explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3212: Little Red Dots

2026-02-26T15:53:31Z

Galeindfal: Comment on the color 'red'

Everyone why is absolutely nothing here yet [[User:Ehogin|Ehogin]] ([[User talk:Ehogin|talk]]) 03:08, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
:Because this comic came out like 2 hours ago. [[User:Xkdvd|Xkdvd]] ([[User talk:Xkdvd|talk]]) 04:17, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
::Yeah by the amount of people who read xkcd you would think at least 100 people saw this and did not do anything for ''two hours'' [[User:Ehogin|Ehogin]] ([[User talk:Ehogin|talk]]) 04:45, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
:::Its not a question of how many people read xkcd, its how many people use explain xkcd, and edit, and know what to put here. EDIT: forgot my signature. oops. [[User:Xkdvd|Xkdvd]] ([[User talk:Xkdvd|talk]]) 04:51, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
:OK, we want something here? I get [https://www.google.com/search?q=clover+mites Clover Mites] a lot. On the patio table, on the deck chairs. On the car, but I fooled them this time: I got a cherry-red car. Maybe they got into the JWST? --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 05:32, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

Current title text explanation seems like a bit of a stretch to me; see [[2359]] for a more refined take on explaining a very a similar joke. [[Special:Contributions/204.77.3.72|204.77.3.72]] 08:32, 26 February 2026 (UTC)
:Sure, whatever you say Father Dougal. --[[Special:Contributions/2A10:D586:3E93:0:21B8:BB66:6F56:9A06|2A10:D586:3E93:0:21B8:BB66:6F56:9A06]] 08:53, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

TV criminologists: a pattern centered on the killer's home. [[Special:Contributions/194.75.188.171|194.75.188.171]] 11:15, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

I don't know if it is "nitpicking" per se (though admittedly that is a clever pun, even though nits are generally brown and are rarely red). It could be that the graphic designer is genuinely interested in helping identify the color. [[User:Cwallenpoole|Cwallenpoole]] ([[User talk:Cwallenpoole|talk]]) 12:41, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

My complements to whomever added the color dots; nicely done. -- [[User:Dtgriscom|Dtgriscom]] ([[User talk:Dtgriscom|talk]]) 12:54, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

I've added a link to the oldest (so far) black hole discovery -- dww-uk {{unsigned ip|2a12:f43:143e:0:e14c:82a5:e0bc:8959|13:19, 26 February 2026 (UTC)}}

Small red arachnids... [[:Category:Red Spiders|seem familiar to anyone else?]] [[User:GreyFox|GreyFox]] ([[User talk:GreyFox|talk]]) 14:49, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

Note: While the graphic designer might be accurate, for an astronomer, any color that is even slightly "orange" is designated as "red", similarly anything slightly "green" is designated as "blue".
Analagous to how any atom with more protons than helium is called a metal in astronomy. [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 15:53, 26 February 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3103: Exoplanet System

2025-06-17T13:36:25Z

Galeindfal:

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

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

Talk:3085: About 20 Pounds

2025-05-06T13:38:41Z

Galeindfal: Comment about the use of pounds vs slugs

Wow - first here! I can't help thinking 'about 20 pounds' could be exactly 10 kg! 0r even one Newton?! [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 05:50, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:"One Newton" and "10 kg" are totally different things. "10 kg" would cause 1 Newton of gravitational force if you were in a world with about 1% of Earth's gravity, though. --[[Special:Contributions/172.69.109.86|172.69.109.86]] 09:53, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
::Oops! In my rush I should have checked and put 100 Newtons. I was relying on 10kg being about 22 pounds, or rather the other way around, and then a particle having mass not weight and Science using Metric units. Apologies. [[User:RIIW - Ponder it|RIIW - Ponder it]] ([[User talk:RIIW - Ponder it|talk]]) 11:41, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
::(Moved your reply up a bit. You seemed to respond to "20 pounds are...", below, ''and'' split their timestamp signature from their message. And forgot to sign properly, at first, so I got edit-conflicted ''twice'' whilst trying to post myself and correct your initial error. Please take a bit more care, everybody. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.53|172.70.163.53]] 11:52, 6 May 2025 (UTC))
:20 pounds are approximately 9.072 kg, so not exactly 10 kg (in fact, it rounds to 9). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.55|172.70.134.55]] 10:02, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
::That's the wrong way to think about it. "Exactly 10kg" is "exactly 22.0462lbs", but that (to the nearest single significant figure) is legitimately "about 20lbs". See any given step in [[2585: Rounding]], especially where that 'disagrees greatly' with an adjacent step.
::As with any Oracle (that's worth its omphalos), it may be giving an ''entirely true'' answer which nevertheless is deliberately phrased as ambiguous and misinterpretable, the possible supernatural complement to the 'exact words' genie contract. As with the [[2741: Wish Interpretation]] genie, the Oracle ''may'' slip into less "unhelpfully helpful" mode immediately after, though for different reasons. However, "burritos are ''pretty'' good" also suggests that there's some other thing that is ''more'' good, so — again — it's giving a sufficient response to what they (now) should do, but not a perfect one.
::As I write, the explanation (probably needs a general rewrite) doesn't mention anything about the burritos except as title text, or I would have ensured the famed exact-words/vague-detail was noted in that bit. (Shorter than here.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.82|141.101.98.82]] 11:46, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

[[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.55|172.70.134.55]] 10:02, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
Though I don't think it at all merits being described as a reference, I am minded of the {{w|The Usenet Oracle}} (at least when I knew of it). Though, if it ''was'' to be a deleliberate shout-out, I'd expect a few more actual in-jokes. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.130|172.70.86.130]] 06:10, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

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

"Nature of ... 20 pounds" is a reference to the koan "A monk asked Tozan, 'What is the nature of Buddha?' He replied, 'Three pounds of flax.'" Someone can add this to the explanation. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.115|172.70.111.115]] 08:57, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

"something that doesn't interact with electromagnetism cannot be 'seen', as photons will pass through it completely unaffected": is this supposed to be true ? I thought photons interacted with gravity, and even the phrase before states that gravity is believed to affect everything. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.151.93|172.68.151.93]] 09:17, 6 May 2025 (UTC)
:We can ''infer'' Dark Matter (and, for that... *ahem* ...matter, also Dark Energy) from what the photons in the universe are telling us that does not look anything like what 'light(-interacting) matter' ''should'' be doing. As with some searches for black holes (most particularly, when the theory is that the unseen mass of the universe is a lot of small black holes drifting in the void, not acreting enough to create secondary visible effects), whether or not light is being gravitationally lensed by things (that we cannot directly see) is part of the way that we're narrowing down what-and-where DM is.
:And, I think, currently it seems to be considered that it's residing in a webwork of DM tendrils, at extragalactic (indeed, cosmological) scales, such that where the tendril cross is where they draw 'normal' matter together enough to be any given galaxy. But that's in an "explains all(/many) known facts" way, and might yet be incorrect. e.g. if there's side-dimensions (equally undetectable, at least visually) that change the inverse-square dropoff of gravity at large enough scales to govern galactic rotation rates by just enough to fit observations, or we have some other misunderstanding/scientific blind spot that further study may correct.
:Or, in short, think Brownian Motion. We can't see a handful of air molecules (not by normal, even microscope-enhanced, human vision), they might as well be invisible. But, by what we see of more visible particles, suggests that they exist as something. Conversly, the æther, a proposed medium for light, was thought to exist in a similar all-pervasive manner (insofar as trivial human experience, though less physically 'interactive' than wind), but deeper checks (as to whether its effects on light were as they should have been) dismissed it as a possible concept.
:Depending upon interpretation of the comic (I originally read it as "all dark-matter particles are ~20lbs in mass WIMPs/nano-MACHOs/whatever", but it seems that others take it as "''all of'' dark-matter particles is a single ~20lbs mass particle"; and that's make the oracle-invokers' attitudes more logical, if not the universe), there actually being Dark Matter, but it being just 20lbs of 'something' ''somewhere'' in the whole universe, makes it a needle in a galactic-supercluster-sized haystack.
:Detecting ''that'' would be difficult in the extreme. Even if it's somehow within a few hundred metres of the experimenters. There are ways to {{w|Cavendish experiment|observe the movements of small masses at small distances}}, but when you don't even have a clue ''if'' it exists (or is moving/has moved, and how), it's fairly hopeless. Gravitational lensing of light would be impractical at such distances/masses. LIGO may be very clever, insofar as merging high-mass objects at long distances, but not really for this. Event Horizon Telescope's ability to see a black hole('s accretion disk) via Very Long Baseline Interferometry is also totally useless here.
:I think I'd ''also'' settle for the burritos, given that certainty that I wasn't going to find what I'm looking for via any obvious route. (Assuming I couldn't ask the Oracle to ''show me'' the Dark Matter, rather than just answer questions about it. And noting that, if not for the indicated progression of the conversation, I might have assumed the oracular voice were really from the pentagram (more usual for demonology, not oracularities!) and that the dark blob ''was'' the 20lbs of Dark Matter. Which, of course, it ''does not deny'', so maybe my headcan[n]on ''is'' that the summoned Oracle ''is'' the DM, being deliberately evasive, and successfully so. That would satisfy it being both that which Ponytail seeks, ''and'' the entity of which Ponytail summons in order to seek it! Cueball, however, is currently just seeking food, which (one assumes) the DM-slash-Oracle is not.) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.229.25|172.68.229.25]] 12:48, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

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

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

Since pounds are a measure of weight, and weight is a measure of the gravitational attraction between an object and its "planet", what is the reference planet that is being used to define the weight of the Dark Matter particle?
 Should we assume that Earth's surface is being used as the reference, even though we have no measurements that suggest DM particles are around us, and no reason to assume that the particles would even notice that Earth has a "surface"?
 If Randall wanted to use mass, then he should have used the imperial unit of slug, but I suppose saying that a DM particle is 0.62162 slugs might not give the readers quite the same impression as using 20 pounds. [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 13:38, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Talk:3023: The Maritime Approximation

2024-12-12T18:38:28Z

Galeindfal: Minor comment about Euler forms

1.609*3.1416926 looks like 1.852*2.718281828
''seems legit'' {{unsigned ip|172.71.124.233|21:37, 11 December 2024 (UTC)}}

I added the basics of an explanation, it definitely needs some work, but it should do as a starting point. Hope I did well! [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.92|172.68.22.92]] 23:06, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

The knot is exactly 1 nautical mile per hour. Meanwhile π/e ≈ 1.155727, which is close to nm/mi = kt/mph ≈ 1.15078
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.135|172.70.134.135]] 23:26, 11 December 2024 (UTC)

This article says one knot is 1.2 MPH, which is true for the number of digits of precision stated. But in context of the claimed precision of 0.5% it would be more helpful to state that one knot is approximately 1.151 MPH. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_(unit) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.159.7|172.71.159.7]] 00:08, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

Transcendental : relating to a spiritual realm. eg "the transcendental importance of each person's soul". Works for me. {{unsigned ip|162.158.186.248|00:09, 12 December 2024 (UTC)}}
:Just as a fun fact, "transcendental" in this case is referring to {{W|Transcendental number}}, which are numbers that cannot be expressed as the root of a polynomial, which basically means they cannot be found using algebra alone. I think the two definitions are related, since these numbers "trancend" the "realm" of numbers which can be found with algebra. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.82|172.68.22.82]] 01:04, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

Another maritime approximation: 1 meter/sec nearly equals 2 knots (actual is 1.94384), perhaps there is an actual explanation for this? {{unsigned ip|162.158.155.117|01:36, 12 December 2024 (UTC)}}
:Both the nautical mile and meter derive from measurements of the Earth's circumference, and the number of seconds in an hour is related to the base-60 counting system (as is the number of degrees in a circle), but beyond that it's just how the math works out. 1 nautical mile is (well, was) 1/60 of a degree of latitude. 1 meter is (was) 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the Equator to the North Pole, which is 90°, so that's 9/1,000,000 of a degree of latitude. So 1 m = 27/50,000 nmi. Then, an hour is 3600 s. So 1 m/s = 27∙3600/50,000 nmi/hr. Cancelling, that's 1 m/s = 243/125 nmi/hr, and that fraction is quite close to 2. But there's no real deeper connection.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.115.102|172.70.115.102]] 15:08, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

A better mnemonic, which I actually use: miles→km is Fibonacci. 2miles≈3km, 3miles≈5km, 5miles≈8km, 8miles≈13km, 13miles≈21km, 21miles≈34km, 34miles≈55km, 55miles≈89km, 89miles≈143.23km, Fibonacchi would predict 144km. But at that point, you can just remove some less significant digits anyway. For everything in between, you can estimate how far it is from the nearest Fibonacci numbers, that works pretty well, too. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 01:54, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
: Yes, similar to this comic the ratio of km to miles (1.6093) is very close to the golden ratio (1.6180) or (1 + sqrt(5))/2. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.64|172.68.54.64]] 04:28, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

My favorite one is that pi squared is approximately the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s^2). The best part is that is NOT a coincidence. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.183.174|172.71.183.174]] 06:11, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

Actually the most common form of Euler's identity is eiπ + 1 = 0; I find it odd that Randall never writes it that way (see [[179]] and [[2492]] for example).
--[[Special:Contributions/172.69.68.4|172.69.68.4]] 12:47, 12 December 2024 (UTC)
:The form that you wrote and Randal's preferred form are identical. The equations are slightly different, but they are the same form. Other forms would involve using trigonometric functions, infinite series, integrals or ... something else. [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 18:38, 12 December 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2980: Lava Lakes

2024-09-03T15:55:44Z

Galeindfal: Lava lake as a trap

yoo wait this is cool first yay [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 01:05, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

yoo [[Special:Contributions/172.70.230.159|172.70.230.159]] 01:24, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

:Bro Why'd you delete my comment [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 01:29, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

::the wiki is a strange place where sometimes two people edit at the same time and it causes funny things [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]{{citation needed}} 01:34, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Third post! [[User:RadiantRainwing|RadiantRainwing]] ([[User talk:RadiantRainwing|talk]]) 01:29, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

we're so back [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]]{{citation needed}} 01:52, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

I do not think this current discussion is actually about XKCD at all, much less this comic. Perhaps the internet itself is that sixth lava lake, with all the hot mess it contains. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.22.253|172.68.22.253]] 02:54, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

In fact, the Volcano Golf Course [https://volcanogc.com] is built on an active volcano, Kilauea.

: Also on Hawaii Island is the [https://www.fourseasons.com/hualalai/golf/ Hualalai Golf Course], which is one of several that have been built on the {{w|Hualalai}} volcano, which erupts less frequently than Kilauea, but is nonetheless considered active (the Kona airport is built on an 1801 lava flow). [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.86|172.71.147.86]] 05:04, 3 September 2024 (UTC)
:: Immediately I start wondering why there might not have been a perfectly workable airport ''beneath'' the 1801 lava flow. (Ok, so it might not have had a Starbucks, as Moby-Dick was only written in 1851, so clearly you couldn't have had that chain of coffee-shops yet.) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.208|172.70.162.208]] 08:59, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

: Right, I should've been more clear on what I meant, which was that "no sane person would build a golf courses directly over the crater of active volcanoes" [[User:TheTrainsKid|TheTrainsKid]] ([[User talk:TheTrainsKid|talk]]) 03:41, 3 September 2024 (UTC)
:: Check out the Volcano Golf Course on Google Earth. It's pretty damn close to the caldera. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.191|172.71.147.191]] 05:12, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

: FWIW, there hasn't been a lava lake in Kilauea's crater for a couple of years now. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.191|172.71.147.191]] 05:12, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Is the female character Megan, or [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Danish Danish]? Hair length and association with Black Hat suggest the latter. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.147.191|172.71.147.191]] 05:12, 3 September 2024 (UTC)
:In my [[1401: New|headcanon]], I think Danish (btw, <code><nowiki>[[Danish]]</nowiki></code> is the simpler link form, here) would not normally be asking ''what'' [[Black Hat]] did, but instead (maybe) ''how'' he did it or probably just "Did you..?", already having this in mind. She would be traditionally be devious/sociopathic enough to have made the comment just now ''in order that'' Black Hat would do (something like) this.
:Image-wise, the figure sits somewhere between the 'reference images' of Megan's hair (right thickness, grown a bit longer here) and that of Danish (finer and more casually-longer), and there are a number of ambiguous appearances that are just a subtle change in hair away from either, so I couldn't say for sure without taking into account the dialogue/activities involved. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.163.49|172.70.163.49]] 09:18, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

There ia not need to say "right now", this is superfluous language & a verbal tic.{{unsigned ip|172.70.162.163}}
:It adds context that this is not a fixed situation - that other volcanoes have contained and will contain lava lakes, while it's only a contingent state of the current five.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.34|172.70.90.34]] 08:15, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Fifteenth comment![[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.174|141.101.98.174]] 08:10, 3 September 2024 (UTC)
:Last comment. And there's absolutely no way that I can be proven wrong, in this whole silly game of oneupmanship! [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.208|172.70.162.208]] 08:59, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

If you fund my Kickstarter, I will add a 7th. Do not ask where, but rather take a guess :)

[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.190|141.101.99.190]] 09:38, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

I removed the Incomplete Transcription warning. - clevor [[Special:Contributions/172.71.166.218|172.71.166.218]] 13:04, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

I assumed the lava lake would be used like a sand trap, so the golfer would want to hit the ball, rather than collect it. As such, the ball would likely be coated with a material of sufficiently high combustion temperature to be able to survive (at least for a while) on the surface of the lava. The golfer would then require shoes that allow for walking on the lake, but I believe such exist.
My question is, how difficult would it be to hit the golf ball off of the surface of the "lake"? There would be the added challenge of a "divot" composed of some of the lava following the ball, but at least you shouldn't need to worry about "repairing" the damage? [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 15:55, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2971: Celestial Event

2024-08-13T14:26:33Z

Galeindfal:

Unfortunately, this calculation doesn't account for the eventual end of total solar eclipses due to the tidal recession of the moon. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.246.142|172.69.246.142]] 05:31, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

:This is a great comment! Very much like something Randall would have written for title text. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.49|172.71.146.49]] 05:58, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

Are all of these events really statistically independent or are e.g. active northern lights and cicada mergence more or less likely to happen at the same time of the year?

This comic was published the same night that saw both the Perseids meteor shower and an unusually strong northern lights. Strangely, the omission of meteor showers in Randall's account of Celestial Events suggests that this is a coincidence. [[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 11:43, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

One eclipse every 350 years is not "1/350" - that would imply the eclipse lasted the whole year. The numerator unit should be a minute or so, vastly changing the result.

There are competing factors with regard to the eclipse. Obviously total eclipses don't last for an entire year {{cn}}, but in the distant past when the Moon was significantly closer, they occurred much more frequently than once every 350 years. Far enough back, the moon was significantly larger in the sky and orbited much more rapidly making total solar eclipses a much more common event (even if nobody with eyes was around to see). Using constants for probabilities when things have significant variation is tricky. [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 14:26, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2878: Supernova

2024-01-08T18:04:37Z

Galeindfal: A note about the graph

It's all fun and games until the supernova is 93 million miles away [[User:Poxy6|'''Poxy6''']] ([[User talk:Poxy6|talk]]) 13:03, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
:Luckily there's only one star that close, and it's not big enough to become a supernova. "when our Sun runs out of hydrogen fuel, it will expand to become a red giant, puff off its outer layers, and then settle down as a compact white dwarf star" [https://www.universetoday.com/18847/life-of-the-sun/]. Of course, that will still destroy the Earth. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 16:33, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
::"...there's only one star that close ''at the moment!''". ;) Ok, so we haven't seen anything likely to swing by close (any time soon), never mind being in an explody frame of mind whilst doing so, but... :p [[Special:Contributions/172.71.178.61|172.71.178.61]] 16:41, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
::Alpha Centauri is very nearly identical to our sun. It will also go red giant and then explode.[[User:Nitpicking|Nitpicking]] ([[User talk:Nitpicking|talk]]) 16:53, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

This seems to be a very early release. I had not expected to find a new comic already. Maybe Randall knows Betelgeuse goes Super Nova today... He can't wait - see [[1644: Stargazing]]! Unless of course it is too close! (Betelgeuse should be a safe distance away and seems by far the closest Super Nova candidate, as least according to [https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/space-science/earth-danger-betelgeuse-supernova Astronomer Patrick Moore]). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:07, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
I added an explanation and transcript [[Special:Contributions/172.70.43.108|172.70.43.108]] 13:09, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

I wonder if randall has played outer wilds [[Special:Contributions/172.70.178.53|172.70.178.53]] 16:34, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

I recall other proximity chart comics about 'how close people are to things' such as proximity to cats. Maybe someone can find those and add them as references. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 16:40, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

I'm feeling lazy and not feeling like verifying this, but I think the graph is also representative of the light curve we expect to see during a supernova. The stars brightness reaches a peak very quickly, then more gradually diminishes. [[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 18:04, 8 January 2024 (UTC)

Talk:2848: Breaker Box

2023-10-31T14:41:17Z

Galeindfal: A water heater comment

added transcript and got to change the name of the thing that created the explanation incomplete tag WOHOOOOoO [[User:Certified_nqh|Me]][[[285: Wikipedian Protester|''citation needed'']]][[Category:Pages using the "citation needed" template]] 02:25, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
: can't help but notice the [[1590]] reference [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 02:43, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
Added explanation! Simple, but it'll do. How do I sign? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.159|172.69.34.159]] 03:42, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
: four tildes (<code><nowiki>~~~~</nowiki></code>) [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 03:08, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
:: Thanks. I thought that I had tried it earlier and it hadn't worked, but I guess I was wrong. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.160|172.69.34.160]] 03:46, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Just added headers, but not good enough with this stuff to add descriptions. go nuts [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 02:52, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Got a good laugh out of this one. Does anyone have a guess as to whether the "bugs" at the bottom of the second column refers to computer bugs or insects? Also, some self-referential humor going on at the end there. I guess the breaker box which contains all breakers would indeed contain itself. [[User:Jrfarah|Jrfarah]] ([[User talk:Jrfarah|talk]]) 04:31, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
: I thought it was some sort of reference to [[2753]] [[User:SomeoneIGuess|someone, i guess]]([[User talk:SomeoneIGuess|talk i guess]]|[[Special:Contributions/SomeoneIGuess|le edit list]]) 04:58, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
: It turns off the bunny. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.194.194|172.69.194.194]] 11:27, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
: Computer bugs switches actually exist. It's a feature in some emulators to either run an unofficial patched version or to stay true to the original system, for example to allow bug-exploit speedruns. [[User:Shirluban|Shirluban]] [[Special:Contributions/172.71.130.70|172.71.130.70]] 13:34, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

So... discussion about "Hot Water Heater" vs. "Regular Water Heater"... I was assuming this was a joke regarding the redundancy of the term "Hot Water Heater" since "Water Heater" is already making the water hot, so why would you need to heat water that's already hot? Similar to RAS Syndrome, I thought Randall was making fun of that, but the explanation has a different idea... which... kind of makes sense? But... I've never seen anything like what is being described. [[User:AdmiralMemo|Admiral Memo]] ([[User talk:AdmiralMemo|talk]]) 05:22, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Regarding the "one surprise mystery outlet", I don't think it's necessary to assume it was wired that way by mistake. When extending the wiring in an existing house, it's not always easy to wire up an extra breaker, or use the most logically labelled one, and there may not be a compelling safety reason to do so. For instance, in my parents house, the original sockets are all wired from the floor, and when an extra one was needed for a boiler control, it was easier to run a conduit ''down'' from the floor above; so that particular socket is on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_circuit ring] marked "Upstairs Sockets" on the consumer unit. - [[User:IMSoP|IMSoP]] ([[User talk:IMSoP|talk]]) 09:18, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

I read the "state/federal law" switches as ''required'' by said laws. i.e. respective building codes require a "foo switch" always to be installed, whether or not a foo is required, reasonable or even practicable. The switches may be left unlinked to anything that is serviced, or run to the household outlet/power-switch with the label plastered over it saying "don't use for anything but the quarter-inch hoojamaflip grinder" (or whatever it is, in the same sort of manner as "Refrigerator, do ''not'' unplug/turn off!" in a communal kitchen.... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.166|141.101.99.166]] 10:09, 31 October 2023 (UTC)
:Some laws contain "circuit breaker" provisions, where some action is triggered when a condition reaches a threshold. Maybe that's what state/federal law refers to. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:25, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

...in a separate comment, I have a fuse/switch labelled "Do not turn on!" in my house. It was turned on when I moved in, and (barring actually any reason to mess with anything/’get a man in' for any other purpose) I've ''left'' it on. Ditto, for these last six or seven years I've remained ignorant of the purpose of various wall switches (floor-height, one in living room, one at top of stairs, another in a bedroom) that are unlabelled and off (though I ''have'' switched them on... no obvious difference to lighting, alarm system, any other system I can imagine they're wired up into and left it pending some future time when I actually have to do something like strip plaster back and discover which (if any?) run of cable leads from/to them. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.166|141.101.99.166]] 10:11, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

I believe that the cryptogram may be an attempt to pun on a "code breaker" as a reference to people who solve ciphers. [[User:Aberdasher|Aberdasher]] ([[User talk:Aberdasher|talk]]) 13:48, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

After reading "Regular Water Heater", I assumed it was implying that the "Hot Water Heater" was somehow more physically attractive and thus "hotter". --[[User:Galeindfal|Galeindfal]] ([[User talk:Galeindfal|talk]]) 14:41, 31 October 2023 (UTC)