil Fuels
|-
| +Cleaner || -Motor Power
|-
| -Decrease Efficiency in Winter || +Lower Vehicle Weight
|} [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 13:45, 21 June 2024 (UTC)

:Isn't the comic just making the claim that electric ''motors'' are superior to gas engines? It's not saying anything about how easy it is to supply energy to the motor/engine, or anything about their use in transportation. Given that, I don't think there's anything particularly contentious here? [[User:Syperk|Syperk]] ([[User talk:Syperk|talk]]) 04:56, 22 June 2024 (UTC)
::Motors without fuel are all equally useless. --[[User:Coconut Galaxy|Coconut Galaxy]] ([[User talk:Coconut Galaxy|talk]]) 08:19, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

On the other other hand, in a lot of cases an electric motor is just a gas engine with extra steps due to the current state of the power grid. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.232|172.68.174.232]] 17:24, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

:Not here in Washington State it isn't. Most of our electricity comes from hydroelectric dams. [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 23:10, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
:: AFAIK, no new dams are being built, and I reckon that the probability is vanishingly small that any new dam that is mooted will survive the inevitable storms of protest and get built. The trend, rather, and the political pressure, salmon fans, is to remove dams (e.g. those on the Elwha River). The existing dams are aging, their impoundment volumes are dwindling due to sedimentation, and the water for those impoundments is increasingly bespoke and is, in at least some cases, declining in volume due to climate perturbations. The population, and its energy use, is increasing. As of 2022, [https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=WA#tabs-1 I read], WA was a net exporter of electricity. I would not be taking that status for granted. A few years ago, a study was published, finding that, in states where the electricity grid was dependent on fossil-fuel-fired plants, electric cars had a greater carbon footprint than gasoline/petrol cars - and this was before the major gains in gasoline fuel efficiency contributed by advances in computer tech (2007 Honda Civic hybrid gets the same city mileage, ca. 35 mpg, as a 2021 Honda Civic petrol engine, in my hands). I do not know what current assessments say about this. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.150.129|172.71.150.129]] 04:23, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

:I'd say an electric motor powered by a hydrocarbon grid still usually makes better use of gas than a typical gas engine. Gas engines that don't always run at full throttle (as in, a gas engine in an appliance) have dramatically worse efficiency than electric motors that don't always run at full throttle. It depends ''very'' heavily on use case, though; always take measurements and run the numbers before coming to a specific conclusion. Science would be nothing without empirical data. [[User:Eunakria|Eunakria]] ([[User talk:Eunakria|talk]]) 17:50, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

Should this have [[:Category:Climate change]]? I can’t decide. [[User:Usb-rave|Usb-rave]] ([[User talk:Usb-rave|talk]]) 17:40, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
:Yeah, it's better with it for people looking though the category later on, they will want to see it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.186.10|162.158.186.10]] 19:13, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

Honestly, with this argument the thing gas engines have going for them over EVs is the refueling time and availability. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.59.175|172.69.59.175]] 18:58, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
:That's fair. It would be nice if electric cars had been more focused-on ten years ago than the trend (trend? craze? idea? whatever.) starting now. I refuse to buy a Tesla, though. Elon is never getting my money. I'm waiting for an electric Volvo. [[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 13:27, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
:As in...you've ordered one, or you hadn't realised they exist?[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 21:00, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
::Wait they're real? Need. [[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 08:26, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

It's really remarkable how uninformed and unintelligent this comic is, to the point where I now doubt the veracity of his entire What If? series. {{unsigned ip|172.70.114.62|19:13, 19 June 2024}}
:To be fair, there’s sort of an agenda here, while I don’t believe there’s one in ''What If?'' I can’t independently verify the accuracy of ''What If?'', of course, but there is that. [[User:Usb-rave|Usb-rave]] ([[User talk:Usb-rave|talk]]) 19:18, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
:I'd like to know more about the "uninformed and unintelligent" assessment. Given that not all of Randall's characters copy his ''exact thinking''. I don't think he'd espouse much of what he has Black Hat say/do. And clearly many of his Cueballs, even being often accepted as Author Avatars, can be clearly being dumber than Randall (who is 'writing them as dumb') is. What we have is parody. And maybe you just don't see the parody in the way intended (or understood by others). Perhaps you have a completely different mindset, or are just inclined to be anti-Randall> (Even in things he's actually right about...) I don't know where the mismatch may be here, but if you're seriously thinking that there remains not one useful take-away from anything Randall has ever said, just from the ''possibility'' that his cartoon characters don't completely mesh with what you perceive as a correct worldview, then this needs looking at from a different perspective than just reassessing the whole ''What If?'' corpus. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.24|162.158.74.24]] 23:15, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
: The tagline for the xkcd comic does include the word "sarcasm", which should warn against over-serious or over-literal interpretations. Not infrequently, I find, xkcd ventures into the realm of the sarcastic, the opinionated, even the polemic (cf. the Hilary Clinton campaign ads), and this one states a clear opinion in favor of electric cars ... with which one is free to debate (as here, exhaustively), or disagree. All of which brings the cartoonist to the attention of the world, and thereby supports him in his chosen line of work, which, in the current state of cartooning as a profession, is no small accomplishment. As for the opinion, consider the following question: "I have a four-mile commute to work. Which is the most eco-friendly option? The electric car? The hybrid? The gas/petrol car?" Answer: the foot car. Walking the four miles is the only minimum-carbon solution under all circumstances ... except perhaps ones that allow the questioner to keep deir job. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.4|108.162.245.4]] 05:39, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

Ohhh... OK. I had poor signal so this one took a while to load, and I only saw the "Gas vs. Electric" title. I thought it was going to be about kitchen stoves - ones that burn ''actual'' "gas", vs. electrical heating elements. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 19:45, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

I actually experienced the "cons" of a less limited degree of power and not being noisy at all, today. Someone in an electric vehicle (could have been a Tesla) pulled out of a sideroad, accelerating at what seemed like a reckless rate (it was advantageous to do so, but a petrol-powered vehicle that might have taken a bit longer to switch up the gears would still have been up to speed soon enough to not get into contention with any other vehicles). And with barely more than a whine, and perhaps a bit of road-noise that might have included at one point a bit of grit-splattering. I was watching this, and knew they were pulling out of the junction (and knew for certain, moreover, that there was no traffic coming up or down the road, nor anybody crossing the road anywhere in my rather long sight). Had there been someone ''actually'' about to cross the road (within the next 50 yards or so), however, it would have been entirely possible that they would have been caught be surprise by this near-silent and suddenly fast-moving vehicle. If it was a Tesla, then maybe its inbuilt forward 'radar'/whatever would have helped bring the vehicle to a stop, or at least slow it down/stop if from speeding up enough, before any actual accident might have happened... but this is theoretical, as it just happened not to happen anything like this on this occasion... But it could have. And the paradigm for crossing the road that I learnt several decades ago of "Stop, Look, Listen, Think" has probably now started to lose out on the "Listen" bit, and possibly degraded even the "Look" and "Think" until we start to retrain ourselves to anticipate vehicles whipping around random corners that are far more silent-and-deadly then what we've all become used to. Ok, so this is not necessarily the total fault of the electric vehicles (or even the drivers, but they must have ''some'' hand in the matter), but in changing the dynamics and situational awarenesses of road traffic so much it ''might'' be considered a relatable problem. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.24|162.158.74.24]] 23:51, 19 June 2024 (UTC)
: I drove an electric motorcycle for a while, which put me quite exposed and aware of safety and my driving environment. The concerns about EVs being too quiet don't come across as grounded in reality. Modern ICE vehicles typically have minimal engine noise already. There are really two cases: out on the road, where half the people (exaggerating) have their earbuds in, and any engine noise is swamped by tire noise anyway. No difference between ICE and electric here. Then in a parking lot, where tire noise is not significant, and maybe pedestrians could get extra auditory cues about the vehicles around them from ICE engine noise. In that context, I personally would flip open my visor and make eye contact with pedestrians. It would be nice if drivers of full-sized cars and trucks, no matter their power source, would do more of that. Driving while inattentive is unambiguously bad. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.23.204|172.69.23.204]] 02:40, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
: Rolling noise becomes more than enough for safe audibility by about 30 km/h (below which speed collisions are relatively less dangerous anyways, though most urban streets really should have a speed limit of 20 km/h for numerous reasons including safety), and actually dominates engine noise by about 55 km/h. ICEs are loud enough to have like a dozen deleterious health effects even while idling, though the noise of a bicycle, if sufficiently constant, is enough to reach the WHO threshold. In short, electric cars only need to make additional noise below about 30 km/h for safety, and even then only 55dBA, quieter than typical speech, and even then only if there's already a lot of noise polution to drown them out. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.33|162.158.146.33]] 07:23, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
::Although really what they mostly need is drivers who look where they're going, and don't assume that people will just get out of their way when they hear them coming.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.124|172.69.195.124]] 08:44, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
::: Which is best accomplished using narrower streets, bollards, and other traffic easing mechanisms that make people want to slow down and pay attention rather than putting up a lower speed limit sign and just expecting people to obey it. That goes double in the US where most speed limits are assigned by looking at the speeds people are actually driving in good conditions and setting it where 10% of people woulld be speeding (and then rounded to the nearest 5 mph), meaning the sign is literally irrelevant to almost everyone. Oh, also, we desperately need to stop combining streets, which are destinations, with roads, which are thoroughfares, into "stroads" that fail at being both; that's an actual majority of your traffic easing taken care of basically in one step. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.146.234|162.158.146.234]] 10:01, 20 June 2024 (UTC)

I wonder if the current explanation is missing the forest for the trees. My impression was that White Hat was parroting a ChatGPT-style response -- noncommittal and logically incoherent. (In fact, I missed the logical non sequitur the first time I read the strip. The style just screamed to me ChatGPT, though.) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.9|172.71.154.9]] 00:55, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
: I agree about missing the forest for the trees. Everyone's so focused on the opinions being expressed, they're totally missing what to me is the whole point of the comic: poking fun at similar kinds of pro vs. con comparisons but where some/any/all of the points are actually on the wrong side of the argument. So while on the surface the comparison appears balanced, it's actually incredibly biased. Sure all of that stuff is interesting for those wanting to know more about the actual pros and cons of the particular subject being discussed; but that's just the vehicle Randall happened to choose for delivery. Now I'm not sure if ChatGPT / AI plays into this, aside from it probably being more likely to produce this kind of unintentionally biased comparison; but I'd assume given the absence of cues implying as much that this comic is not related to AI. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.236|172.71.146.236]] 19:06, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
:: Forgive me, but I believe "where some/any/all of the points are actually on the wrong side of the argument" has been well covered. Stating a couple of IC-Cons/EV-Pros ''as if'' EV-Cons/IC-Pros (and possible reasons why they could reinterpret things that way). Or is there yet another objection, and you aren't also meaning that? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.64|172.70.91.64]] 20:08, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
::: It's touched on, barely; but most of the explanation (and commentary) is so focused on rehashing the arguments for/against the different types of vehicles that it's easy to miss. I'm sure those topics are already well covered elsewhere, do we really need to go into so much detail here? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.151.96|172.71.151.96]] 18:19, 21 June 2024 (UTC)

This comic was posted yesterday and I'm already seeing people typing essays. I'm scared. (also electric rules gas drools nyehh) [[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 13:22, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
: Not too shabby a result from a stick-figure drawing posted on the Internet. Jealous? As for 'electric', nice to see your unqualified support for [https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2023/02/01/1152893248/red-cobalt-congo-drc-mining-siddharth-kara slave labor in the Congo] and elsewhere. Get a horse! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.73|172.68.23.73]] 13:40, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
:: Isn't a horse also a form of slave labour?[[Special:Contributions/172.71.242.223|172.71.242.223]] 13:52, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
::: PETA would likely agree with you, to the point of sabotage if widespread re-introduction of bestial labor looked like being a thing. So, if we shut down the electricity grid to quell the AI revolt (if resource limitations don't compel that shutdown sooner), and we are denied fossil fuels for reasons of climate destruction and, again, resource limitation, this time-honored path to civilization will likewise be refused us. At least initially ... [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.133|172.71.147.133]] 01:47, 21 June 2024 (UTC)
::There are several things wrong with your assessment, [[Special:Contributions/172.68.23.73|172.68.23.73]] (although I do wish my comics got this much attention). The first is your assumption that I know the exact methods used to gather battery materials (I don't). The second is saying I support slave labor, which I '''''ABSOLUTELY DO NOT.''''' The third is your assumption that I have the space, money, resources, skills, and time to purchase and take care of a horse. I don't! Slave labor is appalling, the DRC is a nightmare, and horses have more needs than I could fit into a week. Back to electric cars, though: they're generally better for the environment, they're quieter, they're more powerful, and their engine systems are really cool and fun to look at and see in action. Gas(oline) engines are loud, smelly, pollution-heavy, and subject to violent explosions in a crash. Electric is better in general. It's a good idea to manufacture them, but I agree with you on the need for changing battery material-harvesting methods. [[User:Psychoticpotato|P?sych??otic?pot??at???o ]] ([[User talk:Psychoticpotato|talk]]) 17:26, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
::: I argue that knowing the state of the electric-economy supply chain, the resources needed and [http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2023/ph240/cadicamo1/ the limitations on their availability] as well as how they are procured, is necessary for any informed stance. I argue further, if you and I are wantonly snapping up electric gadgets, and, as is typical, are scouring the Internet for the cheapest possible prices for those gadgets, then you and I are screaming our support for human slavery in the only term$ that matter. The cry "Get a horse!" was a catcall aimed by horse owners at owners of early 20th-century automobiles, which were orders of magnitude dirtier and smellier than today's machines, were essentially non-functional, and took insignificantly less labor to maintain than the horse. You are absolutely correct about the maintenance needs of a horse, and indeed most people in the "horse and buggy days" couldn't afford either the cost or the time to own one. They were symbols of the 1% - who had slaves, be they chattel or hireling, to maintain their stables. From where I sit, the issues associated with actually realizing the fantasy of an electric economy are far more existential than changing battery-material harvesting methods, and I no longer accept that We the People will, or even can, face up to, never mind resolve, the issues. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.133|172.71.147.133]] 01:47, 21 June 2024 (UTC)
:::: Sounds like [https://www.visualcapitalist.com/every-single-cognitive-bias/ selective outrage] to me. Do you have a clue what kind of disaster the fossil fuel industry has wreaked (and continues to wreak) upon the world? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.166.214|162.158.166.214]] 06:22, 21 June 2024 (UTC)
::::: Damage from the Industrial Revolution has been plain in lake sediment cores from northeastern North America dating from the 1850s. To name one; picked this one because of peripheral (taxonomy of the organisms used in the assessment) association with the work and [https://www.queensu.ca/research/researchers/john-p-smol its lead researcher]. My beef is with those who think that [https://www.dude-n-dude.com/2020/08/23/kris-an-murphy-wunderwaffe/ the technology that got us into this mess will somehow pull us out], in the absence of evidence [https://www.dude-n-dude.com/2023/07/22/amoebas-lorica-setiback/ that people will stand the financial and standard-of-living sacrifices necessary to make it happen] - witness, for example, the lot of us arguing pointlessly about this on our carbon-belching computers. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.90|172.68.22.90]] 22:10, 21 June 2024 (UTC)
::::: I read a press account, recently, about how a group of scientists and engineers plan to deploy a giant umbrella to shade the Earth from incoming solar radiation and thereby interrupt global warming; the latest in {{w|Space sunshade|a series of such ideas}}. It immediately called to mind the Road Runner cartoon, in which Wile E. Coyote, despairingly, put up a tiny, tattered parasol to protect himself from the anvil that was descending on him. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.41.120|162.158.41.120]] 22:23, 21 June 2024 (UTC)
:::::: It is, as I'm sure that wikilink says, an old, old idea (and a bit discredited in the eyes of those who think that putting a sticking plaster on won't stop us from the juggling with knives, and having more fumbles, for which the sticking plaster is ''supposed'' to be a treatment for). I'm surprised it's been seriously brought up recently, not least because you'd have to deploy a truly massive shade (not Earth-sized, perhaps not even Moon-sized, but certainly orders of magnitude larger than we have any current experience, or hope, in constructing) to produce a significant effect, and only doing that by denying a significant part of the Sun's energy from both natural and man-made solar-energy receivers in selected areas of Earth. (Imagine the uproar, as certain countries get 'shaded' and neighbours do not, by adjusting the largely Sun-synchronous (''or'' full-on Lagrangian) orbit. And it is in the power for the shade-operators to change which one(s) are effected, hence they could be considered/accused culpable for any unwanted effects, or just from perceived disadvantages and cultural objections.)
:::::: But it ''would'' be better than an 'anti-anvil parasol', because any worthwhile attempt would have to be effective enough to actually produce a measurable effect (which is all that might be needed to go over the tipping point, or not, at present), whereas Wile. E.'s attempt is instant fail. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.240|172.70.85.240]] 07:55, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

and now i know why xkcd doesn't have a comments section. [[user talk:lettherebedarklight|youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk]] 07:35, 21 June 2024 (UTC)

That the argument is fallacious is the point. It is hardly a first for white hat. It shouldn't be seen as a serious "pros and cons" argument, it would be obvious to anyone reasonable, including Randall, that there are real cons to EVs (how important they are is up to debate). But as evidenced by previous comics, white hat is not particularly reasonable. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.130.143|172.71.130.143]] 11:27, 21 June 2024 (UTC)
:Rather than "not particular reasonable" (more the realms of Black Hat), I'd have said "not particularly rational"/similar is White Hat's schtick. But I do agree with you in principle, and don't understand half the 'objections' above, if serious. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.172|141.101.99.172]] 13:29, 21 June 2024 (UTC)

I think that the real meaning of this comic is that the author of XKCD now makes enough money to afford an EV. Must be nice. {{unsigned ip|162.158.154.31|14:58, 22 June 2024}}
:...yeah, but no. I don't know where you get that. (If he can afford a new car, good on him, but I doubt it'll anything related.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.126|141.101.99.126]] 21:06, 22 June 2024 (UTC)
::It could be that he can now afford an EV but not an ICE (which is significantly more expensive to operate, unless you buy it to keek all the time in the garage).
::Seriously, it's more likely that he wants to make the point that nowadays almost all supposed problems with EVs are really not relevant anymore. What is ironic is that some readers of XKCD try to propagate some myths against EVs.
::A very good starting point on the subject is the 2018 report by the European Environmental Agency (https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/eea-report-confirms-electric-cars) which in 2018 clearly debunked any myths about EVs not being really green. We're talking about vehicles, here, not just motors. Also, they emit way less particulate, because of regenerative braking, no fuel burning, absence of particulate-generating parts such as clutches. Modern researhc on particulates, as cited by EEA, is almost unanimous in describing lower particulate emissions, even though the rate of diminution varies according to the scenario.
::Battery recycling is often cited as a "problem". It should be considered a problem in the mathematical sense, such as the "two body problem" which is called a "problem" despite having been solved. We currently know perfectly well what will happen to used car batteries, and the solutions are already available.
::Finally, EVs are much more reliable than modern ICEs because mechnically they are much simpler. Problems can happen more easily in software, which is a problem with all modern cars. Diesel cars can have larger software, with functions such as emission-cheating which aren't needed on EVs and aren't really desirable.
::--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.129.162|162.158.129.162]] 22:40, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

Do you suppose it's coincidence that this comic came out just six days after Will Prowse (DIY Solar Power youtube channel) put out an opinion video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkabBP85e2I] on EVs?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.22.220|172.69.22.220]] 08:05, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-20T13:06:51Z

Coconut Galaxy:

Talk:2948: Electric vs Gas

2024-06-19T17:22:40Z

Coconut Galaxy: