explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2986: Every Scientific Field

2024-09-19T18:10:17Z

Laser813: A previous editor said the contrast was about "general news," but nothing in the comic is about news, so I demoted (but didn't fully remove) that contribution

{{comic
| number = 2986
| date = September 17, 2024
| title = Every Scientific Field
| image = every scientific field 2x.png
| imagesize = 365x440px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Conveniently for everyone, it turns out that dark energy is produced by subterranean parasitoid wasps.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 99 PERCENT OF PUBLISHED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[[Randall]] uses this pie chart to show that 99% of scientific topics are actually unknown to the general public, and he has listed three topics within the larger fields of cosmology, microbiology, and entomology as examples of obscure but consequential areas of research:

* {{w|Dark energy|"Dark energy"}} is the term used for the unknown cause of the {{w|accelerating expansion of the universe}}. It behaves like energy, and if it is an energy, it contributes 68% of the total energy in the present-day {{w|observable universe}}.
* The {{w|deep biosphere}} resides below the first few meters of the ground down to at least 10 and 21 km below the continental and sea surfaces respectively. The subsurface accounts for about 90% of the biomass across two of the three domains of life, {{w|Archaea}} and {{w|Bacteria}}.
* {{w|Parasitoid wasp}}s lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other {{w|arthropod}}s, sooner or later causing the death of these hosts. They are a huge group, with the subgroup of {{w|Chalcidoidea}} alone comprising of an estimated 500,000 species.

The three categories listed in the comic are not random examples of obscure-sounding scientific knowledge; the terms themselves each have a subtle and clever double meaning for what counts as "obscure" knowledge:
* The adjective "dark" can also describe a situation notable for a paucity of knowledge, as in the "dark ages" or the "dark web," just like the "dark energy" form of energy is little known by the layperson.
* The adjective "subsurface" connotes a world below the surface, just as laypeople are unaware of the world of biomass below the everyday surface of common knowledge. It's a similar metaphor to phrases like "sub rosa" – literally "under the rose" – and “undercover,” which refer to actions done in secret.
* Parasitoid wasps act covertly; their eggs can grow inside an insect like a caterpillar secretly, with no clear indication that the innards of the caterpillar are being slowly replaced with wasp eggs, similar to the hidden nature of this giant class of insects to the common layperson.

The title text jokingly wraps these three examples together.

===Evidence for this phenomenom in science news===
According to the [https://www.science.org/content/article/scienceadviser-scientists-are-publishing-too-many-papers-and-s-bad-science American Association for the Advancement of Science], nearly 3 million scientific research papers were published in 2022, the latest year for which numbers are conveniently available. A tiny percentage of these studies find their way to "general news" outlets, which, according to a [https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2017/09/20/general-news-outlets-are-the-most-common-science-news-source-most-seen-stories-highlight-discoveries-and-weird-findings/ 2017 report by the Pew Charitable Trust], are the principal sources of science news for non-scientists. According to that same report, "general news" sources preferentially cover scientific research findings that make "newsworthy" new discoveries, are "weird", or have "human interest" dimensions such as disagreements among celebrity scientists. There is also a bias towards certain topics, such as health and medicine. Consequently, vast domains of "science space" go unreported by general news, and hence are unknown to the general public.

==Transcript==
:[A pie chart, with a very slim section in the upper left is shown. Both the thin section and the rest are labeled with lines going from label to the sections. Above this is a large header:]
:<big>The makeup of every scientific field:</big>
:Thin section: Everything you've heard of
:Large section: Some obscure-sounding category like "Subsurface microbes" or "Dark energy" or "Parasitoid wasps"

==Trivia==
*This is a rare [[:Category:Tuesday comics|Tuesday comic]].
**Perhaps Randall was busy on Monday, September 16 and didn't get around to posting.
**Sometimes when this happens, the [https://www.xkcd.com/archive/ xkcd archive] would still list the normal date. But in this case the archive actually shows 2024-09-17, the Tuesday it was released.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Charts]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Animals]]

2984: Asteroid News

2024-09-12T19:53:25Z

Laser813:

{{comic
| number = 2984
| date = September 11, 2024
| title = Asteroid News
| image = asteroid_news_2x.png
| imagesize = 376x288px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Their calculations show it will 'pass within the distance of the moon' but that it 'will not hit the moon, so what's the point?'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an VERY EXCITED EDITOR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Blondie]] as a [[:Category:News anchor|news anchor]] presents an image where an {{w|asteroid}} is seen zooming past {{w|Earth}} outside of the {{w|Moon}}'s orbit.

The comic is about this unnamed asteroid that is predicted to approach Earth in 2063. It could possibly be related to the recently discovered asteroid [https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/06/Close_approach_of_asteroid_2024_MK 2024 MK] that made a close approach to Earth on June 29, 2024, but it could be any of the {{w|Jet Propulsion Laboratory}}'s Center for Near Earth Objects Studies' [https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/ Sentry objects].

Blondie mentions that according to the astronomers the asteroid only has a 'one-in-6000 chance of "doing something cool",' meaning that there is only a small chance that the asteroid will have a direct impact on Earth's surroundings. What the astronomers deem as "something cool" would presumably be that the asteroid hits the Earth or the Moon. She then states that further observations have shown that this will not happen and the asteroid will just be yet another boring dot in the sky.

The joke comes from the contrast of the serious profession of astronomy, which is populated with academics and scientists who traditionally speak in technical jargon, and the contrasing implication that what astronomers truly care about is "doing something cool," and that if an object of study doesn't do cool stuff, it's not worthy of study.

Another part of the joke is that most people are afraid that an asteroid getting close to us would actually hit, and hope to hear that it will not. If this asteroid gets close enough that it will actually be a visible dot, then it is indeed very close to Earth given the normal sizes of {{w|Near-Earth object|near-Earth asteroids}}. Many people interested in the night sky would find it interesting to be able to see an asteroid with their naked eye.

The title text may refer to another asteroid that gets even closer than the one depicted, because this one should come closer than the Moon according to calculations (presumably by the astronomers). However, this asteroid will not hit the Moon even though it gets this close, so the astronomers ask, what is the point? Again she says that the astronomers hope for some visible effect. The statement that it will not hit the Moon leaves it open if Earth will be hit or not.

Unlike almost all of [[Randall]]'s other comics, this one involves {{w|boredom}} or ''ennui''. Because something interesting does not occur is often the most important experience in scientific inquiry, confirming the {{w|null hypothesis}}. See also [[13: Canyon]], [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]], [[52: Secret Worlds]], [[402: 1,000 Miles North]], [[731: Desert Island]], [[877: Beauty]], and [[895: Teaching Physics]].

This is the fourth comic in the last seven about space.

==Transcript==

:[Close-up of Blondie as a newscaster speaking, alongside an image to the left of an asteroid passing by Earth. The path of the asteroid is shown as a dashed line near the top-left, with the Moon orbiting the Earth below it.]
:Blondie: Astronomers initially said there was a one-in-6,000 chance that the newly-discovered asteroid might "do something cool" in 2063, but further observations determined it will be "just a boring dot like all the others."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]

2984: Asteroid News

2024-09-12T19:50:51Z

Laser813: Adding to "this is the joke"

{{comic
| number = 2984
| date = September 11, 2024
| title = Asteroid News
| image = asteroid_news_2x.png
| imagesize = 376x288px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Their calculations show it will 'pass within the distance of the moon' but that it 'will not hit the moon, so what's the point?'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by an VERY EXCITED EDITOR. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Blondie]] as a [[:Category:News anchor|news anchor]] presents an image where an {{w|asteroid}} is seen zooming past {{w|Earth}} outside of the {{w|Moon}}'s orbit.

The comic is about this unnamed asteroid that is predicted to approach Earth in 2063. It could possibly be related to the recently discovered asteroid [https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/06/Close_approach_of_asteroid_2024_MK 2024 MK] that made a close approach to Earth on June 29, 2024, but it could be any of the {{w|Jet Propulsion Laboratory}}'s Center for Near Earth Objects Studies' [https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/ Sentry objects].

Blondie mentions that according to the astronomers the asteroid only has a 'one-in-6000 chance of "doing something cool",' meaning that there is only a small chance that the asteroid will have a direct impact on Earth's surroundings. What the astronomers deem as "something cool" would presumably be that the asteroid hits the Earth or the Moon. She then states that further observations have shown that this will not happen and the asteroid will just be yet another boring dot in the sky.

The joke comes from the contrast of the serious profession of astronomy, which is populated with academics and scientists who traditionally speak in technical jargon, and the contrasing implication that what astronomers truly care about is "doing something cool," and that if an object of study doesn't do cool stuff, it's not worthy of study.

Another part of the joke is that most people are afraid that an asteroid getting close to us would actually hit, and hope to hear that it will not. If this asteroid gets close enough that it will actually be a visible dot, then it is indeed very close to Earth given the normal sizes of {{w|Near-Earth object|near-Earth asteroids}}. Many people interested in the night sky would find it interesting to be able to see an asteroid with their naked eye.

The title text may refer to another asteroid that gets even closer than the one depicted, because this one should come closer than the Moon according to calculations (presumably by the astronomers). However, this asteroid will not hit the Moon even though it gets this close, so the astronomers ask, what is the point? Again she says that the astronomers hope for some visible effect. The statement that it will not hit the Moon leaves it open if Earth will be hit or not.

Unlike almost all of [[Randall]]'s other comics, this one involves {{w|boredom}} or ''ennui''. Because something interesting does not occur is often the most important experience in scientific inquiry, confirming the {{w|null hypothesis}}. See also [[13: Canyon]], [[24: Godel, Escher, Kurt Halsey]], [[52: Secret Worlds]], [[402: 1,000 Miles North]], [[731: Desert Island]], [[877: Beauty]], and [[895: Teaching Physics]].

==Transcript==

:[Close-up of Blondie as a newscaster speaking, alongside an image to the left of an asteroid passing by Earth. The path of the asteroid is shown as a dashed line near the top-left, with the Moon orbiting the Earth below it.]
:Blondie: Astronomers initially said there was a one-in-6,000 chance that the newly-discovered asteroid might "do something cool" in 2063, but further observations determined it will be "just a boring dot like all the others."

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Blondie]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Space]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-28T19:54:27Z

Laser813: Removing INCOMPLETE tag

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Calculus}} is a branch of mathematics which deals with continuously changing values. In order to demonstrate the application of this sort of math, introductory courses will commonly use physical examples to show how equations can be applied in real life. A [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf common example of such a problem] is to postulate a tank full of liquid, with a hole near the bottom, and ask the students to calculate how long it will take the tank to empty (generally assuming a cylindrical tank with the top at atmospheric pressure, leaking a low-viscosity fluid like water at a normal temperature flowing through a round hole.) The important variables are threefold: the radius of the tank, the height of the fluid above the hole, and the size of the hole.

In this case, the change in the liquid level is a function of the rate of flow through the hole, which is a function of the fluid pressure at the entrance to the hole (in accordance with {{w|Torricelli's law}}), and that pressure is a function of the remaining level of liquid. Accordingly, the amount of fluid left in the tank above the hole will follow a quadratic decay, a concept covered in calculus courses. A student with a mastery of foundational principles of calculus should be able to calculate the decline in tank level. More advanced versions of the problem might involve (A) one tank draining into a second, which drains to the ground, or (B) a sealed tank, in which air pressure at the top falls as the tank drains.

As mentioned, many STEM teachers like to use real-world examples, ideally physical demonstrations, to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students. A teacher might fill a jug with water, open a hole in the side, and invite students to compare the observed rate of draining to their calculations. This comic suggests that [[Miss Lenhart]] has taken this idea to extremes, having entered an industrial site and drilled a hole into a large, liquid-filled vat. One assumes that her class is either watching from afar, or that the leak is being somehow filmed.

The conversation between the employees in hardhats implies that there's a rash of calculus teachers conducting similar demonstrations, to the point that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. In real life, this vandalism would be serious, with safety risks from damaged vats, pressurized liquid, or hazardous contents (note the hazard warning (⚠) on the tank).

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure at the level of the leak, the rate of flow would also become constant, and the decline in level would therefore become linear, greatly simplifying the problem and eliminating the need for calculus. This easier version of the problem would presumably deter calculus teachers from using it as a demonstration — though it might attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers.

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal twist drill bit (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration — though maybe filmed as a time-lapse video? — and nonetheless likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

To drain the tank in 36 minutes would take a 6-inch diameter hole.

Thus there's an apparent mismatch between the drill bit size, gushing liquid stream, and practicality of this real-world demonstration. The viscosity & density of the liquid is also an unknown factor; for ease of calculation, calculus problems tend to assume that the liquid is either ordinary water (which, by definition, has a density of 1.00* (1 kg/liter (8.35 lbs/gallon)) and a viscosity of 1.001 micropascals) or a mixture mostly composed of water (depending on what exactly else it contains, such as dissolved solids or just other liquids).

* at 20°C (68°F) & sea-level air pressure

One explanation is that she was able to drill a couple dozen approx. 1-inch holes in a short time, while toxic liquid is gushing out, but the drill doesn't appear to be dripping wet.

But the most likely explanation to all this is that Randall didn't think through the drill and drill bit size in relation to the apparent hole size, leaving it only to nitpicky editors of a comic explainer website to even notice and care.

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-27T20:08:33Z

Laser813: Some copyedits, and putting back a little bit of what was lost

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE WITH THE POWER DRILL IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Calculus}} is a branch of mathematics which deals with continuously changing values. In order to demonstrate the application of this sort of math, introductory courses will commonly use physical examples to show how equations can be applied in real life. A [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf common example of such a problem] is to postulate a tank full of liquid, with a hole near the bottom, and ask the students to calculate how long it will take the tank to empty (generally assuming a cylindrical tank with the top at atmospheric pressure, leaking a low-viscosity fluid like water at a normal temperature flowing through a round hole.) The important variables are threefold: the radius of the tank, the height of the fluid above the hole, and the size of the hole.

In this case, the change in the liquid level is a function of the rate of flow through the hole, which is a function of the fluid pressure at the entrance to the hole (in accordance with {{w|Torricelli's law}}), and that pressure is a function of the remaining level of liquid. Accordingly, the amount of fluid left in the tank above the hole will follow a quadratic decay, a concept covered in calculus courses. A student with a mastery of foundational principles of calculus should be able to calculate the decline in tank level. More advanced versions of the problem might involve (A) one tank draining into a second, which drains to the ground, or (B) a sealed tank, in which air pressure at the top falls as the tank drains.

As mentioned, many STEM teachers like to use real-world examples, ideally physical demonstrations, to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students. A teacher might fill a jug with water, open a hole in the side, and invite students to compare the observed rate of draining to their calculations. This comic suggests that [[Miss Lenhart]] has taken this idea to extremes, having entered an industrial site and drilled a hole into a large, liquid-filled vat. One assumes that her class is either watching from afar, or that the leak is being somehow filmed.

The conversation between the employees in hardhats implies that there's a rash of calculus teachers conducting similar demonstrations, to the point that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. In real life, this vandalism would be serious, with safety risks from damaged vats, pressurized liquid, or hazardous contents (note the hazard warning (⚠) on the tank).

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure at the level of the leak, the rate of flow would also become constant, and the decline in level would therefore become linear, greatly simplifying the problem and eliminating the need for calculus. This easier version of the problem would presumably deter calculus teachers from using it as a demonstration — though it might attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers.

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal twist drill bit (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration — though maybe filmed as a time-lapse video? — and nonetheless likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

To drain the tank in 36 minutes would take a 6-inch diameter hole.

Thus there's an apparent mismatch between the drill bit size, gushing liquid stream, and practicality of this real-world demonstration. The viscosity & density of the liquid is also an unknown factor; for ease of calculation, calculus problems tend to assume that the liquid is either ordinary water (which, by definition, has a density of 1.00* (1 kg/liter (8.35 lbs/gallon)) and a viscosity of 1.001 micropascals) or a mixture mostly composed of water (depending on what exactly else it contains, such as dissolved solids or just other liquids).

* at 20°C (68°F) & sea-level air pressure

One explanation is that she was able to drill a couple dozen approx. 1-inch holes in a short time, while toxic liquid is gushing out, but the drill doesn't appear to be dripping wet.

But the most likely explanation to all this is that Randall didn't think through the drill and drill bit size in relation to the apparent hole size, leaving it only to nitpicky editors of a comic explainer website to even notice and care.

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-23T14:46:03Z

Laser813: Teachers like to give class demos to show that the math works in real life. Think about a phyics teacher showing the calculation for a ball rolling down an incline, and then demonstrating the same results in real life.

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE ... WITH THE POWER DRILL ... IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Two construction workers in hardhats are on a scaffold, overlooking an industrial area with two large tanks. One is instructing the head of security that "your primary task" is to "watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases." [[Miss Lenhart]] is seen running away with an electric drill after having drilled a hole near the bottom of the tank furthest from the guards. (Adding to the drama is the warning triangle (⚠) on the tank, implying the liquid is toxic.)

A common question in introductory {{w|calculus}} courses asks [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf how long it will take a tank to empty.] Assuming the tank is shaped like a cylinder and is open to the environment (so that air can enter the tank to replace water as it flows out), the amount of fluid left in the tank above the hole will follow a quadratic decay, as the rate of pressure decrease will be proportional to the instantaneous pressure at any given moment. (Advanced variations of this question may consider more complicated tank geometries, in which case the pressure at the base will not be simply proportional to the volume of fluid remaining in the tank.) Specifically, the rate at which water flows out of the hole is governed by {{w|Torricelli's law}}, which states that the speed 𝑣 of the water flowing out is proportional to the square root of the height ℎ(𝑡) of the water above the hole.

Many STEM teachers like to use real-world examples to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students. This comic implies that there's a rash of calculus teachers that go around drilling actual holes in storage tanks to demonstrate the underlying math principle — so much so that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. Perhaps Miss Lenhart's class is watching from afar to observe that the actual rate of depletion matches their calculations.

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure in the tank, the rate of flow would itself become constant, which would simplify the problem greatly from a calculus exercise to a simpler algebraic one, thus deterring calculus teachers — though it may inadvertently attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers. (If the pressure applied was higher than expected, it could also result in a nasty shock to the teacher drilling into it, as the liquid rushes out surprisingly fast.)

An easier deterrence option — compared to installing a pressurization system — would be to make the problem more complex (than what a calculus class could handle) by simply having the tanks fully closed to the environment, forming a vacuum as liquid drained out, which would represent a more complicated math problem suitable to an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in Fluid Dynamics or Advanced Differential Equations.

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal twist drill bit (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration — though maybe filmed as a time-lapse video? — and nonetheless likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

To drain the tank in 36 minutes would take a 6-inch diameter hole.

Thus there's an apparent mismatch between the drill bit size, gushing liquid stream, and practicality of this real-world demonstration. The viscosity & density of the liquid is also an unknown factor; for ease of calculation, calculus problems tend to assume that the liquid is either ordinary water (which, by definition, has a density of 1.00* (1 kg/liter (8.35 lbs/gallon)) and a viscosity of 1.001 micropascals) or a mixture mostly composed of water (depending on what exactly else it contains, such as dissolved solids or just other liquids).

* at 20°C (68°F) & sea-level air pressure

One explanation is that she was able to drill a couple dozen approx. 1-inch holes in a short time, while toxic liquid is gushing out, but the drill doesn't appear to be dripping wet.

But the most likely explanation to all this is that Randall didn't think through the drill and drill bit size in relation to the apparent hole size, leaving it only to nitpicky editors of a comic explainer website to even notice and care.

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-23T14:42:50Z

Laser813: Putting back the STEM teacher demo info, I think it's important context for the implied joke.

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE ... WITH THE POWER DRILL ... IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Two construction workers in hardhats are on a scaffold, overlooking an industrial area with two large tanks. One is instructing the head of security that "your primary task" is to "watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases." [[Miss Lenhart]] is seen running away with an electric drill after having drilled a hole near the bottom of the tank furthest from the guards.

A common question in introductory {{w|calculus}} courses asks [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf how long it will take a tank to empty.] Assuming the tank is shaped like a cylinder and is open to the environment (so that air can enter the tank to replace water as it flows out), the amount of fluid left in the tank above the hole will follow a quadratic decay, as the rate of pressure decrease will be proportional to the instantaneous pressure at any given moment. (Advanced variations of this question may consider more complicated tank geometries, in which case the pressure at the base will not be simply proportional to the volume of fluid remaining in the tank.) Specifically, the rate at which water flows out of the hole is governed by {{w|Torricelli's law}}, which states that the speed 𝑣 of the water flowing out is proportional to the square root of the height ℎ(𝑡) of the water above the hole.

Many STEM teachers like to use real-world examples to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students. This comic implies that there's a rash of calculus teachers that go around drilling actual holes in storage tanks to demonstrate the underlying math principle — so much so that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. Perhaps Miss Lenhart's class is watching from afar, though it's not clear how the demonstration would aid their understanding. (Adding to the drama is the warning triangle (⚠) on the tank, implying the liquid is toxic.)

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure in the tank, the rate of flow would itself become constant, which would simplify the problem greatly from a calculus exercise to a simpler algebraic one, thus deterring calculus teachers — though it may inadvertently attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers. (If the pressure applied was higher than expected, it could also result in a nasty shock to the teacher drilling into it, as the liquid rushes out surprisingly fast.)

An easier deterrence option — compared to installing a pressurization system — would be to make the problem more complex (than what a calculus class could handle) by simply having the tanks fully closed to the environment, forming a vacuum as liquid drained out, which would represent a more complicated math problem suitable to an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in Fluid Dynamics or Advanced Differential Equations.

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal twist drill bit (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration — though maybe filmed as a time-lapse video? — and nonetheless likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

To drain the tank in 36 minutes would take a 6-inch diameter hole.

Thus there's an apparent mismatch between the drill bit size, gushing liquid stream, and practicality of this real-world demonstration. The viscosity & density of the liquid is also an unknown factor; for ease of calculation, calculus problems tend to assume that the liquid is either ordinary water (which, by definition, has a density of 1.00* (1 kg/liter (8.35 lbs/gallon)) and a viscosity of 1.001 micropascals) or a mixture mostly composed of water (depending on what exactly else it contains, such as dissolved solids or just other liquids).

* at 20°C (68°F) & sea-level air pressure

One explanation is that she was able to drill a couple dozen approx. 1-inch holes in a short time, while toxic liquid is gushing out, but the drill doesn't appear to be dripping wet.

But the most likely explanation to all this is that Randall didn't think through the drill and drill bit size in relation to the apparent hole size, leaving it only to nitpicky editors of a comic explainer website to even notice and care.

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-22T16:32:50Z

Laser813: A bit of streamlining

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE ... WITH THE POWER DRILL ... IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Two construction workers in hardhats are on a scaffold, overlooking an industrial area with two large tanks. One is instructing the head of security that "your primary task" is to "watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases." [[Miss Lenhart]] is seen running away with an electric drill after having drilled a hole near the bottom of the tank furthest from the guards.

A common question in introductory {{w|calculus}} courses asks [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf how long it will take a tank to empty.] Assuming the tank is shaped like a cylinder and is open to the environment (so that air can enter the tank to replace water as it flows out), the amount of fluid left in the tank above the hole will follow a quadratic decay, as the rate of pressure decrease will be proportional to the instantaneous pressure at any given moment. (Advanced variations of this question may consider more complicated tank geometries, in which case the pressure at the base will not be simply proportional to the volume of fluid remaining in the tank.) Specifically, the rate at which water flows out of the hole is governed by {{w|Torricelli's law}}, which states that the speed 𝑣 of the water flowing out is proportional to the square root of the height ℎ(𝑡) of the water above the hole.

Also, it's common practice for STEM teachers to use real-world examples to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students.

This comic combines these ideas, implying that there's a rash of calculus teachers that go around drilling actual holes in storage tanks to demonstrate the underlying math principle, so much so that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. Perhaps Miss Lenhart's class is watching from afar. (Adding to the drama is the warning triangle (⚠) on the tank, implying the liquid is toxic.)

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure in the tank, the rate of flow would itself become constant, which would simplify the problem greatly from a calculus exercise to a simpler algebraic one, thus deterring calculus teachers — though it may inadvertently attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers. (If the pressure applied was higher than expected, it could also result in a nasty shock to the teacher drilling into it, as the liquid rushes out surprisingly fast.)

An easier deterrence option — compared to installing a pressurization system — would be to make the problem more complex (than what a calculus class could handle) by simply having the tanks fully closed to the environment, forming a vacuum as liquid drained out, which would represent a more complicated math problem suitable to an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in Fluid Dynamics or Advanced Differential Equations.

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal twist drill bit (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration — though maybe filmed as a time-lapse video? — and nonetheless likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

To drain the tank in 36 minutes would take a 6-inch diameter hole.

Thus there's an apparent mismatch between the drill bit size, gushing liquid stream, and practicality of this real-world demonstration.

One explanation is that she was able to drill a couple dozen approx. 1-inch holes in a short time, while toxic liquid is gushing out, but the drill doesn't appear to be dripping wet.

But the most likely explanation to all this is that Randall didn't think through the drill and drill bit size in relation to the apparent hole size, leaving it only to nitpicky editors of a comic explainer website to even notice and care.

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-22T16:28:00Z

Laser813: /* Analysis and Calculation */

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE ... WITH THE POWER DRILL ... IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Two construction workers in hardhats are on a scaffold, overlooking an industrial area with two large tanks. One is instructing the head of security that "your primary task" is to "watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases." [[Miss Lenhart]] is seen running away with an electric drill after having drilled a hole near the bottom of the tank furthest from the guards.

A common question in introductory {{w|calculus}} courses asks [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf how long it will take a tank to empty.] Assuming the tank is shaped like a cylinder and is open to the environment (so that air can enter the tank to replace water as it flows out), the amount of fluid left in the tank above the hole will follow a quadratic decay, as the rate of pressure decrease will be proportional to the instantaneous pressure at any given moment. (Advanced variations of this question may consider more complicated tank geometries, in which case the pressure at the base will not be simply proportional to the volume of fluid remaining in the tank.) Specifically, the rate at which water flows out of the hole is governed by {{w|Torricelli's law}}, which states that the speed 𝑣 of the water flowing out is proportional to the square root of the height ℎ(𝑡) of the water above the hole.

Also, it's common practice for STEM teachers to use real-world examples to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students (though practical demonstrations like this wouldn't generally be used to teach calculus more than once per term per class{{Citation needed}}).

This comic combines these ideas, implying that there's a rash of calculus teachers that go around drilling actual holes in storage tanks to demonstrate the underlying math principle, so much so that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. Perhaps Miss Lenhart's class is watching from afar. (Adding to the drama is the warning triangle (⚠) on the tank, implying the liquid is toxic.)

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure in the tank, the rate of flow would itself become constant, which would simplify the problem greatly from a calculus exercise to a simpler algebraic one, thus deterring calculus teachers — though it may inadvertently attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers. (If the pressure applied was higher than expected, it could also result in a nasty shock to the teacher drilling into it, as the liquid rushes out surprisingly fast.)

An easier deterrence option — compared to installing a pressurization system — would be to make the problem more complex by simply having the tanks fully closed to the environment, forming a vacuum as liquid drained out, which would represent a more complicated problem suitable to an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in Fluid Dynamics or Advanced Differential Equations.

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal twist drill bit (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration — though maybe filmed as a time-lapse video? — and nonetheless likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

To drain the tank in 36 minutes would take a 6-inch diameter hole.

One explanation is that she was able to drill a couple dozen approx. 1-inch holes in a short time, while toxic liquid is gushing out, but the drill doesn't appear to be dripping wet.

But the most likely explanation to all this is that Randall didn't think through the drill and drill bit size in relation to the apparent hole size, leaving it only to nitpicky editors of a comic explainer website to even notice and care.

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

Talk:2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T17:33:21Z

Laser813:

The symmetry of the truss intrigues me. Struts that are diagonal across the faces of the cuboids is normal, but is it a real thing to also use the body diagonal? Never seen that IRL, not sure if it makes sense from the statics. --[[Special:Contributions/172.70.247.82|172.70.247.82]] 22:16, 19 August 2024 (UTC)

Seems like a pretty menial job for the "head of security". I think he would delegate this to a security guard. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 00:47, 20 August 2024 (UTC)
: They may be head of a department of one.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.139|172.70.85.139]] 08:50, 20 August 2024 (UTC)
:: That's part of the joke, that the #1 concern of the Head of Security is calculus teachers wielding power drills for class demonstrations. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 17:33, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

The explanation mentions there might be more complex calculus examples where the shape might not be a cylinder. I think some further explanation could be added that this does not change the pressure (hydrostatic paradox) but indeed change the rate of emptying the object. If differing cross sections are relevant at all. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.103|108.162.221.103]] 05:40, 20 August 2024 (UTC)
: Non-prismatic geometries are I think the ones being alluded to here, i.e a frustrum with the pointy end down will have a greater reduction in pressure for a given volume of flow towards the end than at the start, which may offset the reduction in absolute pressure. I've also seen examples where the flow rate is considered constant and the problem is to work out the fluid depth as a function of time, e.g. filling a pyramidal pool from a hose. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.58.4|172.70.58.4]] 16:44, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

Its the most difficult job in history, even the best workers couldn't stand 1 day as head of security.[[User:I HAVE NO NAME|I HAVE NO NAME]] ([[User talk:I HAVE NO NAME|talk]]) 05:55, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

I have to admit, I thought I knew calc as I had two semesters of it, but I had to look up what he meant by this. Ouch [[Special:Contributions/172.70.242.55|172.70.242.55]] 13:01, 20 August 2024 (UTC)student

If anyone could suggest something I can do for my class now that I can no longer drill holes in tanks, I'd appreciate the advice, thanks. [[User:Fephisto|Fephisto]] ([[User talk:Fephisto|talk]]) 16:18, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

Someone should do the math on the calculus problem as presented, as well as the algebra version. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 17:33, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T17:32:33Z

Laser813: /* Analysis and Calculation */

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE ... WITH THE POWER DRILL ... IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic two workers with hardhats are on a scaffold overlooking an industrial area with two large tanks. One of them is instructing the other that, as head of security, "your primary job" is to "watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases." Sadly they are not alert at this moment and [[Miss Lenhart]] is seen running away with an electric drill after having drilled a hole near the bottom of the tank furthest from the guards.

A common question in introductory {{w|calculus}} courses asks [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf how long it will take a tank to empty.] Assuming the tank is shaped like a cylinder and is open to the environment (so that air can enter the tank to replace water as it flows out), the amount of fluid left in the tank above the hole will follow a quadratic decay, as the rate of pressure decrease will be proportional to the instantaneous pressure at any given moment. (Advanced variations of this question may consider more complicated tank geometries, in which case the pressure at the base will not be simply proportional to the volume of fluid remaining in the tank.) Specifically, the rate at which water flows out of the hole is governed by Torricelli’s Law, which states that the speed 𝑣 of the water flowing out is proportional to the square root of the height ℎ(𝑡) of the water above the hole.

Also, it's common practice for STEM teachers to use real-world examples to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students.

This comic combines these ideas, implying that there's a rash of calculus teachers that go around drilling actual holes in storage tanks to demonstrate the underlying math principle, so much so that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. Perhaps Miss Lenhart's class is watching from afar. (Adding to the drama is the warning triangle (⚠) on the tank, implying the liquid is toxic.)

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure in the tank, the rate of flow would itself become constant, which would simplify the problem greatly from a calculus exercise to a simpler algrebra one, thus deterring calculus teachers — though it may inadvertently attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers. (If the pressure applied was higher than expected, it could also result in a nasty shock to the teacher drilling into it, as the liquid rushes out surprisingly fast.)

An easier deterrance option — compared to installing a pressurization system — would be to make the problem more complex by simply having the tanks fully closed to the environment, forming a vacuum as liquid drained out, which would represent a more complicated problem suitable to an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in Fluid Dynamics or Advanced Differential Equations.

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration, and likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

That suggests the exploits are being filmed and shown later in an abridged (timelapse) form.

Another way to put this is that her drill and drill bit seem to be laughably small for the job at hand.

(If she is using a large "hole saw" drill bit — which can be up to 6 inches in diameter — then that would explain the quanity of gushing liquid, and the tank could be emptied in about 36 minutes, but the drill doesn't seem to have that kind of bit on it.)

The most likely explanation to all this is that Randall didn't think through the drill and drill bit size in relation to the apparent hole size, leaving it only to nitpicky editors of a comic explainer website to even notice and care.

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T17:28:33Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE ... WITH THE POWER DRILL ... IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic two workers with hardhats are on a scaffold overlooking an industrial area with two large tanks. One of them is instructing the other that, as head of security, "your primary job" is to "watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases." Sadly they are not alert at this moment and [[Miss Lenhart]] is seen running away with an electric drill after having drilled a hole near the bottom of the tank furthest from the guards.

A common question in introductory {{w|calculus}} courses asks [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf how long it will take a tank to empty.] Assuming the tank is shaped like a cylinder and is open to the environment (so that air can enter the tank to replace water as it flows out), the amount of fluid left in the tank above the hole will follow a quadratic decay, as the rate of pressure decrease will be proportional to the instantaneous pressure at any given moment. (Advanced variations of this question may consider more complicated tank geometries, in which case the pressure at the base will not be simply proportional to the volume of fluid remaining in the tank.) Specifically, the rate at which water flows out of the hole is governed by Torricelli’s Law, which states that the speed 𝑣 of the water flowing out is proportional to the square root of the height ℎ(𝑡) of the water above the hole.

Also, it's common practice for STEM teachers to use real-world examples to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students.

This comic combines these ideas, implying that there's a rash of calculus teachers that go around drilling actual holes in storage tanks to demonstrate the underlying math principle, so much so that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. Perhaps Miss Lenhart's class is watching from afar. (Adding to the drama is the warning triangle (⚠) on the tank, implying the liquid is toxic.)

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure in the tank, the rate of flow would itself become constant, which would simplify the problem greatly from a calculus exercise to a simpler algrebra one, thus deterring calculus teachers — though it may inadvertently attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers. (If the pressure applied was higher than expected, it could also result in a nasty shock to the teacher drilling into it, as the liquid rushes out surprisingly fast.)

An easier deterrance option — compared to installing a pressurization system — would be to make the problem more complex by simply having the tanks fully closed to the environment, forming a vacuum as liquid drained out, which would represent a more complicated problem suitable to an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in Fluid Dynamics or Advanced Differential Equations.

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration, and likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

That suggests the exploits are being filmed and shown later in an abridged (timelapse) form.

Another way to put this is that her drill and drill bit seem to be laughably small for the job at hand.

(If she is using a large "hole saw" drill bit — which can be up to 6 inches in diameter — then that would explain the quanity of gushing liquid, and the tank could be emptied in about 36 minutes, but the drill doesn't seem to have that kind of bit on it.)

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T17:22:18Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE ... WITH THE POWER DRILL ... IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic two workers with hardhats are on a scaffold overlooking an industrial area with two large tanks. One of them is instructing the other that, as head of security, "your primary job" is to "watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases." Sadly they are not alert at this moment and [[Miss Lenhart]] is seen running away with an electric drill after having drilled a hole near the bottom of the tank furthest from the guards.

A common question in introductory {{w|calculus}} courses asks [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf how long it will take a tank to empty.] Assuming the tank is shaped like a cylinder and is open to the environment (so that air can enter the tank to replace water as it flows out), the amount of fluid left in the tank above the hole will follow a quadratic decay, as the rate of pressure decrease will be proportional to the instantaneous pressure at any given moment. (Advanced variations of this question may consider more complicated tank geometries, in which case the pressure at the base will not be simply proportional to the volume of fluid remaining in the tank.) Specifically, the rate at which water flows out of the hole is governed by Torricelli’s Law, which states that the speed 𝑣 of the water flowing out is proportional to the square root of the height ℎ(𝑡) of the water above the hole.

Also, it's common practice for STEM teachers to use real-world examples to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students.

This comic combines these ideas, implying that there's a rash of calculus teachers that go around drilling actual holes in storage tanks to demonstrate the underlying math principle, so much so that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. Perhaps Miss Lenhart's class is watching from afar. (Adding to the drama is the warning triangle (⚠) on the tank, implying the liquid is toxic.)

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure in the tank, the rate of flow would itself become constant, which would simplify the problem greatly from a calculus exercise to a simpler algrebra one, thus deterring calculus teachers — though it may inadvertently attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers. (If the pressure applied was higher than expected, it could also result in a nasty shock to the teacher drilling into it, as the liquid rushes out surprisingly fast.)

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration, and likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

That suggests the exploits are being filmed and shown later in an abridged (timelapse) form.

Another way to put this is that her drill and drill bit seem to be laughably small for the job at hand.

(If she is using a large "hole saw" drill bit — which can be up to 6 inches in diameter — then that would explain the quanity of gushing liquid, and the tank could be emptied in about 36 minutes, but the drill doesn't seem to have that kind of bit on it.)

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T17:21:41Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE ... WITH THE POWER DRILL ... IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic two workers with hardhats are on a scaffold overlooking an industrial area with two large tanks. One of them is instructing the other that, as head of security, "your primary job" is to "watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases." Sadly they are not alert at this moment and [[Miss Lenhart]] is seen running away with an electric drill after having drilled a hole near the bottom of the tank furthest from the guards.

A common question in introductory {{w|calculus}} courses asks [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf how long it will take a tank to empty.] Assuming the tank is shaped like a cylinder and is open to the environment (so that air can enter the tank to replace water as it flows out), the amount of fluid left in the tank will follow a quadratic decay, as the rate of pressure decrease will be proportional to the instantaneous pressure at any given moment. (Advanced variations of this question may consider more complicated tank geometries, in which case the pressure at the base will not be simply proportional to the volume of fluid remaining in the tank.) Specifically, the rate at which water flows out of the hole is governed by Torricelli’s Law, which states that the speed 𝑣 of the water flowing out is proportional to the square root of the height ℎ(𝑡) of the water above the hole.

Also, it's common practice for STEM teachers to use real-world examples to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students.

This comic combines these ideas, implying that there's a rash of calculus teachers that go around drilling actual holes in storage tanks to demonstrate the underlying math principle, so much so that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. Perhaps Miss Lenhart's class is watching from afar. (Adding to the drama is the warning triangle (⚠) on the tank, implying the liquid is toxic.)

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure in the tank, the rate of flow would itself become constant, which would simplify the problem greatly from a calculus exercise to a simpler algrebra one, thus deterring calculus teachers — though it may inadvertently attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers. (If the pressure applied was higher than expected, it could also result in a nasty shock to the teacher drilling into it, as the liquid rushes out surprisingly fast.)

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height above hole: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration, and likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

That suggests the exploits are being filmed and shown later in an abridged (timelapse) form.

Another way to put this is that her drill and drill bit seem to be laughably small for the job at hand.

(If she is using a large "hole saw" drill bit — which can be up to 6 inches in diameter — then that would explain the quanity of gushing liquid, and the tank could be emptied in about 36 minutes, but the drill doesn't seem to have that kind of bit on it.)

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T17:17:19Z

Laser813: It's a calculus problem, so let's do the problem, shall we? ... I made rough estimates and plugged them into ChatGPT for the answer, but feel free to update the asusmptions or explain the calculation further

{{comic
| number = 2974
| date = August 19, 2024
| title = Storage Tanks
| image = storage_tanks_2x.png
| imagesize = 321x251px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = We're considering installing a pressurization system to keep the tanks at constant pressure solely to deter them.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by SUBSTITUTE CALCULUS TEACHER MR. MUNROE ... WITH THE POWER DRILL ... IN THE CONSERVATORY - Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
In this comic two workers with hardhats are on a scaffold overlooking an industrial area with two large tanks. One of them is instructing the other that, as head of security, "your primary job" is to "watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases." Sadly they are not alert at this moment and [[Miss Lenhart]] is seen running away with an electric drill after having drilled a hole near the bottom of the tank furthest from the guards.

A common question in introductory {{w|calculus}} courses asks [https://www.haywardflowcontrol.com/media/contentmanager/content//downloads//VessTime.pdf how long it will take a tank to empty.] Assuming the tank is shaped like a cylinder, the amount of fluid left in the tank will follow a quadratic decay, as the rate of pressure decrease will be proportional to the instantaneous pressure at any given moment. (Advanced variations of this question may consider more complicated tank geometries, in which case the pressure at the base will not be simply proportional to the volume of fluid remaining in the tank.)

Also, it's common practice for STEM teachers to use real-world examples to make abstract concepts more memorable for their students.

This comic combines these ideas, implying that there's a rash of calculus teachers that go around drilling actual holes in storage tanks to demonstrate the underlying math principle, so much so that the primary job of the head of security is to prevent this pedagogically-motivated destruction. Perhaps Miss Lenhart's class is watching from afar. (Adding to the drama is the warning triangle (⚠) on the tank, implying the liquid is toxic.)

The title text jokingly alludes to the fact that by maintaining a constant pressure in the tank, the rate of flow would itself become constant, which would simplify the problem greatly from a calculus exercise to a simpler algrebra one, thus deterring calculus teachers — though it may inadvertently attract similarly adventurous algebra teachers. (If the pressure applied was higher than expected, it could also result in a nasty shock to the teacher drilling into it, as the liquid rushes out surprisingly fast.)

===Analysis and Calculation===
Observation of the comic suggests the following assumptions:
* Tank height: ~20 feet
* Tank radius: ~6 feet
* Type of drill bit: Normal (not a hole saw)
* Size of drill bit: 1 inch (largest commonly available twist drill bit)
* Goal of Miss Lenhart: To demonstrate quadratic decay to her students

With a tank that is 20 feet high, has a 6-foot radius, and a 1-inch diameter drill hole, it would take approximately 21.5 hours for the tank to empty completely — too long for a suitable class demonstration, and likely to be fixed by nearby workers who notice the leak.

That suggests the exploits are being filmed and shown later in an abridged (timelapse) form.

Another way to put this is that her drill and drill bit seem to be laughably small for the job at hand.

(If she is using a large "hole saw" drill bit — which can be up to 6 inches in diameter — then that would explain the quanity of gushing liquid, and the tank could be emptied in about 36 minutes, but the drill doesn't seem to have that kind of bit on it.)

==Transcript==
:[Two guards with helmets are standing on scaffolding to the left of two large tanks with labels at the top. The tanks are cylindrical with a smaller base than the tank above it. The left tank has a small sign with unreadable text and near the bottom of the right tank there is a triangular warning sign with an exclamation mark inside it and a line of unreadable text below it. The guard on the left is talking to the other guard. Miss Lenhart is seen running away from the right tank with an electric drill in one hand. There is a hole in the base of the right tank which has caused the liquid inside to leak out of the tank splashing on the ground in the direction of Miss Lenhart.]
:Left guard: As head of security, your primary task is to monitor the storage tanks and watch for calculus teachers trying to drill holes in their bases.
:Label: Tank #3
:Label: Tank #4

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Characters with hats]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Miss Lenhart]]
[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Physics]]

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T17:01:39Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

User:Laser813

2024-08-20T13:44:13Z

Laser813:

You thought there would content here. Sorry not sorry.

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T13:42:08Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

Talk:2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T13:41:18Z

Laser813:

2974: Storage Tanks

2024-08-20T13:40:16Z

Laser813: Streamlining 'n stuff

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-08-19T17:38:58Z

Laser813: Just my personal opinion, but I liked the joke when it was more vauge ... Also the Supreme Court eligibility question about Trump isn't really relevant, since he's not a subject of this comic (and the Court already sorta rules on this).

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{notice|This comic contains just one opinion as interpreted by [[Randall|the comic's author]].
Please take care to not add anything to this explanation that might be your own personal political opinion. |image=warning!!.png|**NB. This warning could remain as long as Harris is a candidate in the election. Once this process concludes, we might need a different warning.}}

On the Monday that this comic was published, US Vice President {{w|Kamala Harris}} became the new presumptive {{w|Democratic_Party_(United_States)|Democratic Party}} nominee for the 2024 presidential election, having received verbal endorsements from a majority of Democratic state delegations; the day before, President {{w|Joe Biden}} had {{w|Withdrawal_of_Joe_Biden_from_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election|suspended his re-election bid}} and endorsed Harris. These major events resulted in Harris replacing Biden as one of the top two candidates for {{w|President of the United States|President}} in the 2024 election.

This comic features a three-way {{w|Venn diagram}} (which [[2721: Euler Diagrams|is also an Euler diagram]]). The three circles represent eligibility for US presidency, ability to do a good job as the US president, and love for Venn diagrams:

# '''Good President:''' [[Randall]] believes Harris would be a good president and implies as much, while making the reasonable assumption that he would not be. On the day this comic was published, a top Internet conversation topic was people's opinions of Harris, given the surprise nature of her candidacy, so Randall is adding in his opinion.
# '''Eligibility:''' According to Article II of the {{w|US Constitution}}, someone is {{w|President_of_the_United_States#Eligibility|eligible for the presidency}} if they are a natural-born citizen of the United States, are at least 35 years old, and are a resident in the United States for at least 14 years. Both Randall Munroe and Kamala Harris meet these qualifications.
# '''Vocal Venn diagram affection:''' Harris' affection for Venn diagrams is something of a meme, and has been used by her in her campaign [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-campaign-memes-gen-z-b2583802.html]. Randall is also known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily in xkcd. Randall especially loves Venn diagrams ABOUT Venn diagrams, like this one. While Harris frequently uses Venn diagrams with three intersecting circles as props, she also has [https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5125622/user-clip-circle-venn-diagram discussed them in the abstract, without reference to any physical diagram, even when discussing more than three intersecting categories.]

Part of the humor arises from the contrast of putting on a level playing field three characteristics that range widely from the momentous to the quirky, as well as the implication that Randall and Harris are quite similar in all but one area: their fitness to serve as US President, per Randall's opinion. The diagram does not indicate anyone who Randall would include in the six other areas (categories) of the Venn diagram besides the two in which he listed himself and Harris.

The title text [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWR2uTfrh-k quotes Kamala Harris on her affection for Venn diagrams], and implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are.

Randall seems to express support for a Democratic Presidential candidate every 8 years, including in a 2016 comic [[I'm With Her]] endorsing {{w|Hillary Clinton}} and in [https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/01/28/obama/ a 2008 blog post] endorsing {{w|Barack Obama}}. In 2032 he will endorse [attention time-travelers/future editors from 2032, please edit this part to fill in whoever is running for president, and whether [[1688|the spiders are able to vote]].], followed by [same here] in 2040, Gabriele Cirulli in 2048, and X Æ A-12 Musk in the 2056 United States of America and Mars (USAM) election.

==Transcript==
:[A Venn diagram with three circles.]
:[Upper left circle:] Eligible to be President
:[Upper right circle:] Would be a good President
:[Lower circle:] Unusually vocal about love of Venn diagrams
:[Intersection of all three circles:] Kamala Harris
:[Intersection of the upper left and lower circles:] Me

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Venn diagrams]]
[[Category: Politics]]
[[Category: Elections]]
[[Category: Comics featuring politicians]]

2972: Helium Synthesis

2024-08-16T16:20:32Z

Laser813: A few small additions, and one universe-scale one

{{comic
| number = 2972
| date = August 14, 2024
| title = Helium Synthesis
| image = helium_synthesis_2x.png
| imagesize = 740x312px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our lawyers were worried because it turns out the company inherits its debt from the parent universe, but luckily cosmic inflation reduced it to nearly zero.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BIG BANG NUCLEOSYNTHESIZER WITH A VERY HIGH PITCHED VOICE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This comic explores the challenges of obtaining {{w|helium}}. [[Hairy]] is leading a company meeting with [[Megan]], [[Cueball]], and [[Hairbun]], who are discussing the recurring problem of {{w|helium shortage}}s, a real-world issue due to helium's limited availability on Earth. Helium is a non-renewable resource primarily extracted from {{w|natural gas}} deposits — the US is the biggest producer — and its scarcity can affect industries such as medical imaging, semiconductor manufacturing, scientific research, and party balloon 🎈 supplies.[https://www.marketplace.org/2023/01/19/heliums-been-rising-in-price-and-its-bringing-businesses-down/] (See also [[2766: Helium Reserve]].)

Hairbun suggests investigating the origin of helium. Cueball's research reveals that most helium in the universe came from {{w|Big Bang nucleosynthesis}}, which occurred shortly after the {{w|Big Bang}} when the first elements were formed. (However, 99% of the helium here on Earth has been produced from the slow {{w|radioactive decay}} of naturally occuring {{w|uranium-238}} and {{w|thorium-232}} — which in turn came from {{w|r-process}} {{w|Supernova nucleosynthesis|nucleosynthesis}} inside merging {{w|neutron star}}s;[https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13873/] see [[2826: Gold]] — into {{w|alpha particles}} identical to temporarily ionized helium, with only the remaining one percent originating from the Big Bang.)

Hairy assigns the team to figure out how to recreate Big Bang nucleosynthesis, which is not actually possible for a contemporary business organization.{{cn}} Nonetheless, the team builds a machine capable of it, labeling it "Big Bang Nucleosynthesis." They are successful, presumably obliterating them and at least all the closest galaxies.

The final panels show the creation of a second Big Bang followed by the next 14 billion years of that new universe, culminating with the same characters in an identical meeting, presumably having arisen from the same series of post-Big Bang events as in the original universe. (This suggests a kind of {{w|cyclic universe}} in which events repeat themselves ''exactly'', which {{w|chaos theory}} implies would be extremely unlikely.) They are facing the same predicament: helium shortages are still a problem, and they still need a reliable source. The implication is that this is a recurring cycle of creation and distruction, analagous to the {{w|Yuga_cycle|Cycle of Yugas}} (world ages) in Hinduism, but centered on the helium needs of a unnamed, resourceful company.

Part of the joke is the humorous idea of a company's employees that must use a smart phone to learn about "Big Bang nucleosynthesis" being able to successfully pull it off.

The title text is a wordplay on the two concepts of {{w|cosmic inflation}} and {{w|monetary inflation}}. In economics, monetary inflation is the rate at which the cost of things increases over time (one can also think of this as the value of money falling). If a debt is arranged on favorable terms, such that the interest on it turns out to be less than this rate, the value of that debt reduces over time. Cosmic inflation is a theory in cosmology that describes the rapid expansion of the universe just after the Big Bang. The joke imagines the original company as having incurred a significant debt (perhaps as a result of the costs of building the Big Bang machine), which has now been inherited by its subsidiary. Somehow, thanks to the effect of cosmic inflation, this debt was diluted (perhaps ''physically'' across the effectively infinite vastness of space), reducing it to [https://www.accum.se/~ola/hitchhik.htm nothing]. (See also [[2688: Bubble Universes]].) This is not really how debt works. However, since all the companies in the new universe are presumably effective subsidiaries of the original parent company, perhaps each of them would have inherited a negligible portion of its debt.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[Hairy sits on an office chair at the head of a conference table and has his hands on the table, with Cueball and Megan also at the table.]
:Hairy: These helium shortages every few years are such a pain.
:Hairy: Our company needs a reliable source of helium.

:[The same situation, but now Hairbun is also seen at the table on the left side of Cueball. Cueball holds a cellphone in his left hand, which Megan looks at.]
:Hairbun: Where does helium come from, anyway?
:Cueball: Hmm, apparently most of it is from "Big Bang nucleosynthesis"?
:Hairy: Well, let's figure out how to do that.

:[Hairy, Megan and Hairbun are working on a large machine labeled "Big Bang Nucleosynthesis," with Megan holding its wired control device in her left hand.]

:[Two panels depict another Big Bang, followed by various stages of cosmic development, including galaxies and planets forming, shown in white on a black background.]

:[The scene returns to the same conference room setup as before, with the characters in the same positions. Text at the top reads: "14 Billion Years Later."]
:Hairy: These helium shortages every few years are such a pain.
:Hairy: Our company needs a reliable source of helium.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:Recursion]]

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-15T15:21:04Z

Laser813: Removing INCOMPLETE tag, sorry PRESIDENT CORNELIUS LYSANDER THROCKMORTON "BOT" BOTTINGFORD IV

{{comic
| number = 2969
| date = August 7, 2024
| title = Vice President First Names
| image = vice_president_first_names_2x.png
| imagesize = 364x556px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [Political pundit on the ScrabbleTV News channel] "After four years of defying orthographic pressure, Joe ceded the top of the ticket to Kamala, who--after considering Josh, Mark, Andy, Roy, and Pete--picked Tim."
}}

==Explanation==
Randall observes that American {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidents}} since the 1980s have almost all gone by short first names. It should be noted that all of the "short" first names in this strip, with the exception of John (F. Kennedy) are diminutives (or initials) of longer names, but all represent the names which the candidates preferred and publicly used. This comic was published one day after {{w|Kamala Harris}} (who replaced Biden as presidential candidate) chose {{w|Tim Walz}} as her running mate for the {{w|2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election}}. Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are listed for 2024, since the 2024 election had not yet concluded when this comic was made. Either party winning would match the observation.

In the comic's caption, Randall amusingly describes this as an emerging "political consensus."

While not a "political" consensus per se, the observed phenomenon is a type of consensus — reflecting a multi-decade change in US societal norms — and is not simply a random coincidence.
* There has been a national US trend toward shorter names since the 1980s and 1990s, with a rise in the popularity of baby names like Ryan, Kyle, Amy and Lisa. (The trend has continued, with even shorter names like Ava, Mia and Max becoming more common in the 2000s and 2010s.)
* This has paralleled a trend in shorter business names, with companies like Dell, Cisco and eBay before the turn of the millennium and Google, Uber and Lyft after (cf. pre-1980 businesses like AT&T, BNSF or 3M which had to convert their very long names into acronyms to adapt). Product naming also began to simplify in the late 20th century, driven by marketing strategies that favored brevity and memorability, exemplified by Apple's iconic "iMac" and "iPhone" products.
* All of these naming trends reflect a ''general'' societal trend toward minimalism and less formality, also seen with corporate logos, product design (Apple), clothing design (Gap), furniture design (IKEA) and web/app design.

This societal shift may explain why many politicians with given names like Albert and Richard might have preferred to go by shorter, less formal sounding, more approachable names like Al and Dick, to match the zeitgeist.

That Vice Presidents have used shorter names than Presidents since the 1980s is an interesting coincidence (more discussion below). Most of the Presidents since the 1980s happened to have names (such as George, Barack and Kamala) that can't be easily shortened. And the exception, Donald Trump (which can be shortened to Don), did not become a politician until the nice age of 69, when he was already nationally famous using his full name.

The '''title text''' amusingly suggests (1) the existence of a ScrabbleTV News channel (named after {{w|Scrabble|the word game}}) staffed with (2) political pundits who (3) report Biden's decision to end his re-election campaign as being driven by orthographic (related to the writing of words) pressure to conform to the aforementioned political consensus. Having Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as VP violated this pattern, but elevating Harris to the presidency and selecting a short-named running mate restored it. Like Tim Walz, all of the final six candidates considered as Harris's running mate had short first names: Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly, Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper and Pete Buttigieg.
* This could also be a subtle joke about political pundits tending to give confident, inaccurate hot-takes. (Biden's decision was driven, among other things, by worsening polling, rising concerns about his age, a poor debate performance against Trump and subsequent pressure from other leading Democrats.)

This is Randall's second recent comic about US politics and Kamala Harris, the first being [[2962: President Venn Diagram]] which was published right after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.

===Observations===
It is interesting that, even ignoring the stricter definition of having less than four letters in their name, only four pairings have a Presidential given (or adopted) name that is shorter than the Vice-Presidential one, and just two further cases (one of these not involved in winning an election) have equal length names.

===Contextual table of names===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Presidential and Vice-Presidential names, for the period within the comic, in chronological order.
! Year !! President !! Vice-President
|-
| 1952 (also 1956) || '''Dwight''' David "Ike"<ref name="ike">"Ike" was a shared nickname within the ''Ei''senhower family ("Big Ike", "Little Ike"), which became {{w|Ike for President (advertisement)|commonly used}} for himself, though never became a full replacement of his chosen (re-arranged) 'first' name.</ref> {{w|Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower}} ''born David Dwight "Little Ike" Eisenhower'' || '''Richard''' Milhous {{w|Richard Nixon|Nixon}}
|-
| 1960 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''John''' "Jack" Fitzgerald {{w|John F. Kennedy|Kennedy}} || '''Lyndon''' Baines {{w|Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson}}
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1963<ref name="dallas">JFK's assassination meant LBJ acceded to the role, but under the Constitution as in effect at the time, he could not appoint a new Vice-President prior to his subsequent re-election bid.</ref> (Not in comic.) || colspan="2" | '''Lyndon''' B. Johnson
|-
| 1964 || '''Lyndon''' B. Johnson || '''Hubert''' Horatio {{w|Hubert Humphrey|Humphrey}} Jr.
|-
| 1968 (also 1972) || ‎'''Richard''' Nixon || '''Spiro''' Theodore {{w|Spiro Agnew|Agnew}}
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1973<ref name="watergate">Changes occuring within a Presidential term, in response to an emerging political scandal</ref> || '''Richard''' Nixon || '''Gerald''' Rudolph {{w|Gerald Ford|Ford}} Jr ''born Leslie Lynch King Jr.''
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1974<ref name="watergate"/> || ‎'''Gerald''' Ford || '''Nelson''' Aldrich {{w|Nelson Rockefeller|Rockefeller}}*
|-
| 1976 || ‎James "'''Jimmy'''" Earl {{w|Jimmy Carter|Carter}} Jr. || '''Walter''' Frederick "Fritz" {{w|Walter Mondale|Mondale}}
|-
| 1980 (also 1984) || '''Ronald''' Wilson {{w|Ronald Reagan|Reagan}} || '''George''' Herbert Walker {{w|George H. W. Bush|Bush}}
|-
| 1988 || '''George''' H.W. Bush || style="background-color:lightyellow" | James Danforth "'''Dan'''" {{w|Dan Quayle|Quayle}}
|-
| 1992 (also 1996) || style="background-color:lightyellow" |William "'''Bill'''" Jefferson {{w|Bill Clinton|Clinton}} ''born William Jefferson Blythe III'' || style="background-color:lightyellow" | Albert "'''Al'''" Arnold {{w|Al Gore|Gore}} Jr.
|-
| 2000 (also 2004) || '''George''' Walker {{w|George W. Bush|Bush}} || style="background-color:lightyellow" |Richard "'''Dick'''" Bruce {{w|Dick Cheney|Cheney}}
|-
| 2008 (also 2012) || '''Barack''' Hussein {{w|Barack Obama|Obama}} II || style="background-color:lightyellow" | Joseph "'''Joe'''" Robinette {{w|Joe Biden|Biden}} Jr.
|-
| 2016 || '''Donald''' John {{w|Donald Trump|Trump‎}}‎ || style="background-color:lightyellow" |Michael "'''Mike'''" Richard {{w|Mike Pence|Pence}}
|-
| 2020 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | "'''Joe'''" Biden || '''Kamala''' Devi {{w|Kamala Harris|Harris}}
|-
| 2024 (If {{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats}} win) || '''Kamala''' Harris || style="background-color:lightyellow" | Timothy "'''Tim'''" James {{w|Tim Walz|Walz}}
|-
| 2024 (If {{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republicans}} win) || '''Donald''' J. Trump || style="background-color:lightyellow" | James David "'''JD'''" {{w|JD Vance|Vance}} ''born James Donald Bowman''
|}

:Complete titles are given in the first occurance, providing a full context of options for identification purposes; subsequent mentions may be reduced to their 'typical' name. Any relevent self-acknowledged sobriquets are inserted in quotes.
:Bold is used to indicate the individual's actually most commonly used single given name, as referenced within the comic. Surnames (also commonly used, with or without the title or other disambiguation) are wikilinked upon their first appearance.
:Italics indicates birth names, where different.
:Darkened rows show transitions not made via a {{w|List of United States major party presidential tickets|'ticket'}} at the end of each 4-year electoral cycle.
:Yellow cells echo the comic's highlights indicating '''given names''' being four or fewer characters in length.
<references/>

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Tables are bad? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A table is shown in a panel. Names of "Four letters or fewer" are shown in the comic on a yellow background (bolded in the table below).]
:{| class="wikitable"
! !! President !! VP
|-
| 2024 ||? Kamala ? Donald || '''Tim ? JD ?'''
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' || Kamala
|-
| 2016 || Donald‎ || '''Mike'''
|-
| 2008 || Barack‎ || '''Joe'''
|-
| 2000 || George || '''Dick'''
|-
| 1992 || '''Bill''' || '''Al'''
|-
| 1988 || George || '''Dan'''
|-
| 1980 || Ronald‎ || George
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy || Walter
|-
| 1974 || ‎Gerald || Nelson
|-
| 1973 || ‎Richard || Gerald
|-
| 1968 || ‎Richard || Spiro
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon || Hubert
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' || Lyndon
|-
| 1952 || Dwight || Richard
|}

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Since the 1980s, a political consensus has emerged: vice presidents should have short first names.

==Trivia: Other ways to shorten names==
Politicians can also use a more casual name by using an already less unwieldy middle name (as with {{w|Mitt Romney|Willard Mitt Romney}}, but doubly-averted in Dan Quayle's case). Even when they're not shortened to four or fewer letters, names can be made more casual in other ways (as with {{w|Bernie Sanders|Bernard 'Bernie' Sanders}}). As well, some politicians were commonly called by short nicknames even if they did not run under those names (Dwight 'Ike' Eisenhower).

Some of these may have been adult decisions, a personal choice to mark adulthood (or a change of career) by a more character-distinguishing variation, others may have been 'imposed' upon them by family, friends or peers over time and become happily accepted as the norm by the recipient without any great personal consideration.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-12T14:45:49Z

Laser813:

{{comic
| number = 2969
| date = August 7, 2024
| title = Vice President First Names
| image = vice_president_first_names_2x.png
| imagesize = 364x556px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [Political pundit on the ScrabbleTV News channel] "After four years of defying orthographic pressure, Joe ceded the top of the ticket to Kamala, who--after considering Josh, Mark, Andy, Roy, and Pete--picked Tim."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by PRESIDENT CORNELIUS LYSANDER THROCKMORTON "BOT" BOTTINGFORD IV - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Randall observes that American {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidents}} since the 80s have almost all gone by short first names. It should be noted that all of the "short" first names in this strip, with the exception of John (F. Kennedy) are diminutives (or initials) of longer names, but all represent the names which the candidates preferred and publicly used. This comic was published one day after {{w|Kamala Harris}} (who replaced Biden as presidential candidate) chose {{w|Tim Walz}} as her running mate for the {{w|2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election}}. Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are listed for 2024, since the 2024 election had not yet concluded when this comic was made. Either party winning would match the observation.

In the comic's caption, Randall amusingly describes this as an emerging "political consensus."

While not a "political" consensus per se, the observed phenomenon is a type of consensus — reflecting a multi-decade change in US societal norms — and is not simply a random coincidence.
* There has been a national US trend toward shorter names since the 1980s and 1990s, with a rise in the popularity of baby names like Ryan, Kyle, Amy and Lisa. (The trend has continued, with even shorter names like Ava, Mia and Max becoming more common in the 2000s and 2010s.)
* This has paralleled a trend in shorter business names, with companies like Dell, Cisco and eBay before the turn of the millennium and Google, Uber and Lyft after (cf. pre-1980 businesses like AT&T, BNSF or 3M which had to convert their very long names into acronyms to adapt). Product naming also began to simplify in the late 20th century, driven by marketing strategies that favored brevity and memorability, exemplified by Apple's iconic "iMac" and "iPhone" products.
* All of these naming trends reflect a ''general'' societal trend toward minimalism and less formality, also seen with corporate logos, product design (Apple), clothing design (Gap), furniture design (IKEA) and web/app design.

This societal shift may explain why many politicians with given names like Albert and Richard might have preferred to go by shorter, less formal sounding, more approachable names like Al and Dick, to match the zeitgeist.

That Vice Presidents have used shorter names than Presidents since the 1980s is an interesting coincidence (more discussion below). Most of the Presidents since the 1980s happened to have names (such as George, Barack and Kamala) that can't be easily shortened. And the exception, Donald Trump (which can be shortened to Don), did not become a politician until the nice age of 69, when he was already nationally famous using his full name.

The '''title text''' amusingly suggests (1) the existence of a ScrabbleTV News channel (named after {{w|Scrabble|the word game}}) staffed with (2) political pundits who (3) report Biden's decision to end his re-election campaign as being driven by orthographic (related to the writing of words) pressure to conform to the aforementioned political consensus. Having Joe Biden as President and Kamala Harris as VP violated this pattern, but elevating Harris to the presidency and selecting a short-named running mate restored it. Like Tim Walz, all of the final six candidates considered as Harris's running mate had short first names: Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly, Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper and Pete Buttigieg.
* This could also be a subtle joke about political pundits tending to give confident, inaccurate hot-takes. (Biden's decision was driven, among other things, by worsening polling, rising concerns about his age, a poor debate performance against Trump and subsequent pressure from other leading Democrats.)

This is Randall's second recent comic about US politics and Kamala Harris, the first being [[2962: President Venn Diagram]] which was published right after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.

===Observations===
It is interesting that, even ignoring the stricter definition of having less than four letters in their name, only four pairings have a Presidential given (or adopted) name that is shorter than the Vice-Presidential one, and just two further cases (one of these not involved in winning an election) have equal length names.

===Contextual table of names===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Presidential and Vice-Presidential names, for the period within the comic, in chronological order.
! Year !! President !! Vice-President
|-
| 1952 (also 1956) || '''Dwight''' David "Ike"<ref name="ike">"Ike" was a shared nickname within the ''Ei''senhower family ("Big Ike", "Little Ike"), which became {{w|Ike for President (advertisement)|commonly used}} for himself, though never became a full replacement of his chosen (re-arranged) 'first' name.</ref> {{w|Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower}} ''born David Dwight "Little Ike" Eisenhower'' || '''Richard''' Milhous {{w|Richard Nixon|Nixon}}
|-
| 1960 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | '''John''' "Jack" Fitzgerald {{w|John F. Kennedy|Kennedy}} || '''Lyndon''' Baines {{w|Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson}}
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1963<ref name="dallas">JFK's assassination meant LBJ acceded to the role, but under the Constitution as in effect at the time, he could not appoint a new Vice-President prior to his subsequent re-election bid.</ref> (Not in comic.) || colspan="2" | '''Lyndon''' B. Johnson
|-
| 1964 || '''Lyndon''' B. Johnson || '''Hubert''' Horatio {{w|Hubert Humphrey|Humphrey}} Jr.
|-
| 1968 (also 1972) || ‎'''Richard''' Nixon || '''Spiro''' Theodore {{w|Spiro Agnew|Agnew}}
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1973<ref name="watergate">Changes occuring within a Presidential term, in response to an emerging political scandal</ref> || '''Richard''' Nixon || '''Gerald''' Rudolph {{w|Gerald Ford|Ford}} Jr ''born Leslie Lynch King Jr.''
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1974<ref name="watergate"/> || ‎'''Gerald''' Ford || '''Nelson''' Aldrich {{w|Nelson Rockefeller|Rockefeller}}*
|-
| 1976 || ‎James "'''Jimmy'''" Earl {{w|Jimmy Carter|Carter}} Jr. || '''Walter''' Frederick "Fritz" {{w|Walter Mondale|Mondale}}
|-
| 1980 (also 1984) || '''Ronald''' Wilson {{w|Ronald Reagan|Reagan}} || '''George''' Herbert Walker {{w|George H. W. Bush|Bush}}
|-
| 1988 || '''George''' H.W. Bush || style="background-color:lightyellow" | James Danforth "'''Dan'''" {{w|Dan Quayle|Quayle}}
|-
| 1992 (also 1996) || style="background-color:lightyellow" |William "'''Bill'''" Jefferson {{w|Bill Clinton|Clinton}} ''born William Jefferson Blythe III'' || style="background-color:lightyellow" | Albert "'''Al'''" Arnold {{w|Al Gore|Gore}} Jr.
|-
| 2000 (also 2004) || '''George''' Walker {{w|George W. Bush|Bush}} || style="background-color:lightyellow" |Richard "'''Dick'''" Bruce {{w|Dick Cheney|Cheney}}
|-
| 2008 (also 2012) || '''Barack''' Hussein {{w|Barack Obama|Obama}} II || style="background-color:lightyellow" | Joseph "'''Joe'''" Robinette {{w|Joe Biden|Biden}} Jr.
|-
| 2016 || '''Donald''' John {{w|Donald Trump|Trump‎}}‎ || style="background-color:lightyellow" |Michael "'''Mike'''" Richard {{w|Mike Pence|Pence}}
|-
| 2020 || style="background-color:lightyellow" | "'''Joe'''" Biden || '''Kamala''' Devi {{w|Kamala Harris|Harris}}
|-
| 2024 ({{w|Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats}} win) || '''Kamala''' Harris || style="background-color:lightyellow" | Timothy "'''Tim'''" James {{w|Tim Walz|Walz}}
|-
| 2024 ({{w|Republican Party (United States)|Republicans}} win) || '''Donald''' J. Trump || style="background-color:lightyellow" | James David "'''JD'''" {{w|JD Vance|Vance}} ''born James Donald Bowman''
|}

:Complete titles are given in the first occurance, providing a full context of options for identification purposes; subsequent mentions may be reduced to their 'typical' name. Any relevent self-acknowledged sobriquets are inserted in quotes.
:Bold is used to indicate the individual's actually most commonly used single given name, as referenced within the comic. Surnames (also commonly used, with or without the title or other disambiguation) are wikilinked upon their first appearance.
:Italics indicates birth names, where different.
:Darkened rows show transitions not made via a {{w|List of United States major party presidential tickets|'ticket'}} at the end of each 4-year electoral cycle.
:Yellow cells echo the comic's highlights indicating '''given names''' being four or fewer characters in length.
<references/>

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Tables are bad? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A table is shown in a panel. Names of "Four letters or fewer" are shown in the comic on a yellow background (bolded in the table below).]
:{| class="wikitable"
! !! President !! VP
|-
| 2024 ||? Kamala ? Donald || '''Tim ? JD ?'''
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' || Kamala
|-
| 2016 || Donald‎ || '''Mike'''
|-
| 2008 || Barack‎ || '''Joe'''
|-
| 2000 || George || '''Dick'''
|-
| 1992 || '''Bill''' || '''Al'''
|-
| 1988 || George || '''Dan'''
|-
| 1980 || Ronald‎ || George
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy || Walter
|-
| 1974 || ‎Gerald || Nelson
|-
| 1973 || ‎Richard || Gerald
|-
| 1968 || ‎Richard || Spiro
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon || Hubert
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' || Lyndon
|-
| 1952 || Dwight || Richard
|}

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Since the 1980s, a political consensus has emerged: vice presidents should have short first names.

==Trivia: Other ways to shorten names==
Politicians can also use a more casual name by using an already less unwieldy middle name (as with {{w|Mitt Romney|Willard Mitt Romney}}, but doubly-averted in Dan Quayle's case). Even when they're not shortened to four or fewer letters, names can be made more casual in other ways (as with {{w|Bernie Sanders|Bernard 'Bernie' Sanders}}). As well, some politicians were commonly called by short nicknames even if they did not run under those names (Dwight 'Ike' Eisenhower).

Some of these may have been adult decisions, a personal choice to mark adulthood (or a change of career) by a more character-distinguishing variation, others may have been 'imposed' upon them by family, friends or peers over time and become happily accepted as the norm by the recipient without any great personal consideration.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-08T13:54:13Z

Laser813:

{{comic
| number = 2969
| date = August 7, 2024
| title = Vice President First Names
| image = vice_president_first_names_2x.png
| imagesize = 364x556px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [Political pundit on the ScrabbleTV News channel] "After four years of defying orthographic pressure, Joe ceded the top of the ticket to Kamala, who--after considering Josh, Mark, Andy, Roy, and Pete--picked Tim."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by CORNELIUS LYSANDER THROCKMORTON "BOT" BOTTINGFORD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Randall correctly observes that American {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidents}} since the 80s have almost all had short first names; each yellow name in the VP column uses the shortened form of their first name (as with Joseph 'Joe' Biden).

In the comic's caption, Randall amusingly describes this as an emerging "political consensus."

While not a "political" consensus per se, the observed phenomenom is a type of consensus — reflecting a multi-decade change in US societal norms — and is not simply a random coincidence.
* There has been a national US trend toward shorter names since the 1980s and 1990s, with a rise in the popularity of baby names like Ryan, Kyle, Amy, and Lisa. (The trend has continued, with even shorter names like Ava, Mia, and Max becoming more common in the 2000s and 2010s.)
* This has paralleled a trend in shorter business names, with companies like Dell, Cisco, and eBay before the turn of the millennium and Google, Uber, and Lyft after. Product naming also began to simplify in the late 20th century, driven by marketing strategies that favored brevity and memorability, exemplified by Apple's iconic "iMac" and "iPhone" products.
* All of these naming trends reflect a ''general'' societal trend toward minimalism and less formality, also seen with corporate logos, product design (Apple), clothing design (Gap), furniture design (IKEA), and web/app design.

This societal shift explains why many politicians with given names like Danforth, Albert, and Richard might have prefered to go by shorter, more approachable names like Dan, Al, and Dick to match the zeitgeist. Indeed, the politicians' names since the 1980s not in yellow mostly have names that don't easily shorten, such as George, Barack, and Kamala.
* The exception, Donald Trump (which can be shortened to Don), did not become a politician until late in life when he was already nationally famous using his full name.

'''Timing'''
* This comic was published one day after {{w|Kamala Harris}} (who replaced Biden as presidential candidate) chose {{w|Tim Walz}} as her running mate for the {{w|2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election}}.
* Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are present for 2024, since the 2024 election had not yet concluded when this comic was made. Either party winning would match the observation. JD Vance is a special situation, since "JD" is a preferred nickname based on his initials.

The '''title text''' amusingly suggests (1) the existence of a ScrabbleTV News channel (named after {{w|Scrabble|the word game}}) staffed with (2) political pundits who (3) report Biden's decision to end his re-election campaign as being driven by orthographic (related to the writing of words) pressure to conform to the aforementioned political consensus. As long as Kamala was VP, this orthographic consensus was being violated. This could also be a subtle joke about political pundits tending to give confident, inaccurate hot-takes. (Biden's decision was driven, among other things, by worsening polling, a poor debate performance against Trump, and subsequent pressure from other leading Democrats.)

The other Democratic vice presidental candidates mentioned were all considered to be the top six candidates during the final days before Harris's VP announcement of Tim Walz: Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly, Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper, and Pete Buttigieg. (Interestingly, of the three other VP candidates vetted by the Harris campaign in late July 2024, two had short names: Wes Moore and Gina Raimondo.)

This is Randall's second recent comic engaging in observational comedy about US politics and Kamala Harris, the first being [[2962: President Venn Diagram]] which was published right after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.

===Trivia: Other ways to shorten names===
Politicians can also use a more casual name by employing their middle name (as with {{w|Mitt Romney|Willard Mitt Romney}}). Even when they're not shortened to four or fewer letters, names can be made more casual in other ways (as with {{w|Bernie Sanders|Bernard 'Bernie' Sanders}}). As well, some politicians were commonly called by short nicknames even if they did not run under those names (Dwight 'Ike' Eisenhower).

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Presidential Ticket Names
! Year !! President !! Vice-President
|-
| 2024 || Donald (John {{w|Donald Trump|Trump}}‎) Kamala (Devi {{w|Kamala Harris|Harris}}) || '''JD''' (''James David'' {{w|JD Vance|Vance}}, né James Donald Bowman)‎ '''Tim''' (''Timothy'' {{w|Tim Walz|Walz}})
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' (''Joseph'' Robinette {{w|Joe Biden|Biden}} Jr.) || Kamala (Devi Harris)
|-
| 2016 || Donald (John Trump)‎ || '''Mike''' (''Michael'' Richard {{w|Mike Pence|Pence}})
|-
| 2012 2008 || Barack (Hussein {{w|Barack Obama|Obama}} II)‎ || '''Joe''' (''Joseph'' Robinette Biden, Jr.)
|-
| 2004 2000 || George (Walker {{w|George W. Bush|Bush}}) || '''Dick''' (''Richard'' Bruce {{w|Dick Cheney|Cheney}})
|-
| 1996 1992 || '''Bill''' (''William'' Jefferson {{w|Bill Clinton|Clinton}}, né W. J. Blythe III) || '''Al''' (''Albert'' Arnold {{w|Al Gore|Gore}} Jr.)
|-
| 1988 || George (Herbert Walker {{w|George H. W. Bush|Bush}})‎ || '''Dan''' (James ''Danforth'' {{w|Dan Quayle|Quayle}} )
|-
| 1984 1980 || Ronald (Wilson {{w|Ronald Reagan|Reagan}})‎ || George (Herbert Walker Bush)
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy (''James'' Earl {{w|Jimmy Carter|Carter}} Jr.) || Walter (Frederick {{w|Walter Mondale|Mondale}})
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1974 || ‎Gerald (Rudolph {{w|Gerald Ford|Ford}} Jr, né Leslie Lynch King Jr.) || Nelson (Aldrich {{w|Nelson Rockefeller|Rockefeller}})*
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1973 || ‎Richard (Milhous {{w|Richard Nixon|Nixon}}) || Gerald (Rudolph Ford Jr.)*
|-
| 1972 1968 || ‎Richard (Milhous Nixon) || Spiro (Theodore {{w|Spiro Agnew|Agnew}})
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon (Baines {{w|Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson}}) || Hubert (Horatio {{w|Hubert Humphrey|Humphrey}} Jr.)
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1963 || Lyndon (Baines Johnson)† || ''vacant''
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' (Fitzgerald {{w|John F. Kennedy|Kennedy}}) || Lyndon (Baines Johnson)
|-
| 1956 1952 || Dwight (David {{w|Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower}}, né David Dwight Eisenhower) || Richard (Milhous Nixon)
|}

:Darkened rows show transitions not made via an {{w|List of United States major party presidential tickets|electoral 'ticket'}}.
::''* Replacements made in response to political scandal''
::''† Accession to Presidency due to assassination, VP position left unfilled until next election (not shown in comic)''

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Tables are bad? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A table is shown in a panel. Names of "Four letters or fewer" are shown in the comic on a yellow background (bolded in the table below).]
:{| class="wikitable"
! !! President !! VP
|-
| 2024 ||? Kamala ? Donald || '''Tim ? JD ?'''
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' || Kamala
|-
| 2016 || Donald‎ || '''Mike'''
|-
| 2008 || Barack‎ || '''Joe'''
|-
| 2000 || George || '''Dick'''
|-
| 1992 || '''Bill''' || '''Al'''
|-
| 1988 || George || '''Dan'''
|-
| 1980 || Ronald‎ || George
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy || Walter
|-
| 1974 || ‎Gerald || Nelson
|-
| 1973 || ‎Richard || Gerald
|-
| 1968 || ‎Richard || Spiro
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon || Hubert
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' || Lyndon
|-
| 1952 || Dwight || Richard
|}

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Since the 1980s, a political consensus has emerged: vice presidents should have short first names.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-07T20:05:10Z

Laser813:

{{comic
| number = 2969
| date = August 7, 2024
| title = Vice President First Names
| image = vice_president_first_names_2x.png
| imagesize = 364x556px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [Political pundit on the ScrabbleTV News channel] "After four years of defying orthographic pressure, Joe ceded the top of the ticket to Kamala, who--after considering Josh, Mark, Andy, Roy, and Pete--picked Tim."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by CORNELIUS LYSANDER THROCKMORTON "BOT" BOTTINGFORD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Randall correctly observes that American {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidents}} since the 80s have almost all had short first names; each yellow name in the VP column uses the shortened form of their first name (as with Joseph 'Joe' Biden).

In the comic's caption, Randall amusingly describes this as an emerging "political consensus."

While not a "political" consensus per se, the observed phenomenom is a type of consensus — reflecting a multi-decade change in US societal norms — and is not simply a random coincidence.
* There has been a national US trend toward shorter names since the 1980s and 1990s, with a rise in the popularity of baby names like Ryan, Kyle, Amy, and Lisa. (The trend has continued, with even shorter names like Ava, Mia, and Max becoming more common in the 2000s and 2010s.)
* This has paralleled a trend in shorter business names, with companies like Dell, Cisco, and eBay before the turn of the millennium and Google, Uber, and Lyft after. Product naming also began to simplify in the late 20th century, driven by marketing strategies that favored brevity and memorability, exemplified by Apple's iconic "iMac" and "iPhone" products.
* All of these naming trends reflect a ''general'' societal trend toward minimalism and less formality, also seen with corporate logos, product design (Apple), clothing design (Gap), furniture design (IKEA), and web/app design.

This societal shift explains why many politicians with given names like Danforth, Albert, and Richard might have prefered to go by shorter, more approachable names like Dan, Al, and Dick to match the zeitgeist. Indeed, the politicians' names since the 1980s not in yellow mostly have names that don't easily shorten, such as George, Barack, and Kamala.
* The exception, Donald Trump (which can be shortened to Don), did not become a politician until late in life when he was already nationally famous using his full name.

'''Timing'''
* This comic was published one day after {{w|Kamala Harris}} (who replaced Biden as presidential candidate) chose {{w|Tim Walz}} as her running mate for the {{w|2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election}}.
* Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are present for 2024, since the 2024 election had not yet concluded when this comic was made. Either party winning would match the observation. JD Vance is a special situation, since "JD" is a preferred nickname based on his initials.

The '''title text''' amusingly suggests (1) the existence of a ScrabbleTV News channel (named after {{w|Scrabble|the word game}}) staffed with (2) political pundits who (3) report Biden's decision to end his re-election campaign as being driven by orthographic (related to the writing of words) pressure to conform to the aforementioned political consensus. As long as Kamala was VP, this orthographic consensus was being violated. This could also be a subtle joke about political pundits tending to give confident, inaccurate hot-takes. (Biden's decision was driven, among other things, by worsening polling, a poor debate performance against Trump, and subsequent pressure from other leading Democrats.)

The other Democratic vice presidental candidates mentioned were all considered to be the top six candidates during the final days before Harris's VP announcement of Tim Walz: Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly, Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper, and Pete Buttigieg. (Other VP candidates with short names like JB Pritzker and Wes Moore were not among the final six.)

This is Randall's second recent comic engaging in observational comedy about US politics and Kamala Harris, the first being [[2962: President Venn Diagram]] which was published right after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.

===Trivia: Other ways to shorten names===
Politicians can also use a more casual name by employing their middle name (as with {{w|Mitt Romney|Willard Mitt Romney}}). Even when they're not shortened to four or fewer letters, names can be made more casual in other ways (as with {{w|Bernie Sanders|Bernard 'Bernie' Sanders}}). As well, some politicians were commonly called by short nicknames even if they did not run under those names (Dwight 'Ike' Eisenhower).

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Presidential Ticket Names
! Year !! President !! Vice-President
|-
| 2024 || Donald (John {{w|Donald Trump|Trump}}‎) Kamala (Devi {{w|Kamala Harris|Harris}}) || '''JD''' (''James David'' {{w|JD Vance|Vance}}, né James Donald Bowman)‎ '''Tim''' (''Timothy'' {{w|Tim Walz|Walz}})
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' (''Joseph'' Robinette {{w|Joe Biden|Biden}} Jr.) || Kamala (Devi Harris)
|-
| 2016 || Donald (John Trump)‎ || '''Mike''' (''Michael'' Richard {{w|Mike Pence|Pence}})
|-
| 2012 2008 || Barack (Hussein {{w|Barack Obama|Obama}} II)‎ || '''Joe''' (''Joseph'' Robinette Biden, Jr.)
|-
| 2004 2000 || George (Walker {{w|George W. Bush|Bush}}) || '''Dick''' (''Richard'' Bruce {{w|Dick Cheney|Cheney}})
|-
| 1996 1992 || '''Bill''' (''William'' Jefferson {{w|Bill Clinton|Clinton}}, né W. J. Blythe III) || '''Al''' (''Albert'' Arnold {{w|Al Gore|Gore}} Jr.)
|-
| 1988 || George (Herbert Walker {{w|George H. W. Bush|Bush}})‎ || '''Dan''' (James ''Danforth'' {{w|Dan Quayle|Quayle}} )
|-
| 1984 1980 || Ronald (Wilson {{w|Ronald Reagan|Reagan}})‎ || George (Herbert Walker Bush)
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy (''James'' Earl {{w|Jimmy Carter|Carter}} Jr.) || Walter (Frederick {{w|Walter Mondale|Mondale}})
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1974 || ‎Gerald (Rudolph {{w|Gerald Ford|Ford}} Jr, né Leslie Lynch King Jr.) || Nelson (Aldrich {{w|Nelson Rockefeller|Rockefeller}})*
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1973 || ‎Richard (Milhous {{w|Richard Nixon|Nixon}}) || Gerald (Rudolph Ford Jr.)*
|-
| 1972 1968 || ‎Richard (Milhous Nixon) || Spiro (Theodore {{w|Spiro Agnew|Agnew}})
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon (Baines {{w|Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson}}) || Hubert (Horatio {{w|Hubert Humphrey|Humphrey}} Jr.)
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1963 || Lyndon (Baines Johnson)† || ''vacant''
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' (Fitzgerald {{w|John F. Kennedy|Kennedy}}) || Lyndon (Baines Johnson)
|-
| 1956 1952 || Dwight (David {{w|Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower}}, né David Dwight Eisenhower) || Richard (Milhous Nixon)
|}

:Darkened rows show transitions not made via an {{w|List of United States major party presidential tickets|electoral 'ticket'}}.
::''* Replacements made in response to political scandal''
::''† Accession to Presidency due to assassination, VP position left unfilled until next election (not shown in comic)''

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Tables are bad? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A table is shown in a panel. Names of "Four letters or fewer" are shown in the comic on a yellow background (bolded in the table below).]
:{| class="wikitable"
! !! President !! VP
|-
| 2024 ||? Kamala ? Donald || '''Tim ? JD ?'''
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' || Kamala
|-
| 2016 || Donald‎ || '''Mike'''
|-
| 2008 || Barack‎ || '''Joe'''
|-
| 2000 || George || '''Dick'''
|-
| 1992 || '''Bill''' || '''Al'''
|-
| 1988 || George || '''Dan'''
|-
| 1980 || Ronald‎ || George
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy || Walter
|-
| 1974 || ‎Gerald || Nelson
|-
| 1973 || ‎Richard || Gerald
|-
| 1968 || ‎Richard || Spiro
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon || Hubert
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' || Lyndon
|-
| 1952 || Dwight || Richard
|}

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Since the 1980s, a political consensus has emerged: vice presidents should have short first names.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-07T19:47:41Z

Laser813:

{{comic
| number = 2969
| date = August 7, 2024
| title = Vice President First Names
| image = vice_president_first_names_2x.png
| imagesize = 364x556px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = [Political pundit on the ScrabbleTV News channel] "After four years of defying orthographic pressure, Joe ceded the top of the ticket to Kamala, who--after considering Josh, Mark, Andy, Roy, and Pete--picked Tim."
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by CORNELIUS LYSANDER THROCKMORTON "BOT" BOTTINGFORD - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Randall correctly observes that American {{w|Vice President of the United States|Vice Presidents}} since the 80s have almost all had short first names; each yellow name in the VP column uses the shortened form of their first name (as with Joseph 'Joe' Biden).

In the comic's caption, Randall amusingly describes this as an emerging "political consensus."

While not a "political" consensus per se, the observed phenomenom is a type of consensus — reflecting a multi-decade change in US societal norms — and is not simply a random coincidence.
* There has been a national US trend toward shorter names since the 1980s and 1990s, with a rise in the popularity of baby names like Ryan, Kyle, Amy, and Lisa. (The trend has continued, with even shorter names like Ava, Mia, and Max becoming more common in the 2000s and 2010s.)
* This has paralleled a trend in shorter business names, with companies like Dell, Cisco, and eBay before the turn of the millennium and Google, Uber, and Lyft after. Product naming also began to simplify in the late 20th century, driven by marketing strategies that favored brevity and memorability, exemplified by Apple's iconic "iMac" and "iPhone" products.
* All of these naming trends reflect a ''general'' societal trend toward minimalism and less formality, also seen with corporate logos, product design (Apple), clothing design (Gap), furniture design (IKEA), and web/app design.

This societal shift explains why many politicians with given names like Danforth, Albert, and Richard might have prefered to go by shorter, more approachable names like Dan, Al, and Dick to match the zeitgeist. Indeed, the politicians' names since the 1980s not in yellow mostly have names that don't easily shorten, such as George, Barack, and Kamala.
* The exception, Donald Trump (which can be shortened to Don), did not become a politician until late in life when he was already nationally famous using his full name.

'''Timing'''
* This comic was published one day after {{w|Kamala Harris}} (who replaced Biden as presidential candidate) chose {{w|Tim Walz}} as her running mate for the {{w|2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election}}.
* Both the Republican and Democratic tickets are present for 2024, since the 2024 election had not yet concluded when this comic was made. Either party winning would match the observation. JD Vance is a special sitation, since "JD" is a preferred nickname based on his initials.

The '''title text''' amusingly suggests (1) the existence of a ScrabbleTV News channel (named after {{w|Scrabble|the word game}}) staffed with (2) political pundits who (3) report Biden's decision to end his re-election campaign as being driven by orthographic (related to the writing of words) pressure to conform to the aforementioned political consensus. As long as Kamala was VP, this orthographic consensus was being violated. This could also be a subtle joke about political pundits tending to give confident, inaccurate hot-takes. (Biden's decision was driven, among other things, by worsening polling, a poor debate performance against Trump, and subsequent pressure from other leading Democrats.)

The other Democratic vice presidental candidates mentioned were all considered to be the top six candidates during the final days before Harris's VP announcement of Tim Walz: Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly, Andy Beshear, Roy Cooper, and Pete Buttigieg. (Other VP candidates with short names like JB Pritzker and Wes Moore were not among the final six.)

This is Randall's second recent comic engaging in observational comedy about US politics and Kamala Harris, the first being [[2962: President Venn Diagram]] which was published right after she rose to the top of the Democratic ticket.

===Trivia: Other ways to shorten names===
Politicians can also use a more casual name by employing their middle name (as with {{w|Mitt Romney|Willard Mitt Romney}}). Even when they're not shortened to four or fewer letters, names can be made more casual in other ways (as with {{w|Bernie Sanders|Bernard 'Bernie' Sanders}}). As well, some politicians were commonly called by short nicknames even if they did not run under those names (Dwight 'Ike' Eisenhower).

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Presidential Ticket Names
! Year !! President !! Vice-President
|-
| 2024 || Donald (John {{w|Donald Trump|Trump}}‎) Kamala (Devi {{w|Kamala Harris|Harris}}) || '''JD''' (''James David'' {{w|JD Vance|Vance}}, né James Donald Bowman)‎ '''Tim''' (''Timothy'' {{w|Tim Walz|Walz}})
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' (''Joseph'' Robinette {{w|Joe Biden|Biden}} Jr.) || Kamala (Devi Harris)
|-
| 2016 || Donald (John Trump)‎ || '''Mike''' (''Michael'' Richard {{w|Mike Pence|Pence}})
|-
| 2012 2008 || Barack (Hussein {{w|Barack Obama|Obama}} II)‎ || '''Joe''' (''Joseph'' Robinette Biden, Jr.)
|-
| 2004 2000 || George (Walker {{w|George W. Bush|Bush}}) || '''Dick''' (''Richard'' Bruce {{w|Dick Cheney|Cheney}})
|-
| 1996 1992 || '''Bill''' (''William'' Jefferson {{w|Bill Clinton|Clinton}}, né W. J. Blythe III) || '''Al''' (''Albert'' Arnold {{w|Al Gore|Gore}} Jr.)
|-
| 1988 || George (Herbert Walker {{w|George H. W. Bush|Bush}})‎ || '''Dan''' (James ''Danforth'' {{w|Dan Quayle|Quayle}} )
|-
| 1984 1980 || Ronald (Wilson {{w|Ronald Reagan|Reagan}})‎ || George (Herbert Walker Bush)
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy (''James'' Earl {{w|Jimmy Carter|Carter}} Jr.) || Walter (Frederick {{w|Walter Mondale|Mondale}})
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1974 || ‎Gerald (Rudolph {{w|Gerald Ford|Ford}} Jr, né Leslie Lynch King Jr.) || Nelson (Aldrich {{w|Nelson Rockefeller|Rockefeller}})*
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1973 || ‎Richard (Milhous {{w|Richard Nixon|Nixon}}) || Gerald (Rudolph Ford Jr.)*
|-
| 1972 1968 || ‎Richard (Milhous Nixon) || Spiro (Theodore {{w|Spiro Agnew|Agnew}})
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon (Baines {{w|Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson}}) || Hubert (Horatio {{w|Hubert Humphrey|Humphrey}} Jr.)
|-style="background-color:lightgray"
| 1963 || Lyndon (Baines Johnson)† || ''vacant''
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' (Fitzgerald {{w|John F. Kennedy|Kennedy}}) || Lyndon (Baines Johnson)
|-
| 1956 1952 || Dwight (David {{w|Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower}}, né David Dwight Eisenhower) || Richard (Milhous Nixon)
|}

:Darkened rows show transitions not made via an {{w|List of United States major party presidential tickets|electoral 'ticket'}}.
::''* Replacements made in response to political scandal''
::''† Accession to Presidency due to assassination, VP position left unfilled until next election (not shown in comic)''

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Tables are bad? Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A table is shown in a panel. Names of "Four letters or fewer" are shown in the comic on a yellow background (bolded in the table below).]
:{| class="wikitable"
! !! President !! VP
|-
| 2024 ||? Kamala ? Donald || '''Tim ? JD ?'''
|-
| 2020 || '''Joe''' || Kamala
|-
| 2016 || Donald‎ || '''Mike'''
|-
| 2008 || Barack‎ || '''Joe'''
|-
| 2000 || George || '''Dick'''
|-
| 1992 || '''Bill''' || '''Al'''
|-
| 1988 || George || '''Dan'''
|-
| 1980 || Ronald‎ || George
|-
| 1976 || ‎Jimmy || Walter
|-
| 1974 || ‎Gerald || Nelson
|-
| 1973 || ‎Richard || Gerald
|-
| 1968 || ‎Richard || Spiro
|-
| 1964 || Lyndon || Hubert
|-
| 1960 || '''John''' || Lyndon
|-
| 1952 || Dwight || Richard
|}

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Since the 1980s, a political consensus has emerged: vice presidents should have short first names.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Elections]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]

Talk:2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-07T19:20:29Z

Laser813:

I mentioned [[1122]] in the description. Are there any other comics about election trends/rules? Well, [[2383]], of course. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.182.150|172.71.182.150]] 14:33, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

In checking all names, surprised to see so many "né"s, but not overly surprised to see no "neé"s. (I mean, "Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (née H. D. Rodham)" would have been one, of course, in a different trouserleg of time. But Harris stayed as "Harris", not taking/adding "Emhoff" from the person who may well become the first First Gentleman.) Interesting though. Had to resist adding "Dubya", "Ronnie" and "Rocky" nicknames, of course, as they were not the 'formal' nickname that the respective people prefered to go by. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.130|172.70.90.130]] 16:29, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

Going from the beginning you're pretty much limited to Johns and a Levi prior to the chart. There a few potential Hanks and Bills, and a possible Ted more commonly referred to as Teddy. I've never heard anyone refer to Tom Jefferson or Chet A. Arthur. [[User:RegularSizedGuy|RegularSizedGuy]] ([[User talk:RegularSizedGuy|talk]]) 16:42, 7 August 2024 (UTC)
:What about {{w|Hannibal Hamlin|Hann}}? And, {{w|Schuyler Colfax|'Sky'}} (Unless you decide to pronounce the latter more like "Schu". Because, if you did, those two together would fit them like a {{wiktionary|Handschuh#German|glove}}...) [[Special:Contributions/172.68.186.157|172.68.186.157]] 17:03, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

Alright, it seems that ''somebody'' has removed my earlier comment protesting the ongoing genocide that Harris supports. Has this wiki fallen too? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.90.130|172.70.90.130]] 17:09, 7 August 2024 (UTC)
:A quick runthrough of article edits doesn't show anything of what you say, unless I've missed it as too subtle. But, I have to say, that the wording you use here is indicative of the problem being with your 'interpretation'. "Genocide" is a heavy allogation to make and such extraordinary claims would require extraordinary justification, not just talking points taken from the fast-and-loose fringes of public opinion. (Not to mention that if your political rivals were as wicked as that, then you'd be risking your life/freedom to oppose them. But, hey, you apparently have the free speech to say utter nonsense with!) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.173|172.70.86.173]] 17:33, 7 August 2024 (UTC)
::check twitter [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.152|172.70.85.152]] 18:23, 7 August 2024 (UTC)
:::OK, I checked it. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 19:20, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

Seems like an opportunity was missed to point out how many presidents on the list have exactly 6 letters in their first name...Kamala, Donald, Donald, Barack, George, George, Ronald, Gerald, Lyndon, Dwight. It may be worth mentioning? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.131.153|172.70.131.153]]

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-07T18:11:03Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-07T18:10:54Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-07T18:06:56Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-07T17:59:29Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

2969: Vice President First Names

2024-08-07T17:49:25Z

Laser813:

2966: Exam Numbers

2024-08-01T17:46:14Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2966
| date = July 31, 2024
| title = Exam Numbers
| image = exam_numbers_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x400px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Calligraphy exam: Write down the number 37, spelled out, nicely.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 10 MORE THAN AVERAGE MATH TEACHERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic depicts various similarly formatted examination questions that might appear on test papers at various points in a student's potential academic career. While they all share a similar feel, they are asking for different things, some of which might be considered more serious and examinable proofs of study than others. The joke is that the first and last questions are the same, but have very different interpretations based on the context.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Exam numbers
! Exam level !! Question !! Answer
|-
| {{w|Kindergarten}} math || Write down the biggest number you can think of || At a kindergarten-level education, it is assumed that an individual might write down a relatively small number like 300, depending upon whether they have encountered the concept of hundreds. It might also be interpreted as "what's the highest number that you (think you) can count up to". Given the nature of a child's exuberant glee at learning about ''really'' big (but otherwise normal) numbers, they may even try an answer something like "a million billion squillion gazillion". It is not certain what criteria would be used to mark this question correct or otherwise, it may actually be a stealth question in child psychology or a question that everybody "gets right" so long as they answer it.
|-
| Pre-{{w|algebra}} || Write down the value of x if x=3x-8 ||

''3x'' refers to the multiplication of 3 and the originally unknown number ''x'', as a convenient shorthand.

By subtracting ''3x'' from both sides, ''-2x = -8''. Divide both sides by -2 to find ''x''=4. Alternately, subtract ''x'' from both sides to give ''0 = 2x - 8'', and as taking 8 from two ''x''s makes it zero, one ''x'' is half that

(Verify by plugging ''x''=4 into the original equation. '''4''' = (3*'''4''') - 8 -> '''4''' = 12 - 8 -> '''4''' = 4.)
|-
| {{w|Calculus}} || Write down the value of ∫0π x sin2 x dx ||
The integral can be solved using a trigonometric identity:

∫0π x sin2 x dx

= ∫0π x (1-cos 2x)/2 dx

= ½ ∫0π x dx - ½ ∫0π x cos 2x dx

= ¼ x2 |0π - ¼ ∫0π x (sin 2x)’ dx

= ¼ x2 |0π - ¼ x sin 2x |0π + ¼ ∫0π (x)’ sin 2x dx

= ¼ x2 |0π - ¼ x sin 2x |0π + ¼ ∫0π sin 2x dx

= ¼ x2 |0π - ¼ x sin 2x |0π - ⅛ cos 2x |0π

= ¼ π2 = 2.4674...

|-
| PhD {{w|Cosmology}} || Write down the Hubble constant to within 1% || The Hubble constant is a component of {{w|Hubble's law}}, which describes the relationship between the distance between galaxies and their speed of separation. Its exact value is not known to this level of accuracy; it is about 2.3×10-18 Hz. Different methods of measuring it have come up with significantly different values, and resolving this difference (the {{w|Hubble's law#Hubble tension|Hubble tension}}) is one of the great challenges of modern cosmology. PhDs involve advancing their field, so it seems this particular PhD student has completed a thesis solving this problem. This question might have a different acceptable answer in the future, depending upon further developments in cosmology (although the 'constant' itself changes over time).

What would a correct answer look like? If we assume that the Hubble constant is 2.300×10-18 Hz -- a number that is more exact than current estimates -- the accurate answer would be between 2.299×10-18 Hz and 2.301×10-18 Hz.
|-
| {{w|Game Theory}} || Write down 10 more than the average of the class's answers || Game Theory studies "games" (and 'game-like' situations) in which two or more participants take actions that will succeed or fail based on other participants' decisions. In this case, all students' answers will be averaged (likely a simple {{w|arithmetical mean}}), and the best answer would be one that is 10 more than that average.

For instance, if the answers end up being 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70, the (mean) average would be 50, making 60 the best possible answer. As an individual test taker who doesn't know what your classmates are going to write down, the objective is to answer 10 more than your estimate of the average (taking into account your own guess), ''knowing that everyone else will be doing the same.''

Something similar to this question is found in the title text of [[2385: Final Exam]].
|-
| Postgraduate Math || Write down the biggest number you can think of || This question echoes the very first example, but would be expected to be answered very differently (unlike a revisiting of most of the others).
Postgraduate math students can probably think of ''very'' large numbers. While a tempting answer could be "{{w|infinity}}", most mathematicians do not consider infinity to be a number, but rather a class of numbers. (Writing down "Infinity" in this context would be as wrong as writing down "Primes" or "Positive integers"). Even if infinity is an acceptable answer, some infinities are bigger than others. Students familiar with the field of [https://googology.fandom.com/wiki/Googology#History Googology] may give an answer such as Rayo's Number, which was the winning entry in the [https://googology.fandom.com/wiki/Big_Number_Duel Big Number Duel].

This might heavily depend upon the branch of mathematics you are studying. Named (finite) numbers, or ones with specific and useful notations, might satisfy some questioning contexts, whilst the existence of a whole further set of trans-finite numbers (i.e. increasingly large types of "infinity") would be important considerations in others. For those associated with more computational mathematics, any infinity would be {{w|NaN|Not a Number}}, and their answer might instead be the ceiling of some binary representation (typically ''28n-1'' for some value of ''n''), the largest unsigned value reliably storable in a given byte form for an integer (e.g. a {{w|Integer (computer science)|double quadword}}). On the other end of the spectrum, many abstract algebraists might answer with some variation of "What ring are we working in, and is it even well ordered?" It also might be a trick question: if you can envision a real number greater than one, are you even doing real math (in a given field)?

As with the kindergarten question, there may be no previously anticipated "correct" answer. It could be another "correct just so long as you answer it" (or perhaps "sensibly" so) or the mark goes only to those giving the greatest valid number across all submissions.
|-
| {{w|Calligraphy}} (title text) || Write down the number 37, spelled out, nicely || Calligraphy is the art of artistic writing. The title text expands the joke outside the realm of math and points out that since calligraphy does not require any math skills, the only way a calligraphy exam would even mention numbers is if one had to write them out in such a way as to showcase their calligraphic skill and aesthetic judgement (choosing a form and adornment of script that is "nice", which may be a highly subjective choice). In this case, it could be rendered as "thirty-seven" or "thirty seven", or possibly, "one score and seventeen" in old-fashioned writing. The subject may choose to render it in a language other than English — for example "dau ar bymtheg ar hugain" would provide significant scope to show off calligraphic skill. {{w|37}} is a number that some people believe [http://thirty-seven.org mysteriously appears more often than it should]; this was a subject of a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iQrh2TK98 recent Veritasium video].
|}

This style of final exam question, un-numbered and therefore possibly the ''only'' question upon the whole of each final paper, in some ways (for some instances) echoes the question "What is your name?" that Randall will be aware was the sole question given to Discworld's {{w|List of Discworld characters#Victor Tugelbend|Victor Tugelbend}} in an attempt to ensure he comprehensively passed (or utterly failed) his final student-wizard's exam, after many prior times of deliberately not-quite-passing.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[6 different math test questions.]

:[The first panel:]
:Kindergarten math final exam
:Q. Write down the biggest number you can think of
:A. [empty box]

:[The second panel:]
:Pre-algebra final exam
:Q. Write down the value of x if x=3x-8
:A. [empty box]

:[The third panel:]
:Calculus final exam
:Q. Write down the value of [integral sign, from 0 to pi] x sin^2 x dx
:A. [empty box]

:[The fourth panel:]
:PhD cosmology final exam
:Q. Write down the Hubble constant to within 1%
:A. [empty box]

:[The fifth panel:]
:Game theory final exam
:Q. Write down 10 more than the average of the class's answers
:A. [empty box]

:[The sixth panel:]
:Postgraduate math final exam
:Q. Write down the biggest number you can think of
:A. [empty box]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]

2966: Exam Numbers

2024-08-01T17:27:46Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2966
| date = July 31, 2024
| title = Exam Numbers
| image = exam_numbers_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x400px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Calligraphy exam: Write down the number 37, spelled out, nicely.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 10 MORE THAN AVERAGE MATH TEACHERS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic depicts various similarly formatted examination questions that might appear on test papers at various points in a student's potential academic career. While they all share a similar feel, they are asking for different things, some of which might be considered more serious and examinable proofs of study than others. The joke is that the first and last questions are the same, but have very different interpretations based on the context.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Exam numbers
! Exam level !! Question !! Answer
|-
| {{w|Kindergarten}} math || Write down the biggest number you can think of || At a kindergarten-level education, it is assumed that an individual might write down a relatively small number like 300, depending upon whether they have encountered the concept of hundreds. It might also be interpreted as "what's the highest number that you (think you) can count up to". Given the nature of a child's exuberant glee at learning about ''really'' big (but otherwise normal) numbers, they may even try an answer something like "a million billion squillion gazillion". It is not certain what criteria would be used to mark this question correct or otherwise, it may actually be a stealth question in child psychology or a question that everybody "gets right" so long as they answer it.
|-
| Pre-{{w|algebra}} || Write down the value of x if x=3x-8 ||

''3x'' refers to the multiplication of 3 and the originally unknown number ''x'', as a convenient shorthand.

By subtracting ''3x'' from both sides, ''-2x = -8''. Divide both sides by -2 to find ''x''=4. Alternately, subtract ''x'' from both sides to give ''0 = 2x - 8'', and as taking 8 from two ''x''s makes it zero, one ''x'' is half that

(Verify by plugging ''x''=4 into the original equation. '''4''' = (3*'''4''') - 8 -> '''4''' = 12 - 8 -> '''4''' = 4.)
|-
| {{w|Calculus}} || Write down the value of ∫0π x sin2 x dx ||
The integral can be solved using a trigonometric identity:

∫0π x sin2 x dx

= ∫0π x (1-cos 2x)/2 dx

= ½ ∫0π x dx - ½ ∫0π x cos 2x dx

= ¼ x2 |0π - ¼ ∫0π x (sin 2x)’ dx

= ¼ x2 |0π - ¼ x sin 2x |0π + ¼ ∫0π (x)’ sin 2x dx

= ¼ x2 |0π - ¼ x sin 2x |0π + ¼ ∫0π sin 2x dx

= ¼ x2 |0π - ¼ x sin 2x |0π - ⅛ cos 2x |0π

= ¼ π2 = 2.4674...

|-
| PhD {{w|Cosmology}} || Write down the Hubble constant to within 1% || The Hubble constant is a component of {{w|Hubble's law}}, which describes the relationship between the distance between galaxies and their speed of separation. Its exact value is not known to this level of accuracy; it is about 2.3×10-18 Hz. Different methods of measuring it have come up with significantly different values, and resolving this difference (the {{w|Hubble's law#Hubble tension|Hubble tension}}) is one of the great challenges of modern cosmology. PhDs involve advancing their field, so it seems this particular PhD student has completed a thesis solving this problem. This question might have a different acceptable answer in the future, depending upon further developments in cosmology (although the 'constant' itself changes over time).

An answer within 1% of a number with a power of 18 would be specific to the power of 16. In other words, if the Hubble constant is truly 2.300×10-18 Hz, the accurate answer would be between 2.299×10-18 Hz and 2.301×10-18 Hz.
|-
| {{w|Game Theory}} || Write down 10 more than the average of the class's answers || Game Theory studies "games" (and 'game-like' situations) in which two or more participants take actions that will succeed or fail based on other participants' decisions. In this case, all students' answers will be averaged (what kind of average is not stated, but the common assumption would be an {{w|arithmetical mean}}), and the highest- (or perhaps only) scoring answer will be one that is 10 more than that average.

If a student knew what everyone else was thinking, this would incentivise them to answer 10 more than the consensus (taking into account their own forthcoming answer), which would not necessarily be the largest number written down. For instance, if the answers end up being 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70, the (mean) average would be 50, making 60 the most correct answer. Since they presumably do not know each other's answers, they will have to guess what those answers are likely to be, factoring in that each of the other students will also be guessing everyone's answers and responding accordingly.

In reality, most game theory exams test your understanding of game theory as an academic subject, not your ability to win games. (A type of class where actual results may result in better grades is a business negotiation class where the results of practice negotiations can determine one's grade on the assignment.)

Something similar to this question is found in the title text of [[2385: Final Exam]].
|-
| Postgraduate Math || Write down the biggest number you can think of || This question echoes the very first example, but would be expected to be answered very differently (unlike a revisiting of most of the others).
Postgraduate math students can probably think of ''very'' large numbers. While a tempting answer could be "{{w|infinity}}", most mathematicians do not consider infinity to be a number, but rather a class of numbers. (Writing down "Infinity" in this context would be as wrong as writing down "Primes" or "Positive integers"). Even if infinity is an acceptable answer, some infinities are bigger than others. Students familiar with the field of [https://googology.fandom.com/wiki/Googology#History Googology] may give an answer such as Rayo's Number, which was the winning entry in the [https://googology.fandom.com/wiki/Big_Number_Duel Big Number Duel].

This might heavily depend upon the branch of mathematics you are studying. Named (finite) numbers, or ones with specific and useful notations, might satisfy some questioning contexts, whilst the existence of a whole further set of trans-finite numbers (i.e. increasingly large types of "infinity") would be important considerations in others. For those associated with more computational mathematics, any infinity would be {{w|NaN|Not a Number}}, and their answer might instead be the ceiling of some binary representation (typically ''28n-1'' for some value of ''n''), the largest unsigned value reliably storable in a given byte form for an integer (e.g. a {{w|Integer (computer science)|double quadword}}). On the other end of the spectrum, many abstract algebraists might answer with some variation of "What ring are we working in, and is it even well ordered?" It also might be a trick question: if you can envision a real number greater than one, are you even doing real math (in a given field)?

As with the kindergarten question, there may be no previously anticipated "correct" answer. It could be another "correct just so long as you answer it" (or perhaps "sensibly" so) or the mark goes only to those giving the greatest valid number across all submissions.
|-
| {{w|Calligraphy}} (title text) || Write down the number 37, spelled out, nicely || Calligraphy is the art of artistic writing. The title text expands the joke outside the realm of math and points out that since calligraphy does not require any math skills, the only way a calligraphy exam would even mention numbers is if one had to write them out in such a way as to showcase their calligraphic skill and aesthetic judgement (choosing a form and adornment of script that is "nice", which may be a highly subjective choice). In this case, it could be rendered as "thirty-seven" or "thirty seven", or possibly, "one score and seventeen" in old-fashioned writing. The subject may choose to render it in a language other than English — for example "dau ar bymtheg ar hugain" would provide significant scope to show off calligraphic skill. {{w|37}} is a number that some people believe [http://thirty-seven.org mysteriously appears more often than it should]; this was a subject of a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6iQrh2TK98 recent Veritasium video].
|}

This style of final exam question, un-numbered and therefore possibly the ''only'' question upon the whole of each final paper, in some ways (for some instances) echoes the question "What is your name?" that Randall will be aware was the sole question given to Discworld's {{w|List of Discworld characters#Victor Tugelbend|Victor Tugelbend}} in an attempt to ensure he comprehensively passed (or utterly failed) his final student-wizard's exam, after many prior times of deliberately not-quite-passing.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[6 different math test questions.]

:[The first panel:]
:Kindergarten math final exam
:Q. Write down the biggest number you can think of
:A. [empty box]

:[The second panel:]
:Pre-algebra final exam
:Q. Write down the value of x if x=3x-8
:A. [empty box]

:[The third panel:]
:Calculus final exam
:Q. Write down the value of [integral sign, from 0 to pi] x sin^2 x dx
:A. [empty box]

:[The fourth panel:]
:PhD cosmology final exam
:Q. Write down the Hubble constant to within 1%
:A. [empty box]

:[The fifth panel:]
:Game theory final exam
:Q. Write down 10 more than the average of the class's answers
:A. [empty box]

:[The sixth panel:]
:Postgraduate math final exam
:Q. Write down the biggest number you can think of
:A. [empty box]

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Math]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]

2966: Exam Numbers

2024-07-31T19:44:08Z

Laser813:

2965: Chili Tornado Quake

2024-07-31T16:20:56Z

Laser813: /* Scenario 1: No missing word */

{{comic
| number = 2965
| date = July 29, 2024
| title = Chili Tornado Quake
| image = chili_tornado_quake_2x.png
| imagesize = 302x252px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SCALED CAROLINA REAPER-CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]], as a [[:Category:News anchor|news anchor]], is reporting on a tornado that struck a chili pepper processing plant during an earthquake, and he rates the event as 55,000 on the (fictional) Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale.

The Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale combines several unrelated scales:
* The '''{{w|Richter scale}}''' is a historic (but still well known) logarithmic scale for rating the intensity of {{w|earthquakes}} that typically range from about 3 to 9.5.
* The '''{{w|Fujita scale}}''' rates the intensity of damage caused by {{w|tornadoes}} which ranges from 0 to 5.
* The '''{{w|Scoville scale}}''' rates the spiciness of {{w|chili peppers}} from 0 (not at all spicy) all the way up into the millions.

The joke is that combining these scales is nonsensical and silly; the effects of each are not interrelated in any meaningful way.

It's likely the three base numbers are ''multiplied'', as with {{w|Foot-pound (energy)|similar}} compound-unit calculations, to give the single combined measure (although some nominal types are treated as {{w|Erdős–Bacon number|additive}}).
* Richter: Since the building is still there it is not a 9 on the Richter scale, suggesting a maximum around 8. The fracturing of the earth suggests a minimum of 6.
* Fujita: Given the image, this is not a 5 on the tornado scale, suggesting a maximum around 4. The severe damage to the building suggests a minimum of 3.
* Scoville: This would then leave the rest for the Scoville scale, which would give around 1700 on that scale as a minimum. The other two numbers could easily be smaller so that the Scoville number would be reaching above 3000. The chili peppers being processed could be poblano (Scoville number between about 1000 and 2000) or jalapeño (2500 to 10,000), among others.

In the title text it is mentioned that buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts [due] to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating. The {{w|Mohs scale}} is a scale for mineral hardness which ranges from 1 (e.g. talc) to 10 (diamond), with lower numbers being softer and higher numbers being harder. Chili peppers are strong in a spicy sense, but very soft on the Mohs scale, so if it was only the chilies that hit other buildings it would only be very soft material that would take any damage. Of course there would also be building material hitting nearby houses, thus they would do more damage than the chili, by an amount that would depend upon the relative hardness of the processing plant structure to that of other buildings. The former is frangible enough to have become dislodged from its structure, but may be just as brittle as it is ultimately abrasive, or is composed of thoroughly resilient pieces of material previously held in place by mortar or some other binding of insufficient adhesion or mechanical strength. From either point or failure (or both!), the wind-whipped cloud of debris might then indeed be able to scour more generally well-built structures nearby, even ones actually designed to withstand and absorb such winds/earth movements in their own right.

A number, where the hardness of the materials hitting nearby buildings was taken into consideration, could have been given, adding a fourth number to consider in the scale, but no such number is provided.

Similar comics:
* [[2950: Situation]] - several unlikely scenarios, all at once
* [[1531: The BDLPSWDKS Effect]] - also a hybrid multi-disciplinary amalgam of measurements
* [[1794: Fire]] - featuring a multiple-alarm fire in an alarm factory

===Discussion: Is the title text missing a word?===
The title text might be missing the word "due," or it might not be a typo; both scenarios are possible, but the meaning changes.

Since it's impossible to say which scenario is correct, here are the implications of both.

====Scenario 1: No missing word====
The sentence as written means that '''the chili peppers impacted the ''magnitude'' of the scale'''. In other words, buildings made of soft materials were damaged because the Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating was higher than it otherwise would have been as a result of the chili peppers. This suggests that spicier peppers are more likely to damage soft buildings.

The text has a somewhat awkward and unusual phrasing, if this was the intended meaning. If it was intented, Randall is presumably making a pun on the word impact, using it in an unusual way. Discussion about impacts from disasters usually talk about physical impacts, not impacts to abstact measurement systems, so the joke may be about this secondary kind of impact.

====Scenario 2: Missing word====
"Buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts '''due''' to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating."

The sentence with "due" means that soft buildings were damaged by chili peppers, since the storm's hardness rating was high enough. This seems more straightforward: harder peppers successfully effacing soft building materials.

==Transcript==
:[Close-up of Cueball, a news anchor, next to an image with a headline above it to the left of him. The image shows of black tornado descending from sky-cover above. It is striking a building that has been damaged near where the tornado hits. Two large chilies can be seen flying through the air in the foreground, with pieces of the building and more chilies flying off further away. Straight beneath the building and going up in the middle of it there is a crack, that divides into three inside the building. The ground is also higher to the right of the point where the crack enters the building. Cueball is speaking which is shown above the image and him.]
:Headline: Breaking news
:Cueball: A tornado that struck a chili pepper processing plant during an earthquake was rated 55,000 on the Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Tornadoes]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Earthquakes]]

2965: Chili Tornado Quake

2024-07-31T15:13:31Z

Laser813: /* Discussion: Is the title text missing a word? */

{{comic
| number = 2965
| date = July 29, 2024
| title = Chili Tornado Quake
| image = chili_tornado_quake_2x.png
| imagesize = 302x252px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SCALED CAROLINA REAPER-CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]], as a [[:Category:News anchor|news anchor]], is reporting on a tornado that struck a chili pepper processing plant during an earthquake, and he rates the event as 55,000 on the (fictional) Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale.

The Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale combines several unrelated scales:
* The '''{{w|Richter scale}}''' is a historic (but still well known) logarithmic scale for rating the intensity of {{w|earthquakes}} that typically range from about 3 to 9.5.
* The '''{{w|Fujita scale}}''' rates the intensity of damage caused by {{w|tornadoes}} which ranges from 0 to 5.
* The '''{{w|Scoville scale}}''' rates the spiciness of {{w|chili peppers}} from 0 (not at all spicy) all the way up into the millions.

The joke is that combining these scales is nonsensical and silly; the effects of each are not interrelated in any meaningful way.

It's likely the three base numbers are ''multiplied'', as with {{w|Foot-pound (energy)|similar}} compound-unit calculations, to give the single combined measure (although some nominal types are treated as {{w|Erdős–Bacon number|additive}}).
* Richter: Since the building is still there it is not a 9 on the Richter scale, suggesting a maximum around 8. The fracturing of the earth suggests a minimum of 6.
* Fujita: Given the image, this is not a 5 on the tornado scale, suggesting a maximum around 4. The severe damage to the building suggests a minimum of 3.
* Scoville: This would then leave the rest for the Scoville scale, which would give around 1700 on that scale as a minimum. The other two numbers could easily be smaller so that the Scoville number would be reaching above 3000. The chili peppers being processed could be poblano (Scoville number between about 1000 and 2000) or jalapeño (2500 to 10,000), among others.

In the title text it is mentioned that buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts [due] to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating. The {{w|Mohs scale}} is a scale for mineral hardness which ranges from 1 (e.g. talc) to 10 (diamond), with lower numbers being softer and higher numbers being harder. Chili peppers are strong in a spicy sense, but very soft on the Mohs scale, so if it was only the chilies that hit other buildings it would only be very soft material that would take any damage. Of course there would also be building material hitting nearby houses, thus they would do more damage than the chili, by an amount that would depend upon the relative hardness of the processing plant structure to that of other buildings. The former is frangible enough to have become dislodged from its structure, but may be just as brittle as it is ultimately abrasive, or is composed of thoroughly resilient pieces of material previously held in place by mortar or some other binding of insufficient adhesion or mechanical strength. From either point or failure (or both!), the wind-whipped cloud of debris might then indeed be able to scour more generally well-built structures nearby, even ones actually designed to withstand and absorb such winds/earth-movements in their own right.

A number, where the hardness of the materials hitting nearby buildings was taken into consideration, could have been given, adding a fourth number to consider in the scale, but no such number is provided.

Similar comics:
* [[2950: Situation]] - several unlikely scenarios, all at once
* [[1531: The BDLPSWDKS Effect]] - also a hybrid multi-disciplinary amalgum of measurements
* [[1794: Fire]] - featuring a multiple-alarm fire in an alarm factory

===Discussion: Is the title text missing a word?===
The title text might be missing the word "due," or it might not be a typo; both scenarios are possible, but the meaning changes.

Since it's impossible to say which scenario is correct, here are the implications of both.

====Scenario 1: No missing word====
The sentence as written means that '''the chili peppers impacted the ''magnitude'' of the scale'''. In other words, buildings made of soft materials were damaged because the Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardess rating was higher than it otherwise would have been as a result of the chili peppers. This suggests that spicier peppers are more likely to damage soft buildings.

====Scenario 2: Missing word====
"Buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts '''due''' to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating."

The sentence with "due" means that soft buildings were damanaged by chili peppers, since the storm's hardness rating was high enough. This seems more straightforward: harder peppers successfully efacing soft building materials.

==Transcript==
:[Close-up of Cueball, a news anchor, next to an image with a headline above it to the left of him. The image shows of black tornado descending from sky-cover above. It is striking a building that has been damaged near where the tornado hits. Two large chilies can be seen flying through the air in the foreground, with pieces of the building and more chilies flying off further away. Straight beneath the building and going up in the middle of it there is a crack, that divides into three inside the building. The ground is also higher to the right of the point where the crack enters the building. Cueball is speaking which is shown above the image and him.]
:Headline: Breaking news
:Cueball: A tornado that struck a chili pepper processing plant during an earthquake was rated 55,000 on the Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Tornadoes]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Earthquakes]]

Talk:2965: Chili Tornado Quake

2024-07-31T15:11:59Z

Laser813:

for some reason I always feel nervous providing an initial transcript like I'm gonna do the format wrong but nah this transcript is pretty simple, would be hard to get it very wrong - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 04:02, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:No need to worry cause it can always be changed. I have tweaked the transcript a bit. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:06, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

wait--is the titletext missing a "due"? - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 04:04, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:I think so, yeah. First time I've seen Randall make a mistake in the alt text. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.137.212|162.158.137.212]] 04:33, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
::I have seen this several times, and sometimes he fixed it later. I have added this to a trivia section. If it is changed, it should still be mentioned there, but of course updated with the original mistake instead. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:06, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:::No, there isn't. The title text means that the chilli peppers impacted the magnitude of the scale (check wiktionary, it's a real use of the word.). --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.222.142|162.158.222.142]] 08:58, 31 July 2024 (UTC)
::::I think it's impossible to say whether it's missing or intentionally phrased that way, so I've added a discussion section explaining both potential scenarios. [[User:Laser813|Laser813]] ([[User talk:Laser813|talk]]) 15:11, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

Funnily enough, an earthquake large enough to shake the house occurred near me today! No chili peppers and definitely no tornadoes nearby, (un)fortunately. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.92|162.158.91.92]] 04:02, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

Wonder how the scales combine. Given that Richter and Fujita are both single digit numbers (well, Richter can go above 10, but normally only when Roland Emmerich is directing), they would be pretty meaningless in an additive scale, so I would assume multiplicative. If so, the amount of damage to the building suggests relatively mild peppers.[[User:RegularSizedGuy|RegularSizedGuy]] ([[User talk:RegularSizedGuy|talk]]) 04:11, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:what if it's like a geometric mean or smth? that feels like it makes more sense than additive and it would also allow the average pepper involved in the incident to be ''higher'' than the 55k listed - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 04:19, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
::I believe the only method that makes sense is multiplying. Since spicy can go to 0, then 2000-3000 is probably still pretty strong for most people? Anyway, it may have been a smaller earthquake and not that big a tornado, maybe 3 and 6 then it alt least get above 3000. I have added these considerations to the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:06, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:::No method makes 'sense' - the whole comic aspect is that it makes no sense to combine these scales in the first place. Given that, I think the question is unanswerable, since it would require knowledge of a non-existent purpose that the scale is trying to achieve.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.175|172.69.43.175]] 14:17, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
::::I disagree, it makes most sense to multiply ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:16, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
::3000 is a low-end jalapeno, even a serrano is about 10k. Habanero is a couple of 100k. Would it be complete scientific abomination to take Fujita/Richter as additive and then multiply the result by scoville? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.43.167|172.69.43.167]] 13:00, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:::You can do that. It will still not get you to serrano... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:16, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:Though I agree that a multiplicative compound unit is most likely (unlike the additive Erdős–Bacon one, and further variations), it's worth noting that you can have F0 tornados, zero (as well as negative) in the Richter scale and/or 0 Scoville peppers (though the latter less likely, here). If either of the first two are counted as zero, they stil ''exist'', but means that any (finite) values attributed to the remaining measure would never produce a combined unit that is non-zero. So you probably have to lower-limit the Tornado measurement and ensure the Earthquake one is >0 to back-calculate any sensible Pepper value. If done as per the EB method, though, it just means that the source Scoville number is pretty much the whole contributor to the resulting sum (even if itçs an F5 with a 10 on the Ricbter scale, it's just 15 less than the merged value). Geptetic meandrians, aside, there are few other 'logical' functions between these three source values and the combo-evaluation, but many that might stretch plausibility. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.186.90|172.68.186.90]] 13:11, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
::Since we have the picture where a tornado wrecks havoc to a factory and the Earthquake shifts the Earth and breaks a building we can rule out anything below 3 on the tornado and 6 on the Richter scale... So it is a void discussion here. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:16, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
::I'm happy that, while disappointed they are not in the comic, Erdős/Bacon numbers appear at least in the comments. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.110.32|172.68.110.32]] 10:52, 31 July 2024 (UTC)
:::I recently learned that there's a github repository that tracks people with Erdős-Bacon-Sabbath numbers. As in people who have a publishing link with Paul Erdős, an acting link with Kevin Bacon, and a musical performance link with Black Sabbath. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.246|172.71.254.246]] 13:58, 31 July 2024 (UTC)
::::Do we know for sure that Erdős didn't fake his own death, kill Ozzy Osborne, and steal his identity? [[User:RegularSizedGuy|RegularSizedGuy]] ([[User talk:RegularSizedGuy|talk]]) 14:29, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

I could have sworn Randall already made this joke... Maybe I'm thinking of [[1531]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.60.147|172.69.60.147]] 05:43, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

on the current state of the trivia section, i'm pretty sure we're not supposed to have opaque links that say "here" and have some comic they go to and that the structure of the sentence should be more like "in [comic x] randal also...", but i'm too tired to phrase it out rn and not entirely sure of this either - [[User:Vaedez|Vaedez]] ([[User talk:Vaedez|talk]]) 08:19, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:I agree and also we usually do not make a trivia section to link to relevant comics so I moved it into the explanation. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 09:06, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

Is it relevant that Twisters just came out a couple weeks ago? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 12:37, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

Hmmm. Randall doesn't strike me as a person who'd use something outdated like the Richter scale.[[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 17:19, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:He often displays nostalgia, and he enjoyed to double ended open Richter scale in his what if book where he took it to -15 rather than +15. So that he has a soft spot for Richter is quite certain actually --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 18:16, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

Fresh peppers are pretty soft. But when they're dried, they can get tough, even hard, especially if they're dried in such a way as to minimize the air and make them solid. I don't know where they'd land on the Mohs scale, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were harder than talc. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 18:20, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
:Well, now I know one little pig (not one of the three main ones, but also not one of the 118 other first cousins!) who is going to be in even more trouble than usual. Possibly also the Gypsum and Calcite pigs (though not sure the Fluorite one should worry, and probably the Topaz-using pig might be no worse off). [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.37|172.70.86.37]] 19:24, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
::As a first approximation, one might use a single dried seed, held in fine grippers such as needle-nose pliers. Anyone have the pliers, some crushed chilies, and a mineral test kit? [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 20:19, 30 July 2024 (UTC)

2965: Chili Tornado Quake

2024-07-31T15:08:28Z

Laser813: "Teach the controversy"

{{comic
| number = 2965
| date = July 29, 2024
| title = Chili Tornado Quake
| image = chili_tornado_quake_2x.png
| imagesize = 302x252px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a SCALED CAROLINA REAPER-CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
[[Cueball]], as a [[:Category:News anchor|news anchor]], is reporting on a tornado that struck a chili pepper processing plant during an earthquake, and he rates the event as 55,000 on the (fictional) Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale.

The Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale combines several unrelated scales:
* The '''{{w|Richter scale}}''' is a historic (but still well known) logarithmic scale for rating the intensity of {{w|earthquakes}} that typically range from about 3 to 9.5.
* The '''{{w|Fujita scale}}''' rates the intensity of damage caused by {{w|tornadoes}} which ranges from 0 to 5.
* The '''{{w|Scoville scale}}''' rates the spiciness of {{w|chili peppers}} from 0 (not at all spicy) all the way up into the millions.

The joke is that combining these scales is nonsensical and silly; the effects of each are not interrelated in any meaningful way.

It's likely the three base numbers are ''multiplied'', as with {{w|Foot-pound (energy)|similar}} compound-unit calculations, to give the single combined measure (although some nominal types are treated as {{w|Erdős–Bacon number|additive}}).
* Richter: Since the building is still there it is not a 9 on the Richter scale, suggesting a maximum around 8. The fracturing of the earth suggests a minimum of 6.
* Fujita: Given the image, this is not a 5 on the tornado scale, suggesting a maximum around 4. The severe damage to the building suggests a minimum of 3.
* Scoville: This would then leave the rest for the Scoville scale, which would give around 1700 on that scale as a minimum. The other two numbers could easily be smaller so that the Scoville number would be reaching above 3000. The chili peppers being processed could be poblano (Scoville number between about 1000 and 2000) or jalapeño (2500 to 10,000), among others.

In the title text it is mentioned that buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts [due] to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating. The {{w|Mohs scale}} is a scale for mineral hardness which ranges from 1 (e.g. talc) to 10 (diamond), with lower numbers being softer and higher numbers being harder. Chili peppers are strong in a spicy sense, but very soft on the Mohs scale, so if it was only the chilies that hit other buildings it would only be very soft material that would take any damage. Of course there would also be building material hitting nearby houses, thus they would do more damage than the chili, by an amount that would depend upon the relative hardness of the processing plant structure to that of other buildings. The former is frangible enough to have become dislodged from its structure, but may be just as brittle as it is ultimately abrasive, or is composed of thoroughly resilient pieces of material previously held in place by mortar or some other binding of insufficient adhesion or mechanical strength. From either point or failure (or both!), the wind-whipped cloud of debris might then indeed be able to scour more generally well-built structures nearby, even ones actually designed to withstand and absorb such winds/earth-movements in their own right.

A number, where the hardness of the materials hitting nearby buildings was taken into consideration, could have been given, adding a fourth number to consider in the scale, but no such number is provided.

Similar comics:
* [[2950: Situation]] - several unlikely scenarios, all at once
* [[1531: The BDLPSWDKS Effect]] - also a hybrid multi-disciplinary amalgum of measurements
* [[1794: Fire]] - featuring a multiple-alarm fire in an alarm factory

===Discussion: Is the title text missing a word?===
The title text might be missing the word "due," or it might not be a typo; both scenarios are possible, but the meaning changes. Usually Randall fixes typos within a few days, and he hasn't fixed this one yet.

Since it's impossible to say which scenario is correct, here are the implications of both.

====Scenario 1: No missing word====
The sentence as written means that '''the chili peppers impacted the ''magnitude'' of the scale'''. In other words, buildings made of soft materials were damaged because the Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardess rating was higher than it otherwise would have been as a result of the chili peppers. This suggests that spicier peppers are more likely to damage soft buildings.

====Scenario 2: Missing word====
"Buildings constructed from softer materials were damaged by chili pepper impacts '''due''' to the storm's high Richter-Fujita-Scoville-Mohs hardness rating."

The sentence with "due" means that soft buildings were damanaged by chili peppers, since the storm's hardness rating was high enough. This seems more straightforward: harder peppers successfully efacing soft building materials.

==Transcript==
:[Close-up of Cueball, a news anchor, next to an image with a headline above it to the left of him. The image shows of black tornado descending from sky-cover above. It is striking a building that has been damaged near where the tornado hits. Two large chilies can be seen flying through the air in the foreground, with pieces of the building and more chilies flying off further away. Straight beneath the building and going up in the middle of it there is a crack, that divides into three inside the building. The ground is also higher to the right of the point where the crack enters the building. Cueball is speaking which is shown above the image and him.]
:Headline: Breaking news
:Cueball: A tornado that struck a chili pepper processing plant during an earthquake was rated 55,000 on the Richter-Fujita-Scoville scale.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:News anchor]]
[[Category:Tornadoes]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Earthquakes]]

2965: Chili Tornado Quake

2024-07-30T15:05:05Z

Laser813:

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-29T19:46:30Z

Laser813: Removing INCOMPLETE tag

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{notice|This comic contains just one opinion as interpreted by [[Randall|the comic's author]].
Please take care to not add anything to the main article that might be your own personal political opinion. |image=warning!!.png|**NB. This warning could remain as long as Harris is a candidate in the election. Once this process concludes, we might need a different warning.}}

On the Monday that this comic was published, US Vice President {{w|Kamala Harris}} became the new presumptive {{w|Democratic_Party_(United_States)|Democratic Party}} nominee for the 2024 presidential election, having received verbal endorsements from a majority of Democratic state delegations; the day before, President {{w|Joe Biden}} had {{w|Withdrawal_of_Joe_Biden_from_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election|suspended his re-election bid}} and endorsed Harris. These major events resulted in Harris replacing Biden as one of the top two candidates for {{w|President of the United States|President}} in the 2024 election.

This comic features a three-way {{w|Venn diagram}} (which [[2721: Euler Diagrams|is also an Euler diagram]]). The three circles represent eligibility for US presidency, ability to do a good job as the US president, and love for Venn diagrams:

# '''Good President:''' [[Randall]] believes Harris would be a good president and implies as much, while making the reasonable assumption that he would not be. On the day this comic was published, a top Internet conversation topic was people's opinions of Harris, given the surprise nature of her candidacy, so Randall is adding in his opinion.
# '''Eligibility:''' According to Article II of the {{w|US Constitution}}, someone is {{w|President_of_the_United_States#Eligibility|eligible for the presidency}} if they are a natural-born citizen of the United States, are at least 35 years old, and are a resident in the United States for at least 14 years. Both Randall Munroe and Kamala Harris meet these qualifications.
# '''Vocal Venn diagram affection:''' Harris' affection for Venn diagrams is something of a meme, and has been used by her in her campaign [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-campaign-memes-gen-z-b2583802.html]. Randall is also known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily in xkcd. Randall especially loves Venn diagrams ABOUT Venn diagrams, like this one. While Harris frequently uses Venn diagrams with three intersecting circles as props, she also has [https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5125622/user-clip-circle-venn-diagram discussed them in the abstract, without reference to any physical diagram, even when discussing more than three intersecting categories.]

Part of the humor arises from the contrast of putting on a level playing field three characteristics that range widely from the momentous to the quirky, as well as the implication that Randall and Harris are quite similar in all but one area: their fitness to serve as US President, per Randall's opinion.

The diagram does not indicate anyone who Randall would include in the six other areas (categories) of the Venn diagram besides the two in which he listed himself and Harris.

The title text [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWR2uTfrh-k quotes Kamala Harris on her affection for Venn diagrams], and implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are.

Randall seems to express support for a Democratic Presidential candidate every 8 years, including in a 2016 comic [[I'm With Her]] endorsing {{w|Hillary Clinton}} and in [https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/01/28/obama/ a 2008 blog post] endorsing {{w|Barack Obama}}. In 2032 he will endorse [attention time-travelers/future editors, please edit this part to fill in whoever is running for president, and whether [[1688|the spiders are able to vote]].], followed by [same here] in 2040, Gabriele Cirulli in 2048, and X Æ A-12 Musk in the 2056 United States of America and Mars (USAM) election.

==Transcript==
:[A Venn diagram with three circles.]
:[Upper left circle:] Eligible to be President
:[Upper right circle:] Would be a good President
:[Lower circle:] Unusually vocal about love of Venn diagrams
:[Intersection of all three circles:] Kamala Harris
:[Intersection of the upper left and lower circles:] Me

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Venn diagrams]]
[[Category: Politics]]
[[Category: Elections]]
[[Category: Comics featuring politicians]]

2964: Olympic Sports

2024-07-27T14:29:04Z

Laser813:

{{comic
| number = 2964
| date = July 26, 2024
| title = Olympic Sports
| image = olympic_sports_2x.png
| imagesize = 553x328px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Thankfully for everyone involved, the Winter Olympics officials spotted me and managed to stop me before I got to the ski jump.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by A CARTOONIST DISTRACTED BY THE PARIS OLYMPICS - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

In this comic, the cartoonist, an armchair athlete, imagines himself participating in various events at the {{w|2024 Summer Olympics|2024 Paris (Summer) Olympics}}, with his degrees of fail measured in terms of their humor potential.

The title text may be a reference to ski jumper {{w|Vinko Bogataj}}, whose spectacular crash at the ski flying event in 1970 in Oberstdorf, (then) West Germany became emblematic of the expression "the agony of defeat" in the opening narration of the popular television program "{{w|Wide World of Sports (American TV program)|Wide World of Sports}}".

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:Olympic Sports ranked by how funny it would be if I, a regular person without athletic training, snuck onto the team to compete:
:Not that funny
:Rowing
:Fencing
:Weightlifting
:Golf
:Archery
:Pretty funny
:Swimming
:Long jump
:Pole vault
:Diving
:Hurdle
:Cueball: [Bonk] Ow! [Bonk] Ow!
:Incredibly funny
:Figure skating
:Horizontal bar
:Equestrian
:BMX freestyle
:Pommel horse
:Cueball: Look! Look!
:Horse rider with black helmet: AAAAA!

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Sport]]

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-25T16:19:18Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 2,382,203 Massachusetts write-in ballots for Randall Munroe - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{notice|This comic contains just one opinion as interpreted by [[Randall|the comic's author]].
Please take care to not add anything to the main article that might be your own personal political opinion. This is not a rolling-news channel or debating room. |image=warning!!.png|**NB. This warning could remain as long as Harris is a candidate in the election. Once this process concludes, we might need a different warning.}}

On the Monday that this comic was published, US Vice President {{w|Kamala Harris}} became the new presumptive {{w|Democratic_Party_(United_States)|Democratic Party}} nominee for the 2024 presidential election, having received verbal endorsements from a majority of Democratic state delegations; the day before, President {{w|Joe Biden}} had {{w|Withdrawal_of_Joe_Biden_from_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election|suspended his re-election bid}} and endorsed Harris. These major events resulted in Harris replacing Biden as one of the top two candidates for {{w|President of the United States|President}} in the 2024 election.

This comic features a three-way {{w|Venn diagram}} (which [[2721: Euler Diagrams|is also an Euler diagram]]). The three circles represent eligibility for US presidency, ability to do a good job as the US president, and love for Venn diagrams:

# '''Good President:''' The dominant Internet topic of conversation on the day this comic was published was Harris and people's opinions about her, and [[Randall]] personally thought she'd be a good president but that he himself would not be.
# '''Eligibility:''' According to Article II of the {{w|US Constitution}}, someone is {{w|President_of_the_United_States#Eligibility|eligible for the presidency}} if they are a natural-born citizen of the United States, are at least 35 years old, and are a resident in the United States for at least 14 years. Both Randall Munroe and Kamala Harris meet these qualifications.
# '''Vocal Venn diagram affection:''' Harris' affection for Venn diagrams is something of a meme, and has been used by her in her campaign [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-campaign-memes-gen-z-b2583802.html]. Randall is also known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily in xkcd. Randall especially loves Venn diagrams ABOUT Venn diagrams, like this one. While Harris frequently uses Venn diagrams with three intersecting circles as props, she also has [https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5125622/user-clip-circle-venn-diagram discussed them in the abstract, without reference to any physical diagram, even when discussing more than three intersecting categories.]

Part of the humor arises from the contrast of putting on a level playing field three characteristics that range widely from the momentous to the quirky, as well as the implication that Randall and Harris are quite similar in all but one area: their fitness to serve as US President, per Randall's opinion.

The diagram does not indicate anyone who Randall would include in the six other areas (categories) of the Venn diagram besides the two in which he listed himself and Harris.

The title text [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWR2uTfrh-k quotes Kamala Harris on her affection for Venn diagrams], and implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are.

Randall seems to express support for a Democrat Presidential candidate every 8 years, including in a 2016 comic [[I'm With Her]] endorsing {{w|Hillary Clinton}} and in [https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/01/28/obama/ a 2008 blog post] endorsing {{w|Barack Obama}}. In 2032 he will endorse [attention time-travelers/future editors, please edit this part to fill in whoever is running for president, and whether [[1688|the spiders are able to vote]].], followed by [same here] in 2040, Gabriele Cirulli in 2048, and X Æ A-12 Musk in the 2056 United States of America and Mars (USAM) election.
:[A Venn diagram with three circles.]
:[Upper left circle:] Eligible to be President
:[Upper right circle:] Would be a good President
:[Lower circle:] Unusually vocal about love of Venn diagrams
:[Intersection of all three circles:] Kamala Harris
:[Intersection of the upper left and lower circles:] Me

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Venn diagrams]]
[[Category: Politics]]
[[Category: Elections]]
[[Category: Comics featuring politicians]]

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-25T16:19:04Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 2,382,203 Massachusetts write-in ballots for Randall Munroe - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{notice|This comic contains just one opinion as interpreted by [[Randall|the comic's author]].
Please take care to not add anything to the main article that might be your own personal political opinion. This is not a rolling-news channel or debating room. |image=warning!!.png|**NB. This warning could remain as long as Harris is a candidate in the election. Once this process concludes, we might need a different warning.}}

On the Monday that this comic was published, US Vice President {{w|Kamala Harris}} became the new presumptive {{w|Democratic_Party_(United_States)|Democratic Party}} nominee for the 2024 presidential election, having received verbal endorsements from a majority of Democratic state delegations; the day before, President {{w|Joe Biden}} had {{w|Withdrawal_of_Joe_Biden_from_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election|suspended his re-election bid}} and endorsed Harris. These major events resulted in Harris replacing Biden as one of the top two candidates for {{w|President of the United States|President}} in the 2024 election.

This comic features a three-way {{w|Venn diagram}} (which [[2721: Euler Diagrams|is also an Euler diagram]]). The three circles represent eligibility for US presidency, ability to do a good job as the US president, and love for Venn diagrams:

# '''Good President:''' The dominant Internet topic of conversation on the day this comic was published was Harris and people's opinions about her, and [[Randall]] personally thought she'd be a good president but that he himself would not be.
# '''Eligibility:''' According to Article II of the {{w|US Constitution}}, someone is {{w|President_of_the_United_States#Eligibility|eligible for the presidency}} if they are a natural-born citizen of the United States, are at least 35 years old, and are a resident in the United States for at least 14 years. Both Randall Munroe and Kamala Harris meet these qualifications.
# '''Vocal Venn diagram affection:''' Harris' affection for Venn diagrams is something of a meme, and has been used by her in her campaign [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-campaign-memes-gen-z-b2583802.html]. Randall is also known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily in xkcd. Randall especially loves Venn diagrams ABOUT Venn diagrams, like this one. While Harris frequently uses Venn diagrams with three intersecting circles as props, she also has [https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5125622/user-clip-circle-venn-diagram discussed them in the abstract, without reference to any physical diagram, even when discussing more than three intersecting categories.]

Part of the humor arises from the contrast of putting on a level playing field three characteristics that range widely from the momentous to the quirky, as well as the implication that Randall and Harris are quite similar in all but one area: their fitness to serve as US President, per Randall's opinion.

The diagram does not indicate anyone who Randall would include in the six other areas (categories) of the Venn diagram besides the two in which he listed himself and Harris.

The title text [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWR2uTfrh-k quotes Kamala Harris on her affection for Venn diagrams], and implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are.

Randall seems to express support for a Democrat Presidential candidate every 8 years, including in a 2016 comic [[I'm With Her]] endorsing {{w|Hillary Clinton}} and in [https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/01/28/obama/ a 2008 blog post] endorsing {{w|Barack Obama}}. In 2032 he will endorse [attention time-travelers/future editors, please edit this part to fill in whoever is running for president, and whether [[1688|the spiders are able to vote]].], followed by [same here] in 2040, Gabriele Cirulli in 2048, and X Æ A-12 Musk in the 2056 United States of American and Mars (USAM) election.
:[A Venn diagram with three circles.]
:[Upper left circle:] Eligible to be President
:[Upper right circle:] Would be a good President
:[Lower circle:] Unusually vocal about love of Venn diagrams
:[Intersection of all three circles:] Kamala Harris
:[Intersection of the upper left and lower circles:] Me

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Venn diagrams]]
[[Category: Politics]]
[[Category: Elections]]
[[Category: Comics featuring politicians]]

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-23T17:22:58Z

Laser813: Quick fix

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 2,382,203 Massachusetts write-in ballots for Randall Munroe - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{notice|This comic contains just one opinion as interpreted by [[Randall|the comic's author]].
Please take care to not add anything to the main article that might be your own personal political opinion. This is not a rolling-news channel or debating room. |image=warning!!.png|**NB. This warning could remain as long as Harris is a candidate in the election. Once this process concludes, we might need a different warning.}}

On the Monday that this comic was published, US Vice President {{w|Kamala Harris}} became the new presumptive {{w|Democratic_Party_(United_States)|Democratic Party}} nominee for the 2024 presidential election, having received verbal endorsements from a majority of Democratic state delegations; the day before, President {{w|Joe Biden}} had {{w|Withdrawal_of_Joe_Biden_from_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election|suspended his re-election bid}} and endorsed Harris. These major events resulted in Harris replacing Biden as one of the top two candidates for {{w|President of the United States|President}} in the 2024 election.

This comic features a three-way {{w|Venn diagram}} (which [[2721: Euler Diagrams|is also an Euler diagram]]). The three circles represent qualification for US presidency, eligibility for US presidency, and love for Venn diagrams:

# '''Good President:''' The dominant Internet topic of conversation when this comic was published was Harris and people's opinions about her, and [[Randall]] personally thinks she'd be a good president but that he would not be.
# '''Eligibility:''' According to Article II of the {{w|US Constitution}}, someone is {{w|President_of_the_United_States#Eligibility|eligible for the presidency}} if they are a natural-born citizen of the United States, are at least 35 years old, and are a resident in the United States for at least 14 years. Both Randall Monroe and Kamala Harris meet these qualifications.
# '''Vocal Venn Diagram-philia:''' Harris' affection for Venn diagrams is something of a meme, and has been used by her in her campaign [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-campaign-memes-gen-z-b2583802.html]. Randall is also known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily on xkcd. Randall especially loves Venn diagrams ABOUT Venn diagrams, like this one.

Part of the humor arises from the contrast of putting on a level playing field three charactertistics that range widely from the momentous to the quirky, as well as the implication that Randall and Harris are quite similar in all but one area: their fitness to serve as US President.

The title text [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWR2uTfrh-k quotes Kamala Harris on her affection for Venn diagrams], and implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are.

Randall expresses support for a presidential candidate every 8 years, including in a 2016 comic [[I'm With Her]] and in [https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/01/28/obama/ a 2008 blog post]. In 2032 he will endorse [attention time-travelers, please edit this part.]

===Conjecture regarding empty spaces on diagram===
Since all the other sections of the diagram do not have any identified members, this could be taken as an indication that Randall cannot imagine someone who does not love Venn diagrams being a good candidate for President. However, only 2 of the 7 (or 8 if null entries are considered) possible diagram combinations have members in the sets, suggesting that this diagram is far from comprehensive. It's likely that Randall believes the other combinations do have people in them, but they were left out for brevity and clarity.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A Venn diagram with three circles.]
:[Upper left circle:] Eligible to be President
:[Upper right circle:] Would be a good President
:[Lower circle:] Unusually vocal about love of Venn diagrams
:[Intersection of all three circles:] Kamala Harris
:[Intersection of the upper left and lower circles:] Me

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Venn diagrams]]
[[Category: Politics]]
[[Category: Elections]]
[[Category: Comics featuring politicians]]

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-23T17:21:43Z

Laser813: A few clarity edits

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 2,382,203 Massachusetts write-in ballots for Randall Munroe - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{notice|This comic contains just one opinion as interpreted by [[Randall|the comic's author]].
Please take care to not add anything to the main article that might be your own personal political opinion. This is not a rolling-news channel or debating room. |image=warning!!.png|**NB. This warning could remain as long as Harris is a candidate in the election. Once this process concludes, we might need a different warning.}}

On the Monday that this comic was published, US Vice President {{w|Kamala Harris}} became the new presumptive {{w|Democratic_Party_(United_States)|Democratic Party}} nominee for the 2024 presidential election, having received verbal endorsements from a majority of Democratic state delegations; the day before, President {{w|Joe Biden}} had {{w|Withdrawal_of_Joe_Biden_from_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election|suspended his re-election bid}} and endorsed Harris. These major resulted in Harris replacing Biden as one of the top two 2024 candidates for {{w|President of the United States|President}}.

This comic features a three-way {{w|Venn diagram}} (which [[2721: Euler Diagrams|is also an Euler diagram]]). The three circles represent qualification for US presidency, eligibility for US presidency, and love for Venn diagrams:

# '''Good President:''' The dominant Internet topic of conversation when this comic was published was Harris and people's opinions about her, and [[Randall]] personally thinks she'd be a good president but that he would not be.
# '''Eligibility:''' According to Article II of the {{w|US Constitution}}, someone is {{w|President_of_the_United_States#Eligibility|eligible for the presidency}} if they are a natural-born citizen of the United States, are at least 35 years old, and are a resident in the United States for at least 14 years. Both Randall Monroe and Kamala Harris meet these qualifications.
# '''Vocal Venn Diagram-philia:''' Harris' affection for Venn diagrams is something of a meme, and has been used by her in her campaign [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-campaign-memes-gen-z-b2583802.html]. Randall is also known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily on xkcd. Randall especially loves Venn diagrams ABOUT Venn diagrams, like this one.

Part of the humor arises from the contrast of putting on a level playing field three charactertistics that range widely from the momentous to the quirky, as well as the implication that Randall and Harris are quite similar in all but one area: their fitness to serve as US President.

The title text [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWR2uTfrh-k quotes Kamala Harris on her affection for Venn diagrams], and implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are.

Randall expresses support for a presidential candidate every 8 years, including in a 2016 comic [[I'm With Her]] and in [https://blog.xkcd.com/2008/01/28/obama/ a 2008 blog post]. In 2032 he will endorse [attention time-travelers, please edit this part.]

===Conjecture regarding empty spaces on diagram===
Since all the other sections of the diagram do not have any identified members, this could be taken as an indication that Randall cannot imagine someone who does not love Venn diagrams being a good candidate for President. However, only 2 of the 7 (or 8 if null entries are considered) possible diagram combinations have members in the sets, suggesting that this diagram is far from comprehensive. It's likely that Randall believes the other combinations do have people in them, but they were left out for brevity and clarity.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A Venn diagram with three circles.]
:[Upper left circle:] Eligible to be President
:[Upper right circle:] Would be a good President
:[Lower circle:] Unusually vocal about love of Venn diagrams
:[Intersection of all three circles:] Kamala Harris
:[Intersection of the upper left and lower circles:] Me

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Venn diagrams]]
[[Category: Politics]]
[[Category: Elections]]
[[Category: Comics featuring politicians]]

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-23T17:15:56Z

Laser813:

{{comic
| number = 2962
| date = July 22, 2024
| title = President Venn Diagram
| image = president_venn_diagram_2x.png
| imagesize = 445x398px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Hard to imagine political rhetoric more microtargeted at me than 'I love Venn diagrams. I really do, I love Venn diagrams. It's just something about those three circles.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by 2,382,203 Massachusetts write-in ballots for Randall Munroe - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
{{notice|This comic contains just one opinion as interpreted by [[Randall|the comic's author]].
Please take care to not add anything to the main article that might be your own personal political opinion. This is not a rolling-news channel or debating room. |image=warning!!.png|**NB. This warning could remain as long as Harris is a candidate in the election. Once this process concludes, we might need a different warning.}}

On the Monday that this comic was published, US Vice President {{w|Kamala Harris}} became the new presumptive {{w|Democratic_Party_(United_States)|Democratic Party}} nominee for the 2024 presidential election, having received verbal endorsements from a majority of Democratic state delegations; the day before, President {{w|Joe Biden}} had {{w|Withdrawal_of_Joe_Biden_from_the_2024_United_States_presidential_election|suspended his re-election bid}} and endorsed Harris. These major resulted in Harris replacing Biden as one of the top two 2024 candidates for {{w|President of the United States|President}}.

This comic features a three-way {{w|Venn diagram}} (which [[2721: Euler Diagrams|is also an Euler diagram]]). The three circles represent qualification for US presidency, eligibility for US presidency, and love for Venn diagrams:

# '''Good President:''' The dominant Internet topic of conversation when this comic was published was Harris and people's opinions about her, and [[Randall]] personally thinks she'd be a good president but that he would not be.
# '''Eligibility:''' According to Article II of the {{w|US Constitution}}, someone is {{w|President_of_the_United_States#Eligibility|eligible for the presidency}} if they are a natural-born citizen of the United States, are at least 35 years old, and are a resident in the United States for at least 14 years. Both Randall Monroe and Kamala Harris meet these qualifications.
# '''Vocal Venn Diagram-philia:''' Harris' affection for Venn diagrams is something of a meme, and has been used by her in her campaign [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kamala-harris-campaign-memes-gen-z-b2583802.html]. Randall is also known for his love of Venn diagrams, which feature heavily on xkcd. Randall especially loves Venn diagrams ABOUT Venn diagrams, like this one.

Part of the humor arises from the contrast of putting on a level playing field three charactertistics that range widely from the momentous to the quirky, as well as the implication that Randall and Harris are quite similar in all but one area: their fitness to serve as US President.

The title text [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWR2uTfrh-k quotes Kamala Harris on her affection for Venn diagrams], and implies that the best way to target Randall with political ads is to mention how amazing Venn diagrams are.

Randall has previously supported a presidential candidate in the 2016 comic [[I'm With Her]].

===Conjecture regarding empty spaces on diagram===
Since all the other sections of the diagram do not have any identified members, this could be taken as an indication that Randall cannot imagine someone who does not love Venn diagrams being a good candidate for President. However, only 2 of the 7 (or 8 if null entries are considered) possible diagram combinations have members in the sets, suggesting that this diagram is far from comprehensive. It's likely that Randall believes the other combinations do have people in them, but they were left out for brevity and clarity.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
:[A Venn diagram with three circles.]
:[Upper left circle:] Eligible to be President
:[Upper right circle:] Would be a good President
:[Lower circle:] Unusually vocal about love of Venn diagrams
:[Intersection of all three circles:] Kamala Harris
:[Intersection of the upper left and lower circles:] Me

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category: Venn diagrams]]
[[Category: Politics]]
[[Category: Elections]]
[[Category: Comics featuring politicians]]

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-23T11:10:47Z

Laser813:

2962: President Venn Diagram

2024-07-23T11:08:49Z

Laser813: /* Explanation */ edit to the warning