explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2422: Vaccine Ordering

2021-02-09T01:51:12Z

Landfillbaby: Undo revision 206032 by DKMell (talk) this just links to the current version again. see my comment for the real original.

{{comic
| number = 2422
| date = February 8, 2021
| title = Vaccine Ordering
| image = Vaccine_ordering_-_high-resolution.png
| titletext = You know what they say: mRNA-1273 before tozinameran, you'll have to slay a banshee in a catamaran.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by the RULER OF SMYRNA. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Megan is reading an article on her phone to Cueball. A report from the {{w|Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC}} says that it's possible to get effective immunity against {{w|COVID-19}} when taking two-dose {{w|RNA vaccine|mRNA vaccine shots}} successively from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna, but that this practice should not be the norm. The report in question can be viewed [https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/info-by-product/clinical-considerations.html here]; it stresses that mixing the vaccines is acceptable only in exceptional circumstances, such as "when the first-dose vaccine product cannot be determined."

Cueball wonders whether the order in which you receive the vaccines matters. Megan then attempts to create {{w|Mnemonic|mnemonic devices}} to help them remember which mix-and-match strategy is best for the mRNA vaccines (e.g., "Beer before wine and you'll feel fine; wine before beer and you'll feel queer"). Megan succeeds by rhyming "Pfizer" and "wiser", but struggles with finding a rhyme for "Moderna", settling for {{w|Smyrna}}, an ancient city located in what is now {{w|Izmir}}, Turkey.

A {{w|side effect}} of a drug is an effect incidental to the intended purpose of the drug. Side effects can be positive or negative, though in vaccine trials the greater concern is usually about negative side effects. Becoming ruler of an ancient city that is now only a historical ruin would certainly be an odd side effect.

The title text continues the theme of difficult rhymes, using the full names of both the Moderna vaccine drug ({{w|Moderna COVID-19 vaccine|mRNA-1273}}) and the Pfizer one ({{w|Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine|tozinameran}}).

Note: Studies have shown that the order that you have alcoholic drinks doesn't affect the severity of the hangover. The efficacy of mixing vaccines is presently unknown, an important reason why mixing them is discouraged.

==Trivia==

This comic image was originally published with no {{w|Spatial anti-aliasing|anti-aliasing}}. All of its pixels were either fully black or fully white, with no shades of gray, giving the smooth lines a jagged appearance. This was fixed later in the day.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Cueball are talking. Megan is looking down and reading a news story on her phone.]
:Megan: The CDC says it's okay to mix and match the mRNA vaccines for doses 1 and 2, but only in exceptional circumstances.
:Cueball: I wonder which order works better, if either.

:[A slimmer panel. Megan has her finger raised and her phone to her side]
Megan: Well you know what they say — Moderna before Pfizer, you'll be none the wiser.

:[A regular panel, Megan and Cueball still talking next to each other.]
:Megan: Pfizer before Moderna then you'll... rule ancient Smyrna.
:Cueball: Weird side effect.
:Megan: A lot of hard-to-rhyme drugs have those.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:COVID-19]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]

Talk:2422: Vaccine Ordering

2021-02-09T01:21:04Z

Landfillbaby: i think something cs wrong with my cache.... really sorry

For those that read XKCD here first - yes, the original comic really is that low quality. I suspect Randall's going to replace it with a cleaner one at some point. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.134|108.162.237.134]] 23:10, 8 February 2021 (UTC)
:Unless the low quality is intentional, some way-over-my-head joke about vaccines and mRNA, maybe? -- or the low-quality of the image as an analogy for the low-quality of the rhymes? {{unsigned ip|172.69.234.138}}

Looks like he's uploaded a better version now. I don't know how to replace the image, though. [[User:Argis13|Argis13]] ([[User talk:Argis13|talk]]) 23:40, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

:It's still low quality at xkcd.com. [[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 00:14, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:You can't (I just tried it). The image shown is scaled up by 2×, and the non-scaled version (the one displayed) is anti-aliased. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 00:20, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:Looks like Randall fixed it now.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.86|172.68.174.86]] 00:39, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

::I believe that the proper file should be vaccine_ordering_2x.png Bubblegum is correct. [[User:Icil34|Icil34]] ([[User talk:Icil34|talk]]) 01:00, 9 February 2021 (UTC)Icil34

:::That was a typo (it should be "is not anti-aliased"). The 2x one is displayed on xkcd, while the non-2x one is displayed on explainxkcd. The non-2x version was not anti-aliased when I made that comment, but it is now. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 01:17, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:Just uploaded the new version.[[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 01:05, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

== I'd like to upload the original aliased files but I don't have permission to create new pages. ==

The original 1x version is [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/627414163357958154/808498606017478706/vaccine_ordering.png here] and the 2x version, still aliased but with 4 pixels of #f7f7f7, is [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/5/50/20210209001704%21vaccine_ordering.png here] [[User:Landfillbaby|Landfillbaby]] ([[User talk:Landfillbaby|talk]]) 01:21, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2422: Vaccine Ordering

2021-02-09T01:19:55Z

Landfillbaby: and somehow i got the 2nd url wrong

For those that read XKCD here first - yes, the original comic really is that low quality. I suspect Randall's going to replace it with a cleaner one at some point. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.134|108.162.237.134]] 23:10, 8 February 2021 (UTC)
:Unless the low quality is intentional, some way-over-my-head joke about vaccines and mRNA, maybe? -- or the low-quality of the image as an analogy for the low-quality of the rhymes? {{unsigned ip|172.69.234.138}}

Looks like he's uploaded a better version now. I don't know how to replace the image, though. [[User:Argis13|Argis13]] ([[User talk:Argis13|talk]]) 23:40, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

:It's still low quality at xkcd.com. [[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 00:14, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:You can't (I just tried it). The image shown is scaled up by 2×, and the non-scaled version (the one displayed) is anti-aliased. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 00:20, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:Looks like Randall fixed it now.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.86|172.68.174.86]] 00:39, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

::I believe that the proper file should be vaccine_ordering_2x.png Bubblegum is correct. [[User:Icil34|Icil34]] ([[User talk:Icil34|talk]]) 01:00, 9 February 2021 (UTC)Icil34

:::That was a typo (it should be "is not anti-aliased"). The 2x one is displayed on xkcd, while the non-2x one is displayed on explainxkcd. The non-2x version was not anti-aliased when I made that comment, but it is now. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 01:17, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:Just uploaded the new version.[[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 01:05, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

== I'd like to upload the original aliased files but I don't have permission to create new pages. ==

The original 1x version is [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/627414163357958154/808498606017478706/vaccine_ordering.png here] and the 2x version, still aliased but with 4 pixels of #f7f7f7, is [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/5/50/20210209001704%21vaccine_ordering.png here] [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.9|141.101.99.9]] 01:16, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2422: Vaccine Ordering

2021-02-09T01:18:04Z

Landfillbaby: ... and somehow i got signed out right before i did sign. sorry

For those that read XKCD here first - yes, the original comic really is that low quality. I suspect Randall's going to replace it with a cleaner one at some point. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.134|108.162.237.134]] 23:10, 8 February 2021 (UTC)
:Unless the low quality is intentional, some way-over-my-head joke about vaccines and mRNA, maybe? -- or the low-quality of the image as an analogy for the low-quality of the rhymes? {{unsigned ip|172.69.234.138}}

Looks like he's uploaded a better version now. I don't know how to replace the image, though. [[User:Argis13|Argis13]] ([[User talk:Argis13|talk]]) 23:40, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

:It's still low quality at xkcd.com. [[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 00:14, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:You can't (I just tried it). The image shown is scaled up by 2×, and the non-scaled version (the one displayed) is anti-aliased. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 00:20, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:Looks like Randall fixed it now.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.86|172.68.174.86]] 00:39, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

::I believe that the proper file should be vaccine_ordering_2x.png Bubblegum is correct. [[User:Icil34|Icil34]] ([[User talk:Icil34|talk]]) 01:00, 9 February 2021 (UTC)Icil34

:::That was a typo (it should be "is not anti-aliased"). The 2x one is displayed on xkcd, while the non-2x one is displayed on explainxkcd. The non-2x version was not anti-aliased when I made that comment, but it is now. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 01:17, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:Just uploaded the new version.[[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 01:05, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

== I'd like to upload the original aliased files but I don't have permission to create new pages. ==

The original 1x version is [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/627414163357958154/808498606017478706/vaccine_ordering.png here] and the 2x version, still aliased but with 4 pixels of #f7f7f7, is [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/627414163357958154/808498606017478706/vaccine_ordering.png here] [[User:Landfillbaby|Landfillbaby]] ([[User talk:Landfillbaby|talk]]) 01:18, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Talk:2422: Vaccine Ordering

2021-02-09T01:15:29Z

Landfillbaby: /* I'd like to upload the original aliased files but I don't have permission to create new pages. */ new section

For those that read XKCD here first - yes, the original comic really is that low quality. I suspect Randall's going to replace it with a cleaner one at some point. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.134|108.162.237.134]] 23:10, 8 February 2021 (UTC)
:Unless the low quality is intentional, some way-over-my-head joke about vaccines and mRNA, maybe? -- or the low-quality of the image as an analogy for the low-quality of the rhymes? {{unsigned ip|172.69.234.138}}

Looks like he's uploaded a better version now. I don't know how to replace the image, though. [[User:Argis13|Argis13]] ([[User talk:Argis13|talk]]) 23:40, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

:It's still low quality at xkcd.com. [[User:Troy0|Troy0]] ([[User talk:Troy0|talk]]) 00:14, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:You can't (I just tried it). The image shown is scaled up by 2×, and the non-scaled version (the one displayed) is anti-aliased. [[User:Bubblegum|bubblegum]]-[[User_talk:Bubblegum|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Bubblegum|contribs]] 00:20, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

:Looks like Randall fixed it now.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.174.86|172.68.174.86]] 00:39, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

::I believe that the proper file should be vaccine_ordering_2x.png Bubblegum is correct. [[User:Icil34|Icil34]] ([[User talk:Icil34|talk]]) 01:00, 9 February 2021 (UTC)Icil34

:Just uploaded the new version.[[User:DKMell|DKMell]] ([[User talk:DKMell|talk]]) 01:05, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

== I'd like to upload the original aliased files but I don't have permission to create new pages. ==

The original 1x version is [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/627414163357958154/808498606017478706/vaccine_ordering.png here] and the 2x version, still aliased but with 4 pixels of #f7f7f7, is [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/627414163357958154/808498606017478706/vaccine_ordering.png here]

2319: Large Number Formats

2020-06-13T20:52:36Z

Landfillbaby: link to flawed version

{{comic
| number = 2319
| date = June 12, 2020
| title = Large Number Formats
| image = large number formats-2.png
| titletext = 10^13.4024: A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
This comic shows how different people express large numbers. This number in question is approximately the distance from the planet Earth to the planet Jupiter as of June 2020, in {{w|inch|inches}} (1 inch = 2.54 cm).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Number
! Type of person
! Notes
|-
| 25,259,974,097,204
| Normal Person
| This is the full number, written out in the normal fashion, with commas to indicate powers of 1000. Note that this convention is only considered normal in the Anglo-Saxon world; conventions for writing large numbers in full vary considerably across cultures. For example, in countries where the comma is used as a {{w|decimal separator}} (including Europe outside the UK), one would write the number as 25.259.974.097.204 (or 25'259'974'097'204 in Switzerland, or 25 259 974 097 204 in Poland, France and Estonia). Under the {{w|Indian numbering system}}, this number would be written as 25,25,997,40,97,204.
|-
| 25 Trillion
| Normal Person
| This is the number, rounded to trillions in the normal fashion.
|-
| 25 Billion
| Old British Person
| In current English usage, across the anglophonic world with some hold-outs, an n-illion means 10^(3n+3) as per the {{w|short scale}} system popularised by American influence in international trade, so a trillion means 10^12, as above. However, older British English use had an n-illion meaning 10^(6n) (i.e. the simpler calculation of ''million^n''), so a billion meant 10^12. The change stems from a 1974 commitment by Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister of the UK at the time, to change from the {{w|long scale}} (previously often described as the British system) to the short one for all official purposes.

Though not instantly widely adopted for common usage, the mid-'70s could therefore be considered the key turning point between when an older or younger British person learns (as the change filters through the system at various stages of education) what their "Billion"s and "Trillion"s are supposed to represent.

(The 1971 transition to decimalised currency may also date a person's experiences, but was a more comprehensive and immediate change for everyone who handled any money at all, in the UK, and thus was a more definite point of change apart from the extended survival of the "12 times table" being taught by rote in primary education, rather than ending at the 10s.)

As well as 'traditionalist' British use, the Long Scale is widely used in the non-anglophone world, in local language versions, though while the British system tended to infill n-and-a-half powers of the million with the term "thousand n-illion", the suffix "-illi''ard''", or equivalent, is often used for the thousands multiple directly atop the respective "-illion" point.
|-
|2.526x1013
|Scientist
|This number is formatted in {{w|scientific notation}}, using the exponent 1013.
|-
| 2.525997x1013
| Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
| Using as many decimal places as necessary until hitting a digit (0-4) that results in rounding down, even if it goes against the common scientific practice of reporting the correct amount of "significant figures". [[:File:large number formats.png|A previous version of the comic]] had a typo (the number was ''2.5997x1013''), but Randall updated the comic.
|-
| 2.526e13 or
2.526*10^13
| Software developer
| Computer code cannot typically use the superscripts or other types of rich text formatting, so the exponent is indicated with the {{w|caret}}. "e13" is {{w|Scientific notation#E notation|(scientific) E notation}} for the expression "10 raised to the power of 13".
|-
| 25,259,973,541,888
| Software developer who forgot about floats
| This is the number after being converted to the limited precision of a {{w|32-bit floating point|32-bit float}}.
|-
| 1013
| Astronomer
| For extremely large distances, astronomers typically only care about orders of magnitude, i.e. 1013, not 1012 or 1014. Randall often jokes about the lack of precision needed by astronomers, such as in xkcd #[[2205]] where the astronomer-cosmologist is equally willing to make pi equal to one, or ten. The original number is rounded to the nearest power of ten.
|-
| {∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
| Set theorist
| In {{w|Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory}}, the natural numbers are defined recursively by letting 0 = ∅ (the {{w|empty set}}), and ''n'' + 1 = ''n'' ∪ {''n''}. So, every natural number ''n'' is the set of all natural numbers less than ''n'', and since 0 is defined as the empty set, all numbers are nested sets of empty sets. Note that writing out the full number in this fashion would take more than its square in number of characters; that is to say, if each character took up one square centimeter, this "number" would not fit on a square piece of paper whose edge reached to Jupiter.
|-
| 1,262,998,704,860 score and four
| Abraham Lincoln
| In the {{W|Gettysburg Address}}, Lincoln speaks the number "87" as "four score and seven" ("score" meaning "20"). Base-20 or {{w|vigesimal}} numeral systems are or have been used in pre-Columbian-American, African and many other cultures. In French it is used only for higher numbers (e.g. 92 = quatre-vingt-douze). In English it can appear in certain archaic and classic contexts, such as the King James translation of the Bible ("threescore years and ten" to be the life expectancy of a human according to Psalm 90:10). In these cases, a number is written in "score" (multiples of 20) plus a remainder.
|-
| 10^13.4024 ''(title text)''
| A person who has come back to numbers after a journey deep into some random theoretical field
| In some fields of mathematics, especially those dealing with very {{w|large numbers}}, numbers are sometimes represented by raising ten (or some other convenient base) to an oddly precise power, to facilitate comparison of their magnitudes without filling up pages upon pages of digits. An example of this is {{w|Skewes's number}}, which is formally calculated to be ''e''''e''''e''79, but is more commonly approximated as 10101034. 13.4024 is the {{w|common logarithm}} of 25,259,974,097,204 (log10 25,259,974,097,204 = 13.4024329009); thus, this "format" is still mathematically correct, but uncommon.
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A panel only with text. At the top there is four lines of explanatory text. Below that there are 5 rows of number formats. There are 2 columns in each row. Each numerical format is in red, with black text explaining the format below it.]

:<big>What the way you write large</big>
:<big>numbers says about you</big>
:(Using the approximate current distance
:to Jupiter in inches as an example)

:[First row:]
:25,259,974,097,204
:Normal person
:25 trillion
:Normal person

:[Second row:]
:25 billion
:Old British person
:2.526x1013
:Scientist

:[Third row:]
:2.525997x1013
:Scientist trying to avoid rounding up
:2.526e13 or 2.526*10^13
:Software developer

:[Fourth row:]
:25,259,973,541,888
:Software developer who forgot about floats
:1013
:Astronomer

:[Fifth row:]
:{∅,{∅},{∅,{∅}},{∅,{∅},{...
:Set theorist
:1,262,998,704,860 score and four
:Abraham Lincoln

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
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[[Category: Math]]
[[Category: Astronomy]]
[[Category: Science]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]