explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2596: Galaxies

2022-03-22T09:17:17Z

DrYak: infrared astronomy of the past

I bet this was inspired by the image from the James Webb Space Telescope after fine alignment was complete: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/telescope_alignment_evaluation_image_labeled.png. That image shows the one star that JWST was focused on, along with a bunch of galaxies in the far background demonstrating that there are a lot of galaxies. [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 04:52, 22 March 2022 (UTC).

My thoughts exactly - definitely a JWST thing.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.218.75|172.70.218.75]] 07:09, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Speaking of JWST, isn't the "''only a few stars, and probably no planets.''" just a nod to the fact that one of the missions of its infrared astronomy is to [[wikipedia:James_Webb_Space_Telescope#Infrared_astronomy|"see back in time to '''the first galaxies forming''' just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang."]]? i.e.: given the conical shape of the sector of universe covered by the pin-hole, most of the galaxies in it will be the furthest back, thus those of which we see the "oldest" picture and thus which much earlier in their process of forming stars and planets? [[User:DrYak|DrYak]] ([[User talk:DrYak|talk]]) 09:17, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

While space contains contains a vast number of things, it's still mostly empty. Like, on average, few atoms in whole square meter. Atoms of hydrogen, usually. Imagining so much of practically empty space is even harder than imagining all the stuff in it. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 05:50, 22 March 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2449: ISS Vaccine

2021-04-14T15:41:21Z

DrYak:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_maneuver#Transfer_orbits (it'd be an amazing pun if COVID vaccinations were administered into your eyeballs! because the eyeholes in the skull are called orbits)[[Special:Contributions/172.70.35.17|172.70.35.17]] 23:03, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
:If an astronaut gets a severe case of conjunctivitis, maybe they'd get an orbital injection. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:59, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
:Would NASA have to supply suppositories, instead of injections, for any such medical missions to the seventh planet? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.207|141.101.99.207]] 01:07, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
::Thanks for the puns y'all! Cracked me up xD [[Special:Contributions/172.70.45.206|172.70.45.206]] 14:33, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
What about the part of the comic that side-steps the [https://astronomy.com/news/2020/04/how-does-nasa-keep-covid-19--and-other-diseases--off-the-space-station low likelihood of COVID-19 impacting the ISS in the first place]? [[User:Brilliantnut|Brilliantnut]] ([[User talk:Brilliantnut|talk]]) 01:17, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
: Good link containing a lot of material that could be added to the explanation. Space sickness resembles covid-19 already. Does not address when, how, and whether the astronauts are innoculated, but it sounds like the ones in the air are ripe for infection, and they receive the vaccine after return. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.20|162.158.63.20]] 17:33, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
Randall, come here. Yes, right here. Stand still. THWACK! THWACK! THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK! That is all, you may go now.[[Special:Contributions/108.162.219.92|108.162.219.92]] 05:42, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
: What is this about exactly? I looked at your thwacks and they do not appear to spell s-o-s in morse code, but I suppose they do in body language. I'm guessing Steve Bannon sent you? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.20|162.158.63.20]] 17:33, 13 April 2021 (UTC)
: I think astronauts do get injections in space but i'm not sure. I am sure they draw blood for science. --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.43|172.68.57.43]] 14:41, 14 April 2021 (UTC)

An interesting property of synthetic vaccines such as the current mRNA ones, is that (given that you have the proper equipment and consumables) you can straight away start producing it without ever having seen the actual virus. In the future, a colony on a different planet that has an appropriately equipped bio lab (DNA synthesis, plasmid bacteria transformation and/or RNA polymerase, mixing fats into bubble ("nano particles") and the microfluidics to load one into another), could start producing the vaccine locally after merely receiving a FASTA file describing the Spike's sequence. (Exactly the same way as Pfizer/Biontec and Moderna could start filing application for their vaccine as soon as NC_045512.2 got uploaded on NCBI, before even getting a specimen from China). [[User:DrYak|DrYak]] ([[User talk:DrYak|talk]]) 15:41, 14 April 2021 (UTC)

Talk:1646: Twitter Bot

2016-02-22T13:51:46Z

DrYak: forgot to sign

Technically, nothing until the actual fight is against the Three Laws -- he didn't tell the bot NOT to do those things. And self-preservation is the third law, so it's allowed to defend itself in a fight, so long as it does not harm Cueball (First Law) -- so let's assume its phaser is set on "stun" (unbeknownst to Cueball) accounting for the pew pew noises, and this is now all within the three laws. Nothing in the Three Laws says it can't *threaten* a human, after all. --[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 08:15, 22 February 2016 (UTC)
:Also, unless the bot changed its own e-mail -- and I think Twitter sends a verification to the *old* e-mail that must be responded to -- changing the password shouldn't keep Cueball out, as Cueball can reset the password by e-mail. If he gave the bot his e-mail password then that's his fault, as is if he used the same password for his email and Twitter.--[[User:PsyMar|PsyMar]] ([[User talk:PsyMar|talk]]) 08:19, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

Perhaps, with the recent comics referring to Asimov and the Three Laws of Robotics, it's time to create a new category to collect them? [[User:Oliphaunt|Oliphaunt]] ([[User talk:Oliphaunt|talk]]) 13:20, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

== Australia ==

Might it be an allusion to the Terminator series movie? According to director's comment track and movie script, southern hemisphere wasn't hit as hard by Skynet's nuclear strikes. That's why, according to those sources, most background radio chat features NZ- and Australian accents and latin language.
Once Cueball realises that his bot attempt is going the "skynet-route", heading as far aways from the northern hemisphere makes perfectly sense. [[User:DrYak|DrYak]] ([[User talk:DrYak|talk]]) 13:51, 22 February 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1646: Twitter Bot

2016-02-22T13:51:03Z

DrYak: /* Australia */ new section