explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:2599: Spacecraft Debris Odds Ratio

2022-03-29T05:46:02Z

Gvanrossum: Never mind

correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe 300 - 30 is 270, not 280? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.50.85|172.68.50.85]] 22:50, 28 March 2022 (UTC)
:something something percentage points maybe? idk [[Special:Contributions/172.70.134.91|172.70.134.91]] 22:56, 28 March 2022 (UTC)Bumpf
:Most likely there is an unstated chance of death by not going outside... presumably ~10% but there's no way to know the breakdown (could be nearly all cardio, could be nearly all ursine if they live in a cave next bears) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.70.127|172.69.70.127]] 23:02, 28 March 2022 (UTC)
::300% increase is multiplying by (1+3), 30% decrease is multiplying by (1-0.3) , %increases are multiplicative so the increase is by a factor of 4*0.7=2.8, which is 280% of the original value (or a 180% increase).
:::Yeah, barring a total mistake, that must be where the number came from, but it seems odd by the inconsistent way it is expressed, as it assumes the 300% increase for the bear attack is added to the initial value for a final amount of 400%, along with a similar treatment for the 30% decrease, but the 280% is simply the final value skipping past that step to the conclusion afterwards that is not even shown for the previous numbers. But with the improper grammar, if it's not an actual typo, it may be trying to show the speaker acting dumb or irrational, as it doesn't make sense to end with "increased" instead of "increase" without changing part of the words before that number. Someone thinking that poorly though likely wouldn't be able to multiply things properly to produce that 280% number though.--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.130.153|172.70.130.153]] 01:13, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

"That's a 280% increased" has a typo/grammaro. The last word should be "increase". [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 23:04, 28 March 2022 (UTC)
:I think the actual typo is the "a" so should be "That's 280% increased"

Also what's an odds ratio?? ~~Bumpf
:I assume something like "million to one". But the units of the horizontal axis clearly don't correspond to that. I don't know what those units are, they're not a percentage, either. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:40, 29 March 2022 (UTC)
:: if you say "this is 4 times as likely" then "4" is the "odds ratio", this is the type of number appearing on the horizontal axis
:An odds-ratio is a way of reporting the results for predictions of binary outcomes. It's a transformation of the (not easily interpretable) regression coefficient. For example, if the OR for "males" (vs females) is "0.70", they're 70% as likely to have the outcome as females; if it's "1.32", then males are 1.32x as likely (equivalently: 32% more likely) to have that outcome as females. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.75|108.162.249.75]] Gye Greene

Did something happen to the size of the image after the initial posting? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:40, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

What's with the asterisks on the right side? [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 00:50, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

There should probably be an explanation of what "Monte Carlo Simulation" means, as many people who would actually want an explanation of this strip would likely be unfamiliar with that term.--[[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.122|172.70.131.122]] 01:02, 29 March 2022 (UTC)

Talk:2599: Spacecraft Debris Odds Ratio

2022-03-29T05:43:22Z

Gvanrossum:

Talk:2486: Board Game Party Schedule

2021-07-08T04:59:17Z

Gvanrossum: 7 wonders

I've done the best I can starting this out. Since it's been years since I did gatherings like this, if someone can suggest more modern examples of complicated tabletop simulation games than the ones I suggested (Squad Leader and SFB started in the late 1970s, for heaven's sake), please do so. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.236|108.162.245.236]] 00:27, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

How about Seven Wonders? [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 04:59, 8 July 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2439: Solar System Cartogram

2021-03-21T00:10:42Z

Gvanrossum: Add something I forgot

;Planet list seems incomplete
Where's Pluto? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.154|172.68.65.154]] 20:30, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
:Demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006, to the continued frustration of people like myself. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 20:33, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
::If the biggest Kuiper Belt object is a planet, the biggest Asteroid Belt object (Ceres) should be one too. They're both dwarf planets. Ceres was also considered a planet upon discovery until the rest of the similar-looking belt around it was discovered. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 00:24, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
:::Okay. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.186|172.69.34.186]] 02:11, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::::See [[473: Still Raw]]--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::::: The Pluto thing is just never going to go away. The IAU is in ego lock about how bad this decision was. "Clearing the neighborhood" serves no scientific value whatsoever. Supporters I've asked can't even articulate how big Pluto's neighborhood actually is. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.106|162.158.75.106]] 12:55, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

What about exoplanets? [[User:Wilh3lm|Wilh3lm]] ([[User talk:Wilh3lm|talk]]) 20:49, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
:They're not in our solar system. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 20:57, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
::We should rectify that ASAP! A few more planets slotted between/woven through the current set would make for some interesting possibilities... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.207|141.101.99.207]] 22:52, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
:::Yes, interesting in the "ancient Chinese curse" way: despite most of solar system being empty, you would need to be VERY careful to fit even single planet inside without risking collision. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::::We'll never know for sure without trying, right? ;p [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.22|141.101.98.22]] 22:34, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

Surprised no one has gotten technical and talked about how Earth is not drawn to be 7.8 billion times larger than the others (which would be around 300,000px wide) , meaning it's still off the same way other depictions tend to be. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 05:51, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
:Maybe it's a logarithmic cartogram. Log scales are generally needed when differences in sizes are so vast. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 06:01, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::The dots are dimensionless, thus have zero size according to their population. Only exception is Mars, but with two it would still almost be zero size and thus just a dot. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

Needs to be amended to note that this reflects only HUMAN life detected on these planets. Just because we haven't found any yet doesn't mean that Jupiter might not be housing billions of Jovians, or Mars isn't teeming with Martians. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 06:53, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
:Well there is no evidence of any lifeforms in the solar system beyond Earth. It talks about Persons in the title text, thus it needs to be intelligent to have that label. And thus animals would not count. So until we have evidence of aliens on the other planets, or until we inhabit them, their population would be zero. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

;Bad map projection?
IMHO, this also qualify as kind of a [[:Category:Bad_Map_Projections|bad map projection]] (in the wider sense of a population density-anamorphic cartogram) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.160|141.101.77.160]] 21:11, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
:No, it is not a map at all. But you could mention in the explanation that it has similarity to bad maps projections. But this one is not actually bad, it is technically correct, it is just useless. Also removed the map category as there is not map in this comic! It is a globe. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
:: How do you tell the difference between a picture of a globe and a picture of a map? In any case a picture of a globe is a map with an orthographic projections. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.71|172.69.63.71]] 19:08, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::: At least mention that Randall has previously published several distorted maps that are actually useful. E.g. https://xkcd.com/2399/ But I think it is a map (of the solar system). [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 23:59, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

If the explanation is going to mention electoral maps, would it make sense to include [[2399: 2020 Election Map]] and [[1939: 2016 Election Map]]? [[User:Aerin|Aerin]] ([[User talk:Aerin|talk]]) 00:03, 21 March 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2439: Solar System Cartogram

2021-03-20T23:59:43Z

Gvanrossum: 2399

;Planet list seems incomplete
Where's Pluto? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.154|172.68.65.154]] 20:30, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
:Demoted to dwarf planet status in 2006, to the continued frustration of people like myself. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 20:33, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
::If the biggest Kuiper Belt object is a planet, the biggest Asteroid Belt object (Ceres) should be one too. They're both dwarf planets. Ceres was also considered a planet upon discovery until the rest of the similar-looking belt around it was discovered. [[User:Zowayix|Zowayix]] ([[User talk:Zowayix|talk]]) 00:24, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
:::Okay. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.186|172.69.34.186]] 02:11, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::::See [[473: Still Raw]]--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::::: The Pluto thing is just never going to go away. The IAU is in ego lock about how bad this decision was. "Clearing the neighborhood" serves no scientific value whatsoever. Supporters I've asked can't even articulate how big Pluto's neighborhood actually is. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.106|162.158.75.106]] 12:55, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

What about exoplanets? [[User:Wilh3lm|Wilh3lm]] ([[User talk:Wilh3lm|talk]]) 20:49, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
:They're not in our solar system. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 20:57, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
::We should rectify that ASAP! A few more planets slotted between/woven through the current set would make for some interesting possibilities... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.207|141.101.99.207]] 22:52, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
:::Yes, interesting in the "ancient Chinese curse" way: despite most of solar system being empty, you would need to be VERY careful to fit even single planet inside without risking collision. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 04:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::::We'll never know for sure without trying, right? ;p [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.22|141.101.98.22]] 22:34, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

Surprised no one has gotten technical and talked about how Earth is not drawn to be 7.8 billion times larger than the others (which would be around 300,000px wide) , meaning it's still off the same way other depictions tend to be. [[User:Trlkly|Trlkly]] ([[User talk:Trlkly|talk]]) 05:51, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
:Maybe it's a logarithmic cartogram. Log scales are generally needed when differences in sizes are so vast. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 06:01, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::The dots are dimensionless, thus have zero size according to their population. Only exception is Mars, but with two it would still almost be zero size and thus just a dot. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

Needs to be amended to note that this reflects only HUMAN life detected on these planets. Just because we haven't found any yet doesn't mean that Jupiter might not be housing billions of Jovians, or Mars isn't teeming with Martians. [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 06:53, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
:Well there is no evidence of any lifeforms in the solar system beyond Earth. It talks about Persons in the title text, thus it needs to be intelligent to have that label. And thus animals would not count. So until we have evidence of aliens on the other planets, or until we inhabit them, their population would be zero. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

;Bad map projection?
IMHO, this also qualify as kind of a [[:Category:Bad_Map_Projections|bad map projection]] (in the wider sense of a population density-anamorphic cartogram) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.160|141.101.77.160]] 21:11, 19 March 2021 (UTC)
:No, it is not a map at all. But you could mention in the explanation that it has similarity to bad maps projections. But this one is not actually bad, it is technically correct, it is just useless. Also removed the map category as there is not map in this comic! It is a globe. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:31, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
:: How do you tell the difference between a picture of a globe and a picture of a map? In any case a picture of a globe is a map with an orthographic projections. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.71|172.69.63.71]] 19:08, 20 March 2021 (UTC)
::: At least mention that Randall has previously published several distorted maps that are actually useful. E.g. https://xkcd.com/2399/ [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 23:59, 20 March 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2385: Final Exam

2020-11-14T06:30:29Z

Gvanrossum:

Perhaps add a note about how multiple people trying to achieve the same goal would be impossible, so therefore it would be a test of game theory to see how the final grades end up. You'd want to be the last one to make all the changes. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.197|162.158.107.197]] 23:51, 13 November 2020 (UTC)
:It's a contest to hack the grades ''and'' to lock out all of the other students from making further changes. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 00:49, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
Title text seems to be a reference to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guess_2/3_of_the_average.
[[User:Anonymous3|Anonymous3]] ([[User talk:Anonymous3|talk]]) 01:10, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

The current "change every fifth answer to the bubble below it" explanation appears to make the implausible assumption that the exam is multiple-choice. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:19, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

Clearly the optimal solution for both courses is to change the grade to be ''out of 0'', thus a score of 0 being a perfect score and also meet the requirements for Game Theory. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.54|162.158.165.54]] 03:28, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

OMG I want so much to take this class, what an excellent final exam![[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.208|172.68.65.208]] 05:09, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

I think the explanation above is largely correct, but I assumed this was a Zoom reference. Since during lockdown the many students she is addressing should be experiencing this through a remote meeting, for which Zoom is often chosen (I'd love an explanation as to why THAT is). Zoom has notorious security flaws which any cybersecurity student should be failed for accepting.
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.96|162.158.159.96]] 05:11, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

No mention of Bobby Tables? [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 06:29, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2385: Final Exam

2020-11-14T06:29:46Z

Gvanrossum: /* No mention of Bobby Tables? */ new section

Perhaps add a note about how multiple people trying to achieve the same goal would be impossible, so therefore it would be a test of game theory to see how the final grades end up. You'd want to be the last one to make all the changes. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.107.197|162.158.107.197]] 23:51, 13 November 2020 (UTC)
:It's a contest to hack the grades ''and'' to lock out all of the other students from making further changes. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 00:49, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
Title text seems to be a reference to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guess_2/3_of_the_average.
[[User:Anonymous3|Anonymous3]] ([[User talk:Anonymous3|talk]]) 01:10, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

The current "change every fifth answer to the bubble below it" explanation appears to make the implausible assumption that the exam is multiple-choice. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 03:19, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

Clearly the optimal solution for both courses is to change the grade to be ''out of 0'', thus a score of 0 being a perfect score and also meet the requirements for Game Theory. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.165.54|162.158.165.54]] 03:28, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

OMG I want so much to take this class, what an excellent final exam![[Special:Contributions/172.68.65.208|172.68.65.208]] 05:09, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

I think the explanation above is largely correct, but I assumed this was a Zoom reference. Since during lockdown the many students she is addressing should be experiencing this through a remote meeting, for which Zoom is often chosen (I'd love an explanation as to why THAT is). Zoom has notorious security flaws which any cybersecurity student should be failed for accepting.
--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.96|162.158.159.96]] 05:11, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

== No mention of Bobby Tables? ==

[[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 06:29, 14 November 2020 (UTC)

2345: Wish on a Shooting Star

2020-08-14T04:45:52Z

Gvanrossum: Meteors are the light trails in the sky. Meteorites are the rocks that fall to earth.

{{comic
| number = 2345
| date = August 12, 2020
| title = Wish on a Shooting Star
| image = wish_on_a_shooting_star.png
| titletext = Congratulations to whoever wished for revenge on a forest near the Tunguska River, a 1980 Chevy Malibu in Peekskill NY, Alabama resident Ann Hodges, every building in Chelyabinsk with glass windows, and the non-avian dinosaurs.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a NON-AVIAN DINOSAUR HATER. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic was published at the annual peak of the {{w|Perseids}} {{w|meteor shower}}. It is a common practice to make a wish when one sees a shooting star, in hopes that the wish comes true. This comic consists of a [[:Category:Venn diagrams|Venn diagram]] showing what things are commonly wished for upon seeing a shooting star, and what things the shooting star may cause. Shooting stars, as they are actually meteors, can only cause changes to physical phenomena, such as radio noise or the appearance of the sky as they burn up in the upper atmosphere. The only thing that is shared between the potential wish side of the diagram and the shooting star caused side is revenge. This would occur when a shooting star actually hits the planet, becoming a meteorite. This is frequently highly destructive, given the high speed of falling meteors. As such, it would be possible for the meteorite to hit something that someone for some reason or another wished revenge upon. However, given the massive surface area of the planet, the likelihood that someone's revenge would be "granted" by a meteorite would be very low (although not quite as low as [[2328: Space Basketball|dunking a meteorite through a basket]]). The title text makes fun of this by detailing several incidents where a meteorite landed and caused damage.

List of things that were damaged by meteorites (from title text):
* On June 30, 1908 ({{w|Gregorian Calendar}}, Russia still used Julian and was recorded there as June 17), an {{w|airburst}} caused by the {{w|Tunguska Event|breakup of a 100-meter falling meteorite or comet}} with the energy of some 30 megatons of {{w|TNT}} flattened some 80 million trees over 830 square miles (2,150 km2) of land in central {{w|Siberia}} near the {{w|Podkamennaya Tunguska|Tunguska River}}. Due to the remoteness of the area, no people were confirmed dead in the incident.
* On October 9, 1992, a meteorite {{w|Peekskill meteorite|damaged a 1980 Chevrolet Malibu in Peekskill, New York}}.
* On November 30, 1954, a {{w|Sylacauga (meteorite)|fragment of a meteorite}} passed through the roof of a house and struck a woman named Ann Hodges. She survived.
* On February 15, 2013, a meteorite {{w|Chelyabinsk meteor|exploded in an airburst}} over Chelyabinsk, Russia, creating a shockwave that shattered windows in the area.
* The {{w|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction of the dinosaurs}} around 65 million years ago is believed to be caused by an {{w|Alvarez hypothesis|impact of a comet or asteroid}}. Randall mentions "non-avian" dinosaurs, as birds are descendants of dinosaurs (making them dinosaurs by definition), though they are not commonly thought of as dinosaurs. No humans were alive to wish for the extinction of the dinosaurs, but perhaps the wish was made by some ancestral mouse-like mammal.

If there is a "message" to this comic strip, it could be similar to those of [[1024: Error Code]] and [[2247: Weird Hill]]: that we shouldn't bother wishing for things that shooting stars can't give us, but should instead take time away from our temporal concerns and just relax and appreciate their beauty. Or maybe the message is that, if you ''must'' wish on a shooting star, you should wish for revenge, because that's something that might come true. Of course, as the title text makes clear, meteorites don't really land according to our designs and schedules, and if you're close enough to a shooting star to see it, and you wish for it to avenge you, and it ''is'' big enough to hurt someone, you're probably at risk yourself.

Meteorites were most recently mentioned in [[2328: Space Basketball]]. Randall has discussed strange and "impossible" wishes in [[1086: Eyelash Wish Log]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A Venn diagram is shown:]

:[The left circle is labeled "Things people wish for" and contains:]
:Love
:Money
:Fame
:Health
:Power
:Luck
:Success

:[The right circle is labeled "Things shooting stars can cause" and contains:]
:Radio noise
:Dust and ionized gas in the upper atmosphere
:Infrasound
:Cool lights in the sky

:[The only item in the overlapping section is:]
:Revenge

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Venn diagrams]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

2345: Wish on a Shooting Star

2020-08-13T04:32:53Z

Gvanrossum: Minor corrections

{{comic
| number = 2345
| date = August 12, 2020
| title = Wish on a Shooting Star
| image = wish_on_a_shooting_star.png
| titletext = Congratulations to whoever wished for revenge on a forest near the Tunguska River, a 1980 Chevy Malibu in Peekskill NY, Alabama resident Ann Hodges, every building in Chelyabinsk with glass windows, and the non-avian dinosaurs.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
It is a common practice to make a wish when one sees a shooting star, in hopes that the wish comes true. This comic consists of a [[:Category:Venn diagrams|Venn diagram]] showing what things are commonly wished for upon seeing a shooting star, and what things the shooting star may cause. Shooting stars, as they are actually meteors, can only cause changes to physical phenomena, such as radio noise or the appearance of the sky as they burn up in the upper atmosphere. The only thing that is shared between the potential wish side of the diagram and the shooting star caused side is revenge. This would occur when a shooting star actually hits the planet, becoming a meteorite. This is frequently highly destructive, given the high speed of falling meteors. As such, it would be possible for the meteorite to hit something that someone for some reason or another wished revenge upon. However, given the massive surface area of the planet, the likelihood that someone's revenge would be "granted" by a meteorite would be very low. The title text makes fun of this by detailing several incidents where a meteorite landed and caused damage.

List of things that were damaged by meteors (from title text):
* On June 30, 1908 ({{w|Gregorian Calendar}}, Russia still used Julian and was recorded there as June 17), an {{w|airburst}} caused by the {{w|Tunguska Event|breakup of a 100-meter falling meteorite or comet}} with the energy of some 30 megatons of {{w|TNT}} flattened some 80 million trees over 830 square miles of land in central {{w|Siberia}} near the {{w|Podkamennaya Tunguska|Tunguska River}}. Due to the remoteness of the area, no people were confirmed dead in the incident.
* On October 9, 1992, a meteorite {{w|Peekskill meteorite|damaged a 1980 Malibu in Peekskill, NY}}.
* On November 30, 1954, a {{w|Sylacauga (meteorite)|fragment of a meteorite}} passed through the roof of a house and struck a woman named Ann Hodges. She survived.
* On February 15, 2013, a meteorite {{w|Chelyabinsk meteor|exploded in an airburst}} over Chelyabinsk, Russia, creating a shockwave that shattered windows in the area.
* The {{w|Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event|extinction of the dinosaurs}} around 65 million years ago is believed to be caused by an {{w|Alvarez hypothesis|impact of a comet or asteroid}}. Randall mentions "non-avian" dinosaurs, as birds are descendants of dinosaurs, though they are not commonly thought of as dinosaurs.

Meteorites were most recently mentioned in [[2328: Space Basketball]].

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A Venn diagram is shown:]

:[The left circle is labeled "Things people wish for" and contains:]
:Love
:Money
:Fame
:Health
:Power
:Luck
:Success

:[The right circle is labeled "Things shooting stars can cause" and contains:]
:Radio noise
:Dust and ionized gas in the upper atmosphere
:Infrasound
:Cool lights in the sky

:[The only item in the overlapping section is:]
:Revenge

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Venn diagrams]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]

Talk:2335: Photo Deposit

2020-07-22T04:58:46Z

Gvanrossum: Too much

Depositing cash through a smartphone app was one of the silliest and most useful features in GTA V. Unfortunately, depositing money would not duplicate it. Presumably the characters in the game are very honest and trustworthy, destroying any cash instantly after scanning it in. This honesty is to be expected from thieving killers such as these.

You can also withdraw cash via the app. How that works is beyond me.

--[[User:NeatNit|NeatNit]] ([[User talk:NeatNit|talk]]) 23:38, 20 July 2020 (UTC)

A frequent joke in "The Goon Show" on 1950s British radio was the offer of a printed photograph of usually a small sum of money, treated as the photograph actually having value itself. Sometimes it's a phonograph disc. And sometimes the money represented turns out to be a forgery. In a less silly context, the photograph might be considered as an I.O.U., as evidence that the money exists and will be paid... which is what a banknote is, really. But in practice someone influencing you with pictures of money might be dishonest. Bank advertising for instance.

Wikipedia's article on "The Goon Show running jokes" (!) doesn't mention money photographs, although there is a reference to handing out pictures of Queen Victoria, especially in historical stories. Pictures of Queen Victoria may be on older money, but these ones don't seem to be.

Robert Carnegie rja.carnegie@excite.com [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.26|141.101.98.26]] 08:18, 21 July 2020 (UTC)
: Search for "photo"(graph) in http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts_show.asp?title=s06e07_foiled_by_president_fred for the instant(s) that came straight to my mind, being recently broadcast. (I assume you're familiar with LSD?) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.14|162.158.159.14]] 09:38, 21 July 2020 (UTC)

"Other nations ... have started introducing plastic banknotes" Lol. Australia had *finished* introducing plastic bank notes 30 years ago. [https://csiropedia.csiro.au/polymer-banknotes/] [[User:Boatster|Boatster]] ([[User talk:Boatster|talk]]) 01:43, 21 July 2020 (UTC)

Hmm. How much money would that be? Say each photo is 4MB and your upload speed is 25 or so Mb/s. Each upload would take about 1.3 secs. We'll round up to 1.5. To keep it simple, we'll say that they have a stack of bills, and are able to scan each new bill within those 1.5 seconds. Now, if the bank allows you to upload $100 bills, without any rate limiting, you'd be able to make $400/min (the same as the what if article, weird). Which means that in six hours, they could make $144,000 dollars! Of course, this is mostly guesswork, but it should be somewhere in the ballpark.
Could be a little more: Smaller photos, better network.
Or a lot less: Most people don't have $144,000 in cash ready at a moment's notice, and scanning could take more than 1.5 secs.
Of course, if this was a feature that was announced, and they had time to prepare....
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.102|108.162.245.102]] 04:11, 21 July 2020 (UTC)

The feature of depositing check is this new or old... Is it something from before or after the Corona outbreak? It is a smart feature to avoid visits to banks during the pandemic - also the money thing, which of course is not realistic irl. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:19, 21 July 2020 (UTC)
:depositing checks by smartphone is old, going back to 2018 if not earlier, and the depositing of currency could be realistic if bills used blockchain ledger entries instead of easily guessed serial numbers and everyone verified every currency transaction against the blockchain every time (this would end counterfeiting as a side effect). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.172|162.158.63.172]] 09:53, 21 July 2020 (UTC)
:The Chase app started allowing deposits ten years ago. See this article from ten years ago today: https://phys.org/news/2010-07-banking-deposit-smart-phone-photo.html [[User:Orion205|Orion205]] ([[User talk:Orion205|talk]]) 03:44, 22 July 2020 (UTC)

Is it by the way illegal to even take a picture of banknote? I know printing one out is... Even if only one side and not very good quality. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:27, 21 July 2020 (UTC)
:if taking pictures of banknotes is illegal then bank security cameras (and security cameras in many retail establishments and casinos) are routinely breaking the law. Also, aren’t change machines taking a picture as part of their anti-counterfeiting circuits? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.172|162.158.63.172]] 09:58, 21 July 2020 (UTC)
::Even printing banknote is legal if you follow some rules. I read that you need to make it bigger than 150% or smaller than 75% of real size, although details may vary depending on country. Of course, doesn't change the fact that your graphics program might refuse to work with that image and your printer may refuse to print it. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:39, 21 July 2020 (UTC)

I know it's acceptable in the 'colonial' idiom, but seeing "cheques" spelt as "checks" always confuses me for a micromoment. As well as imagining a test/verification being somehow a bartered service, I'm only just getting past it also being a bill-of-fare (in the UK we may pay a bill with a cheque, over there you can pay a check with a bill). But carry on carrying on! I'll get my coat. (If I can find the coat-check.) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.100|162.158.159.100]] 10:01, 21 July 2020 (UTC)

Why is cryptocurrency in there, it seems tangential at best? [[User:Djbrasier|Djbrasier]] ([[User talk:Djbrasier|talk]]) 19:01, 21 July 2020 (UTC)
:The more paranoid (or stand-offish for their own good reasons) Crypto users might not even connect bitwallets electronically but pass a transaction-code by other means (retyped from hardcopy, or rescan an on-screen generated QR, depending on requirements) and then rely upon the decentralised 'audit book' checking and authorising that transaction with minimal{{Citation needed}} risk of subsequent tracing-and-linking-together by The Man/whoever. I think it's both far too paranoid ''and'' not paranoid enough, in equal measure, if you're trying to keep your associations off-grid, but it seems there are those who seem to like doing it that way. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.222|141.101.98.222]] 20:35, 21 July 2020 (UTC)

The explanation seems excessive, given how obvious the joke is. [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 04:58, 22 July 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2324: Old Days 2

2020-06-25T04:21:17Z

Gvanrossum: sweaters

I've gotta try that, see how the ice cream truck guy reacts. Wonder where I can find an ice cream truck though? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.16|172.69.71.16]] 23:42, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
: The above is me, wasn't logged in, would I get in trouble for fixing the signature? [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 23:44, 24 June 2020 (UTC)
(@Mikemk, I recon you sorted it by adding what you did. If you'd have just changed things, probably no crime if you explained it in the edit Summary. But I'm just an IP Address, so no authority.) Anyway. The bit about a phone-call stopping all electronic business is obviously rooted in dial-up needing exclusive use of a POTS line, something that only went out with broadband piggy-backing alongside voice-calls, the respective carrier-signals now microfiltered at each end of the house-to-exchange copper cabling to let them coexist over the same circuit without blocking/overwhelming each other. Though, in this comic, it's hyperbole, overly fuzzy memory, leg-pulling and/or an alternate-history being described. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.130|141.101.98.130]] 02:06, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

In the early days (of the ARPAnet) there was actually something that today would be classed as a "cloud service" (before the term was invented) although limited. It was a computer (in Cambridge, MA) funded by ARPA with massive amounts of storage and anybody on the ARPAnet could use it for storage (primary access was through FTP). So, cloud storage but not cloud computing. If you wanted to do something with the data you had to copy the whole file to your local disk, edit it there, and then send it back. The actual bits were stored on magnetic tape and there was an elaborate X/Y mechanism to select a tape and mount it on a tape drive, and later return it to its cubby. [[User:MAP|MAP]] ([[User talk:MAP|talk]]) 02:38, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

"State landline" is reminiscent of the old sailing joke where you'd ask a n00b to bring you 100 feet of shoreline. -- brad

Hm, I'd think that "state landline" is a pun on "state line". [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 04:19, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

Also, while mainframes didn't exactly knit sweaters when they ran your code, they *did* produce physical artifacts -- reams of line printer paper. [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 04:21, 25 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2324: Old Days 2

2020-06-25T04:19:12Z

Gvanrossum: State landline suggestion

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T05:49:11Z

Gvanrossum: /* "Engineering" notation omitted? */

== Scientist avoiding rounding ==

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss!

Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.)

(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:56, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

== "Engineering" notation omitted? ==

I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Honestly I thought "engineering" notation was a myth invented by HP's calculator division. But I'm personally offended that the programmers' notation 25_259_... was omitted. Maybe Randall still uses Python 2. :-) [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:47, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

==Actual scientist: ==
"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non tarrif trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tarrifed back

== Can someone explain the set theory notation? ==
You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory

==Title Text 10^13.4024==

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T05:48:26Z

Gvanrossum: /* "Engineering" notation omitted? */

== Scientist avoiding rounding ==

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss!

Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.)

(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:56, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

== "Engineering" notation omitted? ==

I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Honestly I thought "engineering" notation was a myth invented by HP's calculator division. But I'm personally offended that the programmers' notation 25_259_... Was omitted. Maybe arandall still uses Python 2. :-) [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:47, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

==Actual scientist: ==
"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non tarrif trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tarrifed back

== Can someone explain the set theory notation? ==
You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory

==Title Text 10^13.4024==

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T05:47:50Z

Gvanrossum: /* "Engineering" notation omitted? */

== Scientist avoiding rounding ==

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss!

Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.)

(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:56, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

== "Engineering" notation omitted? ==

I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Honestly I thought "engineering" notation was a myth invented by HP's calculator, division. But I'm personally offended that the programmers' notation 25_259_... Was omitted. Maybe arandall still uses Python 2. :-) [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:47, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

==Actual scientist: ==
"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non tarrif trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tarrifed back

== Can someone explain the set theory notation? ==
You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory

==Title Text 10^13.4024==

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Talk:2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T05:43:31Z

Gvanrossum: Randall fixed the cartoon

== Scientist avoiding rounding ==

Would love an explanation of the scientist avoiding rounding one. Would make sense to me with 2.525997..., but as 2.5997... I'm at a loss!

Truncating the number just before a digit less than 5 so that the final digit is not rounded up. (I do this all the time, and, I am a scientist.)

(The above was posted (anonymously?) seconds before I could get mine in, so here it is in the original format.)

This is probably completely irrelevant but it seems Randall made a small typo when trying to show a "Scientest trying to avoid rounding up."
I assume it should be 2.525997*10^13. It seems he left out a 5 and a 2 and I say such because whether he forgot the 52 or 25 is up for debate.

Relevant screenshot: [[https://i.imgur.com/NrvOivy.png]]

Randall fixed it! [[User:Gvanrossum|Gvanrossum]] ([[User talk:Gvanrossum|talk]]) 05:43, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

Also, if I'm just being completely daft and am missing something completely, please feel free to criticize me harshly and I'll go back to my little hideyhole. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.24|108.162.237.24]] 22:21, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

In reality, a scientist would probably say 6.416*10^13 cm. (Although possible counterpoint, this comic is really about the ''number'' 25,259,974,097,204, not the distance 25,259,974,097,204 inches.) [[Special:Contributions/172.69.33.207|172.69.33.207]] 22:47, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Centimetres are not an SI unit. it would be 6.416*10^11 m [[Special:Contributions/172.68.255.14|172.68.255.14]] 01:56, 13 June 2020 (UTC)
I believe the "2.5997" was intentional, or at least I thought it was when reading it. At first I thought it was a typo, but Randall calls that number "Scientist ''trying'' to avoid rounding up" which makes me think Randall intentionally made that "mistake" as if the scientist had accidentally forgotten the first two digits (25) and used the remainder of the number (259974...), rounding it to "2.5997x10^13" [[User:Kirypto|Kirypto]] ([[User talk:Kirypto|talk]]) 23:03, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

Looks like that was just a typo, Randall replaced it with a new version. [[User:Natg19|Natg19]] ([[User talk:Natg19|talk]]) 02:55, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As a (not so?) old British person, I approve. Let the Trillions come around later, when it's ''worth'' increasing the prefix to "level 3". Don't waste them on the more petty numbers. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.155.122|162.158.155.122]] 23:13, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

== "Engineering" notation omitted? ==

I find it somewhat strange that Randall doesn't offer '''25e12''' or any of those variants ('''25.259...*10^12'''). I feel like a lot of "non-normal" people would map billion to E12 instead of requiring a single digit to the left of the decimal point. shrug [[User:JohnHawkinson|JohnHawkinson]] ([[User talk:JohnHawkinson|talk]]) 23:09, 12 June 2020 (UTC)

==Actual scientist: ==
"What's an inch?" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.119|162.158.62.119]] 23:18, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
: The imaginary nano-scale multiple of the speed of light times Planck's constant. Which, dimensionally, would seem to be kg.m³/s²? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.73|162.158.154.73]] 00:15, 13 June 2020 (UTC)

As an article pointed out to me the other day that seemed obvious after it was said it's a non tarrif trade barrier used as American protectionism that doesn't get tarrifed back

== Can someone explain the set theory notation? ==
You can use only sets to construct the natural numbers, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number#Constructions_based_on_set_theory

==Title Text 10^13.4024==

It seems nobody has pointed out that the power of 10 in the title text is really just the log(x) of the number, which is in fact very common in scientific contexts -> log(25,259,974,097,204) = 13.4024 [[User:Ianrbibtitlht|Ianrbibtitlht]] ([[User talk:Ianrbibtitlht|talk]]) 02:31, 13 June 2020 (UTC)